Selections from the Hikam

Selections from The Hikam of Ibn Ata’Allah al-Iskandari:

If you want the door of hope opened

For you, then consider what comes

to you from your Lord, but if you want

The door of sadness opened for you,

Then consider what goes to Him

from you.

||

One of the signs of relying on one’s

own deeds is the loss of hope

when a downfall occurs.

||

Sometimes He gives

while depriving you, and sometimes

He deprives you in giving.

||

He who wishes that at a given moment

There appear other than what God

has manifested in it, has not left

ignorance behind at all!

Excerpted from the presentation by Sister Aisha Gray, Journey to Ihsan 2nd Internation Conference on Islamic Spirituality, Sept. 2, 2006.

Journey to Ihsan: looking back

Alhamdulillah, I was able to fly to Singapore to attend the conference Journey to Ihsan last weekend. It was my first time in Singapore, and I came in the hard way, landing in Johor Bahru, then taking a three hour combination of trains and buses before arriving at my hotel, across the street from Dar ul-Arqam, the Singapore Muslim Converts Association. The Geylang street area was lovely. Just a block from my hotel were two old masajid across the street from each other, Masjid Khalid and Masjid Ta Ha (I think – there’s an excellent Singapore mosque portal here, but the second masjid isn’t listed). I sorely missed my camera the whole trip long, which I left at home, inoperable for lack of a screw.

I started at Masjid Khalid with Subuh Saturday morning, and then made my way across town to Arab Street by rail. Impressions along the way: The public transit was superb, the city is shiny and new, every nook and cranny is lush with landscaping. Singapore has much more in common with New York than with Kuching, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s a measure of how long I’ve been stuck in the sticks (almost four years now) that I was so bowled over. One thing that kept coming to mind due to its absence was the sight of children. There weren’t any. Every now and then I’d see a couple with one child and it would only reinforce the feeling: This is the land of the DINKs.

I got off at the Bugis train stop and proceeded on foot to the Sultan Mosque, where the weekend event was to be held. Mash’Allah, from the opening session till 4 o’clock the next afternoon when I had to leave before Shaykh Hisham’s closing speech to wind my way back to Johor, I had a wonderful wonderful time.

I’ll admit the main attraction for me was Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, whom I hadn’t seen in four years. Shaykh Hisham started, as he often does, with a bit of stumbling, a bit of awkwardness, just enough for you to think maybe he’s unsure up there, and then the spirit moves him and he explodes into just the most moving oratory imaginable. I’ve never seen another speaker like him, may Allah bless him and elevate his station.

Many other speakers gave interesting presentations, from a wide range of perspectives. Prof Gianotti brought up the issue of humane treatment of animals as an aspect of making meat halal, an issue I sorely wish our local halal certifiers would look into. The halal chickens I buy every week uniformly have there forelegs (drumsticks) broken. I’m fairly sure this is because they are hung upside-down by their feet on metal hooks as they are conveyed down the line to the killing floor, their legs breaking from struggle. Even if their necks are then slit, how can this be halal? Here in a muslim country, if our halal council certifies it, I’m not one to dispute. Still, it’s not the path of Ihsan, that’s for sure.

Sister Aisha Gray, the founder of Fons Vitae, is an American convert to Islam who performed the Hajj before I was even born. If that isn’t enough reason to sit quietly and pay attention, I don’t know what is. She showed an excerpt from a new documentary on sacred art and architecture in Cairo. It was stunning, but then at the end, there were some selections from the Hikam of Ibn Ata Allah that, after gazing at all the sacred imagery preceeding it, moved me to tears. Looking back at the selections that night from my hotel room, they were beautiful, but they didn’t touch me the same way as they had that afternoon. It proved her point to me, that being surrounded by sacred art softens the heart and makes one more receptive to sacred knowledge.

I had the opportunity between sessions to go around the block to the storefront of Wardah Books, an Islamic bookseller you should really take a look at. Their collection isn’t enormous, but it is 100% quality. Last time I wrote, they had come out with a translation of Mawlid Daiba’i. Well, they’ve got another now, a new version compiled by Shaykh Hisham that I picked up. I sprung for a few of Imam al-Haddad’s books that have been translated by Mostafa Badawi too. I had to pick up what I could, since sadly Wardah Books doesn’t deliver outside Singapore.

All in all, it was a great trip. Living in a muslim country, you rub shoulders with people all day long who have only a tenuous connection to their faith. Attending events such as this, shaking the hands of people who are committed to the spiritual journey, listening to advice from our scholars and saints, it is truly invigorating. I just hope next time I have a camera with me. And that I don’t lose my phone again. Mash’Allah, you win some you lose some…

[Update: Streaming audio of Shaykh Hisham’s speeches at the conference is available at Sufi Online.]

Haze

What’s a rainforest minus the rain?  We’ve been finding out over here.  It’s been over two weeks without a drop of rain, and things are as dry as a bone.  The dry season here in Sarawak corresponds with a change in winds which bring our weather in from the south and west.  Because of the dryness, fires set to clear land in Indonesia burn hotter and get out of control more.  Because of the change in winds, all the smoke from those forest fires blows over the border right to where I sit right now.  This week has been almost frightening.  The sun is a dull red ball in sky, buildings down the block fade in and out of view.  The locals call it haze, but it’s not haze Los Angeles style (as awful as that is).  It’s smoke, pure and simple.  The first step outside in the morning carries a whiff that is unmistakeably woodsmoke.  By the second breath, you’re used to it and don’t smell it anymore.  But it’s all around.  I can’t quench my thirst.  I drink and drink and drink  (young coconuts are especially good).  But five minutes later my mouth and throat are thick and parched again.  The most shocking thing is going to my car and finding it with a dusting of ash.  Sometimes you can even see large particles drifting through the air.  It’s amazing to think of the scale of the fires that must be producing this on the ground in Kalimantan.  Lucky for most of us, the air pollution levels are not so high in most of the country.  Unfortunately for me, Kuching is getting the worst of it this year.  The API has hit the low nineties, just a few ticks from the official “unhealthy” mark.
Pray for rain.

The situation in Indonesia

On the Malaysian side 

The Four Kinds of Men

  1. The man who knows and he knows that he knows: This is the Scholar, so follow him.
  2. The man who knows but he does not know that he knows: This is the Forgetful One, so wake him.
  3. The man who does not know, and he knows that he does not know: This is the Seeker, so guide him.
  4. The man who does not know, but he does not know that he does not know: This is the Ignoramus, so leave him.

One reason I enjoy my weekly Arabic classes is that points of grammar or vocabulary are illustrated by proverbs, hadith and verses of Quran. We learned the saying above a few weeks ago. It reminds me of an old essay by Shaykh GF Haddad on Jahl Murakkab, Compound Ignorance, the fourth condition in the saying.

[Update: Sidi Khalil Moore wrote to suggest the translation be improved by changing “what” to “that”. I appreciate someone of his caliber taking the time to review my amateur work, and have made the change in the text above.]

Witness

Who among you be Ailanthus,
The Witness-Who-Reaches High?

If you question, you are elm beaten down by exhaust
or calloused feet
If you spring up in expectance, you are
the frond of Ailanthus
Absurd in its giving
Of shade to the dreamless street.

Who among you be Ailanthus,
The Witness-Who-Reaches-High?
Who among you be fair Ailanthus,
Tree-of-Heaven?

July 4, 1977 || Copyright © 1977, 2005 by David Newkirk. All rights reserved.

Poem reproduced from this location.

Part of the collection David Newkirk: Writings.

Obituary

Shamil Basayev is dead.  We belong to God and unto Him we return.  When Aslan Maskhadov died, I was too choked up to even post about it. That was the end of any hope for Chechnya. Basayev… well, he’s dead now.  Don’t speak ill and all that.  Still, I’ll point you to what I wrote about him and his “contributions” to the Chechen cause previously.

In a related obituary, Sobaka Magazine has closed down.  Now there’s a crying shame.

2nd International Conference on Islamic Spirituality

2nd International Conference on Islamic Spirituality

The Abdul Aleem Siddique Mosque of Singapore is hosting the 2nd International Conference on Islamic Spirituality, to be held on 2-3 September, 2006. The theme of the conference is Journey to Ihsan. Among the headlining speakers are Shaykh Hisham Kabbani and Professor Abd al-Haqq Godlas. More details including bios of the speakers are available.

It looks like a great program. I’m just a short plane ride away – I hope I’m able to attend.