Tag: lead by example

  • Awesome!

    Drakensburg mountain range in KZN (South Africa)

    The only word that comes to mind when trying to describe the view I recently took in on a mountain pass through the Drakensburg range is what my 5 year old daughter used to describe every awe-inspiring thought, sight or experience she was exposed to. Awesome! What wasn’t so awesome was stepping back and looking at the litter strewn across the ground as a token of appreciation of the beauty that we have around us. Consumerism sucks. And it’s permeating our lives to the point where we’re totally oblivious to the massive imbalance between what we consume versus what we contribute.

    This balance is not only important to the environment, it’s ever more critical for our sense of well being. Trouble is, most of us have barely experienced a wholesome life style at all, so it’s almost impossible for us to realise that there’s so much missing to begin with. Stop for a minute. Try to notice something ordinary that’s extraordinary. Stop being so nonchalant about the beauty in the simple things in life so that you can appreciate it while you have the health and presence of mind to do so, rather than wait until you’re too old and feeble to enjoy it and you’re left staring at it from afar because your limbs just can’t carry you there anymore.

    Life is being wasted while we’re amusing ourselves with our own ingenuity. What we take for granted today, is almost always a source of intense regret tomorrow. Don’t be part of the crowd on this one. This is one time when standing out is not about your ego, or public image, but about enriching your life in simple yet profound ways.

    Quick hit list to be less jaded:

    1. Smell the coffee in the morning, don’t just drink it because you need a boost
    2. Close your eyes and absorb the relief you feel the next time an unexpected breeze brushes past your face, or blows through your hair (If you have no hair to blow through, then you need this more than ever!)
    3. Appreciate the quirks of your partner, and remember what attracted you to them, rather than growing irritable and annoyed at the fact that they don’t always get what you’re saying
    4. Smile at yourself, even laugh if you really did something stupid enough to warrant it. You don’t have to have it together all the time.
    5. Be human
    6. Be unpredictable
    7. Be original
    8. Be true to yourself
    9. Be sincere
    10. Be you, and stop trying to be someone you think others will like

    So back to appreciating the beauty around us. If you don’t appreciate it now, there’ll be hardly any left for your kids or your grand kids to appreciate later. Wouldn’t it be sad if all they have to remember the bounties of nature is well constructed computer animations or photos that their grand parents took back in the day?

    I’m sure ‘someone’ else will come along to pick up after me, huh?

    If you have no inclination to appreciate what beauty abounds in nature, at least do no harm to it so that those that follow will not be left with your tainted view of the world.

  • When Will We Awaken

    I received an e-mail from someone earlier today about a certain Dr van der Hoven from the Netherlands that supposedly did some research about the effect of reciting the word ‘Allah’ compared to the recitation of other Arabic words. This e-mail has been doing its rounds for some time now, but this time I decided to see if there was any way to determine the authenticity of this claim.

    So I Googled it and was not surprised at all by the results. The exact same article was published on numerous Islamic web sites as if it was a testament to the relevance of Islam and the truth about our way of life. I am a Muslim first and foremost, but the last time I checked, Islam taught us to verify the accuracy of information about others before we repeated it…and for good reason as well. As can be seen from this article, we’re so desperate to prove to the West that we’re on the right path and that they’re missing the point or the truth or both, that we’ll grab the tackiest piece of information without question just to satisfy our own doubts.

    Yes, doubts! We’re so doubtful about our beliefs that we search for miracles every chance we get. We need these miracles to confirm our faith, as if faith is supposed to be based on miracles that we can witness in our own time. What is wrong with us??? We went from being the greatest nation, greatest culture and most revered group of human beings to being the most punished, abused and helpless nation on earth. There was a time when everyone else imitated US! Now we’re like mad dogs looking for the scraps of the icons of the West so that we can appear to be ‘with it’ or ‘accepted’ or ‘cool’. We’ve become despicable in so many ways.

    We used to teach the world about hygiene and manners and truth…now they’re teaching us after they took the accumulated knowledge of our pious and knowledgeable predecessors and adulterated it to make it appear as if they were responsible for it. The contribution of Muslims to every great endeavour is lost to history because we have very few, if any scholars that are capable of being ranked amongst the great Muslim intellectuals of the past. We established civil societies, human rights, social and welfare structures and amazing architecture when the rest of the world was still experiencing the Dark Ages.

    What are we now? A group of weak excuses that have to resort to suicide bombings, guerilla warfare and politicing just to make a point. I respect and honour the brave Muslim men, women and children that are fighting to defend the lives that are being abused and trampled on by the corrupt politicians of the West. But that wouldn’t be necessary if we had leaders with backbone. Leaders who practised and understood the PRINCIPLES of Islam and not just the literal interpretation of the traditions and Quranic injunctions and enforced it when it suited them.

    The honourable Sahaabah (companions of the Prophet Muhammed S.A.W.) spread Islam to parts of the world that couldn’t even understand a word they said. But people saw their ways and admired what they stood for, because their behaviour was exemplary. Just the way they carried themselves was a good enough example for people to immediately realise that their way of life was superior.