Tonight, my mother made a long distance phone call to her sister to inquire about Ramadhan in egypt. When I remembered whom her sister was married to, I quickly rushed and asked her to hand me the phone so I can speak with him.
I asked: "Back in the balcony, I remember something important you mentioned about fasting. Something Shiekh Al Sha'rawi conveyed to you.
He replied: "In our time, there was a popular misconception that fasting was placed so that the wealthy may feel the hunger of the poor, if this was true then the poor don't need to fast! He stated something more sensible. God brought a month upon us where he forbade us from what is deemed Good; he forbade us, from the dawn of the day until sunset to draw close to our spouses, wives or husbands, and food so that we see that just as we are capable of distancing ourselves from the two essential deeds that made life progress, we are also capable of distancing from the deeds that doomed it entirely. Such is the wisdom of God."
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Dear Sir Thomas Jefferson
Dear Thomas Jefferson,
Some centuries beyond your era sits a lad writing this letter on a clever and intricate, yet simple contraption devised by a series of several innovative minds that may have not shared your passion for knowledge, but have executed what they reserved to the best of their abilities
and opened an epoch filled with extraordinary possibilities beyond margins of imagination drawn in your time. You would be proud of this, but not of us, sir, I assure you. We live in an age that wreaks of ironic paradoxes and hypocrisy in every corner, where even the opinion of the masses themselves have lost credibility. An age where we believe, despite our lack of study and dedication, that we are insufferable know-it-alls as we allow others to do our thinking for us. An age where we allow the truth to be overridden by fallacies spewing fourth from the silver tongues of the corrupt whom cleverly fabricate the images of the good, and commit tremendous efforts to somehow and magically promote the bad to greater summits that we in our willful naivety stood to accept. While these demons have surely existed at every point in the arch of history, the greatest horror in the sinister scheme of things Mr Jefferson is not them, sir, but us. We are the scum of the earth, many of us whom entertain knowledge for a certain measure of years just so we can be ready for the labors in life, to become servants to owners whom are even lower servants, idolizing and overindulging tastes for materialism. Our modern day life is no longer a life, suffice to say, but an era in which our only purpose, Mr Jefferson, our only reason is to indulge urges, only to discover why we are not so satisfied with the pleasures that we have derived from them. And to make things worse, we somehow find ourselves impossibly entitled to higher privillages that we have never worked to deserve.
Why are we the scum of the earth? Because we have forsaken the majestic satisfaction from spending tireless hours of gaining knowledge and despite our awareness of its corruption do we still take up these rigid systems; we have fallen so low that we lack the fortitude and self-esteem to plan and work for our own dreams, always looking for quicker ways to get to it, always forsaking it for alternatives we are deceived by, finding ourselves benefitting others in the end, ALWAYS fooled by the same trick in the game. And though we know in our hearts what we should do, although we are aware of how many years of our lifespan have been stolen by some of the most trivial charades in life that has often led to needless violence, that humanity's true sanctuary in life is the sincere dedication to learning about the greater good, do we still remain here, mocking our own foolishness and allowing the tides to sweep us off our feet. Even when we are surrounded by heaps of concurred epochs of history that were stirred by simple, but sincere steps of one man, ALWAYS, one man, do we continue to wait. . .
I write this in the confidence that it will never reach the addressed, not that it deserves to be. Though I may never know the face the public had given you when you took presidency, like polymaths before you and those around you, it is for the simple fact that you did not allow your attributes, be it age or gender, to compromise your will to learn more and listen, do I write it.
Sincerely,
Mohammed.
Some centuries beyond your era sits a lad writing this letter on a clever and intricate, yet simple contraption devised by a series of several innovative minds that may have not shared your passion for knowledge, but have executed what they reserved to the best of their abilities
and opened an epoch filled with extraordinary possibilities beyond margins of imagination drawn in your time. You would be proud of this, but not of us, sir, I assure you. We live in an age that wreaks of ironic paradoxes and hypocrisy in every corner, where even the opinion of the masses themselves have lost credibility. An age where we believe, despite our lack of study and dedication, that we are insufferable know-it-alls as we allow others to do our thinking for us. An age where we allow the truth to be overridden by fallacies spewing fourth from the silver tongues of the corrupt whom cleverly fabricate the images of the good, and commit tremendous efforts to somehow and magically promote the bad to greater summits that we in our willful naivety stood to accept. While these demons have surely existed at every point in the arch of history, the greatest horror in the sinister scheme of things Mr Jefferson is not them, sir, but us. We are the scum of the earth, many of us whom entertain knowledge for a certain measure of years just so we can be ready for the labors in life, to become servants to owners whom are even lower servants, idolizing and overindulging tastes for materialism. Our modern day life is no longer a life, suffice to say, but an era in which our only purpose, Mr Jefferson, our only reason is to indulge urges, only to discover why we are not so satisfied with the pleasures that we have derived from them. And to make things worse, we somehow find ourselves impossibly entitled to higher privillages that we have never worked to deserve.
Why are we the scum of the earth? Because we have forsaken the majestic satisfaction from spending tireless hours of gaining knowledge and despite our awareness of its corruption do we still take up these rigid systems; we have fallen so low that we lack the fortitude and self-esteem to plan and work for our own dreams, always looking for quicker ways to get to it, always forsaking it for alternatives we are deceived by, finding ourselves benefitting others in the end, ALWAYS fooled by the same trick in the game. And though we know in our hearts what we should do, although we are aware of how many years of our lifespan have been stolen by some of the most trivial charades in life that has often led to needless violence, that humanity's true sanctuary in life is the sincere dedication to learning about the greater good, do we still remain here, mocking our own foolishness and allowing the tides to sweep us off our feet. Even when we are surrounded by heaps of concurred epochs of history that were stirred by simple, but sincere steps of one man, ALWAYS, one man, do we continue to wait. . .
I write this in the confidence that it will never reach the addressed, not that it deserves to be. Though I may never know the face the public had given you when you took presidency, like polymaths before you and those around you, it is for the simple fact that you did not allow your attributes, be it age or gender, to compromise your will to learn more and listen, do I write it.
Sincerely,
Mohammed.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Time Management
Well, here I am again, and I won't hide the fact that I'm clueless about what I'm going to be writing about either. I just let my fingertips work in search for the valid thoughts that may flow in. For those of you who ever studied Macroeconomics should understand me when I say the nostalgic words, "Cetris Paribus."
Let's take this one step at a time, I'm getting nowhere here. Alright, CNN publishes this intriguing (yeah, right) article about the shortening of attention spans of children due to the fact that they seem to be playing video games these days, since parents thought that video games are less likely to provide that symptom then your casual sitting your ass on the couch and switching between the channels routine. As, previously, a hardcore video gamer and still a casual on occassions, I'm gonna have to agree on this one, but for crike sakes, don't you think that it applies to almost every activity you put on repetition?
Kinda reminds me of the day when a good friend of mine started our conversation by saying "You know, research has it that Music is far more addicting then drugs." Well, holy mola amigos, of course! Because we actually have more access to music than drugs! Don't people get it?! Why do you think individuals are called or sometimes submit the fact that they're obsessed? It's because they're having too much of it! That's what constant repetition of any pattern of behavior does! Be it music, eating excessively or practicing those little no-no's your parents told you to stay away from. It becomes a part of your system; hence, why all the goodies and the alternatives turn dull, unless a person decided to be sincere enough to apply a little time management. Don't tell me you can't. Everybody has time; you just suck at managing it. But hey, welcome to the twenty first century!
Speaking of management, I need to do a little cardio. Until next post, folks.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thoughts after pulling out the plug
So it's been interesting so far, proceeding with life without the need of having any computer provided at your own personal disposal. I'm still able to connect with the world, given the fact that you're reading this right now, but only at certain times that go hand in hand with the computer lab opening scheduel in the university dormatory.
Idle and sometimes meaningless browsing over the same thing, over and over again, had never proven to be time consuming until I had deprvied myself from the means of practicing it. Without it, the day somehow becomes bigger, slower and filled with an immense sense of oppurtunity, but if you're not stubborn enough with the attitude of being productive, you'll most likely find yourself staring at the ceiling.
In these few hours, I was able to discover three things about myself that struck me hard in the face. One, I'm illiterate; I have about sixteen books in my shelves waiting to be touched, having promised that I would read them in my 'spare time'. Even with all the time in the world, I've never turned a page.
Two, I'm Godless; well, not entirely. But in the silence I came to appreciate the little details in faith tradition was careful enough to pass along. While I fulfill my obligations, I seem to have lost touch with God by overlooking the details that go beyond them. Details that I've thought of, for instance, the times that I had forsaken moral integrity to demonstrate sarcasm. While I'm under no illusion of an intolerant God, I could at least appreciate the virtue behind a little sense of shame before the almighty. That, I believe, is a flicker of sincerety that we as human beings can spare as compared to the scenario of us hasting to finish our prayers, due to the fact that our subconciounce clouds us with illusions of higher priorities in life that we are often quick to succumb to.
Thirdly. . . I miss my father.
Idle and sometimes meaningless browsing over the same thing, over and over again, had never proven to be time consuming until I had deprvied myself from the means of practicing it. Without it, the day somehow becomes bigger, slower and filled with an immense sense of oppurtunity, but if you're not stubborn enough with the attitude of being productive, you'll most likely find yourself staring at the ceiling.
In these few hours, I was able to discover three things about myself that struck me hard in the face. One, I'm illiterate; I have about sixteen books in my shelves waiting to be touched, having promised that I would read them in my 'spare time'. Even with all the time in the world, I've never turned a page.
Two, I'm Godless; well, not entirely. But in the silence I came to appreciate the little details in faith tradition was careful enough to pass along. While I fulfill my obligations, I seem to have lost touch with God by overlooking the details that go beyond them. Details that I've thought of, for instance, the times that I had forsaken moral integrity to demonstrate sarcasm. While I'm under no illusion of an intolerant God, I could at least appreciate the virtue behind a little sense of shame before the almighty. That, I believe, is a flicker of sincerety that we as human beings can spare as compared to the scenario of us hasting to finish our prayers, due to the fact that our subconciounce clouds us with illusions of higher priorities in life that we are often quick to succumb to.
Thirdly. . . I miss my father.
Monday, June 14, 2010
First Entry
Everyday, I grow convinced that our willingness to remain ignorant and steadfast to our daily routines is killing us. Our confidence in our opinions have made us arrogant to the point where we are shaken by a disgruntling surge of rage should someone intervene to question them. We stopped believing in our god-given obligation to grow, rotting in our commitment to seek the satisfaction that never really exists, always postponing the procedures to perform the greater deeds in life until the years pass us and we find ourselves drenched in self-loathe, submerging even deeper, rather than pursue redemption, growing fat with food and ego.
We have lost touch with the true meaning of gratitude; being grateful that it could not have been any worse is seen as a modest form of naivety rather then a means of acknowledging facts and moving on. It is overlooked, disregarded as traditional heresy and looked upon as a form of weakness, rather then a means of fortitude and self-recognition.
We know that there is no enough for our urges, and yet we refuse to exercise our rational tenacity to subdue them. We know there is never too late for anything while we still stand, yet we allow trivial aspects such as age, location and public opinion to limit our passion for accomplishments. For self-assurance,we brainstorm excuses to point out, why we are not there yet, rather then working hard enough to not have to do so in the first place. We have grown dependent, clingy and often lack self-reliance.
The the solution in life has always been a simple step back and a sincere inspection of things before mustering the attitude to change everything - that includes ourselves.
The the solution in life has always been a simple step back and a sincere inspection of things before mustering the attitude to change everything - that includes ourselves.
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