In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the life of Muhammad by Tariq Ramadan.

Every once in a blue moon, you will see a happy kid wandering, back and forth, left and right in Kinokuniya. I have to admit, getting a book, especially by Prof Tariq Ramadan is quite a rare chance, from where I came from (Now, now. Where I come from is a question, too for myself, sometimes. Penang? Ipoh? Terengganu?) So you could say I was a happy kid (am, in fact, until today) to pick up one of his books and paid. So sad it took me a year to finish this book, all thanks to procrastination, new books, errands, and so on. Anyhow, back to the core business.

A refreshing reminder from Tariq Ramadan, the biography is timely prescribed and beautifully arranged that it  drove me to flip from page to page.  The book does not only revolve around the Prophet himself, also the sacrifice made by the Companions, and Muslims from the earliest years. How they confronted with pressures and discrepancies from all sorts in expanding the beauty of Islam is something that we all need to learn from. Perseverance and patience are really circumscribed in the book, that it put me to shame (really) knowing that I am not that strong compared to what they have done and faced.   

Knowing that the Prophet (pbuh) we love is a loving man himself,  the last chapter is certainly one of my favorites (ahem). Quoted Ramadan,

" Divine love was free from human dependence.  He submitted, and he was free. He submitted in the peace of the divine, and he was free from the illusions of human." 

reminded of the word 'ikhlas' or sincerity. It's something that is exclusive and lavish, but not impossible to be achieved. Be aware that ikhlas might be a trait that encourages us to do something, but often an excuse of not doing something, well. 

May all of us are protected, and blessed by the Almighty, insyaAllah.  

Recommended :) 

Killing the Cranes by Edward Girardet

For the last few weeks, I've been stocking up books to read for post-finals leisure, one of them a gem of a non-fiction that I spent quite a fortune on. It was worth every penny. Killing the Cranes is Edward Girardet's account of Afghanistan that covers almost three decades of unending war against various enemies. What makes this book unique is that it is not strictly a history book. It is a journalistic work, with the kind of language that you'd expect from an adventure article in the National Geographic, making the read all the more enjoyable.

The book opens with Girardet's scheduled meeting with Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Afghan Mujahideen commander who led a largely effective resistance against the Soviets back in the 80s. In 2001, he was still at war, but this time leading his small army of Afghan youths to stall the onslaught of the Talibans in the Panjshir Valley. The meeting never took place, for Massoud was killed in a suicide attack two days before 9/11. It is such a powerful intro to the book.

Then Girardet goes on to tell the reader what first pulled him to the enigmatic land of Afghanistan, where the people are both hospitable and proud, and foreigners are treated like families if they come in peace. As a fresh graduate in the 70s, he had wanted to report on any Asian country embroiled in conflict, and Afghanistan, with the communist coup d'etat in 1978, looked promising. Armed with a bagpack, sturdy hiking boots and some notebooks, he began a journey that would span almost half of his life. Little did he know then that he was going to join and mingle with a people that would bring communism to its knees.

 In today's world of fast-paced news reporting and conflict coverage, it is fascinating to see glimpses of old-school journalism at work. Girardet adopted the Afghans' lifestyle in his lengthy research for news materials, learned their way of life and even hiked the mountains along with the Mujahideen in their struggle against communism. The book is filled with anecdotal insights into some of the most famous figures in the world now. A particularly memorable one tells of Girardet's accidental meeting with a young Osama bin Laden, with whom Girardet shared the title of 'guests' of Afghanistan.

What I find most appealing about the book is how it captures the romanticism of Afghanistan that is often overlooked amidst stories of war and terrorism, and Girardet does it so well that I found it easy to understand how a European could not seem to leave the war-torn nation for very long. He always came back to the warmth of the soft-spoken men of the valley and the adventure that an unstable country is willing to give. Of course, the cost of war is adequately potrayed, and there are times when reading about the deaths of good people (like the young Afghans, and the charity volunteers) makes me want to put the book down but such times are rare. It's not the main point of the book. What it is, is a personal story of a reporter who fell in love with a nation and seeks to share with the world what Afghanistan has to offer, as seen through his eyes. The even pace of the narration serves that purpose very well, making me feel like I was accompanying the author in his quest to report the beauty and the ugly of the country.

 A nice little story serves as a background to the title of the book, and its metaphorical beauty fills me with a deep sense of melancholy: Girardet was sitting and talking with an Afghan poet and a close friend, Massoud Khalili in 2004, when the latter suddenly paused  and looked at the sky. Khalili commented that he had not seen the crane birds fly as they used to during migration season. In fact he had not spotted a crane since the height of the Soviet-Afghan war. He mused, "Have we even killed the cranes?"

I highly recommend this book to those who seek to understand a little bit better about Afghanistan and the events leading up to the war against global terrorism. It is not a truly academic account of the nation's history but I can promise you that it will teach you more about humanity than a history book ever can.

Visit Girardet's official website to find out more about the books and to read excerpts.

The Subtle Blessings in the Saintly Lives of Al-Mursi and Abul-Hassan

This review is written by a new friend of the BukuProject's, Aslan Uddin*. Enjoy : )

Many people easily get into the trap of saying “there’s no good men/women out there”, but we should avoid falling into that mode of thinking, because often we attract the type of people that we are ourselves, or think of, like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The “Subtle Blessings” is a book that reminds readers of the blessings that God has bestowed upon humanity by the continued prevalence of excellent people on this Earth, who though rare, nevertheless exist and serve to guide people towards their higher potentials, and in achieving tranquillity in Allah Most High. This is in contrast to most celebrities these days who pull people to their lower selves.

The Prophet described 3 integral parts of Islam, the legal side, the intellectual side, and the spiritual side. The book focuses primarily on the latter (without diminishing the other aspects), since it improves people and makes a person’s Iman (religious conviction) and its sweetness grow. It contains the teachings of two spiritual masters called “Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili” and “Abul Abbas al-Mursi”. Both strove to embody the outward and inward character traits and practices of the Prophet Muhammed (Peace of Allah be upon him), practically reforming the lives of many.  It explains how they went about it in their own lives, and in the lives of others, and how people can adopt such characteristics in their daily lives and make the world a much better place through humility, preference for others, honesty etc.

The book is split to an introduction to the spiritual and intellectual side of Islam, and then the teachings of the shaykhs based upon the Qur’an, Hadiths, sayings, poetry, and explanations of spiritual and religious matters, thus catering to all types of Muslims.

The author, Ibn Ata, a leading legal scholar of his age, at the start had a strongly negative view of them, but when he actually met them, he was blown away, and started keeping their company.  Abbas was instrumental in removing the doubts of Ibn Ata, and helped to increase his certainty in the Divine. With wisdom in relation to solving peoples’ problems, giving sincere advice, giving profound commentaries on the Qur’an, Hadiths (Prophetic sayings) and poetry, the two shaykhs gained large followings amongst both the higher and lower echelons of society.  It goes to show that if one sincerely searches for great people, he will find them to exceed expectations.

Their influence was also extended by the numerous miracles that the author witnessed through those scholars, such as the ability to see into the hearts of people and cure them. These show the benefits of achieving closeness to Allah Most High, the paltriness of attaching ourselves to the lower world, and the need to avoid modern ideologies of scientism and materialism.

 Abbas’ teachings are summarised by his saying: “When I was a young boy, there was a shadow play being put on beside our house, so I went to see it. When I went the next morning to see the teacher at the Qur’anic school, who was a friend of Allah, he uttered the following lines of poetry when he saw me:

“You who behold shadow images in wonderment,
You yourself are the shadow if only you could perceive it!”

At the end of the day, it is to Allah that we turn; so do aim to be of the best people. If we have sincere intentions and take the proper procedures, the experiences and wisdom discussed in this book are not beyond our reach. 

*Aslan is a recent graduate from Warwick University. His curiosity and need for certainty led him into various subjects of study, especially philosophy, science, Sufism and theology. He now works in Cambridge, UK.

Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace

Hi everyone, it's been such a long time. I had just purchased the Kindle version of this book last night after watching a Bollywood film, 'Fanaa' (I hope it doesn't surprise anyone that I love Hindi films). The second part of the film had piqued my interest in the Kashmir conflict so much that I began doing some online research on it, and voila! I came across this book and immediately bought it on Kindle.

Before I jump into the actual review of the book, I would like to first put it on record that I did not know that the Kashmir conflict is as old as the Israel-Palestine one. The circumstances under which the two conflicts developed may be different, but they share something in common: being the oldest and as yet unsettled international agenda of the United Nations Security Council. It really stunned me, after reading this book, that this conflict is not getting similar attention in Malaysia compared to the one received by the Palestinian issue. I guess maybe the politicians do not see anything to be gained by championing peace in Kashmir. If I am right, it is a real shame, because this conflict shows just how potentially dangerous strict adherence to national ideologies can become, and in light of recent revival of nationalism in some South East Asian countries, that is something states like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia can take lessons from.

To begin with, Sumantra Bose's clear and straightforward style of writing gives a very easy-to-follow narrative history of the Kashmir conflict, a huge plus point for anyone who is not particularly well-versed in this particular topic. This is so especially since Kashmir as a geographical entity is a very complex one. Even though Bose is an academic writer, the language he employed has very minimal jargon and of course, that is never a bad thing, right? But it really read like a detached account of the history and the whole time, I cannot say I was that emotionally invested in the conflict, not as much as much as I hope to be, anyway. But, what the book lacks in personal attachment, it makes up in stylish presentation.

The book itself is divided into 5 parts, the first 4 of which deal with the history and the last part deals with Bose's proposed answer to the issues faced in trying to bring about peace. So the reader is properly introduced to the roots of the conflict in the first 2 chapters, before the author starts getting to what the book really is about; the current situation in Kashmir (chapters 3 and 4) and a possible solution to the conflict. And this 5-part presentation of the subject matter is such a nice way to go about it. When I was reading, it really did feel like an incremental momentum is physically building up.

The only thing I can say against this book, and it's a very minor thing, is that the solution offered does not seem very practical. The author started the book by acknowledging that India and Pakistan have shown little real interest to concede control of Kashmir, and this reluctance is very much due to the ideological stubbornness that is almost inherent in the conception of both states. The deep-rooted rivalry between the two has manifested itself in several outright physical confrontations since 1947. Even though there is now a large degree of participation (and it is increasing at an alarming rate) by the Kashmiris themselves, the Indian and Pakistani governments are still central to any peace efforts that wish to succeed. Until this ideological opposition between India and Pakistan is significantly removed, I do not see how Bose's proposal of a 'more subtle self-determination' can ever be realistically exercised by all the regions within Kashmir.

Having said that, it is still a very fantastic read, especially if you enjoy history as much as I do. I have ordered another book that deals with Kashmir and unfortunately the title is not available in kindle format, so it may be a few more days before it arrives. But that is how interested in this issue I am after reading Bose's book. I highly recommend it to history fans and the politically interested. Enjoy.

After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam

This review is written by a friend of the BukuProject's Nazir Harith Fadzilah*

Reading on the crackdown of the Shiite by the officials in Malaysia recently brought back the lessons I used to have in school, mainly those that taught me that Shiism is a blasphemy. Back then, it never occurred to me to question the textbook or even the Ustaz teaching the subject. All I know was, they are different from us, the Sunnis.

Most of us might just accept the facts as they were told to us (which is arguable) and never then revisit them, or to dig deeper on the how, the why, and the consequences of the split. Isn't it strange, considering the Prophet himself constantly preached of unity?

This book, written by Lesley Hazleton, brings us back to the time of tribulation, the time of difficulties, the time of fitna, the time in which the Muslim community was really tested by the Higher Power. Each character, one by one, is stripped from common misconception, either from misleading classes or through sheer lack of understanding

This is not a story that glorifies the characters, and neither is it full of flowers throughout. This is a story of mere human beings, prone to make mistakes, prone to fall to their Jahiliyah insticts, prone to have their judgment clouded by emotions.

These people were not without ideals. It would seem to us that 23 years under the guidance of the Prophet would have prepared them for the coming of this disunity in the Ummah. But we forget that this was the period which most of the characters had prayed they would never see. The period that became known as the beginning of the Sunni-Shiite split.

To be honest, I was nervous about reading this book since every line was new and unfamiliar to me, quite unlike everything I have been taught. Frightened as I was, I did not stop halfway. The author writes with such wit but is never didactic. Since she fills the lines with questions that insist the reader to dig deeper, dig deeper a reader should.

I love the way the book is being presented but I must warn the reader to read with caution and to try to cross-check with much more authentic history books. To call it a major work of Islamic history is short sighted but nevertheless the book shows another side of looking on the history of the Muslim Ummah.

*Nazir is a third year engineering student at the RMIT, Australia. He co-founded the ASAM, a community for artistic souls that sometimes features articles from the BukuProject. "While others enjoy being under the spotlight", Nazir prefers "a candle to light up [his] life". Nazir now resides in Melbourne.