Index

September, 2012

Qur'an : FOR THOSE WHO THINK
Surah al-Fatihah
Surah an-Nas, 114
Surah al-Falaq, 113
Surah al Ikhlas, 112
Surah al-Masad, 111
Surah al-Nasr, 110
Surah al-Kafirun, 109
Surah al-Kawther, 108
Surah al-Maoun, 107
Surah al-Quraish, 106
Surah al-Fil, 105
Surah al-Humazah, 104
Surah al-Humazah, 103
Surah al-Takathur, 102
Surah al Qariah, 101
Surah al-Adiyat, 100
Surah al-Zalzalah, 99
Surah al-Bayyinah, 98
Surah al-Qadr, 97
Surah al-Alaq, 96
Surah at-Tin, 95
Surah as-Sharh, 94
Surah ad-Dhuha, 93
Surah al-Layl, 92
Surah al-Shams, 91
Surah al-Balad, 90
Surah al-Fajr, 89
Surah al-Ghashiyah, 88
Surah al-A'la, 87
Surah at-Tariq, 86
Surah al-Buruj, 85
Surah al-Inshiqaq, 84
Surah al-Mutaffiffin, 83
Surah al-Infitar, 82
Surah al-Takwir, 81
Surah A'basa, 80
Surah al-Naziat, 79
Surah an-Naba, 78
Turning Your Empty Glass Right Side Up




October, 2012

Surah al-Baqarah, 2
Key To The Garden : On Happiness...
Surah al-Imran, 3
Key To The Garden : Ibn Athaillah al-Hikam
Surah an-Nisa, 4
Key To The Garden : 'Hasbunallah wa ni' mal Wakeel
Surah al-Maidah, 5
Key To The Garden : On Contentment..Abdullah Hakim Quick
Surah al-An'am, 6
Key To The Garden : Understanding The Qur'an..al-Awlaki
Surah al-A'raf, 7
Key To The Garden : Dzikir....
Surah al-Anfal, 8
Key To The Garden : ' Your Time is Up'...




November, 2012

Surah al-Taubah, 9
Key To The Garden : Understanding Abu Hamid al-Ghazali
Surah Yunus [ Jonah ], `10
Key To The Garden : In Pursuit of Happiness
Surah Hud , 11
Key To The Garden : Caravan of Illumination
Surah Yusuf [ Joseph ] , 12
Key To The Garden : Jewels & Pearls from al-Ghazali
Surah al-Rad , 13
Key To The Garden : If You Are Young and Angry...
Surah Ibrahim [ Abraham ] , 14
Reflection 1 :  Imam Suhaib Webb
Surah al-Nahl [ Bees ] , 15
Reflection 1 : Imam Suhaib Webb
Surah al-Hijr , 16



December, 2012

Surah al-Nahl , 16
Key To The Garden : 'Hidup Sesudah Nati..Prof Hamka
Surah al-Isra' [ The Night Journey ] , 17
Reflection : 'The Night Journey'....Muhamad Asad
Surah al-Kalf [ The Cave ] , 18
Key To The Garden : al- Magrhoui on 'Happiness'
Surah Maryam [ Mary ] , 19
Reflection : David Sterling on " Human Cosmology'
Surah Ta Ha , 20
Key To The Garden : Free Will
Surah al-Anbiya [ The Prophets ] , 21
Key To The Garden : 'Prayer of The Righteous'...




January, 2013

Surah al-Hajj , 22
Key To The Garden : Zikrullah...Shaykh Muhammad Ninowy
Surah al-Mukminun [ The Believers ] , 23
Key To The Garden : 'The Shahadah'...Shaykh Yasir Qadhi
Surah al-Nur [ Light ] , 24
Key To The Garden : Loving The Prophet and ahlil Bayt..




February, 2013

Reflection : all about 'hearts'....
Surah al-Furqan [ The Criterion ], 25
Reflection : 'Islam from The Outside'...Lesley Hazleton
Surah al-Shuara [ The Poets ] , 26
Reflection : 'The Hereafter'...Anwar al-Awlaki
Surah al-Naml [ The Ants ] , 27
Reflection : 'Evolution Revisited' 





March, 2013

Surah al-Qasas, 28
Key To The Garden : Solat [ Prayer ]...Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
Surah al-Ankabut, 29
Reflection : Prof Sayyid Muhammad Naguib al-Attas
Surah ar-Rum [ The Romans ], 30
Key To The Garden : ' Ridha' [ Contentment/Acceptance ]




April, 2013

Surah Luqman, 31





................................

[  http://tafseerkoran.blogspot.com/...For Those Who Think ] was conceptualised in September last year to suit

every spectrum of people and friends and the occasional patients, all of whom,fortunately or I would think most unfortunately strayed into 

my path and orbit. In my humble estimation, after having read Ibnu Arabi, Jilani and Rumi, and somewhat incurring some level of 'permanent head damage'in the process, the terms 'lucky, fortunate or unfortunate' are really misnomers or linguistically inaccurate. ' Things 'have pretty much being predecided' a long time ago at a time before time. Indeed we are just here to be 'tested'. It is not 'what happened' that is really of interest to HIM nor the 'hows' and 'whys' !....My best guess is that 'perception' and 'acceptance' by HIS humble abdals and abdis, on what are thrown to them, that matters most. { LIFE IS A MIND GAME }. I may be wrong, but that is my current position.

If you are accusing me of being fatalistic, then you really are not fully aware about " FREE Will " and need to listen to al-Magrhoui's eminently excellent and fairly lengthy discourse on this subject matter in one of the KEY TO THE GARDEN series.

If you are those who have not reverted back to Islam, and STILL SEARCHING, then may I suggest you go to the beginning, and read the life and time of Muhammad Asad  aka Leopold Weiss, an Austrian Jew in the , QURAN: FOR THOSE WHO THINK

If you are a serious 'TRINITARIAN' , reading Surah Maryam [ Mary ], and with some degree of nonesty and sincerity you can  see  and judge for yourself, the depth and real meaning of respect  to both Mary and her son , Jesus, by us Muslims. 

Jesus Christ is a messenger of God and for us Muslims, it is the utmost blasphemy to consider him and his mother as divine. Read it with and open heart, but I must forewarn you that, if  you are sincere and read it with your 'empty cup turned right side up', you may be in trouble..... Do not listen to Surah Maryam, if you belong to those who fear to see the truth, if I may suggest.

If you already Muslim and are just starting to get friendly with the Qur'an and wanting to know more, but shy to ask, may I suggest you go right on to the beginning, start with surah al Fatihah, right thru to surah al Naziat and then on to the bigger and longer surah, starting with 'the Cow, Surah al Baqarah....'

If you are scientifically inclined and have no clue where and how to put 'evolution' and Islam  together on the same 'plate' may I suggest you go to the February 2013 site right away  for 6 hours of 'reorientation'.

But if you have 'already arrived', this humble collection of mine is not for you, but perhaps Ninowy's short lecture on LOVING THE PROPHET AND THE AHLILBAYT or his other lecture on ZIKRULLAH may still warm your hearts. Prof Hamka's " Hidup Sesudah Mati ", Shaykh Khalid Yasin's " Your Time Is up ! ", or Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki's " The Hereafter " , would be the precise reminder of the 'great equilizer' : DEATH.

Insyaallah.

I do not claim to have extra knowledge over other people. iIam just a 'simple plumber' who oftentimes get disturbed in the wee hours of the morning to 'fish' out some tired hearts at my local

hospital here in Subang. What do I do at 3 or 4 am in the morning after those 'adrenaline' pumping and surging circumstances?

I 'surf'  and 'editorialise' some major works by ulama elsewhere, and try make it readily available and readable to my friends...........while waiting for the arrival of dawn.

Enjoy youselves!

{ LIFE IS A MIND GAME }

Dr Nik Howk

http://tafseerkoran.blogspot.com/  ......{ very much a work in progress }

http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/  ........{ the angry young old man }

............................

from: rides2far@juno.com
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2013 09:09:27 +0000
To: drnikisahak@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: chronic insomniac........

Dear Dr. Nik,

You have just robbed me of sleep. :-) I read this yesterday and felt a burden for you. I am Christian and it saddens me to think what it would be like if I felt I had to earn my way into heaven through works when as humans we always fall short. To be reconciled with a perfect God requires so much more than what we flawed humans can do and we will always fall short. However, I am not good at debating such topics and I do not pursue that. But then yesterday during my devotional time I read the following. I didn't really connect it to you though, I was just appreciating the fact that it was given to me. Then this morning at 3 AM I was awakened (normally I sleep *very* well) and this verse came back to me with you in mind. I realized I may as well get up and do what I was being prodded to do so I am passing these words on to you.

Romans 5:12  New Testament

This is the apostle Paul speaking. He was a very religious leader who made a life of persecuting Christians until he was struck blind and heard Jesus confront him. He was converted and spent his life until his martyrdom trying to give others the freedom in Christ that he had been given. He had spent his life studying the Law, but he spent the rest of his life spreading the good news that Christ had fulfilled the requirements so that we aren't crushed by our inability to keep the law and earn our way into heaven...a blessed gift of assurance of salvation rather than constant fear that we will not measure up. This does not mean we are not responsible to try to do God's will as he makes clear in other chapters. Many have taken this gift and taken it for granted thinking it allows them to sin but that is all put into perspective elsewhere.

I have 30 more minutes until my alarm normally goes off. Perhaps now I can sleep. :-)

With love,

Angie McGhee

Romans 5:12-20

New Living Translation (NLT)

Adam and Christ Contrasted

¹² When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. ¹³ Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. ¹⁴ Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. ¹⁵ But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁶ And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. ¹⁷ For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. ¹⁹ Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

²⁰ God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.

......................................................................

Angie,

tqvm.

You are so kind, losing sleep over me!....other friends of mine have relegated myself to the 'spam bin' already for my being naughty sending them this kind of 'dirty' emails....

First thing first. With matters of faith  I think we owe ourselves a duty to make sure the info we are getting , is not 'doctored' or tampered by human hands and imaginative minds of sages and scholars, over period of centuries, in the name of 'God'. Our scriptures need to be validated and carefully srutinised. That is our foremost duty to ourselves, for our very own eternal salvation. 

With regards to Paulian theology, if you read enough, you will get into serious reservation, but that is besides the point.

The eternal God for all; Christians, Muslims, Jews , agnostics and even hard-core atheists;...  is a loving, Most Beneficient [ ya Rahman ] and Most Merciful God [ ya Rahim ] .

But  we Muslims also know that HE can also  be harsh, cruel and all powerful  in a negative way[ one of his name is ya Mutakabbir ], if we fail to put in Him in the proper place and perspective. Part of the proper placing and perspective of Him , was revealed by Him in surah al-Ikhlas [ 'chapter' 112 ] which says:

He is Allah, the One! (1) Allah, the eternally Besought of all! (2) He begetteth not nor was begotten. (3) And there is none comparable unto Him. (4)

In the Qur'an, is reserved one whole chapter on Mary, Jesus and the family of Zakariya [ prophet Zachariah, father of John, The Baptist ]. Surah Maryam [ Mary, mother of prophet Jesus ], one of the most beautiful surah, I must add. Prophet Jesus, if I am not mistaken, is mentioned directly by name over 15 times in the Qur'an, prophet Moses, over a hundred, and prophet Muhammad, only three or four. So much for Muahmmad, alledged to be the author of the Qur'an, as his detractors , past and present, say.

In our world now with instant connectivity, instant knowledge at the finger tip, we have no relevant excuse in not taking the step to get to know HIM better. The proviso of course is, we have to have  our 'empty glasses turned right side up'. 
[  http://tafseerkoran.blogspot.com/2012/09/turning-your-empty-glass-right-side-up.html  ]

Knowledge and information is not equal to wisdom.

This observatrion is not only relevant  in  the Christian world.  Even amongst Muslims, we have the same problem. We have false scholars and false 'saints' as well. People will remain people, right across the board: 'vested interest', they term it.

In this respect,Leopold Weiss aka Muhammad Asad, is a very inspirational individual to me, because even way back in  the 1900 something, at the 'ripe old age' of 22, he had the wisdom and courage to turn his world upside down and seek truth. He had the courage to examine the Qur'an........and the rest was history. He became the most influential European Muslim of all time, writing his magnum opus,' The Message of the Qur'an : For people Who Think'. If I may add, 'For people Who Dare To think', for we have within the Muslim ummah, ongoing several generation now, who  go around like the 'living dead'. Blind faith without knowledge....and worse still ,a late phenomena currently, knowledgeable 'Muslims' without faith. Added up together, they are a couple of a hundred millions, if not billion !

Not many Muslims read Asad nowadays, because knowledge and wisdom has taken a huge dive in the Muslim world since 7 centuries back. We collectively 'have decided'  that 'enough thinking has been done already' in centuries past, that we can afford to stop thinking.

What the heck I am saying !....the Muslims are not even reading their Qur'an, how can they be expected to read Mr  Leopold Weiss aka Muhammad Asad, a Jew !

Sorry my friend for disturbing your sleep. That to me is a good start. Losing sleep over something is a good start!

By the way, I have stop doing endurance riding...the new endurance crowd back home in Malaysia is no longer a friendly one.

Are you still riding competitively?

Take care.........

dr nik