I Sit & Look Out

One of my favourite poets of all times is Walt Whitman and besides the beautiful poems in Leaves of Grass, I absolutely adore this one;

I Sit and Look Out

I sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all
oppression and shame;
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with
themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
I see, in low life, the mother misused by her children, dying,
neglected, gaunt, desperate;
I see the wife misused by her husband--I see the treacherous seducer
of young women;
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love, attempted to be
hid--I see these sights on the earth;
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny--I see martyrs and
prisoners;
I observe a famine at sea--I observe the sailors casting lots who
shall be kill'd, to preserve the lives of the rest;
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon
laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
All these--All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look
out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.

The fact that this poem applies to this day is actually what attracted me in the first place, also, I find its simplicity and straight-forwardness makes it what it is.

Where Are We Heading To?

This recent piece of news put me on edge. If you haven’t heard about it then here;

إغلاق أو سعودة تدريس القرآن بمكة

"إغلاق أو سعودة تدريس القرآن" هما الخياران الوحيدان أمام حلقات تدريس الكتاب الكريم في منطقة المكرمة، وفقا لبرقية صادرة من إمارتها إلى مسؤولي جمعيات تحفيظ القرآن بالمنطقة، التي يتبعها عدد من المدن الرئيسية المهمة كجدة والطائف.

الرسالة خيرت تلك الجمعيات بين تعليق حلقات تحفيظ القرآن الكريم التي يديرها معلمون غير سعوديين، أو "سعودتها"، وهو ما يعرض مصير أكثر من 30 ألف طالب للمجهول، بحسب تعبير مدير أحد المراكز المسائية التابعة لجمعية قرآن جدة، فضل عدم ذكر اسمه.

The first thing that came into my mind was the word; racism. What’s the difference between a foreign teacher and a Saudi one as long as he’s/she’s serving the purpose of teaching? If it was about employment, then no, these Quran lessons do not pay that much and one only start it with his own will, as far as I know. But to come right up and give an option or you’ll close the whole thing down is insane.

I’d understand if it was about teaching in general, but when in it comes to Quran, what are your reasons? And where, if you may ask? In one of the most holiest places on earth.

لا فرق بين عربي او اعجمي الا بالتقوى

أليست التقوى مقياس التفاضل عند الله, وبالتالي ليس من حقنا نحن البشر ان نقوم بعمل كهذا؟

I'm utterly disappointed about where we're heading to with our actions and I can't imagine what I'd do without my Syrian Quran teacher.

New Lifestyle

While being stuck at traffic the other day, I asked my aunt what she'd want her little daughter to be when she grow up and she replied with '7afi'9a lelQuran'. I told her that I meant a future occupation and she said 'That doesn't matter, I mentioned what matters eventually'. I was silent, contemplating the beauty of the few words she uttered.

Reaching my freind's house for the Quran lesson, I met my turning-point when the after-lecture that followed the recitation of the Quran discussed 3 main things; Are we really obeying Allah's words, following the Prophet's steps and respecting our parents? Through answering these questions between myself, I realized there's more to life than my current lifestyle; going to school, coming back, doing homework, watching TV, reading, writing and praying five times a day. There's much more than that and I need to opt a change.

Life's full of pleasures which keep us away from the significant tasks we’re supposed to do instead; like preparing for the after-life.

قال تعالى

اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا وَفِي الْآَخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُور

سورة الحديد ~ الآية رقم 20

Hence, I started learning the quran and thankfully, I’m blessed to have realized that I can only depend completely on my memory when it comes to memorizing Quran verses than the hard time I spend in learning school materials and thinking that I’m a short-memory holder.

قال رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم :
يقال لصاحب القرآن : اقرأ و ارتق و رتل كما كنت ترتل في دار الدنيا فإن منزلتك عند آخر آية كنت تقرؤها

Now, I truly believe the saying ‘If there’s a will, there’s a way’.

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اللهم حفظنا القرآن كما تحفظه الملائكة
واستعملنا واشغلنا واكفنا به عمن سواه لوجهك الكريم