Once upon a time in the land of Waryaa! an African lad had come down with a strange virus. He was so bad that his whole body ached. His hearing was impaired even though he was not technically deaf. His vision was not spared, suffering from a host of issues: insensitivity, lack of foresight; want of basic intelligence; shortness of temper; memory lapses; and the chronic habit of enjoying Pain; to name a few. Wacky noises emitted from his mouth and all the family could make out from the noise was a rather strange phrase that continuously poured from the lad's interiors:
la qabil ilaa qabilii!
la qabil ilaa qabilii!
la qabil ilaa qabilii!
His family sought help from far and wide and tried everything from state of the art drugs to traditional concoctions. Having combed in vain all the big cities of the world in their search for cure, they were eventually led to a Chinese doctor who operated from the tiny Island of Singapore.
In desperation the family flew the patient to Singapore where the doctor diagnosed the patient as a victim of Self-induced-Selfishness -Syndrome (SSS).
This is a very serious pandemic, a killer disease, as destructive to the human immune system as it is to the social fabric.
Doctor said, The only difference between this killer disease and the AIDS virus is that an AIDS victim understands the gravity of the problem and would do anything to relieve himself of the pain.
In desperation, Doctor poured down the patient's throat a Singaporean miracle drink, but to Doctor's sorrow, the patient simply regurgitated the same strange sounds:
La qabil ila Qabilii!
la qabil ilaa qabilii!
La qabil ila Qabilii!
Doctor was exasperated, The same old African gibberish, isn't it? he shook his head, and there was sorrow and real concern in his voice. You know what? In Singapore, we take our diversity very seriously. That is why our community is able to function.
I did everything I could , he added, but lets face it you can take a cow to a watering place but you can't force it to drink. This is one difficult nut to crack. Patient is not responding to therapy. He is not even trying. I suggest you bring him back when he has had enough of the pain.
Many years had passed and with it any hope of ever curing the ailing son. Until, one fine day an old Sheikh stopped by the family home where the patient was tethered like a he-camel to a tree in the family courtyard.
For how long has he been like this? The Sheikh asked.
Many, many years, replied the family. We have tried everything and now, there he is, chained, a mad man. His friends have deserted him, and his enemies are laughing at him.
Why are his hands tied behind him ? the Sheikh asked.
Poor man, he is afraid of shaking hands with his neighbors.
And his legs? why are they tethered to that flimsy branch?
We are afraid he might harm himself, or someone else, if let loose
As he took in the scene of desperation around him the old Sheikh scratched his head. He was deep in thought, the family home was in total collapse, a pot holed wall decorated the courtyard...there wasn't even a decent place for a guest to rest his tired bones. For the first time in years he was sure his cure would fall on receptive ears.
I think I can help, he said finally, disentangling his fingers from the remaining tufts on his skull and inviting himself to a spot to lean on on the familys pot-holed wall.
The family was excited, for the first time in years since that debacle at the Chinese doctors clinic, a glimmer of hope, Please Sheikh! Please! Anything is better than the state he is now. Anything. Please help us cure our son.
Untie the man! the Sheikh ordered.
The family looked at each other, how could they untie him from the branch...when that was all that held him to the tree of life?
Untie the man from the branch? We can not do that! He will get lost!
No, he won't, if you would let him be and stopped treating him like a beast....Untie the man! And let him say: I am a person (20 times) while I write a proper prescription.
But how will he survive if he became a person?
He shall survive, but first he must realize he is a person. An individual with unique God-given faculties, and not a Fool among fools!
In a second the Sheikh was writing the prescription while he kept his eyes fixed on the humming patient.
And this is what he wrote:
Against the herd mentality:
Let the patient say, I am a person: (100 times daily for 100 days until he gets used to himself. After that 20 times, daily).
To resuscitate the conscience:
Let the patient say: (I am sorry for endangering my humanity 100 times daily for 100 days----after that, he should add----and I am happy to be human again, once, daily).
To calm the nerves:
Let the patient say, Assalamu alaikum! every time he meets his fellow Muslim brother and neighbor on the road.
To relax the hands:
Patient must stretch his hands in front of the mirror 30 times daily) and once outdoors let patient keep his hands where his neighbors can see so they do not become unduly frightened of him.
To walk on the earth without causing harm to himself or others:
Patient must remind himself of death and accountability to his Lord. In doing so, he should let his imagination do the mental exercise of visualizing the ugly features of bad conduct in the grave (100 times daily).
La qabil ila Qabilii , Mother of all ills, to be replaced with
La Ilaha ila Allah!
Second half of the shahada* Muhamadan Rasululah must wait, wrote the Sheikh, until patient was in such a position of advance health that he was able to appreciate the noble characteristics of the holy Prophet.
The family was elated and they thanked Allah. This was a major breakthrough, a major breakthrough in medicine!
La Ilaha ila Allah!
La ilaha ila Allah!
La ilaha ila Allah!
What a marvelous medication! We really do not know how to repay you. Thank you Sheikh!
Make this a team work, The Sheikh said, Team-work, that should cure us all.
Team work? Us? All of us?
Yes! Us! All of us!
La ilaha ila Allah!
La ilaha ila Allah!
La ilaha ila Allah!
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Notes: (a):
*Shahada: The declaration of faith is a treaty between Allah the Maker and his slave. By testifying to the Oneness of Allah the Most High, the only One worthy of Worship, the believer binds himself to his Lord willingly and sincerely, and to the detriment of his base desires, adopts values that befit a sincere servant of Allah. By acknowledge the last messenger of Allah as the perfect example the believer further declares to follow in the footsteps of this blessed human being in all his dealings and manners. The believers course of action henceforth becomes one of obedience to Allah and His Messenger.
And they said, we hear and we obey (Q:2:285)
Now what we see in Somalia is a total lack of responsibility towards Allah and his Messenger, and a clear deviation from the peaceful teachings of prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon his holy personality: Instead of peace we have wars and conflict, in place of love and brotherhood, enmity and hatred for fellowman. Ignorance and desperation instead of hope and forward thinking. And as is usual with all such crazy conflicts, it's the innocent, the children and the women who pay the price.
O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life; and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is He to Whom ye shall (all) be gathered. (Q:8:24)
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Notes (b) :
Singapore is not only neat and spotlessly clean, its people, though diverse, are mature adults who understand what it means to belong to one nation. A teacher I spoke to when I first arrived in that city in early Nineties told me that although this is predominantly a non-Muslim community the rules that govern people's lives are basically Islamic. Over the years I have come to realize this to be true . Values that you would associate with Islam and Muslims are found there: Honesty, benevolent leadership, obedient citizens, cleanliness, transparency, law and order, forward thinking, peaceful co-existence, pride in nationhood, sacredness of life, punctuality, pragmatism, resourcefulness, basically, great Islamic values and qualities that are absent from Muslim societies such as ours are practiced in Singapore
Singapore is a tiny Island, the only way they can expand is to either build upwards or by reclaiming land from the sea. When it comes to natural resources the only resources Singapore boasts of is her people, the people of the land. Hence, no efforts are spared in educating and taking care of this resource. The people of the land are a cherished commodity without which there would be no Singapore as we know it.
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