An Insight to Eternity

This month is the month of Rajab according to Islamic calendar. It is one of three special months in sequence of Rajab, Sya'ban and Ramadan. It is so very special that the great prophet Muhammad SAW had taught special prayer in relation to these months that is Allohumma bariklana fii rajabin, wa sya'bana wa ballighna ramadhan. It means O Allah bless us with the coming of Rajab, and Sya'ban and meet us (again) with Ramadan.

In another hadith it was related that Rajab is considered the month of ALLAH, Sya'ban is considered the month of MUHAMMAD and Ramadan is the month of ALLAH. As my spiritual master summarized them, these three month is an expression months of the words Laa ilaaha illah ALLAH, MUHAMMAD rasul ALLAH. And the great sufi Syaikh Abd Qadir al Gilani interpreted this special month of Rajab based on its letter, they are ra' for the Rahmatullah (The Mercy of Allah), Jim for Judullah (The Generosity of Allah) and Ba' for Biirullah (The Kindness of Allah).

As I previously had written "An Insight to Sincerity", I was thinking its significance in this month. Because of all the spiritual practice taught to be practiced this month, they're all in relation to surah Al Ikhlas (Sincerity or Purity). And one time, during his discourse he gave a remark about one of the attribute of Allah that is also mentioned in this surah, it is the attribute of Ash-Shomad. And he mentioned that it is an attribute that is very difficult to describe yet he didn't explain it any further.

And I can't help myself but feeling intrigued by his remark and try to seek some understanding to this word that is by relying to Self Knowledge and Self Nature to grasp its original meaning and experience its truth.


Interpreting Ash-Shomad

The word Ash Shomad is translated in english as 'Eternal' while in bahasa Indonesia is translated as 'tempat bergantung' literally means a thing to rely on. If you compare the two, they are unrelated, aren't they?

And even if we assume that ash-shomad have the meaning of eternal and reverse it back to arabic, we then will have two words, they are al-baqi and ash-shomad which both are the attributes of Allah.
Even to translate the word in following the indonesian translation as a thing to rely on isn't quite correct. Because right away our mind will imagine that as Ash-Shomad Allah is the one that we can rely on to fulfill our wish and needs that if we need protection He will provide it, if we need food He will provide it (just like the story to describe this attributes that is related to Jesus and his disciples). But it isn't quite right either. Because the proper attribute for that will be He is the Provider of All.

As I searched for interpretation given to the word ash-shomad in the 2nd verse based on its original language, I found four given interpretation as stated by Ibnul Jauziy in a book of Zaadul Masiir. First is that Allah As-Sayid (the Leader) to which all creatures depend to in fulfilling their wishes following the word of Ali bin Abi Tholhah and 'Ikrimah related to Ibnu Abbas RA. Second is that Allah don't have abdomen following the interpretation of Ibnu Mas'ud, Ibnu Abbas, Sa'id bin Al Musayyib, Mujahid, Abdullah bin Buraidah, 'Ikrimah, Sa'id bin Jubair, 'Atho' bin Abi Robbah, 'Athiyyah Al 'Awfiy, Adh Dhohak dan As Sudi. Third is that Allah is The Eternal. Fourth is that Allah is ever immortal as all creatures are mortal related to the interpretation given by Al Hasan and Qotadah. Further interpretation as mentioned in
http://rumaysho.com/belajar-islam/tafsir-al-quran/2954-memahami-surat-al-ikhlas-sepertiga-al-quran.html


Understanding Eternity

As I read through the explanation of Eternal and Eternity in wikipedia (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternity#God_and_eternity) I can't help myself to wonder and question how could it be that we are uncertain about the true state of the word. I mean logically there shouldn't be any words that ever exist in the history of mankind, without we know the true state of it.

I can understand the possibility of the extinction of the language because people no longer used it. But the extinction of the language doesn't mean that people can no longer communicate to express something. We still can communicate using another language that is commonly used. People keep evolving in the usage of language, because they have need to communicate.

Is our understanding of Eternity
limited to that?

But as the content of their communication become narrowing to the mundane words, the choice of words to be remembered and understood are getting limited. Some words that they don't really grasp the true state of them can only be understood its meaning but not its reality. This is the general situation that had made the great prophet Muhammad SAW made his prophecy that said "there would come a time that the Holy Scriptures would be left in words without meaning" for their true essence had gone from the heart of their readers. And I think this remarks in a way happen to the word eternity for the scarcity of people in knowing its reality.

Can we still understand its true meaning in the fast changes that going on in our life? I think there is still possibility for that. As Allah had taught the children of Adam the words in the realm of spirit [QS 2:31], we all have the potential ability to understand them. The whole knowledge that was taught is preserved within the children of Adam. In its greatness the container have been made in such a way that we can compare it to the giant tree that its potential greatness is preserved in a tiny seed. By the grace of Allah, it is then up to us to explore and give chance for our seed to manifest its greatness.

How shall we understand and grasp the true state of eternity? Certainly by using the faculty that is given to us. Can we use our mind to understand its true state? Here is the unique case. There are words that are derived from the knowledge of the mind and there are words that are derived from the knowledge of the heart. And the word like eternal or eternity comes from the knowledge of the heart. So to understand it we need to use our heart to grasp its reality.


Experiencing Eternity

As the philosophical point of view is given to the word Eternity, there are two possibility given to it. One is that it is given based on ideas of the mind and two is it is given based on real experience of the heart.

In fulfilling the wish to experience Eternity

The one that is based on the ideas of the mind is certainly having its wide range of explanation to back it up, like the one used in wikipedia. How can I figure it out? From the uncertainty of its answer. This is because the mind never understand or know the concept of eternal or eternity. All the source of its knowledge is based on something that isn't eternal i.e. the ever changing world and its contents. Anything that these eyes can see or these ears can hear or this nose can smell or this body can touch is subjects to change. Nothing is eternal in this world. So the mind make their own conclusion that nothing is eternal but the change itself. But then what kind of change? The mind can't explain it further.

When the point of view is given from experience of the heart then the statement given is clear and simple. Because understanding that is based on experience is ever valid. And as children of Adam had been taught the words and its reality, we all should understand the word eternal and its reality. However such is not the case.

If truly people understand the reality of The Eternal either we write it in capital or small letter, they will not go through all the turmoil with the ups and downs that going on in their life. Unless they wish their ups and downs is to be eternal. But that will be very painful and real hell, because it is against the true nature of human being.

Some people who indulge on sexual pleasure said that the experience of orgasm is like eternity in itself. Well, this is the case that I don't have any saying because I have no experience to validate their opinion. But then if the experience of eternity can only be achieved through sexual intercourse without having correct foundation, I am afraid the act of copulation will not give any spiritual elevation but rather stay in carnal and biological fulfillment, no better than animals in releasing their biological needs.

And some people who take an extreme life like yogi said that to experience eternity we need to abandon this world and be absorbed in the unity with the universal power that created the world. I would say that would be such a waste and a sign of ignorant. For this world is created for mankind and to serve mankind. I prefer to take the middle path following the best example of prophet Muhammad SAW.

To experience eternity in my opinion should be directed to the elevation of spiritual growth. Not only in term of knowing our Self Nature but most importantly knowing our Creator. Because in it we will then be taught to employ that knowledge to live our life eternally.


Eternal Life


People had wished to live eternally for as long as the history can tell. The mummy is the living proof to that wish, from Maya civilization to Pharaoh to Chinese civilization. The wish of eternal life, as it met its ending by their death was then manifested in the mummy creation.

The idea of eternal to the mind

This then lead us to question if eternal life indeed exists for human being what it would truly be. And I guess there is no better one to answer that question but the one entitled The Eternal, that is Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And what did HE tell us about eternal life? In defending the rights of living peacefully in the way of Allah, many martyrs had died and the thought of their death, of how they were after that had been answered. Allah had said "And do not say about those who are killed in the way of Allah , "They are dead." Rather, they are alive, but you perceive [it] not." [QS 2:154]

So eternal life isn't about being alive in this physical world that is undergoing a lot of changes. I mean I can't imagine that I would ever survive at the age of let say 200years old where my physical body is getting frail and I'm getting weaker and weaker as time eating my body away. At that moment I know I would rather be dead than being a burden to my family or others.

Kabir expressed his experience of eternity in his song of Kabir :
BETWEEN the poles of the conscious and the unconscious, 
there has the mind made a swing:
Thereon hang all beings and all worlds, and that swing never ceases its sway.
Millions of beings are there: the sun and the moon in their courses are there:
Millions of ages pass, and the swing goes on.
All swing! the sky and the earth and the air and the water; and the Lord Himself taking form:
And the sight of this has made Kabîr a servant.

So eternal life is about awakening the true state of eternity within us while living in this life. Once it is awakened the mortal one will be affected and will naturally try to attach itself to the Eternal. And once it is attached to the Eternal, the state of living being is different. This is where we can then understand why Ibn Mubarak RA gave interpretation as previously mentioned as well as ibn Abbas RA. Their interpretation is based on the after effect of testifying the Eternal. For the true meaning of Allohush shomad is that.


Eternity vs Boredom

Yesterday I had a chance to replace a teacher with subject to teach is on motivation. At first I thought I would share a thought of organization but then as I started talking with them, I switched to the basic. As one needs motivation to fight against something that is going on inside of them, I started the subject by asking them why they needed motivation. So they gave lists of inner state where they felt the need to be motivated, and the came up with ten negative adjectives as their reasons. And the top list was boring, boredom, bored.

External fulfillment of the boredom

Again, I asked them why they got bored. And the answers came with the four situation they faced, they are monotonous situation, plain situation, no variation and frequent encounter. These four situations basically are alike. And before I pointed out my point of views, I further asked them, how they usually respond to their boredom. And they gave a varieties of responds from looking for entertainments, eating, sleeping, chatting, changing environments, changing almost anything including their boyfriends or girlfriends. And when one of the boys mentioned about praying, fasting, dzikr (remembrance) most of his friends were laughing and I had to asked them to confirm whether it was true or not. They said that they hardly or even never do that. It was such a sad statement, when obviously they study in islamic school where they're taught the subject of Islam as way of life.

So based on their answers, I then directed my questions to hopefully awaken their consciousness in looking into the subject of boredom. And I asked them if they ever got bored with the monotonous rhythm of their breath. I asked them if they ever got bored with the plainness of water that they drink. Not surprisingly their answer was no they didn't. And I asked them who they encountered the most in their life. Their answer was their own selves. And as I asked them if they ever got bored, the answer was no they didn't. So I asked them again WHY? And here is where their minds started to come up with their own ideas.

And here is my point about eternity versus boredom find its significance. Because most people love the idea of eternity and they wish for it especially to be in paradise eternally but they can't stand the state of boredom. So where this boredom come from? So I have to tell them that it come from the mind. The mind has played tricks to them. The mind has enslaved them to the beauty of this ever changing world that they have forgotten the true nature of the heart and thus the greatness of Allah.

As I pointed out that the very thing that should be the cure of their boredom has been abandoned is a sign of something wrong in the way their set their life. For if it is true that the believe and trust in the words of Allah as their Lord, their God then they should be the one to testify the truth within the Quran that said "alaa bi dzikrillahi tat mainnul quluub" by remembering Allah surely the heart finds its peace. And once the heart finds its peace, will it ever be in the state of boring being in peace? Such will never happen. For it is the nature of the heart to be in peace.

For if truly paradise is eternal, will those bored expression ever exist there?

And how is the state of peace? The very things that cause the mind to get bored is the one in which the heart find its contentment. And people who got caught up in the turmoil of the mind and the world through their five senses they indulged themselves in will never understand this.

And they will never understand the reality of Eternity. For them eternity is just a nice idea to think of, something they can use as a commercial label like perfume but not the reality of it. Because if it ever manifests in their life, they will freak out. So it is of great mercy that Allah said that "And whoever is blind in this [life] will be blind in the Hereafter and more astray in way." [QS 17:72]. Because if they ever truly know the reality of that which they have rejected all their life while living in this world, they will suffer even more in regretting their ignorance.

May Allah open up our inner sight to see the Truth and be eternally in joy for having it.

A Place Where I Belong

On my way to town to catch the bus to another city, the rider who took me there commented about me having many homes in different cities. So I felt that I needed to correct her about that. Because in reality I have no home that I can say belong to me. Those homes that I visit aren't mine. They're someone else's house. They're my mother's, my friend's, my boss's and anyone else.

Because I know they're not mine, in a way I treat those houses like a hotel to me. It means that it become a place for me to rest before making another journey. To enjoy the moment and feel at home, I consciously try to present my whole self wherever I am.

And one time I question myself about how to have the feeling of belonging, for it seemed that feeling is getting more and more alien to me.

Hug is a healer to reconnect the soul

Last time when my mother was around, I could always say that if I was going away I had always had someone that I could return to. I would return home to her. For she was the heart and the home that I knew I belonged to her. But then after she died, I felt like a kite with a broken thread that fly freely in the sky. The only hands that control my motion is the hands of Allah. Certainly it is the most steady hands I can always rely on.

However, I don't know why the question of the feeling of belonging come back to me again. Like the other night. As I waited for my staff to pick me up in the bus station after two hours flight from another island up west of Indonesia, a wish flashed in my mind that there would be someone who would worry and care about me being on the roads late at night going somewhere, someone that would stop my recklessness in ignoring my personal needs and care for my welfare and safety even though everything is alright, someone that would give me hug - lots of big bear hugs that will envelop me with humanly love and care for me. Someone that would be a brake to my restless motion because he is given the authority by Allah when he take me as his wife.

For that someone who can give me that, I know I will find my feeling of belonging. Because even the great prophet Muhammad SAW needed assurance that he was loved and had that place and feeling of belonging. And he had that from his wife, Khadijah bint Khuwailid RA. The history said that after he SAW received the first revelation, he was in such a state of shocked that he returned home from the cave of Hira' immediately. He was shaking so hard that his wife covered him with blanket and assured him that he was alright. And as he told his experience to his wife, she again assured him that it wasn't madness, for he was a good man and that she believed him and trust his words for he was incapable of lying much that he'd known as al-amiin, the trust-worthy. All that is a sign of compassion given by Allah - The Most Compassionate through the compassion and loving one, Khadijah bint Khuwailid RA to her beloved husband, Muhammad SAW.

If he SAW as a man needed that assurance from someone else and received it from his loving wife, I think I -as a woman- certainly need that and deserve to receive that from someone entitled as husband. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. After all, that feeling exist isn't from my mind. As I pushed away the thought that flashed through my mind for the sake of pride and false argument that said it was a sign of weakness, the feeling keeps coming back. It comes to surface from somewhere deep within. So I figure that it is from Allah, to lead me and guide me to the person that can fulfill it.

While preparing myself to welcome that someone into my life, I shall be and I am grateful for what is given to me now. I have no complain of this life. It's only a wish and I think anyone is alright to make a wish.

O Allah, innaka laa tuflihul mii aad.