Vol. 3 No. 9 Shabān 1419/December 1998
What will they say?
Now for a moment imagine, your obituary. What will the people say? As they are walking from your fresh grave, how quickly will you be forgotten?
After doing some, or all of the above, How many of us will reflect upon seeking the pardon of those we have harmed? Harm is by omission and commission. Those that we have harmed by our tongue, in their presence or their absence; those whose character we have thrown mud on; those who have been denied their fair due.
In addition to this, will we reflect upon the values and virtues we are leaving behind? To what extent are we leaving behind a legacy of sound values? Whilst we take every precaution to leave behind sufficient material provisions for our near and dear ones - what legacy of values, what inheritance of virtue are we bequeathing?
Many of us will pass on a particular skill of this or that to our children, many others will teach them a trick or two about survival in the world, others will impress upon their children the benefit of their experience and the way of the world... but how many of us will leave for his child knowledge that will regulate his behaviour that will protect him, and certainly in belief that will carry him.
If we as parents, do not bequeath enduring values - then no one will do it for us. Our tensions, our stress ... even our hypocrisy and dual standards we apply, are passed on to our children. You can not hide much from a child, for sooner or later, the role model of yourself will be tested. Consider the worldview expressed by the famous sufi, Hatim al Assam"
"I came to realise that my sustenance will not be consumed by anyone other than myself, so I should not be concerned about it;
I came to realise that my work will not be done by anyone other than myself so I must be busy about it;
I came to realise that death may come suddenly and unexpectedly, so I must not waste time to forestall it;
I came to realise that I am in the sight of Allāh Ta'āla in every condition and circumstance, so I must behave with due modesty under His Gaze."
What if three years of time is reduced to three days ... or even three hours? How different will our reaction be? After all, when we pause and reflect on our life we realise that yesterday is but a date in history; tomorrow is just a hopeful expectation - today is the only day we have, therefore today is an opportunity and a time for action! If Yesterday is a caution and Tomorrow a risk - Today, is all you have!
Enduring values cannot be ingrained in the psyche of our children in just one day - but if Today is the opportune time, and Tomorrow the follow through, and our conduct a living example of those values - then three years or three hours will not matter, because the most enduring legacy of beautiful conduct in your child, will reap continuous reward for you in your qabr.
No praiseworthy obituary of yourself will equal the praiseworthy values that your inheritor will carry within him. No amount of brief praise from your mourners will rival the rich legacy of praiseworthy values you instill in your child - and if this is not done, even thirty years before you meet your death, will not be sufficient time!
Sudan |
Former US President Jimmy Carter urged Sudan and the United States to conduct a full investigation into whether a Khartoum factory destroyed by US missiles was making ingredients for chemical weapons as Washington charged. |
"The Sudanese government has called upon the United Nations or any other authoritative agency to send a qualified technical team to investigate the nature of the facility," Carter said. |
| "Despite early American reluctance to support this request, His something that now needs to, be done," he said. |
Carter said many foreign leaders have questioned the US claim that the El Shifa factory, which, was bombed on August 20 by US cruise missiles in retaliation, for terrorist attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, was manufacturing Empta, a key ingredient of the deadly VX nerve agent. |
Sudan's President Omar Hassan al Bashir accused Washington last week of blocking the UN Security Council from sending a fact-finding mission to verify Sudanese claims that the plant did not make chemical weapons. |
A senior Sudanese official was also quoted as saying last week that the Khartoum government wanted the United States to 'publicly admit' that the attack on the plant was a mistake and to pay compensations. |
Floods: A test of faith for Bangladeshis |
Dhaka - in Bangladesh, where most people hold Islam close to their hearts, deadly floods are posing a tough test of faith. |
Messages daubed on walls around the capital Dhaka urge weary residents to keep faith in Allāh and not give up or panic despite two months of flooding which has submerged 75% of the country and claimed at least 750 lives. |
Tahfuj-e-Harmine Bangladesh, a religious political organisation, has called on people to seek forgiveness from God during the flooding which it describes as a curse. With mosques in flood-hit districts nearly all submerged, people are holding prayers on boats or from roof-tops. Clerics, wade through chest-high water before climbing up minarets to make their daily call for prayers. |
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