16/8/11 MY LAILATUL QADAR DISCOVERY

Lailatul Qadar is a period of Allah full blessing of one pray. It happens from the 21st to the last of the fasting month of Ramadhan. This is a period, for the Muslim, especially among the Malays, they take this period seriously by as much as possible not to miss the fasting and all related ibadat. The Malays believe these are the days whereby Allah for sure will grant one with what he want or need. I need to read more on these soon. In my childhood days, we used to stay late at night to listen to my grandma younger brother reciting all sorts of good deed stories such as Hikayat Siti Zubaidah, Musang Berjanggut, Laila Majnun, etc. Or sometimes my dad will take us to sit by the open verandah and watch the skies with millions of twinklng stars and talk about how we should always help each others.

Searching for Lailatul Qadar

Just like many other years, my first Ramadhan is always marked by a travelling. I travelled because of official or even on personal matter. I love to travel during Ramadhan to decept myself from all those being feeling lazy, sleepy, hungry, and thirsty. To me the full blessing of Allah of one fasting is not merely about fufilling the need of the Ramadhan ibadat, but to include as well one ability to carry on with his duties and responsibilities as usual or even better.

(2) This year, as I have placed in my earlier entries, I made a soul searching to rural Bandung during the first three days of Ramadhan. The trip really had left a deep cut in my heart to see how a poor family being ignored of their suffering. Even a person such as me, became so helpless and indifferent to their plight. I realised, I'm still weak in my stance to really be with the poor, the disadvantage. There are still many of them out there, which we, especially me, just ignored. How then we could dream of sitting next to Muhammad SAW, in heaven, if we choose to be forever as such? There is a saying about Muhammad SAW; If one wants to love him, love then the orphan and the poor.....

(3) Now I'm travelling into Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. My interest is to keep my concern of the poor and disadvantage burning high, and alhamdullilah from the first day I left, I found this books: The Healing Code and The Secret Language of Your Body. My starting travelling day was in fact the first of the Lailatul Qadar days. I'm not saying that I have got Allah inauguration on the Rahmat of Lailatul Qadar, but who could aslo can deny so, and I believe these two books had something to do with all my previous readings and thinking about how to keep one healthy and happy. It is not a mere coincident. It has it purpose. Thus, if one care to notice, when I pray for someone, I used to pray for their health and sustenance strength to serve Him the best. The long hours journey either by plane, bus or train gave me the chance to sit back and recall all my previous readings and thinking about my always going cencern: the health.

Threat to Health

Many years, and even some months back, I had fallen in loves. Many times in love. Signifying I'm still alive and a normal human being. I had fallen into real deep loves. Thus far I had not succeed to gain one. In instances I failed. Deadly failed. In some it was just a hanging affair. No conclusion. Either way, it was a very frustrating one. It caused my emotional instability. It caused me my mental imbalance. The down the road effect was my health. There are times I can't sleep well, which caused my mind not as sharp and alert as I used. There are times I got flu, then I got chest pain. I then cough alot, my muscle became strained, even my voice change. Occasionally my chest strike a deep cut-feeling, that made me wobder and even worry more. There are times I got headache, thus I need to leave from work. My whole nerve seem malfunctioning. I some times want to tumble. There are times my tummy becoming upset. There are times I bleed. There are times I became lethargic, sleepy, lazy, demoralised. Why?

(5) Those are personal and private life. But social personal affair seem not to be in the right track as well. Some of my personal businesses in my Village were not working to my expectation. I spent lots of money to build and sustain the businesses. My intend was not only to make money, but most are to help those needies. The return was not good. I can't expand as I wish. The workers seem not responsible enough to realise all those are for their long term welfare. They are my close relatives. They seem to betrayed me. Some works just simply failed and caused me lots of money to rectify or rebuild.

(6) Professionally, lots of thing were moving too slow. Multi facets challenge came into play. Indifferent characters were building up. Organizational dyfunction began to accrue. Too much hinderance seem to block along the way. I became impatient. My heart then get the nerve.

(7) All those mounted up to more and more presure onto my emotion and intelligent. I tried to fight back. I tried to regain controlled. But I can see, I'm not making much progress. I can feel my body becaming weaker. Strain and itching all over the places. My weight increasing beyond my desired level. These are not good. I tried to make personal diagnosis. I decided to travel. Travel alone. I believe, travelling always gives me ideas. Thus I made this trip, searching along the way of myself. First thing first, I must keep my health to the best. I have a dream to stay till the age of 125 years old, meaning I want to be around, productive, for the next 74 years. I need to contribute more. More than what I have done. More and faster in fact. With my present state of degrading health, I won't be able to carry myself far.

Health Is The Asset

In my readings about Muhammad SAW private life, the books did mentioned that the priority asset of Muhammad SAW was his health. With good health, Muhammad SAW believe, the rest would be taken care vis the poor will be happy if he is healthy, and the have will be much happier if his health is in great shape.

(2) Health was his concern, thus he was careful about his foods, drinks, works, sleep, rest, excercise, and meditation. He kept his daily life under strict controlled. Most profoundingly, his emotional level was superiorly cool and stable.
But than don't ask me why he passed away at a young age, ie 65 years old? The anwser to that are many, but that is His right to take when He loves.

The Heart Is The Root Factor

The two books that I bought at MPH prior to my flight to Hatyai, are talking about one needs to work for a good health. In the Al Quran, clearly stating that: "There is a lump of flesh in our body, if that flesh is sick, then the whole body will be sick...". That flesh is nothing other than the Heart. These two books talked alot about the role of the heart in sustaining or inflicting sickness to a person. It was quoted that Solomon over 3,000 years ago did also mentioned that the heart is the root cause of human sickness.

(2) My previous reading of the Javanese Leadership Values, the profounding characteristic of a leader or even a person is his ability to control his heart. The heart gives rise to the feel of want. A want is classified as not necessarily as a need. As long as one only interested to fulfill a want, then there will be a serious risk he may fall trap into the course of nafsu or greed. Want lead to greed. Greed lead to destruction.

(3) A witch is always asociated with black heart. The witch used to dress in black which signifies her heart is black. Black heart is a destructive heart. It is evil, weird, nasty, cruel, and name it, all those bad characters. Thus, when Muhammad SAW was to be tasked to spread Islam in a much open manner, Allah firstly clean up his heart with the Zam-zam water. The holly ghost father open up his chest, and washed his heart before he ascended to get his command direct from Allah in heaven. All these, signifies the prime position of the heart in human life.

(4) In the Japanese society, wisdom come with one ability to clearly judges between want and need. Thus, that is the very reason why in Japan, the leaders are always the elderly generation. Wisdom come with age. A leader aged 60 years old is considered young in Japan. Wisdom is also about the ability to listen to the inner feeling of the heart. Prof. Hamka stated this in many of his writings.

A Want and A Need

Let me now focus my writing on the need to manage our heart ie basically to make ourselves clear of which is a want or desire as against a need or requirement. Let make a simple understandable example. Take myself as a case in hand. At this position and point in time, I need a woman to be my wife, a life partner. But what values or characteristics must this woman posses? Here comes the dilema of want and need. The basic need will be a woman, a woman whom can go along with me both bio-physically and psychologically. Thus she must understand my struggle, my life risk and willing to be there come shinning or rainy days. It must also be seriously noted that a marriage is about building a family to sustain the struggle, to carry on with the unfinished responsibilities. Thus my need is a woman who can carry herself, bio-physically compatible, plus able to bear healthy kid(s). These are simple three words, but they have deeper and broader meaning.

(2) On the other hand, as a man, I love to have great woman. Thus the issue of choice of being pretty, young, educated, good social standing, religious, nice build, etc coming into play. Many people term this as I'm choosy. In fact all those are my wants a feeling, urge by a desire (burning sometimes) of having a better choice. Want is always about having or getting something better. In some instances its a matter of fulfilling an ego, being proud to have say young beautiful wife or handsome wealthy husband.

(3) In life, theoritically, great to have our want and need being both fulfill. Go ahead if we can afford it. But the main concern here is that, our want sometimes make us suffer. Especially when want has turned into greed. Thus, a choice need to be made between what is wanted over what is needed.

(4) In actual fact, a simple acid test can be done to differentiate between a want and a need. The simplest form would be the possiblity of trading off. Say, between beauty to pleasant or even just nice, could there be a trade-off. Say, if beauty can be trade-off with pleasant looking, then, beauty is a want rather a need. Surely, one's look has something to do with ones urge for close proximity relationship. Marriage is always about the need for a close proximity relationship. In another word, one's look carries one's chemistry. Islam made it very clear when it says: Your woman or man is your cloth and she or he is your farmland.

(5) Thus, from this analogy, one should now be able to figure out that need is always associated with moderate consideration of choice while want is all about wanting extra better, probably perfection. Need fulfill the basic requirement of a purpose or an objective. Nonetheless, it is nothing seriously wrong about having the want. A want could push a person to work harder to gain what he believe he must have, except it may poses an unecessary pressure or stress onto the person. That pressure, sometime is costly. Can he or she take it then? If can, he must then pursue it hard! If no, he must change his or her course.

System Imbalanced the Caused

The brain is our Central Nervous System (CNS). It is the human CPU. It has two part with distinct function, the major part is the ANS or Automatic Nervous System. This system, control 99.9 percent of our body activities vis digestion, growth, healing, pumping of the heart, etc. This part is called the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). Then there is the other lesser system called the Sympathetic Nerous System (SNS). It is the Emergency System that being triggered in moment of critical event vis fear, anger, pain, etc.

(2) Both system work in the antagosnistic way. If the SNS is functioning, then PNS stop or reduced. One of the key purpose of PNS is to regulate the synthesis of energy in the body, ie basically to ensure good release of hormones, then proper release of enzymes by our organs and glands to enable say the digestion of our food. Digestion is necessary not only to supply the energy needed by our various cells to grow but as well as to rejuvenate. Thus PNS build and maintain our body system into good state. Millions of cells are destroyed and rebuilt in a day of human life. All these building, repairing and elimination need lots of energy. That is why human need to constantly eat. To keep his body system in a stable good state. This good state level keep us healthy.

(3) Nonetheless in time of fear for instance, the SNS will triger the brain to divert the PNS system to be placed on halt. All the energy generated by the PNS now need to be diverted and consolidated to be used to face the coming fear or challenge, vis running fast in time of fear, say chased by a bulldog. At the same time, since the PNS function is placed on hold, then the energy build up will be greatly affected. If such case happen in longer time, then the body will be deprived of generating sufficient energy for it to function as normal. Basically, the long feeling of fear or any form of distress will exhausted our needed energy. Thus this will deteriorate all our Automated System. Our growth, our maintenance and defense will be badly affected.

(4) Basically, if our SNS and PNS are not working in balance, then our body will suffer. We suffer because if the PNS is prolong to be distrupted, then our energy supplies for growth and maintenance of body system will fail. This failure lead to many sickness. The reason is very simple, because our immune system is short of energy supply, just like when a power plant doesn't function well, the factory have to close down.

(5)How then one could detect his PNS is not working well. Look into the mirror in the early morning. Did you see fresh red face? If not, ask yourself how do you feel today? How is your confident level? How at ease is your feeling? Sure the answer is...".....MMMMmmmm....not sure....oh god it is Monday again!"

(6) Name it. In fact almost all sickness in our body is due to the imbalanced mechanism of the SNS and PNS. For instance prolong anger, fear, and distress could lead to heart attack, cancer, obess, etc. All these later lead to many other sicknesses due to the life give up syndrome

(7) In the Chinese Taichi, this is what being call the Bad and Good Energy. Scientifically, what it means, distress (due to many factors) consume all the energy that is needed for our normal body celular growth, maintenance, and protection. If this is allowed to prolong, what happen next is our cellular destruction.

Then Manage Our Memories.

Fear, insecure, sadness, frustration, and all sort of distress is a matter of the feeling of the heart. Thus, if that could be managed, then the PNS and SNS will be able to be managed accordingly. Yoga, Taichi, meditation, khalwat, and many others is all about managing our SNS. The lesser our SNS being triggered the better would be our life. But, denying the mechanism of the SNS won't also be good. Thus, that was why Muhammad SAW encouraged his people to race after the camel just to ensure, at certain point their adrenalin pump up well.

(2) Our brain in fact is our CPU. In the brain we keep so much informations. These informations, some are good, some are killing. In the simple word, these informations are our memories. Our heart, in fact respond to many thing based on these memories.

(3) Bad memories make the heart feel bad. Say, the memories of being betrayed will generate the feeling of hate. Say, once we face or see such a person, we will feel irritated, which may build up to hatred. Hatred then build into anger. Thus it goes on and on, until to a certain level the PNS had to shut down and the SNS taking over it course. All these then creates Body Energy Imbalanced and based on Quantum Physic, if this happen, a rupture will occur. That rupture will be either in the form of heart attack, diabetis, obessity, cancer, etc. Even if those critical diesases are not coming, but for sure the fast aging syndrome will creep in.

(4) Now probably the best way in managing our health, is through the management of memories to it most stable state. Warm the good one, burn the bad one. Forget and forgive probably the best. We forget and forgive all any bad deeds or feelings that we have or experienced. We take joy of the good great memories. We must always have the spirit of moving on. Nonetheless, moving on is not merely about positive thinking. It is about serving our true purpose.

(5) Alternatively, how then we could gain from bad memories if those are not able to be erased ie forget and forgive. They are many ways to do it. Elvis Presley for instance sing it along, same with Micheal Jackson or Siti Norhaliza. Others may just blast off. I'm pretty sure, I have by incident discovered a way. I wrote about them. I creatively turned all those bad memories into documents of a learning experiences to be shared with many. With that, I'm taking them out of my soft copies and placed them in the hard copies so that I can place them in the shelf. Basically, I'm throwing them out into the open as public properties. With that I believe, I do also serve my true purpose ie Allah using me as a template for others to learn. With that I would feel happy and cool.


Too Simplistic

Easy said then done. But believe me, that's how I'm thinking right now, here far and away in a foreign being. That is my discovery. A discovery on how to make myself feel good and stay healthy. And for the Muslim, let see how this really have come into my conclusion. For the non-Muslim, just be open minded, and let learn from each other. If you don't believe me, especially among the Muslim: Surah Al-kafirun, is what I normally read after my Fathihah in all of my prays and in the life of Elvis Pressley, probably he didn't realise that his top hit to this day is My Way. In fact it is just the same, just that it is said in different word.

(2) Let me now share my hard critic about the Malays whom usually never keep to the time. Despite Allah swearing in the Name of Time in Surah Wal-Asri, yet we just couldn't be bother. I wonder why and wonder how to improve on this. Long times I have the intention to write on this on a much non-spiritual manner. Now I discovered the right timing.

The Muslim Prayers

For Muslim, prayer is the Pillar of his faith. It is basic. It is compulsory as one reach puberty. I just want to touch the prayer act from the promotion of good health. A feel good exercise. A heart calming and cleaning act. A clear mind setting. I let the spiritual part to be delibrated by others. Keeping to the praying timing is a requirement that Muslim have to observe. The reason for this is to keep one in constant and timely in connect with his Creator. Just if one is close to the love one, one will feel great. That feeling great promote good health.

(2) As early as the dawn prayer, subuh, at equivalent to 0530 Malaysia GMT time, the Muslim start to say his first pray. That is when the sun began to rise. We must be awake together with the sun. Our sleeping hormone, the Melathonin, became dysfunction at this moment. The hormone is a building, regenerating and repairing hormone. It works in darkness, at night, at the correct night time. Good sleep, generated enough stock of energy. Just at the right level. Thus, the call for the pray is Allah creation to signify the optimum level of PNS energy build up in our body. We then need to consume this energy build up to it best level. This is the time when we are most energetic. Allah want us to attend to our usual lives as early, as calm, as energetic as possible. The dawn pray is a call for us to start our daily life with greater confidence and determination. The pray, signifies our daily destiny, we talk to Allah of what we want to do, we pray for His blessing. Surely we will placed a clean and honest niat when we submit our plan of work of the day to Him. Thus, we start clean and clear. With such, our emotion, our mind are in a very stable state. That's it, that is the prerequisite of a healthy mind and soul. That will be translated into good health.

(3) As time passed by, our PNS energy being exhausted to be shared between our biological needs and excercising our social and business responsibilities. Thus, the energy need to be replenish if we want to move as energetic as possible through the next half of the day. The Zuhor Pray Time is Allah reminder for this. Again we have to take our wudhu. Washing the face, hand, arms, head, ears, and legs is a meant to cool our heated body. The extra heat generated by the long active hours of the social and business activities need to be cool down. We have to cool down. Our physical state need to slow down. Our emotion need to cool down. We have to slow down for some moment. Then is time to have our meal. Time to feed our bilogical need. Time to have short nap. Time to renergise. Zuhor signifies that.

(4) As Asyar is coming by. The day has much slowed down. The natural temperature falls slowly, progressively. The day light intensity faded. The melathonine system probably began to detect it course. Naturally, our bio-physical body being told to be ready to rest. The pray, again is the way, Allah want us to be bio-physically and psycologically ready to slow down. At the pray, if we care, we should be able to look back at what we have done for the day. Have we carry out our responsibilities the right way and rightfully? If the answer is yes, then there is no reason we should not be at peace with ourselves; our mind, our heart. If not, we should then restrategise and work on it soonest. We must work, not denying. The sense of guilt, the sense of bad feeling must then be eliminated. This would make our face shine, our chest emptied. We are in fact in a state of satisfaction and honored. We accomplished our daily official responsibilities perfectly.

(5) In the pray, our reviewing process, should include the meal that we had taken. Is it just to our need or we might have taken some extra due to our lust desire. If so, then we need to shade off some. We must keep ourselves to a level Just Enough. Afternoon walk or exercise migh be a great habit. Take ourselves to the park and walk with the families, friends or the neighbour.

(6) Not many writing had stated Muhammad SAW habit of exercising. He seem not execising that regular. But one fundamental control that he had was, he ate just enough. Muhammad SAW stopped eating once he began to like the food so much. Thus, that probably was the very reason why excercise was not his much written or narrated habit. He eats to his need not to his want. His praying act seem much written as his main excercise form. Praying was Muhammad SAW best form of exercise. I have written on my understanding on the meaning of these systematic praying movement. But once a while he organised a camel race among his people.

(7) Come Maghrib the sun set pray. It is at 1930 hours Malaysian GMT. This is a family gathering and or community socialization pray. At this praying time, Muslim are encourage to pray in group either at home with the family members or in the Surau or Masjid with the neoghbouring community. It is one way another Allah is asking the Muslim to be together at least once in a day that is during Maghrib.

(8) Definitely when one gather with the others, especially family members, the feeling, the brotherhood or bloodhood feeling will be closer. This closeness make people feel good and to some extend can lead to forgive and forget. The Surau, the Mosque the praying place is a place where people not only seeking forgiveness from Allah but also among human being. A forgiving person is much calm and cool that the not.

(9) Nonetheless, a cool person not necessarily a forgiving one. The cool, calm guy could also be a potent burning fire. He might be keeping everything deep inside, and just a matter of time, the rupture will just gone off. That the very reason why some seem calm and cool, yet still landed in ICU, much earlier than his age.

(10) Maghrib is a slow pace setting. We need to slow down. Our physical system need to slow down. Our adrenlin release need to be controlled. The hectic day need to pass. The melathonine hormone need to take up it duties to triger for our biological repair and regeneration to start.

(11) As Isya come to play, the physical system should shut down. We must be ready to have total rest and rejuvenate. Our biological system should take it place in full swing. All the repair, regeneration, and production should take their full course. This is the time, from Isya to Subuh the body biological machinaries come into full operation. Our PNS is now in total control. The SNS die off, shut off for the day. We come to the stage of full resting, calm and cool.

Conclusion

It is very important for us, in order to be healthy to keep to certain discipline. Islamic praying is about discipline. It is a discipline for for one heart to be as much if not totally clean and honest. By having an honest and clean heart, one will definitely have less worries or fears. He or she will have more patient, forgiving nad surely letting go. He or she will be very calm and cool. With such, he or she will be less vunerable to health hazard.

(2) Keeping to the timing of pray is a discipline that we Muslim must work hard to adhere. Keeping up with the time, surely will make our body respond systematically to good biological effect of the pray. It must be seriously noted that everything that is leaving have it biological clock. Thus, keeping to the praying time, is eduacting our biological system to adhere to it biologicalclock. We in fact, is synchronizing between our biological need and those physical errant that we have to do. With such, there will be a great system balanced. To be healty is to keep everything in balance.

(3) This year Lailatul Qadar, my travelling bring me to a point that I'm able to say why Allah had ordered us to pray, to pray properly, and praying becoming the pillar of Islam. To be healthy is a must in Islam. Keeping to the praying requirement help u to be healthy by managing our heart to it real position. SubhanaAllah.


Bangkok-Luang Prabang
28 August-1 Sept, 2011