2/11/20 TOURISM - Sarawak best choice for equitable wealth distribution

Allah's promises in Heaven, there is no limit to leisure. Metaphorically He says, running clear clean water streams, beautiful parks, orchards, beautiful castles, etc are His promises for the heavenly lives that one would enjoy hereafter. Historically, only three persons in their lives time had spent sometimes in Heaven. The first two definitely were our fore parent Adam and Eve, then Muhammad SAW. Muhammad's time in heaven was not long, probably less than 4-5 hours ie from midnight to dawn of the same day in his Mikraj "Visiting Journey". Despite a short visit, Muhammad SAW was exposed to all the beauties of the seven layers of the Heaven with Arasy was the farthest layer where he received the command for the Muslim to pray five times daily.

(2) I perceive SAW Mikraj as a visiting journey. In today worldly sense, he was given a chance to tour the seven layers of Heaven. He was given a glimpse of Hell even. He was then the guest of honor of all the seven layer custodians of the Heavens including the Al Mighty Allah. Muhammad Mikraj to me is Allah's way of introducing tourism and tourism places. Muhammad probably was the first and only one holiest tourist that ever living. Isa AS probably next. In Heaven, indeed my understanding, Allah shown him the sustenance of Heaven; key to it was Iman and Taqwa or Amal Makruf. Iman request for one to honor his compulsive (Fardhu Ain) responsibilities dutifully to Allah. He is the one whom provides one sufficiently for one's needs and therefore one's must never digress and or be greedy. Amal Makruf means one's must at all time do good. Be good meaning one's must always be thinking and or concern of others right as well. Taqwa indeed requires one to be a civil society. For instance, we can optimize the usage of a river, but then we must never ignore the needs of all other marine creatures over the same river. Concern and caring is the very assent of Taqwa and or Civil Society. Thus subscription to Taqwa indeed is the very core to Civil Society development. In a sense, be be concern and caring for others needs is the profounding principle of a leadership. A leader must be concern and care for his subjects to the best justice. Man was created to lead.  Man is made to be a leader, khalifah. Basically, be good is the tenet of Islam the Allah's great Adeen.

(3) Muhammad touring mikraj journey to Heavens, best tourism places; he then descended back to earth and brought back the command for Muslims to pray five times daily; in a normal humanistic sense is to show how one must be concerned about one's duties of a  leadership in imparting great lives here on earth. Thus, as an assigned leader, man needs to think and work hard to enjoy the best and thus impart sustainable survival conditions for all of Allah creations on this earth. Muhammad he chosen the concept of Zuhud as his way of live to enjoy the best while imparting the best for others. Muhammad is smart to be Zuhud to enjoy the best. The Zuhud of Muhammad is all about honest dutiful submission. Indeed, "only honest poor man appreciate live better". Today man, what should be our approach then not only to enjoy the best but sustaining the best? Islam has never forbid one to enjoy to the best.

(4) Malaysian and or Sarawakian could only enjoy the best if things are shared and managed to the equitable best. Therefore, imparting upon such understanding ie taking the Al Quran as our best guidance, how could now our today Nation and State wealth equitable distribution and economic high growth target could be achieved and sustained? Equitable earning doesn’t amounting to everybody earns the same. Equitable even in the Islamic sense, is one deserves to one’s effort. Thus one’s effort determines to one’s degree of earning (achievement) be it worldly and or Hereafter. 

(5) Nonetheless, despite one’s greatest effort, such not necessarily would resulting in the best reward. Therefore effort is then not the real key to one’s great success. My predicament, facilitation is the key determinant to one’s better achievement. A toddler for instance, once his age is around nine months, he would by instinct tries hard to stand and walk. On his own, definitely after going through endless crawling and stumbling, he would at last could walk say at the age of 12 months. Yet if he is well facilitated, most probably he will be able to stand straight and start walking by the age of 10 months. Thus effort and facilitation, I would believe are key twin-factors to great success.  We need to ensure, people earned equitable to what they had worked on. Just as the concept of Heaven, one goes (earn) to the level based on their level of Iman and Taqwa or good deed. In another words, how could we create Heaven on this earth especially Sarawak so much so, a equitable heavenly lives could be enjoyed by all human living here. 

(6) Malaysia and Sarawak are not yet a well developed states. We are far from making our citizen lives prosperous and harmonious. We are still too far from being a prosperous and harmonious nation and state. Socio-economic disparity is still glaring among and within races and region. The disparity gaps is widening as time goes by. The effort to marginalize all these disparities seem resulting to no meeting point. Thus to create a heavenly lives for Malaysian and or Sarawakian, I suggest we have a serious look at Allah's Heaven principles of development and management.

(7) Sure there are Muslims out there thinking I might be mad crazy with the idea to create a heavenly living on this earth. They might be speculating that I'm promoting a worldly living which is indeed prohibited, rather the true Heavenly one. To them Heaven is high up in the sky and had been created. Human will never can create Heaven. Secondly, to lots of Malays, this earth living is a temporal living. Thus, one must not take this earthly living to be too serious, the focus must be on the hereafter. In a simple sense, one must subscribe to Muhammad Zuhud, and leave the glory of earth living to the Satan. Their Zuhud persepective is wrt Fardhu Ain focus and thus leaving the Fardhu Kifayah responsibilities.  Firstly, I'm not equating earthly heaven to Allah's high up Heaven. I'm just trying to emulate the spirit of His bigger creation. Well Allah is Ar Rahman Ar Rahim, the most gracious and merciful. Then what stop man from being tender and kind? Is not tender and kind a subset of gracious and merciful? Thus, developing good living on earth or Sarawak in that matter, would it not a mere subset of Heavenly living then? Secondly, as I said, Islam never forbid man from enjoying the best so long he must be concern and to care others needs as well. Thus my postulation of a earth heavenly lives is not at all contradicting to the values of Muhammad Zuhud. By the way, let those whom want to carry on with their theological polemic to themselves, we need to move to do what is good and rightful. 

(8) Conceptually, I perceive Heaven is the best tourism place. Muhammad upon visiting Heaven, he then was willing to sacrifice to be Zuhud and focusing all his effort to build the best for his very followers, the Muslims. He humbly deprived himself of all the luxuries, and dedicated all those for his subjects whom in those day were mostly the poor and the disadvantages. Muhammad prospered and harmonized his follower by he taking the least. Indeed, Nabawi and later Mecca were then built along the concept of letting the people get the best, the leaders took the least; Zuhud. Today, Iman and Taqwa brought millions of Muslims to Mecca and Madinah and making the places the very sustainable economies. The same indeed applies to BaitulMuqadis and the Vatican. Thus, if we could understand the Al Quran deeper and on a much broader sense, Heaven indeed is the very sustainable tourism place. Tourism place by definition, is a place where people love to visit, enjoying themselves and or stay. Aspen, Colorado; Bavaria, German; Otago, New Zealand; Chiang Rai, Thailand and even Kundasang, Sabah are examples of great tourism places where people love to visit and or stay. From a tourism places, advanced economies expanded their tourism places into tourism region vis Rockies of North America, Alps of Europe etc and thus evolved into tourism states vis Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland etc. 

(9) Theologically and in modernity sense, tourism is proven to be most sustainable development management that we should take on to ensure our man generations to enjoy the best of their lives forever. Theologically, there will be no war and miseries in Heaven. Accordingly, all of the tourism states are devoid of all today crazy human-related crisis. Unity, peace, prosperity, harmony, security etc of all the good living values are presence in the tourism states. In the tourism states, people are more concern of sustaining best living ecosystem rather getting involve into relentless human crisis. Malaysia and Sarawak should then to take our multi-cultural and multi-natural diversities as great assets to nurture best living in this part of the world. We should adopt Comprehensive and Sustainable Tourism Development philosophies and principles as our socio-economic development trust. 

(10) On a crazy note, Tourism should be our only development undertaking approach. We must think and do tourism. Every aspect of our development must be gearing toward nurturing and sustaining tourism. Tourism must be our bread and butter of development. In Islam, my believe, going back to our best tourism place ie Heaven is our destiny. Thus earthly, let us build our Nation and State (and the globe) into a heavenly living - exciting, united, peaceful, prosperous, harmony, and secure. Such indeed is our caliphateship core responsibilities.

(11) In Shaa Allah in my next posting, I will try to work on how Sarawak could evolve into a great - exciting, united, peaceful, prosperous, harmony, and secure. " Making Sarawak the Heaven of the East".

Kuching, Sarawak

20 Nov., - 2 Dec., 2020