Love in One Word

Thursday, June 3, 2010.

Love.

Is such a universal word.

Although it varies through the many languages this world has to offer, somehow..one way or another, we all get the meaning.

Amazing isn't it?

Even a mother crocodile, who is not exactly man's best friend, has a loving side to itself.

"Don't worry (says baby croc). Mommy won't eat me, even if she looks like it. :)"

Aww, look at the little tyke on top. Woa! Look out for mom's watchful eyes at the bottom!

As for us, if your friend has never even heard the word "love"..then maybe he/she needs to see the doctor, because there's obviously something seriously wrong with him.

(allright, as USUAL, maybe I am exaggerating.. :) )

But to be honest, who has never felt love?

Now, I'm not exactly slandering Malaysians, well simply because I'M a Malaysian myself. But the fact is, oh the fact. Is, malaysian youngsters who has never been caught in a web of love.. (imagine tiny hearts floating beside you.. :) ) is not a Malaysian youth.

Oh my God, if you just push that ON button of the tv, then you'll see the fact for yourselves. All the drama, especially drama Melayu..uggh, BO.RING. Lovu.Lovu.Lovu. (translation:love3) That's why i'm saying, if you don't know love, then there has to be something seriously wrong with you.

That, or maybe you just don't watch TV as much as the rest of us. (smiles)

But you want to know something? (Nooooo...) (laughs)

allright! I don't care if you want to or don't want to know..this is my space so I'm telling anyway! (haha)

To me, despite all those BO.RING dramas (okey, to give justice to Malaysian drama makers, not just drama melayu, but evidently all the movie makers on this planet, use the love theme once in a while, if not always..) that are continuously portraying the love theme, they still haven't quite grasped the true meaning of love.

Haha, yes, I'm no love doctor. I'm a witch doctor (bomoh)! muahahaha(evil laugh)

Ok2. My old habit is back again.

Where was I? Oh yes, TRUE LOVE.

What do i know about TRUE LOVE? Heck, I. have. never. been. in. love. (Well, cinta monyet waktu kecik2 dulu ade la kan..hehe)

So, how could I suddenly judge people about true love? I mean, who am I to be tellling people, "Hey, this is not right. You're sending the wrong message here." I don't have a degree in arts, neither did I graduate from a movie makers college.

Nope. I am the last person who should be telling people that they are wrong about the concept of love.

But, you want to know something else?

I learnt.

I learnt from the best.

I learnt from the best person about love.

I say he is the best, because he himself has shown himself as an example, of a person with so much love to those around him. Just one man. Just one man, but his heart, and his love, is bigger than the skies and the earth combined. His love fills the entire skies and goes deep beneath the visible soils beneath our feet.

His body (jasad) is no longer walking on this earth, but his love remains, with the will (wasiat) which he has left behind. For his beloved.

That's right. the one who thought me the true meaning of love...is dead. He, has long since gone from the face of the earth. But, even gone, he was still teaching me the meaning of love.

What a great teacher eh?

He may not know me, but to me, it is enough that I know him. And the message that he carried.

That's right. My teacher is the Messenger of Allah Taala. My teacher is Muhammad al-amin.

He himself may no longer be here to look after this ummah, but the message for mankind (al-insan) remains well and alive, through al-Quran. His face is one that I will never know, until The Day, yet his love for us, for his ummah remains as strong as when Islam first came.

I have never heard from him personally.

I have never heard him speak to his companions (sahabahs), but I long to (rindu untuk mendengar).

I..have never heard him say his love for us, nor see him hug his companions like they are his greatest treasures in the world.

I have never seen his eyes shadowed by sadness, because people don't want to listen to the truth of his message.

He was sad, because if hidayah (guidance/petunjuk) was his to give, he would have given it to every single person on this planet, and all the future generations to come. But it is Allah Taala's haq (right), not his, and he knew that. He was sad, because he would have given anything, so that everyone see the truth, so that his ummah will be safe from the fires of hell (api neraka).

His love for us, is greater and beyond all the love of his ummah, (from the very first generation until the very last) combined together. We..cannot match him.

He loved us without any conditions (syarat). In akhirah, even if one person has done so much bad, that he cannot possibly enter jannah (heaven/syurga) at that time, but if that person is his ummah, if he died as a muslim, then believe me when I say, he will ask to Allah Taala for forgiveness. even if his sins are very, very bad, Muhammad SAW will still ask for his forgiveness. He will ask Allah, through His names, "Al-ghofur" (The Most forgiving) "Ar-Rahim" (The Most merciful), to forgive him.

Why?

For the simple reason that he loves his ummah very much. and he knows the horrors of jahannam (hell). Had he not seen them with his own eyes, during Isra' wal Mikraj?

I know, very well, that all this writing, is just my opinion. But..I'm just sharing with you what I have felt all these years. After many years of continuously reading al-Quran al-karim, I cannot help but feel so indebted to Muhammad SAW. (terhutang budi)

For the simple reason that..um, I have never felt so peaceful all my entire, life. And today, was the peak of it all.

As I was praying `Asar, I felt..incredible. It was..an indescribable feeling (perasaan yg sukar untuk digambarkan). I felt, just..incredibly calm. At peace, like nothing in the world would ever upset me again. Not again. I felt..safe, calm and secure. I felt..guided. Protected. Like I have no regrets, whatsoever anymore, in this life. That I am ready, for anything this life wants to throw at me (bersedia menghadapi apa jua cabaran hidup).

It was just..indescribable.

But you know, if there is one word that CAN sum all these ..indescribable feelings inside me, right now, then it is; ISLAM.

Today, just today..I felt, that we, ISLAM and I, are ONE.

We are no longer separate entities. Islam a religion, me a human. Islam, a lifeless teaching, me, a living human being. All of those phrases, "religion", "teachings", that is not the case anymore, with me.

I just feel, that Islam is inside me. Wherever I go, it goes. Wherever it goes, I go. You can't take Islam from me, without taking my life as well. And you can't take my life, without Islam, going together with me. At least, the syahadah that is inside me.

But Islam is not mine. Islam is every living beings' right, if anyone wants it. If they choose Islam, then Islam will choose you. If you choose to be with Islam, then Islam will definitely be with you. Trust me, I have felt it. Right here, in my heart.

In all my life, I have struggled greatly within myself. Because I always think a lot, so a lot of times, i always felt I am lacking, in one way or another. Sometimes I get confused, and think that nobody loves me, when in fact, everybody around me loves me. I was, a confused little kid.

And I have been a muslim, all my entire life. From the day I was born, I was muslim. Until now, I am still a muslim. But why haven't I felt this bond with Islam before? Why only now, that I felt so at peace with myself?

Well, I think, it is because that only now, do I choose to really take Islam into my life.

Only now do i really start practicing Islam as part of my life. You know, life. It's like, you eat with Islam, you sleep with Islam. Ha, you even go to the bathroom with Islam!

wait, wait.

what I meant by that is that, you eat the way Islam teaches you to, (e.g. don't drink water while eating), you sleep the way Islam teaches you to, (e.g. say a special du`a before sleeping, sleeping on your right side) and you go to the bathroom the way Islam teaches you to (say a special du`a before entering, entering with left foot, coming out with right foot, etc). And the result is, we are now inseparable.

But one of the most important things Islam has thought me, is to love your brother or sister, MORE THAN YOU LOVE YOURSELF.

The brother and sister here does not refer to blood ties, but instead of a another bond, which is the brotherhood in Islam. Or, as I prefer to call it, ukhuwah in Islam.

This love, is shown by example, by prophet Muhammad SAW. Through his examples, and his sahabahs, that the love between brothers and sisters of the same syahadah, still continues to this day. Through their examples, I have felt and witnessed myself, the true meaning of love.

When human love is stretched beyond blood ties, beyond friendship even, that is the true love that I have found. And felt.

Love that stretched beyond continents, beyond national country borders, beyond the seas, is truely, what i see as true love. When you can feel the same pain and suffering as that of your brothers and sisters, in Africa, Algeria, sudan, Myanmar, thailand, China, Palestine..even though physically you're not there..you have never been there, but, the love is here. In our hearts.

Truly, i can say, for all my life as a muslim, and of even shorter years as really trying to practice Islam in my life, from my eyes; nothing teaches the true meaning of love as Islam did.

Islam, to me, is the religion of truth. Of true love.

Whatever others might say, it will not change Islam in my eyes. Neither in my heart.

Say whatever you want, but I believe Islam has chosen to permanently stay with me, as I have chosen to stay with it for the rest of my life.

For all the truth that Islam has helped me see, for all the peace it has helped me felt, there is nothing I can do in return that will truly..repay it.

Even so, i feel that I must say something, even the smallest of sentences.

"I...love Islam."

So to me, love, in one word; ISLAM.