Being Muslims

I have been slow in making any entry this week for a few reasons: Many have commented that they are unable to "catch-up" with my Blog. Another reason is that I wanted readers to be absorbed by the entries made, and to leave constructive comments on those entries. I love reading your comments.

Trust me, it was not easy not making any entry. And now, due to the non-entry, I have more things which I needed to say which was postponed by that policy. And I think it has created more muddled thoughts. Already as it is, I think I am now an addict :-)

I cannot imagine I would be in this state when I started this Blog a mere 2 months ago.

One of those "postponed" thoughts was based on the Friday sermon last week where I was struck by the all-encompassing single hadith which was recited at the pulpit. I have always given lectures or classess on what being a Muslim mean, or how Muslims should conduct themselves and yearly, on the topic of Hijrah (migration). But I was unfortunate to have missed this beautiful hadith which is so comprehensive in its content which I would have used in those lectures would I have remembered it.

In this modern working environment where KPI (key performance indicators) are so prevalent in what we do, this hadith gives us an idea what our KPI should be as Muslims. But most importantly, it also tells us the contextual meaning behind the great event of Hijrah - it is not merely a physical hijrah (at least not in our time), but it is about our framework of mindset, our being as individuals, as a human being, as a member of a larger community and as a Muslim. It talks about the essence of our journey towards being a better person.

This is the comprehensive hadith narrated by Bukhari, Muslim & others, which means:

"A Muslim is someone whom others are safe from the actions of his tongue and his hand. And the person who commits hijrah is the one who leaves behind all that is forbidden by Allah"