On little break from blogosphere

Lately,  it is getting hard for me to physically reach to desktop to blog. Will be off for a while -

On "Ghost Stories"

"Is it bad that I believe in ghost stories?"
"No! Actually it is good. It tells me that you are not superficial and  intend to look for more deeper meanings in life"

Aakhri Nuqta

(posted as shared)

Jab doctors ne kaha ke: peripheral films dekh ke lagta hai ke 'blast crisis' hai, shayed AML ho - to bhai khuda ki qasam, MD Anderson ki deewar se lag ker mujhe zara sa bhi dar nahi laga tha 

- magar aik ajeeb si baat hui - 

mujhe aesa laga maut ki bajayae phir woh mera geeraban tham ke aik baar phir se wahi kuch keh rahi hai.....: 'Tumhe kaun rokta hai, jao duniya ki jis aurat ke saath chahye let ker jitne chaho bachhe paida karo, magar maut se pehle sirf aik baar mere ho jao'.... 

Ab tumhe kese bataun woh kaun thi, kesi thi..... 

magar  thero - 

haan shayed woh dikhne main wesi thi..abhi TV pe aik drama chala tha, bohat logon ne dekha, tum ne bhi dekha ho ga - Man Mayal - Us main jo Mannu thi - us ke jesi thi - magar mujhe tab bhi us ka khayal nahi aaya tha

naranji rang us ko bohat pasand tha. Us roz jab woh aakhri baar mera geereban pakaR ke roi thi tab bhi us ne usi rang ke shalwar qameez pehna tha....

Pata nahi, kab kahan kese, doctors ne us ko baanjh (infertile) qarar de diya tha. Aur phir woh zamanon aur sarhadon ki gard main aesi chupi ke jese thi hi nahi -

- magar -

us lamhe jab main doctor's appointment ke baad aa ker saans lene ko corridor main deewar se lag ker khaRa huwa to bhai Allah jaane woh aik dam kahan se aa gai- aur maut ki bajaye jese woh - phir puri quwwat se mera geereban tham ke khari ho aur us ke aansuon aur hichkion se mera daman tar ho - aur keh rahi ho -

'Jao poori duniya tumhare liye paRi hai, jahan chahe, jitna chahe bhaagte phiro, tumhe kaun rokta hai, jao duniya ki jis aurat ke saath chahye let ker jitne chaho bachhe paida karo, magar maut se pehle sirf aik baar mere ho jao'....  

Bhai! jab maut insaan ki aankhon main aankhain daal ker khari hoti hai - to kiun kuch log aik dam se yun saamne aa khare hote hain jese jumle ka aakhri hurf - aakhri nuqta, abhi likha jana baqi ho.

- log kehte hain - Hindustan Pakistan ki phir se jang hone wali hai - saare jahaz khali hain - magar chemotherapy se pehle mera aik ticket kerwa do!!

On "Blessings in Disguise"

"Aulad na hona bhi Allah ki aik rehmat hai"

"Lo kiya ajeeb duniya jahaan se nirali baat ker di"

"Ye sach hai. Insaan ki aulad jab dukh se guzarti hai - aur us dukh ko dekh ker aadmi jitna dukhi hota hai - us ko sehnaa har insaan ke bas ki baat nahi. Mere rab ki is be-rehmi main bhi insaan hi ke liye asaani chupi hai".

Anger

On "unanswered prayers"

In last few weeks, I had to go through some issues in life which required a lot of prayers. In some moments of despondency, as it always happens you get a solace, a ishara or a guidance. I received this forwarded message and it put peace in my heart.

On "khud-numaaii"

"Hamare aik babaji kehte the! jhoot se nijaat to choti manzil hai. Allah ke raaste ka koi bhi maskhara zara si tapasiya se ye manzil paa leta hai - magar us ke aage bohat baRi rukawat khud-numaaii ki hai - baRe baRe surma is aag se bach nahi paate aur saari umar is pahaR ko kaat ke raasta banane main sarf ho jaati hai. Yahi anaa ko maarne ki pehli aur sab se kaThan manzil hai".

Aik Amar Kahani

On "Superiority of Numbers"

I think it was Al-Khwarizmi who said that "numbers are superior to words". I never paid much attention to this till I was introduced to master mathematician Leonhard Euler's famous "Identity". The formula is considered to be the most beautiful of all mathematical derivatives. It says: 

When you drive* Cos, Sin and Pi value (which basically encompasses circle and axes) with an imaginary number i and a constant e, you get zero. So mathematically, it can be proven that everything either manifested from nothing (should say zero) or will degrade into nothing. 

Na tha kuch to khuda tha kuch na hota to khuda hota 

Daboya mujh ko hone ne, na hota main to kiya hota

* You may need to google the whole derivative of formula

On "Faith and Ethics"

Some people are so firm in their Iman (and their ethics) that it astonish me. I was asked by a parent of one of my student. Following is a very brief conversation which will tell you the whole story.

"Beta! Tum poora din hospital main residency kerti ho. Phir ghar jaati ho ya jumma parhne masjid. Baqi waqt kitaboN main juti rehti ho. Aese to tumhe koi rishta nahi mile ga. Apne parents ke saath dawatoN, shadioN wagera pe chali jaya karo. Un ka bhi dil reh jaaye ga".

"Sir! Woh chahye ga to saathi bhi likh dega, jis ne mere liye izzat ka kaam aur rizqe-halal ki naimat likh di hai, magar main apni in zimmedarioN se bewafaii to nahi ker sakti"

On "Downfall"

"Tum jaante ho insaan ka zawal kab shuru hota hai?"

"Jub woh is fareb main mubtala hota hai ke woh apne kaam main dusroN se behter hai, aur un ki tehqeer shuru ker deta hai. Bus wahin se us ke zawal ka aagaz hota hai"

RIP - Steve Jobs

When Steve Jobs died 5 years ago, I was sad. Despite all his shortcomings as a human, he left a deep mark on history. I learned a lot by reading his autobiography. He was a kind of a sufi baba of modern time. To quote him:

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future, You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." - Steve Jobs

On "Acceptance of Death"

I work in a profession where every day I see people making peace with death and their agony. It is very sobering. It always flashed back in my head final paragraphs of Leo Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" (here). Today an interesting statement made by my one patient.

"I was afraid I will die, then I was afraid I will not die"!

On "The Human Pledge or Ehd-e-alast"

(On my request, uncle expressed his thoughts on Ehd-e-Alast)

There are many pledges/oaths Qur'an talks about like the pledge taken by Bani Israel or the one taken by all the prophets and also the oath taken from the last prophet and we know of some pledges on the earth like the one the Muslims took under that tree outside Makkah (Hudaibiya).

There is one called ehd-e-Azal, as it is described in Qur'an in surah Al-A'raaf (VII) aya # 172. "And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam's loin his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying) 'am I not your Lord?, they said 'Yes we testify', lest you should say on the day of resurrection, 'verily we are not aware of it' " (I have used translation of Dr Muhsen rather than Yusuf Ali or others because he uses the word seed ). Also known in Urdu as "ehd-e-alast" taken from "alast-o-beRabbikum".

It is said that it is not just 'allegorical' description but an actual event that occurred after Allah SWT decided to send Adam AS to the earth. Some Ahadeeth say as soon as he descended on earth (in the Arafaat grounds). Descriptions of hadeethes given in various books of tafseer indicate how everybody understood n his/her own way the "taking out of all the persons to be born up-till the "Qiyamah" (how it happened). Clearly this was as good a miracle as the of birth of Adam AS or that of Amman Hawwa (Eve) and so there is no reason to reject that as a possibility but only accepting it as it is, rather than trying to derive some explanation from hadeeth descriptions. I see that many sahaba say this is how the prophet SAWS told us. Yet, the truth is best known to Allah SWT. The prophet himself could only talk in the terms that Sahaba could understand. We as His creation should just accept it as he wants us to. I do not wish to quote ahadeeth or what I understand from tafseers but just for example I shall give my understanding.

Tafheem-ul-Quran says the whole progeny of Adam AS was created out of Adam's Pusht (Sulb in Arabic) and not just the roohs (meaning rooh plus bodies). Then explanations need where on earth such a large collection of human beings could be placed. Some others say they were extremely small in body like ants (yes I read this in tafseer). Meaning that they did not require a large ground. Ibn-e- Kaseer says- what I understand- they were 'roohs' who were brought out and questioned and then put back (into the "Sulb") and this may seem more plausible than tafheem explanation. But really we dont have to think out in such terms as to how and where it happened.

As physicians/scientists (and this is purely my own idea, not meant for discussion) we may postulate possibility of 'gametes' (the seed) from which whole human body develops could have been miraculously brought out and placed back and of course Allah SWT can give the same understanding and ability to talk/say as the pledge to anything. But as I said before it is much easier to accept this miracle as it says in Qur'an than rely on any hadeeth (Not denying ahadeeth or the authority of it or that of prophet SAWS - Far it be from me to even think about it). If you will recall Allah SWT warned people not to question unnecessary things while Quran is being revealed (S. V, Aya 104 and 105) because it may turn your faith away. That is a very important aya/warning for us to stay away from going into explanations of things that are unnecessary. All we need to do is believe in that Ehd.

You also know some people from Sahaba (Ali RA for example) said they remember that pledge very clearly in their memory. Also that pledge forms the basis of the frequently quoted hadeeth that "every child is born a Muslim but the parents make him/her Christian or Jew or Majoosi" And this I am saying from Tafseer, not just my idea.

May Allah forgive me for my mistakes and misunderstanding and/or mis-interpretations.