The grass is no longer green...

********************** In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful; blessings and peace be upon Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. *********************** Reflection ************************ The Declining Day (Al-'Asr) 1. By the declining day, 2. Lo! Man is in a state of loss, 3. Save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance. ************************ HOPEFULLY all Malaysian can make 'solat hajat' (a special prayer to fulfill a specific intention for important and urgent matters) so that there would be rainfall because a lot of crops have been destroyed. ************************** I read this interesting note in a SMS column of a Malay daily tabloid on Wednesday, 19th February. Yes, the country is now facing a dry spell, perhaps it had not rained for two months. ************************* Since I opted for gardening after resigning from office exactly two years ago and nowadays spend about two to three hours daily in my 'kebun' (garden), I could feel the impact of this drought to persons who are involve directly in agriculture such as farmers, paddy planters and rubber tappers. ************************ In my small 'kebun' I grow 'easy to handle' crops such as 'ubi kayu' (tapioca), 'serai' (lemon grass) and 'tebu' (sugar-cane). These crops could be harvested in short span of time - after six months I was able to market my 'pucuk ubi' (young leaves of tapioca plants) and 'serai' on a weekly basis to a sundry shop near my 'kebun'. *********************** But when drought hit the country, I sold nothing in the month of January and February. The leaves of the tapioca plants had turned dry and yellow and on surfaces of some of them there were burnt marks while lemon grass leaves not only turned brownish but the plants die. ************************* The leaves of sugar-cane plants too turned brownish; when I pull a plant, I was surprised to find termites destroying its roots. I thought, perhaps it was too dry so the termites left their home and found 'comfort' in the bottom part of the cane where they 'enjoyed the juice'. **************************** Nowadays, the grass in my 'kebun' and in surrounding areas or perhaps in parts of the country are no longer 'perfectly green'. Some had turned yellowish, others brownish, and sad to say some had die. What's a pity, the lyrics of a song by Tom Jones; 'it is good to touch the green, green grass of home' seemed do not fit to describe our grass, even those grown and watered almost daily at road dividers and traffic lights in the cities too had turned dry. **************************** Grass at historical sites such as 'Dataran Merdeka' in Kuala Lumpur too had turned into a brownish state; thus the field is no more green. Flower plants planted by the city authorities on road dividers and road sides seemed limp and weak, many gave way because they could not stand the heat. *************************** The dry season and hot weather sent panic waves through out the country. Water levels in dams and reservoirs were reported to shrink and water crisis hit parts of the country especially in central regions such as Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. *************************** As I do the gardening for 'suka-suka' (to fill my time and as a part of exercising), I may not have the feeling of farmers who perhaps depended 100 percent on their crops as their source of income. And what is more worrying to farmers, prices of certain natural products such as rubber has dip to a record low at RM2.30 a kilogramme. *************************** And looking at the paddy fields, I felt pity for the farmers because most of their crops was destroyed; perhaps for this season they would have to face 'a nil income'. ******************************* People of the country should pity them and hopefully readers too shared feeling of their grievances, so let us 'du'a' (do supplication) and join congregators in masjids to perform the 'solat hajat', pleading to Allah SWT to end this drought. 'Insya-Allah; (if Allah Wills) the rain would come and end our woes. ************************* A few days ago, I heard an 'ustaz' (religious teacher) explained beautifully how we could sooth or comfort ourselves in coping with this unexpected situation. He said we must 100 percent put our trust in Allah SWT and never-never give up hope (berputus asa). 'Berputus asa' does not exist in 'the dictionary' of a Muslim, he said. ************************** The ustaz said, imagine that you are on a beach and seeing a very beautiful sight of the sun slowly setting on the horizon. You seem to enjoy at every aspect of the sight; the rays and faded lights of the sun, the splendor of the sea, the coconut leaves swaying beautifully rhythmically with the cool breeze and so on. Ohh, it is a perfect scene; you reach for your camera and captured that beautiful sight. ************************** You appreciated the scene. You appreciated every details of the scene. You acknowledge every aspect of the scene. If the ray is reddish, you accept it as reddish. Reddish is 100 percent percent perfect. You know you have no what so ever 'ability' or 'power' to alter it. You must accept it all as it is. You must receive with open arms everything that The Almighty (Allah SWT) has bestow and shower upon us. ************************ The 'ustaz' asked back; why if it is a beautiful scene we acknowledge and enjoy at every aspect of it which was from Allah SWT but in facing our faith in life (qadha' and qadar' or the power of doing actions good and bad comes from Allah SWT), many of us seemed not to be happy about it. Both are from Allah SWT, but see our attitude are different - our reception contradicts! ************************** Allah SWT is the Creator of the universe and everything in it. The Qur'an says: "He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in truth (Qur'an 6:73). Everything, including the earth we live on and the heavens we see above, was created by the Almighty God. (Essence of Islam - ABIM) ************************** God does not merely create and abandon His creatures. God is active as the Creator, the Life Giver and Life Remover, the Sustainer and the sole Controller of all His creation. God is the Supreme Reality. He has revealed o mankind 99 beautiful names (al-asma Husna) which indicate His transcendent majesty and unity. ******************* Allah SWT knows everything. He creates (gives us) 'a perfect scene' and He too gives us 'a perfect life', why we could enjoy that scene but 'not enjoy' or satisfied (bersyukur) with our lives? He is the same God that created that beautiful scene and that of our lives; is it true that we only accepted what is good to us from our own point of view and frown or rejected at what we think is bad? ********************** The 'ustaz' said only Allah SWT is perfect but we human beings are very very weak and always make mistakes in life. Thus, we have to repent (bertaubat) and acknowledge we have strayed from His straight Path all this while. ************************* Thus dear readers, please religiously do our 'solat' (prayers) at least five times daily pleading to Him to show us His truth path at least 17 times a day by reading 'Ehdinas siratal mustaqeem'' which means 'guide us to the straight path'. ************************* Regarding our sufferings nowadays such facing this drought, it is caused by our failure to adhere to what He has permitted and refrain from what He has prohibited. Look 'inside you' and around you and do some 'muhasabah' (reflections), you would 'insya-Allah' realize that human beings are actually the destroyer of themselves and this world. ******************** For example mountains and forests are cut down, flows of rivers altered and dams being built, and in front our own eyes, vehicles are emitting poisonous gas! And of course do not forget the 'greenhouse effect'! ********************** Allah SWT gives us beautiful scenes, but we were 'dulu, kini dan selamanya' (in the past, now and in the future) destroying it. Wallahu'alam. Only Allah knows best. ************************ Thus as weak persons, we must seek His help in prayer. We must never gives up. Pray and pray to Him until our final moment on earth. 'Insya-Allah' don't worry, the moment would come when 'it is good to touch the green, green grass of home...' once again!