In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
12.14pm
25 Ramadhan 1438H
Balakong
Yesterday I had a chat with my parents on the dining table during iftar. It started with mom talking about 'imported' Nasi Berlauk from KB (Kota Bharu, Kelantan) sold in Putrajaya. The story began with the tale of how food vendors would take the 7am flight from KB to arrive around 8am in Putrajaya, bringing the 'authentic' Nasi Berlauk from KB and how people would purchase the delicacy for the price of rm6 compared to its original price of rm2 (due to the cost of transportation and import). I questioned the fact that people are so enthusiastic when it comes to food that they can go through lengths just to obtain what they want.
Listening to this, mom and and dad answered on the notion of business; supply and demand. The idea of importing food - especially fresh nasi berlauk, makes me wonder not only about the technical aspect but also the desire for such locally-made cuisine to travel on a flight from one part of Malaysia to the other. This is quite amusing, and also quite mind-boggling.
"Then maksudnya manusia ni kalau dia nak, anything can be made possible la kan? It's like the only barrier they have is their mind and thoughts, like do they really desire it."
Mom and dad had a hard time answering this, I don't know why. Maybe it's because they knew where I was heading with this question.
"I'm just really curious as to what motivates them, what drives them. You know, untuk makanan pun sanggup buat macam tu." To this question I wanted to add on, 'kalau benda dunia pun boleh semangat, kenapa benda akhirat tak boleh,' but I restrained myself because I didn't want to give my point away. And I wouldn't want to debate on things unnecessarily. I just wanted to know what my parents think about this, about human motivation and personal enthusiasm.
"You see kakak, when we talk about satisfaction, we talk about material."
Dad took the wheel of the conversation and began commenting on Rizq and how its manifested in many forms - money (cash and coins), food, vegetables, etc. All of these are of material substance and people, would work hard if they can visualize this material gain in comparison with something that can't be visualize; the unseen. In fact, its of human nature to want to gain concrete, visible items, and to this, I remembered the ayat from Surah Al-Imran.
"Beautified for people is the love that which they desire - of women and sons, heaped sums of gold and silver, fine branded horse and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life.."
(Surah Al-Imran, 3:14)
Because of this nature, eventually people wouldn't want to do things that others cannot see or they cannot picture visually. And that was how we ended the conversation.
We will only work for outcomes we can see.
Then orang beriman ni hebatlah kan, because they can work without seeing the end point. Heck, the end point isn't even available for viewing in this life.
"They arise from (their) beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend [infaq]. And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do."
(Surah As-Sajdah, 32:16-17)
I finally finished APG's Biar Tak Glamor di Dunia, Asal Popular di Langit Sana. In it, the central theme was sincerity - keikhlasan. I was attracted to the first few mention of social media; FB, Insta, Twitter, etc that has caused the generation to lose what it means to be sincere in action. We're so keen to publicize that at the end of the day, how we describe something to be valuable is by how well would it be accepted when we display it on these social platforms. We no longer value doing something secretly, we like to announce our pain and happiness, publishing even a meager cutting of red velvet cake to the whole mankind as a priority than thanking mom for making it. When we look at it, how can we truly embrace the meaning of sincerity when our intentions are countlessly being distorted by the idea of wanting our 'sincere' acts to be broadcast across the web? And this is not a disease of the youth only, adults and even old people care so much about beautifying their social media that work becomes secondary, responsibilities fall short - personal and career-wise, and people dying because of it.
So how does keikhlasan tie in with the idea of human motivation?
Kholis = tulen, pure, solely done for one purpose only
Humans can truly devout their life to its original, one-and-only purpose if they are able to understand what their purpose it. And by understanding this key element to life, they will be motivated to do what they are supposed to do.
"Human motivation, number one is derived from actual, can-be-seen-touched-and-felt objects. Number two, is by knowledge."
This, I agree with dad. Because if we're just derived by number one, then we're just like cats that are hungry and want food. Like dogs, that want to mate just because of their carnal desire to do so. We're no different than the animals around us which is pathetic because we are granted the ability to think and feel and ponder upon things. Why do we want to subject ourselves to the same level as animals?
Thus, in order to get out of this animal cycle of eating, mating and living, one must acquire knowledge. One must think about life itself. One must venture through the deepest core of what it means to be alive. And one must go back to the original, ultimate source that would lead to the answers of all these questions. Because really, you can't find an answer to a maths question in a biology book. And you can't t find your true purpose if you keep on rattling at the books and philosophies created by humans that they themselves aren't quite sure to the reason behind their existence. Questions like life and death, the meaning behind it, can only be hypothesize by humans. We come to conclusions, different ones indeed because we simply don't know why and what is our purpose here. So why do we repeatedly go back to philosophical scholars for questions we can actually obtain the answer from studying just One Book?
"(The Quran) is not except a reminder to the whole world"
(Surah At-Takwir, 81:27)
Next comes the tricky bit. Understanding one's purpose of life doesn't really dictate one's action to follow it. In fact, there's a difference between 'knowing' and 'understanding' and 'acting upon it'. Laws and policies are made in this world for people to adhere to. They are debated in the parliament, passed and are printed in the constitution of a country. Does that actually guarantees a person acting upon the law/policy implemented?
No.
Things can be printed. Like the regulation of having short hair of such and such length for male students in high school, some boys just don't get it. And so we have law enforcement. Teachers scolding them, penalizing them, cutting their hair for them in weird hairdos as to make them repent or at least be fearful to prevent any repetition of breaking the rule. Does that help? To an extent. The boys would definitely repeat the mistake, willingly, if they are not motivated to change. Same goes to all the problems we have in the world let it be crimes, money-swindling, bribery and abuse of power. People are motivated by the wrong things, and when they place the wrong things as their aim and goal, it will definitely lead to a destructive force that will ruin the human race. Look around you, don't run away. It's evident.
So what's true motivation? True motivation is iman. Because when you look at it, think about it, and use that brain for more than just scrolling through Instagram, you'll see that the outcome of iman is nothing other than goodness.
"O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah, witnesses in justice, and do not let hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do."
(Surah Al-Maidah, 5:8)
"And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge.."
(Surah Al-An'am, 6:108)
"O my son, establish prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and be patient over what befalls you. Indeed, (all) that is of matters (requiring) determination."
(Surah Luqman, 31:17)
Tell me now, do you think the Quran is preaching hate? Do you think true Muslims with iman would want to pulverize the lives of humankind which will be the cause for him to rot in hell?
Please, think.
It's magical, how iman can change a person so much and how the Quran establishes this. In the age of the Prophet PBUH, the only lesson he gave to the sahabah was this Holy Quran. And how can the Quran with less to none Physics equation, Maths formula is able to derive a nation full of power, knowledge and humility towards mankind making it the most contributing factor to the world's economical, social, political and intellectual growth. Tell me, what was their motivation? What was the motivation of these sahabahs until they became Giants that conquered the world and spread the message of Life, of Islam?
What was it?
Redha Allah
The desire for Jannah
The fear of Jahannam
The belief of the afterlife
The belief of Judgment Day
That's why the can kholis, and purely do something for the sake of Allah. Because they believe in the unseen, and the unseen is Al-Haq. The unseen is what ultimate truth is. And if we can believe in the unseen nature of thoughts and emotions, why are we denying all of God's signs around us?
"Sungguh, (ayat-ayat) ini adalah peringatan, maka barang siapa menghendaki (kebaikan bagi dirinya) tentua dia akan mengambil jalan menuju Tuhannya. Tetapi kamu tidak mampu (menempuh jalan itu), kecuali apabila dikehendaki Allah. Sungguh, Allah Maha Mengetahui, Maha Bijaksana."
(Surah Al-Insan, 76:29-30)
So really guys, if for food-hunting you can go through such extremes, why not the same with Life? Because true living, is living to do your purpose in this world. If not, then you're as equal to a pen that can't be used to write and would be better off thrown in the dustbin.
May Allah choose us to walk the path of righteousness and grant us taqwa by the end of Ramadhan.
Selamat memecut sehingga ke akhirnya!
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