The BBB Club

Recently, we went to visit a shaykh, who is already 65 years old.

And he was a true-blue example of our desired Muslim IndividualTM. In addition to having shaykhi qualities (greets you warmly, gives sincere and heart-melting advice, and has a house full of books), he is also

Physically fit (relative to age).

With a flat tummy.

A friend of mine went on a camping trip with this shaykh once, and they had to trek down the shoreline. This was a rocky shore, not a sandy one. Imagine climbing up and down rocks when you are 60. And another friend told me that one of the things that made his heart fall for D&T was seeing this same shaykh playing takraw with people much younger than him. Awesome.

rockin' it at 65

Not too long ago, we went to a waterfall with another shaykh, also aged 65. I was quite worried because it was quite an uphill climb, and 65-year-old men could get knee sores or something like that. To my amazement, he went up faster than myself and when we finally got to the waterfall, he didn't sit on a boring old bench. No, he went on top of a large rock and sat there cross-legged. It was as if he came straight out of a Kungfu Panda movie.

I wonder what i'll be like at 65 (assuming we live that long. I presume that the average lifespans of CIA targets are much shorter)

Art-thritis: the art of making light diseases look life-threatening to skip obligations.

That's where we need to widen our understanding of D&T. Fitness and health is not just a part of tarbiyyah, it is an important part of tarbiyyah. The very point of tarbiyyah is to produce people who are excellent in every sphere of life, and not just excellent in attending their weekly circles with no noticeable output.

D&T is a life-long career, and superhuman stamina is needed.

Abu ayyub died in a raid against the byzantine empire. At that time, he was over 80.

Rasulullah himself started going on skirmishes and campaigns when he was above 50. When things got tense in a war, the sahabah would take cover behind rasulullah.

Imagine, these were young men sheltering behind a very senior pakcik. Makes you want to shed tender tears while uttering 'awesome' with trembling lips.

So inspired by the example taught by rasulullah and the contemporary example of our two shaykhs, today we on RP are launching a new club. Its totally voluntary, you can join anytime and drop out anytime.

Its called

The BBB club.

Belia Benci Buncit (youth against bulge)

Membership fees are zero, and if you want to join just follow these simple steps:

1. Eat moderately

2. Fast 3 times a month

3. Commit to a daily physical activity. No gym membership required. 15 minutes of light physical exercise will do, like walking fast, running up the stairs, shadow boxing etc.

4. Avoid junk food and junk drinks and eat healthy food. Sunnah supplements are recommended. 

If you 'make intention' to do all of the above, then welcome to the BBB club! :DDD

Then we can produce a generation of 

And NOT

Because the stomach is the worst vessel that a son of Adam can fill. 

Its a touchy subject, but at least one person has to press the (belly) button.

The original Brother

Today we remember the death of one of the leading lights of Islam in the 20th century:

Ustaz Hasan al-Banna.

History is one of my personal obsessions. I love it because by seeing history we see patterns and trends, we see unchangeable, universal laws that Allah set in governing the affairs of men.

It is particularly interesting to read about the lives of great men, and I love to see the dates in which important events happen to them, how old they were at that time and what they did at that age. To take al-Banna for example:

- Born in the year 1906. Memorised the Qur'an at a young age, entered Madrasah ar-Rasyad at the age of 8, and then primary school, and then Madrasah Mu'allimin (teaching school) Damanhur, and finaly the Darul 'Uloom in Cairo. Graduated in 1927 (21 years old)  

- An activist from early on, he set up a society for the prevention of Munkar in school and with his friend Ahmad Sukkari set up another society for the same purposes in the teaching school.

- Worked as a teacher in Ismailiyyah in 1927 (21 years old). People call the late teens and early twenties as 'formative years', the ages where young people are most susceptible to new ideas and most willing to fight for those ideas (the bulk of Rasulullah's early followers were in this age bracket). Ismailiyyah is a city on the west bank of the Suez Canal, then still controlled by the British. Let us look at some of the forces acting to shape the identity and character of the young al-Banna:

1. Being born into a scholarly family (his father was a scholar of hadith)
2. Constant tarbiyyah since he was small
3. Living in close proximity to the British presence, he must have had a strong sense of the degradation and humiliation faced by muslims living under colonialism

These influences are not exhaustive, but I hope that they convey the impression that Allah prepares the right conditions for the right people to come out at the right time.

 





"..And whoever believes in Allah - He will guide his heart. And Allah is Knowing of all things." (At Taghabun:11)

- Established al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin (the Muslim Brotherhood) in 1927 (21 years old). The call of the MB spread across Egypt, and al-Banna himself visited around 3,000 villages in Egypt to spread the da'wah.

- In his 30s, established the Muslim Brotherhood Theatre, as well as several magazines and newspapers.

- Resigned from teaching in the year 1946 (40 years old). 

- 1947-1948 (41/42 years old) - Sent thousands of MB members to Palestine to resist the Israeli onslaught. In 1948 the members of the Ikhwan were estimated to be at least half a million

- Assassinated on the 12th of February 1949, aged 43.

Here is an example of someone who made maximum use of his youth. We could take inspiration from the fact that he was already leading a formidable revivalist movement in his 20s, when most 20-year olds today are preoccupied with what job to apply for, what car to buy or what show to watch.

We could take inspiration from the fact that in his youth, he reached out to a lot of people, either by going great distances to meet them personally, or indirectly through his writings and his followers.

Western authors would say that he died a 'premature death', because he died at a very young age and it is at 40 that people usually reach the height of their abilities. But we say that Allah makes the best decisions, because 

eventhough al-Banna died young

His thought and his struggle is going strong until today. It is a sign that this struggle is not dependent on one individual.

It is a struggle that has withstood hostile propaganda, executions, ruthless dictators, mass arrests and more. It is a sign that the truth has settled in the hearts of men, and the truth will not be sold for cheap earthly rewards. The truth does not need us, we need it.

The fact that al-Banna could achieve so much in so short a life, begs the question:

What have you done today?

Diseases of a murabbi

10 Diseases that you definitely want to avoid as a murabbi, courtesy of ustaz wan ahmad sanadi and brother amri (and reformatted to fit with the spirit of this blog :D):

1. Tipus -Tidak punya selera (no appetite) - no appetite for tarbiyyah, no appetite to manage other people's tarbiyyah, no appetite for heart-to-heart talks. May result in premature death and hardening of the heart. Sobs

2. Mual - Mutu amat lemah (super low quality) - no quality. We don't conduct quality circles and don't produce quality men. No noticeable increase in akhlaq, to take an extreme example, cannot even read the quran well. Double sobs.

3. Kudis - Kurang disiplin (lacking discipline) - circles are conducted according to MMT (malay meridian time), which is always GMT+30 minutes. No one finishes their assignments. Walks like a duckling when late, instead of running like a gazelle. Discipline is a basic tenet of D&T, which is why we have mukhayyam (campings).

4. Asma - Asal masuk kelas (as long as you attend class)- 'i'm doing a big favor to da'wah by just being here, people need my aura'. Summed  up by the popular proverb, 'releasing cough on the stairs' (melepaskan batuk di tangga)

5. TB -Technology Blind - the fact that you are reading this blog on various devices means that you are vaccinated against this particular disease :D.

6. Kusta -Kurang strategi (lack of strategy)- if, in our jahiliyyah, we could create complex strategies to overcome goblins, ogres and trolls, we could surely come up with a strategy to turn ogres into princes who will rid the world of the evil empire! Muahahahaha

7. Kram - Kurang keterampilan (lack of appearance) - example: forgetting to brush your teeth since morning. Your mutarabbi will then hear about hell in addition to experiencing it first-hand.

8. Asam urat - Asal sampai bahan, tapi kurang akurat (inaccurate information) - 'err..i think that this sahabah said that..i think allah said it in this aayah, im not really sure..you guys lah check it out, this is tarbiyyah for you, im just testing you out'.

9. Lesu - Lemah sumber (weak sources) - 'okay, you can refer to fi zilal..and, erm, fi zilal, and, erm..did i say fi zilal?'

And our favorite acronym for today:

10. Diarea -Di kelas, anak-anak diremehkan (neglecting our children)- not giving a thought towards our mutarabbi, never caring whether they live or die. Trust me, fall into this disease and they'll go out of da'wah faster than real diarrhoea comes out of the body.

Love, your unqualified doctor. ^^v