Friday 22 March 2013

Redha

This week has been rather hectic, so I have not been able to spend much time "entertaining" guests to this blog.  Though I do try, in between meetings, during lunch breaks, late at night or very early morning, it is very difficult to take my thoughts away from work.

I wish I can be like some people who can do many things all at once, unfortunately I'm not made that way. Once I am on to something, I have this tendency of overdoing things to the point of being obsessed.  It's what someone used to describe as single-minded tenacity in the pursuit of the absolute, whatever that may mean.  By the time I had the time to ask him what he actually meant by that, he'd already left for a scientific research expedition to Alaska, and I never hear from him since.  That was especially sad, as I really liked him, but life goes on and time waits for no man.



Personally I think it is OK to be single-minded, if I may say so myself, but that single-mindedness must be tempered with wisdom and intellect.  The ability to remove emotions from the equation, reason things out with logic, and most importantly to analyse information from all sources and perspectives, outside the scope of self-interest, will be crucial if we were to avoid being manipulated by others.

One of the things I love about Islam is the concept of "redha" as derived from one of the six articles  of Islamic faith, faith in the pre-ordained (Qada & Qadar).  Please do correct me if I am wrong, but from my own personal experience, that is when something happens, you must have the capacity to accept the outcome as pre-ordained and should not find someone or something to blame. According to my Mom, who used to remind me to be "redha" at all times, being "redha" will help me to move on, because there is always something to be learned from every misfortune, and I will not have the capacity to learn if I keep looking for someone to blame.

Over the years, I have learned that being redha with what life allots me has helped me to understand my limitations, single-mindedness being one of the more problematic ones, and find ways to overcome these limitations without trying to blame every misfortune and calamity on someone else.  It also has helped me to move forward without carrying too much baggage of the past and enabled me to think with a clearer head.

I am sure other faiths have something similar.  It would be nice if we can discuss this concept without being overtly political or downright hostile, but I doubt that is possible in the present political atmosphere.  Redha is much needed in politics.

10 comments:

  1. Does redha equals acceptance?

    In the Catholic church (not sure about the other denominations though) we're thought to pray that God's will, not ours be done. In fact, it was spelled out in the bible when Jesus taught his disciples to pray in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 9, Verses 9-13.

    In fact one of the most famous Christian prayer deals with acceptance. The prayer, of which its' origins are a bit vague is of course The Serenity Prayer.

    The first line goes as such;

    "God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change..."

    I believe the overriding issue is that men should not be too caught up in their own hype. You know when we're told nothing is impossible & all those gee-up slogans?

    I believe it is a reminder that as men, we are limited by our physical condition, mental abilities, human nature etc. I suppose it is also a way to bring us mere mortals closer to God, as our mortality is a fate we cannot avoid, a price we inevitably pay for living.

    Then again, I could be wrong. I hope many more will share their thoughts on this matter. Would love to see what others think about this concept.

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    1. Yes, I think the acceptance that you described is very similar to my understanding of redha :)

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    2. Erkkk... Just noticed a mistake in my comment. Should be Matthew 6: 9-13

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  2. Redha dengan segala ujian adalah bagus untuk kita naik ke tahap yang lebih tinggi dalam ujian keimanan daripada Allah swt. Not only good for us to be redha, it is an extremely important for each of us to achieve that state of iman.

    But one thing I don't particularly like in Malay language is the word pasrah. Pasrah dengan segala ujian...pasrah memberikan gambaran seseorang itu dalam keadaan tak berupaya. Being helpless without might to do something about the problem/ujian.

    Sorry just my rambling. Thanks for the article Tinsel. Tazkirah/perkongsian yang bagus :-)

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    1. I agree about the pasrah thing, and thank you for sharing zakzak :)

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  3. I don't think there are different versions of Islam, just that there are multiple interpretation of faith as colored by our surroundings, i.e. environment, culture, economic conditions, etc. etc. Man tend to interpret things from within the scope of their self-interest.

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  4. Dear Tinsel
    Whatever it is we wont be "Pasrah" to let PAS takes over Johor or for that matter PKR or DAP. We will not also be Pasrah if Ghani Othnan is retained as MB..We thinkn he should retire
    (Of course you wont publish this comment as always!!!)

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    Replies
    1. Wow, your opinions and pronouncements are so important and life shattering that I would even consider censoring them .. NOT.

      For your information, I take pleasure in letting through idiotic comments because I find self-important pronouncements like yours are totally hilarious and should be shared with other readers of this blog.

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    2. Tinsel,

      As much as I hate to admit it, talks about 'pasrah' and 'redha' reminds me of Ombak Rindu. Lol.

      On politics, as much as I hate and don't want those PR people to govern me, if they win democratically, I must be redha with that. Not pasrah but redha.

      For now, I can only pray that people who are still not lean towards PR or BN will choose rasionally rather than emotionally.

      My 2 cents. :)

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    3. Ombak Rindu .. hahaha
      Agree on that count.

      As for the undecideds, the fact that they are undecided but will be voting anyway, means they do exercise some thinking. So there is still hope.

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