Suicide at the Cape

 

The ticking clock will one day cease to add that one last tick. And so too will your heartbeat come to an end. But by time, man is lost. Running around, mostly in delusion and confusion. What will make you realise that these are ingredients for disaster? It can possibly be a disaster for you alone or it may have bigger, more intense, consequences.

Suicide is a notable concern in our community, albeit not as pronounced as in society at large. Allow me to digress, for a moment, to glance at the Muslim community from Cape Town. You will get so many varied responses to the question of what people, Muslim people, see when they look at Muslims and Islam in Cape Town. In these answers, you find the level of faith, level of intellect and level of education, both Islamic and otherwise, displayed. In short, it is the determining factor for where we find ourselves collectively and it is our scorecard. Suicide is a double-edged sword. It is a sensitive topic and best not to delve in too deeply on a mere blog. Those unaffected will not really get to understand while those affected have the opportunity to channel those emotions and experiences into positivity. Positivity to help themselves by improving their own lives. Positivity to encourage others to explore and adopt solutions that will benefit them overall.

When addressing the issue, be reminded that the Muslim community should not be judged, by themselves or others, as an exemplary society. The answers to a cursory glance of Muslim at the Cape will confirm that. To be blunt, there is much good at the Cape, but you will struggle with real solutions if you think it as exemplary. You must be prepared to change much of your thoughts, ideas and academic knowledge. You grew up here, and evolved every bit here, as part of this community and as such raised by this community. A community that also imported and inculcated everything, or nearly everything, that it was given. A community that had the opportunity to be exemplary, was really following. Today the topic is suicide, and everyone looks at the physical death of a person. The solution is beyond that view. Now, to start the journey to the real solution, ask too about those who live amongst us but are spiritually dead. Look at those who live mechanically only, but the heart does not beat with “Laa ilaaha illallah” – There is no God to worship but Allah. Then look at a solution from that point of view – the view of Laa ilaaha illallah. Unlearn the concepts from the academia, from society, from the “norm” and adopt solutions based on the kalimah (testimony of faith).

The system under which you live is a constraint and itself a noose around your neck. The system of Allah is the system that is all-encompassing.

And another person is buried and you don't know the unwritten inscription the tombstone.