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“Jam and bread” are often considered the minimum to survive on when times are tough. This got me thinking what the minimum needs are to get through life.

It is a tricky question. Parents today look at their kids and it as if they are merely providing them with a base. Daily they send them to school and then the kids return. Some kids go to “slamse skool” or madressa or madrassah in the afternoon. Others might go on a weekend. Some never go. The parents are proud when the pass this grade and the next and so on. So, some parents sit with the kids with their homework and even do their projects. Then there is that thing called exams. However, considering all this, many parents do not really have a clue what their kids learn, whether they fulfil their potential and where they are headed. Of course, people are more clueless when it comes to Islamic studies. The question is still “what is the minimum requirements to get through life?”.  Can you articulate this with respect to yourself and your children? Dare I say that if there is focus, then it is in the wrong place. Were you created to avoid eating jam and bread so that you are not at the poverty line? That is the physical aspect? What is the bread and jam on the religious and spiritual front?

The Muslims have been in the Cape for over three hundred years. How is there no plan, a culture in place that sets the basis for Muslims and those that share similar ethics and morals?  Are we in equipped to pass through this world and exit it into paradise? Are we lacking resources or is it about whether you and I are teachable and are prepared to work together for mutual benefit in this world and beyond? Perhaps, for starters let each one assess his and his family’s situation whether they meet the minimum requirements to go through life. A time to brainstorm, don’t you think?

 

Others also clicked this and read

Suicide at the Cape (capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com)

Authentic us (capemuslimspeak.blogspot.com)

 

Picture courtesy: https://depositphotos.com

 

 

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.