A Message through Universe to Ashes!

Note: It is advisable that my readers first read my previous post (10 amazing theories about the amazing universe) in order to make my argument in this post seem more relevant.

There comes a time in our lives when we have a sudden change (like a U-turn) of heart, mind or sometimes a complete change of soul. I had my moment that changed not one but all three dimensions.

The above picture known as Hubble Ultra-Deep Field is a small portion of the Universe taken by Hubble telescope and is the deepest image of space ever taken (Wikipedia).

For some this picture may just depict millions of galaxies swimming in space and that's all but for me this picture started a whole new era of perceiving things.....started the genesis! You see I have always wondered the purpose of creating the universe. I have always wondered why did ALLAH create such a MASSIVE! universe with such PRECISION! I mean if you come to think of it, all we need is just our planet earth, moon and the sun to survive. And couple of stars too cause the iron in our body comes from star explosion known as supernova. So that's all we humans need from outside our planet to live out our lives. We may choose to indulge ourselves in getting amazed by the magnificent universe or study it's nature to understand the laws of our planet but practically we don't need to concern ourselves with what's happening outside our planet's domain cause it won't make a difference to our routine lives unless it's that day when it all ends. I never really understood the purpose of universe until recently. Of all the unknown reasons clinging to my ignorance regarding the purpose of the universe, I have been able to decipher one of them and that too in the form of a message........a message to ashes!

If there is a message hidden inside the universe then lets talk about the universe itself. I have already posted 10 miraculous points about the universe in my earlier post but I still wouldn't mind writing same points over and over again as anything and everything about ALLAH's universe never seizes to amaze me. Universe is a place where millions of galaxies exist, stars are formed and exploded, galaxies are merged in a systematic way and then there are blackholes ripping apart entire galaxies. The diameter of the universe is said to be of 93 billion light years and just for one second think about the power it took to create all those gigantic planets, stars, blackholes and other matter in between the mentioned space. And now let me tell you something you already know. A blackhole which is 10 billion times the mass of our sun is not ALLAH's greatest creation, 100 billion galaxies existing only in the observable universe is not ALLAH's greatest creation, 400 billion stars existing only in our solar system alone are not ALLAH's greatest creation......not even all the majestic living and non living things that we see here on earth....but rather it is YOU AND I who are ALLAH's greatest creation.Yes! ALLAH has declared humans his greatest creation.We are amazed by the universe but actually we should be amazed at ourselves. This also means that we are the best creations created by the powers of ALLAH and I cannot write more on ALLAH's power cause that would by far transcend the limits of this post. If all this doesn't make you feel amazing then how about if I tell you that ALLAH loves you more than 70 mothers. If still that doesn't electrify your soul then how about if I tell you that we all are the UMMAH of PROPHET MUHAMMAD (P.B.U.H). He was,is and always will be the wisest of us all and his love too for us is everlasting. He too never thought and did anything other than beneficial for us.So tell me now, doesn't all of this make your feel...............INVINCIBLE!

There is this word which is tossed around alot and always has been in my entire life and the word is "Impossible". People have always told me that certain things in life are impossible because of certain conditions, environment, lack of resources and influential contacts etc etc. I have always bought this notion.........BUT NOT ANYMORE!!!! You want to know what impossible really is. It's everything that is  happening out there in universe. Even the sun/moon coming up each and every single day and that too at same time and at the same spot. All this has been happening for almost 4 billion years!!!!! Try imagining the powers of ALLAH for doing this for such a long time. No wonder why pessimism is disliked in Islam cause when you have ALLAH as your creator then how the hell can a person be pessimistic in life. My friends everything that is happening in our universe is impossible......but its not......and this is what the universe and the sky tells us every single moment. There are other billion suns like our sun out there doing the same task each and every day.........take another look at the picture above and try telling yourself that somethings are impossible.

The way I see things now is that there are two kinds of rules in this world. One is man's made rule for e.g office timings of 9 to 5, an academic degree required for a job, an influential contact to get into politics etc. Then there is the other rule.................ALLAH's rule.........and that rule is.....................there are no rules!.........that if you truly believe in ALLAH, then you better believe in anything and everything.........and that my friend is the message through universe. That nothing is impossible for those who believe in ALLAH. It doesn't matter if you're weak or not ,because if you want to be world's greatest sports person, doctor, teacher, salesman, scientist, politician, ruler, student etc then GO AHEAD AND SEIZE EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!! and don't let anyone ever tell you what's possible and what's not because people don't get to decide it .......only ALLAH gets to do so. You don't need substantial financial resources or influential contacts to fulfill your destiny......All you will ever need is ALLAH and nothing else. This is one elusive equation that for some it takes only a minute to realize and for some unfortunate one's..........even a lifetime is not enough.

All I need is ALLAH......sigh......there was a time when we Muslims used to truly believe this. There was a time when we Muslims used to make non-believers believe it too. It was the same time when we believed in compassion, love, knowledge, wisdom, honesty, chivalry, purity, science, ethics, morals, respect, hard work, intelligence. We used to live like kings! But now we don't have the top universities in the world. We don't have the top companies in the world. We don't even have the toughest army or the most advanced arsenal...........we are simply reduced to ashes. One of the factors I say all of this is because out of 58 Muslim countries, hardly just one can perhaps claim to be a developed nation. So I just want to ask all my countrymen and all my Muslim bothers and sisters in this world one question and one question only..........IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN MAKE US BELIEVE IT AGAIN?...........Is there anyone who can inspire us to reclaim our lost glory.........sigh.........is there anyone?.........................

Rise and rise again..........until lambs become lions!

Young & Stupid

Some things are inevitable.........and being young and stupid is one of them. It's one mysterious point in time which comes and goes with free will and not a force on earth can stand in it's way. It didn't matter which background you belonged to, what religion you held on to, what part of the world you hailed from, how badly/wisely you were raised cause still it came for you like it came for me and we weren't able to recognize it till the storm was over. Some enjoy it. Some survive it. Some escape it. Others endure it. But the rest are consumed by it for a long period in it. 

It's roots start to grow in adolescence and the first thing it does is to cage the rational mind and unleash all unfulfilled senses of gratification. All one thinks is to find gratification in one form or the other. Kind of like an animal prowling for its prey.......perhaps. Such a state of heart and mind gives no credence whatsoever to principles,values,empathy,ethics,morals,responsibility and no matter how hard anyone tries to make you understand all this, you just won't give a @#$&. It would feel like that the world is just build to make you happy and when things won't go according to plan than you'll point fingers anywhere but at yourself.

Its a disease that cannot be cured. But perhaps it shouldn't be either. After all there are no greater lessons learned than from mistakes and mishaps..........if one has the rational mind and wisdom to apply. But eventually most of us do learn the beauty of hindsight sooner or later. So if you are going through such a time then just ignore this post cause it may all seem gibberish and I also wish you happy hunting but if you have experienced it then look for damage control for the one's you care about and who are the current host of this vicious parasite so that a quick and smooth transition can take place towards being mature and prudent.

  

Playground For Good and Evil

I read somewhere that humans on an average go through approximately 60,000 thoughts daily which I guess includes both conscious and subconscious. Our thoughts matter alot to ourselves and sometimes to the entire world. They are arguably the most true and pure reality of a person's personality and identity. They make us who we are. We all have good and evil thoughts and I guess at the end of the day that's what makes us human. To capitalize on the good one's and wrestle with the evil one's. I consider our thoughts to be the "initiative". Some of these initiatives translate into actions while some wither away. But my sole argument is that we should always monitor our thoughts and not let them go haywire inside our minds. We should establish a conscious radar in our minds which should be an autonomous body. The radar should be encrypted with rules of the game for e.g if you decide never to think of unethical/evil plotting against someone and when you subconsciously/consciously initiate such a sequence then immediately sound the alarm and seize all such unwanted activities. If we don't monitor and control such pernicious thoughts then the difference between humans and animals will start to shrink. There should be some thoughts forbidden to ponder on once one is logically convinced about the detrimental effects they can cause. I'm of the view that evil thoughts gain momentum when revisited and can lead to undesirable action by clouding the rational approach. I feel when one visualizes evil thoughts in one's mind then that person is feeding the devil. They can make the cursed one stronger and the host weaker.

So the moral of this post is to keep thoughts clean and constructive if one desires for a purged soul. Certain thoughts can lead to a person's total failure in all dimensions while some can surge him/her to the ultimate level. Never forget that your thoughts are constantly evaluated by the supreme being. Indeed our thoughts are the playground for both good and evil.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves - Buddha

When the Stars of Innovation and Creativity got Aligned for a Magical Period in Time

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do" -Apple

There are legends. There are legacies. But there can be only one Steve Jobs. Most of you may know him from the creator of Ipad, Ipod or Iphone. But the fact is that the man actually revolutionized seven industries: personal computing, animated movies, music, phones, tablets, retail stores and digital publishing. He will therefore be forever remembered with the likes of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Walt Disney.

This post is to list down all the important management lessons derived from his timeline which I read in HBR and to contribute my share of homage to Steve Jobs. One of the best thing I learned about him was that he used to think that normal rules didn't apply to him. I know such thought can be a ferocious weapon if gotten into wrong hands but Jobs used it wisely. Jobs's mentor (Mike) advised him three principles in life which were empathy, focus and impute. Impute in management means to establish a person's personal experience or emotion with the product. Following are his most important lessons extracted from his life :-

1. Focus

2. Simplify

3. Take responsibility 

4. When behind, Leapfrog

5. Put products before profits

6. Don't be a slave to focus groups

7. Impute

8. Push for perfection

9. Tolerate only "A" players

10. Engage face-to-face

11. Know both the big picture and the details

12. Combine the humanities with the science
13. Stay hungry, stay foolish


Once Jobs in his adolescence was building a fence in his backward with his father. His father told him to take as much care with the back of the fence as to do with the front. Jobs said "Nobody will know about the back of fence". His father replied "But you will know". A true craftsman is more concerned with the passion of perfection rather than saving resources for personal benefits. So go for perfection and everything else will follow themselves.

Job's 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech

Endnotes

1. Reference from Harvard Business Review. Walter Isaacson brought forth these important lessons from Job's life and is the writer of biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.

2. I'd recommend to get a copy of HBR (april edition) to read the full article.

Almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. - Steve Jobs

Rise above Fear and Face your Demons!

Of all the grim creatures in the world, why did Bruce Wayne chose a bat to personify himself in fighting crime? Strangely enough it is the same creature that had haunted him through out his young life. This nightmare began the day young bruce was attacked by bats when he fell in a tunnel and then the torture got unbearable and relentless each passing day. The haunting memories constantly degenerated his soul. He had to get rid of these torments. He had to break free. To become a free man. To bask in the glory with immortals. So what did he do to overcome his deepest fear?...................he became his own deepest fear.

Just like Bruce, we all have our demons from the past. These conniving beasts take many shapes for e.g car accident, place, event, death, tragedy, injustice, subjugation, molestation and for some people..............abandonment of that one person. One moment you are a free person, and the next you are thrown to the mercy of horrific beasts, to thier indulgence. These demons don't physically rip you apart. That would be way too lenient. But rather they emotionally torture you your entire life and maintain a prison for your mind. Some can't even recognize their torture and are left to believe that perhaps this is what life's all about. To live in fear. To be devoured. To be perished into nothingness.

Go ahead and start blaming all those who contributed to your enslavement. No use in regretting what is done. Perhaps done for a reason oblivious to you. It doesn't matter who did what to you. What matters is what do you do to yourself. I read somewhere that nobody can hurt you without your consent. I'm here to tell you that nobody lives in fear without his/her consent. Because the day you travel to your darkest death valley where your demons reside, you won't find ugly looking monsters.................you'll find yourself. The truth is that there are no demons. It's just you. It was your decision to cage yourself. You are the creator. You are the annihilator.

Some people go AWOL and get themselves submerged to the mundane affairs of life. Well how's that working out for you people? In order to master your fear, there is no other option but to face them head on. To look in your fear's dark dark eyes. To take all the pain, melancholy and gloom it gave you and use it against it. To unleash yourself and give them a taste of their own medicine. And then finally to embrace and become one with them. I know you're too scared to do it. Too insecure or perhaps too weak. But are you? You must understand that regardless of your circumstances, you still have and always will possess the greatest power THE ALMIGHTY ever gave you.........the power of choice. Learn to use it and don't choose to live in fear. Choose to be free. To ascend and then transcend. And trust me when I tell you that it's the only kind of life worth living.

The day you'll master your illusive demons, you'll know what relief is.........what life is. Like someone took the weight of the world off your shoulders. It's the day you won't stop giving mock smiles to your fears. The day you'll realize that this is only the beginning. The day you'll realize your true strength. They day you'll realize that there is a much higher purpose at stake. And hopefully it's the day you'll start doing........what needs to be done.

Go visit your fears and rise above it

Endnote

1. I know all of what I've written is much easy to write than to practically do it and that it will take hell more to overcome fear . But I can only show you the door, you're the one who has to walk through it.

2. Dying bruce's father final words to bruce were and I quote "Don't be afraid".

Our fears have haunted us for far too long......time has come to haunt them back.