Alive but Dead.

Assalamualaikum,

I’ve always enjoyed watching anime. To me, despite the excessive acts of violence and somewhat unnecessary clothing, each one of them contain numerous lessons to be learnt. Some of my favorites are Gensoumaden Saiyuki, Death Note, Detective Conan and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I watch other anime as well, but out of the many anime that I watch, these four have always been my favorites, and I’ve never felt bored watching them over and over and over again.

I felt bored staying at home last winter, I figured I could spend some time rewatching Saiyuki. And so I started again from the first episode, something that I rarely do (I usually watch from the middle part of the series, ’cause it’s just so much more interesting in the middle)

While I was watching the third episode, “His God, My God”, I heard something that caught my attention.

The thing is, this is exactly what is happening all around us, especially in Malaysia. I like sit sit back and observe people, students, especially, and somehow, there’s this mentality inside them.

Score well in SPM -> Get a scholarship -> Get into a good university -> Graduate with a high GPA -> Get a job and/or married

But the problem with that mentality is, life ain’t that simple. What are you going to do then after getting a job, die? That’s not right, isn’t it? There must be something else in life that you’re looking forward to, something you’re working for, something worthwhile.

To put it in an Islamic way (or else people would say that I’m a liberal if I push Islam aside *sarcasm*), humans are created for two reasons, and two reasons only.

1) To be a caliph on this planet.
2) To worship God and be His servant.

Take the first reason, for example. Being a caliph on this planet. Some people, like Caliph Abu Bakr or Caliph Umar, are actual caliphs, with empire to rule and territories to protect. But, what about us? We’re just normal people, just citizens in a country. We’re not cut out to be caliphs or rulers/leaders of a country, let alone a whole empire. So, what, can we just forget about the first reason and focus on being a servant of God?

Is that is?

No, of course it’s not.

There’s no actual way on how to become a ‘caliph’ on this planet. Some people are born to be a real caliphs, a leader of an empire / a country. But that does not mean that ordinary citizens like us couldn’t be a ‘caliph’ in our own ways.

A man, for example, could be a ‘caliph’ in his family, by teaching his family about Islam and the right path in life. A mother could be a ‘caliph’ by teaching her children about the right and wrong of life. A student could be a ‘caliph’ by being an example to his/her friends, and by practicing amar makruf nahi mungkar.

And it’s not that hard.

The point is: You got to do something meaningful with your life, other than going through the normal journey of school-university-work-family. There’s got to be something special about your life, something that you would like to share and leave behind in this world. Or else, your life would just be a normal, ordinary, nothing-special-about-me life, and you’ve got nothing good to tell to your grandchildren later when you’re old and lying down on your deathbed.

Let’s ponder on that for a while, and let’s pray that we could all be better ‘caliphs’ in the future, insyaAllah.

Have a good day everyone, take care, Assalamualaikum 🙂