Saturday, August 20, 2016

Forgetful? Write More.

In the study of hadeeth (or the science of hadeeth), there is one category of weak hadeeth called "soo.ul-hifz" (it's from an arabic which I couldn't extract here...it literally means weak memory).

One who is "sayyi.ul-hifz" is the one who is mistaken more than he is correct.

There are two types:
1. One whose memory was always bad throughout his life.
2. One whose memory became weak, either due to old age, he became blind, or his books were burnt (this type is called al-mukhtalat).

The ruling for their narrations:
1. For the first type, his narrations are rejected.
2. For the second type, then:
     1. what he is known to have reported before the "ikhtilat" is acceptable.
     2. what he reported after the "ikhtilat" is rejected.
     3. that which is not known whether it was before or after, then judgement is                    suspended until it is clear which is the case.

(The above short notes are extracted verbatim, except the underlined part, which I added, from Tayseer Mustalahil Hadeeth, written by Dr Mahmood at-Tahhaan)

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1. The short extract above briefly tells us the need to write more if we have a short memory span.

2. It always startle me when I try to recall a memory from the past, I always try to equate it with something totally different from what it was supposed to be.

3. Emotion plays a big part in our memory relapse. Due to our emotional attachment, our facts become massively distorted from the truth.

4. For a quick example, when asked about her present state of marriage, one girl rejoiced immediately and told the questioner with glowing excitement that she was always happy with her state of marriage from the start.

5. Well, that is further from the truth. She is happy now, but not then. In fact, in the early period of her marriage, she was clearly unhappy and poured her disappointment to somebody (which unfortunately was the questioner himself). Over time, her marriage becomes a lot better and she unconsciously loses her early memory of her disappointing start to her marriage.

6. Sometimes we have a reservation about something...be it towards people, situation or our own feeling. Almost all of the time, we tend to forget it when things get better. When these things rear their ugly heads and come back to haunt us, it's maybe too late to turn things around.

7. So to avoid this distorted truth, write more. I am always interested by truth and emotion, but for me, truth always comes first before emotion.

Friday, August 5, 2016

August!

Well it's been almost a full-length month since I last posted on this clandestine blog called Pancasara.

I am re-adjusting my life to a new tune. I must admit that Prof Bouchet and Dr Ellen have permanently stamped a big mark on me during our short stint together.

Not a single day passes by without me remembering every minutes of our short stay together.

Those moments were temporary, but the memories that come with it will last forever.

As I said before, I should be writing numerously, but time constraint keeps strangling me. I now have an unrelated job to keep my mind off things, I still need to prepare my overdue proposal, and I must keep my mind fresh to absorb new knowledge as they come.

I am meeting new people now on a daily basis, and it includes those that are half my age. It is awkward to hear yourself being called uncle for the first time, but I must accept the harsh reality that I'm getting old.

So I'm bracing myself for the new month of August. This is my favourite month; throughout my life, good and magical things always happened in August. So hopefully this time it won't be of any difference from the yesteryears.

Till then.