Musings of a Servant of Allah
Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest. (13:28)Archive for Sci-Fi/Fantasy
The madness of fiction
Second day of freedom!
Feels strange, to say the least. I mean sure, technically I have Wednesday-Sunday off before the final 5 weeks at of full-time uni over at Westmead Hospital….and that could seem rather short, but it feels like practical infinity. I am grateful for every non-study moment which I have.
Stephanie Meyer’s books are great 
Been plowing through them over the past few days. Escapism via fiction is a fascinating kind of drug. Sci-fi/fantasy has that effect on me.
My current thoughts are this – how do you balance being in this world, while not being completely consumed in this world? Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was with God, constantly, in that sense, while it can be a struggle for me to keep focused in prayer.
Ramadan is almost over. May Allah grant me and my loved ones the blessing of meeting the next. Death is something so remote from our minds, but do any of us, really have that guarantee of getting through tomorrow in one piece? Hm. Nobody does. But we live under false illusions that every day is just another day, when we’re really a step closer to Reality. We’re all on countdown. I forget that, too easily.
I’ve been feeling disconnected. Disjointed. Definitely time to amp up the acts of worship going again, especially in these last days of Ramadan.
May Allah keep us grounded and God-centered, while being on this Earth
Imam Ash-Shafiee would say, “Time is like a Sword. Cut it (wisely), before it cuts you!”
Not too bad
As the title of this post suggests, yesterday’s exam wasn’t too bad. Thank God! It was fair. No surprises. Sure, a few curly questions here and there, but I finished early and got as far away as possible lol.
Last day of exams today! Woo! Ok, so we have our OSCE (Objective structured clinical exam?) in November, but I’ll worry about that when it comes.
I’m dying to get a book published one day. Seriously. It’ll either be a book about migration, Muslim women, identity etc or a sci-fi/fantasy epic lol.
Back to study!
Do androids dream of electric sheep?
….who knows?
That book, written by the legendary Philip K. Dick, was loosely turned into one my favourite movies – Blade Runner.
Fantabulous movie. Will have to watch it again after Tuesday (eek! so close!). It raises some fascinating questions…the desire for these androids to want to become human – to desire humanity. Look at how we ravage each other and our planet. Why would anybody want to be human?
Or perhaps it is the fact that these androids have a preprogrammed lifespan of only 4 years, and cannot reproduce – these factors make them yearn for ‘immortality’, which in their eyes is humanity. Whereas immortality for us is literal never dying. But we will all die. That holds true, eternally.
Hm…
“It’s too bad she won’t live. But then again, who does?” – last line of the movie.
*
Speaking of the inevitability of death….how do you cope with that?
It’s surreal, almost. From what I’ve studied, I’ve learned that it doesn’t take very much for us to die. The human body is awash with intricacy…and all it takes is for one signficant malfunction for us to go ka-poop.
And then it’s over, red rover.
We’ve all been to funerals. Whether it funeral prayers, burials….just as birth is something we celebrate, death is something we mourn. No running away from our mortality. It’s the one guarantee in life. (That, and taxes)
Atheists believe that those of faith turn to religion to help us cope. Maybe. Some atheists believe that after death, there is nothingness. Those of the monotheistic tradition say au contraire! There is the Day of Reckoning, where all our deeds shall be paid in full. *insert religion ____ claiming that only their followers shall enter paradise, all else is doomed to hell* (personally, I believe that God is the one who judges, so no point debating matters of the Unseen)
“Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.”
Robert Cody
