Mawlid Nabi 2008

Mawlid season has come and gone once again and I’ve only now had the chance to put a little something together.
This time, I’ve got some fresh video clips, and new this year, an audio recording of our Kuching mawlid recital.

It’s almost two hours long, and incomplete, with the last half-hour or so missing due to my little mp3 recorder tiring out. And the sound quality is uneven. And we are strictly an amatuer operation. So bear all that in mind if you decide to download the 75MB file. We are reciting from a prayer book originally printed in Singapore at least twenty-five years ago, that includes Mawlid Diba’i, Mawlid Barzanji, and litanies of duas and zikrs. This evening, we recited a litany followed by the Mawlid Diba’i followed by what is essentially a catechism of obligatory knowledge set to poetry, including the Attributes of Allah, the attributes of Nabi Muhammad, the names of the known prophets and angels, the family tree of Nabi Muhammad, and so on. Enjoy the recording, and inshallah enjoy it more by getting a copy of the mawlid and reciting it yourself!

Video: Marhaban Ahlan wa Sahlan Ya Rasul

Video: Muhammadun Mutahharu

Update:

Shaik Abdul Khafid, the man behind Red Sulphur and the rad “____ Muslims against Terrorism” banners that have spread far and wide, translated Muhammadun Mutahharu years ago. Here is his translation:

You are like the full moon, nay you are brighter
Your face is like fine water that drips

O Ornament of the World, O Aim of Hopes
Who has ever perceived a face such as yours?

No descendant of Eve from the essence of Adam
And none in the Eternal Heavens is similar to you

Your first is the sun, your second a star
The circular and luminous full moon is your third

And your fourth is camphor, your fifth ambergris
Corundum your sixth, the rest of you gems

Your five fingers refers to five tidings
They aim at the signs, so observe

Your middle finger is Abu Bakr, ‘Umar the ring finger
‘Uthman the smallest finger, ‘Ali the thumb

His forefinger is the seal of the Messengers, Muhammad
And that is none else save a Prophet, purified

Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and the Ka’abah is my Qiblah
My religion is more exalted and honoured than other religions

Mediate for me, Messenger of Allah, Allah is Merciful
There is no god save Allah, Allah is Great

Blessings of Allah for every day and night
Upon Ahmad, the Chosen One, the Purified

There is a small Flickr Set of the Event.

About this entry

You’re currently reading “Mawlid Nabi 2008,” an entry on Bin Gregory Productions

Published:: 06.12.08 / 5pm

Category:: Islam, Malaysia

Briefly

Anwar Ibrahim and the Opposition: Malaysian Seeks End to Decades of Firm Rule - a pretty decent roundup of political developments in Malaysia, from the New York Times.

The Spiritual Aspirant: Sidi Khalil Moore will be in Singapore conducting a workshop for The Spiritual Aspirant, to be held 27 June to 5 July. I had the pleasure to hear Sidi Khalil speak in Detroit back in 2002 in conjunction with the US tour of Habib Ali Al-Jifri. I regret I won't be able to make the short trip across the South China Sea to attend, but I recommend it to anyone in the area. The workshop is being sponsored by Simply Islam, under the capable hands of some of the fine people who put on the Journey to Ihsan event a couple years ago, which I did attend and enjoyed immensely.

Collapse Preparedness: The transition from the USSR to the republic of Russia was a catastrophic event for the people who lived through it. The eventual (imminent?) collapse of the US will be much much worse, warns Dmitry Orlov. The USA has a Collapse Gap. Orlov realizes

that some people will react rather badly to having their country compared to the USSR. I would like to assure you that the Soviet people would have reacted similarly, had the United States collapsed first. Feelings aside, here are two 20th century superpowers, who wanted more or less the same things – things like technological progress, economic growth, full employment, and world domination – but they disagreed about the methods. And they obtained similar results – each had a good run, intimidated the whole planet, and kept the other scared. Each eventually went bankrupt.

Valuable lessons on what to expect and how to prepare follow. Read it yourself, but the condensed advice is this: Live on the margins of society. One encouraging sign that Americans are picking up the skills they will need to survive: haggling at the mall.