Posted: Sat May 08, 2004 12:39 pm Post subject: Concept of Seva.
There is a saying of Prophet Muhamad that "Religion is nothing but worship of God and service of his creatures." In this sense SEVA has existed since creation. We tend to think of SEVA in a very narrow sense as serving the Jamat and the Imam of the time either in a recognised form or in an unrecognised form. At its deepest and broadest sense SEVA is the very act of living. If you are thinking and acting righteously as per the Farmans of the Imam, then every moment is an exalted moment of Seva and it can occur in a Jamati context as well as outside the Jamati context.
Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 5:24 am Post subject: Princess Zahra Speech on Voluntarism
Princess Zahra defined the concept of Seva as:
In the Shia Ismaili Muslim tradition, voluntary service to others is viewed as an integral and positive part of daily life, and never as a burdensome obligation or an elective activity. Service is a means for each individual to actualise Islam’s ethics of inclusiveness, of compassion, of sharing, of the respect for life, and of personal responsibility for sustaining a healthy physical, social, and cultural environment.
Generosity is fundamental to this concept of volunteerism: generosity of material resources, of time, of thought and of knowledge. The importance of the donation of time and financial resources is widely recognised. The other two elements are not. Thought helps others to help themselves. Knowledge enables the educated to provide technical information to the less educated on how to meet their own needs better and serve others.
Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 3:49 pm Post subject: Badged or non Badged Volunteerism
_thaillestlunatic_ wrote:
so what's better
wearing the uniform? or not?
or Badged VS Unbadged
"In our Jamat, for centuries, there has been the most admirable tradition of service and this tradition has existed in times of happiness, in times of difficulty and it has been the pillar in our Jamat, that is, that the spirit of Muslim brotherhood should be made evident, not only in treating each man and each woman as a brother but demonstrating that brotherhood by rendering service, service without remuneration, without recognition, without titles, without social status, simply rendering service." (Edmonton, Mulaqat with Vounteers, April 24, 1983)
From the above Firman, it is quite evident that non badged Seva is better because it does not carry the baggage of status, titles, recognition etc. Having said this, I think it is also important that we deliver our services in the most effective and proficient manner. For this purpose we need a structure which entails office bearers who need to be appointed and accountable for the status of the institutions (which includes the Volunteer Corp). So if you have been appointed in any position, it is important to serve with the best of your ability. By being badged, you are making yourself available to serve within the structure. The key is that the position should not make one proud or feel superior to others otherwise it defeats the purpose of Seva which is to engender humility. The hierarchies should be there only for functional reasons and not for status purposes.
So if you are appointed, it is fine. If not, it is also fine. You should not feel deprived of Seva for not having been appointed. As I mentioned in my earlier post, our concept of Seva is much deeper and broader and there are many ways of serving the Lord.
I think the whole Firman is very useful, and indeed all the Firmans made during the Silver Jubliee Year Volunteer mulaqats are worthy of reflection. You can find these in the red book "Kalam-e Imam-e Zaman".
lately i've been arguiging either to wear the uniform or not. Numerous times captainmaa has asked me to wear the uniform, kamadiasaheb has asked 3 times now and I give the answer "I am unbadged, the one who serves Mowla without recognition,titles etc" and still I am confused.
There has to be a reason behind this. I feel maybe Mowla wants me in uniform by telling his appointed kamadiasaheb to stress out the urge to wear uniform. I don't know what to do. I want to serve Mowla with the greatest capability and with humility. But I feel if I wear uniform im going to get my name sent for Mukhi for students or titles and I don't want these titles. Recognition dosen't suit me at all. However, I get more more opportunities to serve if I wear uniform. But with this firman
"In our Jamat, for centuries, there has been the most admirable tradition of service and this tradition has existed in times of happiness, in times of difficulty and it has been the pillar in our Jamat, that is, that the spirit of Muslim brotherhood should be made evident, not only in treating each man and each woman as a brother but demonstrating that brotherhood by rendering service, service without remuneration, without recognition, without titles, without social status, simply rendering service." (Edmonton, Mulaqat with Vounteers, April 24, 1983)
I feel so attached to the unbadged volunteerism. How would you articulate this Kmaherali???? what do YOU feel is better???
I our community there is space , freedom and need bor bothe badge and un-badged volunteers.
There are some services you can perform only if you have a badge and a title and a position and there are some service you can do only if you don't have the title, the position and the badge
So my suggestion is take the badge, do the sewa required then go home, take out your badge and do all the other sewa you could not do because of the badge
but in some ways I do want the titles because I get MORE opportunities to serve Mowla, but my heart just keeps saying no and no to wearing the badge. So know what?
Joined: 18 Dec 2003 Posts: 70 Location: Houston, Texas
Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:02 pm Post subject: seva
ya ali madad to all
there is a klam it says aache ibadat sab say choopa kar karye kese bande ko naa janaye aapne kudaq so dariye
Ibadath and seva is the same... if you are doing seva while in rememberance of the lord than it is considered ibadath.
in uniform seva you might feel proudness this is because your ego (nafas) likes it. So every seva which is done in privacy and not to "show off" to anyone is the best kind of seva.
May mowla grant you a deeper understanding of seva which something else which I cannot discuss here.
lately i've been arguiging either to wear the uniform or not. Numerous times captainmaa has asked me to wear the uniform, kamadiasaheb has asked 3 times now and I give the answer "I am unbadged, the one who serves Mowla without recognition,titles etc" and still I am confused.
There has to be a reason behind this. I feel maybe Mowla wants me in uniform by telling his appointed kamadiasaheb to stress out the urge to wear uniform. I don't know what to do. I want to serve Mowla with the greatest capability and with humility. But I feel if I wear uniform im going to get my name sent for Mukhi for students or titles and I don't want these titles. Recognition dosen't suit me at all. However, I get more more opportunities to serve if I wear uniform. But with this firman
"In our Jamat, for centuries, there has been the most admirable tradition of service and this tradition has existed in times of happiness, in times of difficulty and it has been the pillar in our Jamat, that is, that the spirit of Muslim brotherhood should be made evident, not only in treating each man and each woman as a brother but demonstrating that brotherhood by rendering service, service without remuneration, without recognition, without titles, without social status, simply rendering service." (Edmonton, Mulaqat with Vounteers, April 24, 1983)
I feel so attached to the unbadged volunteerism. How would you articulate this Kmaherali???? what do YOU feel is better???
Thanks,
--------------
Before we go into the argument of the adoption of either Badge and Non Badege Seva , one should know clearly the meaning of Sewa . Sewa is also called Khidmat or Services.
Normally whoever do the khidmat , we say him ‘sevant’ or ‘Nauker’ or’ Khadim’ ( In Urdu ). When the word Khadim comes in our mind, it creates an antonyms ( Opposite word ) and that is Seth or Maalik.. Therefore the one who serves is Khadim and to whom we serve is Seth or Maalik. Seth will be on top and Khadim will be on bottom. Seth is superior with respect to Khadim and Khadim is inferior with respect to Seth, Khadim will carry out all
Orders given by Seth. Sometimes Khadim has to drop himself to the humiliating position because his object is to keep his Maalik happy. Now what does it imply?. It shows that whenever one serves the jamat or Imam, he should think himself nothing, he should be humble while serving. The main object we achieve by doing seva is nothing but to develop humility in ourselves and that will really help you in your spiritual progress. “ It will be given to you in Humility” (BUK) . Now you are either badged or non-badged sevadhari, believe me it doesn’t make any difference. The real thing is to serve with Honesty and
Humility. We say it creates proud when we work with badge but I think that is your real test that how can you keep humility and kill your ego while in uniform and when people praise and appreciate your work. How can you take anything in your heart and how much you educate yourself to keep the highest level of service is important. “ ek kotri ma besi
Ne dhiyan lagarvo kaain mushkil nathi , parn maranso ma rahi ne dhiyan lagavoo a moti himat chhaiy (BUK ). Always be careful in your attitude when you are serving especially at some higher position in Jamat and when some members are working under you.
If you think that these people are nothing before me and I am enjoying the highest position, then this service will be harmful for you instead of taking benefit from it; That is why it is very sensitive matter to serve the jamat or Imam. It either takes you to the highest level of Humanity or sometime it drops you to the lowest level of animity.
Ragarding Seva, there are two types ( or two school of thought ), When seva is carried out by
Nauker for his Maalik, the former does so for some incentives or remunerations while the same is done by a child for his father for nothing. As we are the spiritual children of our beloved Imam then we should come under later categories that is seva without incentives.
But honestly speaking what we do normally. Here we did seva and go to Mukhi Saheb for Dua. Even Dua is also incentive. Mowla knows what you are doing and he will give you Ajer
Or Badla. Don’t worry.
I thank you for clearing that matter up
so then which one would YOU prefer? badged or nonbadged
but again wearing the badged uniform u get more opportunities to serve the Imam
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