165 THE BEST WAY OF LIFE!

In a famous 40 Hadith (40 selected sayings compiled by Imam Nawawi), the Prophet SAW - via the Angel Jibril - effectively taught us that ad-deen is the 1 pillar of Ihsan* (spirituality), the 6 pillars of Iman (faith), and the 5 pillars of Islam (action).

In another famous hadith 40, the Prophet defined ad-deen as an-Nasihah. A translation of the hadith is provided below:-

On the authority of Tamim Al-Dari that the Prophet SAW, said:
"Ad-deen is an-Nasihah." We said: "To whom?" The Prophet SAW, said: "To Allah and His Book, and His messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk." [Muslim]

Now, what is the definition of an-Nasihah in that hadith? As evident from both hadiths the common denominator being the term ad-deen, what relationship does an-Nasihah has to 1-6-5 (definition of ad-deen) from the first hadith?

In Bahasa Malaysia, Nasihah (Nasihat) means to advise or to consult. In Arabic, the root word of Nasihah, which is Na-Sa-Ha, means being valid, sincere, or truthful. Essentially, what an-Nasihah means in the context of the hadith is developing a holistic character of truthfulness and sincerity in seeking and giving; in short, in driving our lives.

Our holistic ad-deen character is developed every time we "consult" or communicate with Allah (in the form of our seeking His blessings and forgiveness), "consult" the Book (in seeking hidayah), "consult" the Prophet SAW (seeking his syafaat and when extending our Salawat to him), "advise" to the muslim leaders (in demanding justice) and "advise" to our family and the Ummah (i.e. educating them in the form of glad tidings and warnings).

Combining these two great definitions of ad-deen, we should realise that our Spirituality, Faith and Action (1-6-5) as taught by the Prophet SAW through Jibril, must be truthfully upheld with consistency or istiqamah.

Being istiqamah in itself is a struggle to each of us, within and externally. This is mainly because istiqamah doesn't imply being constant throughout our lives. On the contrary, it demands that we consistently seek expansion, betterment or kaizen for our 1-6-5. The demonstration of the outer journey, of the 'expanding sky' (i.e. nebula and the spiraling galaxies) during ESQ trainings, comes to mind when describing the need to navigate our lives with an expanding notion of istiqamah.



Hence, 165 is correctly termed by Pak Ary as the best way of life. What he meant was probably the fact that whilst we must begin with a strong uplift to our spiritual relationship with the Creator of the Universe, which then fires our sense of faith and directs us towards ritual actions and Total Action, we must not remain static but instead must always be truthfully in a constant self-challenging mode to seek and provide.... to improve.

Improvement by way of Nasihah takes us from being merely satisfied of practicing Islam daily for its rituals, to making 165 as the best way of life.

How do we live up to such expectaion and be in such a mode of self-challenging improvement? The answer is for us to Go-Fight-Win. Alumni know Go-Fight-Win as the "official yell" in ESQ trainings which brings vibes of liveliness. But what do the 3 simple words mean in the context of 165?

As muslims who want to make 165 the best way of life, we need to GO out and increase our own knowledge of ad-deen. Simultaneously, we must perform actions which are ordained and encouraged upon us.

Having said that, it is not enough to focus on our actions alone. We need to go out into the society. There should be dakwah as well as a structure in the form of jama'ah for us to remind one another to stay on the right path, as we may forget even the most fundamental of matters.

Allah SWT promised in the Holy Qor'an that there will definitely exist resistance in internal and external forms which could slow down or even take us away from the right path. Therefore, we must strive to protect our deen and FIGHT away any negative forces.

Not only must we fight, but we must fight wholeheartedly with the objective to WIN. Even if we don't get to win certain battles, eventually our 165 vision is to meet Allah SWT in Heaven. This is the ultimate definition of success.

InsyaAllah.


* - (.... then the man said, "Inform me about Ihsan." The Prophet SAW answered, " It is that you should serve Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him yet He sees you.")

TOTAL ACTION - KL34

(in Bahasa)

Ramai yang bertanya kepada kami di mana surat arahan kerajaan Saudi tentang 'pengharaman' simulasi Kaabah sebagaimana yang dikhabarkan sebelum ini. Kami harap pihak LC dapat merungkaikan isu ini dan mewar-warkan black and white kepada para alumni Training ESQ.

Selagi tiada yang rasmi, K-SATRIA 165 mencadangkan di sini agar pihak LC TIDAK put on hold malahan meneruskan simulasi Total Action dalam Training ESQ Angkatan KL-34 yang akan datang di PICC 5-7 Jun ini, supaya para peserta merasakan sebanyak mungkin keberkesanannya. Cadangan kami seterusnya (sebagai pembaikan):-
- replika kaabah teruskan
- mungkin tidak perlu gambar menyerupai setan yang dilontar jamrah, diganti dengan replika tiang

Terimakasih.



(Gambar hiasan yang menunjukkan simulasi haji adalah satu norma kursus penghayatan haji dan umrah di Malaysia)

PETITION HANDED OVER TO PAK ARY

(updated)

Yesterday evening at a simple ceremony in Matrade, several alumnae including Rosile, Sheikh, Nadrah, Maria, Kak Leha, Shahrein, Amar, handed over a list of petitioners to Pak Legisan, to be conveyed to Pak Ary when the former returns to Jakarta (see slideshow). Also present to witness the ceremony was Pn Nurul Huda from ESQ LC.

The petition compassionately urged Pak Ary to maintain the originality of the structure and modules of ESQ Training which have opened the hearts and minds of some 30 thousand Malaysian participants since 2006.

As the petition was successfully submitted, the petition page is now closed. InsyaAllah, how165areyou will compile some good comments received in the petition to be shared.

Ringkasan Penerangan ESQ-LC 23-05-09

Salam 165 :)

Yesterday 23rd May 2009, the ESQ Leadership Centre team and trainer - En Razib, Puan Huda, Pn Marhaini and Pak Aminul gathered to brief alumni regarding the recent changes made to the ESQ 165 training module in Malaysia.

For those who were not able to be present, we summarized below the key points made by ESQ LC team, for the benefit of all. This posting is meant totally to relay the information mainly elaborated by Pak Aminul.

>>LC mahu alumni memahami bahawa mereka sentiasa melakukan penambahbaikan dari semasa ke semasa. Perubahan-perubahan yang terkini adalah lebih kepada "penyesuaian", bukan semata-mata "reacting to" komen di blog-blog. Sebarang penambahbaikan atau penyesuaian ini tetap tidak akan merubah "165" walaupun pendekatan atau approach akan menjadi sedikit berbeza::

• Perkataan "God Spot" hanyalah terminologi. Ia mungkin akan diubah kepada "conscience" agar sesuai dengan context modul.
• Penjelasan Asmaul Husna berkaitan sifat yang hanya milik Allah, seperti Al Mutakabbir. Trainer akan pastikan peserta benar-benar memahami aspek ini.
• Sharing Mic seperti biasa - jika ada peserta yang tidak selesa, maka tidak perlu menerima mic tersebut.
• Lagu March ESQ - terdapat persepsi terhadap lirik lagu tersebut sedangkan niat dan erti asal dari penulis adalah begini, lebih kurang,
  -- "banyak yang telah ku cari, tiada satu memberi, ku dapat kini yg pasti, ESQ pengingat diri" --> merujuk kepada selama ini kita mencari harta, gelaran, pangkat, dan sebagainya untuk memberi kita kebahagiaan, tetapi itu semua tidak kekal. Yang PASTI hanyalah Allah swt yang dapat memberi kita kebahagiaan hakiki. ESQ juga bukanlah yg pasti atau kekal, tetapi sekadar untuk mengingkatkan kita pada Dia yang Satu.
  -- tidak sesekali lirik ini cuba menidakkan sebarang program/training lain, seolah-olah hanya training ESQ sahaja yang benar.
  -- LC akan meneliti semua lirik ini sebelum meneruskannya di dalam training.
• Video alam ghaib - sememangnya tiada siapa yg tahu sebenarnya bagaimana alam ghaib itu. Tetapi apa yg ditunjuk adalah sekadar gambaran agar peserta dapat lebih menghayati apa yang disampaikan.
• Simulasi Total Action dihentikan bukan kerana mengikut komen individi tertentu, tetapi kerana kerajaan Arab Saudi telah mengeluarkan statement agar simulasi ini tidak lagi dijalankan di mana-mana di dunia. Cuma statement ini belum sampai kepada semua. Namun yg penting bagi LC dan trainer, penghayatan di sebalik simulasi tersebut.
• Lagu Demi Matahari - tidak dihentikan tetapi di "hold" untuk diteliti adab menyanyikan lagu nasyid yang liriknya menggunakan ayat Al Quran. Namun LC telah meluluskan agar lagu ini diteruskan semula di dalam training ESQ. On this note, LC perlu "hold" sebarang aspek dari modul training sehingga yakin ianya tidak salah.
• Semua hadis akan dinyatakan perawinya dengan lebih jelas agar tidak lagi meragukan mana-mana pihak
• Trainer akan cuba menjaga dengan lebih baik waktu solat ketika training, kerana sekarang ini kadang-kadang break atau habis agak lewat dari waktu solat ketika itu
• Senaman yg dimuatkan di dalam training bertujuan sebagai "energizer", namun diingatkan agar adab turut dijaga, kerana berlaku di training yang lepas, peserta yang dipanggil memimpin senaman melakukan gerakan yang mungkin kurang sopan atau "over" pada pendapat peserta lain. Trainer akan cuba mengawal keadaan ini dimasa hadapan.

Setelah penerangan tersebut, terdapat beberapa komen dan juga usul yang disampaikan oleh alumni yang hadir, antaranya:

• Surah AsSyams yang menjadi reference utama- mungkin elok jika ada slot memberi tafsir surah ini dengan lebih mendalam agar peserta memahami makna sebenar sebelum bersama-sama menyanyikan lagi ini, agar penghayatan lebih mantap, bukan sekadar berseronok dengan lagunya
• Perkataan "god spot" adalah terminologi saintifik yang sepatutnya tidak menjadi isu
• ESQ adalah satu-satunya HR training yang menggunakan konsep "taubat" - paling efektif untuk memberi kesedaran yang lama. Tidak seperti training lain kita menulis visi misi diri tetapi tidak benar-benar memberi makna mendalam, maka tidak dilaksanakan setelah training selesai. Konsep ini adalah teras utama, maka pastikan tidak diubah.
• Dicadangkan trainer menekankan pentingnya setelah kita sama-sama sedar dan memahami 165 melalui ESQ training, peserta perlu lebih banyak menuntut ilmu terutamanya ilmu agama, kerana ESQ adalah HR training, bukan ceramah agama. Ini adalah untuk memastikan alumni tidak menganggap cukuplah ESQ untuk mengamalkan 165 di dalam kehidupan harian.
• Beberapa aspek training seperti Demi Matahari dilihat sebagai NADI kepada keunikan training ESQ, maka perlu dikekalkan.
• Mungkin elok ditubuhkan satu platform - majalah contohnya - seperti Harvard journals - di mana para alumni dapat mencurahkan dan berkongsi ilmu dan kepakaran mereka berkaitan 165.
• ESQ adalah satu training yang world-class - maka para trainer perlu "leave up" to that expectations by ensuring the modules are intact.

These are the key points discussed. Towards the end, En Razib reminded all that this meeting was called also as a mean to manage "perceptions" with regards to the training and to the efforts being done to help the training, such as the Petition165, etc. LC believes that all the comments and efforts are being done wholeheartedly - IKHLAS - to ensure ESQ continues to grow so that 165 can continue to be spread to the world. Pak Aminul reminded all that what we are going through now, is only a small step to build the Golden World. We must adapt to necessary changes since, whether we like it or not, each country has its own culture and regulations. For example, the video THE MESSAGE is allowed in Indonesia but apparently not so in Malaysia. Hence clips from that video may not be shown in Malaysia ESQ training. (jokingly he said - ESQ in Saudi Arabia may contain no songs at all, try recharge there :) ).

Last but not least, I here want to recap a final message from Pak Aminul to conclude the briefing

-- ESQ training adalah HR training yang bersamanya ada label 165. Di dalamnya ada Learning Principle iaitu Al Quran, dan ada Leadership Principle iaitu berpedomankan Nabi Muhammad saw. Maka penting (boleh dikatakan wajib) bagi kita mendengar input dari para ustaz, para dai'e kita, ulama, guru-guru, malah JAKIM sendiri. Bukan bermakna apabila kita mendengar input dari mereka, kita perlu mengikut semuanya. Sebahagian kita ikut, sebahagian kita "hold" dan yang mana kita punya sumber-sumber lain yg membenarkan, maka kita tidak perlu ikut tetapi input tersebut kita hargai. Maka training ESQ tidak boleh dilepaskan dari pandangan pada ilmuan agama ini. Dari awalpun ESQ training berasaskan apa yang dipanggil FIVE FINGERS BROTHERHOOD, dimana Pak ary menekankan sebelum training ESQ dijalankan, pastikan kita mendengar pandangan dari golongan Ulama, golongan Academician, golongan Professional, golongan awam dan dari pihak family atau keluarga, terutamanya orang tua kita - barulah kita bisa mendapatkan yang terbaik. Namun yang terbaik hanyalah milik Allah. Dengan segala kekurangan pada ESQ, LC akan mencuba melakukan yang terbaik - ESQ tetap menjadi HR training, tetap ada 'fun" - namun jika along the way perlukan sedikit penyesuaian untuk menghargai pendapat orang lain, maka diharap para alumni dapat memahami. Jika penyesuaian tersebut masih belum tepat, kita cari yang lebih baik. Jika tidak setuju, boleh suarakan dan akan dihargai. Yang paling penting bagi kita adalah 165 itu terus berjalan. 165 tidak berubah walaupun cara penyampaiannya berbeza dan berubah.

Wallaualam bisawab. Had any of the points were mistakenly summarised, do correct. Pagi! :)

-maria-

Luarbiasa! Petition Kembalikan Keindahan....

(in Bahasa)

Alhamdulillah, segala puji hanya bagi Allah SWT penguasa alam.

Kemudian, alhamdulillah berkali lagi.

Setakat 4 hari petition diwar-warkan, sekitar 200 Alumni ESQ Malaysia telah sama-sama menukilkan rayuan dalam bentuk tandatangan elektronik, yang bisa menjadi 'hadiah' suara hati murni Alumni buat meringankan rasa berat Pak Ary yang harus merubah modul (lihat posting saya sebelum ini).



Kesan dari petition (atau petisyen atau rayuan) Kelab Satria tersebut, Rabu tertera sebuah email dalam Alumni_ESQ165 yahoogroup daripada ESQ LC Malaysia iaitu Pn Marhainy Yusof, bahawa pihak LC bersetuju mengembalikan semula Demi Matahari, iaitu 1 dari 18 perubahan yang dibuat secara mendadak mulai KL32.

Reply saya kepada LC adalah , ".... berharap pihak ESQLC harus teruskan usaha supaya selain DemiMatahari, modul2 lain yang dikeluarkan dikembalikan dengan perubahan MINIMA sebagaimana petisyen K-Satria 165. Jika pihak ESQLC berniat mengadakan perbincagan dengan Alumni, eloklah segerakan dan tentukan tarikh."

Dan pagi ini, saya menerima SMS rasmi daripada 62002:

Asw Dijemput Alumni ke Penerangan ESQLC M'sia berkaitan perubahan2 di TRAINING ESQ, pd 23Mei 10pagi @ Milan Room, MATRADE. Kehadiran anda sgt dihargai. Tks.

We are on the same side. Kita semua berkongsi satu visi (shared vision), iaitu "Golden Malaysia" dan "Golden World" - ketamadunan dunia emas menerusi 165.

Petition - KEMBALIKAN KEINDAHAN TRAINING ESQ

Kindly click on the link below to access the petition by Kelab Satria (K-SATRIA), main objective of which is to encourage ESQ LC and the ESQ Trainers so they would reinstate the original modules which were removed due to recommendations made by certain websites.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/petition165

Thank you.

ESQ Alumnis Getting Married Today - 16/5!

(updated)

Mabruk...

Syabas to Shahrin (Along) and Zarina, and to Zamarul Hisham and Diana Rafar.

All four are active ESQ alumnis. The latters just got solemnised (akad nikah) today at Masjid Shah Alam. Unfortunately I couldn't come but more importantly, I hope it went well.

Maybe there are other alumnis having their special day today I was not aware of. Wherever you are, may Allah bless your marriage and strengthen your resolute in living your lives the ESQ Way 165 (Ihsan - Iman - Islam).

Along, in case you are reading this - your semangat perjuangan is an inspiration even to a "not-so-young" guy like me huhu. Remember to always keep your "sticks" (including the one I gave you) even after marriage life ok. :-)

(English) SMS from Dr Ary Ginanjar to ESQ Alumnis in Malaysia

(Pardon the translation and editorials)

Salam, my beloved Malaysia's ESQ Alumnis.....

I developed the ESQ Training modules under a very deep and long thought process; on many a solemn night, one upon another, I wrote (ed: the modules) on pieces upon pieces of paper.

Searching for the real meaning of life.... when others were deeply asleep I kept on writing.... (ed: strengthened by) night prayers.... (ed: by) reading His Beautiful Words which were the Qor'an and the Journey of the Prophet.... writing... and crying.... alone.... for many many days.... weeks.... months....


My love for Allah and Allah's Prophet filled my soul.... Then I turned them into a book and the ESQ Training to pour out what was in my heart and soul.

The ESQ Training has now gone 3000 batches since the book was written 8 years ago. And it has reached 750,000 alumnis from various backgrounds in 5 continents.

ESQ to me is a work of art. A beautiful painting of a soul which longs to meet Him.... A beautiful painting about.... Ihsan... Iman... Islam...or.... 165.


Difficult as it may be, I have (ed: no choice but) to revamp the module... But I believe the sweet brightness of 165 shall never fail to shine... it shall remain.

InsyaAllah.

Salam 165,
Ary Ginanjar

SMS dari Pak Ary untuk Alumni ESQ Malaysia

Berikut coretan terkini daripada Bapak Dr Ary Ginanjar (yang diterima oleh beberapa Alumni yang berkesempatan dalam bentuk SMS) untuk tatapan 35 ribu para Alumni ESQ Malaysia.

(dalam lingua nusantara)

Salam, Alumni ESQ Malaysia yg saya cintai.....

Modul Training ESQ itu saya buat melalui sebuah perenungan lama yg sangat dalam, di tengah malam sepi saya menulis dan menulis di atas kertas bekas. Mencari hakikat kehidupan sejati..... ketika orang lain tidur saya menulis dan menulis.....tahajud....membaca Kalimah Nya yang indah yaitu Al Qur'an, dan Sirah....menulis....dan menangis.....seorang diri.......berhari2...berminggu...berbulan2....

Cinta saya kepada Allah dan Rasulullah mengisi relung2 hati...

Kemudian saya wujudkan ke dalam sebuah buku dan training ESQ sbg curahan hati.

Training ESQ kini sudah berjalan lebih dari 3000 batch semenjak 8 tahun buku ditulis . Dan telah disampaikan kepada 750.000 alumni dari berbagai golongan di di 5 Benua.

ESQ bagi saya adalah sebuah karya seni. Lukisan Indah tentang sebuah Hati yg merindukan perjumpaan dgn Nya.......

Lukisan indah tentang.... Ihsan.... Iman... Islam...atau ...165.

Meskipun berat saya harus merubah modul....Tapi saya percaya keindahan cahaya 165 tak akan pernah pudar...ia akan abadi.....

InsyaAllah.


Salam 165.

Ary Ginanjar

ESQ as Character Building Model for the Middle East?

(updated)

There are more and more organisations in Middle East countries or GCC which understand the importance of assimilating core values into their human capital, to build positive characters amongst both management and staff. Naturally, the core values are consistent and sometimes directly similar with the Seven Core Values of ESQ.

Take for example Dubai telecom giant Etihalat. In their corporate website, it is stated among others, that "We deal with people in a clear, direct way and are always honest and fair in business dealings."

Another example is Saudi Aramco. Out of 10 core values its corporate website listed, six values -Fairness, Integrity, Teamwork, Stewardship, Trust, and Accountability - are all but corresponds directly with the Seven ESQ Core Values.

However just like in many western and Asia-Pacific organisations, organisations in the gulf region may find instilling core values as a culture in their organisations easier said than done. Because of the consistency between their organisational values and those of ESQ 165, what may be required to help realise those values is the experience brought about by the ESQ Training.

ESQ 165 model will not be a strange model to people in the GCC who are mostly muslims. Most employees there are most likely able to relate to the

- 1 (Pillar of) Ihsan with Allah SWT which drives the Spiritual quotient,

- 6 Pillars of Faith which denotes the Emotional quotient, and

- 5 Pillars of Islam which denotes the Physical (action) quotient.

The ESQ 165 model (source: http://www.esq.com/)

Translation of the 7 Core Values of ESQ (English-Bahasa-Arabic).

Honest - JUJUR - صادق, مستقيم, مخلص
Responsible - TANGGUNGJAWAB - جاد, مسؤول
Visionary - BERWAWASAN -خيالي, كثير الرؤى
Disciplined - DISIPLIN - أدب, نظام
Cohesiveness - KERJASAMA - مجموعة عمل
Fair - ADIL - عادل
Caring - PRIHATIN - أراد, رغب

I believe Dr Ary Ginanjar had conducted an ESQ training or perhaps just a preview in Dubai last year.

I am honestly confident ESQ 165 Model can penetrate UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and other Arab countries sooner or later, a step towards achieving the ESQ vision of a golden world. With Allah's Will and Blessing.

NB. Apologies to ESQ Leadership Centre if my translations are not accurate. Comments are welcomed :-)

Go! Fight! Win!

Two announcements of the past few days excite me. One is the announcement last week that my favourite ESQ Training, led by Dr Ary Ginanjar (below, right), vetted closely by the Malaysian Fatwa council of late, has been declared free from elements affecting the muslim aqidah and therefore can continue.

The second excitement was made just this evening, by the KL High Court. It declared that Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin (below), the Perak Menteri Besar ousted in February, is the rightful MB of the state and therefore can resume his official duty.



Allahu Akbar! Putting things where they rightfully belong is being utterly responsible (TANGGUNGJAWAB) and just (ADIL), characteristics of the 7 core values of ESQ. Moreover, there evidently exists farsightedness (WAWASAN) of those few people entrusted with making key decisions affecting the Ummah, in this case the respected Fatwa council members and JAKIM, and the honorable judge.

May Allah Bless them and Gives them strength and barakah for future key decisions they may have to make.

The two incidents as well as others strengthened my resolve with what ESQ has taught me; that we must Go or be seen to implement Total Action as enjoined by the Qor'an and Sunnah, Fight to safeguard the good and keep what is rightfully ours, and upon His Will, Win the battle brought about by negative forces surrounding us!

Poll: ESQ Training's 18 Changes!

(updated) I attended ESQ Training KL32 at Flamingo-by-the-lake just now as an alumni together with my family. We were surprised to say the least that several changes were effected on the training. Among the changes we observed ourselves:-

- Discontinuation of Demi Matahari song including its accompanying movement.

- Discontinuation of Tawaf, Sa'i and Jamrah simulations at the end of the training.

Later this evening, a posting at ESQ_Alumni yahoo forum confirmed that Dr Ary Ginanjar upon reading zaharuddin.net posting, has instructed all future trainings including ongoing ones to make 18 changes with immediate effect. I am at this point unsure which were the other 14 besides the four above.


I intend to gauge the opinion of Alumnis all over, poll at the right*. The translation of the poll question - "In the KL32 training which ended in Flamingo, 18 changes were made by the trainers upon zaharuddin.net's comments on ESQ recently. As an alumni do you agree (i.e. the changes effected on future trainings)?

Alumni play a pivotal role to shape the future look and feel of future ESQ Trainings. Our opinion matters. Thank you for your feedbacks.

* sorry, poll issued in Bahasa.

ESQ Preview

The ESQ Preview session this evening at Flamingo by-the-lake went quite well. Around 50 pax attended the free preview led by Pak Subhan.

I was - rather unplanned- invited to give my own ESQ experience in the sharing session at the start of the program for 10 minutes or so. Datin Zaleha did her sharing too.

I spoke about how 'melted' I was when I attended the Angkatan KL25 last year, upon realising thru visual aids the significance of Surah Al-Shams (Demi Matahari) in the Qor'an. Read! How Allah as the Creator of the heaven and earth, so all-Powerful and so all-Great yet in the same surah shows us how important a small part of our mortal body is, i.e. the soul (nafs).

Read! Allah zoomed in on our nafs after He swears upon the sun, the moon, day, night, heaven and earth (in that sequence), subsequently telling us mankind that He has inspired the nafs with the choice of evil and good. Those who purify it will become successful, and those who pollute it will fail. *

This outer-to-inner journey flow in the Qor'an struck me not because I only heard about it at KL25. In fact, I told the audience this evening that I had even memorised the surah Al-Shams (and many other surahs) ever since I was a teenager in the early 80's. Yet, the "new" finding affected me strongly as I realised that I had been too casual with my soul when Allah the Almighty Himself exalted it! Astaghfirullah!

This is probably what Allah stated in another Qor'anic verse as "light upon light" ("nuurun 'ala nuur"). Allah gives guidance to whom He Wishes!**

That realisation is only the beginning. The 3-day journey ESQ brought me in KL25 was so uplifting, touching the essence and experience of Ihsan, Iman, and Islam (or acronymed into 1-6-5), then culminating into the 7 core values which define our spiritual quotient. The seven actually are compacted attributes which mankind can assimilate from the 99 Asmaul Husna of Allah.

What are the seven? They are Trustworthiness, Responsibility, Visionary, Discipline, Teamwork, Fair, & Care (Jujur, Tanggungjawab, Wawasan, Disiplin, Adil, Prihatin). These 7 according to Dr Ary Ginanjar Agustian in his ESQ Power book and ESQ165 trainings, are the values which will create a golden world.

If everyone in either an organisation or a community enlivens these seven at the very least, the organisation and the world will be a better place. Sometimes, supplements for the soul makes complete sense.

How 165 are you today?

*91:7-10 By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; Allah enlightens as to its wrong and its right; Truly he succeeds that purifies it, And he fails that corrupts it!

**24:35 Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. The Parable of His light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: light upon light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His light: Allah doth set forth Parables for men: and Allah doth know all things.

Positive Comment on ESQ 165 by zaharuddin.net

An academic and generally positive observation on ESQ by my old Gombak brother, Ust Zaharudin Abd Rahman, who attended the ESQ training last week at PWTC.

http://www.zaharuddin.net/content/view/828/72/

(written in Bahasa Malaysia, will try to summarise in English if need be, InsyaAllah)

Clarification by ESQ LC Sdn Bhd on ESQ Sesat accusations

Of late, ESQ Training and Dr Ary Ginanjar Agustian have been attacked by several blogs/ forums purportedly ran by Malaysians, among them fikriah.net and esqsesat.blogspot.com.



Irresponsible labels such as "Islam liberal", "sesat" or astray from the ahli sunnah wal jamaah, etc have been levelled against ESQ 165, from aqidah arguments right down to the pettiest of issues such as the content of the songs played during trainings.


Below is the official explanation by Marhaini Yusof of ESQ Leadership centre issued yesterday in KL. It is in Bahasa Malaysia and I hope to translate it with consent from ESQLC soon. The attachments (6pp total) will be added soon also, InsyaAllah.