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Published initially in 2012 till 2015 before it ceased to continue publishing in Singapore, there is a certain periodical recorded in the national archives as "the Muslim reader's digest. Connecting the Muslim community", but really at the front covers of each copy published were, usually, the words "COUNSEL FOR MUSLIMS -" as its tagline. Today I look back fondly upon the memories of that period when the magazine exchanged between hands on a monthly basis. Today perhaps there are still a handful of Muslim homes which still keep some copies.

For its titular presence amongst the Muslim community as a publication, the magazine, if we can say so in more familiar terms, did not aim for any political or social agendas or reforms, unlike its namesake which meant a Personal Advisor, to an Amir or Sultan, which was why it took on that tagline. There is no true leader that the Muslims may follow today, and be that as it may. So in our times a muslim must lead himself with wise decisions that heed and honour the cautionary advices from the prophecies of the Nabi, peace be upon him, to survive this zaman and let his knowledge of his Deen, his life-transaction, grow and thrive as he passes down the traditions that will be a guidepost for the future to cultivate in our historic culture of knowledge.

As Muslims we know the promise of Allah very well; nothing will change in a people unless the people themselves change what is in each of their hearts. The magazine was published to speak to the hearts from borrowing the sincere, personal touch that lives in traditionally writing with the pen, to ignite a spark in the minds of Muslims young and aged in Singapore through restoring the then-dying (now as good as dead) medium and art of the periodical, encouraging Muslims to pick up reading more actively in their life in an age where social media started dishing out dope highs on what is today mockingly referred to as "dopamine devices" in certain conscious and discerning circles on social media. 

The "Counsel for Muslims" strives to aid in resisting a docile, impact-less cerebral passivity that can infiltrate the minds of its readers, if and when the dopamine highs from the screen creeps in so, in order to invite the muslim to learn about their times and adopt a consciousness and awareness of matters of the world - for the next - so that our actions can be guided to be in harmony with the deeply nuanced guidance set forth for our times, and not against or contrary in frustration to the immediate surroundings that Allah has placed us by His Qadr, restoring appropriate priorities in our respective living environments.

The effects of our attitude and treatment towards that information and knowledge, both specifically and in general, was much more immediately visible through print than through pixels, and it was something we would not be able to ignore and swipe aside very easily. We therefore held our opinions and thoughts with far more sincere honesty, conviction and commitment was the effect of actions taken and witnessed. Interestingly, somehow this effect was achieved with far-reaching, albeit sporadic, but still significant outcomes. There were a few places outside of Singapore were the publication was not unheard of amongst some intellectual circles which always tend to share an overlap of interests between its peers. We took it as a signal of good hope that Allah will always place goodwill and good faith in sincere actions even if the people who do it and benefit from it be a few, for the du'a of a man which made Sayyidina Umar ibn al-Khattab r.a. weep was "O Allah, make me among the few!"

But yet from that few we inherit our tradition and culture of knowledge from which even the little splashes of the ocean of knowledge and the fountain of gnosis rose many more that have come and gone. Each generation has helped us cultivate and contribute the expansive knowledge and insights that we may then refine according to the specific context of our rapidly evolving zaman, so that we may follow in their footsteps to leave behind something for the benefit of many more to come. This is what we know as barakah, the uncountable blessings which spring forth from the culmination of small, incremental practices of the little, that we can still hold and cultivate.

Here as a former writer for that short-lived, yet insyaaAllah blessed publication, and a mirror tribute to my living mentor and teacher who gave me all the tools I needed to know history & literature as a discerning Muslim, I upload the thoughts that flowed through my fledgling pen, those that were not published for print, both from 15 years ago and the ones that have developed since then until recently. May this be of benefit those who know, and have read or seen my name in the copies published (up till #27), and I ask for the kind du'a of our sincere readers for the barakah that our efforts be looked upon with Mercy from Allah ﷻ for Allah knows best that we are indeed poor and needy of Him.