Friday, December 26, 2008

Read! In the Name of Your Lord!

It has been quite a while since my last post. I had been reading various writings, listening to various audio-commercial and spent quite substantial time watching television. One thing that keeps echoing in my mind is this first revelation from Allah to us.

I crossed reference with Tafsir Ibn-Kathir and Tafsir Azhar. The name of the Surah: al-'Alaq means a clot of blood. And the first verse read
Read! In the Name of Your Lord.
The verses continue until (The Lord) Who teaches men with a pen. This verse and the tafsir of it intrigue me most.

The word 'pen' has many levels of understanding. First it has always been a symbol of revelation, secondly it is a tool for a teacher to write and during the lessons, while writing the teacher also explains and gives example. Finally a pen is also a tool for a student to take note and in turn use it to memorise and ponder into the lesson until it becomes knowledge or ilmu. Syed Naquib al-Attas said that an ilmu is first to bring a meaning of something to oneself and then to bring oneself to the meaning of that something.

In the Quran we have a surah that ask us to read (al-'Alaq), we have a surah on poets (asy-Syu'araa') and a surah on pen itself (al-Qalam). All these reflect the tools and involvement of an author. It brings chill to my spine.

In asy-Syu'araa' Allah has given a clear warning towards those who writes aimlessly and mean only to deceive people or digress them from the path of Allah. And Allah too promises heavens to authors who write the truth and sincerely.

Putting two and two together. Not only when you read you must do it in the name of Allah, but also when you write. Allah teaches us to say a'udzubillahi min asy-syaithoni ar-rojim before we read the Quran. We should also recite this before we write as well as speak to pass an information or a lesson. Mind you satan is at every corner working at his optimum peak to trap you into his deceit.

Islam as beautiful, perfect and firm as it is has never left adab in any aspect inclusive of writing and news telling. It must always come from the right source, true, written in the right way with the right words and 'language'. Never use writing as only an emotional venting tool. It will be catastrophic not just for the author as it brings hard feelings among friends or society here on earth but also in the akhirat when we will have to answer and be responsible for each and every word we had written and wether or not we had done it justly. The effects get worse when more people read our writings and get influenced by it. Of course we always want it to be positively effective but what if it doesn't?

Next time, before we pen down those words clouding for so long in our minds and in our hearts, take a pause, say a'udzubillahi min asy-ayaitoni ar-rojim, bismillahi ar-rahmaan ar-rahim and ask yourself what do you want to write, why, to who and what will you get from it? What will other get from it? What does it bring to you here?... and hereafter?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

It's About Giving

"This is all we have, sorry," said a chieftain in a native village uphill in Perak. Shyly he pushed to us boiled tapioca, fried tengas fish and 'standard' hot tea without milk.
We smiled. At that point that was the best food. We were tired and hungry. More than that, he should have not troubled himself into preparing the food for us. We can completely understand because we had self-invited ourselves there to visit them and propagate Islam. Insya Allah. Yet he treated us with such generosity and warmth that we felt welcome and in the bottom of our heart... grateful to Allah. Alhamdulillah.
That was told by my best friend.
I had had many personal experiences in meeting such people. They did not bother about what they are serving so much but they surely had given you the best that they had in store. It might be plain white rice and salted fish but that were the best. Sometimes it was just a cup of water and if they have extra, a cracker.
It really was about giving; giving what was needed at the right time. Giving water to the thirsty, giving food to the hungry and giving a place to lie down to the tired. Quality and quantity were out of question from the receiving end, not the giving end though. The gestures, sincerity and generosity were those that counted.
Though visitors did not expect to be treated but as a host, these people like the chieftain, really understand and practice te concept of 'honouring a guest': to give the best that you have and to treat them well.

Say Yes to Polygamous Marriage

Many women discard the idea of sharing their husbands as soon as the topic being brought up. They cannot cope with the idea let alone going through the process without any hesitation.
Allah is All-knowing and when He sent down the verse that allows polygamy, He must have everything balanced out and calculated. Hence why were many women protesting against polygamous marriage? Some committedly joint the campaign one husband one wife.
Alas! It comes down to practice. Allah had put the outline but we never like to follow what we feel does not suit ourselves.
Rasulullah s.a.w never took a new wife in secrecy. He did it in full knowledge of his other wives. There really is not any obligation for a man to seek his wife’s/wives’ permission to take another women as his new wife. But this is a matter of feelings, trust and love. This is adab, being courteous and polite.
If the new marriage is done with sincerity and transparently, the initial wife/wives would not feel betrayed or cheated. She will be more ready to accept the new family member.
Rasulullah married widows and other women in need, to protect them, not out of lust. Nowadays we see men choosing a girl younger than their wife/wives to be the new wife and the reason is more often than not is mere lust.
Rasulullah treated all his wives with kindness and fairness. He visited all of them everyday and spent the night only with the one who was taking her turn. Islam really honoured a woman and respected her feelings. A man having more than a wife is not allowed to have a sexual intercourse with his wife whom is not on turn. That was why Saudah in her later years ‘released’ her turn to Aishah so that Rasulullah can on her turn, sleep with Aishah if he desired.
Rasulullah had treated his wives fairly without being too technical. Once one of them asked who was the one he loved most and the Prophet answered whom I put on the ring on her finger myself while putting on a ring onto that particular wife’s finger. As the words spread, all of his wives were silently contented and happy because he put on the ring on all of their fingers himself!
Not only that, Rasulullah had taught his wives to treat each other like sisters. Once Aishah commented that the porridge made by Saudah was not tasty and she smeared some of the porridge on Saudah’s face. Looking at them, Rasulullah asked Saudah to smear some porridge on Aishah’s face. When Saudah hesitated, Rasulullah took her hand, dunked it into the porridge and helped her smeared Aishah’s face. Is not that a heart warming situation?
Unfortunately in the practice the new wife is given extra care and attention while the initial wife/wives and children were neglected. Thus the wives become competitive against each other. Instead of becoming sisters, they are rivals.
As if the malpractice of men having more than one wife is not enough, our Muslim scholars made the stigma worse. They always portrayed that polygamy is only good for men and spelled only sufferings for the women. This is not true!
Women can enjoy polygamous marriage as much as men do if they perceive it in a correct perspective. Allah has promised that :
…Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put you to difficulties…
Al-Baqarah: 185
Think about these for a second.
A husband’s rights and demand over his wife are enormous and numerous. By sharing it with another woman, we actually divide our ‘burden’ with a friend.
We may choose the person we want to share our husband with. Thus choose the good ones. Insya Allah the feeling of ihsan that Allah instills into us will help us to tolerate with each other.
What about jealousy? Yes it will occur yet how you deal with it makes the difference. Jealousy can be healthy when it helps you to be a better person, to serve your husband better.
When I look at it from a different point, we have many female friends of whom we know are good and pious. They have not met any right man to be their husbands yet while their age keeps going up each year. And we do not have many good men around. We share many things with our friends, even our darkest secret, why not a husband?
Why not share the happiness of having a loving husband in your life with another woman you so care about. Let her feels that though there are many obstacles to be faced in this world and on this road, Allah still makes her happy by giving her a loving husband and a good sister to share it with.
Insya Allah when Allah give you children, is it not good to have another good person beside you and your husband to mind them and to teach them about Islam, iman and ihsan?

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Totto-Chan in Islamic View

After an urge from a brother in Islam (now my husband) to read Totto-Chan: Gadis Kecil di Tepi Jendela years back, I finally had my hands on the book. Since it was a translated text from Japanese to Bahasa Melayu and the translation I must say being done literally, it was quite boring to begin with. Yet I convinced myself to read it to the end and I am glad I did.

The text was an autobiography and written in 1982, obviously an old text and translated and published in Bahasa Melayu in 1989. When it had brought a revise or perhaps a revolution in the Japanese education system I perceive it, perhaps, in a different light. Without arguing that what was written in the book on how children should be educated especially young children was sincerely true and enlightening, I found that the system really had long been outlined in Islam in child education.

The school built by Kobayashi was nothing like our fully equipped schools nowadays but it was far more inviting than ours. He built his Tomoe Gakuen from used train coaches as its clasrooms, the gate was from wild trees and there were an assembly hall where they ate, had public speaking training and met, a pool and a farm where each of the student had a tree. Children were given confidence by inculcating positive values about themselves for example Kobayashi told Totto-chan that she should always know that she is a good girl when in her former school she was thought as nuisance, awkward and trouble for every teacher. No teacher can listen or answer her like Kobayashi had. He spent four hours listening to her. He asked her,

"What do you heve to tell?" and she went on and on... and he listened interestingly!

In Tomoe Gakuen children were asked to wear old clothes so that they would not hesitate to explore without worrying about their beautiful clothes. Another aim was to banish the barrier between the rich and the poor. Children were allowed to solve given problem according to their own arrangements; there was no specific 1, 2, 3 steps and the teachers were ever ready to help.

Each and every games or culture in Tomoe Gakuen were carefully tailored by Kobayashi to build certain conciousness in the children character. He taught them to concentrate by teaching them rhytmic body lesson, he taught them to eat balance diet by emphasising that each child must have one food from the hill and one food from the sea during lunch time and he made the effort to check everyone's food container; if anyone missed any of the food, Tomoe Gakuen will provide it. He taught them to be considerate about other people's feelings and to learn from a knowledgeable person about something. Islam taught us:

Before thee, also the apostles We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: iF ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the Message (al-Anbiya': 7)

For instance he brought a gardener to teach the children about plants and planting. Of course that gardener bore neither certificate nor qualification to certain extand but he mustered gardening like the back of his hands. He was rich with experiences and had had years and years of hands on training in plants and planting. Hence he was the best to teach compared to anyone else. Kobayashi treated his students as friends and spoke freely to them maturely without compromising on their child psychological needs.

All that Kobayashi had done came from his firm principle that humans were doomed when they did not use their eyes to see, ears to hear and minds to think. This is the exact verse that Allah used in verse 179 Surah al-A'raaf:

Many are Jinns and men have we made for Hell: They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they heard not. They are like cattle, -nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning).

Where Has Creativity Gone?

Advertisements, especially those on television have long been a powerful tool to convince consumer into buying a product or a service. We used to have good television commercials such as the one by Peugeot showing how great a Peugeot car is without a single model. None! It only showed how every car in the street backed off and those in the parking lots shivered just because the Peugeot was passing by. That advertisement was really focusing on the car alone and on its best qualities.
Peel Fresh used to make refreshing television commercials. It showed each of a family member grabbing a glass of Peel Fresh juice according to their liking. The young ones picking up a glass of blackcurrant juice, the teenagers went for orange juice and the elders chose apple. They were happy and joyful, feeling refreshed after the drink. And the tag line was ‘If you want any fresher, peel it yourself’.
Now there is nothing to look forward in a television commercial. All of them come down to only one point, sexual appeal. It revolves only around the intimate relationship between a man and a woman. It doesn’t vary at all. From a diaper commercial showing a baby boy not feeling confident with his diaper until a baby girl introduces him to the brand she is using, up to an Islamic banking advertisement that ends up with a guy picking a star, turns it into a diamond, put it on a ring and proposes to his girlfriend.
Worse than that, our new commercials lack moral values and ethics. There is a commercial in which a husband commented on how rude the current newspaper vendor is compared to the last one and the wife only responded that ‘time has changed and people are advancing’. Later when the mother commented on the new look of the newspaper, the husband quotes his wife. There is nothing wrong with the tag line but what was associated to it. Does it mean that when time has changed and people are advancing then it is alright to be rude?
A detergent commercial non-verbally had suggested that stealing is not a bad behavior as long as you did not get caught just because the owner is an old man and he cannot see you clearly because your shirt is so white that he is not able to differentiate you from the white sheet on the line.
Another commercial shamelessly showed a foreplay by a couple when the lady tied her husband eyes with a necktie and asked him to guess what she was going to feed him. He peeped and in returns, she showed him her mother’s picture for him to kiss. This is an insult and beyond courtesy especially for us in the east.
Many other commercials that we have today are erotic and sensual. We have commercials on condoms and other sensual products showed in a very direct way. What has happened to creativity? I believe our creative directors can do better than that.
We must bear in mind that television is not only watched by the adults. We have children watching as well and mind you they probably are the die-hard fans of television. If we keep on showing these low morality and unethical what will this children start thinking and how will they react in the future?
Commercials should sell a product, not exploit the model least the society. If producers are confident enough with their product, they will have given enough information to the creative director and the responsible creative director will work solely around the product creatively and not move outside the locus that there is no apparent connection between the commercial and the product.

First: Get the Concept Right

The majority of men, 54%, think about sex everyday or several times a day according to Kinsey Institute’s study in 2007 while 43% of men think about sex a few times per month or a few times per week and 4% of men think about sex less than once a week. Mind you there are numerous factors that can make a man sexually attracted to a woman. It can go way beyond a perfectly sculpted-like body shape. It can be a woman’s sense, the way she pronounces a certain word, her voice, the tone of her voice, the way she moves and the list goes on an on even to how a women bites an apple does!
In the time when Islam was new to the Arabs, they still held on to the practice of going to relieved themselves either in the late night or early in the morning before the breaking of a dawn. During that time, if a woman was a slave, she was nothing more than a chair or other households in her master’s home. Thus she was never respected and any man who was sexually aroused would simply attack her and satisfied his needs. Unfortunately sometimes the women that were attacked were not slaves, they were independent. Moreover after the arrival of Islam, Muslims were forbidden from any out-of-wedlock relationships. Thus Allah sent down the verse first from surah al-Ahzab verse 59:
O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested. And God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
This came after the first restriction from speaking too complacently in the same surah verse 32 and 33. Hence the regulation of hijaab was sent down by Allah so that women were not looked at as a sex symbol. Hijaab was never meant to cover a woman’s feminity but her sexuality. It was not a symbol her being owned like in the Judeo-Christianity; a woman was asked to put on her head scarf after she was married as a symbol of her uphelding her husband while the husband upheld the Church!
Currently we can see many women making a decision to put on their hijaab. From a nobody on the street to public figures such as popular celebrities wide ranging from actresses, singers, news anchors, program hostess up to our lady ministers. There are many announcements being made on how and why they put on the hijaab. This is indeed a positive turn we have long waited. Unfortunately there are slight misconception between covering one’s hair and covering one’s awrah (forbidden parts of body from being seen by others).
The awrah of a woman is her whole body save her face and her hands up to her wrists. From this stems the compulsion of hijaab by Allah in Surah an-Nur verse 31:
And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O you Believers! You turn altogether toward Allah, that you may attain Bliss.
We must first understand the reason of this compulsion and why did Allah send this verses to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Woman as herself is very attractive to men. Thus the idea of hijaab was not to confine women but to protect them so as to enable them to walk freely without being looked at lewdly by men who have bad intentions towards women as well as to gain respect for themselves. The concept of hijaab does not stop at covering one’s hair; it goes deeper and further than that.
Covering one’s awrah should protect oneself from being insulted. As for clothing is concern, the clothes must cover the whole body except the face and hands up to the wrists, the head cover must be extended to cover the breasts, the attire must be loose and doesn’t show a woman’s shape or curves, the fabric used must be thick enough not to expose the skin colour and the colour must be decent and not too attractive to others like bright orange or red, there should not be any ornaments that can draw attention like bangles with bells or glittering embroidery on the clothes and the women should not put on too much perfume that will draw men’s attention towards them.
Then it extended to the way of conduct. A woman should not speak with melancholia or soften her voice in allurement. She should speak politely and at the tone that is sufficient to her audience. She should not move around in such a way that men find her sexy.
In short, the dress code for women in Islam is that she should be different from men so that when you see her you need not think twice as to whether or not she is a woman or a Muslim and secondly the dress and her way of conduct included, should not make her sexy.
The scenario today however is very off-polar from what Islam has long out-lined. Women really do not put on a hijaab. They only cover their hair. Thus we have many women putting on a sheer scarf on their hair where the front hair is protruding from the scarf, some put on a bonnet-like hair covers with floral knitting, some put on gypsy-like scarf where their earrings are purposely let out to be seen, many do not cover their bosoms, they put on almost transparent kaftan and wear a tight body-wrapping singlet inside. Those who were shy before putting on ‘hijaab’ now dare to move and sway their body in front of their thousands audience saying that they feel more confident now than ever, wrongly using the statement that a hijaab actually frees a woman instead of confining her. Yes a hijaab frees a woman but not that kind of cheap freedom! Some even go too far as giggling and caressing their body in front of audience until it is nothing different from a woman on the street that is subjected to prostitution.
The lack of knowledge, understanding and responsibilities toward hijaab have made women nowadays being insulted even when they have put on their head coverings because these women are only covering their hair and nor their awrah as a hijaab is really meant to be. Thus it is timely for us to take a step back and look deeply into the fundamental concept of a hijaab with a crystal clear mind. Henceforth we should practice what has been ordained by Allah with our sincerest heart that He will accept our submission to His law not to any fashion call or trend setting.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

There's more than bed and pillows in marriage

It was dissappointing when I attended an Islamic pre-marriage course conducted by the State Islamic Department. All of us were familiar with a hadith from Rasulullah s.a.w saying Getting married complete half of a man's religion. The other half is to fear Allah. Yet during the costly and time consuming two days' course I did not get any feeling why was it that marriage complete half of a man's religion? In fact I did not recall the hadith being quoted in the course anywhere.

When Islam said that marriage complete half of the religion, half of a man's Islam, surely there is more in a marriage than merely sexual activities. Unfortunately many of the invited speakers during the course focused more and some solely on the sexual relationship between a man and his wife. I personally thought that we had wasted the time and the audience to explain Islam in a true manner. It was never easy to pull a crowd to talk about Islam nowadays and here we had a compulsion for all these males and females who wanted to get married to attend the course. Like it or not they must be there and complete it. Why had we not used that golden opportunity to inculcate into them all the Islamic values that they might lacked before?

Of course we did not expect an instantaneous change within the two days but at least we had used the two days to put something into their mind and hopefully they will ponder more into it later on.

Sadly the Islamic pre-marriage course had turned into something commercial and profit oriented. The organizer was more concern about the food, the laminated certificate, the venue of the course and so many other things but the comprehensive content of the course that was supposed to help these 'married-couple-to-be' built up half of their religion! Worse was when the pre-marriage course had become a forum where speaking about porns was allowed, the porns were carmouflaged as educating process.

I was stunned at how the speaker would speed up without elaboration on the crieterias a woman should look for in a man to be her husband such as fear of Allah, economically stable,..., good to his wife and here he will start to elaborate about sexual relationship, giving unrelevant and unnecessary examples and shamelessly telling dirty jokes sending the audience laughing their heart out.

There's nothing wrong in educating the youths about sex but how it was done matter! There was a speaker that asked the audience wether or not the couple stop for prayer on their dates. Was he trying to imply that if you watch your prayer you can go out on dates?(!) Another speaker suggested that even when the couple was dating they should discuss about religion such as stories of the prophets and the like. That would at least add some merits to their dating. La ilaha illallah. There is no dating in Islam on the first place. You can't cover a sin with a good deed that way. Like a stolen money is still a stolen money even when you use it for sadaqah.

The fact that the audience was not separated males from females worried me the most. Moreover many of the participants came with their future spouse. My concern was, having heard the same 'arousing' speech from the speaker about the pleasure of sexual relationship without enough stressed on other Islamic values, these participants will later went home together. I prayed that they got home safe and did not digress or did something they will regret later on.

I had asked a few persons, why was our pre-marriage course very casual. They told me it used to be very keen that many of the participants felt that marriage was too big to handle that they decided not to get married. They should feel that way! It was half of Islam. Of course it was big and the responsibility in it was enormous but it should be the role of the speakers to make these future 'husbands' and 'wives' to perceive marriage in the right perspective, as an ibadah. Their service to Allah. How?

Islam has forbidden adultery, zina and allowed marriage. Islam has never denied the need for sexual satisfaction in a person. Zina is one of the major sins because it does not only involve a man and a woman, it involves two families, the families' pride and honour, it involves feelings, emotions, desires satisfaction, bodily pleasures, love and a new generation honour (if a baby is concieved from the zina). Zina is a major sins because it involes so many of Allah's creation!

Now in marriage, nikah a person gets all that he/she can get from a zina but with honour and dignity. Of course a marriage in Islam is built with concious and full responsibility. A marriage will tie two families that were strangers into a bigger one, when a man sleeps with his wife and she satisfies his needs it is ibadah and in doing so they are 'creating' a new person that will carry forth the oath la ilaha illallah. They are 'creating' another soul that will live and serve Allah loyally as a servant and His vicegerant. Thus even in the sexual relationship between a man and his wife, it will be conducted in full morality and not merely animal like to satisfy the burning desires.

The responsibility of a man in educating his wife to obey Allah and to watch her that she never goes against Allah, bringing home food and money that are clean and pure, sheltering his family not just from physical nuisance but also the spriritual surely are not easy. In doing all the above, he is practicing his religion, he is completing half of Islam and if he follow suit all the dos and don'ts outlined by Allah then he has completed another half.

For the woman, her patience to serve her husband, to listen to him and obey him as long as he obeys Allah, to be ready to carry her husband's child in her womb, to give birth, to breastfeed because that is the baby's right and ordained by Allah are amongst the things that will complete half of her Islam and of course her fear of Allah and sincerity towards Allah will complete her religion.

There are responsibilities towards each other. To enhance the Islamic understanding and practices in the marriage, to learn from each other, to struggle together in improving the worldly life as well as the life in here-after. Those are the things that come in package with the pleasure of having a partner to sleep with.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

It Has Been A While

It has been a while since my last post and I really have many things to write but I think I am still juggling with my time to put what is in my mind onto paper.

Last week I had the chance to roam the Peninsular with my sister. It was great to take some time out after working hard. It really gave me the chance to be in touch with myself. When I was writing all the time and on many subjects I thought goodness! When will all this writing stop? But only after two days on the trip, I missed home and I missed writing.

Insya Allah I had a few issue I wanted to share and have been working on gathering the material. I am looking forward to write about the concept of hijaab in Islam in the nearest time. Insya Allah.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Fitna: From Where I Stand

Geert Wilder had thrown a ‘bomb’ into the Islamic world by producing Fitna. Many reactions were aired, written and even demonstrated. There were conflicts within and without the Islamic communities around the globe.
Some damned Wilder for his abused of human rights. Though he confessed his fears and had given various reasons to justify his deed, nothing of what he said could do just to the Muslim community. He had crossed the red line and must be given the hardest punishment any government could muster.
Some took a more tolerant stand, taking into consideration that Wilder might not be aware of how serious his deed could be in the Muslim world. I personally did not agree with this opinion as it had been long and well established that any religion in this world deserved to be respected. It was a basic human right. And for Wilder to exercise his right for speech or expression, he should be aware that the right comes with responsibilities.
And unfortunately there were some who did not know anything about the issue least aware of it.
Having watched Fitna, analyzing it as rational as possible, I found many flaws in it and in a very misleading and cunning way. The objectives were questionable and if like Wilder had claimed it was purely his expression on how he saw Islam that it had been unjustly produced. The intention was fishy.
First, he was quoting verses from the Quran Surah al-Anfaal verse 60, Surah an-Nisa’ verse 56 and 89 and Surah Muhammad verse 4. The verses were not read in full but only excerption of them giving the wrong idea to the audience. He was picking the verses without understanding first the context in which the verses were sent down by Allah and Wilder did not care to read the verses before and after the verses he had quoted when these before and after verses, if read and looked at, would have given him the justified answer and helped him better understand Islam in a well manner.
In Surah Al-Anfaal verse 60 the Muslims were asked to prepare themselves for battle in terms of artillery. They were not asked to attack unless they were first attacked and in verse 61 it was clearly stated that if the non-Muslims had opted for peace then the Muslims too must choose peace!
Wilder then quoted two verses from Surah an-Nisa’. Beginning with verse 56 in which Allah reprimanded the people of the books, the Jews rabbi who had rewrote the Torah and concealing the appointment of Muhammad as the last prophet and Islam as the true religion from the Jews. This verse had nothing to do with the provocation or motivating the Muslims to burn the non-Muslims. It only served as a strong message that one should always speak the truth unless he/she was ready to accept such torment from Allah. Why not look at the verse 57 when Allah was telling about all the luxurious and comforting life in heaven for those who had done good deeds on earth?
Again when Wilder quoted verse 89 from Surah an-Nisa’ he was out of context. If he had taken the time to read from verses 88 up to verses 90 he would have had a clear view that the 89th verse was for the transgressors, the munafiqoon. Muslims never discard non-Muslims unless those non-Muslims had bad intentions towards Muslims or Islam itself. This type of non-Muslims was called kafir harbi. If they attacked, the Muslims were sure to fight back. If the non-Muslims had no such intentions they are the kafir zimmiy and it was a duty on a Muslim to protect them. Look at verse 90, if the deal was sealed that the non-Muslims would not harm the Muslims, they deserved protection to the point that the Prophet Muhammad said protecting their blood was an obligation to the Muslims!
Then Wilder had quoted Surah Muhammad verse 4. He did not quote it in full but partially. If he had in sincerity quoted the whole verse, straight away the peaceful teaching of Islam would have popped out so clear that the supporting visual cannot cover it any more. This verse pushed the Muslims to slaughter any enemy they met in the battlefield. Situation: battlefield. What do you expect? Yet the kindness of Islam never left. After the battle, such aggressive actions were immediately put to stop. The captured enemies were either released without conditions or under certain conditions. In the history of Islamic wars, the captured were never treated badly. If conditions were termed onto them they were what was beneficial to the Muslim community without degrading the captured person, the Muslims simply tapped the enemy specialties such as asking them to teach the Muslim children how to read and the like.
Second, a picture can tell a thousand words. Unfortunately Wilder had used the wrong pictures to express how he felt about Islam. He used the 9/11 bombing visual, the visuals of Shiite leaders giving firing speeches, pulling out and charging their swords and the visual of a group of Muslims holding blood covered blades and knives in their hands; jumping and screaming like a bunch of blood-thirsty maniac.
It was well established that the Muslims had been cleared from involvement in the 9/11 tragedy. The Shiite had been well-known for their passion in joining the Jihad because that was one of the pillars that they held strongly to if one wanted to be a Muslim beside the shahadah, solat, fasting, paying alms and performing the hajj. Wilder must know that the largest portion of Muslims were the Sunni and the Muslims regards the Shiite as digressing from the true path of Islam though not referring them as kafirs or non-Muslims.
The blood covered blades were from the celebration of Karbala when the Shiite moaned on the passing of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandchild, Hussain. During this celebration the Shiite used balades or knife to hurt their selves by hitting the blades on their forehead and temple in regrets that they were not able to save him and to show how sad were they about the tragedy. The Sunni never supported this celebration and never considered it as part of Islamic traditions.
Third: an unfair interview with a young girl. Let put ourselves in an Israelites oppressed country such as Iraq. Having our country destroyed, our home banished, our family and friends killed, having our life threatened continuously 24-7 and our childhood robbed from us. Then came any one asking us about our opinion towards the Israelites what would have been the straight answer? Swine! Yes, that was the girl’s answer. The Israelites were like swine because of what they had done onto her. They were barbaric!
The following question was not really meant to link to the first one but more on to cunningly cornered Islam as teaching the wrong things even to a young child. The second question did not ask her who tell her that Israelites were swine but from where she knew about the Israelites? The poor girl answer she knew it (about the Israelites according to the question asked) from Allah. And it was furthered mislead by asking where did Allah tell you (about the Israelites)? And she said the Quran. The interview was a trick and that girl was emotionally unstable and distracted to have any positive opinion towards the Israelites. Allah Himself had raised the Israelites above all nations as He mentioned in Surah al-Baqarah verse 47. Allah never referred to them with other names than the children of Israel, the most honourable name to them.
Finally Wilder was demeaning Islam when he had a shot of ripping away the quoted verses from the Quran. That was too much! He had crossed the human right border line.
Well, the third Newton Law stated that for every force there will be another force of the same magnitude only in a different direction. I asked, what had force Wilder to produce Fitna? Why did he do it at all? Without considering the possibility of Wilder being used by any third party, I saw two things. One gave me much comfort while the other strikes my conscience so hard I felt like dying.
Following the Quran as well as the sunnah, I will start with glad tidings. The comforting point that I get from the production of Fitna and the aggressive and almost unanimous reactions from the Muslim world towards Geert Wilder was that Islam is the true religion because each and every Muslim holds dearly to its sacredness.
In other beliefs it was not unusual for us to find their believer making jokes about their scholars, their messengers and even on God himself! For example I came across these many years back and as I wonder why were them making fun of these things.
A thief entered a house to steal and heard a voice as he approached the door to run away with the stolen things, “Jesus is watching.” The thief turned his back and saw nobody. He tried to go out again. “Jesus is watching,” came again the voice. Tired of the situation the thief blurted, “Who the hell is Jesus?” and the answer came, “A 120 pounds rotweiler.” The thief was shocked. “Who would name a dog ‘Jesus’?” he asked and the answer came, “The same who name a parrot Moses.”
A teacher was teaching in a kindergarten class and asked if anyone can tell her where God is. Little Lulu put up a hand and wanted to give her answer. “Yes, Lulu. Where is God?” And Little Lulu answer, “He is in the toilet.” The class was surprised but the teacher stayed calm. “How did you know He’s in the toilet?” Little Lulu answer, “Every morning my father knocks the bathroom door and said ‘God, you are still in there?’”
I did not find these two jokes funny least appropriate but the writers obviously did not find it wrong to mock their messengers as they believed them and God too. Muslims do have faith in Jesus (pbuh) and Moses (pbuh) but you can be assured that no Muslim would joke on the messengers like that. Muslims did not even have the heart to criticize on the prophets personal traits least demeaning them to such a low level as animals. Na’uzubillah. If a religion is true and sacred, why would you want to joke about it? If you really love a person (you love Jesus and you believe he loves you) would you have called improper name on him/her or put that person in similarity with something very low? Why make fun of your beliefs when you would not even make fun of a company’s policy.
Wilder was brought up in the culture that allowed such disrespect towards religion. But this time he misjudged when he chose Islam as a subject thinking the Muslims would look at it simply as a personal expression. The kind that stem from what- I- see- and- how- I- feel- about- it right to voice one’s opinion as freely as one wanted to in anyway he deemed rightful.
The derivation from this fact was a table turning question to me. As a Muslim, what had I done or where had I done wrong that people like Wilder think of Islam as no different from any other beliefs and stand equally to be joked about likewise?
Wilder had quoted four verses without understanding the context of any either. So Wilder had no idea whatsoever about asbab an-nuzul, the reason or situation that made Allah revealed the verse to Rasulullah. What about us Muslims?
How strong was our faith in Islam, how deep did we understand this deen, this way of life? Did we practice what was not Islamic so well that people understand Islam as such? As this issue broke into the community, did we have the right explanations to the non-Muslims? Did we understand how wrong Wilder was when he wanted to rip off the four verses from the Quran or our anger was just a reactive response?
O ye who believe! Enter into Islam wholeheartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the Evil One; for he is to you an avowed enemy (Al-Baqarah: 208)
In Islam, not believing in any part of the Quran and the teachings and practices of Rasulullah can lead to blasphemy. How many of us Muslims were aware of that? And how many were practicing otherwise?
We must be aware that we are the ambassadors of Allah on this earth. We are not doing it for Allah but for ourselves for Allah is Perfect and He needs not us to make Him better. We should follow His guide to be better. It is time for us to check ourselves and our way of conduct and clean them from anything that might give a different definition of Islam to the world.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Muslims By Practice

I joined the Kung Fu Club in my campus last year with many objectives in mind. First objective was to improve my health and control my diabetes thus I joined the taiji section. Secondly to indulge my passion about culture thus I enrolled myself in the club’s drum team and finally my objective was just to put myself into that ‘Chinese’ ambient so as to improve my Mandarin since I was taking the paper during that semester.
I was not aware of what awaited in front of me. Only after the first meeting I was shocked at how ‘muslims’ they were in their practice and the longer I stayed and got to know them closer, the conclusion just solidified.
The first was about time management. Every group had their training hours fixed. The taiji started practice every Mondays and Thursdays at 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm while the drum team practiced at 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm on Fridays and 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm during weekends. Sharp at the stated time they will start and finish. I was tutoring Statistics on Mondays during that semester and bound to be late by half and hour. I met the section leader to inform about it.
“Never mind but we will not wait for you. We’ll just start away,” was his answer.
Once I was only one minute late for my Thursday’s training and they had finished warming up and ready for training.
Other than that I was shocked during my first drum training. The leader taught us not less than fifteen beats and we were only beginners! This is what I can say da’wah. You just gave it off hand. Then they proceed with what I am familiar with as tarbiyah. Those who were not getting the beats were helped by the seniors who voluntarily came during training. The patience they had in trying to make us get the rhythm was magnanimous. I was telling myself, if only each and every one of us were patient enough in propagating Islam, if only our seniors were helping us as closely as theirs and if only we were more confident to tell off about Islam without holding back just for the sake of being polite and continue with good follow ups to help people understand Islam better perhaps the story will be different.
Another surprise I had when we had our Master visiting during training. I was then being trained by an exco quite away from the whole team. Then came another exco running to us telling us to stop playing at once and gather with the others quickly. As the Master approached the team, we all stood in attention and bow to him respectfully. When the Master was addressing our drum leader, not a sound was heard. As a junior, we thought, “Why waste time? Let’s practice.” We tried to do a few beats but the seniors quickly came to us and tell us as quiet as possible to be silent. Not only did they stay put until the Master finished his discussion with the leader but until he was off sight.
The same occurred during taiji training and this time it was only a super senior. The way I saw it, this was adab which I found missing in our jamaah.
How much talking were we making when a friend was presenting for our weekly usrah and worse even when an ustaz was presenting we just could not care less.
In Islam we were taught to work together like a well-built stature. In this club we did just that. All of us were responsible to take our drums, arranged it according to the type of drums we were playing and keep them back. No one complained if he or she had taken more than one drum. Of course there was a day when the leader reprimanded those who were late because they had not shared the burden with other teammates. During our intensive week, we walked together all the way from our hostels to the training spot. It was not close though. The distance was a good half and hour leisure walks. Nobody was allowed to take their own vehicle even when they have one. We had our lunch and dinner together and even ate the same food. Their togetherness was so strong that I felt only the word ukhuwwah can best describe it. Were we not taught in Islam about the unity of thought, the unity of conduct and the unity of hearts (wihdat al-fikr, wihdat al-amal and wihdat al-qalb)
It was normal for the Kung Fu Club to conduct Kung Fu Night annually. I had the experience of working with many Islamic organizations. They always had a half-a-year plan or a year plan before hand and yet most of the time the work was last minutes. The experience in this club was on the contrary.
For those who were performing, we were practicing from the very beginning of the semester. Then during the second week we were recruiting people to give us the technical, physical and other supports needed for the performance night. In the third week these people had started working for the Kung Fu Night that was six months ahead of them. What I saw was the concept of ihsan being put into practice. Allah loves those who were meticulous and careful in doing their jobs to the perfection they can best achieved. By starting early they can finish the big chunk of work by cutting it down to smaller bite-size pieces and worked from thereupon. Thus each piece was finished up without haste and with full attention and no compromising on the quality.
After the great performances we had for the Kung Fu Night many would have thought the training would stop or simply slowed down. Well, nothing like that happened. The trainings continued as usual. This was a simple istiqamah or continuity.
What I saw lacked in our jamaah was that we struggled to reach a certain point or mega project and right after that we just stopped or left it unattended. Thus when we needed to do something the like we always had to start again all over from the scratch. This was a waste of time, energy and sources when if only we had had it continued it was not possible that we would have achieved something bigger than what we can imagine.
The last blow I had when I found out the high committee in the club actually used the syura system without noticing it. I asked why not used the usual hands-up vote counting? Why not democracy? They simply said this appointment to a post was not just for fun. The person that was needed was the one with passion and that one who will give his/her all to continue the ‘breath’ of the club in the campus. That person must be selected, carefully picked from the bunch. Democracy only gave way to the popular ones more often than not.
Spending one year with them I asked myself had I shown them how a muslim was. If I had, did I do it successfully or had I failed Allah? I had become more conscious about my conducts and I had understood there was no used for crying out loud of what we had done and wanted to do. All that we needed was a pure muslim’s heart that will show in our each and every practice. I wish Allah will open their hearts towards Islam one day because they are Muslims in so many ways.

Fight, Fight Right, Fight Right Now

If you know yourself and you know your enemy, in any battle you can tell if you are going to win or lose.
-Sun Tzu-
I am aware that cancer is near and around but when an aunt’s mother is diagnosed as having colon cancer it strikes me how cancer really is closer to home than I think it is. Having the chance to visit her I asked how she is doing and dealing with the chemotherapy sessions. She has completed four out of six scheduled sessions and fighting it with a lion heart.
Taking a step back and evaluating the whole chronology of her getting to this point I make a conclusion the real enemy is not the cancer itself but us as a person. It is a bliss that she finally listens to her daughter to get a check up after complaining consistently of a stomach ache, indigestion and irregular bowling. Before that she keeps holding on to the fact it is a normal thing to happen to her and that it will go sooner or later. She even has this idea that the pain is of a witch crime and demands to be taken to a shaman for treatments.
After diagnosis and put into chemotherapy program she did complain a lot in the beginning but her daughter has persuaded her that it is necessary for her to go through the process to get better and that she must change her psychology if she wants to get better faster.
It has always been us who jeopardize ourselves and well being. It is understood that the carcinogens in the environment including the food we are taking is developing very fast and increasing in numbers year after year. Thus we should be aware of the potential of us being strike by cancer at any time. Should we be stricken by cancer it better happens when we are ready an on guard to combat it. We do not want to be hit in the dark.
Let us start from an individual to begin with. We cannot deny the fact that nowadays everyone has a general idea about cancer and obtaining any more details is not at all impossible. Yet the information stays as information and only occasionally transfers into knowledge and used in life for good.
Each of us know we should have at least three sessions of twenty minutes exercise per week but how many put this into action. Make it a point to exercise. Mentioning exercise alone would make a person frown and pout.
“I am healthy as I am,” will be the reasoning.
Some said they are happy with their size although obviously they are obese and others are just shy for no apparent reasons. Exercise is seen as a strenuous activity and meant only for those who wanted to be athletes, fat people and people with certain disease that requires them to exercise as treatments or just for those who wanted to show off they are healthy. With a mentality like this it is going to take a long time before that paradigm shift of a healthier living and lifestyle can take place.
Another interesting outburst of rejection is when we want to start healthy eating. The idea of healthy eating has always been eating tasteless, bland food when actually there is more to it.
We should eat to keep us living, not to kill ourselves by putting in more ‘poison’ that will enrich and bring to life the ‘monster’ that is already in us, waiting for the right time to get up and hit us hard. There is nothing wrong with all the food should it be boiled, steamed or even deep fried. You can have everything that you want yet eat for pleasure. Do not eat excessively that is where the devils lie. Eat moderately and we can eat for many years to come.
These two points explain a lot of why people easily choose slimming pills to lose weight only to realize the pills cause them cancer later on.
The government and many responsible bodies are trying their best to lower the risk of people having cancer by promoting various campaigns and never stop to create public awareness. Many pamphlets are distributed on how we can avoid ourselves from cancer. Other than exercise and eating well there is self examination.
We should not be shy to examine ourselves or have it checked by trained medical staffs. It is of a magnanimous importance to detect cancer as early as possible before it is too late. Some are reluctant to have themselves examined because they believe if they do not search for it, they will not have to find it. Why ones should wastes his money for a check up when he is seemingly perfectly healthy? This way of thinking must be discarded at once if we really are moving towards a healthy nation as a developing country towards 2020.
It will be unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with cancer but giving up is not an option. Many researches have been carried out to cure cancer and the medical field has soared with the findings through science and technology. In fighting cancer it is not just the science but psychology as well. While the science fight the cancer only a strong will heart can make it effective and curing. It is after all, mind over body.
Looking it from multiple angles of perspectives the solution seems to stem from one source: education and can only be sustained if we are willing to change our attitude towards it and a little discipline to walk hand in hand. Starting something that is right in any case is not easy. However we do not have to do it alone. And since everything comes down to what we see and how we see it, a little twist of mind to tune it into a more positive one is timely.
We must first understand that we are all potential cancer victims. The hazard is already there but we are in full capacity of keeping the risks at the lowest level possible.
Exercise does not have to be strenuous, it can be a joyful moment of us spending some time alone with ourselves and it is reported that those who has enough time for themselves becomes more productive at work, a better spouse/ partner and a more confident person.
If we are the type that enjoys company, we can always kill two birds with one stone. Take our family or friends out for exercise. Besides getting healthier we can spend more quality time together.
For a beginning choose a simple exercise like brisk walking or jogging or something fun like aerobic does the trick.
As for eating, vary the colours. Take more vegetables and fruit. Reduce the fat and carbohydrates. The presentation of the dish is as essential as its preparation. Train our children to choose a healthier food over junk food. For instance a slice of honey dew as a substitute of a bar of chocolate and a glass of carrot juice instead of a can of bicarbonate drinks.
Until today my parents never cease to encourage us in taking healthy food. My father always cut some fruits and has them arranged in a plate so beautiful I cannot help myself from wanting to reach for a slice and taste it. So it goes for vegetables. When cooking my mother used to ask us to help her in the kitchen with the vegetables and during the session she will intrigue our mind with how delicious the vegetables are that our mouths are watering before the dish is served.
I have continued Self Breast Examination after an introduction to breast cancer in school and understand its importance. There is no harm to taking a precautious step. If something is going to happen is it not better that we catch it red handed and get rid of it instantaneously? If that is not a very pleasing idea, change the way you see it. Look at it as a confirmation that we are perfectly healthy and have more reasons to count our blessings. If money is the issue I can assure you that falling sick requires more than you can imagine once it occurs.
In taking medication, I would suggest that we restrict ourselves to well researched, qualified and certified products trusted by medical staffs or stick to prescribed medicine only. It is not worth gambling your health. What is the use of having a slim body and suffer for intestinal cancer or even a kidney failure?
Nothing is impossible if we put our mind into it. It is about making a choice. We should take our time to nurture our body and pay attention to its demand on us. When we have found and understood the real culprit, fighting it is no longer a battle. We must fight the I-do- not- care attitude, fight it right and fight it right now. Together we will win this battle against attitude cancer.

One Yes Doesn't Speak For All

I would like to respond to the article entitled ‘Our Freedom Makes Us Appealing’ written by Ms. Zainah Anwar which was published in your press on July 14th 2006. Before I move further I must give credits to Ms. Zainah Anwar on her well written article and her persistency in pursuing her fight for women liberation.
Scanning through the article more as a science student than a muslim per se I found the article weak statistically. Just because one or two Arab women claim they lived more normal in our country than in their hometown does not mean all women should feel free to take off their hijab. Not only the size of her population is small; you need at least thirty samples before you can make a conclusion, the reliability of her samples is doubtful. They showed inconsistency in their character. They implied as if for them Islam in their country is different from that in ours. If that is the case than I can use the same mean to argue all women should put on their hijab.
A lady in Britain chose to wear hijab because she felt secured behind the hijab and she confessed that from the time she put on the hijab she was treated respectfully and were given priorities whenever she wanted to use public transports, men made way for her and always speak to her politely and never missed calling her ‘maam’. Mind you she is not a Muslim!
Another British Christian nurse who served in Saudi Arabia had no complains when she was made to wear hijab and abaya. The reasons were unanimous: she felt secured and being treated with respect. Perhaps Ms. Zainah Anwar had been given a mislead information that women there are not given enough freedom for this nurse claimed that the hijab and abaya are only worn when she was out in the public but there are places provided by the government and safely guarded in which she can even wear her bikini!
The first British lady did ask an Arab men haven’t he felt attracted to other women who wore sexy outfit as his wife, like other typical Arab females, wore hijab and abaya and this men answer was,
“Why should I? I know how beautiful my wife is and only I knew. No one can contest her on that and she is mine.”
How sweet is that? I believe many women want that kind of affection and complement. Like the line from ‘Flying without Wings’ by Westlife
Those are things that only I knew
Those little things that make you mine
I had the chance to visit an International Culture Exhibition held in my campus a few years back and I had stopped at a Jordan booth and asked the person in charged why was it that they made all their women put on those black all-covering clothes for I too was skeptical about it. I agree with Ms. Zainah Anwar that here we are given more freedom. But his answer changed my mind. He told me that women to them are like diamonds, precious. Thus who on earth with a sound mind would show off his diamonds like nobody cares? Well, he had a point and a good one! I would not let anybody look at my diamonds and if I am to show it to others I prefer to ensure the security before doing so.
I learned from one of the national program, 3R that men think of sex every six minutes. Isn’t it possible that by covering ourselves we actually protect ourselves from being victimized? Just imagine how alluring a woman will be when she has her hair blown by the wind and worse when she has more flesh exposed. Only God knows what men think about her.
I understand that Ms. Zainah Anwar fights strongly for women to be equally respected and be given chance as men. I wonder why she opts not to campaign for women to put on our hijab. I believe many women will follow her. Let put on our hijab and be liberated from being seen as sex object for men!
Haven’t it occurred to her that there are means to achieve her goal? There are rules and regulations that have been laid out to achieve just that. God created human beings. He has sent us the Prophet to show us exemplary way to live. He gives us His book for us to refer. But you must not interpret everything as you like it. Like when Microsoft builds a new software, it provides the consumer with the guidebook and only trained engineers or computer geniuses can educate others on how to use the program to it ultimate extant.
Ms. Zainah Anwar pointed that our Islamist ideologues want for us what other muslims from foreign countries do not. Well there is a big difference between being extreme and moderate. If you draw the line incorrectly you are prone to move between being a total extreme by making it all seem hard to be a muslim or a total ‘everything is okay as long as you deem it right’ thinking person.
I agree that there are groups that show deep intensity and opt for the extreme in approaching any Islamic law but they do not represent all Islamist ideologues in Malaysia do they? Other Islamist ideologues are fighting with these groups too because they are turning people away from Islam when by right Islam is the perfect way of life: moderate, liberating and not once contradict with the nature of human beings. It is all about perception and interpretation.
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) always opted for the easier way whenever he had two choices in hand yet that never mean he simplified Islam in any way. I am afraid that with solely analyzing a fragment of any law without looking at it as a whole you are like trying to analyze a piece of jigsaw puzzle without knowing the real picture and you might end up over-simplifying Islam and become the ‘everything is okay’ person.
The next thing she pointed was how an Iranian film director said it is real life to find a mosque, a church, a temple within sight of each other and even disco and a pub in that midst. There are things that we must understand. Islam stands on two grounds: upholding the good and forbidding evil. Yes we respect other religion, other beliefs. We are forbidden from badmouthing other beliefs lest they will turn the table to us. That is clearly stated in the Koran. When we muslims do not believe compulsion in religion we believe wholeheartedly that Islam and Islam only is the right religion for human beings as created by God.
It is like using certain fuel for certain vehicles to make sure it serves it purposes optimum. Perhaps it will still run even with the wrong fuel but only for a short while and at the end of the day you found the vehicle is damaged and defeated. Ms. Zainah Anwar should know better I believe for she always started her talk by emphasizing that she speaks as a believer. I am stunned she wrote that paragraph without a tinge feeling of regret that we Malaysian Muslims are still lack in forbidding evil.
To use the some extreme opinion to justify her case to me is unfair. Not all Islamist ideologues deem music, dance and cultural practices lull our minds from God consciousness and must be banned. Why not look at Dr. Yusuf Qardawi’s opinion about music? He sees music as mind soother and refreshing. It is not about the thing but how you carry it out. Even the Prophet allowed his wife, Aishah to watched cultural show from the Habsyees and he sometimes let earlier muslims to conduct such in a mosque that Umar was pissed off but the Prophet calmed him down saying that let it be, it is important for the weaker soul.
I would take a simple route to see this matter. As a science student logic is my thing. To determine how a woman should dress herself the easiest indicator we have in hand is to see how one should dress when she is praying. Simple, she must cover head to toes except for her face and her hands (up to her wrist). Alas! Perhaps the obligations to wear a hijab and abaya might be cultural call but still a woman must cover herself head to toes because we are not with God when we pray alone, we are with Him all the time or should I say He is with us all the time.

Respect Our Seats

There was a hearsay that eventually everybody will be doctors because with the ever growing of information accessibility, sooner or later each and every one of us will be able to tell what a person is suffering from. Simple as it may seem, there was more to look into it. How can we tell if a person is suffering from any diseases? We based our assumption on symptoms that person were experiencing. For instance we would count a person who did not put on weight while having a good appetite, urinate often, drink more than usual and have trouble of lethargy as being diabetic. How do we know about these symptoms? Yes, we get it from years of research done by the doctors, the experts in healthcare. Then the best we could do is to offer a few suggestions of exercises or precautions and some might go extra miles in suggesting certain treatments or medications but if the problems resist we eventually will say, “ I think you better get yourself checked by a professional,” smiling shyly.
There is absolutely no wrong in us wanting to know and educate ourselves in whatever field we desire yet there is one thing we should always hold firm. When everybody can be the jack of all trade not everybody can be the master of all. That is the Gracious of Allah. He let us understand generally and bestow perfect understanding to the fundamentals of knowledge, ilmu in some. Thus we have the more chance to interact with each other and learn. If possible and it is something that we should all work on is how we can integrate our different knowledge and make a better person of ourselves and our world.
Nowadays, thanks to democracy when every body wants to exercise their right to say what they want to say and let the majority wins, a trend of interpreting knowledge without being knowledgeful in certain subject has flourished. We have lawyers interpreting Islamic shariaat and almost everybody quotes from the Holy Quran and Hadith either in their speeches or in their paperworks and proposals. Not saying that it is wrong to do so but we must only do so within our capacity of knowledge. Otherwise it will be like sending a woman with a gynecology problem to a dentist. There is a Malay saying ‘Seperti tikus membaiki labu’, literally translated into giving a pumpkin to be mended by mice. Of course the pumpkin will be doomed in the mice hand. They will only ruin it!
Before thee, also, the messengers We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: if ye realize this not, ask of those who possess the Message.
Al Anbiya’:7
It is clearly shown that in order to understand something we must ask those who has more in depth knowledge than us. If we care to ask the right person on the right subject we can save many wasted time arguing on things that in fact is clearly outlined by Allah.
For instance women around the world are fighting for their equal rights and we have our women not satisfied with the division of wealth or faraid as women get half of what men get. The problem lies in the shortage of knowledge. Islamic shariaat should never be analyzed partially. It should be seen as a whole. Otherwise you will be examining a piece of a jigsaw puzzle and wonder why the picture is never right.
Asking those who possess the Message can be translated into asking the professionals. If we want to talk about Islam, let those scholars of Islamic studies do it. Not saying we must put a solid barrier between all fields but there are those who have more qualification to speak than us.
When an artiste talks about Islamic shaariaat while he/she is not practicing it, the results is hazardous as their fans tend to follow them. More than that, the way they explain their understanding is sometimes misleading. We cannot force our belief to be the most justified and should be publicized.
Each of us has been given our seats in this world to be taken care of and to exercise our duty within our seats. A writer must implement Islam in his/her writings while an artiste must show the beauty of Islam in his/her act, an Islam scholars with his/her duty to educate as many as possible on Islam, a doctor performs his/her duty as a Muslim… nobody is less than the other only we are more qualified on our seats than in others because Allah knows we can serve Him best from where we seat thus respect our seats and shy not to ask.

Pen It Down

Not many of us enjoy writing as much as we enjoy reading. Some said they just do not have the ideas while others confess they just do not know how to write! Well of course if we want to compare our writings to those who are experts we can straightforwardly say we do not know how to write (like them) or we cannot write (like them). But this has nothing to do with comparing our writing to anyone’s but just to write.
No matter how good or bad we are as a writer, looking at the increasing crave for justified reading materials nowadays amongst the society, the call to write is outreaching to each and everyone especially us who has devoted our life (hopefully) in the cause of da’wah.
One of the training that we received in our movement is to read and we read a lot! We read many books. Some of them are discussed in our weekly usrah or reviewed by our friends. What happens to those books that are not discussed or reviewed? What about different books that we read from others? Much of the contents of the many good books are sooner or later forgotten because we do not keep a good record of it. This is a good point to start writing, to record. You can save a lot of your time and others’ as well if you keep a good record of the books you have read. It can be a simple record consisting of the title, author, publisher and essential content of the book or quotes from the book if you like that inspires you or change you in anyway. It doesn’t need to be written in a form of an article, you can simply make it in a point form. And please have a special file or hard cover book for this purpose or you will lose your momentum to record when you keep losing them.
If you want to elongate your record and may be just to warm up your writing skill, you can start commenting on the book. Write in article form on how a book affects you and to what extent does it do so? Perhaps you will relate this to the current reality of your life if possible and through that you can record your thoughts and feelings about certain issues.
Keep all your writings in an organized file. Get back to it time after time and you will learn about yourself. When you might ‘sound’ aggressive, emotional and rhetorical at the age of 17 to 20 you may be more rational and support your arguments with better and reliable facts in your 21-25 years old writings. May be you will have more courage to offer solution to bigger issues when you are in your late twenties or early thirties. Silently these writings will serve as your self-retrospection tool. From these writings alone you can understand how you have changed over years and have your changes taken a positive turns, negative turns or have you been on a roller coaster?
Do not worry about getting your writings published. First get some friends to read them and may be you can just share them with your usrah-mates. Have them comment on your writings and don’t feel unmotivated should their comment be a little too hard. Take it positively that they are helping you to improve and they actually expect you to write better. If the comments are overwhelming perhaps you should think of sending them to magazines, newspapers or publishers. If you are fortunate and get published your writings will serve as one of your source of income.
Looking beyond monetary benefits, once you are published and known to the society, it will help a lot in conveying to others about Islam as a way of life thus writing now serve as a tool of da’wah. We are now fighting with those who are well-trained and skillful in writing and using their advantages to spread misleading arguments and judgments about Islam in papers and magazines and even published materials. It is not just about us writing anymore but about us trying to fight for the truth to prevail. An eye for an eye, we are taught, thus a wrong article demands for one right article to straighten it and who should write it up if not us who has been trained for years to sought the truth and spread it, who has been taught to read various books multi-crossing fields. We are running out of time now and out there the plea for defense again Islam through writings is agonizing loud and clear. Stop wondering whether or not you can write excellently. Put on your thinking cap as soon as possible and if you are writing for the cause of Allah surely He will help you to pen it down!

Priests Embracing Islam: What Touches Me?

Assalamualaikum, Alhamdulillah wa kullu hamd lillah I was born as a Muslim and given the chance to accept Islam as the deen al-haq (true religion). Everyday I pray that I die a Muslim and be brought back to life as one
Upon reading Priests Embracing Islam I found myself again and rejuvenate my faith in Islam. I had done things I am not proud of in the earlier years of my life. My parents struggled hard to make me a good Muslim. I never watched my prayers consistently and always made reasons not to. I used to sit for five minutes in the praying room and come out without praying and go as far as lying that I was having my menstrual cycle so I did not have to pray. One of my parents’ efforts was to send me into a Summer Camp in which the participants were taught many Islamic values and it bored me to death that we had so many dzikr sessions. I thought there was no free time but you will find us chanting Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah wa La ilaha illallah or Ya Allah, Ya Allah, Ya Allah.
My very first experience of the feeling that ‘Allah exists’ was in 1999 when I was in Quebec. I prayed Subuh and after reading a few pages from the Quran I chanted Ya Allah, Ya Allah, Ya Allah out of spontaneity and I felt what Sister Khadijah said, “..something drop into my beng!” I cried like I had never cried before. After that I do my best to watch my prayers.
In my college years I kept asking how I can be sure Islam is the true religion. Why is it that the ustaz always said the biggest ni’mat is being a Muslim and to have iman? Why was it that the sahabah were willing to die for a Prophet Muhammad s.a.w? And finally I asked if Allah really is the only God why did He not save me from what I had done wrong? All these questions were driving me crazy.
My mother gave me a translation of the Quran and I had it with me at college but never did I give it a serious attention. Having heard so many times that Quran is from Allah, it is not written by Prophet Muhammad s.a.w then I thought if it is true it should be able to provide me with answers to my questions. Dr. Gary Miller might call it Falsification Test but I did not know anything about this then. It was on Saturday and I was not even properly covering my aurat when I picked up that translation from my desk and opened randomly. My eyes fell straight on the verse 186 from Surah al-Baqarah:
When my servants ask thee concerning me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on me: let them also, with a will, listen to My call, and believe in Me: that they may walk in the right way.
Allah never left me! I left Him! I cried and at that age of 18 I secretly renewed my shahadah. Now I really wanted to be a Muslim and I believe Islam is true.
The experience if not more was quite similar to Al-Hajj Ibrahim Khalil Ahmed when he heard the recital of certain Quranic versions. Since then I made it a point to always turn to the Quran when I have any doubt about anything and it has never failed to provide me with an adequate and convincing answer. Like Raphael Narbaez wrote: …it’s been a very loving protection. And I read more about the sirah of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w and tried to understand what Islam really asked from its practitioners.
From this point I realized that the Muslims nowadays are quite diverted from the real Islam taught by the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w thus I started to change my label of personality like did Dr. Jerald F. Dirks (Abu Yahya). I tell myself ‘I am a Muslim and I am a Muslim woman’. Thus I must first follow what Islam said instead of what the society said. The route was not easy though but I believed as long as we are sincere Allah will always be there to guide us and to lend a helping hand.
Other than these similarities in experiences towards acknowledging Islam as the true religion, what touched me in this book was how they put their all into propagating Islam and used all that was given by Allah unto them should it be their knowledge, their wealth and their other specialty to help promote Islam to the world. They really practice Islam and showed good akhlak to demonstrate the real Muslim characters.
This has opened my eyes to be more conscious about my way of conduct because I am not wandering on this earth solely as a person but I am an ambassador of Allah, I must be His spokesperson and I must carry out my duty to the best perfection I can achieve. Martin John Mwaipopo called out for us to Flood the world with literature. I have been blessed by Allah with the skill of creative writing. I pray that Allah will guide me and help me to use this skill in His advantage. Insha Allah.

How To Win As A Final Year Student

Title : HOW TO WIN AS A FINAL-YEAR STUDENT
Essays, exams and employment
Author : Phil Race
Publisher : Open University Press
State Published : Buckingham. Philadelphia
Year : 2000
Pages : 181
Price : RM 79.80
Time flies and when it feels only like yesterday you registered as a university student you are now in your final year. When you think it will be easier in final year everything seems to have double or more intensity and you are bound to complete numbers of tasks in different level in short time! Don’t panic just yet. This book will guide you, help you and soothe you along the way until you win at the end of your final year.
To start the ball rolling you must really understand what final year is all about. The introduction chapter serves well as a retrospection guide. This chapter helps you to decide what your ultimate goal in life is and how you plan to achieve them. In your attempts to get to your goal what are the challenges you are facing or might face or you think might creep up out of sudden. Using the 9 Diamonds method, you will have your goal in perspective and by drawing up challenges that is hindering you, you are now prepared to tackle them.
Time to be strategic! That is the first chapter. You must set your sights and to make it happens there might be some attitude changes that you need to do. It is important that you understand not all learning techniques that you deem efficient pays-off. Some of them might be time-wasting. Find out more about it in this book. Being a final year student of course you must have known a lot but knowing alone is not enough. You must show that you know! As stressful as you can already imagine being in final year you must work constantly to keep your stress level at par. And last but not least is your personal action plan on how you will survive this final year which you will find at the end of every chapter throughout the book.
Unlike previous years of your studies, the demand from your course increases in final year. Your level of thinking is expected to move a mark higher and you must show this improvement through your essays, dissertations and projects. Too much to handle? Calm down. This book will guide you on how to ‘eat an elephant’. It will help you to draft and redrafting efficiently and one of a simple technique you can start using is the egg diagram.
Moving into Chapter 3, it is time to discover your wrongs or spills as they are referred to in this book then your skills. Not just the skills you well known you have acquired but also to search deep and discover those skills you have ingrained in you but you have never used before and next groom all this skills to maximize your potential. For those of you who are not very familiar with internet and the usage of word processor, this chapter offer you a simple yet effective short course you can benefit from.
Is final year all work and no fun? That is for you to decide. This book however helps you to see all the serious revision you need to do in your final year in a different light that you will enjoy them and enhance your confidence more.
Finally it is your exam for final year. Perhaps it will be the last time you will sit for an exam like it. This book helps you to tackle those exams by showing you how to plan for your answers and to use your stress at your advantage and not otherwise.
After exam you might think of pursuing higher degree or working. This book lists the advantages and disadvantages of both choices thus help you see better where you are going and hopefully make a good decision from it.
Writing a CV for jobs applications is not easy for just anybody. You will learn what to do and what not to in writing your CV. Not just that this book helps you to manage your applications and if you are fortunate with an effective CV you might land on a good job you like!
Interviews can be nerve breaking for some of us. Relax… this book guide you from how to dress up to an interview until how you should answer when offered a job.
In the final chapter is the summary of the whole book in table form a list of 50 things to do in your final year including your studies, personal life, developing effective CV and job hunting.

The Student's Guide To Exam Success

Title : THE STUDENT’S GUIDE TO EXAM SUCCESS
Author : Eileen Tracy
Publisher : Open Press University
State published : Buckingham. Philadelphia
Year : 2002
Price : RM 83.80

Instead of pondering directly into the topic on how to be a successful student in an exam, this book starts the ball rolling by first changing your attitude or thinking towards exams.
It is crucial that you detach yourself from your grades because all the beliefs that good grades secure good life, great career and happiness while bad grades spell doomed for life are nothing but mere myths.
Having your mind cleared, it moves on to check your body and its health. It is normal in a student’s life to feel stressful and likewise more often than not students opt for a quick fixes such as alcohol, smoke, sleeping pills, coffee, tea or even chocolate. Though all these fixes seem to help lowered your stress almost instantaneously, they jeopardize your health in the long run. Thus it is better to stick to the five pillars of health that are moderation, exercise, good sleep, healthy food and expressing your feelings.
After changing your perspective towards exams and taking good care of your health comes techniques for success. First technique is to lay solid study foundations. You must plan your work to avoid time curse and it is interesting how by taking more breaks help you learn better. Stop procastinating, see deadlines as friends instead of enemies and get started!
Along the way in your study, like it or not you will have to memorise. But first you must understand and recognise your memory. Are you a visual person or an audio type? This book has a lot to offer in terms of stimulating your brain to memorise creatively. Either you go mind-mapping or other versatyle mneumonics.
To be successful in an exam requires you to understand the nature of your exam itself. Thus you must clarify your goals and make them realistic. There is no way you can get everything done in one shot. Having all the information you need at hands, exploit them, play around with them and turn your research into an effective and more fruitful activities. After all it is about optimizing what you already know.
Failing to plan is really planning to fail. Thus this book guide you on how to plan for your essays, oral presentations, vivas and practicals.
Finally, it is time for your exam. There are a few dos and don’ts before you go to your exam, in the exam and after the exam.
It all come down to putting your goal into perspective and live in reality. If you can make use even half of the techniques written in this book, you are close enough to be successful in any exam in your life.

How To Be A Good Student

Title : How To Be A Student
Author(s) : Sarah Moore and Maura Murphy
Publisher : Open University Press McGraw-Hill Education
Pages : 139
Price : RM 95.70
This book is a must read to every student regardless if you are only beginning your first year, in your final year at university or pursuing your masters or PhD degree. It is a mind changing, practicable book presented brilliantly using simple English and the way the hundred sub-topics being divided into four major parts only add to the reasons one should read it.
The four major parts are ‘Insights and ideas when you first arrive’, ‘Developing your skills and sharpening your awareness’, ‘Gaining momentum: building confidence and motivation’ and ‘Being the best you can be: persistence and enhancement strategies’. Though it is really good if you can afford the time to read consequently from chapter one to hundred yet you can always go straight to your desired topics and each topic, which is concisely written, will provide you with all linked topics to the topic you have chosen.
Basically, Part 1 of the book will help you to know yourself as a student hence help you to organize yourself effectively for example how you can make sure you will turn up to your lectures and adjust to your study environment instantaneously. Beside that, it suggests on how to choose a part-time job to support your finance, guide you on how to set your study goals rationally and develop your social life without jeopardizing your study.
In Part 2, you will start to accept yourself as it is and you will understand that everybody is different. It is amazing how this book will open your eyes that after all this while it is us that set traps for ourselves and turn it to a failure. Nonetheless, it will help you to pull yourself together if you find your lecturer is not very much of help, you will learn to recognize your study habits through active recording, it will help you spot signs you need a break from your study and there is an interesting explanation about intelligences: that we all acquire different smartness thus we understand differently. Einstein is a genius yet he was known as a slow learner, find out more in this book.
Part 3 is Gaining momentum: building confidence and motivation. The topics in this part are more focus and more practical. It will change your mind on how to face deadlines without perplexing yet turn your deadlines into a motivation to boost your study mood and enhance the enjoyment of your study journey. Not only dealing with yourself, this part of the book also tells you how to deal with others: how to accept negative and positive feedbacks, how to choose feedbacks wisely and how to react on them. We are used to improving our weaknesses but in this book that alone is not enough. It will show you that you will be at your best when you start playing with your strengths as well. At the end of this part, you will better cope with your worries and understand that you can never keep everyone happy in your pursue to be a good student.
Last but not least, Part 4 of the book touches on strategies and reminds about more traps we always set on ourselves like how by always aiming to be perfect we repeatedly disappoint ourselves and lowered the chance for us to enjoy study and improve ourselves. Academic wise, this part tells about plagiarism, how to go about and make a subtle literature review and using your CV as a working document. Along the way you will learn the beauty of summary, how to develop memory techniques and how to conduct an interesting study retreat that will take you out of your study environment without leaving your study behind. It is worth trying.
After reading this book, you will have a better view on yourself as a student and how to go about and enjoy your academic years.