Hamiman hamima

The hardest part of being overseas

2011-06-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

Parting from family members and living 22 hours flight away from them do make us homesick sometime. Thanks to Skype, the longing to hear their voices and to look at them, asking how they are doing, are made easy twice or three times a week. Perhaps more when necessary.

Caring for two little girls with only each other to lean on is challenging. But at times we have friends helping out and when we realize that we are very much involve in our children growth and development; the enjoyments are worth it.

Getting along with new friends and neighbour too is not very difficult because here nobody really cares as long as your business do not interfere with theirs.

It is not the food that we miss because there are many Asians around Vancouver thus the ingredients for homemade cooking are easy to sought for. Halal meat is easy to get. We only need to take a bus to get it.

Studying in a totally different system is intimidating and doing research can be daunting but there is always a way to solve a problem. The challenge is trying to find an elegant solution to it.

Being a Muslim here put us in absolutely different light. You are suddenly the centre of attention. Everything you do is associated with Islam regardless if it is your own personal attitude or your home cultures and customaries. To the non-Muslims, that is Islam. In a way it is excruciatingly scary because none of us can really step out and say, "I am a true Muslim. I am doing exactly what Islam teaches." Only Rasulullah s.a.w can say so and his sahabat.

On the other hand, it is a blessing because we become more cautious in our practices and slowly improving ourselves as Muslims. All the comparative religion classes is paying off because we do need all the answers at our fingertips whenever they raised the questions about Islam and being a Muslim.

Thus have We made of you an Ummat justly balanced, that ye might be witness over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves; and We appointed the Qiblah to which thou wast used, only to test those who followed the Messenger from those who would turn on their heel (from the Faith). Indeed it was (a change) momentous, except to those guided by Allah. And never would Allah make your faith of no effect. For Allah is to all people Most surely full of kindness, Most Merciful. (al-Baqarah: 143)

The real spirit of Eid al-fitri

2010-09-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

The eid al-fitri advertisement by TV3 this year has surely raised many eyebrows and stirred more emotions and sentiments. It had failed to capture the true spirit of eid al-fitri from the Islamic (not Malays) point of view and drowned with the idea of relegion and cultural equality and shareability. Even in so doing it failed to capture 'Malays' values at the least. It was projecting more of the Christianity; represented by an old white bearded man on a flying sleigh, Buddhism by the blooming lotus and Hinduism by the many oil lamps and laddoo offering.
Before blaming the director/ script writer straight away, one question needs to be addressed; are they Muslims? Based on the outcome, I presume they are not or probably has a terrible misunderstanding about Islam in general and eid al-fitri in particular.
Eid al-fitri is not about magic. It has never had anything to do with magic. Eid al-fitri in about coming back to one's nature as being created by The Creator, Allah. Ramadhan was the training process. Having spent a month to bend one's desire, hawa as stated by the Quran or widely understood by Malays as nafsu, eid al-fitri is supposed to bring back that clean, Allah -concious and obidient self to a person, to submit fully and willingly to Allah with all sincerity.
Hence, that can only be achieved if the spirit of Ramadhan had been lived. Yet we found the very spirit of Ramadhan killed before it arrived. When it used to be weeks before, now advertisement of sales for eid al-fitri clothings, cooking programs, new paints etc. were made months ahead of Ramadhan. Thus the humble spirit of Ramadhan was killed and over killed with excessive eating and wasting. How then could we embrace eid al-fitri as it should be?
Generally, being a muslim is being different from others (in a better way of course). Muslims do not submit to his/her desires but to whatever is decreed by Allah and Rasulullah. That is fitrah, nature. Muslims do not measure happiness by amount of materials but richness of a soul and how close it is to Allah and what Allah has asked it to do. That is fitrah, nature.
Eid al-fitri is a mark of oneself winning over him/herself to become who it should be in the first place; the servant and vicegerant of Allah. Nothing else.
In the early years of Islam, when muslims wanted to call for prayers, suggestions were made by sahabat. Either using flute like the Jews or bell like the Christians. Prophet s.a.w did not respond to either of these until Bilal bin Rabah did the azan. There is also a hadith by the Prophet asking muslim men to have longer beard and shorter moustache to differ from the kuffar. There is a verse in the Quran preventing muslim women from dressing like the jahiliyah women. All in all, muslim cannot copy the non muslims! Especially in term of religion practices as Allah has clearly and strongly said in the Quran through Jibril a.s and Prophet s.a.w:
Say, O believers! I worship not as you worship. Nor do you worship as I worship. Nor do I worship those that you worship. Nor do you worship Him, Whom I worship. For you your religion and for me my religion. (al-Kafirun: 1-6).

When it is time to embrace the role

2010-05-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect. (ar-Rum:21)
Islam as a holistic way of life has encouraged marriage and prohibited adultery. This is suitable for each of our biological needs. As we grow we search for a company other than our family. Ironically with this partner we want to share more and deeper than what we have shared with our family. That is perfectly normal. It is one of Allah signs.
Marriage is a field in which you must get involved in it at every level of your physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual being. Before we look for certain qualities in our spouse, we might as well prepare ourselves to be one.
Allah said that a mate is who we can dwell in tranquilly. Thus we must be able to be a source of peace to our spouse. What is it that will put our spouse at peace? It could be words of consolation. This was exemplified by Khadijah when Rasulullah s.a.w first received revelation through Jibril a.s. Khadijah assured him that he was a good man and only good things should happen to him; or how Ummu Salamah told Rasulullah to start the tahallul first when no Muslim would budge after the first Hudaibiyah covenant when they could not enter Mecca to perform Hajj. Rasulullah took her advice and the Muslims did follow him to do tahallul. It showed that as a wife we have a role to give advice and help our husbands in need. While as a husband, there is no harm in taking our wives advice time to time. Rasulullah gave Aishah consolation when she was crying in two situations. One, when she first had he menstrual cycle, Rasulullah said it was perfectly fine for a woman to have her haidh and it is a sign of a healthy woman. Second, when she cried after looking at grey hairs on Rasulullah head and remembered about the deceit of Dajjal and Rasulullah said if I were there, I will surely guide you but if I am not, remember that God (Allah) is not handicap.
It could be in the passion of our spouse in doing something he/she likes. Rasulullah often frequented Jabal Nur where Hira’ Cave situated. He would be there for days, sometimes up to a week. Khadijah, instead of asking him why he would do such thing, prepared his meal for three days and if Rasulullah did not come down, she will go up the hill with fresh food. Hafsah enjoyed doing her dzikr every morning and Rasulullah entered her room twice and she had not done with it. Instead of just banning her or asking her to stop at an instance, Rasulullah offered her a better substitute. He taught her subhanallahi wa bi hamdihi, ‘adada qalkhihi, wa ridha nafsihi, wa ziinata ‘arsyihi, wa midada kalimatih. This, Rasulullah told Hafsah will give you the same merits like what you have been chanting. In doing so, Hafsah did not feel like she had lost something and from a different perspective, Rasulullah actually gave time for his wife to do ibadah sunnah and help her to do it more efficiently. Aishah liked Habsyi’s performance. There had been two occasions where Rasulullah himself engaged her in that. Rasulullah invited a group to perform in front of Aishah house while she hid behind him to watch and in another occasion Rasulullah sent for Aishah while he waited at Mecca entrance where the Habsyi’s group was performing. When Aishah arrived, Rasulullah used his turban as a curtain to cover her and let her watched until she had enough of it and went home.
Being a source of peace could also means not letting your spouse to worry about you and other households while he is away. This is particularly to the wives. Khadijah took care of the children when Rasulullah was away to Hira’ Cave. Fatimah did all the house chores without a maid when Ali was not at home. She did not complain. Hajar, the wife of Prophet Ibrahim a.s. did not argue when the prophet left her with her little baby in the burning hot desert just because Allah asked him to. Can we be this content and satisfied?
On the other hand, Rasulullah and Saidina Ali helped their wives right away when they got home. They did not demand for more quiet time to rest. They really appreciated their wives vice-versa.
Allah confirmed that He will create love and compassion between a husband and his wife. These feelings are only real and happening between a husband and his wife. You did not get it even from a so called hot and passionate love relationship (out of marriage). The love that Rasulullah had for Khadijah was ever-lasting. No wives of his were able to compete Khadijah, not even Aishah. But then each of his wives got his full love. Being compassion, when one of his wives asked Rasulullah who he loved most, Rasulullah answered she who I put the ring on her finger by myself and that was each of them. Thus when the word spreaded, everyone felt that she was the most loved wife. Saidina Ali once overheard Fatimah complaining to Rasulullah how she disliked the way he talked to her as if she was one of his soldiers. Upon hearing this, Saidina Ali said sorry and henceforth talked to her in a mellower tone.
Love and compassion extend even when it comes to polygamous marriage. Rasulullah did not seek permission from any of his wives to take another wife because that was not necessary. But look at how he was being courteous, Rasulullah always told them and never did it in secrecy. By telling other wives, he showed that they are equally important to him and the impact it had on the new wife was that she would be accepted as a new family member, not just another opponents to compete with. When Rasulullah was married to Zainab al-Jahsyi, Aishah sent some bread, dates and cheese for the wedding. When some Muslim men were talking in Zainab’s house after the ceremony that Rasulullah cannot go inside to meet her, Rasulullah went into Aishah house and she asked “How is the Prophet’s family doing?” meaning to ask about Zainab and Rasulullah told her she was fine. This event had caused the revelation of a verse that forbid talking at length in Rasulullah house but you should come in when invited, eat and leave.
On the other hand, when Saidina Ali was offered to marry Zainab binti Abu Jahal, Fatimah complained to Rasulullah that she cannot accept it. It was not because she was jealous but because she cannot accept that Rasulullah be put at par with the head of musyrikin who was fightinmg strongly against Rasulullah. Had Ali took Zainab as his wife, both Rasulullah and Abu Jahal will be his fathers in law and logically, the same. Notice that Fatimah reluctant was because of iman, not her own sake.
Often time I got a message nicely rhymed that if we cannot be like Adam and Hawa or Ibrahim and Hajar or Yusuf and Zulaikha or Muhammad and Khadijah, let us at least be like Ali and Fatimah. Though beautiful as is sounds and ideally we want it to happen, we must first start to reflect within ourselves the whole concept and demands of a marriage because Allah make the signs for those who reflects. Once we get the idea, the mate we are searching for will come in anytime into our lives and we want to be prepared to embrace the role as his/her spouse.

Rising and falling angels

2010-04-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Allah has not made for any man two hearts in his (one) body… (al-Ahzab:4)

Often times I met people who felt that they had changed over the course of time. More often than not, the changes were from good to something less. Some changes were caused by the environment, some were unaware of. But whenever they were subjected to the former environment, the good environment that they used to know, they wanted to become good again and it has always been a surprise for them at how readily they embrace and welcome it and at how much they actually crave for it.

Some people I have known used to ask me what if I found out who they really are (with the connotation that the real persons are not as good as the one I see). My reply has always been that it does not matter to me. I know the good person and I want to keep it at that point. As a friend of course my duty is to give advice and pray. No more than that.
The truth is Allah has not created two hearts in our body. The good news is Allah had actually put a good heart in our body. It is up to us to make it good or we want to pollute it and make it bad.
By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right;- Truly he succeeds that purifies it, And he fails that corrupts it! (ash-Shams: 7-10)

Nobody but ourselves can push us towards goodness or otherwise. When we surround ourselves with good environment, bi-ah solehah, chances are we will be a better person. That nature has been in-built by Allah.

If we happen to be on the other end, always see good things in people and highlight these things to that person. By doing this in a caring way, insya Allah, we are encouraging that person to be good again. The person might not change overnight but a speck of fire can light a candle and a candle can light many more. No effort passes by in vain. We strive and leave everything in the hands of Allah. He changes people’s heart, not us.

McDonald is not popular here

2010-03-09T10:25:00.001-08:00

O you people, eat of what is on earth lawful and good, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan, for he is to you an avowed enemy.
Al-Baqarah: 168
There is French saying ‘you are what you eat’. Islam, being holistic as a way of life has put a great deal of emphasis on food. The above verse of the Quran is one of the many verses talking about food and drink. I choose this verse because it put ‘halal’ and ‘toyyib’ together.
In tafsir Ibn Abbas, as being explained by Qurtubi, halal is that different from haram. This word encapsulates more than just having ‘bismillah’ when you slaughter an animal. It goes further beyond. The source of the food should be halal, it must not be stolen or got by oppressing others or by destroying the environment to get it.
The next word ‘toyyib’ is a subset of halal but it further emphasis the necessity. Imam Syafie interpreted ‘toyyib’ as something that brings worldly pleasure. This could be taste wise (which explains why we are forbidden from taking filthy food) and I personally think it can also mean health wise.
Often times when we go for a fast food such as McDonald in or out of Malaysia, we are very concern about it being halal. Have we ever take a pause and go to the next question, is it toyyib? We all know the clear answer to that.
Being here, far away from Malaysia, I find it very different. People here do go for fast food, more than half the time I can say. But McDonald is not their choice. You’ll be surprised to see a KFC doesn’t have a restaurant here. You can find one buries amongst the many food stalls in a mall. But a restaurant… that is rare. Here they sought after sandwiches or at the least doughnut. I made a random survey asking them why such a choice? The answers came back in variety. Some said they were looking for a more decent food, while others think McDonald is food for the homeless.
We now have the responsibility to not only teach the young generation about halal food but also educate them on consumerism and go for the toyyib when it comes down to the final decision. After all, eating halal and toyyib food is one of the knowledge perfection and the first in leading to secure lives here and hereafter.

Who is He again?

2010-01-21T00:24:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of commotion going on these past few weeks regarding the use of ‘Allah’ in referring to Jesus by the Christians in Malaysia. Amongst the Muslims unfortunately breakage of groups further and adds to the already existing ones. Those who agree give their opinions based on either academic rationale be it Islamic wise or historical wise or pure freedom of rights. Those who disagree too give their opinions based on academic rationale Islamic wise and historical too.
As a humble servant, I am writing this only to give my point of view over the unnecessary dispute. If you want to introduce anyone to anybody, you most likely will introduce the person by his/her name. The person to whom you introduced the first person will then remember the person being introduced (some may take a few re-introductions before recognizing a person, some remember effortlessly). The question lies on how do you actually remember a person or anything? It is very simple, you do not really remember, your mind only register a specific character(s) of the person that distinguish the person from everyone else. You might remember ‘A’ because he has a thick moustache or his bespectacled being or because he likes to use a certain phrase or word. Anything!
Thus how has Allah tell us how we can recognize Him and distinguish Him from other god(s)?
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.
(al-Ikhlas: 1-4)
If anyone or anything fits in all the attribution of ‘Allah’ then it deserves to be called Allah. If not then it doesn’t.
The second thing that I find grieving is how we do not consider others work and how our opinion (though it is perfectly right) can affect them. It is easy for academics to give their opinion generally but Islam has taught us that in making any decision you must follow the shari’ah, sunnah and also ‘uruf that is the culture of a society. If the culture fits shari’ah and sunnah, you may proceed. This brings us to the term waqi-‘iah that is the present time and place. There has been no confusion for the Arabs to refer Allah as Jesus or Allah as Allah. Yet will it not be confusing to be used in Malaysia? Is it really feasible in our country? What is the reason for using it? Why now? What is the outcome of it? What is the long term risk we are taking by saying yes now as our opinion is being sought and we give a straight answer backed with tons of reference just because we can? Or just because we want to portray ourselves as ‘the sought for leader’ to lead Malaysia? Put some thought in it, winning one chair here might just as well make you win a chair you never want in the hereafter. It is a personal call.
The academics that had not been to the root or the political party that could not spare a cent for the work carried out cannot possibly know how hard it is for the people working on the ground to get our youngsters to turn their face towards Allah and not something else or how these people had risked their lives and sacrificed almost everything they have to propagate Islam to the orang asli and how tiresome and how much trouble these people had gone through to teach comparative religion for free just to help others to understand Islam better and realize the discrepancy of Christianity so they will in turn do da’wah and propagate Islam. What do we say now? We have already owed them too much for not joining their course, let us save ourselves by not turning their efforts into vain.

THEY DRINK COFFEE, EAT DOUGHNUT AND…

2010-01-08T23:47:00.000-08:00

O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things).
Al-Hujuraat: 13
It has been a really long time since the last entry and I am wondering if this blog is still active yet I had my mind set that if it is not, I will make myself start a new one (probably using the same name though) and be more committed to it in a more practical and doable way insya Allah.
When I get an offer to pursue my study overseas and given the chance to take my family along, I am thrilled. I am looking forward to see people very different from my people for a change. Well, guess what? Other than their great fond of doughnut and addiction to coffee, we are very much alike in so many ways.
If we have intellectuals who cannot stop discussing about their area of expertise or how they always see things from their respective areas no matter when they are walking, eating or making small talk that you wonder if they even dream of what they are preaching, we have a bunch of them here. If we have seen girls coming face to face with each other over a guy they like, well here they take it in the open air where we prefer in a close room. The common conversations that you catch while passing by people in Malaysia, you can get everything here down to the gossip!
It strikes me how similar people are and how true al-Quran is! We are nothing better than the other unless we have more taqwa than the person next to us. And speaking of taqwa, Dr. Mohd Nor Manuti gave a good background from the Arabic standpoint of the word itself. Taqwa comes from the root word wiqaya that means cautious. Thus taqwa means always being cautious (towards Allah) in the sense that you always watch that you do what He asked you to and leave what He asked you not to. Saidina Umal al-Khattab explained taqwa with an analogy as one walking on a road lined with thorn thus you can never be off guard at all time.
Indeed we are blessed at least we have a deen. We have Allah to hold on to for that matter. For the smart people here, sometimes they get above their head and feel like they are far off better and know everything. Unfortunately they do not realize that there is One who is All-knowing. Some are very humble, down to earth yet not humble enough to submit to Allah.
All of us have our insecurities. It might be our fear of an unfinished study or research or just a plain interview. Some of us lack confidence. They have it too! But we are blessed because at least (I would say we have the most) we have Allah while they feel like they are struggling alone and fighting their own battle. We can cry to Allah, we can ask Allah to help us and we know Allah can listen and Allah can help. We are a notch more hopeful than any other despairs in the world and hope is a powerful tool!
Now come to the getting to know each other to LEARN and NOT DESPISE. Yes, everybody has good qualities as well as the bad ones. Allah asks us to learn, not despise be it good or bad.
It is easy to learn from the good qualities for instance learning to be on time when you make appointment with the Swiss or Japanese, learning to be diligent and hardworking when you meet the Chinese, learning to honour your guests from the Arabs, learning to be courteous from the Malays, learning not to beat around the bushes from the Westerns and the list goes on. But how do we learn from the bad qualities?
I would like to quote the answer from the Prophet Isa a.s. when people asked him how he became good when he was amongst the Israelites (who are known to be very bad)? His answer was simple, “ I don’t want to be like them.”
Hence that is how we learn from the bad qualities. Try to eradicate them from ourselves. And if we meet anyone with certain bad qualities, now that Allah forbids us from despising him/her there must be a way for us to face this person and there must be a reason for that too. For this, our utmost muallim, Rasulullah s.a.w. had given the perfect answer.
In an occasion a guy was coming towards Rasulullah s.a.w. house with Aishah r.a. Rasulullah s.a.w told Aishah all the bad qualities that the man has. Yet when he entered the Prophet’s house, Rasulullah s.a.w treated him very well. When the guest left, Aishah r.a. asked Rasulullah s.a.w if what the Prophet told her before was all correct, Rasulullah s.a.w said yes. Aishah r.a. asked then why did Rasulullah s.a.w treat him very well? Rasulullah s.a.w said, “If no one shows him kindness, he will never learn to be good.”
Subhanallah! If only we strictly follow what Islam has taught us, this world is guaranteed to be a better place. I would bet my life on this. Wallahu a’lam.

Covering the Black with White Doesn’t Work

2009-03-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

And cover not Truth with falsehood, nor conceal the Truth when you know (what it is)
Al-Baqarah: 42
There is a big difference from being truly Islamic and seem Islamic or ‘more or less’ Islamic. When the first verse from surah al-Qadr said that We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power, Abdullah Yusuf Ali in his translation of the Holy Quran noted that it transcends Time: for it is God’s Power dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance, by His Revelation, in every kind of affair.
In every kind of affair. I deem entertainment is not exclusive. In Islam entertainment stands on two strict pillars. It must be entertaining, yes. And simultaneously it must educate. In this article, I am not going to touch on how even when an actor and actresses are doing a husband-and-wife scene or rather mother-and-son scene, as long as they are not muhram, they stay as not muhram and all the rules and regulations towards not muhram applied.
My concern falls on the so-called Islamic entertainment on our television. They are namely Akademi al-Quran, Akedemi Nasyid, Nasyid Minggu Ini, Cari Menantu (season I and II) and Busana Muslimah.
In Akademi al-Quran, I suppose as a substitute to Akademi Fantasia or Audition. Yet the way it was conducted was not much less or difference to the latter. The sitting arrangements of the participants: they always sandwich the male in between two females or the other way round. The host always got to ask questions to the female participants and sometimes he would post leer questions or non-necessary private questions just to ‘cheer up’ the program. Likewise the hostess on the other hand would ask the male participant. The dressing of the host, hostess and participants were not according to Islamic law in term of it lack modesty and worse for the females, their dressing completely violate the aurat covering code: with the too outstanding make-up applied and eyes-catching clothes be it from the colour or the cutting. When it comes to elimination, the host and hostess struggle their best to play with the participants’ emotion, trying to make them cry on stage (does it ring a bell now? Only in Akademi al-Quran they don’t have to pull their bag down stage).
As our community is getting more interested in singing than other form of performing arts, Akademi Nasyid comes along. Unfortunately their choice of songs, participants, clothing and guest stars had not been selected thoroughly. It is important because Malaysian always associate things. If this had been done on TV then it is alright to be carried out in real life. Moreover, all those choices reflect more than just a show put up. It reflects ideas, ideology and powerful underlying messages.
Nasyid Minggu Ini suffered the same tragedy. The dressing of female artistes were not following the aurat code although they put their gloves on, they were literally dancing! And their clothes were flamboyant. The hosting style too duplicated that of non Islamic show.
I was surprised when I had the chance to watch Cari Menantu (a few episodes from both seasons). They lied? Yes, they did! How an Islamic show (so-called) could chose to lie as a mechanism to convey the good news that a couple had been chosen to participate. They lied that there was an emergency at home, they chased a couple car and cornered them and others. There is no cheating or lying in Islam. Not even for a joke because every lie counts! Then in the show they had all cultures and customs mixed up with the true that is asked from Islam. The sadder part was that there were respected Muslims public figure, ustaz and ustazah on the show, couldn’t they say anything?
Busana Muslimah by far is the most concerning. Not only it lacks education, it is downright misleading. All the clothes paraded were against the aurat covering dress code. An aurat covering dress should be modest in term of design, loose, doesn’t draw attention and not transparent. In Busana Muslimah we have a jubah costing thousands of ringgits, we have baju kurung laden with beadings, we have hijab that has been twisted that it looked more like a head gear than a hijab, the flamboyant satin underlying sheer black organza was sexy plus the shiny embroidery or beadings… these are not a Muslimah clothes.
I think we have lost focus on the fundamental of Islamic entertainment: to entertain and to educate. Though our intentions in offering alternatives are noble, we must not try to simply camouflage the wrong with Islamic values. We must broadcast Islam as it is clearly and creatively. We can learn a lot from the Iranian movies for a start. Don’t just coat hedonism with Islam. Rasulullah s.a.w said that, “I am sent to complete the proper behavior (akhlak).” Thus in any show, we must be careful with the adab in conducting it. Do not deceit the audience that they are in an Islamic program when they actually are not.

All the Heat on PPSMI

2009-03-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

The ways to overcome mistakes are first, to recognize one, secondly, to admit it is a mistake, third, make a correction and apologize where necessary and finally do not repeat it. This article is not written by a well known scholar yet I consider this a humble analysis from a person who has had the experience of teaching English, Bahasa Melayu as well as Science and Mathematics.
It takes more than just the delivery language to excel in a subject. It needs passion, both, from the teacher first and consequently the students. My Bahasa Melayu was worse than my English when I was in primary school but I had good teachers throughout my schooling years. Teachers who never gave up on me, teachers who were patient and passionate in teaching. Now I am sought for to do free lance editing for Bahasa Melayu.
I have friends who hated certain subjects because they dislike their teachers. Some teachers made a subject seem tougher than it really is. Some taught with no hearts that a subject felt flat and boring to death. Some just let their students drift (and drown) on their own. These types of teachers, sorry to say, are responsible in heartlessly slaughtering and murdering a student’s interest in a subject.
I had the experience of teaching tutorial for university students on Calculus and Statistics. Many of my students had problems not with Mathematics but English. When they told me they cannot solve a problem, I did not give them the answers but asked did they understand the question in the first place. The reply always came in a shy smile and a slow shaking of their heads. When I explain the question in Malay, they straight away know which Mathematics’ formula they need to use to solve it. This happened not only to my Malay students but the Chinese and Indians alike.
Other friends of mine who are teaching in schools claim the same thing. They even had to battle with time as they struggle to finish a syllabus because they had to reduce the quality teaching time since they had to waste it to translate back into Malay. Thus instead of a two period learning session, they probably cover only a one period’s topic.
Thus it is far from appropriate to tackle lack of English proficiency problem by implementing English teaching for other subjects. This will not only intimidate the students but I am afraid it will slowly kill their passion for Science and Mathematics not because of the subjects per se but simply because of the language in which it is being delivered. This will be a shameful waste of brilliant minds.
We do not need English to get better understanding of Science and Mathematics. Japanese don’t need it, the Germans don’t need it, the French don’t need it, why Malaysians?
When there was a mass demonstration and procession to the Palace, the feed backs from both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education were shortcoming. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he is aware that more and more citizens are voicing out their disagreement on PPSMI but he seems fail to look further as to why are they against it? And why are they fighting so hard against it for so long and in so many ways? They want to be heard, the need to be heard. And when their voices are shun and ignored, they need to scream thus a demonstration play that role, as the amplifier of their voice. Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein on the other hand took it in a way far too different. He warned Malaysians the negative impact it would bring when certain groups are tying every issues to races and religions. That it would neglect us from the more important things. What is this important thing? I ask. He had failed to look at it beyond the political frame.
Our leaders need to grow up and be more responsible on each decision they are making. The people’s interest must be first in their hearts. Don’t just look at who is saying it but listen if it is of the truth. If truth is what we stand for, it doesn’t matter if it comes from one’s side or the other. If our objective is merely to win over, hence we can’t hear the truth let alone see it because all we think about is rebut.
I certainly hope that the PPSMI issue is given a fair judgment and stopped so that students can gain back their passion and enthusiasm in learning Science and Mathematics. Who knows? A Malaysian learning Science and Mathematics in Malay can be a Nobel Prize winner one day. It is possible.

Read! In the Name of Your Lord!

2008-12-26T08:32:00.000-08:00

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?

It's About Giving

2008-10-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

"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

2008-10-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

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?

Totto-Chan in Islamic View

2008-09-10T01:29:00.001-07:00

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?

2008-09-10T01:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-10T01:23:00.000-07:00

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.

There's more than bed and pillows in marriage

2008-07-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

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.

It Has Been A While

2008-05-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

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.

Fitna: From Where I Stand

2008-04-25T01:15:00.000-07:00

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.

Muslims By Practice

2008-04-04T02:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-04T01:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-04T01:49:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-04T01:48:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-04T01:47:00.000-07:00

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 this 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 usrahmates. 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?

2008-04-04T01:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-04T01:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-04T01:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-04T01:40:00.000-07:00

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.