Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Bush trying to PARDON himself



Lindungilah kami dari semua kejahatan-kejahatan ini Ya Allah ~

Saturday, January 19, 2008

So Don't Talk To Me About Muhammad

By Hesham Hassaballa, October 16, 2005
A long time ago, in a land far, far away, there lived an old woman who was carrying a heavy load along the road in the desert. It was a bit difficult for her, but she was managing as best as she could. A young man asked if he could help her with her load, and she readily obliged. Here is the conversation that transpired:

"It would be such a pleasure to have you come alone with me. I accept your gracious offer of kindness and company," she said. She was a very talkative woman, and the young man did not want to interrupt her. So, he let her speak the entire time they were together without interruption:

"But as we walk along young man and as you help me with my load, I have only one request as we travel down this road: Don't talk to me about Muhammad! Because of him there is no peace and I have trouble in my mind. So, don't talk to me about Muhammad! And as we walk along together, we will get along just fine."

She continued:

"That man upsets me so, so much more than you could know! I hear of his name and reputation every where I go. Though his family and his clan once knew him as an honest man, he's dividing everyone with his claim that God is one!"

"He's misled all the weak, the poor, and the slaves. They think they've all found wealth and freedom by following his way!" she sarcastically snorted.

"He's corrupted all of our youth with his twisted brand of truth. He's convinced them that they all are strong and gave them somewhere to belong. So, don't you dare talk to me about Muhammad!"

They reached their destination, and the man helped the woman put away her belongings. The old woman, with a wide smile of gratitude at this stranger's kindness, turned to him and said, "Thank you now, young man. You've really been so kind. That generosity and smile is very rare to find now a days. Let me give you some advice, since you've been so very nice to me. Stay away from Muhammad. Don't heed his word or emulate his way. If you do, you will never have true peace, and all you will find is trouble."

As the young man turned to walk away, she stopped him: "Now before we part and go, if it's alright just the same, may I ask my dear young man, who are you? What's your name?"

He told her, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Forgive me, but what was that? Your words weren't very clear. My ears are getting old, and sometimes I have a hard time hearing. You know, it's truly rather funny, but I'm sure I must be wrong. Yet, I thought I heard you said that your name is Muhammad."

"I am Muhammad," the Prophet (peace be upon him) told the old woman.

She replied, "I bear witness there is nothing worthy of worship except God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God."

This conversation was based upon a hadith in the Prophetic literature, and Dawud Wharnsby Ali made a song out of it, where I first learned of this conversation. Almost every time I hear the song, tears roll down my face. In the song, after the woman utters the shahadah, she says,

"Oh, talk to me, Muhammad. Upon you I pray for peace/for you have eased my troubled mind. Oh, talk to me, Muhammad. And as we walk along together/we will get along just fine. As I travel down life's road/I will get along, just fine."

This story never ceases to amaze me. The Prophet (pbuh) offered to help this woman, and all she does throughout their encounter is to mock and malign the Prophet (pbuh). Yet, he says nothing. He continues to help the woman with her load. He does not lash back at her; he does not pray for God's destruction upon her; he does not drop her stuff and let her fend for herself. No. He helps the woman anyway, and when she finds out who he is, all she could do was follow him into Islam.

Yet, the fact that she became Muslim is not the most important aspect of this story for me. It was the Prophet's character that amazed me the most. It is this aspect of the Prophet's sunnah that many of us have completely neglected. I grew up being told about how important it was to follow the sunnah. We must have a beard; we must clip our nails; we should wear leather socks. Some of my brothers wear a turban, and put kuhl around their eyes, and wear an Arab gown in an effort to physically emulate the Prophet.

I have no quarrel with this. Abdullah ibn Umar (r) used to physically walk in the footsteps of the Prophet because he believed there was a blessing in doing so. Yet, the thing with which I do have a quarrel is the extent to which we Muslims today harp on the physical, outward sunnah and totally neglect the other, equally important "sunnah."

For instance, if a cabbie wears a long, flowing beard - while shaving his moustache - in accordance with the sunnah, but cheats his customers, isn't this wrong? Isn't he neglecting the sunnah, even though he has a big beard? If a Muslim merchant stands in his store with the standard-issue leather socks, in accordance with the sunnah, yet falsely advertises his meat as "Halal," isn't this contradicting the sunnah? If a Muslim never fails to carry his miswak in his pocket, taking pains to clean his teeth before every prayer, yet curses his fellow human beings or fails to even smile in the face of his brother or sister, does not he miss the picture? Isn't smiling in the face of your brother or sister also part of the sunnah?

I mean, the outward is important, but it must never become the be-all and end-all. The inward is equally - if not more - important. For instance, as we fast the month of Ramadan, abstaining from eating and drinking is the least important task. How do I know? Our Prophet (pbuh) told us so: "Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions [while fasting], God is not in need of his leaving his food and drink." You see, the fast is so much more than just not eating and drinking. We are not supposed to say something wrong, or even curse at the driver who just rudely cut us off in traffic. If we fail to do this, then we have missed the entire point of fasting.

The Qur'an has already admonished us about becoming too beholden to ritual at the expense of morality and spirituality:

"True piety does not consist in turning your faces toward the east or the west - but truly pious is he who believes in God, and the Last Day, and the angels, and revelation, and the prophets; and spends his substance - however much he himself may cherish it - upon his near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and the beggars, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage; and is constant in prayer, and renders the purifying dues; and [truly pious are] they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God." (2: 177)

This is an amazing verse, forever railing against the choking effect of ritualism. "True piety," God says, "does not consist in turning your faces toward the east or the west." This verse was revealed after the qiblah was changed from Jerusalem to Mecca, which caused a big scandal among the Jews of Medinah. Yet, God responded by saying, true piety consists of making sure one's morality is upright by having belief and then translating that belief into actions. Actions speak louder than words. If one adheres to every aspect of the outward sunnah, so that one may physically resemble the Prophet (pbuh), yet neglects to act the way the Prophet (pbuh) acted - i.e., with kindness, mercy, and compassion - it is pretty empty, don't you think?

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Think Tank

Was having some conversation with my dad yesterday about finding a job and he gave me a very good piece of father - son talk which made me think.

Fiz, dalam dunia ni kerja tak akan habis. Sentiasa ada. Yang penting kerja macamana yang kau nak buat. Memanglah suma orang nak kerja yang menguntungkan. Gaji besar kerja sikit. Dream job. Tapi sebabtu jugak dia dipanggil dream job.

So kau nak kerja yang gaji 5-6 ribu tapi hari2 kau kena maki hamun dengan boss, kena maki hamun orang lain, sakit hati, otak stress sampai bole kena darah tinggi. Ke kau nak kerja yang gaji cukup untuk tanggung anak bini bila kau dah kahwin tapi kerja tenang, environment bagus, penat tapi tetap enjoy your work. Mana satu kau nak? Pikir pikirkanlah..

So yah.. I`ll keep that in mind always. That aside I received an email this morning.

Hi Hafiz,

As spoken, kindly proceed to our office at the below address for the interview scheduled on Thurs, 17Jan’08 at 9.30am.
Address: Alexandra Technopark Blk B, Lift Lobby 1, level 5

Please call me upon reaching.

Thks & Rgds,
Jeanette Lim
Human Resource
ITSS Project

I applied for a system administrator job at Hewlett Packard and will be going for the interview this coming Thursday. *Gulps. *Kipas-kipas

Doakan yang terbaik k..

:)

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Hey Nice Drawing~

Time: After Friday prayers sometime around 1998
Location: My school's art room
Mission: To sketch a picture from a live object.

The time was around 2.05PM. All of us were rushing back to school with our kain pelikat in our hands after our Friday prayers. Luckily Mrs Tan was in a good mood today and we all made our way to our seat.

"Ok class.. Today we're going to do a sketch from a live object and this week's live object would be fruits. Each group will be given a different fruit. So you can take out your sketching pencils now"

Sketching pencils? Looking across I saw a friend of mine Alan bringing out a set of pencils ranging from B to 6B pencils.All I had was a 2b pencil..In my heart I was consoling myself "Takperla.. kalau perlu sangat bole pinjam si Alan." Huhu.

So armed with my 2b pencil my group awaited for our fruit. The fruit given to us was a chili. Chili? Fruit? Chili pon chili lah.. So I began to sketch my chili masterpiece earnestly mimicking Alan's way of holding his pencil in that slanted manner.

If drawing was hard.. I think sketching was just as hard. See I am no Picasso but Art & Crafts has never been the subject for me.Not only do you have to use different shades of pencil, you also need to use your finger to make that shading effect into place.

"You have to draw it realistically. If theres light from this angle, you can't draw all sides of the chili with the same shade.Theres got to be two tones." Alan remarked after I showed him my work.No wonder I finished way much earlier than him.

So I erased my drawing and began following the tips given by Alan. I sketched and I shaded with my finger as realistically as possible until I was really satisfied with my masterpiece. So off I went to Mrs Tan table to let her have a look at my work.Maybe she can give me some comments.

Me: Mrs Tan, here's my drawing. What do you think? Ok or not?

Mrs Tan: Hmm.. Well let's see here. Thats not bad Hafiz. Quite a good banana you drew there. Maybe you need to smoothen these edges and shading a bit and you're fine.

Me: Errrr.. (Banana!@!#?) Ok Thank You Mrs Tan.


So that's how my love affair with live drawing went as a 14 yr old kid..

Sometimes its good to laugh at yourself. Huhu

:)

Updates

Finding me-self a job.

Doakan yang terbaik k..

:)

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Syeikh Abdul Kadir Jailani dan Senjata Takwa

Syeikh Abdul Kadir Jailani adalah tokoh tasawuf terkenal. Beliau dilahirkan pada tahun 470 Hijrah di kota Gilan di Iran dalam sebuah keluarga yang mementingkan ilmu dan takwa. Antara guru yang sempat mendidik beliau adalah Syeikh Abul Wafa bin Aqeel, Muhammad Hassan al-Baqillani dan Abu Zakariya Tebrezi. Dalam bidang tasawuf pula, beliau dibimbing oleh Syeikh Abul Khair Hammad bin Muslim al-Dabbas dan Kadi Abu Said Said Makhrami.

Sejak kecil lagi, beliau dididik sentiasa bercakap benar. Pada suatu hari, beliau bertolak menuju ke Baghdad untuk menuntut ilmu. Ibu beliau memberikan wang berjumlah 40 dinar sebagai bekalan perbelanjaan sara hidup. Sebelum bermusafir, ibu beliau berpesan, "Hendaklah kamu sentiasa bercakap benar." Dalam perjalanan, Syeikh itu singgah seketika di perkampungan kaum Hamdan. Nasib malang menimpa beliau kerana sekumpulan perompak menahan beliau di situ. Salah seorang daripada mereka bertanya kepada Syeikh, "Apa yang kamu bawa?" Beliau menjawab, "Wang 40 dinar." Perompak itu terkejut dan terus diam.

Tidak berapa lama selepas itu, datang pula seorang perompak yang lain bertanyakan soalan yang sama. Syeikh menjawab, "Aku punyai wang 40 dinar." Dia berasa hairan dengan jawapan Syeikh kerana biasanya orang yang ditahan akan berkata mereka tidak mempunyai sebarang harta. Lantas Syeikh dibawa menemui ketua perompak. Soalan yang sama dilontarkan oleh ketua perompak kepada beliau dan jawapan yang sama diberikan kepada ketua perompak, beliau mempunyai wang 40 dinar.

Akhirnya ketua perompak berkata, "Mengapa kamu bercakap benar dan tidak menipu kami?" Berkata Syeikh, "Ibuku berpesan supaya aku sentiasa bercakap benar dan aku tidak mahu khianat janjiku kepada ibuku." Secara tiba-tiba, ketua perompak menjerit-jerit dan mengoyak-ngoyakkan pakaiannya dan berkata, "Ya Allah, kamu takut mengkhianati janjimu kepada ibumu sedangkan aku tidak takut mengkhianati janjiku kepada Tuhan."

Beliau terus mengarahkan harta-harta pencurian dikembalikan kepada pemilik-pemiliknya dan selepas itu beliau berkata kepada Syeikh, "Sekarang aku bertaubat di hadapanmu." Perubahan yang berlaku pada ketua perompak memberi kesan positif kepada perompak-perompak lain. Mereka terus berkata, "Kamu adalah ketua kami pada masa kita sama-sama merompak. Pada hari ini, kamu adalah ketua kami ketika kita sama-sama bertaubat." Kisah ini disebutkan dalam Tarbiyyatul Aulad fil Islam karangan Syeikh Abdullah Nasih Ulwan.

Kisah ini menunjukkan pembinaan takwa bermula di rumah. Apabila asas-asasnya ditanam secara konsisten disertai dengan contoh yang baik oleh ibu bapa, maka terhasil insan seperti Syeikh Abdul Kadir Jailani. Takwa yang hakiki adalah yang dihayati di setiap tempat dan keadaan, bukan di tempat-tempat tertentu sahaja seperti surau dan masjid. Takwa yang terbit dari hati boleh diumpamakan seperti minyak kasturi. Keberkatannya terpercik kepada orang lain sehingga menyebabkan perubahan luar biasa seperti yang berlaku pada perompak-perompak yang merompak Syeikh Abdul Kadir Jailani. Apabila manusia berubah kesan daripada takwa, kegemilangan tercapai akhirnya.

Mengikut satu riwayat, Syeikh Abdul Kadir Jailani menceritakan, syaitan pernah mendatangi beliau dalam bentuk cahaya yang terang benderang dan berkata, "Wahai Abdul Kadir, aku adalah Tuhanmu dan bermula pada hari ini aku halalkan kepadamu apa yang telah aku haramkan sebelum ini." Beliau terus berkata. "Aku berlindung dengan Allah. Nyahlah kau wahai iblis."

Tiba-tiba suasana menjadi gelap dan cahaya yang terang benderang di langit bertukar menjadi gumpalan asap. Pada masa itu Syeikh Abdul Kadir Jailani terdengar suara berkata, "Wahai Abdul Kadir, aku sudah menyesatkan tujuh puluh orang ahli sufi dengan cara ini tetapi kamu terselamat kerana ilmu dan takwamu." As-Syeikh terus berkata, "Tidak, aku terselamat kerana rahmat Allah."

Selepas Syeikh Abdul Kadir Jailani menceritakan kisah ini, seorang bertanya kepada bagaimana beliau mengetahui yang suara itu sebenarnya suara iblis. Berkata as-Syeikh, "Apabila dia mengatakan dia menghalalkan segala yang telah diharamkan aku mengetahui dengan jelas bahawa itu adalah kerja iblis." Kisah ini disebutkan di dalam Saviours of Islamic Spirit oleh Syeikh Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi.

Syeikh Abdul Kadir Jailani meninggal dunia pada tahun 561 Hijrah semasa berumur 90 tahun.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Al-ka-eeda did it..Right...~

Photobucket

We see news all over the mainstream media be it on the press or online that the terrorist organisation, Al`Qaeda is the perpetrator behind the killing. The "official" statement from the government was that "she may have knocked her head or concussed her head against one of the levers on the sunroof" but me being the curious person I am began to google and yahoo for causes of her death.

Here are some other "versions" that are being posted on several websites online on the real cause of her death inclusive of photos of the botched up x-ray of her skull and screenshots of the video which apparently shot video footages of the incident leading to her assasination. What a difference right?

And speaking about Al`Qaeda.
Back then in Sept 11, 2001 when the rage was all about this organisation being the main culprit for the Twin Tower disaster? Does Osama Bin Laden ring a bell? I'm sure everyone knows him.The main man leading the infamous terrorist network. He recently just made a new video.The usual stuff but it is not his video that caught my attention but it was the interview by Sir David Frost with Benzair Bhutto that caught my attention. Listen to what she has to say at 2:17.



Here's the link on the full version of this video. If you watched the same video on BBC's website, the part where the "revelation" was told was censored. Hooray to mainstream media.

Call me a conspiracy theorist but I think that the video itself showed several reasons on why she was assassinated. Bhutto herself has exposed the fraudulent nature of the Bush/Blair "war on terrorism". If Bin Laden is dead, as has been reported, then the various tapes that he is alleged to have made are all phony. The war on terrorism itself is a callous, calculated fraud perpetrated by a murderous Bush regime, a murderous Blair regime, a murderous puppet regime of Musharraf.

That's why Bhutto was murdered. She was the woman who knew too much. Bhutto exposed the fact that US policies cause terrorism and she stated the various ways in which groups inside the US and Britain benefited politically and materially from the phony war on phony terrorism, the failed war in Afghanistan, the war crime that is still perpetrated against the people of Iraq. Bhutto posed a threat to the culprits in the Bush regime to include Bush himself. She posed a threat to the kiss ups in Musharraf's regime to include Musharraf and the liars who tried to float the incredible "lone lever" theory. She was murdered. And the BBC has been caught censoring the most important piece of the puzzle. If Osama is dead, the war on terror is a bloody fraud!

To end off, our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W foretold that one of the signs that would appear near Doomsday is that "The lowest and the worst man in the nation will become its leader". So have you prepared yourself for that day? Think about it.