Muslims of Pop Culture

the girl (II)

2011-12-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

so, there was a young, angry egyptian girl that i was friends with. i won't use where she is from anymore to identify her, because as i mentioned, i hate racial profilling. its just that, after everything happened, i was thinking to myself, did these things happen because i didnt understand her culture, or personality, or culture and personality mixed? thats when i realized culture has a strong shape affect on personality, that is why i am such a mellow pushover always eager to give up my needs to please other people.

but, in the end, it was just a clash of personalities, so i decide, i would not mention anything about culture anymore. anyways, i love egyptians.

so, the mistake was we became roommates accidentally, she didnt have a place to stay for the first half of the semester and i decided to let her stay with us, and because i and my other roommate didnt really care about chores and cleanliness and rent (it worked between us two, because we both DON'T CARE). and suddenly living together results in the 3 of us being obliged to move together to a new apartment.

i was being my own self, thinking about my other roommate and how she is going to survive if i give up my apartment because i am going to be done at the end of the semester, and also i was busy and married, so i didnt get a chance to think straight and discuss with my other roommate, and my other roommate was also thinking to oblige to whatever the future arrangements was, for the sake of each other, which resulted in a fatal mistake.

i should have said no, you, EF, move to the new apt by yourself, and made my BF (my original roommate) stay with me, anyway, it is my right, she should give at least a month notice if she ever wants to move out.

but you see, me and BF don't care, we can live in any arrangement and be happy with each other. sometimes i cook and clean, sometimes (although rarely :D) she cooks. i do it because i want to, not as a favour, and i don't ever mention something like "i took my time and do this but u never reciprocate/appreciate" because when i do something i don't expect appreciation/reciprocation and if i get it, its a nice bonus, but if i don't, whatever, i just like to clean/cook, sometimes, it releases my stress anyways.

so, being roommates with EF really made things complicated for me, because deep inside, i want to be free, i dont want people to tell me what to do, especially at my age. and EF is doing just that. she commented on my frequent flights to meet my husband (we were married but had to live separately due to my school) as wasting money. and got really angry when i didnt want to go to eat outside. i dont like people being angry at me. period. and someone who is not my family/mom/dad telling me what to do? i am sorry but that's crossing boundaries, i didnt even ask for any advice.

so thats the reason we fought (actually a visit from a friend and a heated discussion about sex and marriage initiated the real fight). and then, i realized, due to her personality, i won't miss her as a friend.

so there. why am i telling all this? i guess because at some point, we still are fighting. i don't want to care anymore, but since we have the same circle of friends, we still meet but do not talk, and i would hate to discuss her with my other friends, because i dont want my friends to start choosing between me or her, or to hear people complain about her and be happy that at last i found people with the same opinion as me... because i hate harboring bad feelings towards people. i want to have neutral or good feelings. for my OWN sake. and i dont prefer to tell this to my husband because its stupid and it is not worth his attention.

so perhaps, a useless blog posted anonymously will help to vent out my anger i guess.

The Egyptian Girl (I)

2011-12-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

i dont prefer to deal with people through racial profilling. unfortunately, it is inevitable. My best friend is a chinese muslim, and although she is muslim, she is chinese in her dealings. shrewd, money-oriented to a certain extent, extremely competitive..... of course she has other good, awesome qualities that makes us good friends until now. and my understanding about her personality, actually helped me value her friendship and if something happens, i would definitely fight to keep our friendship going. if we ever get into a fight (which we always do during our years in college) if we ever fight again, i would definitely be the first to say sorry and rekindle our friendship. same goes for many other acquaintances i had during my undergrad years.

there are a 3 kinds of friends. someone that u can say whatever to, hurt and get hurt, but in the end of the day, make up and be better friends because they are worth it. some, u just never get into a fight with, because your personalities are similar, and you can just get along well. some, have clashing personalities, that if u fight, there is no way to rekindle, but of course, if you rekindle your friendship, its going to be an amazing one.

call me selfish, but when a fight happens between me and one of my friends (which rarely happens, because we are all mature and independent now), i would evaluate the person as a friend, whether its worth it to let my ego down, say sorry and try to rekindle, or just leave it to that.

so this happened to me and the egyptian girl, and sadly, i chose to let go. and even if i did feel sad because i felt she was a good friend, but at some point, i also felt the benefits of not having her as a friend....

so the story goes....

I am Back!

2011-12-01T12:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't been writing for a long time. I also have a private blog, and i haven't been writing for almost 2 years. Why? First, because i got married. I write because i want to voice out my frustrations, feelings and anger and my love towards my religion. Marriage, in some ways, provides a channel for me to vent out this feelings. Unfortunately, this resulted in me being less creative in my writing.

After about a year being married, i am back. because i feel there is a lacking of marriage information for muslims. i want to read about the married life of a muslim, unfortunately, there aren't many because of course, muslims are not allowed to discuss intimate details of their lives with other people. But maybe being anonymous helps?

But i am not after the intimate details, however. i am just interested in how people handle marriage life, and i am still very much amazed and how beautiful Allah made marriage to be....

and also i have been reading, watching and researching history through korean dramas and would love to share some insights about the drama and relate that to islamic history.

I am writing from a new perspective, but i didnt want to lose my old blog posts, even though they are irrelevant and may reveal who i am.

ok, enough of me trying to explain myself. I want to provide good writings that appeal to muslims.

2010-04-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

the ritual begins.
the gods, Latta, 'Uzza and Manna uses new tricks.
perhaps, they are alive, afterall.

rituals always begin with sacrifice.
the cursed gods used to crave for virgin blood ever spring

thousands of years later, the cursed gods still demand sacrifice...

perhaps, it is still virginity
so that the cursed gods can sell birth control pills

the ritual (1)

2010-04-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

the ritual begins.
the gods, Latta, 'Uzza and Manna uses new tricks.
perhaps, they are alive, afterall.

men are created to worship.
perhaps, we need to worship God in one form or the other.
if its not the Almighty Allah, the one and only
the societal gods will do.

the ritual must begin with sacrifice.
children breaking rules, begging their parents for money.
to meet the conditions of the gods.
wearing their expensive, trendy clothes, they beg for more money
for the latest gadgets
and more, for the latest shoes
perhaps, starving themselves, or working till midnight
someone has to sacrifice one way or the other

are they pleasing themselves,
or are they pleasing the latta, 'uzza and manna?

2010-01-17T06:38:00.000-08:00

siapakah muhammad?

muhammad rasulullah, yang menggali khandak bersama-sama

yang sama-sama menahan lapar, malah lebih lagi

yang sama-sama menanggung beban, malah lebih berat lagi

2010-01-15T07:11:00.000-08:00

it was a cold, lonely night.
husory's muallim recitation is still, hanutingly beautiful.

2009-12-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

the Quran is so sophisticated, that it is also fragile.
take one word out of it, then the whole Quran will be imbalanced
that is why, nobody else is able to preserve it, except the Lord Himself

2009-12-12T09:14:00.000-08:00

the jins said "its shows the right path, so we believe in it" (72:2)
the thing about the Quran, it is the truth, regardless
we have to follow it, regardless

but being the word of God, it can't help but being so beautiful, so amazing.

2009-12-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

the girl in red said that in the Quran, Allah mentioned the concept of a day being like 50,000 years (70:4)
the crazy turkish guy asked, "isn't the book pointing the obvious?"

Eqraa'

2009-12-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

its a cold, snowy night. i want to grow old looking young and beautiful.
so i read the Quran.

the Quran

2009-12-08T06:30:00.000-08:00

stop looking at the Quran as just a book.
its the word of God.
its beautiful
its full of codes and repetitions.
unless you understand the Quran, unless you immerse yourself deeply in the Quran
you will never understand the meaning of life

2009-12-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

i am listening right now:

al baqarah - more words, more explanation and less rhymes. easier to listen when studying or doing something else.
ash shu'ara - i can't pay attention to anything else when listening to this.
qaaf
az zaariyat
at tur
an najm
ma'arij - my favourite verse : fasbir sobron jameela
nuh
jinn - just because its so beautifully rhymed.
muddassir
oh i havent heard maryam for a while. i miss maryam biriwayat shu'bah. there are so many small differences between shu'bah and hafs an 'asim.

2009-12-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

i don't know which surah from the Quran i like most
every surah have its own uniqueness, has its own special traits
i cannot really choose between them
i can only continue to be amazed and amazed and more amazed

2009-12-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

why are the rewards in hereafter so materialistic? beats me.
why isn't it like christianity, to be the children of God, to be happy being beside God?

its funny how a religious christian's aim would be to die and sit beside God,
while a practicing muslim (read: me) would prefer to have all the clothes she can wear in all the fashions possible. be in heaven where she doesn't have to think about anything except for having fun. how shallow muslims are! (read: how shallow i am)

the thing is, Allah never denies the our selfish desires. What Allah wants is for us to treat our desires with patience. Because the rule of the world, selfish desires are detrimental. But in heavens nothing is detrimental.

so, no, i dont want clothes. i want to sit beside prophet noah and discuss about his ordeal with his people. its amazing how the prayer of a man living some 50,000 years before us is recorded in the Quran. just thinking of it make my heart stop. i want to sit beside him, and a few other people that i met in my life, when they smile, make my heart melt and feel like in heaven. that is worth to me more than anything in the world. surely, if Allah can give all the neverending fun in heaven, this is easy for Him.

oh, now i am not so shallow? maybe boring even

2009-12-07T13:13:00.001-08:00

the jinns said "inna sami'na Quranan 'ajaba" (72:1)
its really, amazing how the jinns can be amazed by the Quran
but most of us can't

2009-12-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

the Quran, is not magic (sihr)
but its mu'jizah

tell me

2009-12-01T04:22:00.000-08:00

1. "how come, after all these findings in science, Allah decide that he won't send anymore prophets to explain things?"
2. "have you ever seen the prophet? how come you believe something you have never seen before?"

1. i am wondering the same thing too. only Allah knows best. without islam and the Quran, nobody will ever understand science. Islam opened the world to knowledge beyond its reach. The Quran was the catalyst for all these findings.
2. well, have you ever met darwin? have you ever seen evolution happening in front of you? then how can you believe it??

its been a long time since i met a non-believer and try to make sense of what he says, so that i stay on the right path.

pardon me, my writing is a bit rusty

2009-12-01T04:19:00.000-08:00

non believers, agnostics, atheists, are always interesting.
they can argues with everything, and question every single thing about Allah,
but believe in science.

i thank Allah that i am saved from being among them. being a muslim, to truly believe, is a gift. dear Allah, never take this beautiful gift away from me.

Surat Saad

2009-11-30T07:07:00.000-08:00

its the 38th chapter in the Quran.

2009-11-29T06:23:00.000-08:00

it doesn't matter if you don't understand my fascination with the Quran
nobody does

the beauty

2009-11-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

if you listen to it close enough, you will notice the beauty in every word.
you will notice the beautifully laid pattern, so unique yet so harmonious between each other.

which one are you?

2009-03-04T17:56:00.001-08:00

are you like umar who was fascinated by surah Taha
or jubayr ibn mu'tim, whose first ayaahs were those of At Tur?

would you stand pain just to finish surah al kahfi (that was Abbad ibn Bishr, my dears)
or are you like mus'ab who taught Abbad the Quran?
or are you like Ja'afar ibn Talib who memorized surah Maryam?
or are you like the King of Najd, who was brought to tears listening to Ja'far's Maryam?

which one are you?
are u musailama who tried to conjure his own Quran?
or are you abu jahal who tried to prove he have eaten zaqqum?
O! Allah forbid us from being walid ibn mughirah, who professed the beauty of the Quran, who Allah blessed him with sons who were always with him, who had all the riches in the world, only to be condemned to hell!

Mysteries of the Ancient Scripture

2008-02-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

the cold egyptian winters were becoming more bearable. i was on my way to ramses on a Tremco. Tremco is a van, normally worn down and driven by the gangsters of the street. Its a mode of public transport here in Cairo. Egyptians who drive their own cars complaint about the uncivilized driving, but to people like me, its fast, easy and cheap to help me get around. convenient to help me get around in the super crowded streets of Cairo. The drivers are sometimes gangsters and mostly illiterate, using their 'killer' driving skills and no regard for the law, helping people get around the city with a small sum of money. at least they are doing some good.

The driver turned on Surah Al Baqarah. Here in Egypt, the Quran is heard in the most unexpected places. Like in the mobile phone shop, the funky salesmen were listening to the Quran! Or at a fast food restaurant. Even at stores selling funky, up-to-date women fashion.

Alif Lam Mim. (2:1) Meaningless to us, only Allah knows the meaning. The 3 words that was so perfectly placed together, astoundingly beautiful when recited, causing commotion when it was first recited by the prophet (s.a.w). Never in the history of Arab literature something like it. and never, after the Quran, that anybody can ever put meaningless alphabets together to create such beauty.

the recitation reached to ayaah 43 of the Surah.

(وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلاَةَ وَآتُواْ الزَّكَاةَ وَارْكَعُواْ مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ (2:43

this similar command will be repeated unto Maryam (a.s), Jesus's (a.s) mother in the next surah, with exactly the same ayaah number: 43

(3:43) يَا مَرْيَمُ اقْنُتِي لِرَبِّكِ وَاسْجُدِي وَارْكَعِي مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ

The message in both ayaah is clear. but surely, scholars will continue to wonder the "coincidence", try to unravel another mystery of the beautiful Quran. Tremco stopped. We have reached Ramses.

2008-01-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

ustazah huda always pause when we read the Quran together. i understand her pause. the ayats are too beautiful, you have to stop for a while to devour it. and she asks me: "you read the Quran but u don't understand?" i shamefully nod. she still can't comprehend how Quran is read without being understood. i can't blame her.i came here to learn arabic anyway. hearing the egyptian speak arabic, with their deep, beautiful voices make me jealous. i want to be able to converse like that one day.

ustazah huda, in one of our lesson, said one of the beauty of the Quran, other that it being a beautiful piece of literature is because of the repititions in the Quran. What? repetitions make it special? why? why?? i can repeat. i stammer and repeat myself. that do not make me special!but now, after 9 mths, i understand. trying to understand the Quran from the two weeks of arabic and Quran lessons, i understand why repetitions are so special. first, because of course, men always forget. how many times i have to repeat to my little sister to read books!!! and she still do not read, not even a single chapter!but, learning one chapter of the Quran, and familiarizing myself with the words, i find that its quite easy to master. becuase the words in the Quran are always repeated in every chapter.so if i am familiar with the words of one chapter, i can understand another. of course not all words are repeated and there are additions, but basically, similar words are used.

sarah laughed while slapping her face when she was told by the guests that she was going to have a child. "how is it possible? i am old and infertile!" the word infertile is in arabic 'aQiim, and in the same surah, the word 'aQiim is used again the decribe the DESTROYING winds (ri7al 'aQiim).i am not fluent in arabic. i think as an ajam trying to understand the Quran, me, (i am very observant by the way) i view it differently. i pay attention to small things that might seem simple for an arab speaker. the repeating words. or the different words used to describe the same thing. (ikhwanu lut and Qoumu tubba' - ikhwan and Qoumu is the same meaning). i pay attention and ask questions. sooner or later, i always find out the answer. whether i read it, or accidentally happen to be in the masjid when the imam is explaining the ayat or even on the radio.

yeah, the tafsir sometime don't translate the Quran exactly. but that's the best i have. like why is 7adiid means clear while in surah al-7adiid, it means iron? maybe the reason why i think the way i think its because of the inaccurate terjemahan that i use. maybe its not a such a big question to ask. maybe the best thing to do is to not ask too much and just continue reading with the wrong tajweed and ignorance. its what 75% of the muslims in malaysia does anyway. nauzubillah.

History of Islamic Civilization in Europe

2008-01-06T21:42:00.000-08:00

i watched this from youtube.com. its a very interesting documentary. what i learnt (indirectly) from the documentary:

1. the rulers of the west during the dark ages, went all out to ensure the poor remain poor and he rich remain rich. to the extent the poor were not even allowed to learn to read and write, to ensure that they cannot question any authority.
when they learnt that the everyone in the muslim community can read and write, its something unthinkable. to them its not possible to rule an intelligent community that can question authority.

2. during the western dark ages, the rich who has land, will make the poor work in their land, paying very small sums of money. this way, the poor will never be rich. the Muslims are the one who introduced the mudharabah concept, a much fair and non-oppresing concept. the rich lends their land to the poor, and they share the profit from the land according to an agreement.

3. the muslims learnt how to make paper from the chinese, yeah but Muslims were the one who invented ways to mass produce paper. and being an engineer, i know that its easier to invent something, but a lot of knowledge and intelligence are needed to put up a factory and mass produce the invention.

there are a lot more of things i learnt from the documentary, but as always, being biased towards islam, being the usual fundamentalist me, i came to a conclusion:
1. the western civilization is superior NOW, yeah i admit that.
2. the western become more civilized becuase they learnt from the muslim spain.
3. if the muslims hadn't conquered spain, then the western wouldn't have come out of the dark ages.
4. if there were no muslims, then we would all still be in the dark ages.

thus, everything that rasulullah did (with Allah's guidance, of course) to defend islam was for the greater good, was to save and revive the human civilization as a whole.

and without Rasulullah s.a.w's and his companions patience and sacrifice, we would all still be in the dark ages.

imagine, no TV, no mobile phone, no computers...

Masya Allah.

There is Crude Oil Under the Land of Palestine

2007-12-31T21:18:00.000-08:00

I wrote this a long time ago. When the oil price was high and everyone were talking about it. So this is a little out of date, but the Palestinian issue is not. For non-Malay language speakers, please get urself a translation of 9:111 of the Quran. since i understand little arabic, i like to read the malay translation better than the english. plus, yeah i did say people are idiots. its just to make a statement.

There is crude oil under the land of Palestine. Under the desert sands, the rocks are saturated with crude oil, waiting for the extensive exploration works to be done. According to geologists, the Gaza strip is the place where we can find the most oil. About 49.65 times OPEC production. The world will never have an oil crisis and never have to think of alternative energy if the oil in Palestine is explored.

That is why the Palestinian is defending what is left to them to their last drop of blood. And that is why the Israelis are determined to seize whatever they haven’t possessed to the last drop of the Palestinians blood.

And the people in the other parts of the world are idiots. They don’t really care what is happening to Palestine. Because Palestine is not their land. And the place where they are staying is peace and sovereign, Yeah, the oil crisis bites into their monthly earnings, but it is not something to be worried about. They know that sooner or later they will adjust to the prices, and the market will just have to establish a new high to make them lose sleep about it.

Idiots. Mostly because they don’t help the Palestinians fight for their land. The Israelis will not share the oil if they get it, but the Palestinians will. It’s their promise. “Help us,” the Palestinians say, “and you can have all the oil underneath if you want to, we just don’t want it to go to the Jews. Because we know, the whole world will be in trouble if the oil goes to the Jews. Only an idiot cannot anticipate this! So the whole world, lets do it for the sake of the oil underneath!!”

Idiots. That is what we are. Of course, the whole crude oil thing is just fiction. Survey shows that, if there is vast amount of crude oil under the Palestinian land, then 99.9% of the Muslims in the world, would fight for the piece of land. And they will be willing to fight till the last drop of their blood, just like the Palestinians.

Idiots. The wealth that crude oil brings will never be able to compete with the reward that Allah promised in the Quran. The reward to Muslims who are willing to sacrifice themselves and their wealth for Allah. The reward to the Palestinians for sacrificing all that they have for a piece of land that Allah demand the Muslims to protect.

As mentioned in the Quran in Surah At Taubah, (9:111)
“Sesungguhnya Allah telah membeli dari orang-orang mukmin, diri dan harta mereka dengan memberikan surga untuk mereka. Mereka berperang pada jalan Allah; lalu mereka membunuh atau terbunuh. (Itu telah menjadi) janji yang benar dari Allah di dalam Taurat, Injil dan Al Qur'an. Dan siapakah yang lebih menepati janjinya (selain) daripada Allah? Maka bergembiralah dengan jual beli yang telah kamu lakukan itu, dan itulah kemenangan yang besar.”

Crude oil or no crude oil, in the end, the Palestinians are on the winning side. But where will we be?

2007-12-31T19:48:00.000-08:00

how dare he say something like that.
as a deputy minister of a muslim country, how dare he say something like that
"the country will go bankrupt is subsidies go on"
and another top shot said "God still loves us, there is still oil in our country"
i don't mean to be rude, but hello, what faith are you?
we are muslims, we should believe Allah!
i believe that Allah will never forsake us
a country should continue providing justice for its people,
even if it means that continuing subsidies,
as long as it intends to provide justice
Allah will never forsake us.

Special Instincts

2007-12-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

it was such a long wait. the 8 hrs transit in Bahrain seems like forever.
I did not bring any USDs to spend on anything.
so i sat on one corner and read the Quran.
its ok to read the Quran in public places in the middle east, you don't feel so awkward.
its sort of a normal thing, sometimes you feel ashamed of yourself for not holding the Quran with you while travelling.

in Malaysia, its different. a prominent muslim contry that has achieved so much, the latest is sending the first Muslim to space on a mission.
Reading the Quran in public transports or public places seems so awkward.
Maybe the Malaysians think the Quran is to sacred to be read just anywhere.
the truth is, they feel that the Quran is too sacred that it should be read only on certain days of the week, understood only by certain people who has certain certifications.

the truth is, the Quran is sent to everyone, and everyone should strive to learn and understand it.

i think that Quran should be read anywhere, anytime you feel like reading it. because the instinct to even remember or having the feeling to read the Quran is a special gift. a gift from the One who sent it to us.

My Hudaibiya

2007-12-22T19:46:00.000-08:00

i thought embracing islam and trying to be a good muslim
would guarantee me a happy life
a life without any difficulties
i'll get whatever i want
and materialize whatever i planned for
after all, insya Allah, whatever i do, it is for Allah.
but i was wrong

actually being a Muslim does not mean life will not test you
maybe up to some point, you will question your faith and your belief
"if Islam is the true religion, if Allah is always with the Muslims, why do i have to face these difficulties?"

flash back about 1400 years ago
Umar R.A asked "if Islam is the true religion, why are agreeing to a treaty that is so oppressing? there is not justice in the treaty! it only benefits the Quraish!"

Rasul s.a.w and his companions were not only prohibited to enter Mekka on their peaceful intention to perform Hajj. They also had to agree to a treaty that in the eyes of most of the companions, are unfair and oppressing the Muslims.

They felt so down and unhappy because of the Hudaibiya Treaty. Up to a point they did not take heed on Rasulullah’s request for them to shave their heads and sacrifice a sheep to compensate the Hajj they were not able to perform.

But the Hudaibiya Treaty proved to be a good decision (an excellent one, actually) because for the following years, Muslims are able to preach Islam peacefully. The Quraishis who were interested in Islam but were too scared to ask before, had a chance to study Islam from the Muslim companions. This resulted in mass conversion to Islam. And it eventually leads to the Conquest of Mekka where 10,000 Muslims marched together to claim Mekka from the non-believers.

The victory was too sweet, too meaningful that one companion commented “if I was given the chance to go back in time when the hudaibiya treaty was signed, I would do it exactly like what Rasulullah did”.
It does not matter anymore that the Treaty was oppressive. Because, no matter what was agreed before, the Muslims still won. Only the end result matters. And surprisingly, the difficulties faced earlier made the outcome more meaningful.
The “imperfections” that occurred earlier was actually what made the outcome more beautiful, more perfect and more meaningful.

no matter what i do, Rasul's companions will always be better Muslims. Yet there are times when things don't happen as expected, and things that they think is unfair to them.

so what about us? everytime things don't happen as you want strengthen your faith and increase your prayers. there will be a time when things will turn your way, and when that time comes, you won't care whatever you went through before. And don’t ever question your faith and belief, because when good things happen, we will be ashamed of ourselves for thinking, “Allah is not with us” and question “are we on the right path?”

Whenever something don't happen as i want to, i just close my eyes, smile, and patiently say "i am waiting for my hudaibiya".

Pop Music vs The Quran (II)

2007-12-16T00:27:00.000-08:00

Actually there is too much to talk about.
i think listening the Quran help sharpen ur mind.
it has a 3D effect to ur brains, u know.
first, we listen to imitate the recitation. i always pay attention to the letters, how the recitors pronounce certain letters, like i have this problem of pronouncing the letter 'ain' so i am always waiting to listen this word to be pronounced so that i can follow.

and then, since i dont understand arabic, i am always keen on understanding arabic. sometimes i notice the same words are used in different context, so i just wonder. and think about it.

and of course, if u happen to learn a little on arabic grammar, its more interesting. coz when you hear a word, u'll be wondering what is the root word and whether u guessed the root word correctly.

these a my feelings when listening to the Quran, of course, i also like certain ways of recitation, for example by syeikh jibrail, syeikh shuraim and my favourite syeikh husory, but that only adds to the never ending beauty of listening to the Quran.

and i almost always prefer the Quran than pop music.

Pop Music vs The Quran

2007-12-16T00:19:00.000-08:00

I hear music occasionally, but i prefer the Quran.
One thing about listening to the Quran is you don't waste your time.
Like if u're caught in a traffic jam. instead of wasting u're time doing nothing, and we can't do anything in a jam coz we have to concentrate on driving but we're not actually moving but we are going to move every now and then, so we can't really do something.

so listening to the Quran is the answer. Because even listening to the Quran gives you pahala, which helps u in the hereafter, and maybe, if insya Allah, the recitations will stick in ur head, making it easeir to memorise the Quran.

i imagine myself making a statement sounding like this "i memorised the Quran after 30yrs of listening to it while driving"

will it make a good tabloid headline? maybe i can enter the guiness book of records for the "shortest time taken to memorise the Quran from listening to recitations while driving"

haha. maybe i'll have a few other contenders insya Allah.

Welcome

2007-12-16T00:06:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody who reads my blog.
I want readers, yeah. I am like this celebrity who is sick of attention and will go all my way to make people notice me.
I love Islam. I've always thought, even if i was not born a Muslim, i'll stumble upon it and embrace it anyway.
Saying that, i agree that its still Allah will and i pray to Allah i live, breathe every single breath and die as a Muslim.

I admit being a Muslim does not make life easier. In fact, it can be harder, depending on what Allah wants for you.

But, being a Muslim is so rewarding in so many ways. Once you feel it, you never want to leave it.

I'm a Muslim trying to survive in pop culture. the culture of entertainment. the culture where even if you pray, pay zakaah and go for hajj, even if u fast in ramadhan, you still have your favourite tv show, u still have your favourite singer or band, you still watch the latest movie and feel somewhat moved by it.

i'm still figuring out whether that is a good or bad thing.

Noah's Ark

2007-12-13T03:55:00.000-08:00

I was attracted to this Surah because of its hautingly beautiful recitation by Syeikh Mahmoud Khalil el Husory.

He recited it in a somewhat sad way, making me wonder, is there a sad story behind it?

Indeed, there is a beautiful and sort of sad story behind this surah. Its about Prophet Noah. And understanding this surah, makes you love him even more.

How his people went to the extent of covering their faces with their garments and closing their ears with their fingers when Prophet Noah tried to preach.

I was really impressed by Prophet Noah’s diligence. He tried many ways to call his people to Allah, to save them from hellfire. But his people were too arrogant to accept his call.

And I was actually impressed by Prophet Noah’s approach calling people to Allah, especially when he preached about the earth and nature.

He talked about how trees grew, explained the different stages of foetus in the womb, about the moon, and about the sun. About the seven layers of earth’s atmosphere. About how the rain comes from the sky.

And the remarkable thing about this? He discussed this to his people about 50,000 years ago. About the time that Darwin thought men were still apes!

I was really impressed by the fact that Prophet Noah explained pure science to his people. Things that we just recently discovered. I thought people 50,000 year ago only knew how to find food, cook and procreate. I didn’t know they were taught to understand science!

And to think, we, people of this time, think that we are beyond God, beyond religion since we have discovered and advanced so much in science and technology. We think that science and technological advancement makes the presence of God irrelevant.

The truth is, there is nothing special in not believing in Allah. Its not a mark of technological advancement, its just arrogance and stupidity that brings us to destruction.

Its not up to date to defy Allah. In fact, its an old, lame tradition, as told and explained so many times in the Quran, so that we don’t follow the footsteps of these arrogant people again.

We are similar to Prophet Noah’s people in so many ways:

1. We are rich
2. We are prosperous in many ways – during Prophet Noah’s time prosperity in terms of having many children, living a good life.
3. We are intelligent, we know so much about science and technology.

Unfortunately, we are also among the arrogant and non-believers.

I also think we are more stupid, since the lesson learnt is written in the Quran loud and clear, and we still make the same mistake our ancestors did some 50,000 years ago.

**Mentioning Prophet Noah here does not mean I think he is better that other prophets, no Muslim should have the authority to judge that.

** Allah forbid we, the Muslims should follow the footsteps of non-believers.

I Dream of Khairy

2007-12-13T03:36:00.000-08:00

we boarded the same flight from australia back to KLIA.
it was the first time i saw him in real life. he look more handsome in real life. only darker. and his dark skin in real life, do not make him tall, dark and handsome. being fairer would definitely highlight his looks better.

i glanced at him, just enough time for me to check out the important points i've always wanted to confirm. then i looked down. standing near to him (in line to board the plane), i felt inferior. i am not hot enough for him to give a second glance at me. i wish i was the famous actress maya karin. tall and beautiful enough to get the attention from one of the most successful, rich, powerful and handsome guy in Malaysia.

Khairy, you are always in my dreams. I've heard rumours. I wish they weren't true. I hope you're not greedy as they say. I hope you're not an oppressive leader as they say.

Khairy, I cannot express how deep my hatred is towards oppressive leaders. They seem to ignore the day of judgement. The day when your leadership is questioned and even your strongest supporters will turn their backs on you. The day when even your strongest supporters will say

"Alangkah baiknya, andai kata kami taat kepada Allah dan taat (pula) kepada Rasul".
Dan mereka berkata: "Ya Tuhan kami, sesungguhnya kami telah menaati pemimpin-pemimpin dan pembesar-pembesar kami, lalu mereka menyesatkan kami dari jalan (yang benar).
Ya Tuhan kami, timpakanlah kepada mereka azab dua kali lipat dan kutuklah mereka dengan kutukan yang besar".
(Al Ahzab, 33:66-68)

i dream that one day, i meet khairy to express my hate towards unjust leaders. maybe we can make this world a better place together.

**khairy jamaluddin is a well known politician in Malaysia. most Malaysians blame him for the blunders happening in Malaysia. The ayat, is applicable to any politician, any leader in any part of the world, to remind them to be good and just leaders. The time will come for unjust leaders, even their strongest supporters will turn their backs and blame them and wish them double destruction.

Societal God

2007-12-13T03:30:00.000-08:00

Let me introduce you to the societal god. This, my friends, are more dangerous than being an atheist and embracing Darwinism. We might say "we believe in one God, and we pray to the one God and we obey the rules and regulations of this religion".

Without realizing it, we submit MORE to another god, the societal god, the god that we obey when urges come,

"i'll pray a little bit later, i want to watch this comedy first"
"i'll have to miss terawikh today, i want to go watch movie with my boyfriend"
"i have to be a singer, because God gave me talent, and i have no other means to find money"

we submit to money, we submit to satisfying our insatiable need for all kinds of entertainment. of course, we still pray, and we still profess that we are muslims. and don't anybody dare to say that we are not, because we are. but secretly, quietly, our islamic values are being replaced by the values of our societal gods