Revealing Aisyah r.a

Aisyah r.a., as we all know, was daughter of Abu- Bakr As- Siddiq r.a., and wife of the great prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

Another well known fact is that Aisyah r.a. married the prophet at a tender age of 7 or 9 years old, at which time she was still playing with her dolls. It was also said that Aisyah stayed with her parents until she reached puberty.

However, some people have wrongly interpreted this fact. As Aisyah was still a kid, they accused the prophet as being a pedophile. I myself have encountered with a few of these nonsense accusations, and I must admit, it was quite difficult for me to answer them.

I mean, by merely saying that the prophet married Aisyah because of a revelation from God is not enough, especially to those non believers. A more solid, reason based idea is needed here to justify this act.

And thankfully, I got the answers I was seeking at this year's Muktamar.

In a talk show during the Muktamar, Imam Yahya Hendi, one of the guest speakers, addressed this matter perfectly.

1. It is wrong to associate the 21st century with that of the 6th. Things that might of been accepted then are no longer accepted now. Cultures change drastically over the course of 1500 years. Even in Malaysia, 50 years ago, people used to get married in their early teenage years.

2. It's also wrong to associate the Arab culture with that of the Americans. Things are different over there with what is over here. An Arab guy would kiss each other when they meet. Doing something similar over here in the US, and you'd be called gay.

3. The third argument may be quite debatable. But here goes. There's actually the idea that maybe Aisyah wasn't 7 or 9 years old when she got married to the Prophet. Her actual age may have been 17/19, 27/29 or maybe even 37/39. In some cultures, people refer to big numbers by just saying the first few digits of the number, with the idea that people would understand what the real number is. For instance, a person would refer to a price of a car as twenty- seven instead of twenty-seven thousand. People may have referred to Aisyah's age with 7/9 with the idea people around her during that time would know her true age.

If so, how would you explain the stories of Aisyah playing with the dolls and what not. Waalahua'lam..

50 Top 10 Lists of 2007

May I present, TIME magazine's 50 Top 10 Lists of 2007. The list, ranging from all sorts of categories, from news, arts and entertainment, to pop culture, also included sub-categories which basically covered everything.

Of course I haven't had much chance yet to cover the list, but here is probably one of the most ridiculous videos I've watched. Enjoy:



With that, I'd like to wish all my fellow colleagues all the best in the coming finals and have a wonderful break. I'l be stop blogging for a while.

Until then, sayonara!

I am a Muslim!!

Cool video I found while browsing the internet. Check it out.

Space Tripping

I just read this on the yahoo front page. Pretty soon, Malaysia would be able to send more space tourist to outer space, to perform more highly complex experiments again. At a more affordable cost, too!

Space Tripping.

This is HINDRAF

For those that aren't as familiar to Hindraf, here's a bit of a heads up.

HINDRAF- Hindu Rights Action Force

Be as it may, this is roughly what Hindraf have come up with so far:
1. A plan to 'sue the UK Government for US$4 trillion (US$1 million for every Malaysian Indian) for bringing Indians as indentured laborers into Malaya, "exploiting them for 150 years" and thereafter failing to protect the minority Indians' rights in the Federal Consitution when independence was granted'. (They could've made it to Bollywood had it not been for the UK government, you know!!)

2. Since Hindraf members 'could not afford the legal fees required, a petition was circulated with 100,000 signatures to be presented to Queen Elizabeth to appoint a Queen's counsel to argue the case'. (In other words, they want the Queen's help in suing her own government)

3. On Sunday, 25th November 2007, they held a rally to submit the petition at the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. Armed police and FRU's tried to stop the rally, using water canons and tear gas, Hindraf members replied with Molotov Cocktails. (It's worth noticing that since it was a Sunday, the British Commission was actually closed on that day.)

4. Here's the icing on the cake. May I present, Hindraf memorandum to UK Prime Minister. Oh ya!!

Laugh all you want, but I'm dead serious here! No kidding. These incidents truly happened.

Oh, Hindraf, how you color our world (Malaysia especially)!

Crap

I know this is old, but the information minister's interview with al-jazeera reminded me of another interview, this time, by Miss Teen South Carolina 2007, Caitlin Upton

Enjoy!!



Bimbo all the way!!

Watch and Learn II

Again, we watch, we learn.



Even as a Kelantan born and speaking person, I can't make out the shouts and screams of the YB Dato' Nozula Mat Diah. Professional la skit kite ni... Aiyoo!!

p/s: Good for Datu' Ramzi for his part in stopping the fight. He's the only person in the video I recognize.

Apaaaakah? (dgn nada qayyum)

No offence, q. main2 je..

But seriously, somethings are really out of hand now.

I was shocked, like everybody else, when I checked my bank account last Monday and found out that our generous government gave us a hefty allowance of $1336.90. Wow!! What an increase!

But let's not get too carried away yet!

I later found out that our scholarship was upgraded to $835.oo from the original $660+. But here's the catch. From now on, (like mentioned previously) there would be no more 60/40 policy, i.e, we would be paying our housings ourselves! And according to the vanderbilt website, the estimated housing cost for a student is $3,728, which makes it approximately $900+ monthly. Thus, mathematically, our monthly scholar isn't even enough to pay for housing, let alone for food and everything! Adding spice to that, students with meal plan would have to pay $400+ for their food. Kalau boleh petik duit dari pokok, senanglaa.

So, hopefully, our kind, generous, and RATIONAL government would rethink the idea of demolishing the 60/40 policy. It'll benefit everyone!

Watch and Learn

I remember the TPM's wife, Rosmah saying something like don't believe the things that are in the internet. They are all false. But when I look at an actual video footage, if anything, it's trust worthy.



I don't know about you guys, but this is so ridiculous. I feel like biting the guys head off!

English Havoc for minister

OK, despite the chaos of 11/10, I am not here to condemn the Malaysian government, nor it's policies. I'm sure many have done that already, and plus, me condemning the government now is (for me) not a situation I dare put myself in.

My friend showed me this video on YouTube. It's an amateur TV recording of an interview between the Information Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Zainuddin Maidin and Al-Jazeera. Enjoy.




Whilst there may be tons of reasons why he's the Malaysian Information Minister, I'm sure his proficiency in English and temperament management skills aren't one of them. Which really contradicts to what major qualities I thought would make a good information minister. But ya, since he's the minister, and I'm just plain rakyat jelata, my conscience is probably wrong here.

But heck, anyways, for a guy interviewed by the international press all the time, his proficiency in English is a disaster. English is, by all means, the lingua franca. He's in desperate needs to master spoken English. My God! You can't tell who's worse, Sammy Vellu's Malay or Zainuddin's English (and for that matter, compare Siti's as well). And mind you, I'm not saying my English is any better than his, but then again, he is the Information Minister of Malaysia!

His inability to hold his temper is nothing to be a proud of, too! He boiled and exploded during the Al-Jazeera interview, which, most probably, led to his inability to talk fluently.

And him accusing other nations this and that really surprised me. How absurd! I really didn't see that coming. I wonder what Myanmar, Burma and Pakistan would think about those improper remarks.

That's probably about what I can come up with regarding with foulness. And may I remind the readers that my intentions are not to condemn the government nor it's policies. Not is it about politics. Case closed.

p/s: In case you can't make out the words the minister was uttering, as I'm sure many of us don't, click here. It's under About This Video section.

40,000 magic

40,000 voices of 40,000 minds from 40,000 people.

It's time to make these voices count. Let's make it happen. Malaysia Boleh!!

Announcement

OK, just in case, and I mean IN CASE you are interested in looking at some of the pictures I've taken, fill free to view my Flickr account. Click that link right there or go to the link provided under 'some nice places to visit'.

I'm just starting to get a hang of Flickr and there aren't many photos there yet. Do bear with me as I go on.

And again, please, only if you're interested!! Enjoy!

A little mischief that's JPA

So we were told in the newspapers that according to Bajet 2008 which was announced by our Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that we would receive an increase of up to 97% for our monthly allowance. The increase was said to be due last Sepetember.

So it's now November. Last September, when all was excited about the 'increase' we were hampered come the end of the month when we found out there was no increase on that month's scholarship. I was expecting that, so not much was felt.

Then came October. We were more excited this time. And the JPA students, were more then ever. They hoped to be getting around 2000 bucks (97% increase) . When I checked mine that morning, I got ~400, which meant, still no increase. Again, bummer.

The shock was to the JPA students however when they found out not only did they not get the increase, they suffered a decrease! Instead of getting 1200, they only got 1000. Which meant they only get 300+ for every month. Later, I learned, according to a source (I think it was Doc V), that students under JPA did receive an increase actually, by 20% (or 25%). But then, the government changed the policy of paying our residential halls. They terminated the 60/40 policy, so now, they'll subtract the residential cost straight from our allowance, leaving the JPA students with that one thousand. huh.

So much for the increase. Such political.

Last week, I went to the annual Raya MSD open house at Washington DC and ya Allah, the food was tremendously good. The food was authentic Malay; some sort of nasi, ayam masak merah, rendang, sate, roti jala, gulai ayam, acar, and kuih raya. I think I'm missing a few. Basically, we all just hogged into the meal, and ate like I don't know what!

But I'm not here to talk about the food. Before the makan2, there were speeches from the Malaysian Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Rajmah Hussain, then there was one from the guess of honour, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the TPM's wife. The latter speech is the one I want to talk about.

Yes, in her about an hour speech (maybe less), she did mention about hari raya, for a good 15 minutes or so. Then she mentioned about all her travels to Russia, Paris, and England during the pass week. She came to US because her daughter wanted her to come visit. Then came her long, lengthy political talk. First she mentioned about the government's generosity in increasing the monthly allowance, and then the achievements achieved during their 50 years of ruling. She also told us not to believe everything in the Internet as most of them are lies about the government, which according to her, is all good. Later in her speech, she said that if we were to change governments, our country would lose it's political stability and then be like those which are in war. duhh..

So, that's my political talk for the time being.

Owh, btw, I learned later that Dato' Dr. Anwar Ibrahim's two daughters, Hana, and her younger sister (I don't remember her name) were also present at the open house. I didn't get a chance to see them though. At first the host were rather hesitant in deciding whether or not to allow the girls to come, due to the fact that Rosmah was also present. However, they later allowed them to come with the idea that Rosmah wouldn't even recognize them in the 150+ crowd. Alhamdulillah, that happened to be the case and nothing out of the norm happened, and all were happy.

Crime Scene Investigation

Well, actually, just crime scene. On my part, there was no investigation.

I was going back from a trip to the groceries with some friends yesterday evening when at this traffic light, there were half a dozen flashing police cars parked beside the road, closing the right lane. Right away, we knew something was going on.

The traffic lights were 'generous' enough to turn red when we approached the scene, giving us a very good view of the situation. There were people crying hysterically all over the place, with police officers comforting them down. News crew were all over the place, not wanting to miss a single detail of the crime. And us? Well, we were a bit 'excited'.

Heres the video Q caught with his cellphone. Pardon the quality.



Q claimed he saw the beg mayat lying on the floor, but in the excitement, he tipped the handphone up, and thus, not catching it on camera.

The links to the news about the murder are here and here. Very, very shocking indeed.

This is the second high profile police relating event I've witnessed in my two and a half years here. The first one was during my freshman. About 20 police cars went chasing after a stolen green BMW in a cold snowy night. When the police deployed spikes strips, the bad guy was forced to turn his vehicle towards a near by building, then after being surrounded, decided to go off road. This gave the police an opportunity to ramp his car from behind. The grand finale was the part when the police, with guns drawn, pulled the guy out of the vehicle. What a night that was!

Terengganu, Kelantan and English

Ok, I admit, the two former nouns don't usually go well with the latter. All over Malaysia, it is a well known fact that people associate students in Terengganu and Kelantan with a deficiency in the English languauge, which I too agree.

But believe it or not, there a lot of words in the K and T vocabulary that were actually derived from English. To name a few, I've listed them below:

gohek - go ahead
gostang - go stern
kona - corner
demo - them all
shupoda - shoe powder

Surely there are a lot more words then the five I've listed above. I'll update them once I come across. Being in the US, with only ~10 T and K students, it's hard to practice the dialects here.

And ya, I remember this game I used to play where the players are devided into two groups and take turns to be the police and the thieves. The game name: 'Polis-san-ti', well that was what we used to call it (and ya, I know this game is also popular elsewhere). The actual words to it? Police and thieves.

Indirectly, the people of T and K use the English language in their everyday lives. Thus, they shouldn't be intimidated, ashamed, or shy to further use it. Come on people of T and K, lets explore English!

* T and K ~ Terengganu and Kelantan.

Finally Fall Break

We are now relaxing on our much needed fall break.. I haven't planned yet what to do, but a fishing trip would be really awesome. School continues on Wednesday. Until then, have fun y'all!!

Giving up so soon?

In this hard, never easy world that we live in today, life is so competitive. You slack, you lose. It's that simple to fail.
Now let's not go to that extent.

And thus, with all this pressure, it's also so easy to give up and pull the curtain down on ourselves. But that shouldn't be the case. We run, we fall, we pick ourselves up, we dust off ourselves clean. Then we continue running. We don't stop there. We don't pick ourselves up and sit down, or just walk. We run! Yeah, like hell we run!

Think about this: A baby whose just learning to walk. Obviously he's doing something completely unfamiliar to him. It's damn hard for him! His legs are weak, they tremble with each step he takes. He may fall sometimes, and pick up a couple of bruises along the way.

But each time a baby falls, do you see him giving up? Do you see him throwing the towel and just decide not to learn to walk anymore? Check this baby:


He's falling right, ain't he? But just look at how big the smile he's got taking up his face there! I'm pretty sure that after that he'll just pick himself (or with the help of somebody) and continue walking again. And that's how the cycle goes for a baby until he actually knows how to walk.
The point I'm trying to bring out now is that, we should actually learn a point or two from this baby walking story. Sooner or later, after all those falls, after all those cuts and bruises, a baby would eventually walk, and better yet, they even start running! I mean, you don't see a grown up guy on a wheel chair and can't walk because he gave up walking during his baby years do you?

Let's learn something here, people! Hooray to the babies!

Lewis 10 Open House

This year we decided to do add our own spice to the Eid celebrations by holding an open house on the second day of Eid.

Lewis 10 had 4 Malay houses, and so we decided to divide the work among these houses. My house made pulut kuning, rendang and caramel pudding. The full menu was: Pulut kuning, rendang, nasi himpit, lodeh, bee hun sup, agar2, and caramel pudding. The open house was wonderful, and our pulut kuning was an instant hit!! heheh...



Here are some addition facts of the open house (in case anyone wanted to know):

• It was initially planned to just hold a potluck among the 4 houses in Lewis 10, but confusion had it's role, and the open house was staged instead.
• I got the pulut kuning and rendang recipes from my mother. It took till the last batch to get the pulut kuning texture the way we thought it should be.
• it could be considered that all the Malay Vandys came.
• except for the lodeh, everything else was swept out.
• Here's the best part. We forgot to preheat the lodeh later that night, and it turned out that it had a one night expiration date. The next morning, we thought of having the lodeh for breakfast, tapi apekan daya, the lodeh was basi. The smell?? Ya Rabbi!! It took 6 people to get rid of it. We put it in 3 separate garbage bags, 3 lapis each, sealed it in a box, and threw it in the dumpster. The smell was still there, even after being sealed in the box.

Thanks for all the open house committee for their hard work and every one else for coming.

Eidul Fitr... The 3rd Coming..

This year's Eid marked the third one I've had on this part of the earth so far away from my family called America. And it couldn't of came any better.

It was shocking when we first learned that Eid was on Friday rather than the expected Saturday, especially when you learn it the night before. We went scrambling back home to prepare ourselves to have a considerable Eid celebration.

Eid prayers was held at the Nashville Convention Center, as of with all the other Eidul Fitr prayers before. We got there before 8 and we in time for the prayers. After that, we went to ICN for breakfast. Here's some pictures up to this point.



Not to mention, I failed to show up for all three of my classes that day. But hey, it's Raya, only once in a year, I have classes almost every other day of the year!

We didn't do much for the rest of the day. However, we had a batch gathering and a potluck that night. Amid all this, raya this year was still a blast!

Hadith #12

The Messenger of Allah said, "There are three whose supplications are not rejected : the fasting person when he breaks his fast, the just ruler and the supplication of the oppressed." Tirmidhi

Hadith #11

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said: "Whoever establishes prayers during the nights of Ramadan faithfully out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards (not for showing off), all his past sins will be forgiven." Sahih Bukhari

Hadith #10

Narrated Aisha: With the start of the last ten days of Ramadan, the Prophet used to tighten his waist belt (i.e. work hard) and used to pray all the night, and used to keep his family awake for the prayers. Sahih Bukhari

'Tis the Season to be Joly..

As Ramadan draws its conclusions to an end (sadly enough though, as I truly feel that this isn't my best of Ramadans), the anticipation of Aidul Fitr can be felt even here on campus. Yup, even here in the middle of southern USA.
I just got a parcel from my father. Last week I got a Hari Raya card from my mother too. Thanks mak and abah. Really appreciate them both. Over the pass week, the mailbox's bombarded with packages from Malaysia. Baju raya, kuih raya, serunding raya, and in some cases, even cermin mata raya!!

'Tis the season!!

Hadith #9

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah saying: "Allah said: 'Every action of the son of Adam is for him except fasting, for that is solely for Me. I give the reward for it.' The fast is a shield. If one is fasting, he should not use foul language, raise his voice, or behave foolishly. If someone reviles him or fights with him he should say, 'I am fasting,' twice. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the [bad] breath of the one who is fasting is better in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection than the smell of musk. The one who is fasting is happy at two times: when he breaks his fast he is happy with it, and when he meets his Lord he will be happy that he has fasted." Ahmad, Muslim, an-Nasa'i

Hadith #8

Narrated Anas bin Malik The Prophet said, "Take Suhur as there is a blessing in it." Sahih Bukhari

Hadith #7

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever observes fasts during the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping to attain Allah's rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven." Sahih Bukhari

Monkeys and their bananas

I found a great story off the internet and I'd like to share it with you.

Put five monkeys in a cage. Put a ladder in the cage with a bunch of bananas at the top. As soon as one monkey starts to climb the ladder, spray cold water on all the monkeys. When another tries to climb, spray cold water on all the monkeys again. Soon, no monkey will attempt to climb the ladder.

Now, remove one monkey and put a new monkey in the cage. The new monkey will see the bananas and try to climb the ladder. Not wanting to be sprayed with cold water again, the other monkeys will quickly pull him down.

Remove a second monkey and put a new monkey in the cage. Again, the new monkey will see the bananas and try to climb the ladder. Not wanting to be sprayed with cold water, the other monkeys will quickly pull him down.

Repeat this process until all five original monkeys are gone, and five new monkeys are in the cage. None will try to climb the ladder, and none will understand why.

Now, remove all five monkeys and put a brand new monkey in the cage. The monkey will quickly climb the ladder and eat the bananas. Don't spray any cold water.

Put the five original monkeys back in the cage with the one brand new monkey who has tasted the delicious bananas. Replenish the bananas.

The brand new monkey will again climb up the ladder. Despite the efforts of the older monkeys to hold him down, the brand new monkey has tasted the bananas, he will strive again until he succeeds.

When he succeeds, the other five monkeys will realize that bananas are worth the climb, and worth the risk of some cold water. They, too, will climb the ladder and enjoy the delicious bananas.

Moral of the story? I trust you be able to come with it yourself.

The Special One special no more?

Reports are circling that the outspoken Portuguese manager, Jose Mourinho was sacked from his position as Chelsea fc head coach. I was shocked! I mean who wasn't? We're not talking about any Tom, Dick or Harry here. We're talking about Mourinho!

Mourinho is pictured here managing his last match for Chelsea against Rosenberg

Read the full coverage here and here.

And I am no Chelsea fan to be the least. Heck, I'm Liverpool all the way. But I for one had the littlest of ideas that after winning back to back English Premier League's, the Chelsea board decided to part with him. The self proclaimed 'special one's' future was sorted out earlier in the evening after Chelsea's surprise draw with lowly Rosenberg in their opening UCL match yesterday night.

Mourinho was reported to have had a sour relationship with multibillionare owner, Roman Abrahmovic regarding Chelsea's dull play style, Shevchenko, and what not. I wonder who would the Russian tycoon put at Chelsea's helm this time. And btw, Mourinho was the second manager to be fired by Abrahamovic.

My verdict: Chelsea is left in a crisis within their own ranks. Surely, the future is still in doubt for Chelsea. Mourinho's exit left Chelsea in turmoil. He's probably the only one able to contain the good atmosphere in Chelsea's star studded team.

Hadith #6

Narrated Aisha: With the start of the last ten days of Ramadan, the Prophet used to tighten his waist belt (i.e. work hard) and used to pray all the night, and used to keep his family awake for the prayers. Sahih Bukhari

Hadith #5

Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Muhammad said: "Every person has a zakaat (to pay) and the zakaat of the body is fasting." Ibn Majah

Think about this...

The Glorious Al-Quran nul-kareem has 6666 ayats. This holy month of Ramadhan has 29/30 days.
6666/30 ~ 222.

We pray 5 times a day.
222/5 ~ 44

If you read 44 ayats everytime after solat consistently, by the end of this month, we'd khatam the Quran insyaAllah. Anybody up to the challenge?

Or yet, picture it this way. There's 30 juz in the Quran. One juz is 20 pages long (the usual resam Uthmani). 20/5 = 4. Subhanallah, by just reading 4 pages each time after prayer, we can khatam the Quran by the end of this month.

InsyaAllah, let's strive together.

Hadith #4

"Whoever gives iftaar to one who is fasting will have a reward like his, without that detracting from the fasting person’s reward in the slightest.”
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 807; Ibn Maajah, 1746;

How absurd can they get?

I saw this sign board while waiting to use the bathroom at a gas station somewhere in Tenessee. How absurd can these boards get?

O. J strikes again?

The highly recognizable O.J. Simpson was named a suspect in a break-in involving sports memorabilia at Las Vegas casino late last night. Read the full story here.

His Wiki biography here.

I was more about 6 when I first heard of his name. He was the suspect of and tried for the murder of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1994. I remembered the case was so big, so highly publized, so long, and so talked about, that a foreign guy of my age then, even knew about it. It's even proclaimed as the 'Trial of the century'.

Way to go O. J!

Hadith #3

Narrated 'Aisha (the wife of the Prophet) Hamza bin 'Amr Al-Aslami asked the Prophet, "Should I fast while traveling?" The Prophet replied, "You may fast if you wish, and you may not fast if you wish." Sahih Bukhari

Hadith #2

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas, "Allah's Apostle was the most generous of all the people, and he used to reach the peak in generosity in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used to meet him every night of Ramadan to teach him the Qur'an. Allah's Apostle was the most generous person, even more generous than the strong uncontrollable wind (in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds)." Sahih Bukhari

Ramadhan Mubarak!!

Ramadhan Mubarak people!!

So, it's now officially Ramadhan. So I thought I would post a hadith or quran ayat regarding fasting everytime I come across one. Here's the first:

Narrated Anas bin Malik, "We used to travel with the Prophet and neither did the fasting persons criticize those who were not fasting, nor did those who were not fasting criticize the fasting ones." Sahih Bukhari

This is so not Malaysia like

So they make us believe that Malaysia is a peaceful country. Take a look at this. And this, and this.

Two civilians were badly wounded when they were shot with live bullets from a police officer. And Berita Harian's title on this incident '4 polis cedera rusuhan di Kuala Terengganu'. I mean, wth? They decide to highlight the fact that 4 police were very2 slightly injured, and not the fact that the police shot two people. Stones and bullets aren't two equally matched weapons. Of course, the one with the bullets would win. Kalau yer pon gian sangat nak tembak, gune peluru getah sudah, dah cukup sakit dah, takyah la kot gune peluru hidup.

Berita Harian continues, "Melihat keadaan yang semakin tegang, polis mengambil pendekatan berundur bagi mengelakkan perkara lebih buruk berlaku, tetapi keadaan itu diambil kesempatan oleh perusuh untuk memusnahkan harta benda awam termasuk mencabut pokok hiasan, pasu bunga dan lampu isyarat."

1. Any rationally minded person would choose peace over a war. If so the police really did retreat, I don't think anybody would want to go pick a fight with them, especially ones armed with live bullets. This is just BS.

2. There's no actual proof that the rioters were the ones doing all the damages to the 'harta awam'. Sure there are pictures all over of 'kemusnahan harta awam yg berlaku', but there aren't pictures of anybody doing it. For all we know, it might of been the police themselves doing this and blaming others.

This is just insanity.

Ramadhan is Nearing

Ramadhan is a week away, if not a week + a day. It's probably the most awaited month for all Muslims, and if not, it should be!

Will I be able to make it? Will you be able to make it? Waallahua'lam, but one thing for sure, let's prepare oursleves towards it. Let's greet it with open hands.

Ahlan wa sahlan ya Ramadhan!!

Another Update

A friend of mine showed me a site where I can generate hadith from for my blog. She has it on hers, so I decided to have one for my own. It's under the Me, Myself and I. It generates a new hadith every time you refresh the page. And what's nice is that most of the hadith are from Sahih Bukhari.

Enjoy!

Indian Traffic

And I thought traffic in Malaysia was a disaster already. Take a look at this:

Most Hilarious Family Guy Quotes

I believe everyone one of my friends would know I'm a Family Guy maniac. Well, I wouldn't call myself a maniac yet, but I really do enjoy watching the show. I should say, it's one of my top shows.
I can watch an episode 2-3 times and still laugh at the same joke. Their jokes are just phenomenon, LOL... They tickle me to the bone!

Here are some of the most hilarious quotes from Family Guy which I found on the net. People who don't follow Family Guy probably wouldn't get much of it though. Sorry.

Meg: I just want to kill myself I'm gonna go upstairs and eat a whole bowl of peanuts.
(Lois and Peter stare in silence)
Meg: I'm allergic to peanuts.
(Peter and Lois keep staring)
Meg: You dont know anything about me. (runs upstairs)
Peter: Who was that guy?

Bonnie: Somebody save him, he can't swim!
Peter: Oh, he's not even kicking. Kick Joe, kick.
Lois: Peter, he's a paraplegic!
Peter: That doesn't mean he can't hear. Kick Joe, kick!

Tom Tucker: A bit of breaking news. A local family is forced out of their home by ghosts. Who are they gonna call?
Diane Simmons (sighs): Ghostbusters, Tom.
Tom Tucker: No, Diane. Their insurance company. That's just stupid what you said.

Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'
Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.

(Peter has to come up with a fake name on the spot, so he looks around the room to get inspiration)
Peter Griffin: Uh... my name is...(he sees a pea)
Peter Griffin: Pea...
(he sees a woman crying)
Peter Griffin: ... tear...
(he sees a Griffin fly by)
Peter Griffin: ... Griffin. Peter Griffin

Peter: Sometimes it's appropriate to swear
(Peter is in court)
Bailiff: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god?
Peter: I do........You bastard

Owh, I could go all night long posting these quotes, so I better stop here before I get too carried away.

Little Becky

I was browsing through Irwan's blog and caught this really hilarious recording of Becky, an 8-year-old girl from Dublin, Ireland, making prank calls to almost everywhere possible.

The recording was so funny that I decided to search for more Becky prank calls and tada! Here they are:

22.78

I was reading through a pamplet earlier today and found this ayat from the Quran which I'd be more than happy to share with everyone out there. And, as you may have guessed, the ayat is from al-Hajj, ayat 78.And the translation:
And strive in GOD's way as you ought to strive. He has chosen you, and has not imposed any difficulties on your way of life, it is the way of your father, Abraham. It is He (God) who named you Muslims, both before (this) and in this (the Quran); that the messenger shall serve as a witness among you, and you shall serve as witnesses to humankind. Therefore, you shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and hold fast to GOD; He is your Gaurdian, the best Guardian and the best Helper.

May we take ikhtibar from this ayat and strive for Allah's way. InsyaAllah.

Selamat Ulang Tahun Kemerdekaan ke-50, MALAYSIA!!

And I quote, "Merdeka, merdeka, merdeka!!" - Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Alhaj, Dataran Merdeka, 31st August, 1957.

It's been 50 years now. 50 years of development, 50 years of prosperity, 50 years of peace (apart from 1969).

One way or another, Malaysia has went through a lot. And one might argue also that Malaysia is yet to develop to it's full potential. And I must say, it's true to every word. As long as there is hate, corruption, back stabbing and biting, racism, political instability, literacy, and all those other nonsense, Malaysia will never break out of the Third World cluster it finds itself in still. And as much as they want us to believe, Malaysia is no Islamic country.

But on this fine day, let's all hope and pray for the better of the country. Ameen.

The Death of Another Football Player

Another football player died earlier today (August 28), three days after collapsing on the field during a match. Sevilla's 22-year-old Antonio Puerta, had been in a critical condition in the Virgen del Rocio hospital in Seville since being admitted on Saturday.

The Spanish international was one of the most promosing youngsters.

So the Classes begin..

The title tells it all. Tomorrow classes of the 2007 fall semester kicks off. Good luck everybody, including myself, that is..

My thoughts on Sufism

First and foremost, I'm not here to condemn Sufism and what it believes, for I know, with the level of knowledge I have, I'm in no position to do so. My intention here is just to give an opinion about this issue. Sorry in advance should I offence anyone.

According to Wikipedia, however relevant it maybe, Sufism means: a mystic tradition within Islam and encompasses a diverse range of beliefs and practices dedicated to divine love and the cultivation of the heart.

I was reading a book entitled 'Kisah Rabi'ah Al- Adawiyah: Sufi Wanita & Aramo Cinta Ilahi', which was basically telling the story of the great woman Sufi follower, Rabi'ah Al- Adawiyah. Even though I haven't read even half of the book, there were some parts of the book that really caught my attention.

Part 1: Syah Ni'matullah (another sufi follower) when asked what mazhab he was following, replied (in a poetic manner). "Wahai orang lalai, mazhab ape yg mesti kupunyai? Aku punya mazhad dan ibadah tersendiri, jauh berbeza dari mazhab Syafi'i dan Abu Hanifah. Mereka semua menempuh jalan mereka sendiri, sementara aku menikuti jalan nenek moyangku". What? Following the way of your fore fathers?

And when it is said to them, "Come to what Allah has revealed and to the Messenger," they say, "Sufficient for us is that upon which we found our fathers." Even though their fathers knew nothing, nor were they guided? Al- Maidah: 104

Part 2: The fact that most Sufis don't marry (including Rabiah Al- Adawiyah). Fact is, Islam, unlike other religions is a strong advocate of marriage. The Prophet (pbuh) has said "there is no celibacy in Islam".

And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquillity in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought. Ar- Rum: 21

Part 3: According to the book, also, how relevant or not it maybe, at her prime, Rabi'ah forgot to love the prophets and condemn syaitan. In the book, Rasulullah came to her in her dream and asked her whether or not she loved him. She replied, " Wahai Rasulullah! Siapakah gerangan org yg tidak mencintaimu? Kecintaanku kpd Allah tidak memberi kalbu dah hatiku ruang utk mencintai segenap makhluk-Nya". Like, duh, everyone knows we're supposed to love the Rasul, and all beings as well.

Part 4: What's with the 'combine with Allah' stuff? A Sufis' desire is to achieve makrifat, a 'pertemuan dgn Allah'. And sometimes, according to the book, their love for Allah brings them to a thought that they can combine with Allah. Wow! I thought that was something from the Hindu teachings, moksha (if I'm not mistaken, do correct me if I'm wrong) where once you achieve this stage, you combine with God.

Waalahua'lam...

Another Blog Update

As you can see very2 clearly now, my blog has been further updated. Enjoy..

p/s: thanks kpd yg bertungkus lumus menjayakannye...

Of Allah's Mercy

In the Hadith Qudsi, there are lots and lots of hadith mentioning the greatness of Allah's forgiveness. He is, after all The Most Merciful. Here, I include one of them. This hadith was mentioned in today's Friday prayer khutbah.

"Allah the Almighty said: O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great at it." -narrated by at-Tirmidhi and al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

Again, Allah is Most Merciful. No matter what sin we do, Allah forgives. That is, of course, with the exceptence of ascribing a god other than Allah. Nauzubillah.

We run, we fall, we pick ourselves up, we dust ourselves off, and we continue running.

A Blog Update

In case any of you haven't noticed, and I'm sure many of you haven't, I've now put labels on my blog entries. I'll be having more updates to this blog, so readers, embrace yourselves. ehehe..

The Princess's Legacy Continues

I was going through ebay today and caught this very big auction they were having. Item of auction: Princess Diana Catherine Walker Designer Gown.


I was like, WOW! As of from the time I'm writing this post, there's still 18 hours of auction time. The starting price is $125000. I'm sure by tomorrow all those I-can-by-anything-I-want type of people will be rushing in trying to bid this lovely gown. And who knows what price it would be sold. I'll update later on that.

It's funny sometimes to think why people with so much money buy. I mean, heck, why buy these sorts of stuff? Is it just for the sake of buying? Because you don't have anything to buy? There's plenty of ways to spend money beneficially, not just buying gowns from somebody who's long gone. Sure some portion of the money gained from the gown would go to charity, but seriously, just how much is that portion?

Here's the link to the ebay auciton.

Materazzi Reveal WC slur

So finally, after about a year now, the disgraceful Italian has finally admitted to the world what he said to provoke the now retired legendary Zianadine Zidane into headbutting him during the 2006 World Cup. Here's a reminder of how it was like:


So I decided to combine what Zidane said he said and the latest of what Materazzi admitted he said during the match, and hey, it finally makes sence now. So probably this time Materazzi was telling the truth.

The story goes that Materazzi was tugging onto Zidane's shirt during the match and so Zidane said, "If you want this shirt, I'll give it to you,"

Probably feeling insulted by this, the Italian replied, "I prefer the whore that is your sister,"

Honestly, any brother would've done something hearing that statement. I know I would. And then again, I've always been a keen admirer of Zidane.

It's so HOT!!

Yup, truly, no kidding, it's so, so hot! The weather that is.

Temperatures are soaring up to a high of 40+ degrees Celsius everyday. It's just blazing hot. And compared to Malaysia, there's no humidity here. So no matter the heat, you don't sweat much here. Some people like it that way, other's like it when they sweat.

But one thing I know, I can't last long outdoors anymore. I rather be in the 'safety' of my apartment than go outside. The heat is just unbearable for me.

Adding to that, those who wish to enter their cars during the day time will have to have the skin to bear with the oven-like heat in the car. No kidding! Well, maybe the temperature isn't as high as in the oven, but frankly, you'd bake your butt once you put it in the seat. You'd fry your hands when you touch the steering wheel. And you sweat all over.

Surely the heat from the hell fire is thousands of times greater and stronger than what we're facing today. Already you can't take this heat, too unbearable you say. Imagine what's it like in the hell fire... So, let's prepare ourselves towards being better Muslims, and InsyaAllah gain Allah's mercy for the life in the hereafter. Ameen..

Youtube can make it happen!

Ever had a dream that you always wanted, and didn't know how to full fill it?

Why don't you try Youtube?!

I was impressed with the news about 18 year old dutch singer, Esmee Denters whose claim to fame came when she was signed by Justin Timberlake for a professional contract. How did she do it? Simple. Post lots and lots of videos of herself singing on Youtube. And boy I tell you, they were good! Try it, maybe someday your Timberlake would come, too! lol..

And then there's a story of this woman even finding her soul mate via youtube. I don't know what kind of video she had on youtube, but with that, she included her name and phone number. She got lots2 and lots of phone calls everyday, probably once every few minutes or so. And one of them was lucky enough to receive her hand in marriage. Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm not encouraging anyone to do this one. But if you're desperate enough, or just for the fun of it, why don't give it a go? lol, again..

This next story really got me though. And it happened just recent, too. First, check this out:


His name is Rhain Davis. The grandfather's kid sent Manchester United a DVD of him playing soccer, and the result? He was actually signed by the giants! But talents that Rhain disposes are just extraordinary. Simply brilliant, and scary, too! At 9 years old, he's already doing samba style step-overs, dazzling runs, flip flops, turn overs, and his sprints are just breath-taking! Mesmorizing! He's certainly the future of soccer. Good luck for him!

JPA in a crisis?

My friends under the JPA sponsorship haven't had their money yet, and it's already almost a week into August. They should've received the money back in late July. To add to that, they receive about $1200 every 3 months (if I'm not mistaken), meaning that they have to budget their spend to an average of ~$400 per month. For me, that's kinda hard to do.

We MARA students receive $400 every month. So, automatically, I limit my spend to below $400 a month. I mean, how the heck can I spend more? I don't know about the rest of you, but I certainly believe that getting $400 a month than getting a huge chunk of $1200 every 3 months is much better, budget planning wise.

And my ideas are supported by the fact that I currently find some of my JPA friends in a tight money situation. JPA's excuse of still not wiring the money? They haven't received their student's spring semester result. ANY. Meaning, they haven't sent money to any of their students in the whole US, not just Vandy. WOW, what an excuse.

I mean guys, come on. It's already August if you don't mind. Spring semester ended sometime in early May! How slow do they work down there? Unless....

Unless they don't even have money in the first place to give. Now that makes sence! I don't know the truth behind this, and heck, I'm under MARA. But ya..

What say you, JPA?

Asian Cup Going to the Arabs

I was rather surprised reading ESPNsoccernet the other day to find out that two Arab nations made it to the finals of the Asian Cup. Iraq beat South Korea 4-3 on penalties while Saudi Arabia enjoyed the thrill of beating defending champions, Japan, 3-2. Iraq were in their first Asian Cup final ever.

This years Cup, like all other soccer tournaments, had it's fair share of surprises. Along with Japan, and South Korea, Australia, making a debut performance in the Asian Cup after ditching Oceania, were fellow favourites to win the tournament also. They, however, bowed out even earlier to the hands of Japan in the quarter finals. Very disappointing, considering the players they have at their disposal. China, also another Asia soccer powerhouse, were left stunned some part earlier in the competition.

And don't even bother knowing how Malaysia did. As if being trashed 1-5 by China wasn't enough, Malaysia fell victim to another humiliating defeat, and this time around, 0-5 to Uzbekistan. Aduhai Malaysia...

A Thought to Ponder

We were getting ready for our orgo lab today and as usual, we had to go pray zohor first. We usual pray at the stair case at the back of the chemistry building which people don't use much especially in the summer. It's quiet and all, but since it had cement floor, it was rather dusty and smelly. Quite uncomfortable.

Today Qayyum opted to go pray at the front stair case which other than the elevator, was the main way to the labs. And sure a lot of people used it, which caused me to initially feel unease to pray there, infront of the public and all.

But then Sakina said, "Ape nak malu? Kite hanya menjalankan tuntutan agama je,"

It hit me right there and then. Ya, why should we be embarrassed to pray? Why should we be embarrassed to perform our duty towards our religion? Towards Allah? Heck, we should be proud! I prayed right away, of course, after that.

Well, that was just a thought to ponder..

When Nature Calls (Pt 2)

Ya, so i got a request to list down things that can be done to help save this world. Mind you, the list that I'm about to jot down here are things that can be done, and not things that I'm doing, to help save the earth. And mind you also, I'm not saying that I'm not doing these things at all, there are some that I'm capable of and I find easy to do, while there are a few which are just out of my reach.

Foremostly, there's recycling. With all the advertisements around, it's safe to say that everyone knows recycling, it's just a question of whether or not you do it. Sure I do recycling, sometimes. My bad. But this is not just about me, so everyone out there, meh la same2 kite berrecycle! And I don't think I have to mention what effect recycling has on saving the world, we're grown ups now, and things like these are just known to be. But heck, here's a link to recycle.com.

You can also go help replant trees in the forest, sure, help the earth one tree at a time. But for me, it's just one of those things I'm incapable of. I do love gardening though, if that counts.

Owh, in Malaysia, orang2 kampung just love to burn their trash. Sure it's easy, and a lot of fun, too. I used to enjoy it once (i just love playing with fire). But open fires are just too hazardous to the air. God knows what gases their passing out with each burn. So, orang2 kampung di Malaysia and to whom ever it may concern, if you're reading this, please stop open fire! Bahaya2.

And we can also use solar powered cars, but then again, for me, at least, it's also something I prefer not talk about for now.

I don't see myself driving one of those to Walmart.

Solar energy by itself can be considered too. We have plenty of it, and sure enough, insyaAllah, we'll have the sun for as long as we stay on this planet. Solar energy doesn't give out pollutents, and they're one of those reproduceble energy sourses. But ya, it's expensive.

And yeah, you can also go out to the world and personally tell them to stop polluting, and start saving the world. Plenty of people are doing it, take Al Gore for example. He seems to be having a lot of fun doing it, and good for him too. I went to his talks once and his devotion to help save the world, stop global warming to be exact, woke me out of my slumber and realise just how severe the Earth is now. But again, as of now, I don't see myself capable of doing something of Al Gore's standard. So, bare with me please.

I'm finding it kinda hard to find logical ways to help save the earth now. Probably due to the lack of myself doing it, and again, my bad. Probably it's because I just woke up from bed too. But as a student, recycling is merely all I can think of for now. Whatever it is, helping the world is a responsibility we have to carry out together. After all, man was brought upon this earth as caliphs.

A repeat of the Cho tragedy?

Innalillah Wa Ina Ilahhi Rajiun.

I just got word from my sister that a former student of my mother was killed two days ago in Egypt when another malay student ran amok.

Muhammad bin Ishak died due to severe injury to the neck, eye and head after being stabbed many times with 3 knives by another Malay student, beleived to be crazy. After being stabbed, Muhammad was able to run to the balcony of his apartment, alerting the arabs in the market below to come to his aid. The arabs arrested the suspect and sent the victim to hospital.
However, due to severe head wounds, he was unable to be saved.

This incident gave me a great sence of deja vu, reminding me of the Virginia Tech trajedy which happened just a few months back. The suspect in this incident was also believed to be suffering
mental problems and was usually left out by other students due to his problems

What grief and sarrow this incident has brought us, especially to the parents. Sending their child away was hard, receiving their jenazah is just unimaginable. Al-fatihah.

A hectic shedule

I'm taking organic chemistry now for my summer session. Yup, as hard as it may seem to swallow, I am indeed an orgo student for the summer. I'm now in my second week of the course. Hooray me!

Here's the overall schedule and what I have to deal with, week in, and week out.

Classes, lectures, starts everyday (Mon-Fri) at 10.10 until 12. Then, I have lab every Tues, Wed, and Thurs, from 1.10 till 5. Test are held on a weekly basis, on Mondays, and quizzes are given out every Tuesday and Friday.

See how hectic my schedule is now? My average day ends at 5 pm. And obviously, once my lab is finished, exhaust will have the better of me, and I'll be too tired to do anything much after that. And the fact that tests are on every Monday means I hardly have a weekend anymore! What a life I have to endure. And adding salt to the wound, I even think my lab TA doesn't even like me come to think of the way he's been treating me over the week. lol!

And the personal problems I've faced during all this? Nah, too much to even start with.

But, luckily, Alhamdulillah, I'm still breathing, and as hard as it may seem, life must go on, accepting all that come my way. Let's just think it as a way of Allah to test me and my shortcomings and hope that a better person would emerge after all this.

I was talking to my father last week and he reminded me of Rasulullah's hadith, "Value five things before five, youth before old age, health before sickness, wealth before poverty, leisure before preoccupation, and life before death." (Tirmizi).

Sure, leisure before preoccupation hits me smack in the face!

When Nature Calls

No, this is not about that Ace Ventura movie.

This is about the severe damage and suffering our planet Earth is enduring today.

Earth is of course in it's dying stages now. Just look at all the pollution, all the corruption, and all the natural disasters that cover the headlines of newspapers across the globe, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

With all those forests being burnt to the ground, with all those hazardous chemicals released to the air, with all those oil spills out at sea, with all those junk being wasted and with all those wild life endangered and extinct, earth will eventually, sooner or later, call it a day and say it's had enough. And research proved that it may be sooner, rather than later. Until when will we learn?

I remember my mom quoting something she heard in a lecture about the earth as an old person, forgetting things and what not. Come to think of it, that's a very good analogy. That's why it doesn't 'remember' that big floods naturally and usually happen in the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. Instead, it hits Johor. That's why it forgot to change weather gradually, instead, it decides to change the weather drastically. Today it may be sunny and all, but tomorrow, it may not. That's why it doesn't remember that earthquakes aren't supposed to happen everywhere, and so frequently too. And that's why it forgot that tsunamis used to be very rare disasters. These are all just some examples of earth as if it were forgetting how things were and used to be.

Thinking about the ozone alone would already give a majority of us a headache. Getting thinner and thinner each day because of radical compounds such as CFC, one would just hold his breath hoping it not to disappear completely. I mean, once the ozone is gone, modern technology is yet to find a way to get it back. We could try pumping huge amounts of O3's in the air, but then again, that would kill us all in the process, so that wouldn't be a great idea. Ground-level ozone is an air pollutant with harmful effects on the respiratory systems. As harmful ozone can be ground -level, take that very same substance and put it in the upper atmosphere, and you get a pure life saver. Ozone occupying that layer protects living organisms by preventing damaging ultraviolet light from reaching the Earth's surface. How great the creation of Allah. But yet, we choose to destroy it.

Nature is calling for our help. It has saved us for millions of years, providing us shelter, and we've gain plenty from it. Give it a hand. Isn't it time for us to help it in return?

Life after the finals

It's been only four days seen I finished my exams and yet, it feels as if weeks have already gone by. Time seems to be crawling by really, really slow. Literally speaking, I can even run faster than time. The reason: there's nothing much to do.

During school days, you would almost always be occupied with work, and there's always a place in your mind thinking about your academic. That's almost about everything that happens. And now that school's over, my mind has been stripped of it's academic thinking and I don't even know what to do anymore.

Sure there's gonna be the anual Midwest games at the end of this month. And after that, the vocally planned trip to New York. But what do I do before that? What do I do before the daily vollyball training I have to endure at 3 pm? My friend previously said that she doesn't have her day planned ahead of her anymore. I couldn't agree more. Mine is basically the same. I'm accepting life as it comes every minute, just taking what ever comes my way.

It's in the human nature to be ungrateful of what they have, and always wanting something else. Once they do get that something else, they would think back and just want back their prvious things. During the semester, I was always wanting a good little break. And now that I have one, I feel a little work would be just fine right now. This nature I mentioned would continue as a cycle and will only stop when man learns to be grateful.

Done with the finals and enjoying my life

The title says it all.

Heroes of Hollywood vs heroes of real life

There's a big difference between the two.

You see, heroes of Hollywood are always handsome, young, strong men. In real life, heroes can range from people 76 years of age, to men in their early 20s. And they don't have to be handsome too.

Heroes of Hollywood hardly die at the end of the show. There's probably only a handful of those who did. These Hollywood action movie figures can duck under bullets, run through burning buildings, escape explosions, fight 10 people at one time (and win also), and so, so much more. In real life, most heroes don't live to see their success, and dodging bullets? - don't be kidding me!

And of course, at the end of the show, Hollywood heroes always end up with a beautiful girlfriend. In real life? Nah!

As we mourn the death of the 32 innocent people who died in Monday's Virginia Tech Massacre, we should honor and never forget those who died as heroes that day.

Waleed Shaalan. On the day of the shooting, Allahyarham was sitting in the front row of the lecture room when the gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, entered and opened fire. Br. Waleed was wounded from a shot and laid beside another student who was not shot, but played dead. The gunman re-entered the classroom for the second time to check for survivors. Upon approaching the unshot student, Waleed purposely made a movement to distract Cho and was shot a second time and died. The student believed that Br. Shaalan purposefully distracted the shooter to save him. May Allah bless him, place him with those who died shaheed and grant him eternal peace in Jannah. Ameen.

Professor Liviu Librescu. The professor threw himself in front of the shooter and shouted for his students to run. He was able to prevent the gunman from entering the classroom until his students had escaped through the windows. Librescu was struck 5 times. Many of his students claimed that their lives were saved because of him.

Both were very courageous men. They died so others could breathe another day. They did what others wouldn't even imagine of doing. These men, died as true heroes.

It may seem too much a movie. Like one of those Hollywood action movies you watch on television. But no, these incidents truly happened. And two men did die as heroes. After all, this is America. Things of similar situations happen every once in a while. Even Vandy has had it's share of crime. Shootings, rape, theft, and robbery. This is just what makes America, America.

In loving remembrance of brother Waleed Shaalan who died courageously. Ina Lillahi wa ina Ilayhi rajeoon. We ask Allah to forgive Waleed all his sins and grant him paradise. Ameen.

Please donate to support the family of Br. Waleed Shaalan at: http://www.msanational.org/finance/vt07donate.html

A Blog About Blogs

I've been in Nashville for two years now (well, almost). And if it's one thing that I find almost every overseas based Malaysian student have in common is the fact that they have blogs. Including me.

Now we may have blogs for different reasons, and for some, probably even had them back in Malaysia. I had mine here in Nashville over a year ago. My father was the one who encouraged me to start one. He told me that it would enhance my English skills. And true enough, I do feel that I'm getting better and better over time. Bukan nak perasan di sini yer, so don't get me wrong.

Here's the deal. When you blog, you would of course want to write things that others would care to read about, which are interesting things, to start with. What's the point of writing if there's no one to share it with? (That's unless you want to keep a personal, diary like blog.)

To know what people want to read, you yourself have to start reading. That's where the education process starts. But then again, reading alone won't do you much good if you don't act upon of what you've learnt. 'Ilmu tanpa amal ibarat pohon rendang tanpa buah,' that's a quote I've heard of the years, or it goes somewhat of that manner. So why not blog what you've learnt? Not only can you exercise your thoughts and knowledge, you can share it with others. And the fun part is when you can add your own spice to it. And it really is fun, no kidding!

So, if blogging is really this good, why not everyone blog? I don't know about you guys, but most of my friends in Malaysia just don't blog. Why is that the case? Shouldn't they be learning English to? What better way is there to make you read tons, practice what you've read, twist it to your flavour and then share it with others, other than by blogging? Well, I don't know.

Giving free condoms? -What next, my beloved Malaysia?

I love Malaysia, really, no kidding. I was born there, spent more than half my life there and my family and friends are there. So, there shouldn't be much doubt of my love for this country.

The government of Malaysia? Me no like!! They've done many things which I think aren't appropriate and not for the good of the country.

I wass shocked when I read the news about the idea of giving away free condoms to drug addicts.

'PROGRAM kerajaan memberi jarum suntikan dan kondom percuma kepada penagih berniat ikhlas membendung penularan penyakit berjangkit seperti HIV/Aids dan tidak wajar dituduh sebagai amalan bersubahat menghalalkan perlakuan zina. '

You make me laugh! There's lots of ways to prevent HIV from spreading. And you don't have to go to the extent of distributing free condoms. You give away free condoms, and they'll give you a whole new dimension of social problems.

And then, if HIV just don't stop spreading, what's next in line?

Nashville's Bizarre weather

It was sunny, hot and all three days ago. The temperature was always in the 20's. It's been that way for about of month. I mean, what would you expect, being in Nashville in the middle of spring. What other weather would there be this time around?

But then, there was this tornado warning two nights ago and everything just changed after that. All of a sudden, it was as if it was winter again. People where pulling their jackets again, wearing gloves, and having scarves around their necks. And things really got off the hook when it started to snow today! April = snow? The equation doesn't really go, well at least at this part of the world.

So what's gone wrong with the world?

In this Hypocritical World that We Live In

The Earth that we live in, as we all may have realized time and time again, are full of hypocrites. I'm not saying there aren't any nice people around anymore, it's just that, in this modern age, these hypocrites are the ones stealing all the limelight at the moment. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not pointing fingers at anybody, and I'm not denying myself of being one in the past, in the present and in the future (nauzubillah). But I do believe that, being the weak human beings that we are, or unless we're very2 pious saint's, everyone of us has the potential of becoming one, if not one already, directly or indirectly, whether we realise it or not.

Just to clear any doubtful minds out there, if so happens to be any, here's the definition of the word hypocrite:
a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

Hypocrites are not a new phenomena. They've been around for ages. They were there during the time of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH. A Jew by the name, Abdullah bin Ubayy, was one of them, or to be more precise, like the chief of the group. He was the one that brought the slanders upon Aisyah r.a. telling people lies about the Prophet's wife to an extent that even some of the Muslims started to believe it. The guy claimed to be a Muslim, did the things that a Muslim would do in front of others, but his whole life, Abdullah devoted in tearing apart the Muslim Ummah of his time. But of course his efforts came to no avail eventually when Allah SWT revealed:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ جَآءُوا بِالإِفْكِ عُصْبَةٌ مِّنْكُمْ

-Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you.

And certainly, hypocrites didn't vanish with the death of Abdullah bin Ubayy. There were of course, more to come. In this modern age, they're everywhere. Most world leaders, not surprisingly, are hypocrites. Come on, do you honestly think that these people could rise and be so powerful if they weren't? Take the UN for instance. These people have had countless delegations over the past century to stop world poverty, hunger, child labour, and what not. Do you see these problems ever stopping? NO! All these people probably ever do week in and week out is sit in large circles, talk crap, and once they get hungry, feed their appetite with unbelievably expensive food. They talk about stopping world hunger, when they themselves can't even give up one meal to feed thousands.

And the war in Iraq? Don't even mention that one! The US call it Operation Iraqi freedom, I say Operation Iraqi Bullshit. Sorry for the language. They obviously have other intentions than just freeing Iraq. They would of left Iraq ages ago if they really wanted to free Iraq. They would've let the Iraqi people choose their own government, not a puppet that of which they could pull it's strings. If they really wanted to free Iraq, they should of left Iraq alone!

In this hypocritical world that we live in, they have this thing called a war against terrorism. My verdict: another crusade. Each and every Muslim who has the guts to go against them are called terrorist. And then they declare war against them. As simple as that! In their quest for one man, they kill thousands, innocent lives that is. On the event of 9/11, as they call it, an entire nation of Afghanistan is destroyed in their search for the masterminds of the attack, Osama Laden and his group of Al-Qaeda. They'll stop at nothing to halt this Muslim terrorist group.

Then again, you must come to think: What about the Oklahoma City bombing incident? Right away after the incident they claimed it was done by Muslim terrorist (as usual). The funny part was the fact that this CIA guy even claimed to witness a few Arab men wearing white robes speeding off in a car towards Mexico right after the bombing. Ya right. What? You wouldn't be wearing robes to do an attack would you? And how did this CIA guy know the car was speeding towards Mexico? There's no road in Oklahoma which leads directly to there! And when they finally got this Timothy McVeigh (the convicted), they didn't go about declaring war on a Christian nation to stop Christian terrorist. Don't tell me there aren't any out there!

Ku Klux Clan? They've been terrorising African-Americans back then but aren't labelled as a terrorist group. Why is that?

And what's with Israel? Israel kill Palestine = an act of defence. Palestine kill Israel = an act of violence, terrorist. Get my view? Why can't it at least be labelled the same?

Not to forget the countries who claim themselves as an Islamic nation. Ohhh, you can't fool me!!

It would take me ages to give out all the examples of hypocrisy and corruption in this world today. As Sheik Yusuf Estes puts it out so rightfully when asked how could the world operate in the right way: Change all world leaders!!