Ever Continuation of Discrimination

Discrimination has been in existence for so long, all over the world. Even during the great Islamic Empires, there were traces of discrimination, where as some Arabs believed themselves to be more superior than non-Arabs. Then there's always the African-American conflict during the early 20th century and the Apartheid in South Africa. In Malaysia, whether it be Malays, Chinese, Indias, Bumi's and non-Bumi's are all discriminating against one another.

Recently I was shown by a friend news regarding this one Muslim student track runner who was disqualified from a meet. The reason: Her custom-made outfit she wears to conform to her Muslim faith violated competition rules. Fuh... Fact is, she has been wearing that same uniform 'for three seasons while running for Theodore Roosevelt's cross-country and track teams. '

'Meet director Tom Rogers said Kelly's uniform violated rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations, which sanctioned the event. Uniforms are required to be "a single-solid color and unadorned, except for a single school name or insignia no more than 2 1/4 inches," he said.'

Read more of this nonsense here.

More recently, we Malays in Vanderbilt were about to play a game of volleyball at the rec center last weekend. So we waited until one of the courts were cleared of people playing basketball and then set up the net. Upon setting up the net, another group of Americans came to the court and asked us whether we had the court reserved. We said no. But since we were there first, common sense says we get to play first. And so the Americans obliged. But then came along this janitor, mind you, a JANITOR, and for some reason he thought he had authority to tell us to leave because the 2nd court (which we were about to use) was given priority to those who wants to play basketball.

We didn't budge without a fight. So this janitor took us to see the lady at the front desk and another big fuss erupted. But being tolerant as we are, we gave in and left the court. She then mentioned that the third court was prioritized for sports other than basketball.

For crying out loud, for all I could remember, we've always been fussing with the rec officials regarding what court to use. A few months back, I remember the same rules regarding the courts usage were applied. Then later, the same lady worker (if I'm not mistaken) said first come first serve. That was when we had an issue with some Chinese who wanted to play basketball. Then now, when some Americans want to play basketball, the rules are changed again.

So from what I understand, for disputes involving asian-asian the rules that apply are first come first serve. For asian-americans, the rules are the first two courts are for basketball and the third one is for other sports.

Fact is, we've never asked others to leave courts, whether it be the first, second or third court. We've always waited until they finish whatever their playing before we take over. That's how it should actually be.

And in Prophet Muhammad's final sermon, he said," All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over a white - except by piety and good action."

Let us all learn from this.

Me and my life so far

Ok, first and foremost, this is not about me being narcissist. I figured out of the billions of people out there, there should be some who would be interested with my whereabouts and so, my family for instance.

Well, tomorrow marks the second full week of class. I'm now in my junior spring semester. I have more less than a year and a half to graduate and get my CGPA up. Classes are getting tougher and tougher everyday. If Prof Jennings was out of this world hard, Prof Laibinis was even harder. Just unbelievable. But as of the second week, Alhamdulillah, I'm still hanging in there.

Other than that, I'm now working in the science and engineering library down in SC. It's quite a good experience. Basically, I check in check out books, shelve books, and fetch books from the central library. BOOKS, BOOKS, and more BOOKS. Five hours a week. The pay is quite good though.

And finally, I'm planning to go back to Malaysia in May. Early May. Which means, I would miss the senior commencement day, and more, the Midwest games. It's quite a bummer, since the games would be held in near Carbondale, merely over a three hour drive from here. But heck, what could be better than going back to Malaysia?

That's about it. Till whenever I update again, wassalam!!

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)!