Reality and Fantasy

Assalammualaikum...
Well, hanis... here comes my post!!
hahaha... *wink*


To kick start this post, i'll juz tell one fact: i went to a leadership camp held by IMU Muslim Society during last weekend (24-27 apr) in Sg Tekala.

Though we got lost during our journey there, it certainly didnt dampen my spirit to have fun during the camp. Oooh.. i wasnt suppose to have the intention to hv fun there, i was supposed to learn new things there..

Anyway, the camp was a beneficial one. It successfully cut me off from the reality for 2 days and just be with my friends, strengthening the bonds with them. One of the activity i suprisingly enjoyed the most was the night walk. We were brought deep into the jungle at night, in the dark without torchlights, to let us test ourselves on how much we depend on Allah.

That was my first time doing a night walk, although i joined a lot of camps before, i somehow skipped the "night walk" session because i fell ill, or some other reasons. I was brought into the forest, and then left alone for some time. I was told to remember Allah (zikir), and read verses of the Quran. That was the one time i spent my time and dedicated my heart only for reciting verses of the Quran and zikir. during the sharing session after the night walk, i wanted to speak out, and share my experiences with the others but somehow i didnt do it.

Of course, another fun activity will be playing in the river!! i learnt a lot of new games from my friends and we played for hours in the river. I can only blame myself for the flu i'm having now. Haha...


One of the activities were talks on Palestine which unfortunately i missed as i went back to IMU sending my sick friend back. The other talk was on the world today. How we were programmed
to live the way some forces want us to live. i have juz finished reading "Jerusalem in The Quran" by Imran N Hosein and it was a mind-opening book. It explains the situation the world is facing now, the riba that is dominating almost everybody now, and also the conquer of Jerusalem by Israel.

Inter-Faith Forum; Science And Religion

Assalammualaikum.
Ok, as i told earlier, i went to an interfaith forum.
The topic of discussion was whether religion and science conflicts with each other or not.

The speaker representing Islam was Mr Shah Kirit (one of my fav), Uncle Vijaya representing Buddhism, Dr Living Lee representing Christianity while Prof (i'm truly sorry i cant remember the name, pls do inform me if u know the name) representing Hinduism.

Towards the end of the forum, the moderator asked if the member of the floor have any question. And since the beginning of the forum, i had been wanting to ask but i dared not.
At last i plucked my courage and stood up to ask the questions that had been disturbing my mind.

One of my drawback is my stage-fright-ness... It may be surprising for some, but i cant deny the fact that i'll start to shake whenever i'm supposed to talk in public. My sympathetic nervous system is very efficient in conveying the tiniest, deepest feeling in my heart, that i'm afraid. The fear somehow gets amplified and was shown to everybody everytime i talk in public. The microphone i'm holding, or any paper i'm holding will also vibrate with my fingers. Combined with the fact that the hall was very very freezing-ly cold, my fingers were numb and i cant even move my fingers synchronisingly. I was shaking because of cold + nervous-ness... And i am upset with it.

Anyway, that is not what i want to draw my readers' attention to. The major issue here is the questions i asked.

1. Do the Christians, Buddhist and Hindus agree or not with Darwin Theory of Evolution? If no, why then is the theory still circulating even years after it was introduced? Does that mean there are more Atheist than people of religion now?

2. Premarital sex and gays were not accepted by the society since early history. But now as science advances, we know preventions can be taken to avoid the STDs. So, should religion changes and accept this immoral act? (This question was for Uncle Vijaya, the Buddhist representative because earlier he mentioned abt religion having to change from its dogma to suit modern science)

Perhaps it was partly my fault that my nervous-ness somehow overshadowed my questions that the speakers did not catch what i really wanted to say.

The Muslim speaker said Islam do not accept theory, only scientific facts based on proofs.

The Christian speaker said it's rubbish that ppl denies the existence of God.

The Hindu speaker somehow agrees with the evolution (i think that's what he said). And he added, where we come from is not important. What important is where we ended.

The Buddhist speaker's answer wasnt very clear. But he said not only where we ended is important, but how we live now is more important than where we came from. So, live now (at least that was what he said)

For the 2nd question, Uncle Vijaya said religion does not have to change to accept these immoral act but rather it's ok if it is beneficial for u and me.
I really wanted to ask more, "does that mean religion cant accept free sex because the act transmits STDs around the world, but if free SAFE sex is applied, religion permits it? It doesnt harm u and me."
But since there was lack of time, the question was never asked.

From the little and limited knowledge i have, i know that Muslims believe that Adam was the first human in the world. He was sent down to Earth as a HUMAN. Not merely a single cell that somehow evolved randomly and became what we are now. Hence, this itself denies the theory of evolution completely. Christians will have the more or less same opinion, if not exactly the same.

But i really do not know what a Buddhist or a Hindu think of this theory of evolution. Where living beings actually came from a single cell.

Anybody will like to give any thought?
Or perhaps can join in this debate in another blog.

Still Thinking....

Assalammualaikum...

I think i'll be changing my blog layout again..
Eheh...
Later today insyaAllah...
Btw, i'll be attending Inter-Religious Forum in IMU today...

The Wall

Assalammualaikum...

I'm so very sorry for this terribly late post.

I promised to write a post on the wall built in Palestin by the Zionist in one of my post before this.

But due to tests of life which some I failed, and some I passed, i had been delaying to write abt the wall. (This is just another sentence to replace "I was busy doing some other things" =P )

So, here it goes....

The Israeli government starting building a wall in June 2002 "across its border" to "prevent intifada (uprising of the Palestinian martyrs)" and "to protect the Israellites from Palestinian suicide bombers".

But in reality, the wall is none the less an apartheid wall which had deprived Palestinians from their daily needs.

The Palestinians experienced loss of land, water and destruction of community and personal property. It is very difficult if not impossible for the Palestinians to travel to work, to get healthcare, or even to visit their relatives with the presence of the wall blocking their way.

The Israeli government raze land, destroys shops, homes and infrastuructures in the areas where they built the wall. The wall, which had always being referred to as only "fence" cost 12million NIS or 2.8 million USD per km is a clear proof that the Zionist is stealing Palestinian land and is clearly a "tool" for the Israeli government to confiscate Palestinian land for future settlement expansion.

The wall went deep into the cities of Palestine, separating Palestinians form their farms, schools, and families. The apartheid wall even circled some cities entirely.

The wall is not only a concrete wall, but at some parts even come with electronic ground, thermal imaging, censors etc to ensure there wont be any risk of intifada.

Being as tall as 6-24 feet high, the building of the wall is clearly an act which abuses the humanitarian right.

I attached here a very good video, filled with facts of the wall, how the wall penetrates the Palestinian land physically and the lives of the Palestinian.

Source:

1. Very interesting video from youtube. Free Palestine - The Israeli Apartheid Wall
   
2. BBC News - Parties split on barrier ruling
3. Palestine - Home of History
4. The Electronic Intifada
5. Asianews.it - The Wall and Its History (Timeline)
6. World Declaration (Declaring The Wall is Illegal)
7. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) Press Release - (Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory)

Thanks to Global Observer for the useful links. =)

Who's in Control?

Salam.
Well, i had my Behavioural Science lecture this morning, regarding Personality..

There is an aspect of personality called "Locus of Control".
It basically means who or where someone put the control, responsibility and choice for the events in their lives.
And there are 2 locus of control; externally and internally.

External Locus of Control

This is when the person always "leave everything to destiny".
For example:

• "If i am destined to get cancer, whatever i do, i'll still get cancer. But if i'm not destined to get cancer, no matter what i did, i wont get cancer. So, what's the purpose of taking care of myself?

• "If i am destined to marry him@her, no matter how i ran from him@her, i'll still end up marrying him @ her"

Internal Locus of Control

This is exhibited by those who believes they have full control over themselves.
For example:

• "If i say i want to get all As for my A Level exams, and get into the Dean's list during my degree program, i'm going to get it provided i'm doing all the revisions i can"

The lecturer mentioned something about religion or personal belief which, in many ways affect someone's locus of control. Someone who is religious might fall into the first category, the external locus of control because the person believes that God is the controller of everything. As a human being, he had no control over his own life. It's all destined.

But that was only what the lecturer said.

I don't have to really agree, must i?

As a muslim, i put myself under Allah's control.
He set everything for me.
It's all written in my destiny on whatever is going to happen in my life.
Whether this post is going to get published, or being kept only as draft, he knew, and he decides.
But that doesnt mean i don't have to do anything for myself.
Why?
Because i will never know what is destined for me before i go through it.
I will never know if i am destined to meet someone this evening until i met that person.

Verily! Never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with their own souls). But when (once) Allah willeth a people's punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will they find, besides Him, any to protect. [The Holy Quran. 13;11]

It's even written in the Quran that Allah will not change the condition of somebody unless they change it themselves first.

Allah will not prevent cancer from striking somebody until they try to prevent it themselves first.

Allah will not prevent a driver from hitting the back of another car before the driver pressed the brake himself first.

Allah will not give us good lives, good families unless we try to set up our own ways to live first.

Allah will not allow me to get good grades in exams unless i studied hard first.

So, who's the controller now?
This examples show that we are the controller...
How come i can say that Muslims believe Allah is the controller?

Well, for an example,

I studied very very hard, and smart for my upcoming exam.
With this effort of mine, i am sure i can get good grades.
That's an example of me controlling my own effort.
But suddenly, i fell sick on the examination day.
Terribly ill that i cant even focus on the questions.
So, who is in control now?

Or perhaps, a worse case.
Something happened to any of my family members that i couldnt come for the exam.
Is that still under my control?

Hurm...

Destiny is placed at the end of one's effort.

MALAYSIA NEEDS TO PUBLISH 27,000 BOOK TITLES A YEAR

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has to publish 27,000 book titles for general reading annually to become a knowledgeable developed nation and be on par with other developed countries, Malaysian Book Contractors Association president Hasan Hamzah said.

He said this being that in countries like Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden and Germany, the ratio was 1,000 book titles to one million population.

"Hence, Malaysia has to publish 27,000 book titles for its 27 million population a year, " he said, adding that such an effort would require an allocation of about RM300 million.

Hasan said Malaysia currently published only 10,000 book titles every year, which is still very far behind from that in other developed countries.

Most of the books found in Malaysia were imported ones, despite the country having many local intellectuals, including about 350,000 teachers and more than 40,000 lecturers or professors, who were capable of producing books for general reading, he added.

However, he said it was not because there were not many locally-published books that reading was not a habit among Malaysians.

"Actually, our society loves knowledge and they like to read. It is because the books are expensive to buy," he added.

Hasan said that for a book to be sold cheap, a publisher had to print at least 3,000 copies for each book title a year.

There would be an increase in demand for general books with support from the government through provision of special allocations for publication of books for general reading, he added.

Source: Yahoo News.

Akmar says:

As someone who loves to read and have been exposed to books and libraries since i was a little girl, as small as 4, 5 yrs old, i pretty much agree that Malaysian intellectuals need to produce more books for the development of the country. 

On the price comment, i'd say that Malay novels are not so expensive compared to imported English novels. Eg, a Malay novel will cost abt RM20 while an imported English novel is about RM50. But children literature is very undeveloped. Children books are always expensive because they come with illustration, colour and sometimes hardcover. 

But, i'm also surprised lately as i came across a lot of new books by local authors such as books on Palestine, Hamas, Iskandar Zulkarnain etc, which actually really grabbed my attention and interest.

Anyway, enough of giving my comment on the news extract, i need to get back to what i'm supposed to do now: my spinal cord injury research, and my post on the wall built by the Zionist to reduce the population of the Palestinians.

Palestine- Where it all started...

Assalammualaikum wbt and good day..

Ever wonder what is so special about Palestine @ Jerusalem?

Why are the Arabs and the Jew fighting over it?

Why is Palestine becoming the headlines now?

Isn't war everywhere?

Let's spend some time reading this. I did my own research, and composed this post myself. So, any mistakes in the facts etc, pls do inform me. Thanks!

The History

Jerusalem was once ruled by King David (Nabi Daud) and succedeed by his son, King Solomon (Nabi Sulaiman). During the era of these 2 kings, the world was ruled by the Jews. Both David and Solomon are Jews. It can be said that during this period of time, Jews conquered the world. This is what exactly the modern days Jews trying to do. They are trying to bring back the empire of David and Solomon. Don't be surprised if Israel is going to replace US as the "power of the world"...

Some time (i'm sorry i dont know the exact duration) after that, the Romans conquered Jerusalem. Starting from here, there were a lot of wars in Jerusalem. The Jews tried to get Jerusalem back, the Romans recaptured Jerusalem and so on and so forth...

Then, the Jews managed to get Jerusalem back under their rule, but it didnt last long. The Romans got Jerusalem back, and as a punishment, the Romans banned Jews from entering Jerusalem. This is the starting point where the Jews lost their country. There were no Israel country starting from the ban until 1948, which is 61 yrs back. The Romans changed the name from Jerusalem to Palestine in order to de-judaise Jerusalem. (pls note that P-A-L-E-S-T-I-N-E is not the Romans spelling, they spell it differently)

In the year 634 (some articles say 637), which is around 1,375 years back, Khalifah Umar Al Khattab, the second khalifah of Khulafa Al-Rasyidin conquered Jerusalem. He went into Palestine personally to receive its submission. Khalifah Umar permitted the Jews to come back to Jerusalem and stay there with the Muslims. He also guaranteed the safety of the non-Muslims under Muslim's rule.

Around 460 years later; in 1099, Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders who massacred the Jews and Muslims. Akmar says: pity, pity.... cruel, cruel...

In 1187, 88 years after the Crusade war (882 years ago), a Muslim hero named Sultan Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi recaptured Jerusalem from the crusaders. Sultan Salahuddin was a very renowned and respected king among all other excellent kings of Muslim Caliphates. He was looked upon as the most powerful head of a considerable part of the Muslim world. Akmar says: Will the world now get a chance to see another Sultan Salahuddin Al Ayyubi that will unite the Muslims of the world? We can't be pointing each other forever. Muslimins! Point to urself 1st before to other ppl..

In 1517, 330 years after Salahuddin, Jerusalem was taken over by the Ottoman empire (Empayar Turki Uthmaniyah).

After 400 years being ruled by Muslim Caliphates, in 1917, British Army conquered Jerusalem which is 92 years ago. On 3rd March 1924, the Ottoman Caliphate was dissolved. And there goes the end of Muslim rule. There are no more Khalifah of the Muslims following the abolition 85 years ago.

British Mandate was extablished in 1920. I'd say that the simplest thing can be said regarding this mandate is that Jerusalem is under British's control. Akmar says: Sad....

28 years later, in 1948 Israel declared its own independence in a SECRET CEREMONY, click here to read abt the ceremony. Soon after the declaration, Iceland and Guatemala are some of the few countries that recognized State of Israel. The supposedly Israel should be a very small country, a neighbour of Palestine.

The Arabs were upset of the secret independence thus troops were sent from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, which started the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The war officially ended on 24 July 1949 after abt 1 year. The Israellites won the war, which forces the Arabs to be contented with the new imaginary country. Until now, Iran does not have any diplomatic relation with Israel. Akmar says: Go go go Iran!

Now, in 2009, Israel occupied more than half of Palestine lands, illegally and cruelly. Not only that, they built wall to reduce the population of the Palestinians and prevent any uprising of the Palestinians. I'll talk abt the wall in my next post. It's getting late now and i need to sleep or i'll sleep during lectures tomorrow...

So, take your own time to digest the facts i juz poured to you and think if whatever happening now is correct or not, and what is your role in the world now. I believe we are here not only to study, excel, work, have family, and die. We have bigger responsibilities than that... =)

Good night!