There is Crude Oil Under the Land of Palestine

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 So this is a little out of date, but the Palestinian issue is not.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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Special Instincts

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

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

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

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

My Hudaibiya

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pop Music vs The Quran (II)

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

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

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

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

and i almost always prefer the Quran than pop music.

Pop Music vs The Quran

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

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

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

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

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

Welcome

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

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

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

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

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

Noah's Ark

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I Dream of Khairy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Societal God

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

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

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

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