Random notes during ESQ

I attended ESQ training last weekend. Initially I refused my friend’s invitation since I want to join another program in MMU. But all praises to Allah for His Guidance & TQ for those who managed to ‘catch me’ to get into this.

These are just arbitrary notes on various issues that came to my mind during 2 days training. I did some jottings, went home and did some readings.


1. ESQ that I know

“A developed country is where one can find skyscrapers like twin towers; gorgeous bridge which is laid out between its island & mainland, plus a state which could hold a world class F1 racing. Furthermore its fellow countrymen can conquer the highest peak of Himalaya, cruise around the world in a yacht and beat the cold English channel…Malaysia Boleh!!.”

(see Millennium Malay by D.Ruse)

a. If the above is the yardstick for a greatness of a nation, one can consider it as being too materialistic. Worthless a country which demonstrates its wealth in the form of stunning solid inanimate structures but at the same time has a high rate of crime & suicide cases!!

b. Pyramids are great structures. But do pharaohs remain till today? If no, why?

c. Thus in every walks of life, spiritual should prevail physical without neglecting the latter. That is what ESQ is all about, but of course with a well-organized modules & astounding audio video presentation which will definitely give an impact to those who witnessed. Insya Allah.

2. Persepsi

a. Knowledge can be acquired from anybody no matter whom you are and or who he is. Sounds knowledge can increase one’s faith to Allah. In contrast, persepsi leads to paranoid & parochialism, hindering a person from getting the truth.

“Ada orang yang bersembang pada malam hari tentang jin & afrit, kemudian dia berjalan pulang kerumahnya. Sekiranya jalan yang dia laluinya sunyi dan gelap, dia sendiri penakut dan banyak berkhayal, dia akan melihat jin dan afrit di hadapannya. Dia akan melihat & merasai bahawa ia benar-benar wujud sedangkan di sana tidak ada sesuatupun. “

(Islam yang Semestinya Difahami; Ali at-Thontowi)

3. So empty your glass…



a. The parable of an open minded person who could listen & digest new info is just like an empty glass which can contains water. On the other hand, a glass full of water (bajet pandai) can’t accept any more & while a covered glass (closed minded) spills the water all over the place. In both cases buang maso jo!



4. Islam; Science & Freedom

a. One of the best presentations during the training was about the creation of the universe. Trainer with his expressive talking equipped with beautiful animation & powerful PA system managed to capture my heart. He presented various ideas the universe and its creation; Plato, Copernicus, Galileo, Einstein, Hubble and Hawkins. Amazingly Quran revealed in the year 600 was far more advance than Plato (d. 347) and even Copernicus (d. 1543). It is parallel with Hubble’s theory on expanding universe. This was later echoed by the Nobel Prize winner in physics 2006.

b. Copernicus was the first to suggest that Sun is at the centre of the Universe (heliocentrism) this was then followed by Galileo. The latter was condemned by the churches & was placed under house arrest then.

c. Darwin faced the same treatment from the church for his epoch-making On the Origin of Species. Hans Kung, a reputable theologian writes:

“Treatment of the Darwin case in the Catholic Church was assymptomatic
as that of Galileo…..In Roman Catholicism in subsequent decades, instead of serious scientific grappling with the completely new problems that had emerged, there were many acts of repression & inquisition. Under Pope Pius X (1903-14) theological deviants were intimidated, discriminated against as “modernists”, compelled to withdraw their books, and even deposed and silenced”

(The Beginning of All Things; Science & Religion, Hans Kung)

d. The point here is not to support helocentrism or Darwinism, but rather to elucidate to you that people may react adversely to new ideas. Prophet pbuh was boycotted by the Pagans for 3 years. Muslims were confined within a restricted area. No trades to be dealt with them because they called for Oneness of God which was in opposition to the mainstream Meccan’s customs & believes.

e. The solution is to understand the issue & tackle it with dialogue and not primarily with force. Banning on books & detention without trial is the practice of Jahilliyah. It’s now happening in Muslim country and Muslim organization.




5. Tuhan (ilmu-Nya) lebih dekat dari urat mareh..

a. Ternyata modul ESQ boleh membuat seseorang menangis, bahkan mungkin kesemua peserta; at least sekali. Di dalam bilik yang gelap, para peserta diajak menhayati kisah yang disampaikan berlatar belakangkan lagu instrumental. Saya secara jujurnya, sudah lama tak menangis tapi hari itu aku berjaya untuk menitiskan air mata.

b. Walaubagaimanpun, saya memilih untuk tidak bersetuju dengan sesetengah cara perlaksanaannya . Antara lain, sewaktu trainer berteriak kuat dihadapan hati yang tadi sedih dan sayu, tiba-tiba menjadi kacau & hilang fokus. Sekalipun dia berniat ikhlas untuk membuatkan hati bergetar, menimbulkan keinsafan atau berdoa, namun haruslah dilunakkan dan direndahkan suaranya senada dengan sabda Tuhan:

“Dan sebutlah (nama) Tuhannmu dalam hatimu dengan merendahkan diri dan rasa takut, dan dengan tidak mengeraskan suara, di waktu pagi dan petang, dan janganlah kamu termasuk orang-orang yang lalai”

(Quran 7:205)

c. Begitu juga dengan selawat kepada rasul, ia bukan sekadar sebutan dimulut atau sekadar nyanyian. Walaupun sudah maklum, yang hadir ESQ adalah orang-orang dari pelbagai lapisan & jenis. Ada yang baru mahu mengenal Islam dan sebagainya. Wallahualam


d. Lihatlah apa yang disebutkan oleh Shaikh Ali at-Thontawi

“ Berzikirlah dengan lidah anda. Sesungguhnya zikir yang paling afdal ialah zikir lidah yang disertai oleh hati. Sekiranya lidah berzikir tetapi fikiran tidak sedar apa yang diucapkannya, maka jadilah zikir itu satu percakapan yang tidak bermakna, seperti ucapan penjual kuih di kota syam yang menyeru: Allah Maha Pemurah. Dia tidak bertujuan untuk memperingati Allah tetapi unuk menjual kuih…”

(Islam yang Semestinya Difahami; Ali at-Thontowi)

e. Akhir sekali saya terfikir, di saat ESQ & loud speaker sudah tiada, mampukah kita untuk terus menangis ?

Abel
5 August 2009
Kuantan

Liar Liar Liar

Liar,
When you lie,
Heed that the history has testified
That People would defy
The every single thing that you cry
It’s too late then too modify

Liar,
Please don’t lie,
Coz when you die,
Each will be quantified
In front of God the Most High

Whom the Good Going High
Abode in Paradise
But those who lied
Will be among the Devil despised


" O Ye Who Believe! Fear God, and (always) say a word directed to the Right. That He may make your conduct whole & sound and forgive your sins.." (Quran 33: 70-71)


Abel,
Saturday, April 25, 2009

Apa ada dengan cinta...

Cin-ta
Dua suku kata
Seribu makna
Pelbagai peristiwa
Ramai yang bahagia
Tak kurang juga yang merana

Kerana Cinta,
Yang satu bertambah dua
Yang dua menjadi tiga
Yang duka menjadi suka
Yang gaduh jadi bahagia

Juga kerana cinta,
Yang hitam nampak putih
Yang kotor tampak bersih
Yang jahat kau bilang salih
Yang girang akhirnya sedih

Apa guna cinta
Kalu akhirnya membunuh & membenci
Apa guna kau bercinta
Kalu yang dibunuh dirimu sendiri

Bukan kata tak boleh
Namun jangan-lah berlebih
Kerana dia yang kau cinta
Belum tentu setia

Tertelan kata romantika
Terkena janji-janji nista
Kerana cinta tak guna kepala
Kelak kau jadi buta…

by; NAbel - 22nd March 09

Towards Communal Understanding...

Today has been my second time since matric that I went to a church here, to meet Rev. X. If previously my intention was to have some discussions on Cristianity, but today the sole aim is to invite Rev. to be one of the speaker for the forthcoming InterFaith Dialog. Here are some of the notes that I made from today’s experience:

1) Communal Agreeement

a) In the lanscape pluralistic Malaysian country, similarities between ethnics, cultures, traditions & even religions should make Malaysian closer & stronger.

b) The above statement does not mean that I choose to agree upon things which can not be compromised such as fundamental creeds of belief ( aqeedah) but rather we work on things/issues which can be agreed upon.

c)For instance, (back to the discussion with Reverend X), he stressed the importance of active role in the issue of Palestine -The Occupied Land-, though we Muslims in Malaysia believe that only Muslims that concern about Palestine.

d) To be fair, we Muslim should not only pity our brothers in Palestine but at the same time should expand the universality of Islam by showing our protest to anybody or any nations whose rights are being wronged by the oppresors. Quran stresses in ch 5:8 that we should stand forth for justice regardless who we are or who we are facing.

e)Apart from that, Muslim, Christian, Hindu & Buddist should work hand in hand to curb much issues like atheist, permissive-ism, homosexuality,& ‘money politic or anythings that could cause disharmony on earth.

f) Based on this stance, inter-religious (& thus inter nations;malay, chinese, india) understanding could be instilled in a more practical way.

g) I personaly think that Goverment should have a thorough insight on this inter-religious understanding agenda & allow academic discourse on issues related to Muslims & non-muslims to be done (without any political agenda) rather than spending millions of RM for programs like National Service for unity.

h) Muslims need to be open minded & face the matters pertinent to Islam bravely & professionally. Islam provides platform for dialog & reasoning even to those who we may think have gone astray (Quran 2: 111)

abel,

November 7th, 2008

Truth leans to nobody...

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah, as just witnesses, and let not the hatred of others to you make you to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is near to piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do.” (5:8)

1) It should be clearly understood that, justice should be freely available to everyone, be it, a leader of a country or a layman, a Muslim or non-Muslim and be it people of ‘green’ or ‘blue’ party. For this is the command of our Lord, Cherisher and Creator. His directive is that no discrimination should spoil our conduct. We should not give preference to anyone!

2) It is the nature of the arrogant, to fanatically advocate his party or view on certain issues against those of “different color” though it is evident to him that the truth might not be with him. They will, in any means, strive to manipulate facts or news so that it may appear to the people what it apparently not. Everything will be politicized. If a man of a red party speaks about something, a man of a blue party will try “bermati-matian” to deviate it to a wrong direction in search of popularity and supports, though later he might change his stand. That is why it is not surprise in politics to see a man who used to be labeled as “Maha Firaun” by his enemy, but now has a comfortable spot among his ex-enemies since he changed his “color” though the previous issue which led him to be labeled as such is still not settled.

3) An issue is judge with sentiment and prejudice. A fair and balance approach to a matter is left behind. Everything bad about his enemy will be propagated in his gathering. He overlooks the reminder from Allah about the hypocrites & teaching of the Holy Prophet;

“O you who believe if a hypocrite comes to you and bring news, investigate it…” Quran

“It is enough for a man to be called as a liar, if he tells (the people) everything he heard” Imam Muslim

4) It should be plain to all of us now, that truth is always the truth and falsehood will not ever escape falsity. Truth can always come from a foe, fasiq or even non-Muslim and should be treated accordingly. One might err in most aspects, but that will not make him wrong all the time. Islam does not deny the right & existence of a man regardless of colors and beliefs. The truth inclines to nobody. Not all things voiced out by the so-called secular people are vain. After the first battle of Badar the Prophet even offered the jahilliyah war-captives to teach Muslims of various aspects before being liberated. Even it happened to Abu Hurayrah r.a who learned Ayat al-Kursi from a satan. It was narrated that one day while Abu Hurayrah was in duty to watch over the zakah assets,he caught a man who tried to steel some foods. Amazingly this culprit taught Abu Hurayrah some verses from the Quran. To make it short, Abu Hurayrah then met the Prophet and told Him what has just happened to him. The Prophet then replied;

“ He told you the truth though he is actually a great liar! He is the satan” Al-Bukhari

5) In short, fanaticism and chauvinism have no place in Islam. A man or news should be judged fairly with a non-judgmental state of mind. An issue should be assessed in terms of its soundness and should be accepted readily regardless how “secular” he who voiced it out, and a falsehood should not be overlooked no matter how green (islamic) he is.

Be just: that is near to piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do. (AQ 5:8)

abel,

December 22nd, 2007

Homosexuality: It is in Your Gene..!? Part 2

Proponents’ research

Before refuting the arguments which try to relate homosexuality with genes, one should consider the study/s conducted by few researchers -those advocating homosexuality:

There are at least more than one studies conducted in this case.

1) Of these only one study, BAILY & PILLARD (1991) included both non-twin biological brothers & adopted (unrelated) brothers in addition to identical & fraternal twins.[1]

2) Identical twins were most likely to both be gay; 52% were in agreement for homosexuality, as compared with 22% of fraternal twins. This result would support a genetic interpretation because identical twins share all of their genes, whereas fraternal twins share only half their genes.

3) Moreover BAILY & PILLARD found that 9% of non-twin brothers of were concordant for homosexuality & 11% of adoptive brothers were both brothers gay.

Rationale (why the research is conducted)

1) Today, people practicing homosexual lifestyles seek tolerance and acceptance from society at large, and have achieved considerable ‘success’ (perhaps not in Malaysia yet). By organizing themselves into a political movement, homosexual vigorously lobby psychiatric, legal and political organizations for changes in discriminatory laws to include sexual preference, and seek such things as the right to adopt children, health, and pension and tax benefits enjoyed by legally married HETEROSEXUAL couples.

2) The purpose important to their (gay & lesbian) political agenda is the idea that homosexual behavior is an “inborn” characteristic, perhaps genetic, like race or gender. Hence according to these homosexual organizations, all moral reservations regarding their behaviors have to be dropped.[2]

mad_bill3,

6 p.m.

26/7/2007.

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[1] Identical twins develop from the splitting of a single fertilized egg, thus genetically identical. Fraternal twins, on the other hand, develop concurrently from 2 separate eggs fertilized by 2 sperms, therefore genetically similar as any non-twin brothers might be.

[2] Faris, Donald, The Homosexual Challenge (1993)

Homosexuality: It is in Your Gene..!? Part 3

10 Facts that you should know, in order to answer the genetic-linked theory.

1) Non-twin brothers of homosexuals should share the same proportion of genes as fraternal twins (look previous discussion); however only 9% of them were homosexuals as compared to fraternal twins of 22%. Moreover, BAILEY & PILLARD found that the incidence of homosexuality in the adopted brothers of homosexual (11%) was much higher than recent estimates for the rate of homosexuality in the population (1-5%). In fact it was equal to the rate for non-twin biological brothers. This study clearly challenges a simple genetic groundless assumption & strongly suggests amongst others, environment contributes significantly to sexual preference.[3]

2) A 1999 study done by neurologist George Rice found no evidence for homosexuality in the genes thus disproving earlier claims of biologist Dean Hamer[4] that he found a specific gene for homosexuality in the X-chromosome that is inherited from mothers. Though Hamer stated that he had repeated his study to confirm that the same DNA sequence appears in the genes of homosexuals, his research had not been replicated by other scientists.[5]

3) Many scientists have claimed that homosexuality is rooted in biology, but surprisingly enough, much of the research has been conducted by scientists living in homosexual lifestyle.

4) Homosexuality (i.e. Lesbianism) reduced reproduction, and should have disappeared long ago if there was a genetic linkage.

5) Ex-homosexuals do exist. If, homosexual preference were in the genes like human racial characteristics i.e. the skin color, change could not be possible. It is therefore clear that sexual preference is not UNCHANGEABLE trait. People learn their sexual preferences & orientations.

6) If homosexuality were biologically determined, it would have been practiced in all countries of the world. However, as is well-known, in some communities and tribes in Africa and other parts of the world, homosexuality is totally absent or so rare that the rural inhabitants may get the shock of their lives when the practice is described to them!

7) A female’s bare breast are sexually stimulating to Westerners and to many other cultures, but to men in some tribes in south of Sudan and Indonesia they are simply a couple of baby milk bottles, so women do not even bother to cover them up. In contemporary Mauritania, and in the Arab Northern Sudan of the 30s and 40s, obesity was greatly appreciated as one of the major attributes of female beauty. So the question is, do men’s sexual inclinations toward particular features have any genetic-linked supports? The answer is NO. Sexual preference is learned and not acquired.

8) It is obvious to any reasonable scholar that the Western gay liberation movements and scientists who support them are staging all this hereditary balderdash to support their cause. Otherwise, why do we neither hear of genetic link to pedophilia or sexual relations with children, nor bestiality, in which the deviant uses an animal for a sex partner. Certainly, the difference between heterosexuality compared with sexual relations with animals and children is much greater than the difference between it and homosexuality. This should have presented a more convincing justification for genetic aetiology. However, no group has taken such a stand since animals cannot speak for themselves and pedophilia is against the law!

9) Why homosexuality is so rampant in prisons, army camps and boarding houses of male students in remote public schools? Are those homosexuals co-incidentally ‘locked’ in the same place? This does not make sense at all. The only reason that could explain this; homosexuality is learned & practiced more common in places where large groups of males have no choice but to live away from females for a long period of time. It has nothing to do with genes.

10) The last & yet the most important one is, if homosexuality is biologically determined, then it is God who created this ‘preference’ in gays. If he then punishes them with mass destruction, as in Sodom, or severe sanctions, as in Shariah law, then no action can be more unjust than that & we Muslim believe God is far from injustice.

Sources:

Malik Badri. “The AIDS Crisis: A natural product of modernity’s sexual revolution”.

Dr Muftie Allie Haroun Sheik. “Sexual Issues In Modern Era & Its Solution In Islam”. ADAM Publishers

Text Book on Psychology under the topic of Sexual Orientation.

abel,

6 p.m.

26/7/2007.

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[3] Byne, William, “The Biological Evidence Challenged” in Scientific American (1994)

[4] Another research done (by Hamer) tries to prove maternal genetic link on X chromosome in homosexuals (not discussed in details here).

[5] Rice, George, “Absence of Linkage to Microsatellite Markers at Xq28” in Science (1999)