Saturday, February 26, 2011

Laparascopic Cholecystectomy [ Gallbladder removal Op ]

More often than not, patients with 'heartburn' who present to me at my outpatient clinic or in ER are really having non cardiac problems. Commonest are certainly pain from GERD [ gastroesophageal reflux ie commonly called by laymen as 'gastric']. Often time pain due to gallbladder inflammation and impacted gallstones also can mimic 'heart pain' of angina.

A good clinician who listen well to the history given by the patient and after a careful physical examination, can usually deduce whether the pain is in the 1st instance cardiac or non cardiac. A stress ECG is usually done in most cases to separate the 'cardiac' from the 'non cardiac'. If stress ECG is normal and if I feel the problem is one of GERD, a referral to a gastroentologist would be done with a view towards upper GIT endoscopy, a procedure that can be done in the morning in a daycare outpatient gastro unit.

If I suspect that the patient's problem is due to gallbladder stone impaction in the cystic duct, I would ask for an ultrasound abdomen. This is a painless outpatient procedure done usually by radiologist [ Xray specialist ] similar to ultrasound examination done in pregnancy except that in this case the area under study is the upper abdomen.

Below are utube presentation of a laparascopic cholecystectomy [ keyhole surgery for gallbladder removal ], and upper GIT endoscopy.



click here,

For actual procedure,
click here

Upper GIT endoscopy,
click here
click here

Atrial Fibrillation

click here

Four possible treatment modalities :

1. Most often and 99.9 % of the time initially with intravenous medication which ideally would be to try to 'chemically cardiovert' the heart rythm back to normal sinus rthyme. Having done that your doctor will dispense to you oral medication to be taken for a period of time to maintain this normal rythme.

In a situation when normal sinus rythm could not be achieved via medication, your doctor may aim for a compromise by accepting the ATRIAL FIBRILLATION, but at the same time focus on controlling the rate with a 'rate-limiting' oral medications such as a betablocker or a calcium antagonist [ atenolol, metoprolol, verapamil ]. Added to this , since your rythme is now in intermittent or perpetual AF [ short form for atrial fibrillation ], there is a finite and significant risk for stroke due to an increased tendency for minute blood clots to form in the left atrium. To circumvent this issue, your doctor will usually prescribe along with the 'rate-limiting'medication such atenolol, another drug to 'thin out' your blood, warfarin.

2. In an acute , life threathening situation when it is imperative that your doctor need to achieve normal sinus rythme as fast as possible for example in patient with bad heart function or acute coronary syndrome or when initial intravenous treatment fails to control AF or rate is too fast, your doctor may elect to use the technique of 'ELECTRICAL CARDIOVERSION'.
click here
click here

3. Increasingly now, in selected cases, persistent chronic AF can be converted to sustained and most time long term normal rythme by a technique called AF RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION. This is done not by your usual cardiologist but rather by sub specialist in cardiology [ we bread and butter cardiologists, plumbing type of cardiologists, called them 'electricians' ]. They specialise in the electrophysiology of the heart.
click here
click here

4. If AF Radiofrequency ablation fail, very rarely one would proceed for a hybrid electrophysiological-surgical approach. This is only done limited to specialised cardiothoracic centres of excellence at present, centres that have the volume and numbers, to ascertain successful conversion of AF to normal rythme.
click here

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Unto Him is The Journeying

Friends,


Woken up with a cold sweat just now at 3 AM still thinking about Libya! Some American Muslims have found it fit to ask Obama to go into Libya and solve the problem there !! My God when is this common, cheapskate, convenient modus operandi of 'invasion into Muslim hinterland' going to end ?? Sudan is going to be divided, Afghanistan, Pakistan, then Libya, then Iran ,,one day Malaysia...this is madness !
No one has invaded israel yet despite all the animal noise people make at the UN or around the world !

Surf the net on Libya amd Muamar Gaddafi, The Madman of Africa....come across Ismail Musa Menk's discourse on DEATH. Libya has to wait. Leave Muamar alone. Leave the madness and 'heartbreak' of world politics aside......

Let us see what this Zimbabwe Mufti has to say about DEATH. I throw in my colleauge's [ Dr Rahmat Haruon own discourse on the issue for good measure ] poem in as well, for good measure. He had had some brush with death recently:

Nik Howk

.............................


M A T I....

Nafi itu mati
pergi jauh kau dari sini
biar aku sendiri dalam isolasi
murka pada mati
kenapa kau mahu ziarahi
diri ini
mahu kutawar-menawar dengan mati
bukan kini
biarlah lain hari
kalau mati datang lagi
biar hanya mampir lalu berlalu pergi
usah kau kembali
wahai mati
kemunculanmu mengundang depresi
Tundalah kedatanganmu mati
sehingga aku bersedia merangkulmu nanti
masamu akan tiba wahai mati
tika daku terimamu segenap sanubari.

31 Januari 2011.
RahmatHarounHashim


Shaykh Ismail Musa Menk's discourse on Death, click here


Related Articles in the blog,
click here
click here

Monday, February 21, 2011

One Billion $ RM Naval Frigate.....

Friends,

'Duit Kopi' or kickback has become a way of life in Malaysia, thanks in no small way to our great Dr M who initially started the ball rolling by diminishing all institutions capable of keeping this under check. I decided to do my very own simple' kampong' way of checking the figures today. I must say I was lucky because out of the blue this morning, Encik M, a well known self made ship builder, with hundreds of million orders from mainly Europe on his book, walked in through my clinic door . We Malays talked about 'panjang umur' and 'Tok Wali' and there he was, walking into my room for his early morning consultation, ready to being 'bullied' and grilled.

" Encik M, hypothetically if I am your PM and able to give you a negotiated tender to build a 6 similar frigates for the country as what was given to Bosteed Bhd, how much would you charge us per piece.Give me a ball park figure,give and take 10 millions. You to make some profit and we the Govt not to lose alot. We want to help your company to be able to join the big international boys in the marine industry ?"

" Doc, a basic frigate without fitting and weopenry of that size would cost 150 million RM for me to build. Frankly speaking,I would hope to make 10 to 15 millions there as profit. I work on the basis of 10 to 15 % profit. With high end, state of the art weopenry, 'exocet' missiles and everything,all imported overseas and supervised by relevant experts, I am looking at a ballpark figure of a couple of millions less than 800. That is very very high already,fully loaded with all the newest toys in the business, except probably a nuclear missile ! And this Doc inclusive of a 5 year FOC maintainence contract to cover. Me and my boys could rest for the next 5 years even at 800....This would boost our profile no doubt. We already have a lot of orders from Europeans. We have yet to build for our Navy though. They dont like us. Our figure are too low for them."

So friends, it is not that bad as it initially seem. We are not looking at 400 to 500 million RM kickback now. We are just looking at just under 200 millions. That seem a measly sum after Scorpene. People have learnt their lessons!...That constitute progress towards good Islamic governance. Our govt is Islamic mind you.

Nik Howk
PS: by the way, Bosteed Bhd has never been in the black despite all the help from the Government all these years. Mostly run by retired generals and admirals.
Oops! At 200 million a piece, 6 frigates would give a whooping 'duit kopi' of 1.2 billion. Not bad we Malays nowadays, very good at mathematics!


................................




Assalaamu'alaikom

rm200mx6. Yes a pittance. Yet Melayu still vote them in.


Wassalaam,

GrandPa.af ©اخمد فضيل

.........................................



Dear Grand Pa,

At the end of the day, despite whatever 'animal noise' we make, we deserve the shit we deserve!

Nik Howk

.................................................

[ Letter from my dear sister..a Dr M number 1 fan..]

Dear Hok

Are there evidence and proof for these "frigate" scandal? and the many unfortunate "legacies" which you confidently based your biaseness on?. If yes I will be a convert in a blink.

When I was in the team in-charge of the procurement and contract for the KL International Airport project, we were overseeing more than hundred projects with a total estimate of more than RM10 billion. Amongst the biggest tender is the terminal complex at RM2 billion, the satellite building at RM1 billion and several others each contract from RM100k - RM500k. No interference whatsoever from the Prime Minister.

In fact initially way back in 1990 we were being conned by an anglo-japan consortium who claimed that they are the expert for world-class airport and as such the government agreed on a contract management for the consortium to construct KLIA for RM20 billion. But later Mahathir rescind the contract and requested the local professionals to form a Project Management company under Tan Sri Jamilus to manage the contract and at the end we manage to build that airport for RM10 billion - saving the government RM10 billion. All these are not hearsay but backed with all the files and contract documents. Not once did we received any "wahyu" from him with regards to the the pre-qualification, estimates, tender evaluations and negotiations. All decisions with regards to money are based on our recommended procurement strategy, technical and contractual basis.

In addition, after KLIA project I was involved with other projects with a total cost of more than RM1 billion - again no interference from him whatsoever. All estimates and negotiation were by our company which we recomended and accepted by the government. In fact the government even reduce the contract sum further as a discount due to being selected contractor.

Show me the evidence of wrong doings by Mahathir personally than I will be as angry as you but for now I can't.

Salam
Imun

......................................


1 Mar 2011 22:53:52 +0800

Imun,

I see that my dear Imun,you are still stuck with Dr M !
The one billion rm per frigate is not Dr M's though and your 'recalcitrant' dear brother dont live in the past . He choose to live in the future.

As for Dr M , he is already 86. He has to meet his God one of these days, as I have bravely pointed to him in my personal letter to his Mrs some 10 years ago during the height of the Anuar debacle.

I dont take side. I am not a blind 'lover' of Dr M nor of any one except HIM. Kings, sultans and numero unos of nations are special people. They choose and are 'ordained to be there. Some despots even 'kill' to be there. Just look at Libya. What they do involve 'billions' and affect millions. Whether they like it or not they will be judged by us and by God . They will be judged by history harshly and there will be no two way about it because unlike you or me these are important public office. On Judgment Day I bet you some would have wish they are just the green scum in the rocks rather than have souls and exist and be judged!.

Yes I agree with you if you say he is no Muamar Gaddafi but in life indeed Dr M did left a lot of legacies...Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Proton, The state of our Judiciary, the incoherence in our public policies etc etc and etc.

15 years on, our institutions are still blinking when our neighbours all have left us behind. On the corruption index we are onpar with Cambodia !Corruption is rampant. Public accountability is next to zero.
The one billion RM Frigate announced by the PM after Pak Lah is testimony of our present malaise!

No I am not thinking of Dr M. He is old newspaper, my dear sister. I dont waste time reading old newspapers!

Howk

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Dominoes Falling in The Islamic Hinterland......

Robert Fisk on Egypt, click here
Tunisia, click here
Afghanistan, click here

.........................................
11th Feb

Nadzru,

Kudos to your daughter and wives who have some sense and staying put in Cairo!!! That is the right thing to do. I am sure apart from high food price, if one remain away from Tahrim Square one is safe. We have overblown the security problem of our people in Cairo for local politics.

I would have thot if out politicians are not out to score political mileage and spending millions from state coffers or private funding to fly 6000 students home, a box of maggi mee to each family would have suffice the ordeal......instead they have to spend millons and a lot of dirty phone calls to corporate guys like you tp chip in..........look like Our National Erection is not far away...but then again anak Pak Jab may think this this may not be the right time, the Tunisian experience may rub on Malaysians in a positive way......but someone high up in Malaysian heirachy [ you would not believe me Iif i tell you anyway ] thinks Malayisans DO NOT HAVE BALLS

And all this are not free. I am not sure how much you guys from Ranhill have to cough out but all the GLC's are coming out with millions sponsoring the exodus to KL. That Tony Fernandez chap from Air Asia, for having the honour to being photographed at the staircase of his jetliner, I dont know what was his 'damage' ?



If we do have BALLS, Tenang would have been won by the opposition , at least giving some message of sort that we are not going to stand anymore nonsense from our bosses!

My neighbour who is a Malay middleclass , half of his family has migrated. 3 months ago I said how come??? Now I am feeling very sick in the stomach as well.....we can actually stomach these nonsense up to a point.

Nik Howk


..................................



To Nadzru Azhari
Sent: Sat Feb 12 00:20:58 2011
Subject: Re: Merhaba

Dear Baba,

I went out with mama earlier carrying the camera around my neck. There were about 5 people asked me, “Tahrir? Midan tahrir? *Kachak kachak picture???” , hahaha. I laughed and answered, “na’am, lakin midan tahrir la’ kha thii rah?*dangerous?” – Me, babbling crazy Arabic. They all nodded, “na’am!! For foreigners is veryyy dangerous. Only Egyptians can go”

Aihhhh… I thought with mama’s Arabic look-a-like face we can cheat through midan tahrir. But unfortunately I have your Chinese eyes, so I don’t think that would work out well. “It’s okay…, la’ mushkilla! Mafish mushkilla~ I’ll just walk around here and take shots of the emptiness within the city” I said. See baba, everyone warned us. I don’t think we can go there. Just watch the news; you can see how crazy midan tahrir is. We stopped by a ‘fuulun’ shop , mama bought herself two pack of ‘fuulun’. She bought the ones called ‘aswani’ and ‘haelwani’. I guess the ‘haelwani’ supposed to taste sweet? I haven’t tried yet. Anyway, in that ‘fuulun’ shop, there were many people who bought those nuts to bring to midan tahrir. The stuffs that they bring along are juices, coca cola, ‘fuulun’ wa ‘khubz’. There were also few ‘shabab’ discussing about Husni Mubarak on the streets, all I heard was “bla bla bla Husni Mubarak bla bla bla!” *yes… I didn’t catch what they were saying exactly.

So everything seems pretty normal around here, it’s a lot more quiet and there are not a lot of people roaming around town. I took some pictures but well, there were nothing so exciting really.

Mama bought herself another pair of Crocs shoes. There I met with four cute little Egyptian girls! There were somehow, excited seeing me. Well I guess that is no surprise, I have your looks. No need for me to elaborate right? Hehe. One of them came up to me and said hi, they asked my name In English but I answered them in Arabic. Haha, they were quite surprised. They are Nur, Jasmine, Janna and Sara. I’ll send you their picture through facebook. They are all almost as pretty as me. HAHA. *I inherit the ‘perasan-ness from you too baba…!

Woohoo! Finally Hosni Mubarak has stepped down!! Yesshhhh!! I can hear the people celebrating outside, but how come it sounds like gun shots? Cars honking, and i hear the 'walalalalalalalallalala!!!!'

p/s: Oh well…, I pity those entire Malay students who ran away from Egypt. They ran for nothing. Uji and Fatin are stuck in Jeddah, I wonder if they will still go back to Malaysia?

Your cutest daughter, Siham.

............................................

12th Feb.


Nik Hawk,

That's my second daughter writing from Medinat nasr, Cairo. She stays!

Nadzru


................................................


Nadzru,

As some one very high up in the heirachy of things Malaysian emailed to me yesterday, 'MALAYSIANs HAVE NO BALLS'. Of course he need to remain nameless here ! I agree with him.

WE BLOODY MALAYSIANS DO NOT HAVE BALLS !
Our mediocre minded self serving politicians are running the country to the ground and we purred at home and sleep like cats.
We desrve the shit we deserve Nadzru!

Nik Howk


.....................................


Nikhowk,

The 'rescue' of Malaysian students from Eqypt has little to
do with perceived danger in Cairo, but everything to do with photo-ops
at Klia for Ringgit Malaysia and her hubby. Having been spurned by
TokGuru at the royal Christmas eve get-together (should not the fatwa
council make a ruling on that one?), there is an urgent need to
demonstrate that oomno cares for the poor Malay talibs in Cairo more
than PAS does. It has everything to do with PRU13.

Regards,
TS Wan


.....................

Yes Tan Sri,

Very cheapskate, Ringgit Malaysia nowadays.
And the GLC's will pay for all of that excessess. I am surprised you guys were not called to chip in as well !

Nik Howk

...................................



What say you Nadzru.?
Should 'we' technically speaking sack the present Malaysian ambassador in Cairo ?....for not giving the right advice....even while I am sitting here in my drawing room can tell that 'bringing home the students was a bad advice in all circumstances'.

You know him well. Has the whole embassy gone bonkers ?

Nik Howk


....................................


Dearest Nik Hawk,

I was awake infront of the TV till 3 am this morning. It was so difficult to make the Old Fellow Mubarak vacate his seat. The popular demand to make him leave was so overwhelming, 99% of his voting population less 1% who make up his security apparatus, goon squad and his cronies. Even his cronies felt suffocated, they all can do with a new government to grow and prosper. The proverbial Ali Baba and his 40 thieves need fair and progressive markets to grow, though his capital came from shared stealth with the Caliph. The Sinapoleans know this very well. They , the Sinapoleans are the worst corruptors in Thailand and Indonesia but once the stolen capital is brought to Sinapo, they need the order, predictability and fairness of free market to really grow further under the aegis of the best free market mechanism. They need to create mass purchasing power, clean and sanitised civil society , theatres, operas, libraries, etc ( a casino or two, as stolen wealth also need further stealing all the same). So the 1% that didn't go to Tahrir Square are made up of this class, still on free will they don't like him. So the total is really 100%. Yet in the last Egyptian National Elections Mubarak kept his post with a 99% votes in his favour.

Let me begin by returning salaam and salutations to Grandpa Ahmad Fadhil. I was a classmate of Nik Hawk in lower secondary, we separated when he left for the MCKK and I to Sultan Abdul Hamid College Alor Setar. At University level there was a mass tribal population transfer between his classmates in MCKK and mine in SAHC. A majority of mine went to Medical Faculty at the MU and a majority of his to Engineering Faculties in the UK. I was with the latter tribal mix. Later on in life, I went into business and that took ( and still does take ) me to many parts of the world, especially the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and hence Cairo becomes my travel stop.

HE Ambassador Dr Fakhreddin Mukti is a dear personal friend of mine. I had dinner with him in Mohandessin Cairo before the Midan Tahrir revolution and he was the one that reiterated to me that of the 'Tahfiz ' school students in Malaysia that entered Al-Azhar university and its sister institutions in the Classical Islamic studies, 50% flunk outright, of the 50% that passed 45% took more than the normal 3 1/2 years to get a BA and 5% could articulate and formulate their thoughts in arabic. Meaning 95% are estranged from thinking and formulating their thoughts in the arabic language, which is the medium of university studies instruction. This after a whole primary + secondary education in Malaysia with arabic and Quranic studies as the main stream, including a 5 year long stint of 'memorising' The Quran. In the end to be beaten by European and Central Asian and African students in the private American University in Cairo, where 100% of the students could articulate and formulate their thoughts in arabic after SIX months of rigorous classes. The estrangement of the malay students from the language that they are supposed to be at default with, is best seen like how they ran from the Midan Tahrir revolution, like runneth the proverbial yellow donkeys in the Quran. Our malay students simply cannot immerse in anything other than their own comfort zone, miserable though that may be.

In defense of HE ambassador Fakhreddin, I am almost daily on the mobile phone with his PA and butler Mohammad Abdel Aziz Mehrani up and until early this morning. Mohammad happened to be also serving in similar position to predecessor ambassador Zainal Abidin , my uncle. I have a gentleman's agreement with ambassador Fakhreddin that I ' top up' Mohammad's official salary with an allowance for him to also look into the affairs of my children, nieces and nephews all of whom are in the Medical Schools in Egypt. This is possible as Mohammad is a contract officer and not a full time Embassy staffer. Mohammad told me that Ambassador Fakhreddin was up to his ears with calls and pleas from howling and wailing parents ( mums especially) for him to request to get our Government to get their children home as Egypt was exploding and their beloved 'children' are at tremendous peril. Being an Al-Azhar student at time himself, the ambassador knew very well that between staying on to ' kill time' hanging around the campus and going home, the latter is preferred for the vast majority of the much academically lethargic students. They are not of the kind of the liberal arts students that you get in Cairo , American, Ain Shams or Alexandria university that produce world class writers, economists, diplomats and classics scholars. So he played to the gallery, he responded positively to the wailing malay mums at home.

If you recall the street interviews of those young Egyptians in english on Al-Jazeera, didn't you notice how articulate they are in english! Can you tell me if any of our malay Al-Azhar students able to do the same? And our malay students have exposure to english as a taught language since their were ' taula ka ar-rijli' ( knee high) to a ' yahya el-arnab' ( jack rabbit)! Tell that to their wailing mums, and she will tell you that all she wants from sonny boy is for him to lead the tarawih prayers, take her to Haj and umra and take up job as a pegawai pencegah maksiat. What else can a Quran memoriser do ?( Especially if he remains illiterate in the arabic language and he couldn't think in that language?). We are very fortunate that Ambassador Fakhreddin's statistics said that 5% are good. In absolute numbers that is 50 graduates per year and that I believe him , it is GOOD. We have FIFTY Al-Azhar graduates that can think, articulate and formulate his thoughts in the classical languages and contribute to the progress of our Deen and Ummah EVERY YEAR! We may not produce that many cardiothoracic surgeons every year. So what about the rest of the 950 students every year? Well, they make up the bulk of those yellowing donkeys you saw coming off Tony Fernandes redpainted aircraft!

What cheesed me off is that the herd also included medical students. I always thought that they are a different breed! No, no quite,apparently many have the same wailing mums, yes the same mums. Our august malay mums have children in Cairo in BOTH Faculties! I even have a father , a university mate of mine, who sent me a circulated sms, seeking my prayers for safe delivery of his daughter by Tony Fernandes. I blame not the distressed ambassador, but I blame the wailing malay parents!

Nadzru


..................................




Dear Doc Nik Howk,

Thank you for sharing your conversation with your old and dear school friends, though I feel I do not belong in that close-knit circle of old friends. Anyway, thank you just the same.

I am writing not just to thank you, but to tell you that I read through Nadzru's letter twice, carefully, to glean the nuggets of insights it contains. I must say his letter depressed me. I thought I knew that our students that end up in Islamic institutions are ill equipped and, generally, do not do too well. But the picture is even sadder.

Why is this so? Is this systemic in our society? In 1971, when I was working in the PM's Department (the PM was Tun Razak) I worked directly under King Ghaz, minister for Special Functions. One day, prior to drafting a position paper on the Dadah problem, I had a thorough discussion with King Ghaz about the problems faced by our youths (an estimated 96% were Malay youths!). Our conversation, which went through lunch hour, was whether this was the result of modern society, urbanisation pressures, or a systemic weakness in the Malay community, and whether a further dose of religion was the answer. I was skeptical of the 'religious solution' and my boss agreed with me. You can, I imagine, project this phenomenon to academic proficiency. For every successful Dr. Nik Howk, how many fall far below par? What should we do? Do Malay parents need bigger balls, as you suggested? Huge ones made of brass?

I do not believe that Malay boys are necessarily slow. Not true at all. An insult. In our school at Cempaka, I am delighted to say that the Malay students do as well as boys from the other communities. In fact, at Cempaka we are color blind. Every child is treated the same, and made to work equally hard. Only a few Malay parents complain about the academic rigour, and take their children out. But the majority agreed with our regime, and stayed on. There is no 'bending the curve' at Cempaka. Academic integrity is everything.

Many years ago, my wife took a little Malay boy living in a low-cost flat on Jalan Tun Razak, and offered him a full scholarship (including books, musical instrument, uniforms, shoes, etc). His father (handicapped in one hand) repaired air-conditioners, and his mother a polio victim, took in sewing jobs. At first the parents politely refused our offer, saying it was their "takdir", "Datin, tak kan se cupak jadi se gantang", and they did not want their son to "mix with rich children", or "children from other communities" and "anak anak kafir". My wife persisted gently, and asked the little boy if he wanted to study in a private school. He brightened up and smiled yes. His parents gradually relented and agreed.

The little boy joined our kindergarten. He did well in school, became confident, and made a lot of friends of all races. He won academic prizes, was in the school swimming team, and learned to play the violin so well that he was chosen to perform in the school orchestra. He won an engineering scholarship, graduated, and now works in an international company. We now get a nice note with a Hari Raya card from him every year. Manusia, bukan sahaja Melayu, tak lupa.

I feel sorry for the many Malay children who are overly 'protected', offered no international language, and a competitive environment in which to work hard, flower, and become successful.

Regards.

DC.


.........................................



DC,
I'm delighted (as I'm sure you are) that the pony's turned into a stallion! I salute the Egyptian people & wish them all the very best. But of course we all realise that Mubarak's resignation is just the first step. The road for Egypt is going to be long & arduous, with many uncertainties, but I hope Egyptians will find the way which will bring the people some acceptable measure of freedom, social justice, economic progress, etc.
Yes the pony may have turned into a stallion but let's hope & pray that it gallops in the right direction....
Kadir

........................................





KD,


You are absolutely right. It turned out to be a thoroughbred of a stallion! Wonderful news. Now comes the hard part. Let me put it very briefly:


Is Egypt really in the cusp of a genuine change? I wonder and worry. True, power has moved from Morabak to the hands of the military. But Egypt, as we all know, is a military regime or, to be more precise, a military corporate regime. The military are embedded in, and have a sizable chuck of, the Egyptian GLC businesses. Life for them has been sweet, and they have another sweetener - a largesse of US$ 1.4 billion annually from the Americans. Will they have the political will to give everything up, just like that? Especially when there is currently no civilian alternative? Will they really emasculate the constitution and the political apparatus of the involvement of the military? Will they really help organise the setting up of a civil society, through open, free, and fair elections? As the Bard of Avon said "..aye, that's the rub".


Let us bear in mind that the US, Israel, and Europe will like the military, and the foreign policy establishment, to maintain a strong status quo. They have a knee-jerk fear of change. They will work hard, through fair means or foul, to achieve this end. But a status quo ante would be diametrically opposed to what the Arab street wants. And has the street this sort of political endurance, wiles, connections, and skills? I think this is where we are for now.


Cheers.


DC.


................................
13th Feb

Friends,

Preserving the people's freedom is more important than setting up a system of Sharia (Islamic law), even though freedom remains part and parcel of Sharia, said Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi on Friday evening in an interview with Al Jazeera television network. Al-Qaradawi, who is an influential Islamic thinker and president of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, is closely tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group.

Recently, some members of the Brotherhood have tried to alleviate concerns that they want to establish an Islamic state by asserting that the Brotherhood does not seek to the rule the country or establish an Islamist government in Egypt.

Al-Qaradawi also emphasized that the army should protect the nation and the rights of the people, rather than rule the country. He stressed that the right to protest peacefully for the sake of a better life is granted by Islam and recognized by every human rights convention. He congratulated the Egyptian people and the Arab nation on the departure of President Hosni Mubarak after 18 days of the revolutionary struggle.

He described the young revolutionaries as honorable Egyptians who went beyond the call of duty to achieve national justice.
Al-Qaradawi expressed his confidence that God had aided them because he aids those who sacrifice in order to bring about justice, adding, "I was sure that God would aid the revolutionaries. I swore in my Friday sermon that God would soon help these youth, and that is indeed what turned out happening.”
Holding the ousted president responsible for the bloodshed, he said that “God wanted to award this victory to the Egyptian people” and denounced claims that Egyptians were servile and slavish.
He added that Tahrir Square had become a university for the educating the virtues of self-sacrifice, and suggested that the square should be renamed “25 January Revolution Square.”
Al-Qaradawi praised independent media outlets for disclosing facts and uncovering falsehoods while criticizing government owned media outlets as misleading. He accused the later of having continued its campaign of deception up to the final moments before Mubarak’s resignation was announcedWassalaam,


GrandPa.

............................................


Grand Pa,

The West has already set up its agenda of underplaying the role of Islamic Brotherhood in this Egyption overthrow of Mubarak...it is set to put the secular forces within the mass movement up against Ikwanul Muslimin in future to make sure its interest remain the same....'Sepak terajang dan 'sepelet' macam ni depa dah biasa.

Masih banyak ranjau dan onah disepanjang jalan untuk Islam di Egypt.... I tak nampak ada lampu di hujong tunnel yet....masih kabur

I am pesimistic about the outcome of Egypt going democratic , let alone more 'Islamic' and less secular. The military can play for time . They have under been under secular forces for so long[ Gamal Nasser, Sadat, Mubarak ] to just give back their perks that easily. It is difficult to rejoice in these trying circumstances.

The ballgame remains the same. This is just changing of the prinicipal actors. Qardawi and the Muslim Brotherhood would be to naive to think it otherwise that is why his 'fatwa' sounds a wee bit gaurded. They have been in this ballgame long enough to modulate their realistic expectation.

If Suleyman is in power, all of them would go back to jail. A matter of time. My friend Nadzru, the arabist as he is, may think otherwise....he is very well informed on what goes on in Egypt. Doc Razley from IOC may want to comment if it does not affect his 'soru'.

Nik Howk

....................................



The cosmic battle remain the same. But I do think Islamist must know how to prioritize without losing the big picture. When society is looking for economic and social justice, political participation etc we can talk about wudhu and less on hudud.

How can we talk of hudud when we don't have social nor economic justice and Big Theft is rampant.

Just an example.

My concern is that Islamic movements are still too male dominated with women treated as a wing and put in a closet in major discourse. There's a huge disconnect here which even innovative shiism has stopped thinking post Khomeini.

The first thing an Islamic regime will do and I am afraid Ikhwan Muslimin is no exception is to impose dress code and segregation. As a father of 3 girls vs 5 boys I shudder because the girls are above average when compared to the average and below average boys in the schools.

In the Kelantan civil service we have zero representation at the top and in the middle


Rahimkamil

.....................................

Dato Rahim,


I think Dato' ,the Ikwanul Muslimin has matured well, thus the very guarded response as we can see from it's chief Shaykh Qardawi. It is all siasah.
Look at Tariq Ramadan in the US. Cucu to Hassan Al Bana....
He is singing a different song there....dalam kandang kambing kita mengembek , dalam kandang harimau kita mengaum.

Tariq is not not talking of Darul Harb or Darul Islam.....he is talking of Darul Dakwah...That is very bright.
They are all bright....only back home here we are less bright: 55 % Malays/ Muslims, 5 % Hindus and 25 % Chinese and we are bending backward almost breaking our back to HINDRAFF!!! We Malays do not know when the goodness should stop.But of course this is a digression from our main topic...Egypt !

Naughty thoughts though.!

Nik Howk

.....................................



Dear Dr Nik,

Certainly Ikhwan Muslimin has matured and are more inclusive than the turbulent days of Almarhum Asshahid Syed Qutb. Probably tolerant of pluralist views.

And I am more appreciative of Qardhawi than Ru because of his work on Islamic banking (some may dispute what is so Islamic about this....well).

But I have yet to see a clear and audacious position on social and political participation of our women when compared with the unfinished work of Almarhum Khomeini.

We can't ignore the other half of the ummah.

I stand corrected if there are other evidence.

Dato Rahim Kamil

....................................



'Tolak campur tolak campur' Dato', by my simple kampong analysis, down the lane in 6 months time,it would be back to business as usual, probably worse because now is governance by committee, a military one at that, rather faceless, monolithic, NOC style with no Tun Razak[ The Malay element at least has a softening effect on things to be fair] behind it but Suleyman the Butcher looming not very far away in the background........Mubarak at least cannot hide behind any curtain. There was at least a personal face to the previous administration.

To Suleyman The Butcher, the obvious solution would be very simple. 6 months in fact to this kind of guys would seem to be an eternity. Just round up all 30 or 40 'gedebes', lock them up in jail or better still kill them off. That would be the end of the people's revolution. That is a cynical way of looking at things. I am a clinician. Bottomline and worse case scenarios are part of our calculation daily.

I am very pesimistic. I do not see light beyond the tunnel except another blood bath in Egypt 12 months down the lane..

"Orang Penang kata Pi Mai Pi Mai Dok Tang Tu Juga "....

Nik Howk

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Of Qarun and Surah Ad Dhuha

Kak Ling and Nadimah,

TQ for sending me the articles on Firaun.

The 'battle' between Firaun and Prophet Mosses[ pbuh] was at the spiritual,intellectual, and physical level and of epic proportion. It started with Ramses saying to Mosses,

"What!!, dont you scum know that I am God!"...to the culmination of the split of the Red Sea itself, by divine intervention, and subsequently the natural 'mummification' of Ramses and now on public display in a Cairo museum.To appropriate clowns like Bush, Mubarak and the rest at this same level would be doing Firaun a major disservice! The closest anology for comparision I could think off hand is just our biblical and Quranic friend, Qarun....just my thought. And I know I am not entirely correct and stand corrected.

Qarun[ Korah ] was not on the same level as Firaun, being mentioned only once in the Quran but nonetheless his name has been put on record for lessons to all of us, mere mortals not to follow , from Mosses time up to to eternity.

Definitely not on the same level as Firaun of course. If one study Firaun carefully, he had no equal.He was so powerful , to the point he was able, without much difficulty, even to delude himself as 'God reincarnate' on this planet earth.

A good friend of mine, quite erroneously of course, also put good old Dr M as 'Mahafiraun'. So angry this 'young-old' man with Dr M !

I beg to differ

'Aad,' I told him ,'Let us be generous with Dr M. Let Allah decides on him. He is not that bad you know, and Malaysian politics is not that easy...soo convoluted! Unheard off things like HINDRAF even going to war on the usage of the word PARIAH, Amenu and everything..... If you are too soft , you get Pak Lah.If you are always moving with the wind, we get The First Lady.'

Putting Dr M aside and coming back to our principal actor this time, we all know Qarun was contemporary with Prophet Mosses.
I tried looking in the Quran and seerah regarding Qarun. Probably more stories on him in the Old Testament and old israelite hadiths ....trying to decipher what kind of personality...'sembahyang ke dia, 'hypocrite kah dia'?, 'jahat kah dia'?..'tak bayar zakat kah dia?'....the Quran and relevant seerah and hadiths are pretty quiet on these characteristics...No mention.

The only outstanding thing mentioned about Qarun in the Quran was : HIS ARROGANCE
" I am a billionaire because I am damn good. I am brilliant. My business prosper because my business acumen is above average. I have nothing to be thankful about.
It has nothing to do with the NEP bastards! I am damn good"....

It can also be... " I am Richard Dawkins and I know everything that is to know about molecules, cells and organisms and evolution...and it is my considered opinion that God is not there! "..an extreme example of intellectual pompousity and arrogance!

More commonly though it would be...." I am Yang Ariff and this is the 21st century. How can we judge and adjudicate with the primitive and tribal laws of Arabia of the 7th century...or Kelantan will be inundated with 'SUP Tangan' "....and so on and so forth.

Qarun was damn good at what he was doing ie and that was 'making money'. We were told in the Quran, he had troops of strong men to carry just the keys to his dozens of massive godowns. Damn rich and damn arrogant. The Sultan of Brunei or Bill Gates would salivate looking at Qarun !...Much richer than them, all in CASH and diamonds and gold and silver ! No need for overdraft or huge bank loans or looking over the shoulder for an errant brother making afast run for your money..

I am not worried about us being Firaun. No one can equal to Firaun in history. I am worried about us, especially myself included, sometime feeling and behaving like Qarun, Allah forbids !

Intellectual prowess, wealth, skills, position in life : Tan Sri, Datuk Sri, King , Queen or even for that matter First Lady, etc etc and etc. All of us can fall into the 'Qarun' mental trap, if we are not careful.

Mashaallah.

Allahualam.

Nik Howk
PS: I stumble this morning on this good tafsser of Surah Ad Dhuha by Shaykh Riyadh Al Haq, that is in part related to the position of 'Qarun' on our need to always be humble....First, rendition of Ad Dhuha by world famous qari, Abdul Bassit. Enjoy them both :


Ad-Dhuha

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
By the morning hours
And by the night when it is stillest,
Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee nor doth He hate thee,
And verily the latter portion will be better for thee than the former,
And verily thy Lord will give unto thee so that thou wilt be content.
Did He not find thee an orphan and protect (thee)?
Did He not find thee wandering and direct (thee)?
Did He not find thee destitute and enrich (thee)?
Therefor the orphan oppress not,
Therefor the beggar drive not away,
Therefor of the bounty of thy Lord be thy discourse.


Qari Abdul Bassit ,Surah Ad Dhuha, click here

Tafseer surah Ad Duha, click here

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Mawlidurasul....

People are divided on the issue of celebration of Prophet Muhammad's [pbuh] birthday. Purists[ Salafis, Wahabbis etc and etc ] contend that this is an 'innovation', not done during Prophet's time....some young 'punks' amongst the Wahabis shout it down as heretical..[ click here ]

Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad aka TJ Winter and Shaykh Yusuf Hamza offer an explanation here on Mawlidurasul amongst the British Muslims as a way of Darul Daawah, nothing more nothing less:



Part 2, click here

Part 3 : Islam and Globalization, click here

We are 1.5 billion souls on this planet earth. There is no necessity to simplify people within the faith as heretical and non heretical over 'ranting' issues and finger pointing one another , let alone questioning people's aqidah on the basis of 'ranting' issues. The heart of the matter is the Qalb.

Personally I think TJ Winter aka Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad is a great contributor to Islam via his involvement in daawah and thru academia. As to the young 'punk' in this video above , I felt like 'pucking' listening to him, his oversimplification of people and their aqidah. Sadly we have many like him now in Malaysia.

Huwallahualam.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Tafseer Surah Ta ha : Shaykh Ismail Musa Menk

A pedestrian journey across Surah Ta Ha with Shaykh Ismail Musa Menk, Mufti of Zimbabwe.




Some 30 years back I remember this short and terse conversation with my sister in law,
" Howk, it is dangerous to read and study the Quran by yourself without being face to face with a guru. You are learning with the iblis as the second person !"

30 years on she is still stuck to her tajweed class in Damansara whenever she can, crawling still at mukadam and I, the recalcitrant one who will one day burn in hell for 'befriending an iblis', at least in her book, have finished Hamka and Ibnu Katsir and Muhammad Muhammad Al Ghazali's Thematic Commentary of The Quran, twice over, so much for learning and 'romancing' with the 'iblis' !

As to learning the Quran face to face with a guru, who, if he or she is a 'typical Malaysian' ustaz or ustazah, usually is as ignorant as you are with regards to the meaning and ramifications of the Quran, given that their Arabic is next to zero. They are of course experts at tajweed and the balaghah and the dengong etc and etc pointing fingers to these 'imam' and that 'imam' not being able to read this and that surah properly etc etc and etc, and thus their prayers and the prayers of their 'makmun' automatically negated.......Frankly, I have very little patience for these clowns actually, and they are many here in KL.

Tajweed is important I am sure but while waiting for your tajweed to be perfect learn and read the Quran for our on sake. Tajweed will earn you 'points' but without understanding the message in the Quran, that mountain of 'karat2 jahiliah' in us would not move an iota, despite tons of perfect tajweed!





"Son, what got to you today was never ever meant to miss you and what missed you today was never ever meant to hit you".....

"In my line of 'work' I see people on a daily basis with 'heart' pain and 'clogged' arteries but increasingly I also see people and friends with 'clogged' souls .Both these groups continue to enrich and 'educate' my life . My meeting them is no 'accident' .All have been 'pre-decided' in the 'Loth Mahfuz' long before time . 'Life is a mind game', "Clogged soul is more deleterious to long term health than clogged arteries"..........

Personal Journey Thru The Quran : Surah Al Insan

Al-Insan
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Hath there come upon man (ever) any period of time in which he was a thing unremembered? (1) Lo! We create man from a drop of thickened fluid to test him; so We make him hearing, knowing. (2) Lo! We have shown him the way, whether he be grateful or disbelieving. (3) Lo! We have prepared for disbelievers manacles and carcans and a raging fire. (4) Lo! the righteous shall drink of a cup whereof the mixture is of water of Kafur, (5)
Surah 76 : 1-5
..............................................................................
Man has been blessed with free will. Total understanding of 'al Qada' wal Qadar' belongs to the realm of Allah and a prerequisite for understanding it requires us to accept that Allah and Allah's knowledge of our predestiny is beyond our realm of things. Suffice to say that,
"All of mankind wakes up in the morning the merchant of his own soul. So he either imprisons it or sets it free. "..Tafseer Ibnu Katsir


Related Article :
Al Qada' Wal Qadar, click here

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Total Honesty.....

Food for Thought :

Whenever I passed by Masjid Abu bakar As Siddiq in Seksyen 19, Subang Jaya, near my home, I am always reminded by what total honesty and sincerity can do. Money can be stretched a long long way when one has these two ingredients [ 'asam garam' ]. Tuan Haji Yusuff [ YB Sharifah Norli's husband, A Selangor DUN before ], a qualified engineer himself, along with a small group of dedicated and selfless individuals who would remained unnamed here, built it for 1.5 million RM ! Now it is there 'TERSERGAM' and 'INDAH'. No hanky panky, only blood ,sweat and tears and a lot of piety with a big dose of honesty and sincerity amongst these small group of individual pioneers.

Where you do not have these 'asam garam' you have 1.2 billion RM loss of almost 100 % bumiputera money in the latest Sime Debacle in Qatar, 1 billion RM per frigate in the future naval extravaganza, and whatever future loss from the Wawasan Tower or whatever projects one can think of in the future to lace up further one's pocket and the pockets of one's cronies in the name of national development.

Some cheeky thoughts as I make that slow drive to my hospital this morning for my morning round, passing yet again the 'masjid that Yusuf built'.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Khutabah Series : Ustaz Azhar Idrus.

Some years back I was driving down to Kuala Teganung one night to catch the early morning Berjaya boat to Redang Island to do a spot of snorkelling and scuba diving. Stopped by at Masjid Paka to do my Magrib. Ustaz Azhar Idrus was there giving a ceramah. His ceramah is typically 'hilarious' at time, that is his style but the message he imparts are serious. This ceramah below is typical of his usual stlye. NO HOLD BARRED, with jokes thrown in between. Up north we speak 'French'. Ustaz Azhar delivers his ceramah in 'German'. Enjoy him
[ disregard the caption in the utube..this ceramah has very little to do with tahlil and whatever position you take on the issue of tahlil, it is a 'ranting' issue, and is of no consequence to me ]

By the way, Redang Island is Teganung's best jewel in the crown, and Teganung is blessed with many jewels dotting it's coast!


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Going Nowhere......




" If America chooses to go to war against 1.5 billion Muslims, it is doing so at it's own peril! "
Democracy in the Arab world ? : click here

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Unto HIM is the journeying.....

My favourite patient and friend AFW died yesterday while at home, presumably from a 'massive heart attack'. He was 43. Our path crossed when he had his 1st coronary event at a tender age of 37, a young, thinking, up and coming CEO. Had 4 stents implanted in 2005. Bad residual Left ventricular function[ short form to just 'LV', for left ventricle of the 'heart', the main 'piston' pumping your blood away ] following the loss of heart muscles during the 1st attack.

When I am faced with young chaps like him with reduced LV function, apart from the usual standard care for the'body', I always felt duty-bound the necessity to address the question of the 'soul'. Unwanted , unheralded, unexpected death does occur despite the best of care and surveillance in people in this group arising from arrythmias, sudden non-critical plaque disruption making a non significant and minor plaque or indentation in the coronary vessel suddenly critical narrowing or complete blockade, leading to a life threatening reinfarction, and rarely 'pump failure'. From the 'mechanical perspective', increased mortality arise from this group of patients higher than the rest because with a prior 'LV dysfunction', their hearts have less 'reserve' so to speak to be able to sustain any further loss of muscles arising from a second heart attack. In layman's term, 'you are already on reserve tank'!.

If he is Muslim and Kelantanese, it is usually easy , this 'education of the soul aspect : Just blurt out, the usual advice usually given to big bikers, " Jangan Korner 'baring' in your lifestyle " would automatically be followed by a 180 degrees turn towards piety, surau going, comtemplative,dikr laden change. If you are a big bike enthusiast and like to 'potong' people around corners, you automatically know what it mean.

If he is non-Kelantanese and Muslim, this " Jangan korner 'baring' .." advice is rarely understood. Instead I would advice him to take a one kilometre walk to his nearest surau for Isyak prayer for 4 to 5 times a week. That address the exercise issue at the same time.

If you are non Kelantanese and Non Muslim, my task get a wee bit harder. Firstly I have to make a rational assessment as to whether my patient is ready to accept the less than satisfactory news of possibility of future SCD [ our euphemism for sudden cardiac death ]. After having ascertained that only than would I venture gingerly over the issue. Most would rather have me remain silent on this important issue. This give doctors in my position a wee bit of heartburn in the long run because ' silence means a heavier emotional burden for us' when untowards event occur in the future.

That in a nutshell is the 'state of the business'.

Back to my friend AFW. He is non kelantanese but Muslim. He probably must have been close to big bikers though because he understood the " No korner baring " advisory.
His lifestyle according to his elder brother whom I talked to today, who is also my patient, changed 100 % after his 1st coronary. Umrah yearly for the last 6 years, Ramadan in Mekkah/Medinah, prayers and dhikr and a life of contemplation. Alhamdullillah!

His untimely 'pasasage' has left a gaping wound in my 'qalb' today but it is quite reassuring to know that he has gone to meet his Maker on a good 'inning'. Alhamdullillah, Mashaallah!

Inna lillah hiwainna ilaihirojiun. Unto HIM is the journeying.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Al Qaeda Incorporated.......



" If America chooses to go to war against 1.5 billion Muslims, it is doing so at it's own peril! "

Reflections : Shaykh Mokhtar Al Maghraoui

Dr. Mokhtar Maghraoui reflects on the life of Prophet Muhammad SAW in this three part series. Al Marghraoui in his very special insightful way discusses The Prophet's Seerah with a group of his students. I feel this 2007 video still very relevant to us despite some interruption in the sound quality when his students vocalise their own reflections....
I thoroughly enjoy these videos and find it illuminating and very educational and I hope you do as well. There is something Al Maghraoui has which is fairly rare in an ulama' nowadays, and even rarer before except during the Spanish Cordoba and Serville era perhaps when Muslims were masters of the sciences. A mastery of the profane and the sublime!. He holds a double doctorate in Physics and electronic engineering and is equally at home discussing the purification of the 'qalb' and things 'fekah' as well.


Bio Data :

Shaykh Mokhtar Maghraoui is one of the most well renowned scholars in North America and is a foundation scholar for Al-Madina Institute. Originally from Algeria, he is thoroughly versed in the Islamic sciences and holds a doctorate joined between the fields of physics and engineering. His expertise includes the disciplines of Tazkiyah and Fiqh, and he is best known for his enlightening retreats and seminars empowering Muslims on their spiritual quest.


Part 1 : Click Here

Part 2 : Click Here

Part 3 : Click Here


Related Article in this blog:
"Tan Sri, we can use the ISA on him.." : Click Here

Divine Decree : Al Maghraoui Click Here

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The Dominoes Start Falling in The Middle East......

"IMAM ZAID SHAKIR ON THE CRISIS IN EGYPT: GAME OVER…WE WIN?
The current uprising in Egypt, coming in the aftermath of the popular revolution in Tunisia, is a monumental event that is altering all of the political calculations currently governing how we think about Middle Eastern politics. The emerging popular movements in the region have led to a swift reshuffling of the mental furniture governing the way Tunisians, Egyptians, and likely, other people in the region see themselves and their relationship to those who have been ruling them with repression, fear and intimidation.

The new thinking shows that the people are no longer afraid of their rulers and their dreaded security apparatuses. Now that that reshuffling has occurred, as one of the most popular Tunisian protest posters declared, “Game Over.” No matter what happens in Egypt going forward, the old game is indeed over....."

..................................

Saudara Nadzru ,

As an Arabist and lover of every thing Arabic, is the above summation by Shaykh Zaid Shakir indeed true from your esteemed perspective ? You are very familiar with their scenes and psyche, probably more so than this Nusantara. You know them like the back of your hands....

That we are witnessing a new kind of thinking sweeping the Arab world and things will never be the same again or are we just looking at a familiar mirage, seeing yet another form of turmoil replacing the old, vis a vis the fact that there is a vacuum of credible institutions and people beyond the present collection of despots and Western supported monarchs does give to me a bleak picture.....?

That after this wave of cartharsis and purges , the game will be the same ? We know for instance that Islam's 'enemies' in the Pentagon and White House and elsewhere near Champ Ellyses and White Hall and No 10....that they are capable of thinking 4 or 5 steps ahead ...and they would be damned if they are not doing it now.

Your insight please....


Nik Howk

http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/
[ The First Gulf War Revisited ]


...........................................................




Nik Howk,

I wish I can be as blissfully positive as Zaid Shakir. Unfortunately, nothing is ever as it appears in geo-political affairs, and certainly not in the Middle East, where for every thrashing chicken with a slit throat stands a half dozen men watching intently with bloodied knives in their pockets. There is yet another viewpoint expressed here:

One last entry – a very depressing piece of analysis by Robert Springborg in Foreign Policy, who argues the upshot will be "back to business as usual with a repressive, US-backed military regime":

TS Wan


......................................................

TS ,


I thought the same as well TS.

The present group of despots and monarchs at least have all their pocket full of marbles and things, all bursting to the seams wanting and screaming to come out, even at the point of swelling out thru all their orifices.

The new 'despots' would need new filling up to that same level.......If I am an Obama , that is what I would be asking my advisers to think about in the days and weeks that follow ....as to how to fill up the 'new pockets'. That is of course the skeptic in me thinking.

But we have to be a wee bit of a romantic in things like these....we can hope that things will change and does change for the better..but when I see Al Baradei standing out like a sore thumb in that Egyptian crowd crying for change, On Day One, Washington is already there...The power of thinking 4 to 5 steps ahead!...We have to lift our hats to these guys..they are very bright. Tha is why they are in control of the world right now. Why even Putin is still licking their fingers and feeling good about it.

Was it not Al Baradei and the Swiss fellow who were instrumental for the 1st Invasion of Iraq by giving all kind of blurred picture on the nuclear issue?

Nik Howk



......................................................



Dear Nik Hawk,

The beauty of dictatorship, oppression and tyranny in the Middle East, the arab states in particular is that they have a mundane and even pedestrian human face. The ' closest' I got to the Mubarak family was when I was invited to their niece's wedding at the Four Seasons hotel ballroom, Garden City , Cairo, last november 2010, within walking distance from Midan Tahrir the epicentre of the popular protest demonstration today. The wedding function was as ordinary and as familial as you can get in Kuala Lumpur these days. No alcohol was served at all, the du'a was recited, the mariarchi band played, ladies in chic chiffons, caftans and many were in head covers and pashminas were de rigeur. Suzanne Mubarak's sister herself could pass off as a PAS muslimat leader and many of the mensfolk could be YB Husam's staffers from PAS training centre at Taman Melewar or PUTIK in Pengkalan Chepa. The younger girls look like Datin Seri Wan Zah's entourage of young supporters from ABIM in PKR or Puteri UMNO in their demure pink kurongs in PWTC, when she was in UMNO earlier. The surgeons who were there looked portly, wealthy, horseriding mu'mineen and men of piety like Dr Nik Hawk. The equestrian club in the Gezira has an excellent musalla and ' ceramahs' are held regularly to suit the horse riding times of the club members . If you choose not to venture too far out of the 'preferred precincts' Cairo is the cosmopolitan capital of a ' Baldatun tayyibatun wa rabbun ghafoor'. One could safely salute, ' Mabrouk ya Mubarak '.

The bookshops in Cairo like those in Zamalek and Talaat harb are choc a bloc full of books, some of the best collection comparable to what I have seen any where . Cairo's bistros and cafes are second to none, if not among the very best in the world. As I said, the kind that the built environment of marshland Sinapo never had. The universities thrive with brilliant Professors and world class faculties. Just to weeks ago, I despatched my wife (and second daughter) to Cairo for her post graduate studies and in spite of what is happening I refuse to allow them to come home, being in touch with me daily and they are very happy to remain in their arrondissement in Medinat Nasr.

Meet members of the recent Hosni Mubarak's cabinet members and they are as clever and as ordinary as our ministers. Their former minister of oil , Ir Sameh Fahmi is as handsome and as welcoming as Datuk Shamsul Azhar, so is former PM Ahmad Nazif, he looks as handsome and as cultured as our own Brother Anwar Ibrahim. I had the occassion of knowing both of them at working level. Sameh more so, he is an engineering graduate of Alexandria University and he signed the protocol of putting 20 Egyptian students in UTP Tronoh annually and many of them are interns in Ranhill worleyparsons, meeting me in the lifts ever so often. Ahmad Nazif has a DPhil in Economics from the presitigous Cairo University. I once translated for him in December 2008 when he was with our sleepy former PM Pak Lah and our former ambassador to Egypt Datuk Zainal Abidin ( a defeated UMNO YB, an Al-Azhar alumnus and my eldest uncle). He spoke excellent english but cruelly chose to speak in arabic to test me! None of them have the face of the ' mustakbareen'. In 3 Abduls they would have appeared as the good guys of Isketamboula together with almarhoum Ahmad Nesfu.

Now then, why is the Regime so despicable, like ALL arab country regimes wthout exception? If it is not so repressive as to allow so many sectors of the society to be so vibrant then why are the regimes so abominable? Because abomination do have a human face unfortunately!

Sorry, I have to hop off to a meeting. I will continue later.

Wassalam

Nadzru
In Jakarta


..........................................

TS Wan And Nadzru,

Just finished reading Robert Springborg's analysis. He is a typical American democrat who thinks what works well for America should work for the rest of the world : Democracy. The formullae may not be right for everyone, everywhere and all the time. Just look at Iraq now. During Saddam's time at least the Iraqis have their daily bread, does not live within their own excrement and garbage uncollected, did not have their heads blown off on their way to the market, the Kurds Shiites and Sunnis were not at each other's throats. Now they have democracy implanted direct thanks to America with zero institutions. No thank you ! Iraq dont need democracy if this is the price they have to pay.

Correct me if I am wrong in my assessment Nadzru. Egypt is poor to start with . They only have cotton, the Suez canal and too many doctors , lawyers, engineers and PHD holders who have to double up as taxi drivers in the evening. Their problem is getting enough food on the plate for their citizen. If you get by well with an authoritarian government that is efficient , so be it.If by democracy, people will be at each other's throat than might as well say good bye to democracy. Egypt though may just prosper with democracy. They do not have the shiite-sunni dichotomy which are a great mix for 'automatic combustion'. The Copts and the Muslims sunni have lived for centuries without problem.

The dominoes that are worth watching would be Jordan and Saudi Arabia. At the end of the day, Tan Sri and Nadzru, the good shaykh may just be right : The Arab landscape may be better in the long run. I suspect what is good for the Arabs may not mean well for the West. Look at FIS and Algeria some 15 years back. Look at Hamas in Palestine. Is America sincere about democracy in the oil rich Arab hinterland or they are just interested in cheap oil and preserving Zionist domination of the region ?

We can anticipate a lot of 'brainstorming' sessions in Whitehall, The White House and the Pentagon. They have the 'brains' as well as the 'storms'.

Nik Howk


..................................................


[ To Nik Isahak Abdullah, Nadzru Azhari,from TS Wan ]

Nik Howk,

No, I don't think Elbaradei is a part of the Western plot (perhaps to make Muslims think he is part of their plot is the REAL plot!) Elbaradei and his then boss, Blix, were considered ' very inconvenient' for continuing to demand more time to prove that Iraq had no WMD. and Elbaradei, after the Iraq war, was a stumbling pain in the arse as far as the Americans were concerned over Iran's nuclear program. Not to mention his asides on Israeli possession of the N bomb. But I don't think El Baradei is going to play a significant long term role in Egypt's post Mubarak future, either.

Let's not give America and the West too much credit. Instead, citizens of the Muslim world would do better to address and own up to our self-inflicted sins - corrupt governments, grasping klepto politicians, incompetent dead-from-the-neck-up bureaucracies, disdain for intellectual curiousity and honesty, dishonest reading of history including Islamic history, and a propensity to escapism through an inflated sense of victimhood and overplaying the blame game. The West and the rest owe us nothing. Therefore expect no favours other than kicks in the arse or knives in the back. But there is much that we as the ummah can do and must do to better our societies for ourselves and our children's future.

The chaos on the Arab streets offer some glimmer of hope after several centuries of decay amd hopelessness. Of course it may yet prove to be a false dawn, but the faint glimmer of light is embolding and liberating . Wither the Malaysian dawn?

Wan


..............................................

[ from Nadzru Azahari in Jakarta ]

Dearest Tan Sri and Nik Hawk,

Unfortunately dictatorship and political tyranny has a very human face, even a pedestrian face for the people. More so if one comes from the class that needs to be cultivated and kept in abeyance.

I spoke in the most endearing terms to both of you of the Egypt that I love. However, that does not mean that I and the Egyptians love the Regime and Hosni Mubarek.The hatre has been intense for a very long time, the people of all categories and sectors of the society have been suffocated by the Regime, even the wealthiest and the most privileged among them. That said, the political suffocation and the humiliation of being a client state of the US and under their tutelage has not stopped Egypt from producing brilliant works of arts, culture and the sciences. They are a well read society, a world size library in Alexandria, universities and faculties that produced Nobel laureates. While poverty is pervasive, that is still tolerated but the indignity and humiliation of political muffling is too much for the proud people to bear. So they erupted.

If you put together the production indices of Egypt it is not a poor country, au contraire, it is a rich country. It has 600k bpd oil production, a huge LNG export capacity, a thriving tourism industry, a remittance economy of intellectual workforce, a rentier economy of the Suez Canal and a year round agriculture production that can airfreight tomatoes from the farms in the Delta in the morning to reach Carrefour Paris by early evening. Their cotton quality is like gold thread. Their manpower is all over the EU. 17,000 specialists in EU hospitals in 2010! They are ever since the 1900s the publishing and university capital of the Arab world.

If it is just about food on the table, like Tan Sri said, the Regime could pile that on the table and can lavish on them like Mubarak does on his Goon Squads. There are more Carrefours and megamalls in Cairo than there are in the Klang Valley and they are stocked to the brim, all the cheeses and olives that we will ever want.

As a hypchondriac, I have been treated in Cairo hospitals and they have many in the class of SJMC. Their Clubs, bistros and boulevard Cafes are second to none, even in the very down to earth arrondissements. The pavements in Zamalek and Talaat Harb district are choc full of book exchanges of the kind that we don't see in KL. They have poem recital, debates and book reviews in Cafes!

Talk about affordability, by just reducing his ill-gotten wealth by 10% , Hosni Mubarek and his goons could subsidise bread, cheese , beans abd mutton for all the poor Egyptians. Even if he does that, the people will still revolt. The issue is dignity and removing political suffocation.

Wassalaam

Nadzru in Jakarta

.....................................................


Tan Sri and Nadzru,

"... The West and the rest owe us nothing. Therefore expect no favours other than kicks in the arse or knives in the back. But there is much that we as the ummah can do and must do to better our societies for ourselves and our children's future." Well said TS.

This somehow reminded me of Prof Tariq Ramadan now rather famous assertion that in this century, 14 centuries beyond The Prophet[ pbuh], "it is no longer a question of Darul Harb or Darul Islam in this time of global and localised diverse plurality of colour and beliefs ,but more importantly that of Darul Daawah and Darul Shahada". Unrelated to the present issue you might say, but to my simple mind very related. East , West, South and North ; Them, us, you and me ; all these are man made superficial boundaries. It is for all of us to open our boundaries via Darul Daawah.

Which brings to mind an ayat in Surah Al Baqarah :

"It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the West, but righteous is the one who believes in Allah, and the Last Day, and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and gives away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask and to set slaves free and keeps up prayer and pays the poor-rate; and the performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in distress and affliction and in the time of conflict. These are they who are truthful; and these are they who keep their duty." Ch. 2:177

Tan Sri and Nadzru, you guys may think I am too much of a chronic romantic, a 'gone case', but I do believe that the actual battle lines would not be between East or West, North or South. The battle lines will be within ourselves , does not matter we are from the East or West. The dominoes in the Arab world may continue to fall, or may not continue to fall, but this would not be of much consequence to the present world because given adequate time, dominoes elsewhere will continue to fall while others will remain.

East will be East, and insyaallah, west of East will also be East. We cannot underrate the universal appeal of the message of The Quran and His last messenger.Truth is more powerful than all the nuclear arsenals and military hard wares all combined.

Just give time.

Chronic romantic, this Nik Howk!!



Related Articles:
The One That Started It All
Trinity : Surah An Nisa, 4 : 171
Tariq Ramadan and Slavok ZiZek on Egypt Issue : Click Here
The Khasmiri Equation in The Afghanistan Story : Click Here

First Gulf War Revisited.....

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Shahadah : Shaykh Yasir Qadhi

First and foremost before we proceed to Yasir Qadhi's incisive and clear tazkirah on The Shahadah,[ a 6 hour long one I must warn you, but worth every minute of it! ], let us listen and ponder on what Prof Richard Dawkins, eminent biologist from Oxford had to say, reflecting the classic arrogance of the ignorant:



part 2 click HERE

To me, Prof Richard Dawkins is an over-glorified clown.

Despite all the ilm in the world, despite being able to 'perceive' the double helix in three dimension, despite being able to 'see' molecules and atom in motion and inter-action, despite all these, without the gift of faith, one will remain DEAF, DUMB and BLIND!

Now let us move on to THE SHAHADAH by Qasir Qadhi.....



2nd part, click here

Shahadah Part 3, Click Here

As-Saff
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifieth Allah, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. (1) O ye who believe! Why say ye that which ye do not? (2) It is most hateful in the sight of Allah that ye say that which ye do not. (3) Lo! Allah loveth them who battle for His cause in ranks, as if they were a solid structure. (4) And (remember) when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Why persecute ye me, when ye well know that I am Allah's messenger unto you? So when they went astray Allah sent their hearts astray. And Allah guideth not the evil-living folk. (5) And when Jesus son of Mary said: O Children of Israel! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah unto you, confirming that which was (revealed) before me in the Torah, and bringing good tidings of a messenger who cometh after me, whose name is the Praised One. Yet when he hath come unto them with clear proofs, they say: This is mere magic. (6) And who doeth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie against Allah when he is summoned unto Al-Islam? And Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk. (7)
Surah As Saff , 61 : 1-7


Related Articles:

An Aidil Azha Letter to An Agnostic Friend

A Rebuttal

Dr Israr Round Table: Evolution and Islam