Faces in Islam : Ramadan on Ramadan....

Prof Tariq Ramadan, don at Oxford University, grand son of Shaykh Hasan al Bana,one of the rising face of ' European Muslim ',talks on Ramadan.
click here

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ‌ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعۡوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ‌ۖ فَلۡيَسۡتَجِيبُواْ لِى وَلۡيُؤۡمِنُواْ بِى لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَرۡشُدُونَ (١٨٦) أُحِلَّ

And when My servants question thee concerning Me, then surely I am nigh. I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he crieth unto Me. So let them hear My call and let them trust in Me, in order that they may be led aright.
Al Baqarah , 2 : 186



For more on Tariq Ramadan,
click hereEuropean Muslim
click here
Charlie Rose interview with Tariq Ramadan, click here
click here

In the world of al ghaiba......

In the world of al ghaiba....
Al Rahman, Al Rahim, Al Ghaniyyu
Ad Daim [ The Constant ], Al Khabir [ 'Qaf'bir, The Eternal ],
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow are just sides of the same 'coin'...........
'It' has all passed !
Eternity has happened...only we are just fast asleep !
'Man Rabbuka'....then we wake up to the Al Haqqa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwmbnVRRS8k&feature=related



Man Rabbuka , click here
The Shahadah, click here
The Big Bang, click here
Do you have a heart ?, click here
aargh aargh,?[ doctored tape ], click here

Faces in Islam : AMERICA.........

click here
click here

Muslim Women in America,
click here
click here

Yusuf Estes : Of Priests and Preachers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6K0627FiCk

إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ
Guild us on the straight path
[ Al Fatihah, 1 : 6 ]

China : Geopolitical Power Play...

I was discussing world politics in the doctors common room at Sime Darby Medical Centre with a urological colleague of mine recently, Mr Kalai. an anglophile, who moved his practice back to KL some years back.

I told him this world would be a better place if The New Roman Empire, America, can limit itself from going to war all over the globe over oil, it's perceived fear of anything Islam and its geopolitical interests which include Israel. Dr Kalai, my friend told me he is more worried about China and it's bludgeoning interest and need for oil.

" Kalai, China is a toothless tiger at present.China may be in Tibet and East Turkmenistan but that is about all that the World will tolerate"

" Nik, have you seen the map of the disputed Sprately Islands frankly ?"
The answer was NO.

Now let us have a peep at the map:
click here


....China is dangerous in 10 to 15 years time when its economy ecclipse that of Japan and USA. It would just behave like USA now and walk thru into the Spratly Islands, and anyone in Kuching out fishing 20 kilometres away from the shore will need to get permission from the Chinese Navy because he is already in China !

China's nearest mainland is at least 1000 km away from the disputed zone. Brunei, Malaysia and Phillipines are within the 200 km Exclusive Economic Zone. Vietnam, at least for just the Spratlies, is 400 kilometres away but China is certainly very much out. What business has China staking a claim on the Spratelies?! China is already behaving like a big bully.Might as well claim Malacca since Hang Li Po and Cheng Hoe was there in fourteen hundred. !

[Just because Ah leng or Ah Kow was there some years ago frying some kwaey teow does not a 'China make'. From the perspective of history, the earliest inhabitants of Taiwan were Malays. They were systematically 'killed' by Chiang kai Shek. They were known then as the ' hill people'. You can check that !]

China could be worse than USA in 2020 : A roitweiller unchained!
It is wisdom to settle the Sprately Islands dispute before the roitweiller is left unchained. We need another 'King Ghuz' here to speed things up when the UN and Security Council still has it clouts.

Khutbah : ilm, ilm ilm and Ilm

For Shaykh Yasir Qadhi's Khutbah, click here

For Shaykh Ninowy's Khutbah, click here


It is back to ilm, ilm, ilm, and ilm.
'If you know HIM, you will find your way to HIM'


With true wisdom and ilm steeped from 'revealed knowledge',
....A physicist can see the handiwork of HIM in the CERN particles and photons;a cosmologist can discern order in the string theory; a biologist would not be so proud as to say evolution does not need God to give some semblance of order; an agnostic would stoop down and 'sujud' and 'taubat' for his intense ignorance and false pride;...and kings and presidents and prime ministers would pace the streets at night to look for the homeless and the destitute [ ...and not be too worried whether they have that latest fleet of Benzes and Bently Turbo in the garage, penthouses in Belgravia and 'state of the art,150-feet designer yatch' docked in Monaco, or enough ill gotten cash well stashed away in some Swiss banks somewhere ! ].



....but for us mere mortals, here are some real 'pearls and gem' more worthy to remember, comprehend and live by, than those 'superfluous' symbols of power and position...Some very powerful supplications for our everyday use and 'act' as our constant companions. From a scientific perspective,I believe it provide an instant humoral cerebral cascade, which when practised on a continued basis, provides like a permanent 'halo' at the individual level, which somehow works positively and 'can make one feels better' and act better. How this 'cascade' connect with the 'people of the higher plane' and subsequently to Him and back to the individual like a continuos 'magic beam from outer space' is beyond us. But that happens and it works wonders.

My late mother, who had almost zero formal schooling, towards the later stage in her life was always in constant dua, even before embarking on small things, like a drive to the supermarket or stepping out of the house etc and etc. I used to comment to her with some degree of smug filial condescension on her 'over dua' and 'over-wirid'. Now in my late fifties, I have 'gravitated' to the same level, perhaps even more, to the point of an 'addiction'. I could not imagine now doing anything substantive without a 'dua', to the point when some element of risk is involved, especially risk involving a third party, even added a big dose of formal 'prayer' or two. And IT WORKS ! IT WORKS !

There you are , DUA for all seasons. Allah has provided an avenue for us to dua, so DO IT ! And if you want something to happen or not to happen so badly, add to those dua, a big dose of formal 'hajat' prayer......even on a weekly or even daily basis if you have to !


A'u zubikalimatillah hittam mati min Sharhima Kholak
[ I take refuge in the kalimah of Allah against the evils {of creatures} He created]


وَقَالَ ٱرۡڪَبُواْ فِيہَا بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ مَجۡر۪ٮٰهَا وَمُرۡسَٮٰهَآ‌ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى لَغَفُورٌ۬ رَّحِيمٌ۬ (٤١)
Bismillah himajreha wa mursaha inna Rabbi la Ghafur ru Rahim.
{Hud , 11 : 41 }
[ In the name of Allah be its course and its mooring. Lo! my Lord is Forgiving,
Merciful.]..Prophet Nuh alaihisalam on the eve of 'The Big Flood'.


La ila ha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu minazzalimeen
(Al-Anbiya 21 : 87)
And Yunus, when he went away in wrath, so he thought that We
would not straiten him, so he called out among afflictions:
[ There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee; surely I am of those who
make themselves to suffer loss.].


Hasbunallah wa ni'mal wakeel
(Al Imran , 3 : 173)
Dua Prophet Ibrahim alaihisalam
Those to whom the people said: Surely men have gathered
against you, therefore fear them, but this increased their faith,
and they said:
[Allah is sufficient for us, and He is Al Wakeel { best disposer of affairs }]

Hasbiyallahu, la ilaha illa, huwa alaihi tawakkaltu, wa huwa Rabb al- arshal -azhiim
{ Al Taubah , 9 : 129 }
[ Allah is sufficient for me, I have placed my trust in Him, He is the Lord of the Magestic Throne. ]

Rabbana zholamna amfusina wa il lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna lanaku nan naminal khasireen
{ Al Araf , 7 : 23 }, Dua Prophet Adam alaihisalam
[ Our Lord ! We have been unjust to ourselves, and if Thou forgive us not, and have
not mercy on us, we shall certainly be losers ].
Iblees, his 'partner in crime', and on an earlier occasion refused to 'prostrate' to Allah's new creation when asked,on the other hand was unrepentant. No dua , no repentance.
That in essense is the fine line that divides the believer from the non believer.
NO Dua, No Repentance !


...and of course my most favourite ayat cum doa from the last ayat in Al Baqarah, which according to Jibril alaihisalam has special significance. Hadith soheh has it that it was revealed to Prophet during his mikraj.
We are indeed tested by Allah all the time, in our life, in our daily work and occupation, in our illness...it is incumbent on us to doa that He 'not lay on us a burden' as 'He didst on those before us'...those monuments of men...Prophet Mosses, Ibrahim, Isa, and Muhammad et al, for we are frail specimens, frail in faith and resoluteness.
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَا‌ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَيۡہَا مَا ٱكۡتَسَبَتۡ‌ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوۡ أَخۡطَأۡنَا‌ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَيۡنَآ إِصۡرً۬ا كَمَا حَمَلۡتَهُ ۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِنَا‌ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦ‌ۖ وَٱعۡفُ عَنَّا وَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَٱرۡحَمۡنَآ‌ۚ أَنتَ مَوۡلَٮٰنَا فَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡڪَـٰفِرِينَ (٢٨٦)
[ Al Baqarah , 2 : 286 ]
Allah tasketh not a soul beyond its scope. For it (is only) that which it hath earned, and against it (only) that which it hath deserved. Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget, or miss the mark! Our Lord! Lay not on us such a burden as thou didst lay on those before us! Our Lord! Impose not on us that which we have not the strength to bear! Pardon us, absolve us and have mercy on us, Thou, our Protector, and give us victory over the disbelieving folk.

I never leave home or do anything substantive without this 'ayat', for I believe we are all being 'watched' and 'tested' and we do not know when the chips would be too heavy for us to handle.


Biodata :
Shaykh Ninowy
Shaykh Yasir Qadhi

The Hypocrites

We have to be very careful with the positions we take in our lives, with respect to The Quran,its injunctions, and Allah and His messenger.
We do not want to slip into the position of being THe Hypocrites, knowingly or worse still unknowingly, because Allah has reserved a special place for this group of people : The lowest of the low.

Life can be a painful and eternally recurring tragedy for us if we do not learn lessons from luminaries of Mekkah and Medinah some 1450 years ago.

Abu Lahab, Abu Suffian, Hindun, Abdullah bin Ubay and company are very much alive today as they were in Prophet's time. Their names may just be different : Ahmad, Hj Ali or Dato' Reeza.
From Allah's perpective, even John, Alan or De Bosco fare much better.





Ask forgiveness for them (O Muhammad), or ask not forgiveness for them; though thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times Allah will not forgive them. That is because they disbelieved in Allah and His messenger, and Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk.
Al Taubah , 9 : 80

Faces in Islam : Shaykh Ninowy

Celebration of the Mercy of Allah : Shaykh Ninowy
click here

Ya Fattah, ya Razak, ya Wahab, ya Ghoniy, ya Mughniy
Ya Qa'dim, ya Daim, ya Ahad, ya Wahid, ya Samad
Ya Rahman, ya Rahim, ya Latif, ya Salam, ya Hayy, ya Qayum, ya Rabb,
Ya Zaljala liwal ikram .

Give us goodness in this world and the hereafter.

....Bojeng macam Mat Che' Su.....

...Today is Cup Final Day. I guess I am already too late to get the tickets to watch the final at Bukit Jalil. Kelantan with it's 4-1 drubbing of mighty Selangor just two weeks ago look set to beat Teganung but if history is to be taken seriously, the Kelantanese never do well at these rarefied atmosphere called 'Finals', in the last 50 years or so ! We Kelantanese lack the pedigree for that killer instinct, that resoluteness of champions. Winning is to put it simply, just a mind game! We do not have it. Fullstop.

That brought me 'fast' backward to the early 60's when Mat Che' Su, the local hero in Kota Bharu reigned supreme. He was a state hero and could do no wrong even when red carded for kicking full swing into the face of ace Singapura's goalkeeper, Wills Skinner.

Everyone my age [ from 8 to 15; I was probably 10 ] wanted to be in his shoes. When we go for our 50 cent haircuts at Pok Sen the barber we ask for ' bojeng mache Mat Che Su '. That would be the standard American GI crew cut both sides of the 'wings' and on top, with a small curly 'jambul' in front. That was supposed to facilitate the efficient 'heading 'of the balls when approaching for goals ! Every Tom, Dick and Harry who has a 'football team' at that time would want to be Mat Che Su when he grow up.

At the ripe old age of ten,I was captain of Team Teliput, consisted of a rough collection of sons of 'kerani's, Majlis Bandaran workers, shopkeepers and orang kampong. Our arch rival was Team Jalan Ferguson....sons of state engineers, senior 'PWD' technicians[ the new non-working, innefficient animal is called: JKR ] ADo's, legal adviser, state 'salbia'[ Surveyor ], etc etc, with their fancy rubber studded boots and coloured stockings and all. Generally chauffer-driven softies and mummy's boys.... We, the Jalan Teliput boys, always beat them fair and square in football and hockey, played over the 'bendangs' of the State Agricultural Station, off Jalan Teliput, the location of the present Masjid Teliput as it is now. Even at that tender age I already could figure out the secret to sporting success: each team member, including reserves, was supposed to gulp three, better still five, tablespoonsful of margherine or butter just before important matches to assist and ease in the 'lubrication of our joints ' and thus improve our kicks and dribbling ! Those days, even butter and margherines were rationed and prohibited stuff in most poor households in Jalan Teliput.We actually believed this trick worked.
[ 50 years later, Teganung chaps and all the King's men under the payroll of KDYMM himself still could not figure it out how to beat the 'chief' in equestrian endurance...that will remain my secret... ]

The softies and the Teliput gang, all invariably, went to the same school : The best school in the world, the one and only, Sultan Ismail College...........

But back to the issue of Mat Che Su's, we Kelantanese never come close to winning any finals or for that matter semifinals for ages....
We kids used to listen with incredulity at adult's talk during important matches at that period ,' that so and so in the team had beed seen riding a new Vespa after such and such a match, that no wonder we lost the game !'.

Things has not changed very much since then but I do hope this time the Kelantan team management has learn something from the past 'Vespa era' and that tonight we could make something out of it.

We should not lose to Teganung afterall since despite 'demo tu having all their petrodollars and wang ehsan Petronas, demo Teganung tak dok kereta lipang !'.

PS :
Dont be surprised : There may be fights on the terrace, one or two buses might get burnt. There might be a fracas or two even in midfield. That is typical when Kelantan does get to meet Teganung.

....are we Malaysians ready for good governance ?

With NTR's popularity on the upswing,
with Petronas foreign investments amounting to several billion USD [ rumours had it that 54 billion USD has been ordered 'home' by NTR, Allah forbid ! ]flooding the local bourses and Ringgit Malaysia bursting at the seams with' money money , money pouring out of all 'her' orifices and project, project, project ',
[..one Bank negara top official confided to me yesterday we have no money...but this does not jive with the KLSE index being at 15000 plus plus. I think the rumours on the Petronas foreign fund probably is right...it is flooding KL now. ]

with our our typical Malaysian 'tidakapathy and very short on memory and little on cerebration',
the million ringgit question remained : Are we Malaysians ready for good governance ?

click here for Mat Sabu's take on Hard Talk,

Khutbah Series : Humility

Imam Zaid Shakir on HUMILITY
click here
حَسۡبِىَ ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ‌ۖ عَلَيۡهِ تَوَڪَّلۡتُ‌ۖ وَهُوَ رَبُّ ٱلۡعَرۡشِ ٱلۡعَظِيمِ (١٢٩)


Allah sufficeth me. There is no God save Him. In Him have I put my trust, and He is Lord of the Tremendous Throne.
Al Tawbah , 9 : 129

Related blog on Imam Zaid Shakir,
Can We talk about God ?
click here