My Personal Journey Thru The Quran : Surah Al Lail

A young 'punk'  writer wrote in malaysianinsider  just 2 weeks ago:
[ it was sent to me by my 'virtual' friend , KD ]

Rejecting religious fascism

January 23, 2012

JAN 23 — It can be quite tough to recognise the emergence and symptoms of fascism in this country, especially in this day and age.

There are neither cadres of people in brown, black, red or wearing scarfs of chequered patterns nor the sound of jackboots marching here and there. Yes, there are those kids in punk gear and hairstyles wandering confused around town and getting mistakenly branded as black metal acolytes and devil worshippers but those guys are really harmless. A little odd but harmless.

It is encouraging that the past week has seen Malaysia sounding the call for the formation of a Global Movement of Moderates. The world is very much in need of moderation in more ways than one. But here in Malaysia, if the call is to mean something more than a public relations exercise, we will need to do some self-reflection and soul searching to see whether we ourselves have passed the test of moderation, particularly when it comes to religion.

In one of my previous articles, I stated that Malaysia is on the verge of religious fascism. It seems that when it comes to religion in this country, we are unable to say no, to argue reasonably and rationally, or to even use common sense. What is even more alarming is the use of religion to intimidate, repress and stifle discourse.

More than ever before, the line between public and private religion has become thinner and in some cases has disappeared altogether. Aspects of religion, specifically Islam, has begun to dominate and dictate various previously secular aspects of life in this country to the point that it is now erroneous and misleading to state that issues pertaining to Muslim affairs do not affect or impact on non-Muslims.

We have seen the enactment of laws which allow for Islamic religious authorities to raid the places of worship of other religions. We have heard and experienced blatant unsubstantiated statements intended to create fear and whip up hysteria by accusing others of proselytisation and conversion.

It took 20 years before a church could be established in Shah Alam due to the unwillingness and resistance put up by local authorities who felt that their own aqidah would be threatened for allowing a place of workship belonging to another faith to be established. Nobody told them that their personal faith should not be a factor in their decision making.

The list is longer when we include what is being inflicted upon the Muslim community itself.

Infants are judged illegitimate as a result of being born prematurely. The parents are married? Doesn’t matter. If the kid was born less than six months from the date of nikah, he or she is considered illegitimate. The Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) is more known and infamous for its numerous vice raids than its acts of welfare and good work helping those in need and poverty.

If you are a Malay woman, Muslim and a civil servant, there is an unspoken rule that you are expected to wear only the baju kurung and if you are not wearing the tudung or headscarf, sooner or later you will be peer pressured into wearing it. Wear any other professional attire such as a pantsuit and you will be quietly spoken to.

Like many others, I have long been concerned about the religionisation of secular mechanisms and frameworks. Have you taken a look at the e-Fatwa website recently? It boggles the mind to see the degree of influence, control and intervention into our lives which has been granted to religious authorities who are largely unelected persons who are unaccountable to the public. It seems that syariah matters are no longer limited to personal law matters as originally underlined and envisaged under the Federal Constitution.

It is disturbing to note that involvement of Islamic religious bodies such as the National Fatwa Council appears to be required and even have the final word on perspectives involving such things as electoral reform (i.e. the use of indelible ink), Mat Rempits, poco-poco dancing, public health policy and even the use of scanners at airports. In recent days, religious authorities have even acted as book critics and declared books haram such as Lee Kuan Yew’s “Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going”.

But the reason why this is all happening is because we are allowing it to happen.

There are many who lay the blame of the religious excessiveness seen of late at the doorstep of Malay-speaking rural communities. But you know what? I believe the problem lies instead among those of the middle class living in the cities, particularly in the enclaves which exist in Shah Alam, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Putrajaya, Malacca and Johor Baru.

In these almost ghetto-like Malay communities spring the many insecurities, intolerance, bigotry and racism which have manifested themselves on the national agenda and championed by persons such as Hasan Ali, Ibrahim Ali, the Perak mufti and the boys and girls of the Perkasa brigade.

The ideas originate from people who are not economically challenged, deprived or impoverished rather they are more likely to be the privileged, well-educated, well-travelled and moneyed. They are more likely to have been educated abroad. Yet, these are the ones who are most rabid about the alleged threats to the Islamic faith. Many of them are in their retirement years, consider themselves devout and recently renewed in their faith. They are influencing the younger generation with their views and values.

Yet among them, religious piety co-exists with superstitious practices.

Consider the current trend of enrolling your kids in tahfiz classes. Parents are racing to get their very young kids into these classes where they are taught to read and memorise the entire Quran. They aren’t taught what the individual words mean or the historical context. Just memorise. So, your son can recite whole chapters but has no idea what the story is about. These kids have become the latest show and tell of parents and the latter’s store for good deeds for the hereafter. In the meantime, daughters are taught that it is necessary to thoroughly wash sanitary napkins to prevent the Devil feeding on menstruation blood and gaining access to one’s soul. Bomohs (shamans) are used for a myriad of purposes from weather control to dealing with business rivals.

These are all symptomatic of a strangeness currently inflicting the Malay community. It seems that there are many who appear to be gripped in some sort of religious rapture. A race to see who can be seen and demonstrate themselves to be the most pious. The extreme manifestations of this have been the loud militant religious rhetoric, threats towards those of other faiths and the enforcement of a single interpretation or religious worldview.

If a person is not a Malay and not a Muslim, that person is deemed as having no right to comment on things affecting Muslims. If a person is non-Malay and a Muslim, we say things are done differently here in Malaysia compared to other countries. If a person is a Malay Muslim, this person is deemed to not know enough about Islam. If a person is a Malay Muslim with the right credentials, he or she could get censored, condemned and even accused of sedition.

The loudest voices (and those who often get their way) are those belonging to the people who are less tolerant and accepting of others, who feel the need to dominate others in the name of religion and ethnicity, and who claim to be champions of the faith.

Taken together, many of these are the budding signs of fascism which are no longer confined to fringe groups and have in fact become mainstream.

Religious fascism is a tapeworm in the gut of modern Malaysia. It is time we recognised it for what it is.

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

your excellency KD,

try looking at things from a different perspective

it is a positive sign, at any age especially guys your age and mine !

take it positively......................................

with ilm, ilm and ilm of course otherwise we go back to bomoh, shamans, talisman and all

overall increase in religiosity in ttdi, damansara heights or even subang jaya does not cause more heart burns or ulcer 

I take a contrarion view. positive always.....i am sure a more god fearing kd or even dato dc would not do the world at large any harm.

we are having too much of 'ads' anyway......akhirat deficit syndrome....it is a chronic and serious inattention disorder in elderly adults our age.  . .not healthy at our age, if you ask me.

jmho

nik howk

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

Howk,

I live at TTDI, or at least at the fringe of it. And I am in my retirement years, or at least at the fringe of it.

And yes, I am from the middle class and for some time now have had my faith renewed. And finally, I make

no apologies for not being a moderate in the practice of Islam. Those who advocate moderation in such matters 

ought perhaps also plead for moderation from the Almighty in His exercise of forgiveness for their sins.

There is one sentence in that article that about sums up its author's mind. It is: 

"It seems that syariah matters are no longer limited to personal law matters as originally underlined and envisaged under the Federal Constitution."

It is apparent that the author thinks that the application of the syariah with all its injunctions, commandments

and prescriptions were intended by God and the Prophet (pbuh) to be circumscribed by what a handful of men

led by the colonizer's representative, Lord Reid, determined in drawing up the Federal Constitution. Originally

underlined and envisaged? Was that what God and the Prophet (pbuh) originally underlined and envisaged for 

the syariah 1400 over years ago when Lord Reid's grandparents were not even born, that its scope and application

should be determined by Lord Reid and a few other men?

To such like him perhaps when the talqin is recited over their bodies when their time comes and they 

are asked by Munkar and Nakir what book they follow, they should answer that the book they follow is the

Federal Constitution.

Wassalam.

Adam.

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

Adam,

Well said.

Nik Howk

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

Doc,

Well said !? Really ?

   

You reject our Federal Constitution...Agong, Sultans, Parliament, Cabinet, Courts, Federal and State laws, Democracy, Rule of Law, Elections... Because Lord Reid, a "coloniser's representative" drew them up?  And what will you have in its place? A theocracy that will take us back 14 centuries? A Wahabbi monarchy Saudi Arabian style?  Ayatollahs Iranian style? 

No. No, thank you.

DC.

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

Dato Dc,

acceptance of the 'status  quo handed to us by history'  with reluctance' is one thing dato'.

[ pas, ikwanul muslimin , justice party of turkey  etc etc are the result of such 'acceptance with reluctance' ]

outright rejection of the 'the god given' alternative is quite another thing.

some would rightfully say this is bordering on the aqidah....i dare not go there or push my friends to play 'brinkmanship'.

we need to 'step back and give ourselves a lot of deep soul searching.

before we sink deeper into this chasm we better stop here.

Nik Howk

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

You are right, doc, we all need to think through the major issues we face. A nation's Constitution is a serious matter. Though man made, it is the bedrock of the nation that guarantees the rights of all its members. Its provisions can only be amended a two thirds majority of parliament. A few clauses, the entrenched ones, cannot be changed without the agreement of the Council of Rulers. 

It is well to recognize that our Constitution was not drawn up by a "coloniser's representative." Lord Reid was only chairman of the commission. The commission that drew up our Constitution comprised eminent judges from several commonwealth countries. 

Though Islam is the official religion, our Constitution guarantees that our nation is secular. This is a basic right of all citizens, guaranteed by the Constitution. We will be governed by the rule of law, not rule by law, or rule by man through beliefs. When we think of the issue carefully, these are inescapable thoughts.

Have a great holiday!

DC.

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

Howk,

Reading the latest postings, I guess there's another then that should give Munkar and Nakir the same reply,

Adam

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

Friends,

Let us take a break from this discussion. My collar is getting heated up.

Let su go listen to some Shaykh.....young Imama Suhaib Webb exposition on Surah Al lail

Part 1,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrbs24gb07c&feature=relmfu

Part 2,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfKaJLsxaSs&feature=relmfu

My Journey thru The Quran : Surah Al Asr

time  :  mid  august  1984, wukuf time, the hottest of summer for many years
place: field of arafah, saudi arabia


was walking around our field hospital like a field general, dressed in ihram, overlooking 150 other anxilliary medical staff and doctors. temperature outside our tented hospital was 55 degree centigrade. inside no better, probably 50. medical orderlies  with modified anti-malarial pressure pump strapped to their bodies, walking 2 step behind  spraying ice water on to doctors and nurses . we had over 150 inpatients in varying degree of heat stroke on iv drips.......outside some 200, malaysians, pakis, arabs and afghans sprawled on the desert sand, getting medical attention.


i particularly remembered the afghans. brought in unconcious, ice-sprayed,iv dripped and resuscitated. once consious, got up, thanked our staff profusely and walked out. a malaysian dato on the other hand, onced concious, got up and cursed us blue in the face for conduct unbecoming. he thought he was back in kl and in pantai !


azan magrib sounded from the minaret of nearby masjid arafah, echoed by thousand other azan from the tented city of arafah , temperature had somewhat cooled down to 40.


we stopped for prayer
the imam read surah al asr and i wept and sob spontaneosly, unashamedly.
that was the magic silver bullet that pierced my 'qalb'............................
life, for me, was never the same again.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA9hbR9iMsQ
[ tgna: i am sorry it is in 'french' ]
for english version, listen to imam suhaib webb,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK-_elKaPD8

ps :
do not compare the two. tgna was addressing the peasants 'french' people of pulau melaka and kedai buloh ; while suhaib webb was talking to an enlightened group of already arab speaking 'natives' of amerikaya............
the division in ilm ,ilm and ilm and native background need to be appreciated.
[ i meant to be naughthy here in future blog , already thinking of a possible scenario : faith without ilm = melayu ;  much ilm without faith = levin, bernard apakahnamadiadah, esposito et al ]




similar articles in the blog :
on life, dying, death, and life after death,
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/09/f-dying-death-and-life-after-death.html
Unto HIM is the journeying,
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/02/unto-him-is-journeying.html
Some random thots on DEATH,
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2008/05/some-more-random-thots-on-death.html

On Anwar...Scene 2 Act 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PvwSI2Kq_F8








If one has an open heart and not be too  cynical,one can be happy that once in a while  our judiciary oftentimes does show it's brilliance.

The lowest ebb of the judiciary being the Saleh Abbas's 'Mayday for Justice', not too long ago. Malaysian memory we must admit is necessarily too short.

If one is cynical though,then this represent a sleight of the magician's hand.

This could just represent one of the many more chess move coming pre PRU 13.
One can expect the magician to wrap up the 'NFC' fiasco by bringing Leh Budu et al to court [ http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2008/11/not-so-pearl-gem-malay-dilemma_30.html  ] or reduce the  damage to UMNO by getting Shahapakahnamadiadah to send in her papers...and finally probably top up by chasing the tails of  those involved in the PKFZ multi billion dollar fraud. If he does all these, PRU 13 is more or less his.

Anwar is free. But there is a big 'but'. He and his company of merry men  will have to work much much harder for a win, or  even getting a narrow loss...not bad for a chap otherwise who would undergo another 5  to 20 years of nasi kawah, free board and lodging in Sungai Buloh.

The magician however comes out smelling like a rose and  with  that few more moves, can say ' you see , I inherit all the shits from Dr M  and Pak Lah, but under my watch I will clean all the dirt'....the 'lalang' he is, bending to whatever directions the wind blows, his reputation of yesteryears will all be forgotten. Malaysian public memory is all too short. He does not need top notch Israeli advice costing million of ringgit with makeovers and deft moves costing more millions, just to stay  in power. I am giving him one for free here.


" Magician, Sir...go after these bastards with a chain saw..the raayats will rejoice and love it ! "

For Anwar though, the stigmata still remain : did he do it or didnt' actually he not do it. I posed this question to Dr Siti Hasmah on the eve of Anwar's arrest during scene one act one. She said, ONLY GOD KNOWS ! Dr M was out riding his horses in kiara on the night of the arrest., even man of steel had to find his outlet in time of stress and perhaps of battered conscience................

A cynical view would be ONLY GOD AND AZIZAH KNOW. This will remain indelibly etched on Anwar's epitaph, Allahualam.

The religious,Islamic perspective is however very clearcut and precise despite many thinking that Islam is very backward,

it is most liberal in one sense :

Sex and sexual preference, in the privacy of one' inner sanctum, is a personal business. No individual has any business peeping into other people's keyhole examining other people's private sexual lives. Whether one wants to do it standing, sitting up, or upside down is one's personal business as long as one does it in one's own privacy......one just need to know the halal/ haram of it and be answerable to HIM at Mahsyar. 

If you  are still interested in peeping through  the keyhole, then be prepared to  get 4 witness of good standing along with you. If you cant, just bloody well shut up.

But if you choose not to, you will get 80 of the best on your backside !

 Dr M, are you ready for that  80 of the best on your backside?..........

This is the very essense and beauty of Islam.

Allahualam.

Nik Howk

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

from Dato' Hamzah Cempaka :

I am not so sure. Not so simple. There is such a thing as a groundswell and momentum, 

you know.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men which,

taken at a flood, will lead to fortune..."       William Shakespeare.

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

One dissenting view from my 3rd cousin,

Sarfuddin Othman

 May allah bless us for not having to undergo the experience of saiful,sukma,azizan,azmin and many more without 4 saksi, but only the delivery man and the jaguar car was there. If you do not protest then the promised hopefull light at the end of the tunnel is still dark. To me whether  he really did it either by consent or force  and many says only God knows then you are wrong becos beside Allah there are others Yang meliwat, yang kena liwat.

Yang saya lihat orang Islam like Ustaz Hadi, Tok Guru Nik Aziz, Dato Hashim Yahya (Bekas Mufti Wilayah) support sebegini manusia.

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

Deng,

I am afraid you are too 'blinded' and missed the spirit of the 'shariah' here. Life is not just about 'cari makan' Deng !

It is not for us mere mortals to be in someone's cupboard or dressing room to catch him doing whatever he wants to in the privacy of his house or whatever.

If you catch someone in Subang Park fornicating with a  bird, then let us hang him upside down rightaway.

Nik Howk

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




From Dato' Nadzri London.




Sedih, ramai orang Islam yg cetek agama dan nipis iman mudah terpedaya dengan fitnah. Dlm kes pertama salah seorang mangsa yg diseksa polis supaya buat pengakuan disodomised oleh AI ialah staff saya, Dr Anis Munawir. Di torture hingga masuk icu. Jubur Anis dan azizan tak diperiksa pun. Dr Mahathir bawa AI masuk umno kerana AI ada imej islam. Mahathir tak ada imej islam dan masa dia jadi PM kebangkitan semula Islam merebak di seluruh dunia ekoran revolusi Iran. Kekuatan AI ialah imej Islam jadi untuk bunuh karektor AI mesti musnahkan imej islamnya. Sedih kerana org melayu tak boleh berfikir.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device via Vodafone-Celcom Mobile.

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

From Nik Nadimah

Alhamdullillah if nothing else, we would not be questioned in the hereafter for not producing the 4 witnesses if it had been a conviction. In this case we need not lift a finger and not be questioned either which I personally feared most up to yesterday that was for not trying to have justice spoken. What comes next only Allah Swt knows though.... We have to continue to pray that we spared from further questioning on politics at least!

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

From  Tan Sri Ming

Nikhowk,  perhaps you should be neither happy nor sad, but merely detached and indifferent, If you were consistent with the 'everything is written on the loth mahfuz tablet from the beginning of time', a position you occasionally espouse with some conviction! It absolves one of all sins as well deny the strange satisfaction of victimhood!But if you are like me, who struggles with a sense of personal guilt and responsibility and the occassional hankering for getting even for slights and injuries suffered, one has to rejoice. While the acquittal does not prove as Rais Yatim would have you believe that justice and independence of the courts are healthy and well in Malaysia, it does prove several things that we have always suspected:




1. The bloody case should not have reached the courts in the first place, for the whole thing was farcical beyond belief;
2. That Jib and Wifey were hopelessly hare-brained as plotters and conspirators;
3. That the police are pretty insipid in the execution of badly concieved plots; 
4. That the AG is incompetent, and
5. That money is pretty good currency for the purchase an unfettered lease on Saiful's rear-end or RPK's mouth.

So, my friend, rejoice for it's money and not UMNO that rules, and be mindful that the merchants have more of it. And until you have installed a system of governance and a set of governors that could not be bought and sold, perhaps we should hold back the rejoicing!
Salam, 

Related articles in the blog :
Letter one would like our children to read,  http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2010/07/aqidah.html

Alone in the crowd, http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/11/alone-in-crowd-looking-back.html


Bersih,http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/07/bersihbersihbersihbersihbersihbersihber_11.html

An UMNO or  A Malaysian Spring ?,
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2012/01/2012111103958820427.html

On Race, Secularism and Islam....

Mariam Mokhtar wrote in Malaysiakini :

THE COMATOSE MALAY BY MARIAM MOKHTAR FOR MALAYSIAKINI

Is this the sign of things to come in Malaysia? The organisers of
former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's talk on the 'Malay race and the
future' banned non-Malay reporters and television crews. Reporters
today, who next tomorrow?

And Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak just looks on pathetically?

The talk at the Tun Hussein Onn Memorial is an insult to Hussein Onn's
memory. He was highly regarded for fostering racial unity. His
firmness against anyone creating racial unrest, earned him the
soubriquet Bapa Perpaduan or 'Father of Unity'.

When will we accept that the solution to the problem Malaysia faces
can only be resolved when the Malays come out of their self-imposed
coma?

As a Malay who has benefited from higher education and exposure to
what the world has to offer, I am appalled at what Mahathir and Umno's
leaders are doing to the Malays.

Instead of leading us into the 21st century, they are still talking
about the golden age of yesteryear.

Instead on embracing change and catching up with the rest of the
world, we are still debating who this country belongs to.

Instead of being enthused by all the exciting changes that are
happening elsewhere in the world, we act like children in the
playground, and refuse to yield to reason.

It is simple; this country belongs to all Malaysians who are prepared
to work hard to see the country prosper. Its citizens will benefit
from the collective effort of the people.

In his talk, Mahathir said everyone had to accept that Malaysia
belongs to the Malays and that the country belongs to the culture and
language of the dominant community; however he added that 'Bangsa
Malaysia' has helped strengthen national unity.

Isn't this a contradiction of terms? How can you have 'Bangsa
Malaysia' and a country just for the Malays?

In his opinion, all races must accept that they are from 'Bangsa
Malaysia' to allow better cooperation between the different races and
guarantee the future of the country. Didn't he also say that the
country belongs to the Malay race? Don't these remarks clash?

He said: “….Peninsular Malaysia was known as Tanah Melayu……. We must be sincere and accept that the country is Tanah Melayu.”

He explained that the country's forefathers gave the Chinese and
Indians citizenship because they expected the communities to respect
Malay sovereignity.

He is telling the non-Malays that they are second-class citizens here.
He conveniently overlooks the non-Malays who have been more than
willing to identify themselves as Malaysian rather than by their
racial origin.

How dare he say that Malays will feel less threatened if the country
adopts the concept of 'Bangsa Malaysia'?

Insecurities exploited

Malays feel threatened because Mahathir keeps telling them that if the
relax their guard, they will be trampled by the non-Malays and that
the country will be sold to the Chinese.

Mahathir and the succession of Umno leaders are not leading the
country forward. Instead of opening up the Malay mind, they are
closing it.

Umno leaders are leading the Malays into a comatose state. Just like a
person in a coma, who is able to hear outside influences, the Malay
mind is unable to contribute towards the conversation and get out of
his vegetative state.

These leaders have worked on the Malay psyche to further their
personal cause. The Malays have always been a feudalistic and
fatalistic race.

Instead of bringing out the best in them, these leaders have worked on
their insecurities and kept them hopeless and pessimistic.

The non-Malays who came to Malaya were spurred by adversity and knew
that they had to work to make a success of their lives.

Not so the Malays who had always enjoyed the bountiful harvests of the
land - the rivers, seas or the smallholding that they could cultivate
whatever they wanted.

What Umno leaders have done is to control the Malays because - that
way - they control their personal fortunes.

Mahathir and Najib may have tried to give the impression that they
disagree with each other. Mahathir champions 'Bangsa Malaysia' and
denigrates Najib's '1Malaysia' concept. They hope that between them
they will win over all the Malays.

Grip on power

Only a fool would be deceived by that ploy. The truth is that both
Mahathir and Najib are one another's keepers.

If Mahathir falls, Najib knows he has no more protection and
vice-versa. It also applies to the rest of the Umno/BN hierarchy. Thus
it is important they keep their clique going for as long as is
possible.

Mahathir has the extremist Perkasa to release on the wider community.
The Malays who do not believe in such extremist views simply fall into
Najib's lap. That way the Malays are still under their control.

The Malay mindset has to change. There are many who think like me but
are fearful of speaking out for fear of a public backlash. That is
understandable.
If they continually stay in the shadows, how will their children and
grandchildren benefit? The policies of this BN government are not
based on fairness and equality. Not everyone can aspire to be an
Umnoputra.

They must realise that the method employed by Mahathir and Najib is
one of control. They keep the Malays hopeless and in a state of
pessimism. They frighten the Malays into thinking that if they are not
careful, the non-Malays will dominate their lives. Mahathir and Najib
are skilled in demoralising people.

Malays like me have managed to get out from under our tempurung. Malay
women like me have had to fight various forms of discrimination to
enjoy the benefits that the world has to offer those who are prepared
to work hard.

We did not do this in isolation but with the assistance of everyone:
male and female, young and old, non-Malay and Malay, Muslim and
non-Muslim.

Our fear is that extremist views will hamper the efforts of women to
improve themselves in the modern world. This is already happening with
the influence of ultra-religious views.

People like Mahathir and Najib know that their power is secured for as
long as they can control the Malay mind.

They both know that educated and confident people are much harder to
control and hence to govern.

MARIAM MOKHTAR 


discussion:






Dato DC ,

As always dato' I am going to be a wee bit naugthy and provocative.

'Malays' is 10 millions . Or at the most 13 millions.

If we think nusantara we are talking of 250-300 millions. Dangerous thought during the  early 60's , post ''konfrontasi'' era...my late grand uncle, Tok Guru Tuan Haji Hasan of Lemal, Pasir Mas , Kelantan,  an ulama' running a  a very dynamic and progressive pondok in Lemal, Pasir Mas, was thrown under ISA for years for just trying to think that way by no other than Tunku Abdul Rahman. 

If we stop thinking of Malays and nusantara, the next big jump is of course, think of being 1.5 billion....Go universal,.think Islam.

Of course progressive chaps like you and ex ambasador KD  would think this as a retrogressive step backward retrogressive. KD, if I can read his mind, would surmise, I am recommending us to go back to the dark ages. I do not know what they teach in Intan those days to produce such thinkers !

Mariam apakahnamadiadah[ she sounds more Mat saleh to me than Malay. Is she a ''kwailo'' or she is just masquerading as a Malay ] would have fits in her bed reading my outrageous [ by her standard , I mean ] recommendation, let alone listen to what the likes of Ustaz Azhar has to say.

Think Islam.......

Yes , think Islam

Yes dato', I am doing away with political correctness today and without reservation going to be provocative. Let us think 1.5 billion. Let us think Islam for a change

some more food for thot this lazy Sunday morning..............................

forget about politics, assume we all are apolitical....

let us listen to a 2010 pre-election speech by Ustaz Azhar Idrus of backwater Paka, Teganung...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4CMvLX6Qy8&feature=related

http://www.youtu.be/watch?v=GSwrAq-PMYs&feature=related

http://www.youtu.be/watch?v=wUZsL0kZVCI&feature=related

http://www.youtu.be/watch?v=cMNbf6TG41c&feature=related 

As I told you dato', I am going to be provocative.....hudud to your oxbridge ears,  and cheese flavoured stomach linings,probably is provocative enough.

But this was 2010. PAS approach has changed mind you. Malayisans will only be ready for hudud in year 2200 , perhaps......' Slowly, slowly', my Arabic  teacher used to say

Nik Howk

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

Dear Doc Nik,

Really? 1.5 billion Muslims? Yes, you are being naughty. But, my friend, it is an old chestnut. Sure, 1.5 billion Muslims collectively possess potential, I repeat potential, power, IF they can be harnessed for a single purpose, and within a single political structure. Like China, or India. But the vast majority of Muslims are deeply divided by faith (!), are dirt poor, illiterate, and superstitious. There are more university professors who are Jews, than there are universities in the entire Muslim world. Among the 65 Islamic countries in the OIC, only 3 have the simulacrum, I repeat a simulacrum, of being an open and liberal democracy. Quo vadis?

It pains me, as much as it does you, but these are facts, and we have to face them. We can look at a vast mountain lake and say to ourselves, "Wow, this lake possesses billions of megawatts of electricity!" Sure. But it possess the potential to produce that amount of electricity, only IF it can be harnessed by a large dam, with a dozen turbines to spin and generate the electricity. Otherwise, it remains forever an idyllic potential.

You will argue that potential, per se, has its own value. Yes, I agree, but only as an irritant, a nuisance, such as suicide bombers and unruly crowds. We don't want to be that sort of negative force. We want to be a positive force for peace, for change, for education, for progress, for pride, and for human dignity. That is what our Islamic civilization was, but no longer is. That is what a non-Islamic China is, and is achieving for its people.

If you want to think of potential, let me remind you of an incident at a public lecture by a famous physicist two hundred years ago. He was speaking on a new theory of electric force that could, in theory, be generated by bisecting a magnetic field. 

At the end of the talk, an elegant, aristocratic lady disdainfully asked him, "All that is very interesting, professor but, really, of WHAT USE is it?"

The old scholar looked at her, "Madam, of what use is a baby? It is in the POTENTIAL!"

In the case of the baby, of course, the potential COULD be realized. It could grow up to be a Shakespeare, or a Da Vinci, Picasso, or an Einstein, or a Beethoven, or any great mind to enrich the world of beauty and ideas. The potential was practical, and it was vital for the continuation of the species.

Can you convince me of the potential of your old chestnut? Or, am I being naughty?

Salam to you and your family, and a Happy New Year! 

DC.

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

Dato DC,

No, you are not being naughty. You choose to be ignorant.

Yes I do agree with you that,

1.5 billion muslims..divided..nothing very much to shout about....no inventors the last 200 years....dearth of thinkers....shot at like dogs and cats and looked in disdain by most in some places....their hinterland divided and plundered this century without inhibition.

That is why we have to start somewhere ...at some point in time

That utube I put up is a naughty one......Meant to shock guys like you who are in deep slumber still despite knowledge and god given rezeki and rahmat. All on hudud which even PAS has abandoned as a manifesto for 2012.

That was 2010 election talk. These people are coming out of their kopiah etc etc . Just listen to people like Dr Zulkifli or YB Husam for a change. These yonug turks are changing the scene.

Welfare state...justice, universal equality transcending class and sexes

sans corruption, moral and financial

all there.

We need not reinvent the wheel.

We still  have the book. Others have lost them or changed theirs a thousand time even human has been regarded as divine !

We have the seerah.

We, Muslims, still have substance , not the form now.

The West, alas , are all form sans  substance.

Our ship, albeit a supertanker are still afloat, albeit slow to take corners, twists and turn. 

The passengers are no doubt in a state of nausea, some vomiting, some even having dysentery.

But the crews are still intact.

As for the rest of the world, they are in the sea, some holding on for dear life to raft, bouys and lifeboats.
All have practically have abandoned  their ships.

Just study the Arab Spring.

The Muslim Brotherhood people has grown wise

We have from within us wise people but we do not count them as numbers because we now only think cheese, Cambridge and Oxford !.

Dont underrate Islam and measure Islam on the same scale as secularism.

We have 50 years experiment locally here with secular modernity in Malaysia and it  is not leading us anywhere.

The real Islam will prevail despite your pessimism....we have to give Islam a chance.

Give Islam 10, 20 years...it will hit this global village like a tsunami, dato.

Sadly, statistically speaking, you  and even myself, may not be around to see it though.

Allahualam.

"When Allah's succour and the triumph cometh. And thou seest mankind entering the religion of Allah in troops,  Then hymn the praises of thy Lord, and seek forgiveness of Him. Lo! He is ever ready to show mercy. "

Surah An Nasr, 110

Dont think Malay, Mamak, Chinese, Kwailo or Mat Saleh .....

THINK ISLAM.

Nik Howk

http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2010/03/tansri-could-we-use-isa-to-silence-this.html

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

DC,

I wonder if Doc Nik also included the Shias..I wonder if he thinks they're not really Muslims! 

KD

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

Your Excellency KD,

It is not important what I  or you think , in this matter of aqidah

Leave that to HIM.

'bersangka baik'.

Nik Howk

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

Doc Nik,

First order of business, Doc, get peace between the Sunnis and the Shias. 

First item on that agenda: do you accept Shias as Muslims? By implication when you speak of a 1.5 billion sized "supertanker" - you do. But I don't know for sure. Do you accept the Shia as an equal and true Muslim?

Second item on the agenda: Give the Organization of Islamic States SOME teeth. I was working  in Wisma Putra when Tunku Abdul Rahman was its Secretary General, residing in Jiddah. I spoke with him informally  when I stopped over there for few days. I cannot reveal the content of my conversations with him. But I ask you: Do you realistically believe that ANY Muslim country will surrender ANY part of it's sovereignty to the OIC? What is your view of the OIC?

Third item on the agenda: How do you reconcile the highly unequal income distribution and resource allocation? OIC can't even solve the simple problem of failing states in Somalia and Ethiopia. Or the repression in Syria.

Fourth item: Perhaps the most urgent, how do you bring order to Pakistan, that possesses nuclear bombs, and how to prevent nuclear bombs from falling into wrong hands? Of course, other countries, too, possess nuclear bombs, but they seem to have a secure hold on them.

Fourth item, perhaps the most important, do you really want a single Islamic empire, based on Hudud, now in the 21st century? Really? I have a friend, who is the head of the Islamic Centre in New York. The Centre is close to Ground Zero, and was in the news recently. He has a UK degree in Science. His father was the first Rector of the Islamic College here, and the young son went to school here at the VI in KL. He has many friends here, and visit often. Highly intelligent chap. He sees Islam as updated and more in tune with the 21st Century, modern, progressive, with richly varied and vibrant ideas, based on the market, and has a democratic base. He sees Islamic countries adopting policies that are realistic and friendly to other countries. 

Is this consonant with your Islamic Empire run by a supreme Caliph? How is this Caliph elected, or appointed? Is it similar to the Papal Empire after the collapse of the Roman Empire? How are laws made and implemented? Who enforces them? How are resources allocated? Is there a check and balance in the branches of government? Or no branches at all in the government? 

Dato DC

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

Howk,

If I may suggest, you should not waste your time over comments made by those who do not have the interest of Islam and the ummah at heart but who treat discussions on Islam as an academic exercise and as a tool of amusement. 

You have, I believe, better things to do.

Adam Mat Lana

Little Britain,  London.

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

Thanks Adam. So long I don't hear from you. How is your post-doctoral  thing in Cambridge coming up ?

To me it is not a waste of time, I enjoy 'sparing' with these two gentlemen.

They somehow, represent  two archaic example of our colonial past...I have lost the word for it....mental 'neocolonization at it's worse'.  I hope I have the right word for it.

When I was in my sixth form in MCKK, in the late 60's, during the school holidays, we the Kelantan branch of MCKK boys made a boat trip to Perhentian Island, Teganung. There was no chalet there yet at that time. We sleep on the beach in the open. The next day we saw a naval boat docked by the beach nearby. Then a group of young navies bearing chairs and a table, with white tablespread. A sublietenant carrying a large champagne bottle with a few glasses. In the middle of the small entourage was a fairly dark looking man, in his late 50's wearing broad multi-coloured tie [ on the beach at 5 pm !] in a beige coloured suit. He was our deputy prime minister !

A lasting impression for all of us students at that time.......a drastic lesson in mental neocolonization !.

Adam,

From the ensuing discussion things has not changed very much since the 1960's...we are still being mentally 'neocolonized'. 

Back to my friend, Dato DC,

If I can answer all his  questions I would not be still  putting 'stents' and opening blocked hearts even approaching  my 60th birthday
I will be somewhere up there wearing a broad multicoloured tie or bow tie dispensing 'advice' to the prime minister or as the pm himself.

1st and foremost super bright people like you Dato'  and His excellency  KD, will have to be convinced about Islam. We have to work on that.' slowly slowly'. They have to throw their biases of the past. Reeducation of sort....give their minds a 'total brasso'.....that wonderful polish in the 60's.
ok some may already assume you guys may be gone case, then we work on the younger generation. ilm ilm and ilm....education..have to seriously re- look into the aspect of education.
not with the clowns we have up there currently of course.

Why think beyond our shores ?
The arab Spring is indicative of the catharsis and change going on in the muslim hinterland.....everywhere . Painful no doubt, but a necessary evil and despite my 'anger' earlier on on things going on in Libya, Egypt , Bahrain, Syria  and elsewhere, things will percolate down to positive things for the ummah. insyaallah. Nearer home, if pru13 is totally clean we will have our catharsis of sort  soon

Who is talking about the caliphate, my dear dato'?
And why touch on the shia/sunni dichotomy ? we are not God to decide the fate of some 200 millions souls. 'Ber baik sangka'. This is a matter of aqidah. Leave it to him.
Each individual muslim majority country has their own peculiarities. Let us all evolve in our very own way.

What is great for Mauritania may not be good for Malaysia. What is great for USA may fail in Iraq.

Why are you worried about hudud when even PAS is willing to put it aside for later consideration. Or is it just to throw the spanner in the engine.

On the nuclear front, what are you worried about...Pakistan has nuclear capability, Iran will get soon it and join the club. Saudi or whatever. Israel already has a couple of hundred  nuclear warheads. And may I ask you dato' a historical question :
Who bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima.......Muslims ?

Who killed 1 million  MUslims in Iraq ?

The chap you are alluding to  is, Imam Feisal bin Rauf, the New York imam. Yes, we need more people like him. BUt Muslims in the US has to evolve their own way with their constraints and special liberties etc and etc. There is no one formulla for all.

My  million ringgit question is why are muslims like you Dato'  and His Excellency  KD worried about Islam ?!!

This to me is what I term as 'Permanent head damage'

Give Islam a chance.
It is an idea that is long overdue.

Nik Howk




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




 Gentlemen,

I spent time in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman when I was assigned to the GCC countries in the late 70's. I was Under Sec. for South Asia an am somewhat familiar with Pakistan because of many bilateral meetings. I have also attended several OIC meetings at various levels & during our many consultations when I served at the UN. I was also exposed to how the Arab League operates. My experiences leave very little doubt in my mind that all these talk about the Ummah is pure rubbish because of the way it is often abused & exploited. The biggest victims of Arab exploitation are Arabs & other Muslims. The Wahhabis are probably the worst & they continue to control the minds of Muslim masses by their strong influence on a sub-standard education. What we see being perpetrated recently in Arab countries & before that on the Palestinians are a direct result of what the Muslim elites (political as well as religious) are prepared to do to perpetuate their hold on the so called Muslim "Ummah".
Unless we modernize & embrace change, what hope is there for us but to continue down this road? Or are Muslims only meant to enjoy the promise of Paradise in the After Life & not in this beautiful & bountiful world that Allah has given us?
The Good Doctor talks about Nusuntara & to think Islam..he forgets that there are more than 50 million Muslims in China. Islam has no racial boundaries. It is one of the great mysteries why Allah decided to create so many religions. Should we not accept & tolerate all these differences between men? I say let us start in our own country. Let us free ourselves from the shackles of ignorance, superstition, intolerance & everything else that keeps us imprisoned. If you truly believe in Islam would you not want to live in a time when Islam was great because it was tolerant & inclusive, at a time when Christians were burning their thinkers as heretics because they dared think differently? Think Alhambra..Granada..& all the contributions that Islamic thinkers contributed? Also think why we stopped making all those contributions to mankind. 
I think I better stop here. I'm also getting very sleepy.
Good night to you gentlemen!
Salam.

KD

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

Your Excellency,

Precisely, precisely.

Unless we modernize & embrace change, what hope is there for us but to continue down this road? Or are Muslims only meant to enjoy the promise of Paradise in the After Life & not in this beautiful & bountiful world that Allah has given us?

The Good Doctor talks about Nusuntara & to think Islam..he forgets that there are more than 50 million Muslims in China. Islam has no racial boundaries.  

Sans race, sans nationalism.
Let us give Islam a chance.


Nik Howk

On Tranquility, Happiness and Contentment..

The great sufi saint,Hasan Al Basri concluded  rather abruptly that tranquility, happiness and contentment in
this life and the afterlife rest on three things :

recitation of the Quran
Solat &
Zikrullah

Let us listen to Shaykh Yasir Qadhi on why this is so.........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MDoWLhlK2o&feature=related

Sounds too simplistic for you. You are not convinced. Let us be academic and take the great ocean road of Academia and  move on to the rarefied atmosphere of Emory University, USA to visit  our friends, His Holiness, Dalai Lama,  Reverend Katherine Schori, Chief Rabbi, Reverend Lord Jonathan Sack and Prof  Seyyed Hoessien Nasr who will no doubt  only 'confuse' us further on the nature of  'Happiness'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xfEcC2RXro&feature=relmfu

All of them trying to best each other and be politically correct, you might wonder ?
To 'deconsrtuct' the existing confusion, let us come home back to KL and listen to our very own Prof Sayyid Naguib Al Atas,
[ http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2010/10/prof-sayyid-muhammad-naquib-al-attas-in.html ]
who in not so many words,  put the 'state of happiness' or rather its very opposite, the  'state of unhappiness' as being closely related to our present ability and/or inability to observe the 'right adab', the wisdom and/or the lack of wisdom to put 'things' in their proper place and perspective with respect to Allah.

Still confused !
At the end of the day we have to come back to 'experiential ' Islam and nothing beats the 'experts at  this game' than the sufis, the people of the tassawwuf, the people who are  masters at  the blissful state of 'free from wants' !.

We are back to Hasan Al Basri's triology of :
Recitation of the Quran, Solat and Zikrullah.
Very simple yet we still would not want to recognise this

Still not fully convinced ?
Remember Karl Marx, agnostic/ atheist of the order of 6/6 on The Dawkin's Scale of things.
A hardcore atheist:
"Religion is the opiate of the masses "
Take  this worldly advice from him,  a thinker par excellence. Karl Marx had no reason to be biased and neither was he playing to the gallery. He was speaking from his most rational mind :

Recitation of the Quran.
Solat
Zikrullah.
Fullstop....................

That is the true religion.A formulla for tranquility, happiness and contentment in this life and the afterlife.
We cannot go wrong.

ilm, daawah, our 'not yet muslim brothers and sisters', marriage and family..... shaykh hussien yee

i like shaykh hussien yee.
i think he must be younger than myself.

a revert to islam but knowledgewise and contributionwise many times over better than ourselves, born-muslims : islam given on the silver plate at our birth, men  and women who were born with a'miraculous gift of islam' but not knowing fully its true content and priceless nature.

the difference between people like hussien yee and us are all about ilm , ilm, ilm and ilm......and faith in its totality leading to experiential islam.

here we are, shaykh hussien yee, two and a half hours of him....please enjoy him .

http://www.justin.tv/alkhaademyouth/b/303051657

http://www.justin.tv/alkhaademyouth/b/303552920



[ Surah Mariam, ayat 16-37, Marmaduke Pichthal's translation of The Holy Quran ]

And make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking East, (16) And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our Spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. (17) She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art God-fearing. (18) He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son. (19) She said: How can I have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have I been unchaste? (20) He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a Revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained. (21) And she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place. (22) And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm-tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died ere this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten! (23) Then (one) cried unto her from below her, saying: Grieve not! Thy Lord hath placed a rivulet beneath thee, (24) And shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee, thou wilt cause ripe dates to fall upon thee. (25)So eat and drink and be consoled. And if thou meetest any mortal, say: Lo! I have vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal. (26) Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing. (27) O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot. (28) Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? (29) He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet, (30)And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive, (31) And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest. (32) Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! (33) Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. (34) It befitteth not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is. (35) And lo! Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him. That is the right path. (36) The sects among them differ: but woe unto the disbelievers from the meeting of an awful Day. (37)






More of Shaykh Hussien Yee in the blog :


Stress
 http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2010/12/shaykh-hussain-yee-on-stress.html

Why I Came to Islam
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2010/10/hussain-tee-in-conversation.html