Gurau Senda Rasulullah S.A.W

Rasulullah SAW bergaul dengan semua orang. Baginda menerima hamba, orang buta, dan anak-anak. Baginda bergurau dengan anak kecil, bermain-main dengan mereka, bersenda gurau dengan orang tua. Akan tetapi Baginda tidak berkata kecuali yang benar saja.

Suatu hari seorang perempuan datang kepada beliau lalu berkata,

"Ya Rasulullah! Naikkan saya ke atas unta", katanya.

"Aku akan naikkan engkau ke atas anak unta", kata Rasulullah SAW.

"Ia tidak mampu", kata perempuan itu.

"Tidak, aku akan naikkan engkau ke atas anak unta".

"Ia tidak mampu".

Para sahabat yang berada di situ berkata,

"bukankah unta itu juga anak unta?"

Datang seorang perempuan lain, dia memberitahu Rasulullah SAW,

"Ya Rasulullah, suamiku jatuh sakit. Dia memanggilmu".

"Semoga suamimu yang dalam matanya putih", kata Rasulullah SAW.

Perempuan itu kembali ke rumahnya. Dan dia pun membuka mata suaminya. Suaminya bertanya dengan keheranan, "kenapa kamu ini?".

"Rasulullah memberitahu bahwa dalam matamu putih", kata istrinya menerangkan. "Bukankah semua mata ada warna putih?" kata suaminya.

Seorang perempuan lain berkata kepada Rasulullah SAW,

"Ya Rasulullah, doakanlah kepada Allah agar aku dimasukkan ke dalam syurga". "Wahai ummi fulan, syurga tidak dimasuki oleh orang tua".

Perempuan itu lalu menangis.

Rasulullah menjelaskan, "tidakkah kamu membaca firman Allah ini,

Serta kami telah menciptakan istri-istri mereka dengan ciptaan istimewa, serta kami jadikan mereka senantiasa perawan (yang tidak pernah disentuh), yang tetap mencintai jodohnya, serta yang sebaya umurnya".

Para sahabat Rasulullah SAW suka tertawa tapi iman di dalam hati mereka bagai gunung yang teguh. Na'im adalah seorang sahabat yang paling suka bergurau dan tertawa. Mendengar kata-kata dan melihat gelagatnya, Rasulullah turut tersenyum.

Type of Unbelievers

First Type :

Fail to find God by observation, conclude that there is no God and that this world of wonders made itself, or existed from everlasting.

Second Type :

Through ignorance of the real nature of the soul, repudiate the doctrine of future life, in which man will be called to account and be rewarded or punished

Third Type :

Believe in God and a future life but with a weak belief. Their state of mind is like that of a sick man who, when prescribed a certain regime by his doctor, should say, “Well, if I follow it or don’t follow it, what does it matter to the doctor?” It certainly does not matter to the doctor , but the patient may destr0y himself by his disobedience.

Fourth Type :

Those who say, “The law tells us to abstain from anger, lust and hypocrisy”. These people ignore the fact that the law does not tell us to uproot these passions but to restrain them within due limits, so that by avoiding the greater sins, we may obtain forgiveness of the smaller ones.

Fifth Type :

Lay stress on the beneficence of God, and ignore his justice, saying to themselves, “Well, whatever we do, God is merciful.” Although the Quran says, “Every living creature’s support comes from God” (11:6), it is also written, “Man obtains nothing except by striving.”

Sixth Type :

Claim to have reached such a degree of sanctity that sin cannot affect them. Yet, if you treat one of them with disrespect, he will bear a grudge against you for years, and if one of them be deprived of a morsel of food which he thinks his due, the whole world will appear dark and narrow to him

Source: Kimiya e saadat(Alchemy of Happiness), pg 26-29, Al-Ghazali

Another Book Come!

Assalamualaikum,

I’ve just received another new book for me to read yesterday entitled ‘Saladin and The Fall of the Kingdom of Jurusalem’ written by Stanley Lane-Poole. Actually, I’ve not yet finished the books that I’d bought last time. Haha… another two very thick books to be accurate. Let me explain briefly about this book anyway.

This work first published in 1898 has become almost an authoritative account of the era of the Crusades and the life of one of Muslim world's best known leaders, Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, or Saladin. The author's objective and unbiassed research on Saladin, as well as extensive consultation of books by Muslim and European historians on the subjects, makes the book one of the best sources on the Crusades even more than a hundred years after its first edition. This edition is the first time it has been subject to typographical revision and updates so that contemporary readers may be able to identify the names of persons and places as it is currently known.

So, that’s why I was really eager to buy this book. It is because I’ve none of the authentic and reliable sources on Saladin, the most influential and powerful Muslim leader since the era of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. Since I’ve the money, why not I use it to buy this book? It’s just cost me around RM40. For the best source of Islamic history, RM40 is just too cheap.

Well, I highly recommend you this book for its facts accuracy and reliability. Wassalam.

Obama Capitulates

By: Justin Raimondo

Barack Obama

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's visit to the U.S. is part of a concerted effort, by the Israeli government and its American lobbyists, to convince U.S. lawmakers – and, most of all, President George W. Bush – that the time to attack Iran is now. The Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot reports that Olmert will tell Bush "time is running out" on diplomacy and that he'd better launch an attack.

In his speech to the AIPAC conference, Olmert's message was harsh and unrelenting: Iran, he said, "must be stopped by all possible means" from acquiring a nuclear capability. Yes, sanctions must be tightened, but these are only "initial steps": what's needed, he averred, are "more drastic and robust measures" – and that can only mean one thing.

Israel would rather not act alone, but Olmert signaled that he was willing to do so if pushed: ""Israel will not tolerate the possibility of a nuclear Iran, and neither should any other country in the free world," he declared, in what was clearly a threat of unilateral action. Citing Israel's record in regard to Iraq in the eighties and Syria last year, Tim Butcher warned in the Telegraph: "The speech shortens the odds significantly on military action against Iran's nuclear program."

The U.S. would almost certainly be drawn into the conflict if Israel carried out its threat, and Olmert knows that. So does Bush, who, in any case, may not need much persuading. After all, in his speech to the Israeli parliament last month, the President declared:

"Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapons would be an unforgivable betrayal for future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

For the sake of peace, we must make war: a familiar refrain that echoes down through the years, mocking the living and the dead.

Ehud Olmert

The clock is ticking, and time is running out for the War Party: they must get in their licks before the most pro-Israel president, ever, leaves office. As Butcher writes: "Among Israeli supporters of military action against Iran there is concern something must be done before Mr. Bush's end of office next January as Mr. Bush is perceived as closer to Israel than any potential successor."

Don't look to Barack Obama for deliverance from this looming conflict. In his speech to AIPAC, he clearly signed on to the Lobby's latest project, departing from his prepared text to declare:

"I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Everything in my power. Everything."

"Everything" includes murdering tens of thousands of Iranians, mostly civilians – driving the price of oil up above $300 a barrel and destroying the US economy – and involving us in a war that will make the Iraq conflict look like a Sunday school picnic. And for what?

Iran's Nuclear Fascilities

The irony, of course, is that Iran is nowhere near obtaining nuclear weapons, as the President's own intelligence agencies recently informed him: but no matter. That's a small obstacle to those who disdain "the reality-based community," and see themselves as Making History while the rest of us watch, helpless and aghast. As Ha'aretz recently reported

"Olmert will try to convince Bush to set aside the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear program in favor of data presented by Israel, and determine the administration's policy on Iran accordingly."

The coming war with Iran has nothing to do with "weapons of mass destruction" – no more than the invasion of Iraq ever did. It's all about preserving Israeli hegemony in the Middle East by wiping any and all recalcitrant Arab-Muslim states off the map. First Iraq, then Iran – and Syria will have its turn soon enough, along with poor prostrate Lebanon, once the jewel of the eastern Mediterranean and now an economic and political basket case.

It is almost certain we will be at war with Iran before a new President is inaugurated: now that Obama has capitulated to the Lobby, nothing but Divine Providence can stop it.

God help us all.

I have to say I was wrong – dead wrong – about Obama. In my eagerness to find a bright spot in a rapidly darkening world, I grasped on to his alluring rhetoric and his at-times trenchant critique of the Bush foreign policy, like a sinking man holding on to a life-jacket. But looking for hope in all the wrong places doesn't create opportunities for peace – it only prolongs our illusions. We must face the prospect of a much more terrible conflict than we have ever known, and look it squarely in the face, without flinching or looking for false messiahs. I know many of you are disappointed, and some of you are now exclaiming "I told you so!" All that we can do now is hope, and pray, that our country – and the Iranian people – will somehow survive the coming catastrophe.

Source: Antiwar.com

University is a Slaughter House?

"Dear students! You have spent many years of your life at this institution to acquire education. You have eagerly been waiting for the day when you will reap the harvest of your labour in the form of a degree. I am aware of your emotions on this occasion, and that is why it pains me to express my thoughts so bluntly.

Frankly speaking, I consider this Alma Mater, in fact all Alma Maters of this kind, slaughter houses rather than educational institutions. The degrees to be awarded are in fact death certificates, issued when the murderer is satisfied that he has accomplished his task; fortunate are those who escape from this organised butchery with still some spark of life.

I have not come here to congratulate you on receiving these death certificates. I am, rather, overwhelmed with grief to see you in such a miserable plight. I am like someone seeking a person who might still be alive among a mass of corpses."

Such a deep opinion from Sayyid Abul 'Ala Maududi, a prominent Islamic figure and intellectual around 20^th century.

I’ve been thinking thoroughly about this again and again. Why is so terrible his view on university students? Is it that our struggle to gain knowledge is meaningless?

Well, let’s try to be critical on this. Personally, I agree with him. Why?

Just look at our friends. Look at university graduate. Look at us! Look at them!

Instead of building intellectual culture in a society, they are actually destroying everything. Just see who’s drink alcohol in the pub? Who’s involve in bribery? Who’s give birth to illegitimate children? Who’s stealing? What else? Don’t you see that most of them are university graduates?

This is what happened when worldly matters are weaned from Islam. If we can revive back the syllabus in the universities around the world, we would see how the capitalist embed the element of Atheis in it and how they separate divine revelation with knowledge. In the end, university will only yield a slave to serve the lust of the western rather than to contribute to the welfare of ummah.

It’s not that I urge all my friends to stop learning. Rasulullah once said “Talabul I’lmi faridatun ala kulli muslim”(Learning is an obligation for all Muslims). It’s just that we need to have concern on this matter. We can’t accept everything as it is before exploring it ourselves. That’s the defect of today’s system. They just ask student to pick all what the lecturers said and write them in exam paper without trying to explore them and understand them by heart.

We Muslims are helpless. We have no choice but to accept those system. Therefore, only deep understanding and strong Islamic creed will help us to come out ‘safely’ from this ‘hell’ system.. Let us pray for it.

Minyak oh Minyak

Oleh: Muhammad Faris Bin Roslan

Perbandingan kuantiti RM1 Petrol pada 4 Jun dan 5 Jun

Sejak 3 tahun lalu, harga minyak dunia meningkat hampir 400 peratus daripada USD 30 per tong pada tahun 2005 hingga kini mencecah USD 130 per tong. Kenaikan yang melampau memaksa beberapa Negara menaikkan harga minyak dan mengurangkan subsidi untuk menjimatkan perbelanjaan Negara dan seterusnya mencari sumber pembangunan Negara.

Kenaikan Harga Membebankan

Semalam Kerajaan BN pimpinan Perdana Menteri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi mengumumkan pengurangan subsidi bahan api berkuatkuasa pada hari ini 5 Jun 2008. Harga bahan api, petrol dan diesel khususnya melambung sebanyak 41% dan 63%, menjadikan harga baru petrol RM2.70 seliter manakala diesel RM2.58 seliter. Kenaikan harga itu adalah sebahagian daripada langkah kerajaan untuk mengawal subsidi bagi menampung kenaikan petrol, diesel dan gas, yang dijangka berjumlah RM56 bilion tahun ini. Kerajaan juga mengumumkan pemberian rebet kepada pengguna kenderaan. Mengikut skim tersebut tersebut, kenderaan di bawah 2000cc akan menerima RM625 setahun - rebat bagi 800 liter di bawah harga baru. Pemilik motosikal pula akan diberi rebet RM120. Bayaran akan dibuat melalui wang pos. Rebet tersebut akan dibayar apabila pemilik kenderaan memperbaharui cukai jalan kenderaan mereka.

Rakyat Malaysia yang selama ini dibuai dengan pelbagai kemudahan subsidi pastinya mengeluh dan tidak kurang juga yang menyalahkan kerajaan. Hal ini kerana peningkatan harga minyak ini akan terus menghimpit rakyat terutamanya golongan berpendapatan rendah dan sederhana yang saban hari terbeban dengan implikasi ketidakstabilan ekonomi ini. Pakar ekonomi pula meramalkan kadar inflasi akan meningkat daripada 2.7% kepada sekurang-kurangnya 4.7%.

Akar Permasalahan

Bagi menganalisa permasalahan ini dengan lebih mendalam, saya merasakan wajar untuk kita kembali kepada akarnya.

Fakta menjelaskan bahawa Malaysia mengeluarkan lebih kurang 650,000 tong minyak sehari. Kadar penggunaan Rakyat Malaysia pula hanyalah 400,000 hingga 500,000 tong sehari. Hal ini bermakna Malaysia masih mempunyai lebihan sebanyak lebih kurang 250,000 tong untuk dieksport. Dengan menganggap hampir tiada peningkatan dalam kos pengeluaran, USD 100 setong iaitu beza harga minyak kini dan pada tahun 2005, diambil sebagai untung bersih. 250,000 tong yang dieksport sepatutnya memberi kita pulangan 250,000 x 100 x 365 x 3 = RM27,375,000,000 (Dua puluh tujuh bilion Ringgit).

Itu belum dikira dengan tambahan harga sebanyak USD 2 bagi minyak dari Malaysia yang sememangnya dikenali sebagai antara minyak yang paling berkualiti di dunia. Jadi minyak Malaysia sememangnya mahal daripada harga pasaran. Justeru peluang ini diambil pihak kerajaan untuk mengeksport secara relative lebih banyak minyak dan mengimport minyak dari luar yang lebih rendah kualitinya dan lebih murah. Natijahnya, Petronas dikurniakan keuntungan bersih lebih kurang RM70 billion. Satu jumlah yang cukup besar.

Rusuhan di Indonesia setelah kenaikan harga minyak diumumkan pada 26 Mei lalu

Ada yang mencadangkan agar kita penuhi keperluan dalam Negara dahulu sebelum mengeksport minyak kita ke luar. Namun, pemikiran kapitalis dan logic yang sanggup mengenepikan kesengsaraan rakyat demi pembangunan material yang pesat tidak mampu melihat relevan di sebalik langkah ini. Bagi mereka, peluang untuk membolot keuntungan hasil limpahan Petrodolar ini tidak harus disia-siakan. Kita boleh lihat bagaimana Negara-negara pengeluar minyak utama di seluruh dunia memenuhi keperluan domestic terlebih dahulu sebelum mengeksport lebihan pengeluaran minyak mereka yang hasilnya, rakyat mereka sendiri yang selesa. Brunei dan Saudi Arabia sebagai contoh. Dengan cara ini, harga minyak mereka kurang bergantung dengan pasaran dunia.

Perbandingan

Media arus perdana hari ini banyak membandingkan kenaikan harga minyak di Malaysia dengan Negara-negara seperti India, Singapura, Thailand, UK, US, Indonesia dan Filipina. Malaysia dianggap sebagai Negara yang menawarkan harga minyak paling rendah di Asia. Sebagai contoh, harga baru petrol dan diesel sebanyak RM5.20 dan RM4.33 di Singapura yang lebih mahal daripada Malaysia. Manakala di UK, harga petrol adalah lebih kurang RM7 seliter. Namun begitu, adalah tidak logic untuk membandingkan harga minyak Malaysia dengan Negara-negara tersebut memandangkan Malaysia ialah Negara pengeluar minyak dan mereka tidak. Tambahan pula, pendapatan per kapita mereka jauh lebih tinggi daripada Malaysia. Jadi, mari kita bandingkan harga minyak di negara pengeluar minyak lain. Adakah Malaysia yang paling rendah? UAE– RM1.19/litre Eygpt– RM1.03/litre Bahrain– RM0.87/litre Qatar– RM0.68/litre Kuwait– RM0.67/litre Saudi Arabia– RM0.38/litre Iran– RM0.35/litre Nigeria– RM0.32/litre Turkmenistan– RM0.25/litre Venezuela– RM0.16/litre MALAYSIA– RM2.70/litre.

Cara kenaikan pula agak mengejut. Baru beberapa hari sebelum ini kerajaan mengumumkan bahawa harga minyak baru hanya akan berkuatkuasa pada bulan Ogos. Namun, apa yang terjadi, kenaikan ini berkuatkuasa serta-merta. Malah, larangan mengisi minyak untuk kereta-kereta bernombor plat Negara jiran telah ditarik balik serta-merta. Jelas, ini penipuan yang amat besar! rebet yang diberikan pula tidak memberi apa-apa makna kerana kos hidup rakyat akan naik 100 peratus dengan kenaikan itu akibatnya rantaian (chain reaction) berubah apabila harga minyak naik. Yang menjadi mangsa jelas sekali golongan berpendapatan rendah. Pasti ramai yang terpaksa berhenti belajar atau lingkup dalam perniagaan dengan kenaikan harga secara mendadak ini. Rakyat jelas tertindas!

Penyelesaian

Waima apa sekalipun, berkeluh kesah tidak akan mengubah apa-apa. Ya, benar kita boleh berdemonstrasi dan sebagainya. Namun, ia hanya mampu memburukkan keadaan. Hanya perubahan minda pemimpin-pemimpin kita yang mampu memberi sinar baru kepada rakyat. Justeru, dalam masa terdekat, tiada apa yang mampu dilakukan melainkan dengan hanya berjimat!

Semester Break and Books!

Assalamualaikum,

It has been almost 2 weeks since I last posted my writing here. Having sort of writer’s block whatsoever. I just would like to share several books that I’ve bought and read throughout this semester break. Well, it’s such a frenzy that I’ve used up almost RM300 just to buy 6 books to distance myself from boredom ‘syndrome’ at home(which I’m really prone to.. hehe) and of course to improve myself as a muslim.

Let me list them here:

1. The Ethical Philosophy of Al-Ghazali – Prof Umarudin - Philosophy

2. Alchemy of Happiness(Kimiya e saadat) – Al-Ghazali(translated by Claude Field) - Philosophy

3. Siddharta – Herman Hesse - Novel

4. Tawassul – Isa Kamari - Novel

5. Bila Tuhan Berbicara – Faisal Tehrani - Novel

6. Magnet Cinta – Zamri Mohamad – Motivation

As a technical student, I’d never expect to go in depth on those subjects. But, I don’t know why I always buy that kind of books rather than technical one (technical book is too expensive though… haha). Perhaps my soul is ‘hungry’. Hungry in the sense that lacking some knowledge to help me think and face this hard yet beautiful life accordingly.

Yeah, something that we Malay-Muslim lacked of is thinking. No wonder the West calls us lazy. We are lazy to think! We’d rather listen to music, laughing 24 hours per day. All of that dry our value as a Muslim. Maybe this would give something for us to ponder.

Well, actually after only one week of break, I’d just finished 2 books which are Siddharta and Tawassul. Currently, I’m reading Alchemy of Happiness.

For Siddharta, It’s actually a story on a young lad who’s in journey to find his inner self. There’s a time when he’s on top and also there’s a time when he falls. What I really love is the element of thinking which is embedded along. The main character, Siddharta, continuously think on what to do and evaluate on what he had done. It draws me to be himself, put me in his shoes. Quite interesting. In addition, the writer uses a very philosophical approach to describe the journey. It’s not a surprise since Herman Hesse was a 1948 Nobel Prize Winner. Very nice!

While in Tawassul, I would say it’s a copy of Sirah of Prophet Muhammad but with different version. I mean with different setting and different character. I think Isa Kamari want us to realize on what we had done so far that contaminate our own religion. We want all non-muslims to understand that Islam is not a so and so kind of religion yet our deed explains another way around. So, perhaps he want us to think from non-muslim perspective to bring concern to the ummah. It’s somehow so touching.

What’s more interesting is that I’ve got the invitation card to be in the launching of ‘Malays: Their Problems and Future’ in KL.. huhu.. what a surprise! So, let’s read! Till then, see ya! Wassalam