Al-Fatihah: Sheikh Ahmed Deedat

I urge all Muslims around the world to recite Al-Fatihah in memory of Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, who is well-known for his Da'wah works, especially against Christian missions, worldwide. For more information, please visit:

http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za

May Allah be pleased with him and his good efforts, and let us pray to Allah so that he may be awarded Jannah in the Afterlife. InsyaAllah.

Below is an excerpt from IPCI's pages regarding his passing away:

8 August 2005 / 2 Rajab 1426, Sheikh Ahmed Hoosen Deedat passed on to meet his Creator. This was after succumbing to a severe stroke that left him paralysed for more than nine years. Throughout this period, he gracefully persevered under the most difficult personal conditions; however, not forgetting his task as a daee (Islamic worker) and an ambassador of Islam, he continued to inspire, educate, challenge and inform people about the universal message of Islam. It is on this solemn occasion of his demise that we salute the courageous spirit and phenomenal work of this world-renowned personality, a hero of the Muslim World, nay, a true hero of believers all around the globe!

May there be more Muslims like him. SubhanAllah.

My Wife And Her Mandarin Classes

OK. So my wife called in today, telling me that her Mandarin classes will start tomorrow. I guess the boredom of staying at home doing nothing has got the upper hand now. Well, no problem, at least she has something to do instead of the usual "stay at home, sleep, eat, go shopping, and talk to neighbors" fares. My little yet unborn baby will also has his/her extra language classes at the same time.

A Quote From The Holy Qur'an

Let us ponder over some statements from the Qur'an:

Who can be more wicked than one who inventeth a lie against Allah, or saith, "I have received inspiration," when he hath received none, or (again) who saith, "I can reveal the like of what Allah hath revealed"? If thou couldst but see how the wicked (do fare) in the flood of confusion at death! - the angels stretch forth their hands, (saying),"Yield up your souls: this day shall ye receive your reward,- a penalty of shame, for that ye used to tell lies against God, and scornfully to reject of His signs!"

Al -An'am 6.93

Hmm. Reminds me of Ayah Pin. A penalty of shame shall he get for claiming divinity.

Roadkill

This morning, on my way to work, I saw a cat trying to cross the road. It was on the curb, looking at my car to see whether it was safe to do so. It looked nervous, so I stopped my car and let it go across. As the cat barely passed the middle of the road into the opposite lane, one red car just sped up along the road, and nearly hit the cat. Luckily the cat escaped death and dashed straight into a nearby house. Poor guy.

I do not see any reason nor excuse for the driver to do so. From within his field of vision, he should be able to see the cat crossing the road. I think he intended to hit the cat. And this reflects the attitude Malaysians have when driving. They do not respect and value the lives of other drivers on the road, let alone the lives of cats and dogs and chicken and any other unfortunate organism which may happen to cross their paths.

It is just plain evil. As a Muslim, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had shown us the way to treat animals:

Prophet Muhammad (saw) was kind to every living creature and this kindness knew no limits. He was very kind to animals as well. Arabs, like all ignorant and illiterate people, were very unkind to their animals. It was very common in Arabia to put a collar round the neck of a camel, but this practice was stopped on the Prophet's orders. People used to cut pieces of flesh from living animals and cook and eat them. This common practice was forbidden.

It was also forbidden to shear their hair or tails. Prophet Muhammad (saw) said that the tail was the brush and fan of these animals and hair was their quilt. He also forbade people to keep animals tied to their working equipment for a long time and said, "Don't make the backs of animals your chairs." Animal fights were also made unlawful. Another custom was to tie up an animal and practise arrow shooting on it. This was also prohibited.

Once Prophet Muhammad (saw) saw a donkey on the road with a brand on its face, and said, "Allah's curse is on him who branded it." As people had to brand their camels and sheep in order to identify them, they were told to brand them on parts which were not so tender. Anas (ra) reported that he went into a herd of sheep and saw Allah's Messenger (saw) branding them on the ears.

Once the Prophet (saw) was on a journey with his companions and they stopped for rest at a certain place. A bird had laid an egg there. A man took away the egg and the bird began beating her wings in a state of great distress. The Prophet (saw) inquired who had hurt her by taking her egg. When the man admitted that he had done that, the Prophet (saw) asked him to return the egg to the nest.

From what I see, carcasses of roadkills strewn all across Malaysian roads, I am not afraid to say that Malaysians are a murderous bunch of barbarians. I especially cannot understand why they would just drive over animals crossing the street. If it was a chicken or a cat, maybe they overlooked them, but how about dogs? A grown up dog is big enough to tear a car's bumper apart if it is hit by a car. So where is the rational in hitting these animals? To me, this is plain murder, and God will certainly bring that into account in Judgment Day. Take heed.

Death Is All Around Us

I almost forgot to commit this topic to the world wide web. I had been thinking a lot about death these past few days, of how people close to you can be around you one day, and be gone the next. As a Muslim, I think of death as closure of life on this earth, and a start of another life, the life inside the grave, which in turn will lead us to the Afterlife after the End comes. This is widely explained in the Qur'an, the Bible, and even the Jewish Torah.

So with death in mind, I am bound to carefully calculate what I do and how I conduct myself in this world in preparation of the next. I am not perfect, I did and still do lots of mistakes, but I know He loves His creations, and will keep on forgiving us as long as we strive hard for His blessing and forgiveness, and have determination not to repeat the mistakes.

2 days ago, I drove back from work, it was raining, and I saw a small car wrapped around a tree. The car was split into two, and I see a lady lying sideways on the front seats of the car, her legs exposed (she was wearing only shorts), and I saw blood on her neck. It looks like she suffered internal injuries. I believe she was already gone when I passed by. A lot of people were trying to get the lady out of the wreck. I pray God to give her peace.

Last October (2004), my ex-bandmate, Lorraine Ong SiuLynn passed away after a fall from an upper storey of her college in Singapore. We had been making music since 2002, and she was a good friend of mine. We have some materials in http://www.musiccanteen.com, and once I have time I will certainly include this link to this blog page.

She got a beautiful and strong voice, and she made good songs too. I am deeply grieved to have lost her but I believe God has His own plans which humans know little of. Thus our band, Celestials, were disbanded. We will miss you, Lor.

Earthquake In Sendai, Japan

Last night I went home, and heard the news that Sendai was on earthquake. I know of an old friend, Takako, who lives there. I pray to God that she is not harmed in any way. Take care Takako.

Smacking Away

you came too late
yet you left too early
i stay here too long
i got blisters on my hands
you got saliva on your lips
smacking away
i got cold
for warming you

those sweaty hands
are made for a liar

i always get what i don't want
i always want what i don't get
i get wanted for not wanting to get

those smelly hair
are ruffled by a liar

you came too late
yet you leave too early
i sit here, too solemn
i got frostbites on my fingers
you make up candy promises
blowing kisses
i got sidelined
for being in the limelight

promises are meant to be broken
breaking is the promising means
of trying to patch up
a broken porcelain cup

26-Apr 2005, 4.53 pm

* I wrote an acoustic song out of this poem.

Surface of Mars

Have you ever wondered how Mars looks like if you live there? Take a look at the photo above. This was taken by NASA, I forgot when was it taken, but it was sometime in this year. Note the green-yellowish atmosphere the planet has, compared to our bluish sky. Everything is so barren, and dry, it is as if we are looking at what may happen to Earth if things go out of balance.

Allah is Great.

Patience

patience is a virtue
these steps i relearn
of life, love, and hate

patience is an experience
you get to dwell in once in a while
of trying to get things better
between us and this tie that binds us together

patience, it is so easy
yet so hard to understand
when everything swirls and twirls
in tides of emptiness
and confusion

patience is life
for everything comes and goes
at its own pace
nothing is rushed, never at all
it all flows like a river
down into the sea of meanings

patience is a joy
you get to enjoy once in a while
where everything starts to make sense
and you smile in the thoughts of it all

patience is a virtue
of love that is abundant
you might be alone, left in the dark
but when patience keeps you sane
you will nod your head and cry

-December 23rd 1997

Comfort In Sadness

when will longings
give way to longevity?
forlorn hearts
do tremble in fear,
my love
for we both are lost
in the fear of losing

certainty tints a marked eye
in a pale world of shadows,
my love
it blots a spot yet seen

still
why do we
mourn in our laughters
and seek comfort
in sadness?

-june 18th 1999

A Stroll In The Past

I remember someone writing to me this:

"Don`t go falling in love with unreal ones, which means, if you can`t have real feelings, you`ve got to have counterfeit ones. Falling in love is not like some feelings you`ve got to have. Take your time. I`m sure you`ll find your true love someday.... :)"

29-March 1999

How true. She found her true love at last, and so did I. Both of us are happily married, and certainly, we are not young anymore. Sorry things did not work out between us the last time. Wish you a happy marriage and lots of cute children :) I recalled watching Nona that day without realizing it was your marriage ceremony (!) Uh-oh.

Dewa

I came across this article regarding Dewa quite a while ago. From what I read and from what I personally researched about Freemasonry, Kabbalah, and Zionism (see http://www.harunyahya.com/ for some introductory information on Freemasonry), the points stated below are quite plausible. Do read:

Kumpulan Dewa Pejuang Yahudi (setakat mana kebenarannya, hanya ALLAH Yang Maha Mengetahui)

Baru-baru ini, Indonesia telah digemparkan dengan insiden 10 April 2005 apabila Kumpulan Dewa, group terkenal di republik itu didakwa telah memijak kaligrafi kalimah ALLAH berbentuk bintang yang disiarkan secara langsung menerusi saluran Trans TV. Kaligrafi tersebut merupakan lambang album terbaru Dewa, Laskar Cinta.

Ustaz Wahfiuddin, seorang pendakwah terkenal yang secara kebetulan menonton siaran langsung itu telah membuat aduan ke stesen TV tersebut, mendakwa logo yang dipijak oleh Dewa sebenarnya adalah kaligrafi kalimah 'ALLAH'. "Orang yang mengenal huruf Arab dan sedikit faham mengenai seni akan langsung mengetahui bahawa logo di lantai yang diinjak-injak itu adalah kalimah ALLAH," katanya.

Aduan itu terus diberi perhatian oleh Pengarah Trans TV, Ishadi SK dan sudut penggambaran kamera diubah serta merta sehingga akhir pementasan. Pihak Trans TV bagaimanapun mengundang Ustaz Wahfiuddin ke stesen tersebut untuk berdepan dengan Ahmad Dhani selaku ketua kumpulan Dewa bagi merungkai kekusutan dan menjernihkan semula keadaan yang bersebab pada kaligrafi dan dakwaan pendakwah tersebut.

Wahfiuddin telah menunjukkan sendiri kepada Ishadi dan Ahmad Dhani sendiri sebuah buku berjudul 'The Cultural Atlas Of Islam' karya Prof. Dr Ismail Faruqi yang memaparkan imej bintang yang sama berupa tulisan kaligrafi Arab dari ungkapan 'LAFDHUL JALALAH' (ALLAH). Ahmad Dhani berusaha menafikan dengan mengatakan terdapat perbezaan antara 'LAFDHUL JALALAH' dan Laskar Cinta kerana lambang yang dipijak itu sudah dimodifikasikan.

"Dhani telah memodifikasikannya dengan mengisi bahagian tengah dari huruf terakhir (ha). Tapi bagi orang yang mengenal huruf Arab, modifikasi itu tidak mengubah bentuk dan maknanya secara signifikan," kata Ustaz Wahfiuddin.

Didin Sirajuddin AR dari Lembaga Kaligrafi Al Quran (LEMKA) bersetuju bahawa lambang kaligrafi Laskar Cinta adalah simbolik dari kaligrafi Arab 'LAFDHUL JALALAH'. Apabila ditanya mengenai perbezaan seperti yang dinyatakan Ahmad Dhani, Didin berkata, lambang itu tidak sepenuhnya mirip tapi ia boleh dibaca dengan tulisan kufi (kubisme) sebagai ungkapan ALLAH.
Selepas pertemuan Wahfiuddin dan Ahmad Dhani, pengurus Dewa, Dian menganggap isu tersebut telah selesai. Kemelut itu bagaimanapun tidak reda sebagaimana yang dijangka. Berakar daripada konsert di Trans TV itu, ada pihak lain yang mahu menyelongkar cerita di belakang pentas muzik Dewa.

Tokoh Budayawan, H Ridwan Saidi yang juga bekas Ahli Parlimen (DPR), pada 2 Mei 2005 lalu telah mengemukakan aduan kepada pihak berkuasa, meminta supaya kumpulan Dewa disiasat kerana disyaki menjadi AGEN PENYEBAR PROPAGANDA ZIONIS YAHUDI di republik itu.

"Ini harus disiasat. Ada apa di belakang Dewa?" kata Ridwan dipetik dari majalah Saksi keluaran 22 Mei 2005.

Menurut Ridwan lagi, Laskar Cinta bukan satu-satunya tindakan Dewa yang boleh dilihat sebagai usaha memperlekehkan Islam, bahkan telah bermula sejak album mereka yang pertama lagi dengan simbol yang membawa imej ZIONIS YAHUDI. Tokoh budayawan Indonesia, H Ridwan Saidi berkata, "Saya sebagai orang yang telah lama mempelajari dan mendalami Zionisme BERANI mengatakan bahawa ini (Kumpulan Dewa) merupakan usaha penyebaran simbol-simbol Yahudi yang terbesar dalam sejarah Indonesia."

Bekas anggota Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR) yang kini dikenali sebagai tokoh budayawan pernah menjejakkan kaki ke Israel untuk mempelajari Zionisme dan Agama Yahudi. Ridwan mendakwa, gambar piramid yang terdapat pada kulit album DEWA 19 (1992) adalah mirip lambang gerakan rahsia Zionisme (Illuminati) yang dicipta oleh Adam Weishaupt (1748-1830).

Weishaupt adalah pemimpin gerakan 'Ancient and Illuminated Seers of Bavaria' (AISB), sebuah gerakan rahsia Masonic yang memperjuangkan doktrin Luciferic di bawah payung pertubuhan Freemason antarabangsa. Logo yang sama juga boleh ditemui pada wang kertas US$1 dengan moto NOVUS ODO SECLORUM yang bermaksud Tata Dunia Baru (New World Order). Ini secara tidak langsung telah memberi maksud akan usaha gerakan Zionisme untuk menguasai dunia, apa yang telah mereka capai dalam pelbagai bidang termasuk muzik dan hiburan pada masa ini!!!

Dalam album TERBAIK-TERBAIK (1995), Ridwan mendakwa simbol yang terpampang pada kulit album itu adalah imej DEWA RA (dewa matahari dalam metologi Mesir Kuno) yang diterima oleh penganut Yahudi sebagai salah satu Tuhan mereka. Seperti orang Islam dan Kristian, Yahudi turut menyembah Allah yang dipanggil YHWH (Yahweh) tetapi TUHAN bagi mereka bukan ESA atau satu (rujuk Kabbalah). Yahweh (Allah) sebaliknya dianggap sebagai LORD OF THE LORDS (Tuhan segala Tuhan) yang selain Allah ada lagi "tuhan-tuhan" yang lain. (Dalam album Laskar Cinta, Ahmad Dhani turut menyebut ALLAH SWT sebagai LORD OF THE LORDS)???

"Dalam album yang sama, ada pula satu halaman PROTOCOL OF ZIONS (Protokol Zionis) dalam bahasa Hebrew (bahasa Yahudi) yang siap dengan judul dan logo." katanya yang memang menguasai bahasa tersebut. Simbol Protocol Of Zions yang berbentuk mata menggambarkan perjuangan Zionis untuk 'memerhati' dunia dan menguasainya. Dikatakan mata itu juga adalah sempena mata OSIRIS, salah satu daripada dewa Mesir purba. Ada juga orang menganggap simbol mata satu itu adalah 'MATA DAJJAL' atau mata syaitan (Evil Eye).
Dalam album THE BEST OF DEWA 19 (1999), terdapat simbol panah dan garis lurus yang memotong salib. Itu merupakan salah satu simbol gerakan Freemason, pertubuhan yang menaungi segala kegiatan Zionisme antarabangsa melalui gerakan sulit dalam pelbagai bidang seperti kebajikan, ekonomi, politik dan sebagainya.

Dalam album BINIMA (2000), gambar sayap yang digunakan merupakan simbol kumpulan THEOSOFIE, sebuah pertubuhan keagamaan Yahudi. lambang sayap juga adalah lambang rasmi DEWA yang turut digunakan dalam album ATAS NAMA CINTA I & II (2004). Album CINTAILAH CINTA (2002) pula memuatkan simbol EYE OF HORUS. Horus adalah Dewa Burung, salah satu dewa orang Yahudi yang berasal dari mitologi Mesir Purba. Selain itu, banyak terdapat simbol mata gerakan Freemason.

Dalam album terbaru LASKAR CINTA (2005) turut mencetuskan kontroversi ialah lagu 'SATU' yang bagi Ridwan Saidi membawa mesej ajaran sesat WAHDATUL WUJUD yang dipelopori Sheikh Siti Jenar yang turut mengikut kepercayaan yang dipelopori AL HALLAJ. Dalam kata-kata aluan di kulit album, Ahmad Dhani sendiri dikatakan mengesahkan 'hubungan' itu dengan ungkapan: "THANKS TO: AL-HALLAJ" manakala di bawah lirik tersebut pula terbdapat ucapan :"THANKS TO SYEKH LEMAN ABANG". 'SYEKH LEMAN ABANG' adalah nama lain bagi SHEIKH SITI JENAR!!!

Satu lagi kontroversi yang dicetuskan apabila Ahmad Dhani dalam ruangan kata-kata aluan menulis: "DHANI THANKS TO...JAN PIETER FREDERICH KOHLER (THANKS FOR THE GEN)" yang bermaksud: "DHANI BERTERIMA KASIH KEPADA...JAN PIERTER FREDERICH KOHLER (TERIMA KASIH ATAS DARAH KETURUNANNYA). Ridwan mendakwa, Jan Pierter Frederich Kohler yang disebut Ahmad Dhani merupakan nama datuk dari keturunan sebelah ibunya, Joyce Theresia Pamela Kohler. KOHLER katanya adalah nama keluarga atau nama marga orang Jerman- mungkin Yahudi yang tinggal di Jerman sebelum Perang Dunia I dan II.

"Dhani ternyata begitu bangga akan darah keturunannya itu." kata Ridwan. Kini terlerailah sudah tanda tanya mengapa selama ini dia sering mengenakan kalung yang berloket Bintang David, simbol zionis seperti yang terdapat pad bendera negara Israel.

Baby

All praise be to Allah. My wife is pregnant with my 2nd child. The first one, Mary (Arabic- Maryam), did not make it, but we believe this was purely a test of faith from God. Now in its 3rd month, if it is a boy, I will call him Noah, if a girl, most likely Rebecca (Arabic- Rifqa). I hope you all can join me to pray to Allah for the mother and child's safety.

Gobling

Introducing my band Gobling. A new band (well, not so new, it has been around since Sept 2004) made up of old rustic band boys. Hahaha.

It got me and Farique on guitars (Farique is Malaysian Idol's Dina elder brother, and he looks exactly like her except with the extra moustache and beard, a guitar prodigy, this kid), Haris (ex-My Pet Alien, the band who got signed together with Spider under M Nasir's Luncai Emas, just too bad the band died prematurely) on bass, Muhairi (of Malaysian super-grindcore outfit Damokis) on drums, and Fawaz (this guy got the throat!) on vocals.

This band has the sound of Black Sabbath being choked, strangled, tortured, and hit on the head by a stack of the most heinously heavy overdrived amplifier head units available in the market by Pantera, Black Label Society, and Cathedral, and had performed in about 3 gigs so far.

Now almost done recording 4 tracks of sludgy metallic drone in my own home recording studio (guess the investment in Audigy2, ProTools, Shure, Audiotechnica, and lots of heavy musical gears paid off, we did not even have to rake a cent to pay any recording studios). Release date to be confirmed, but most likely this year.

Will keep all posted. God bless you.

Career Up, Career Down

Recently received an offer to join another company as a Senior QA Engineer. I took up that offer, and I am due to commence work there on Oct 15th. Monthly salary will be up quite a fair bit, considering the upscale nature of my career. This I thank God for. However, thinking in retrospective, I am quite sad to leave the current cosy, comfortable, and amicable working environment my team and I had helped create in the midst of one of the world's biggest EMS (electronics manufacturing and services) companies. But again, you cannot get all without losing some, in fact, you just have to lose some to move forward. Guess I will have to drop my current position as a Supply Chain/New Product Introduction (read- Procurement) Engineer and move back into Quality Assurance. Thanks to God.