Aidiladha

The Morning of Aidiladha

For there is so many things that proves the authentication, and the greatness of Islam, there is one that I think is the best one of all, the 'hajj' pilgrimage.

 Today is Aidiladha. I was sitting the mosque, around 8:00am on this Friday 26^th of October 2012. ‘The Takhbir Raya’ is being heard throughout the mosque and its surrounding area. A large number of Muslims gathered together, sharply dressed and smelling fresh. It is a sunah for a Muslim to wear nice clothes, and perfumes, on this sacred day. The Imam, is giving instruction on the Aidiladha prayers (it is different from everyday prayers). After praying for two raka’at, it is time for the khutbah (sermon). The khutbah, is just as important as the prayer itself, just as the Friday prayers.

In the khutbah, he said that this day is to commemorate, the sacrifice of Nabi Ibrahim, and his family. Nabi Muhammad SAW, himself decree, that performing ‘the Haj’, is a must for all Muslim.

After the khutbah, everybody in the mosque, shakes hand with each other, a sign of peacefulness among the Muslims. As I walk out, I shook the hands of those who sat around me, and smiled, as I too am a Muslim. Then I made my way out of the mosque. As I was walking among the bodies of man, that surrounds the door of the main praying hall. I saw in front of me, a group of Bangladesh workers. They ware hugging each other, to celebrate that they have lived to see Aidiladha for yet another year.

With the scenery of hugging foreigners, and the hundreds of Muslim outside the mosque, a thought flowed through my mind. If the mosque in Malaysia is filled with this marvellous atmosphere, what of those who are at the Holy City of Mecca?

This gathering of hundred of millions, if not billions of Muslim from all four corners of the earth, in one city, The Holy City of Mecca. The birthplace of our prophet Mohammad SAW. I am not trying to start a fight or anything, but there is no other religion on this earth can muster such unity of their believers as the Muslims who gathers for the 'hajj' pilgrimage once a year.

The people who comes here every year are all Muslims, but they are Muslims, from different countries, of different races and skin color, they speak in different languages, different gender, practice different cultures of life, and some are from a different sect of Islam. They are different from one another, yet the difference does not matter, because we are all equal under the eyes of Allah SWT, 'The One True and Only God'. Subject or king, heroes or peasants, all differences that exist between men, are cast out for this once in a lifetime experience.

I asked my father, what was it like to perform the 'hajj'? He told me that it was one that is definitely worth having, and we must as Muslims, but only if we can afford to. Walking, living, and praying side by side, with Muslims from all around the world will make your heart stumble, to the greatness of Allah SWT 'The Almighty', and the religion of Islam, which he had given to humans as a guide of life, by the way of Mohammad SAW. 

Standing side by side on prayers with Muslims of a different origin, is a solid proof, of the truth that was brought to light by Malcolm X when he said, "I believe that the religion of Islam is the only cure for the cancerous disease of racism." It is because in the events like the 'hajj' Muslims who was divided by political and humanly conflict, may drop the negative feeling towards each other and stand united under the cause of Islam, and serving Allah SWT.    

The beauty and strength of Islam, I had witnessed here in Petaling Jaya, Is nothing by a tiny glimpse to that compared in Mecca. As I was driving, back home from another road (In Aidiladha, it is a sunah to take a different road back from the mosque, from the one which you came towards earlier), A desire, grows deep from within my heart.

I would like to perform the ‘Haj’ in Mecca. I have never thought of it before, it just came to me as sudden the wind blows, but as determine as the mountain, standing tall for years long. It is a desire that I want the most now.

That means I need to prepare, not only financially and physically, but also spiritually. To perform the ‘haj’, is not cheap, it is expensive. That is one of the obstacles, but perhaps, the main obstacle of all is the calling to ‘The Kingdom of Allah SWT’. They say, even if you have the money, you cannot just go. You could try, but if He does not want you to come, you will not be able to set foot in Mecca. They say it is a calling, for when you are ready, He (Allah SWT) will call you home, and perform the ‘haj’. I know pray to Allah SWT, so that I live to see such day.

@ Mount Arafat (Jabal al Rahmah)

 

 Live to see the ‘Kingdom of God’, filled with Muslims from all over the world. Islam is the second largest religion in the world, and is quickly becoming the first. I look forward; to see them all in Mecca, when we are all dressed in the white of the ‘ihram’. All men will look equal, under the house of God. I look forward, to be at Mount Arafat, 'The Jabal al Rahmah' (the hill of forgiveness), where they say, if you try hard enough, you could ask for forgiveness from ‘The Almighty Allah SWT’, for only He knows that there is too many I done in my life. Not forgetting the very least, live to drink the water from the ‘Zam-Zam’ well.

Senad Hadric

 Yesterday, I read the newspapers, on a man named Senad Hadric. He is a Bosnian. He had just arrived to the ‘Holy Land’ yesterday, after he had walked all the way from Bosnia, some 341 days ago. I looked at his picture, praying to God for the safety of his arrival. What I saw in his face while praying to God, is the face, of satisfaction. A victorious face, of a man, who reached the pinnacle stage of his quest for God. I too want such a face, with I could wear gladly in the city of Mecca and the whole world.

This journey to ‘The Holy Land of Mecca’, seems to me like the greatest adventure, for a Muslim to embark on. A mission of heart and soul, for ‘The One True God’. Oh how would it feel, to actually be there on such a day as Aidiladha, after performing the ‘haj’? As much as I could think of now, would only be a mere imagination. An imagination that is not even close to the actual feeling of when it happens.

Therefore now, I look forward, to the day, when I will be called there to perform the ‘haj’, and when that day comes, it will surely be nothing short of a glorious day. Insyaalah. For now, I only have to prepare and wait.

Labbaik Allah humma labbaik…

I fulfill Your calling, ya Allah...

 Labbaik la sharika laka labbaik…

I fulfill Your calling, and You are of no equal...

Innal hamda…Wan-ni’mata…

In truth, all the praises and all the grace...

Laka walmulk…Laa sharika lak….

and all the kingdom are Yours alone, for You are of no equal...

 

Assalamualaikum 

 

My Point of View on Love

My Point of View on Love
(this love is not conditional love of a parent or sibling, nor friends)

While I was looking up in things to say about love (I always do as much research before writing), I find that there too many quotes to choose from, too many poems to be read and you know whatever. This just proved to me that love is one of the strongest force that drives this world. A well known 'relationship-consultant' (really, do we have one of these guys in Malaysia?), Barbara De Angelis once said, "Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible and it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could."

I have a theory that, the actual reason why human beings (especially men) even work at all is really, based on these elements. Wealth, Power, Glory and Love. I don't know if this theory, has already been thought of before, but I came up with this sometime ago. For the lack of a much more creative name, I call this theory 'Why Men Go to Work'. In this theory I would state that men always chase down these things in life, as a strong hunger for wealth, power and glory would get you far, but only the pure power of love would lift you above, and extend your reach further then what your capacity may bring you.

For your love, it pump your heart faster, so that more oxygen may flow through your lungs. It can make you jump higher, and move faster, then what your body is capable of. In any event that requires human statistical count, you can measure a man's skill, vital attributes, and capability, but no human statistics will ever be complete, because you cannot measure a human spirit. This spirit is fueled by love. In a crime of passion, a man may kill someone who sleeps with his wife, but I bet he killed him, not because of hate for the man, but more on the love of his wife.

"Love makes you do crazy things" is common phrase that we have heard all the time, but only when it has happen to us, only do we know the true context of what it means. I am not trying to teach history here, but it is for love, that Napoleon Bonaparte, conquered Europe. He wishes to show Josephine, his wife, how much he truly loves her. So he journeyed on a conquest for Europe to give to her as a symbol of his love. He once wrote a letter to her dated on the 3rd of April 1796 saying, "You have taken more than my soul; you are the one thought of my life. When I am tired of the worry of work, when I feel the outcome, when men annoy me, when I am ready to curse being alive, I put my hand on my heart; your portrait hangs there, I look at it, and love brings me perfect happiness, and all is miling except the time I must spend away from my mistress." This prove that love can bring even the most powerful of men, to it's knees."

I myself like everyone else, has had experience with love. However though I know what it is to love a women (or girl), yet lately I found myself forgetting the taste or the feeling of being love in return. It has been too long, I reckon that have had the pleasure being love in return. When someone who looks at you and still think the world of you, even when you are in truth a loser. 

 

Don't worry, I am not going to cry. 

 

I was broken by that fact for a long time, but now I have come to terms with the tiny pieces of my broken heart, and day by day it will mend to form a better one. To those who don't know me, I have known to be the type of person, who fall in love rather easily, but I don't think this is a bad thing now, because it only proves that I am capable of love, and love is the produce of my heart. I am thankful for all the heartbreak that have happen, and thank those who have broken my heart in the past, because of them my heart has learn a lot over the years, and one day it will be indestructible.

 

I have thought in the past that the only way to go about this, by never again to fall in love, but without love, I find that your heart will be weak, thus your spirit will grow weary and you cease to live as a human being, but merely a walking corpse, no different then a zombie. Most people deal with heartbreak way too harsh, but they have to understand that the love they lost that caused it, is only frail, because it is not true. True love is unbreakable. 

Now, I set my heart to have the possibility of love, prepare for it, and have faith in God (Allah SWT). For when I pray to Him, and I trust Him with all that is left of my heart, that He will send someone to me that is worth loving, and all my love will be direct to her and Him, for never again will it be wasted, Amin.

 

Even though I leave the fate of my love life to God, I know it's not going to be direct. One thing I know about the blessing of God is this. When you pray to him for something, he does not give it to you directly. You have to work for it, and prepare for it, and when He think you're ready, he give it to you. He doesn't send it straight like, one day your sitting down, then this women comes up to you and say, "Hi, how you doing, listen, I got a message from God to see you, cause apparently He made me for you, cause you pray for me that one time. Sooo, what's up?" No it does not work like that (even though that would be an awesome pick up line). When you pray to Him (not only one time), He gives it to you, but only an opportunity, only a window, and it is up to you to grab it.

 

Till then I will continue my course of life, and pray for that one day, when I looking that very girl eyes and when God, tickle onto my heart, like a nudge, or a PING, telling me, that this is the one, the one that I have send for you, love her well. When that day has come to pass, remind me to put my hands together and thank Him for the gift of life, because this is all it's about. This is what life is about. To praise Him, and to love what He gives you. 

 

Everybody will one day find their love, in the words of Klaus (a character of the TV series, How I Met Your Mother) "you just never know when, or where."

 

For the closing thingy of this post I give you the full quote by Klaus from that scene:

 

Klaus:

Laybenzlagenshishoshats (a made up German word which means 'Life long treasure of destiny' True love) is not something that develops overtime, it's something that happens instantaneously, it courses through you like the water of the river after a storm, filling you, and emptying you all at once. You feel it throughout your body, in your hand, in your heart, in your stomach, in your skin. Have your ever felt this way about someone?

 

Ted:

Yeah, I think so.

 

Klaus:

If you have to think about it, you have not felt it.

 

Ted:

And you're absolutely sure, you'll find that someday?

 

Klaus:

Of course, everyone does eventually, you just never know when, or where.

 

Assalamualaikum and I hope you find your Laybenzlagenshishoshats one day.

 

 

   



 

My Point of View about Modern Human Society in Malaysia

Part 1.2 : Sex, Drugs & Rock and Roll

(If you get mad while reading this, it only means that I'm right)

I am have nothing against having fun, but what most of the civilians here do on Friday night and the weekends, have cross the line of having fun, to the area that reads, 'Self destruction'. Popping pills that makes your heart beat at 90 km/hr is not fun, it's suicide. Those who pop pills every time they party with all the substance of alcohol and other, and the heat condition of the club every week, are actually committing suicide every week. Every time you put that pill in your mouth that's attempted suicide. You belong in a mental ward. Those who put pills and any other kind of chemical drugs, in the mouth of another, that's attempted murder. You belong in prison. Why? because drug kills. Do you want to bet me on that? I can prove to you that every single recreational drug has a high chance of killing the consumer. How can you say that's fun? How can you say I just do it casually. You don't see random people taking a knife out and casually stabbing his friends do you? If they do, then they are MENTAL!!!

WAKE UP! SNAP OUT OF IT!

Do you know what is worst then, what had just describe? It gets worst because drug taking, 'popping', 'snorting', 'getting high', all are now, common phrases to us. If I, right now, say to my friends, "I saw a guy in the toilet, snorting K." or if I say, "Dude, that girl right their just took an ecstasy pill." I'll bet you 99.9% they'll say, "That's normal dude." THAT'S NORMAL DUDE! Let ask you, is there anything normal about suicide or murder? Cause it sure ain't normal to me, thus, drugs shouldn't be normal to us. We should look at it in disgust, and say "GET THAT SHIT AWAY FROM ME!" not "Do you have some more?" I've said it before and I will say it again, DRUGS KILLS! TAKING DRUGS IS COMMITTING SUICIDE! GIVING DRUGS IS ATTEMPTED MURDER!

WAKE UP! SNAP OUT OF IT!

I'll tell you where all of this comes from. It comes from those rappers like Busta Rhymes: It's so holy, so divine, we like 'overdose' niggers every time, or like D-12: nothing compares to this blue and yellow, purple pill, or Djs like ATB: You're really are my ecstasy, and song like, "like a G-6, Feelin so fly like a G-6," and so on and so forth.

They call themselves artist. How dare they call themselves artist. They don't bring art, their song don't reflect artistic messages. Is it art when Pitbull sings about thongs in Miami, or slut from all over the world? Is it art when Nicki Minaj 'pounded the alarm' and get everybody jumping around like monkeys

Even the messages they put in their song are lies. Like when SIA sang, "I'm bullet-proof, nothing to lose..," you know what, we're human beings, we're not bullet-proof, we are vulnerable, our body and our heart are breakable that what differentiate the humans, and God. They wanna make you think that you're a God, they wanna make you feel that I don't need God, because I'm bullet-proof. Well that's blasphemy. In all the religion I know, that is blasphemy, and you know what, it's working. Y.O.L.O (You'll Only Live Once), is another lie, in all religion, when you die, you live again in the afterlife. They are trying to make you, go against God.

They are winning. The moment you stand in a crowd together facing the stage, with all the bright lights, the lasers and the smoke machines, and the fire works flaring from the stage, they've won. When you put your hands up, and waving it, timed to the beat, they've won. WHEN YOU JUMP AROUND BECAUSE THE MUSIC IS BLASTING, AND YOU CAN'T STOP DANCING, THEY HAVE WON! Evermore, you pop the pill to get into the atmosphere, of the party, they have won big time. HEADSHOT! GG! 

YOU HAVE BEEN DECEIVED! WAKE UP! & SNAP OUT OF IT!  
 
These songs are every where. It's like when you turn on your radio, the songs they play, is either about a crazy wild party, full of booze and drugs, or about heartbreak from a relationship that inspires you to take drugs. Depression, too depress that only drugs will help. WRONG! Go with GOD. He is far more capable of curing someone of depression and pain then any other mortal chemical known in earth. That's their thing, they want you to listen to them instead of God, they would have it, that when you're depress you listen to their song, not the words of God. They would very much prefer that when your heart is breaking you listen to THEM AND NOT GOD!

Why, because of all the money that's coming their way. Don't you know that? They didn't come all the way from the United States, or Europe to come here and play a song to cheer you up, they don't even know who you are. NO! They came here so that you'd fill their pockets with money, they came here so that our hard earn cash, or your parent's hard earn cash, goes from you or your parent's paycheck, straight to their bank account. You can't deny me on this. You want proof, look at the way they live, go on google it, and then look at the way you live. That's living proof right there. 

Ever seen an artist, bowing down, at the end of his show? When the night is done, when they've know that they could cash in your money tomorrow, then they say, "Thank you Malaysia, you have been such a wonderful crowd, and I'd love to comeback again." It's not because they really love you as a person, it's because they love, your responds, they love it when you chat to his song, they love the reaction you give to their miss-message, THEY LOVE HOW YOU WORSHIP THEM! Then they know, when it's time to re-fill their bank accounts, they could come back here for YOU, again to fill it up!

AGAIN, YOU'VE BEEN TRICKED. AGAIN, YOU'VE BEEN DOOPED! WAKE UP! WAKE UP FRIENDS, LADIES & GENTLEMAN, BROTHERS, SISTERS, COUNTRYMEN WAKE UP!
WAKE UP, AND SNAP OUT OF IT!

It's not that music is evil, I didn't even say that music is evil, but there are limitations to what humans standards are allowed to, and just watch that you don't swallow in their music and their massage, without first know what they mean.

I am sorry if I offended anyone with this post, I am just telling you, what I believe in my whole heart to be true. Not part of an agenda, I'm am not obsessed with the new world agenda, or the freemason, or anything like that. What I bring is no wildly unproven conspiracy, it is the truth. A truth, that we all of us has been blinded to our whole lives. I am telling you this as a human being, because we are all the children of Adam. What are brothers for if to not warn us of these evil things. 

There is a Hadith (word of my prophet, Muhammad SAW), that predicted this long time ago back in the 600th AD, but since I see this as a problem for all Malaysians, and not just of the Muslim faith, so I think I'd would be 'unfair' to recite it here on this topic.

So I bring you, at this end of this post, I bring you Macklemore, he is my currently favorite rapper. Have you heard of him? Most of you would have not, know why? That's because, what happens to rappers and true artist that speak the truth and talk about positive things instead of lies? They get shot down, to the unknown. Play this video, and see what he says about drugs. If you need the lyrics it's: http://rapgenius.com/Macklemore-otherside-lyrics

 

The Sole of Your Journey: The Story of Shoes

by Abolqaz Bin Anuar

What is the importance of a shoe? You wear them for the main purpose of protecting your feet. You wear shoes, every single day of your life. You wear them when you go places. If you regard them as just foot wear then, it seems ordinary, simple and not at all a big deal about them (not enough of a deal to write a story out of it). I see them as more then just something your wear when you go outside.

What is the purpose, for a shoe? It is not just to protect your feet like I mention, but also, a shoe gives you, your identity. The type of shoes that you choose to wear will give you, your sense of identity. It gladly shows the world by the strides you take that this is who you are. For example, a converse shows that you're a laid back fun type of guy, a loafers might bring you the right message that I'm no longer a kid, and want to be taken seriously. You might want to choose a nike high cut design, to tell people that you have talents or skill. A sporty adidas footwear well tell those people around you that, you are competitive and loves sports.

They are a part of your impression, that you expose to those around you without having to say a single word. The style, the color, and the design of your shoes, is what you think of yourself. It is the also the side of you that are most confident about, because that is the part of you, for all the world to see. You can't hide your feet when you walk. You can't private them like some internet social account, which only your closest friend and family to see. Therefore choose your shoes well.

Can you count how many steps you take in a day? Yes you can, but that would be difficult. Shoes are always with you when you're outside the safety confinements of your house. It protects your feet from all the hazard that lays before you, especially the ones you don't see.

They are there with you when you go to school to learn, and they are there with you when you meet your love (high percentage of people meets falls in love outside their house). They are there with you when you're walking happily under the sun, and even stay with you while you trudge sadly on a dark and gloomy day. If you play sports, the shoes will enhance your feet, to make you move better.

You can always tell a man's journey by looking at his shoe. The condition of his shoe, can tell you what he's been through. In my favorite movie of all time (Forest Gump), "My momma always said that you can tell a lot about a person by their shoe, where they're going, we're they've been." It's like the saying, "put yourself in their shoes." Why, because only a man's shoes can truly tells the story of his soul.

Dr.Seuss, once wrote, "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who'll decide where to go."

So what is a shoe? It is something, that defies your identity, it is something that you buy to show your pride, it is the savior of you feet, and also the evidence of your journey. 

In the other hand it is still only a shoe.

This was written by a student from Academy of the Redwood

Walk A Mile In My Shoes Poem

Walk a mile in my shoes,
someday you might feel the blues.
See the world though my eyes,
how it feel to hear all lies.

Go a mile in my shoes,
take your time and have a snooze.
Don’t be afraid to get a bruise,
there’s not a chance you’ll be a fool.

Wear my shoes and have some fun,
walk a mile in the sun.
Walk a mile in my shoes
And I will do the same to you.

-by a fabulous and talented first year

 Assalamualaikum

The Glory of Subuh

by Abolqaz Bin Anuar

(To my non-Muslim readers, I don't mean to offend, Just writing of a Muslim)

My room, is cold from the winds hauling out of the air-conditioner. It either very late, or very early in the morning. The scenery from beyond my window is pitch black in the darkness of the night. I looked at my watch, it is 20 minutes to 6:00am.

I have not sleep, I was too busy writing. My fingers was too happy typing that my brain lost track of time. I do feel tired, and I should get to bed. I do have thing to do early in the morning. Then a thought slip straight to my mind. "I can't sleep now, 10 more minutes, and Subuh is upon.." So I got up off the floor, and grabbed, my 'kain pelekat'. 

As I marched to the toilet, I put on around my waist. I pulled my spectacle and rest it on my shelf. I slowly walked in the toilet, as the floors are slippery. I turn on the tap, as I put my hand together to trap the flowing water, I whispered, "Nawaitu Udu'a Lillahi Taala," then I began taking my wuduk.

As I finished, I walk to the window. There I sat, at the window pain, waiting for the time. I could hear nothing out from the early morning air, except for the occasional cars, and bike, speed pass my house. As I looked at the sky I thought, "The night IS darkest before the dawn."

Then, right as clockwork, I heard a voice to the sky. A lovely voice, in tunes of old, older then you or I. I hear the greatness of my religion, our call to prayer, is by a voice, a voice that most of us own. Like how you talk to someone, that's how they call us to pray.

A Prayer is better then sleep, is the meaning of one of the line. For if everyone is reminded of the important of the Subuh prayers, no one will sleep at this kind of time. When the Adhan is over, I read, my prayers of after adhan, and stand on my sejadah. Facing holy Mecca, as billions do everyday, to preform their prayers.

After I'm done I will wait for the sun. Just to welcome the new day before I go to sleep. I will sleep soundly, for I know I have prayed, may Allah SWT bless me and grant me all my prayers.

Assalamualaikum.

 

My Point of View on Friends

As far as I am concern, everybody has at the very least, one friend. Their are many bonds of relationship and the most intriguing of them all are friendship. How did it end up that the person we met way back when who were just strangers then are now the very people that have a special bond with us? This friends that we meet along our journey in life now are someone in some way 'special' to us. I have no idea. Not a clue to how friendships are made, but what I can tell you is that I am very grateful for MOST of the friends that I have made throughout my life.

 They say, that no one is perfect. However, I think that the weakness that you have in yourself, is perfected by the strength of your friends. The symbiotic connection that we have with one another that makes you as a group perfect. The qualities that is lacking in you, will be made up by the qualities that your friends possess. That I think gives meaning to the phrase, "together we stand."

A friend, a true friend, picks you up when you fall, and if they can't then they will lie down with you. They will wipe your tears away, if it still drops then they will cry with you. 

 

Your laugh is happier, and your sorrow seems deeper together. To watch a game, or just to talk seems to be a good enough entertainment for you.

The friends you choose defies you, and you will in turn defy them by being chosen. Always remember, that you are not friends with someone because you chose them, but also because they themselves choose you. You choose each other. If you think about it in that point of view, it seems comforting.

 

When you lose a true friend, it's like losing an arm or a leg, it's like losing a part of yourself. Most of you may not realize this, but losing a love is nothing compared to losing true friendship. You can find new love, but nothing compare with the memory of a true friend.  Even if sometimes they are a bit different from you, say they like different things, or have different outlook in life, it doesn't mean they are any less of a friend to you, or you to them.

 Every true friend is a brother, a sister, and a teacher. They are a part of you, and you are a part of them. Nothing last forever, friendship no matter how strong the bond maybe, it will end someday, but from the time you begin your friendship, till the time you part company, they play a part in your life, and you play a part in their's. It's like a TV series, where you are the main character and your friend acts around you, but they are just as much as in the show as you. Better yet, like a play, and your friends are like players, entering and exiting from and to behind the stage. As you go along to the more important scenes, only the main characters will remain, only those who really matters, are left, when you experience the peak of a battle, a rough patch, at the most trying times, are the ones that really matter. These are the people who can be called a true friend.

 

As the wind clears the dust of you life, you will see casualties, and sometimes you might even be surprise who is left standing. Sometimes the ones who you do not expect the most are the one who still chose to stand with you. So treat everyone of your friends with kindness because you never know who will be the one grab your hand, just as you are about to fall. To those friends that has left us, for whatever reasons your friendship ends, think not of evil thought towards them, as at one point or another they have contributed in your life. At one point or another they have light up your heart. At one point or another, they have put a smile on your face. 

There is an old saying that goes, " Inflict not every injury you can conjure to your enemies, for maybe one day they might be your friend."

 

I end now my post, as I always have did with a poem. This one if from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He is one of the best American poets (the best being Walt Whitman). I don't really like Longfellow's other work as it was more on the US revolution in 1830's but he wrote a good one on friendship.

The Arrow and the Song

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

Source: The Arrow and the Song by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Famous Friendship Poems http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/famous/poem/the-arrow-and-the-song#ixzz29mCv9HHW 
www.FamilyFriendPoems.com

P/S: I have a lot more friends than shown in the pictures, but I have no picture of them. Notably: Yeng, Ice, Jair (not a good one up there) and Azri. If you guys happen to read this, send me a pic, and I'll edit it.

Assalamualaikum

Random Acts of Kindness

Episode 1: Chiune Sugihara (The Conspiracy of Kindness)

I am attracted to stories (true stories), of human kindness. This verifies two of my life's theory (and other people's theory, it's actually basic life's theory). 1. There is kindness in the human heart, but you have to look in very close and deep to find it. God will not have trusted humans if He knows we are not capable of good things. 2. Is that not all men with power are evil, I bet most (if not all) men of power started their journey, with full of good intention in their hearts, but most of them adapt to the situation, or fell from grace in between. Still there is hope in them. For some of them at least.

 In 1919, when Chiune Sugihara passed his 'Foreign Minister Scholarship exam, he was placed in Manchuria as the Deputy Foreign Minister in the Manchurian office (Manchuria is China, when it was occupied by the Empire of Japan). He quits the post because he heard allegation, of the mistreatment of the Chinese people, by Japanese soldiers. A few years after, in 1939 he was appointed as vice-consul (ambassador) of the Empire of Japan, to Lithuania.

1939 was the year that the preliminary of the World War 2 began. and on September the 1st 1939, at 4.45 am, Hitler's Germany began it's attack on Poland. Knowing Hitlers policy to the Jew people, thousands of them had fled to Lithuania. And as they fear, 'The Nazis' are coming their way. This would not bring any problem to Sugihara as the Germans was an ally to the Empire of Japan, but to the thousands of Jewish refugee from Poland, and the thousands more living in Lithuania, their days are numbered.

Their only hope was to flee their homeland, before the Germans arrived. By this point around June 1940, many consulates from other nations has beginning to close down their office in Lithuania and are making their way home to their respected countries. So the Jews they to need to 'pack up and go', but where? Where can't they go to escape these Nazis who are bent in destroying their race? The head of the Jew leaders began looking for help at the remaining consulates. Many of which turned them down, and have no sulution to their problem.

Until they reach, the consulate office of the Dutch. The Dutch consul, Jan Zwartendijk, told them that there is somewhere they can go. The Island of Curacao, a Dutch colony which the entree to that island, requires no visa. How do we get there? now lies in the mind of the Jews. They could not take the western route to Curacao, as it is controlled by the German, their executioner. So the only option is to travel east through the Empire of Japan, who is an ally of Germany.

They went to the Japanese consulate in Kaunas, Lithuania. and met with Chiune Sugihara, to request visa of Japan, so that they could travel through the empire. Now this is a dilemma for Sugihara, for if he do this, he is committing a direct violation of his orders as a consul. After he had consulted with his wife (Yukiko Sugihara), he issued a 10 day visa that will allow them to pass through the Empire of Japan, without being arrested, to the mob of Jews out standing outside his consulate.

"If I do this, I will disobey my emperor, but if I don't do this I will disobey my God." is what Sugihara said to any of his staff who ask, and to his wife. 

More and more Jews came to him for visas, after they heard about it. The word spread, and thousands and thousands of Jews came to get visas to the Empire of Japan. The consulate was closing, as the Emperor has ordered all Japanese consulates in Europe to be closed. Despite that Sugihara still spend his last days in Lithuania writing up visas to the Jews. He and his wife did not sleep the night before they left for Japan, as they were busy writing up visas, he wrote visas in the car, on the way to the train station, and he also wrote visas when he was waiting for the train to leave, and threw them out the window to desperate Jews wanting to get to safety. Even those without the essential document to have a visa was given one despite the fact, given his inferior post and the culture of the Japanese foreign bureaucracy, his actions was an extraordinary act of disobedience.

  

As the train is about to pull out from the station, he stood up from his seat, and said to the many Jews outside of his train, "Please forgive me, I cannot write anymore." then he took a deep bow, to the people outside. He even negotiated with the Soviet army to allow safe passage to the people holding his visa, to Japan.

You do not have to fight monsters, or be a wielding sword knight in armor, or have super powers to be called a HERO. Sugihara was not a typical SAMURAI type of hero that you normally hear about from Japan, but I hold his heroic deeds of signing those visas when deep in his heart, he knows that by the law of his nation, that he is wrong. Heroic is his deeds, and nothing short of a real hero is what Chiune Sugihara was.

Now let me ask you. Will you obey your leaders, your government or king, if their orders go against the teaching of your God? Will you have the courage of Sugihara, when such time is presented to you? Even though the people he saved was in fact the enemy of the nation (the Nazis in German has made it to their allies that all Jews are their enemy), he still saved them, because in his words "those people who needed my help were human beings." 

Now as a Muslim, Jews and the Jewish are the enemy to my religion, but are all Jews is our enemies? I really don't know the answer to that but as a human, I too would have the slightest nudge in my head and my heart to help them even when I know that they are Jew and me a Muslim.

In the end, once he returned to Japan, he was fires from his titled, not only fired, but disgrace fully fired, and was exiled to Russia, where he lived out the remainder of his life, but a thousand miles away in Jerusalem, they honor him and planted a tree in Israel (that is the sign of honor to Jews everywhere, to plant a tree in the person's name) and gave an award to his wife, because by the time they gave out the award, he had passed on. A price for for his kindness.

What is Courage?
Courage is sacrificing yourself and your family.
Courage is saving other's lives.
Courage is not backing down when your government tellls you to stop.
What is Fear?
Fear is facing Nazi soldiers.
Fear is escaping from Poland.
Fear is thinking you’ll be killed for who you are.
What is Freedom?
Freedom is traveling across the world to find safety.
Freedom is starting a new life in another country.
Freedom is life!
Sugihara
Sugihara

I don't know who wrote this poem, but it is to Sugihara. I end my post by saying and declaring, along with the Jews all over the world I honor you Mr. Sugihara, I honor your kindness.