Thursday, June 28, 2007

Dishonesty shown in manipulating translation and context of a hadith by an Anti-Islam




I saw this video on youtube. An Arabic speaking guy was manipulating the translation of the Arabic words found in a hadith and its right context. Many non-Muslims have been tricked by him in believing that Islam is a violence religion that demands everyone to convert or die.

My responses on this video:

First, the word "Zakah" was translated to "money" while it's not. Zakah is the alms/charity given to poor people in the community. It is one of the pillar of Islam next to "Salah" (prayer), "Siyam" (fasting), and "Hajj" (pilgrimage). Zakah itself comes from a word that means "to purify", not even related to "money".

Second, he translated "al-Naas" in this hadith to"all people, everybody" to confuse the non-Arabic speaking about the context of the hadith. As an Arab, he should know the prefix "al-" in front of a word in Arabic is similar with the definite article "the" in English. If he read many scholars' commentaries of this hadith, it's clear that the word here means "the Arab pagans who fought the Muslims at that time", not all people or everybody.

Third, he translated "sala" in the phrase "salallahu 'alaihi wa salam" to "pray" in order to show that "Allah/God prays to the Prophet". This is dishonesty. Everyone knows the word "sala" does not always mean praying or worshipping. If you open Arabic dictionary (Arabic to Arabic), you can find it has several meaning, one of which is "give blessing". In this case, the phrase "may Allah/God give him/the Prophet blessing". Please be honest in the translation as well as the context.

Fourth, he claimed that the Qur'anic verses of peace and tolerance (e.g. 109:6, 2:256, 60:8) have been abrogated by the verses of war. They should know any claim of abrogation is not acceptable unless it is backed by an authentic hadith. Opinion of anyone (be he is a scholar, mullah, etc) beside the Prophet cannot be accepted in this case as well as other legal cases in Islam. Hence the verses of peace and tolerance are still valid, in effect and not abrogated as they claim.

Fifth, he claimed the verses of peace and tolerance were revealed in the period when the Prophet was weak and didn't have anyone to fight for him. Again, this is false accusation. Verses 2:256, 60:8, were revealed in Madinah when Muslims had the upper hand against the pagan Arabs who fought them.

Sixth, he slandered the Prophet that he killed his Jew neighbors when he was strong in Madinah. This is a total lie and slander. If he talked about the war against Banu Quraiza, he should not hide the fact that the Prophet and Muslims waged war against them because of their breaking of treaty and stabbed the Muslims from the back during the siege by the confederation army of pagan Arabs who surrounded the Madinah at that time. Reliable historical records told us that inspite of the victories and achievements of the Prophet, at the time of his death he was in debt, and his shield was in the hands of a Jewish citizen of Madinah who still resided in the city as a collateral for his debt. This proves that the accusation is baseless.

I don't know exactly the intention of anti-Islam and Islamophobes in making their case against Islam. If they want to show the problems with extremists interpretation of Islam, why not explain these problems in an honest way one by one so everyone can understand them clearly? The way to point that out should be in a civilized manner, with a good argumentation, without lies, insults and slanders. Even a valid argument can't convince anyone if presented in a disrespectful and degrading manner.

Friday, June 8, 2007

We Share Your Pain (WeSYP) - Microsoft! :-)




Very funny video about the error report feature of the XP and it's follow-up.
By Microsoft TechNet.

The Despised and Neglected (part 2)

One day, early in the morning, Haji Ibrahim came to meet Sheikh Mabruk and gave him a job to open the gate of his family graves. This time was for his fifth son. Every year, Haji Ibrahim mourned because every time he was blessed with a son, his son lived not long enough. Shaikh Mabruk was so touched by this tragic life of Haji Ibrahim. He could feel the sorrow in the heart of the poor father who had such a trial.

"This is my fifth son. My only daughter who is still alive suffers from paralysis since few months ago. Only with the help of wheel chair can she move. The doctor who is taking care of her told me that there is no more hope for my little girl. There is no medicine found yet to cure her disease. Maybe you will dig another grave for my only daughter, Shaikh Mabruk. O God, my only daughter will return to You soon. Your Mercy, O Lord!"

That poor father put his head on Sheikh Mabruk's chest. He cried like a litttle child who lost her parents in the same time. The heart of Sheikh Mabruk was ripped. Depressed. With tears flowing from his eyes, Haji Ibrahim said:

"I beg you, Shaikh Mabruk, please pray for my daughter, for her health. I hope with the help of your prayer, God will heal her. Please!"

Sheikh Mabruk answered Haji Ibrahim: "Actually you are the best person to pray for her. You have performed pilgrimage to the Holy Land. You have visited the Prophet's grave. What about me? I only visited one jail to another jail. My obedience to God? Every one knows what kind of person I am. How can I lift my face up and pray to Him for another person?"

But Haji Ibrahim repeated his request with tears and sob. "My voice is almost gone in prayer. I pray and fast many times but heaven does not accept my prayer still. I beg you O Sheikh Mabruk, please pray for my only daughter. God knows what is in everyone's heart. By God, please pray for my daughter. Please don't reject this poor father's request!" Haji Ibrahim sobbed. Sheikh Mabruk's heart was shattered.

All of a sudden, Sheikh Mabruk raised both of his hands to the sky, although his face showed the face of a man who was ashamed and afraid to look up to heaven. With humbleness and tears flowing from his eyes, Sheikh Mabruk prayed:

"O God, please heal her, because there is none can heal except You. O Lord, please give her health because there is none who can give health except You."

After Mabruk finished his prayer, both men cried and hugged each other. That was an experience they had never felt before. Then they said farewell to each other.

* * *

The next day, Haji Ibrahim came to the cemetary to find Sheikh Mabruk. He looked for him in every side of the cemetary, but he couldn't find him. Haji Ibrahim tried to ask everyone he met, "Where is Sheikh Mabruk? Show me where he is! My daughter has been cured from her disease! She now can stand up and walk without her wheel chair. The doctor said that it was a miracle. I am looking for Sheikh Mabruk, where is he? Please tell me where he is!"

Haji Ibrahim and everyone else didn't know. Early that morning, Sheikh Mabruk had returned to his God. He passed away just after he said his prayer for forgiveness which he always did before he went to sleep. Mabruk always prayed:

"O my God, please forgive me. There is no one can forgive my sins except You. O my God, no matter how many and how big my sins and mistakes are, none can bring harm to you. No matter how many and how big my good deeds are, none can bring benefit for you. You are the Greatest in all worlds. O my God, no matter how big my sins are, Your forgiveness is greater. No matter how many my mistakes are, Your mercy are abundant, more than everything else.

Glory be to You O my God. Your mercy and knowledge are vast. Please have mercy on my soul because of my weakness for man was created weak.  O my God, please accept me and place me together with those who are humble and afraid of You. You are my Lord and I am Your servant. Glory be to you, I have nothing and cannot help myself even a little bit.

O my Lord, I surrender my self to You. I surrender my weaknesses. I surrender my life to You. There is no power and ability but from You. Because of You, I am alive, and because of You, I die. Because of You, I will be raised from death, and because of You, I will receive forgiveness. And because of You, I will enter Your Paradise..."

Sheikh Mabruk's breath one by one soared to the sky to welcome the dawn and call of dawn prayer. He gave his life back to his Creator.

That is the end of the life of a man who always committed sin and did mistakes, but always tried hard to repent and tried hard to be close to God. He is better than those who always feel obedience but too arrogant and full of pride with their obedience.

Someone is forgiven by God because he knows to place himself in front of Him. Eventhough he was despised and neglected by the society. Eventhough he had to try hard to be able to get out from narrow doors and narrow alleys in his life...

* * * * *

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Free translation of Nuqthah Al-Ghalayaan (Saturation Point in Meanders of Life)
written by: Dr.Mustafa Mahmud
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The Despised and Neglected (part 1)

After he gulped down that cheap wine, that man cried. He cried, wiped his tears and let out a sob. He cried because he regreted his act. His lips trembled asking God's forgiveness. "I repent, my God, I repent. I promise I will not repeat it again. I ask Your forgiveness." But, just a second after he ended his request, he swallowed another gulp of wine. Then he cried as before asking God's forgiveness.

"This is the last one, O my God. Please forgive me. I repent. I promise that I will walk on Your path."

His weakness was so strong in controlling himself. Every time he was aware of his mistake, his weakness made him did the same mistake. This happened to an old man, Shaikh Mabruk, who never gave up repenting but was always defeated by his weakness.

"Sheikh", that what people called him to ridicule his behavior. He was 60 years old, but his physical condition showed an age of more than 100 years old. Old and aged. He was found in a street when he was still a baby wrapped in a piece of cloth. The orphanage was the place where he was raised. Then he moved to the juvenile institution later in his childhood. He had done most kind of crimes . Jail was not a strange place for him that he went in and out of it so often.

That was the life of Sheikh Mabruk who ended as a keeper of a cemetary. He ate, drank, and slept with all the dead bodies in the graves. During the day, he was a good and nice old man. But, when the night arrived, he became a cadavers' seller to those medical students who needed them. He sold them with a just enough price to buy a cheap wine to forget his nightmare and miserable life.

Mabruk was a criminal who was different from others. He was a criminal who deserved a pity from us. He always cried for his sins and mistakes that he felt he could not avoid. He was ashamed of himself. His face always looked humble and sad. He felt his heart told him that a person like him does not deserve the warm of the sun, the fresh of the air, and all the good and lawful food. He felt no desire to commit a sin if there wasn't an urge to do it. He tried to pull himself out of his bad habits. He tried so hard to defeat his dark side, but he was usually the one who was always defeated.

Then, Mabruk cried again and sobbed as a despised and neglected person in the society. He tried to forget all bad things that happened in his life with each drop in each bottle of wine. The more he drank, the more he felt he was despised by everyone. Mabruk always felt that God always set His sights on him. He didn't know where this feeling came from. He despised himself. It's like a croach that fells into a bottle of glue. The more it tries to loose itself from it, the more it is drowned in it.

But Mabruk convinced that losing hope could not save him from his problem. That's why Mabruk felt that no matter how big and how many his mistakes and sins are, God's forgiveness will always be abundant. God doesn't need our good deeds and doesn't lose anything for our misconduct. He is The King of all worlds. He is the Greatest having abundant of mercy. God always gives and never asks help from anybody. All need Him. All are poor in front of Him. This feeling made Mabruk never stop crying and never stop to wait the door. Almost everyone knew his life. Some ridiculed him, but many felt pity for his fate.

There were a few people who came to Mabruk to ask him to pray for them. He answered their request with tears, "Shaikh Mabruk prays for you?! Oh, don't you know that I am not a 'Sheikh' and not a 'Mabruk' the blessed" Then he cried and sobbed again. His hand trembling pulled out a bottle of wine from his pocket and drank it. With tears flowing from his eyes, he ran into the dark alley in the cemetery, and asked God's forgiveness.

 

* * *


To be continued

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

She Diao Ying Xiong (Legend of Condor Heroes) - 1980s




 This series was in video in the 80s before broadcasted on one of public TV stations (RCTI?) in the 90s.
Found it on YouTube.  Reminiscing the past...

Friday, June 1, 2007

Google Maps Street View




Street View is a new feature of Google Maps that allows you to quickly and easily view and navigate high-resolution, 360 degree street level images of various cities in the US

See at http://maps.google.com