Inner demons don't play by the rules.

Fasting Ramadhan 2019 is almost at an end.

I have not written any topic related to fasting or shared any inspirational Quranic reminder or wisdom to commemorate this month. This blog is not about preaching, it is just me sharing my thoughts.

Talking about sharing my thoughts, I was listening to this song and I thought I would share my thoughts here. The song is Inner Demon by Julia Brennan.

The line of the lyrics that struck with me is;
 

"Inner demons don't play by the rules".

Fasting is about inner struggles.
You struggles with your "inner demons".
But Julia is correct, in that, "Inner demons don't play by the rules".

They do not play by the rules because these inner demons are not Satan, or Iblis or Lucifer or actual demons.

These inner demons are YOU.
You are fighting with yourself, your inner demons, and you are also the referee.

Do you think you are fighting fair?
When you have your desires, greed, biases, and lies.
The greatest lies are not lies that we tell other people, it is the lies that we tell ourselves when
we want to justify some actions or deeds.

"It is only a small piece of wrapping paper (while littering). It will not cause global warming."

"We have paid cleaners. They can clean this mess I made. That's what they are paid to do."

"His salary is so small, I'm practically doing charity when I paid that cop. Anyway, I did not go that fast, and nobody died".

"I'm only taking this money because they pay me so little, not enough to feed my baby daughter. If I don't take this, my precious daughter will starve. It is only a few hundreds ringgit."

"It's OK to use this lower grade concrete, I will approve it. There are no earthquakes in Malaysia, what? Don't worry about it."

Yes, inner demons don't play by the rules because you are their advocate, and you are the referee.

It's like some else said; 

 

"The Devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns.

He comes as everything you've ever wished for."

 

 

He doesn't have red cape and pointy horns because he is you with your inner lies and justification.

 

This is the inner struggles that you have to face.
It is different for everyone, from the most mundane ethical values to those bordering on criminality.

 

So, have you conquered your Inner Demons this Ramadhan?


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Lyrics

Inner Demons by Julia Brennan

They say don't let them in.
Close your eyes and clear your thoughts again.
When I'm all alone, they show up on their own.

Cause inner demons fight their battles with fire.
Inner demons don't play by the rules.
They say just push them down, just fight them harder.
Why would you give up on it so soon?

So angels, angels please just keep on fighting.
Angels don't give up on me today.
The demons they are there; they keep on fighting.
Cause inner demons just wont go away.

So angels please, hear my prayer.
Life is pain, life's not fair.
So angels please; please stay here.
Take the pain; take the fear.

They say it wont be hard;
they cant see the battles in my heart
But when I turn away
The demons seem to stay.

Cause inner demons don't play well with angels.
They cheat and lie and steal and break and bruise.
Angels please protect me from these rebels.
This is a battle I don't want to lose.

So angels, angels please just keep on fighting.
Angels don't give up on me today.
Cause the demons they are there; they keep on fighting.
Cause Inner demons just wont go away.

Angels, angels please keep on fighting. Keep on fighting.
Angels don't give up on me today.
Cause the demons; they are there.
They keep on fighting. Inner demons just wont go away.

So angels please, hear my prayer.
Life is pain; life's not fair.
So angels please; please stay here.
Take the pain; take the fear.

Do not outsource your thinking to catfish.

Sometime ago, someone shared in one of my Whatsapp group something regarding catfish.
 
He watched on TV a program on how to supposedly detect which catfish ate pigs ("haram" feed) versus those catfish that ate "halal" feed. (They were talking about catfish bred in captivity and given feed of pigs origin or non-pigs origin.)

The "theory" put forward was that the catfish will change shape and colour depending on their feed. There were pictures and diagrams of differently shaped catfish with different colour and hues on the body to demonstrate this point. Hence, the advice to Muslims was to avoid certain catfish based on their shape and colour (because they ate pigs, never mind the fact that wild fish eat everything in the wild; does that mean we have to stop eating wild fish, including fish caught from the sea?)
 
To those who know their catfish and understand biology, can see that those pictures, were of different species of catfish. However, to those who are lazy thinkers and have outsourced their thinking to other people, they accept the explanation.
 
There was a comment by somebody in the comment section. He said that he thought different shape and different colour means different species of catfish; but after reading the viral message he abandoned his correct understanding and accepted the wrong understanding that different feed ("haram" feed vs "halal" feed) resulted in different body types of catfish.
 
He was willing to abandoned his correct scientific understanding and accepted the wrong theory just because the message supposedly originated from the so called "guardians of the faith". This is the danger when someone has outsourced their thinking to other people, to "people of faith", people who claim they represent the faith, the "guardians of faith". They accept blindly any wrong statement without questions.
 
In the age of social media and proliferation of celebrity preachers, more and more people abandon their mental faculty. Just like multinational companies that outsourced certain parts of their operation and services to other people in other countries which provides cheaper services, many people (who are lazy thinkers)  do the same. They outsourced their brain and thinking to these "guardians of faith" who also offer "cheap" services. "Cheap" because their statement and pronouncement are most of the times without substance, evidence and intellectual integrity. 

The above catfish example illustrate this danger. He was willing to abandon his correct scientific understanding for this quack theory. There was no critical thinking, he did not apply his understanding of scientific principle and biology to question the presentation.
 
I am not going to say do not listen to these celebrity preachers or anyone who claims they are the "guardians of faith". I believe in freedom of speech. I believe in Quranic injunction verse 39:18.
 

"(My servants are) the ones who listen to what is being said, and then follow the best of it. These are the ones whom God has guided, and these are the ones who possess intelligence."
-Qur'an 39:18-
 
 

 

 

This Quranic injunction does not say follow those who claim they are the "guardians of faith" blindly, or just because they have certain religious titles.

To follow this Quranic injunction, you must have a healthy dose of scepticism, apply your intelligence, listen to all, evaluate, think critically and follow the best.
 
Remember, do not outsource your thinking.
 
 

Can he lead a normal life?

This explains a lot...

 



Teluk Sengat, Kota Tinggi.

Buka puasa @ Teluk Sengat, Kota Tinggi.
09th May 2019.

Sunset by the bay.

Bird flying over stranded "sampan" at low tide.

Over the horizon.

The bridge at night.

From the sea by the river.
 

The thief who sued the owner.

The thief who sued the owner.
(Inspired by a fable I read as a kid.)

 

There was a thief who broke into a house to steal.

While trying to get out of the house via a window, he hurt himself on a protruded nail on the window sill. The nail was not properly hammered into the wood and was a hazard. He managed to escape, but due to his injury, he cannot bring his loot with him. And so, his efforts came to nought.

However, he was not satisfied with this situation. After working hard planning the theft and breaking into the house stealthily to avoid capture, he gained nothing just because the house owner was negligent in not ensuring his house was safe to break into.
To him this was unfair.

So, he decided to sue the house owner for negligent which caused his injury and loss of income. He appeared before a judge and made his complaint.

The judge, when he heard the complaint, did not punish the thief for breaking & entering with the intent to steal. Instead, he summoned the house owner.

He asked the house owner, why was he negligent in not ensuring his house was safe for the thief to break into. The nail was a hazard which injured the thief causing his loss of income.

The house owner was never satisfied with workmanship quality of the house. He wanted a grand house at the cheapest possible price and hired a carpenter with the lowest rate. He blamed the shoddy house on the carpenter that built his house, So, instead of raging at the thief for trying to break into his home, he blamed the hazardous nail which injured the thief resulting in the thief's loss of income, squarely on the carpenter.
So, the judge summoned the carpenter.
(Side note: In my mind the carpenter is Italian. My P27 colleagues will understand.)

The carpenter came and the allegation was read out to him. His dodgy workmanship resulted in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief which caused his loss of income.

The carpenter was not only incompetent but was also a pervert who always catcalls and wolf whistles women that walk nearby his worksite. When he was working on the house, there was a woman in a sexy red dress who always walk by that distracted the carpenter. He blamed the woman in  red for distracting him while working on the window which resulted in dodgy workmanship resulting in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief which caused his loss of income.
So, the lady in red was summoned by the judge.

The woman in red came before the judge. The allegation was read out to her. Her sexy red dress was distracting the carpenter while he was working on the window which resulted in dodgy workmanship resulting in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief which caused his loss of income.

She remembered the carpenter that was always catcalling and wolf whistling her while he was working on the house. While she acted like she was angry at the catcalls and the wolf whistles, deep down, she liked the attention. So, instead of pointing out the carpenter misogynistic ineptitude, she blamed the sexy red dress on her tailor which only designed and sold dresses in sexy red colour which she had to wear that was distracting the carpenter while he was working on the window which resulted in dodgy workmanship resulting in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief causing his loss of income.  
So, the tailor was summoned by the judge.

The tailor came and the allegation was read out to her. The dress that she designed was too red and too sexy that when her client wore it while walking by the house, the sexy red dress was distracting the carpenter while he was working on the window which resulted in dodgy workmanship resulting in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief which caused his loss of income.

The tailor was a widow with several children that was just trying make a meagre living. She only designed and sold red dresses because the clothing store in her town was a monopoly that sold cloth only in sexy red colour. There was no other stores where she could go to. She had to buy the red cloth from the cloth merchant. So, she blamed the cloth merchant for only selling red cloth which she designed into a dress which was too red, a colour that was too sexy, that when her client wore it while walking by the house, the sexy red dress distracted the carpenter while he was working on the window which resulted in dodgy workmanship resulting in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief which caused his loss of income.
So, the cloth merchant was summoned by the judge and he came to court.

The allegation was read out to the cloth merchant. Because his store was a monopoly in the tailor's town and he only sold cloth in sexy red colour, the tailor had no choice but to buy them to design and to sell the sexy red dress to her client which she wore while walking by the house which distracted the carpenter while he was working on the window which resulted in dodgy workmanship resulting in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief which caused his loss of income.

The cloth merchant was a rich merchant that had several monopolistic business in the town which he manipulated to drive his competitors out of business. While he did own the only cloth store in town, he did not intentionally set out to sell only red cloth. He blamed his dye supplier for only selling red dye which he had to use to dye his merchandise which he sold to the tailor who use it to design and sold the dress that is too red and too sexy to her client which wore it while walking by the house which distracted the carpenter while he was working on the window which resulted in dodgy workmanship resulting in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief which caused his loss of income.
So, the dye supplier was summoned by the judge.

The dye supplier came and the allegation was read out to him. The dye supplier owned a factory making dye that pollutes the environment and the river around his factory. Many of his neighbours were angry at him for polluting their neighbourhood. One of the neighbours petitioned for his factory to close down. His last dye product before he closed shop was the red dye which he supplied to the cloth merchant who had to use it to dye his merchandise which he sold to the tailor who use it to design and sold the dress that is too red and too sexy to her client which wore it while walking by the house which distracted the carpenter while he was working on the window which resulted in dodgy workmanship resulting in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief which caused his loss of income.

So, the judge asked the dye supplier who was the neighbour that petitioned for his factory to close. The dye supplier looked around the court and pointed his finger at the thief.

So, the judge punished the thief who was also the dye supplier's neighbour that petitioned for his factory to close down which caused the dye supplier to sell his only last dye, which was sexy red, to the cloth merchant who had to use it to dye his merchandise which he sold to the tailor who use it to design and sold the dress that is too red and too sexy to her client which wore it while walking by the house which distracted the carpenter while he was working on the window which resulted in dodgy workmanship resulting in the house owner owning a dangerous house with a hazardous nail which injured the thief which caused the loss of income to the thief.

The judge fined the thief with an amount equivalent to 10% of the loss of income. The thief reminded the judge that he already paid the judge under the table with that amount to hear the case. The judge noted in his judgement that the thief did indeed already paid the amount.

He deemed the fine paid and released the thief, the house owner, the carpenter, the woman in red, the tailor, the cloth merchant, the dye factory owner and the neighbour.

All went home relieved that they avoided jail time except the judge who went home richer.  

THE END.