If you think you are better than other people, then follow this Qur'anic instruction...

During this flood season, as with previous flood seasons, we have the usual agamawan saying the flood is caused by the sins of the people. They asked people to repent in order to avoid God's wrath and disaster next time.

This imply that those affected by the flood are bad people who are being punished by God for something sinful that they have done. No clear indication was given by these agamawan what sins exactly that the affected have done.

Since these agamawan's houses are not affected, then, by implication, they are also saying they are good people, free of sins. They are inferring that they are better people, alim & warak, since their houses are not flooded, free from God's wrath. (If their houses are affected, they would not have said those things).

What does God says about people claiming to be better than other people? Let's see. The Qur'an says the following in Al-Baqarah, verse 94:-

"Katakanlah: 'Jika kamu (menganggap bahwa) kampung akhirat (syurga) itu khusus untukmu di sisi Allah, bukan untuk orang lain, maka inginlah kematian(mu), jika kamu memang benar'."  

"Say, 'If the home of the Hereafter with Allah is for you alone and not the [other] people, then wish for death, if you should be truthful'."

-Al-Quran, 2:94-

Allah says that if you think the Heaven is for you only, then wish for death. In other words, if you think you are good enough to enter Heaven, then wish for death.

Dalam bahasa kasarnya, orang-orang yang rasa diri mereka lebih baik, lebih alim dan lebih warak dari orang lain, dalam bahasa kasarnya Tuhan berkata pada mereka untuk "pergi mampus"...  

So, if you think you are alim & warak, better than other people, why don't you obey God and follow his instruction and go "mampus"...

Salam.

   

I am not afraid of ghosts anymore.

When I was small, we lived in a kampung house with outside toilet. The house is still standing and my mum still lives there with our youngest sibling. Now, the toilet is inside.

But back then, a long time ago, the toilet was outside, about 10 metres away from the foot of the back staircase, with the back facing a big empty green field. Near the toilet, a bit further back from the house is a "mini jungle", or "semak samun" in Malay. But to a 7 year old who is afraid of ghosts, the "semak samun" might as well have been the Amazonian tropical rain forest. The eeriness is compounded with the presence of owls, or "burung hantu" in Malay (literally "ghost bird") hooting away at night. There was even this one big tree which silhouette at night resembles King Kong. 

So, you can imagine when a 7 year old with an active imagination fueled by scary superstitious stories wanting to do his "personal business" in the middle of the night, that it was scary.

Then, in the 80's, the legend of "hantu kum-kum" went viral. I was not exactly sure what was scary about "hantu kum-kum", but it went around giving salam (as in Assalamualaikum") to kids to scare them. I do not know what happen to you when the hantu give salam to you but the stories just add more fuel to your superstitious fear.

Every night we had to go to Qur'an class to an old lady's house who taught the Qur'an reading and recital. On the way, we had to pass near another "mini jungle", but thicker than the one at the back of my house. One night, somebody decided to play a practical joke and dressed a statue-like bush all in white. On the way back from the class, we saw something white in the distance in the "mini jungle" and all of us started running and screaming, all the way home. Of course, the next day, we saw the white cloth still there and we laughed about it.

The fear of ghosts and everything supernatural, while not debilitating, was a mental struggle as a kid. It did not stop me to join my pengakap activities and went camping in the jungle, but when I had to use the outside toilet alone, it was a mental struggle. You had to keep telling yourself that "there are no ghosts" over and over while you are sitting down sh*tting in the dark. I can laugh at myself now, but let's just say life would have been better without the superstitious nonsense.

The fear of ghosts and supernatural did not hinder me from nightly activities as a kid. My rational mind won the day, or should I say the night, every time I had to do anything at night. But it was uncomfortable and not pleasant having to deal with this fear every time.

As I grow up, the fear becomes less and less but it was always at the back of my mind. When I started jungle hiking as a hobby, I had to worry about other supernatural beings too, as told by other people. I still join the jungle hiking activities, but when you had to worry about unseen beings (like bunians, harimau jadian, etc), your enjoyment is less. 

I have never seen or encounter any ghosts or any supernatural beings. Some Malay Muslims will accuse me of being a "kafir" for even saying this but I doubt that those entities exist. As far as I know there are no "believe in ghosts" under the six "Rukun Iman" but you would still be accused of "kafir" for even questioning the existence of ghosts. 

As my understanding of the world increases, including mental health issues, science of the brain & neurology and physics, I fear ghosts and the supernatural, less and less but not completely fear-less. Because by its very nature those things are unseen, so, you can never be sure. Hence, there is always that bit of fear at the back of your mind. 

Then, something happened! 

I started reading the Qur'an for myself. I found I do not have to be afraid of any ghosts or any unseen beings.

First of all, there are no mentions of ghosts in the Quran. The Quran mentions "jinn", "shaytan", "Iblis" and "sihir". In one way or another, these entities are said to be connected to the phenomenon of ghosts and "kawasan-kawasan yang sewaktu dengannya". (I do not know how, but it is what people said, when I said ghosts do not exist.) There are some scholarly debate what are exactly "jinns" in the Quran means, but the prevalent opinions are that "jinns" are, well, genies or "jin" in Malay. There are some minority opinions that say "jinns" are something else, not the mythical genies or "jin".

Many Malay Muslims believe that ghosts and other supernatural phenomena occur because of these "jinns" "shaytan", "Iblis" and "sihir". There are no direct mention of ghosts in the Quran, so, they say all occurrences of ghosts and supernatural events, including but not limited to bunians, saka, curses, hexes, possession (rasuk) or sihir, are because of them.

But here is the thing.

IT DOES NOT MATTER!

Whether "jinns" of the Quran are genies/"jin" or not; or the cause of sihir or not; or syaitan or iblis; it does not matter. Because the Quran says they cannot harm you.

First let's look at Quran verse 7:27.

"O ye Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you ... he and his tribe watch you from a position where ye cannot see them..."

So, anyone that claims they can see jinns or ghosts or anything that "sama waktu dengannya", they are either lying or they suffer from hallucinations. The Quran says we cannot see them.

Then, Quran verse 15:42;

"Surely, you (Iblis) shall have no power over My servants..."

The Quran says they have no power over us. They cannot do anything to us. They cannot frighten us, cannot "rasuk" us, or do anything to us.

Then, Quran 16:99;

"He (Satan) has no power over those who truly believe and put their trust in their Lord"

Again, the Quran says they have no power over us. They cannot do anything to us. They cannot frighten us, cannot "rasuk" us, or do anything to us.

What about "sihir"?

Quran 2:102 says thus;

"...but they cannot harm anyone except by God's permission..."

So, we cannot see them, they have no power over us and they cannot harm us. So, we do not have to worry about them. So, whether ghosts and jinns exist or not; does not matter. For all intents and practical purposes, they are the same as not real. 

So, now I do not worry about ghosts or bunians or sihir anymore. When I go hiking in the jungle, day or night, I worry about the real dangers, wild animals and dangerous terrains.

As for those who accuse me of "kafir" for not believing in ghosts, I only say this. A Muslim believe in the Quran, it is one of the Rukun Iman. The Quran says you cannot see them, they do not have power over you and cannot harm you, meaning they cannot affect you, meaning they are as good as not real for all practical purposes. So, you want to believe the Quran or the internet ustaz, ulama, agamawan or "Raja Bomoh" who says otherwise?

It is up to you!

Berdewakan agamawan: Part I

With the proliferation of the internet and TV and mobile phones, many people now have access to the media, including religious preachers preaching their stuff.

Sometime, a cult-like following materializes around certain preachers, especially if he has the gift of the gab, a wonderful speaker that can mesmerize people with his speeches.

People idolizes them and listen and follow these preachers blindly, without thinking.

In my youth, I also used to listen to these preachers, especially those that criticise the ruling government. It was before the advent of the internet, and it was difficult to access information and obtain free flow of balanced news and views.

Hence, I gravitated towards those preachers that are on the opposite side of the mainstream media.

Not many were brave enough to criticize the ruling government.

Many preachers were afraid to jeopardise their "cari makan" on national TV, less they are banned.

However, this one preacher was brave enough to criticize them left, right and centre.

He went around the country giving ceramah, bravely condemning and criticizing the wrongs committed by the ruling government.

It was refreshing because the mainstream media was self-censoring themselves less they get into trouble with the ruling government.

But then, when the party that he seemingly support did something wrong, he did not criticize them.

Some people would at least stay quiet in shame (or at least to maintain a show of unity even when they disagree in silence).

But he went beyond that.

I did not expect him to switch loyalty or change allegiance.

I expect him to "tegur" the action or behaviour, even in double speak "berkias" Melayu manner. At the very least, just stay quiet and not show support for something that is clearly wrong.

He did not even do that.

Instead, he justified their action with a ridiculous religious rulings, even twisting his reasoning to suit the political party agenda.

I saw the hypocrisy and I stopped listening.

Another preacher that I respected and listened to was supportive of the ruling party.

But at that time, I can see that his support was not given blindly.

He was fair to both sides, praise when praise is due and "tegur" when they did something wrong, to both sides.

When the ruling party did something wrong, he "tegur" them, in "bahasa berkias", in double speak.

That was good enough for me.

He had integrity, and he put right and wrong first and he did not "jual agama" for his "rezeki".

But then, along the way, somehow, he became more radical.

I do not know what happen.

He became ultra racial (not racist, there is a difference).

He contributed to racial tension in the country.

The Qur'an says "... do not insult the symbols of other religion less they insult yours back..." (Quran 6:108).

He did not live up to the standard set by the Book he says he believes in.

What does this tell you?

Well, I will not tell you not to listen to them, to any preachers, or to any speech.

I believe in free speech and freedom of expression. I do not believe in censorship and banning speech.

But, please listen with intelligence and apply your critical thinking skills.

Above all else, do not deify these "agamawan".

Do not cast out stone idols and replace them with other human idols in "religious" outfits.

Do not "mendewakan agamawan" that are crowding the "market place of ideas" and the internet.

Educate yourselves and your children to think critically, to be fair and just, and to be compassionate and understanding of other people different than you. Trust that you know what is right and wrong, that inherent inner voice and reasonable minds that God has given everybody.

When somebody uses religion and claim to speak on behalf of God to tell you something bad, you know it in your heart and mind that it is bad.

You just have to listen to it.

After all God says He is near, as near as your jugular veins (Qur'an 50:16).

That inner voice that you hear, it could be Him telling you what is right and wrong.

As the saying goes...;

Good people will do good things.

Bad people will do bad things.

Sometimes, bad people will do good things in order to get something in return.

But, it takes religious people who use religion and manipulate other good people, for good people to do bad things.

#farkhundamalikzada

So, be careful!

A pebble that can rock the world (sticks & stones): Part II

In the last paragraph of Part I, (read Part I here) I pointed out that in a globalised society that believe in absolute freedom of speech on one hand; and on the other; where God and His Prophet are more beloved than even your own mother/father/wife/husband/children, the twisted "ethics" regarding "honour" adopted by some people is a time bomb.

The "ethics" that they adopted is that people can insult them and they will not retaliate, but if people insult their loved ones, it is justified for them to retaliate, even with physical violence, causing physical harm.

Now imagine, that they are taught to love God and His Prophet more than their loved ones, more than their own families. And then, people made statement that they deemed insulting about their God and His Prophet.

What do you think will happen?

Do you see where this "playground pebble" metaphor can lead to?

If they are justified in using physical violence in defending the "honour" of their families, what level of retaliation would be required to defend the "honour" of the All Powerful Being that they loved more?

(A Being, I might add, that is more powerful than themselves and would have been more than capable of retaliation if He chooses to do so.)

Have they never heard about the concept of "fair and proportionate" response?

Is it "fair and proportionate" to harm or even kill people for the "crimes" of insult?

Some have heard and understood the concept, and they still believed that it is fair and proportionate.

For some other people, not taking offence is also an offence.

That is, if I am not offended by the same statement that you feel offended of, I am also being offensive, as guilty of being offensive, as the people who made the statement.

So, I am not going to tell you not to go and defend God, less I am accused of being offensive.

You have to decide for yourselves.

Before you decide to go and defend God for something you deemed insulting to Him, let's check what God has to say about it.

If you are Muslim and believe the Qur'an to be the words of God, then you have to listen to it.

 

"...indeed you shall hear many hurtful things from... [non-believers]...but if you remain patient in adversity and conscious of Him, this, behold, is something to set one's heart upon" 

-Qur'an 3:186-

"...ignore their insults, and put your trust in God; God suffices as an advocate..." 

-Qur'an 33:48-

"...He has no (need of) ally (or protector) from insult..." 

-Qur'an 17:111-

I will repeat the last verse, "...He does not need a protector from insult..." 

So, are you going to reduce God and His Prophet to that playground pebbles or are you going to trust that an All Mighty Being can take care of Himself and let Him deals with His "detractors" and "enemies" in His own way?

If you say you are Muslim, and Muslim believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, then reflect on the verses  above and make up your own mind.

Ask yourself why do you feel the need to defend an Infinitely Powerful Being even when He tells you He does not need help (17:111)? 

Is it because deep down you believe He is not Infinitely Powerful; but rather than confront the weak faith in your heart, you turn to anger to mask your own inadequacy?

You think if you manifest your fake anger, you can somehow increase your faith?

But then, you would be doing something that He said you should not do (17:111).

So, how does that lead to stronger faith?

You want to listen to your own God or succumb to your needless anger?

In the end, only God can judge you.

The ultimate freedom (belated Merdeka Day 2020 post).

In Malaysia, there are a lot of restrictions in our freedom.

There are legal restrictions in our freedom of speech; rightly or wrongly; in the name of sensitivities of the races, of religions, of cultures and/or for safeguarding the institutions of the state.

There are legal restrictions in freedom of expression, in the name of harmonious living among the citizens of Malaysia and/or for national security.

There are also legal restrictions in the creative, arts & entertainment industry in the name of moral/cultural/religious sensitivities and/or other arbitrary reasons.

There are legal restrictions (arguably) in practising minority religions.

There are legal restrictions in the rights of assemblies, in the name of national securities and peaceful living of citizens.

There are also other legal restrictions such as relating to the press, sedition acts, blasphemy acts, slander acts, etc.

The government says that all these restrictions are, singularly and/or collectively, for national security and harmonious living among the multi racial, multi cultural, and/or multi religious society of Malaysia. 

The government may be right. Agree or disagree, rightly or wrongly, these are the facts of the situation, legally, in Malaysia.

There are also social & moral restrictions that a society imposes on its members. Most of us willingly follow these restrictions for harmonious and peaceful living among our neighbours.

But there is one freedom no government and no society on Earth can restrict legally or practically.

Freedom of thought.
Freedom to think.

Freedom to think whatever you want to think. 
(As long as you do not express them out loud, of course).

Thinking is done in your brain, and nobody can read what is in yours. It is done in the safe haven of your brain and it is the most free act that you can do.

As far as I know, there are no devices yet invented that can read your mind, and as far as I know, telepathy is still science fiction.

But sadly, among majority of Malaysians, especially, the Malay Muslims, even this, they are afraid to do.

People are afraid to think even though this act cannot be controlled by the state or regulated by law.

They are afraid to think.

They are afraid to engage their brain. They are afraid to think critically. 

There are Muslims who are afraid to think about what the Qur'an actually says. They outsource and rely 100% on their favourite preachers to know what the Qur'an says. Their favourite preacher in turn rely on his revered preacher to know what the Qur'an says. The revered preacher in turn rely on his tok guru to know what the Qur'an says.

None of them actually read and study the Qur'an themselves. None of them analyse and think what the Qur'an actually says.

They are afraid to read and study the Qur'an themselves. Some people I have talked to even say that you cannot read and study the Qur'an yourselves or you might be led astray or 'sesat'.

The irony!

They believe the Qur'an is sent as guidance to all humanity and yet they believe reading and studying the the Guide Book themselves might make them stray from guidance or 'sesat'...

I am speechless...

The emoji is speechless...

Even the statue is speechless...

There not enough hands for me to facepalm my own face...

They are afraid to think and question in their mind what their favourite preacher says. They swallow in whole whatever he says. No critical thinking.

They are afraid to think critically on what he says. It is almost as if it is a sin if they question, even in their mind, what he says.

They are also afraid to think and questions in their mind what their leaders are saying. This is all the more true when the leaders are saying racial things. When the leaders are instigating their emotions with racial and religious issues.

I am not asking you to question them openly in public. There are legal repercussions if you say the wrong thing out loud. People may interpret what you say wrongly, intentionally or unintentionally, to get you in trouble. These fears are valid.

But nobody can know what you think. Nobody can read your mind.

So, please engage your brain, think critically, and find the answers yourselves.

It is the most free thing that you can do.

Happy belated Merdeka Day!

"A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim." (Lesson from the Road Runner).

In one of my previous rantings, (Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner: Why does Coyote only fall when he looks down?) I posted a photo showing the rules of the Road Runner show set up by the producers of the show.

The third rule stated a quote from a George Santayana, that "A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim".

This got me thinking on other fanatics in our midst, real life fanatics.
Namely, Islamic terrorists fanatics.

Islamic terrorists say they are Muslims.
They say they believe in Islam.
They believe the word "Islam" means "Peace".

So, they want to propagate Islam because they think that if everyone embrace or live under Islam, the world will be peaceful.

But then, not everyone share their ideals or way of thinking.
They are rejected.

So, they resort to authoritarianism or coercion or war in order to conquer everyone and make sure everyone live under Islam or "Peace".

That is, when they failed with propagation and coercion, they resort to war including suicide bombing, which is antithetical, the very opposite of peace, in order to achieve peace.

They forgot that their original aim was peace, but now it is about winning the war so that people do as what they say, as per their definition of peace, which has now become "everyone should do as they say".

As Santayana said, they become fanatics, "someone who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim". Redoubling and tripling his efforts, from just propagation to coercion to war.

It amazes me that the Road runner & Coyote can teach me the stupidity of Islamic fanatics and terrorists.
But when a cartoon character is right, it is right.

Go figure!

Dead on Wednesday.

Let's say there was this hypothetical religion.

Just a "normal" religion like any other religion with its own concept of God and religious rituals. It also has its own belief about death.

One of the beliefs, is that, if you die on a certain day, it means you are blessed by God and you will enter heaven without hindrance. (Suicide does not count of course.)

Let's say, for this religion, that particular day is Wednesday. It is a holy day. King of days of the week.

If you die on a Wednesday, it is God's way of telling people that you have lived a religious and pious life and you will enter heaven easily. Or if you have lived less than pious life, it could mean that God has somehow forgiven you and your way to heaven will be easier.

Now, let's say that you are an old religious leader on your death bed.
You are dying.
In fact, you are in a coma and on life support.

Everyone in your community knows you.
They acknowledge that you have lived a good, pious and religious life, filled with service to God and good deeds to religion and to all men.
By all standards of the religion, you should have no difficulty to enter heaven. But of course, no one knows for certain because the right to enter heaven belongs to God.

Then, the doctor advises your family to take you off life support. Medically speaking, it has become untenable to continue your life artificially. It is time to let you go.

Your family now has to decide whether and when to take you off life support.

Since you are also a prominent religious leader of an organisation, and of the community, the family also consulted the other leaders of that organisation.

And surprise, surprise; they decided to take your life support off, on very early Wednesday morning, just after midnight (even though this religion believe that a new calendar day start at sunset, they still decide to take off the life
support based on the secular day time, a few minutes after midnight, early Wednesday morning).

Of course, as per the doctor's prediction, you die a few hours afterwards. On a Wednesday. On your religion's holy day.

Does that mean they have managed to cheat God to better your odd to enter heaven? Does that mean they manage to manipulate God's own rule in order to afford you better odd to enter heaven?

Why would they consciously chose Wednesday? Why would they feel you need additional help to enter heaven even though they acknowledge your life of piety and virtue and good deeds? Well, to be fair, you cannot blame the efforts of your loved ones to ensure your happiness in the afterlife.

Then, the leaders of the organisation announced your death, taking special note to make it clear that you die on a Wednesday.

This reaffirms to the public that the organisation was led by a person blessed by God since God has chosen to take you on a Wednesday. Of course, the public do not know that the family, in consultation with the other leaders decided to take you off life support on a Wednesday. This was, of course, never mentioned in the press release.

And since the organisation was led by a person blessed by God, this makes the organisation, by association, also blessed by God. An organisation chosen by God.

This, of course, raised the profile of the organisation.
Support increases.
Membership increases.
Donation increases.

How good for them!

Of course, this is just hypothetical.
As far as I know, there is no religion on Earth today that has "Wednesday" as a holy day.

I have too much of an imagination.


PS: Interesting side note. Wednesday comes from "Woden's Day" which is Old English for Odin's Day. Odin is, for those of you who know Viking history, is god of the Viking, in Norse mythology.

Just saying.