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Showing posts with label Islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islam. Show all posts

Friday, January 16, 2015

The Nihilism of Radical Islam

Folks,

This is also another good article on radical Islam and extremism, which appeared in The International New York Times.

The article, enttiled "The Nihilism of Radical Islam" was written by Kenan Malik.

It is a good read on the rising radical Islam, which really, is a shame to my religion.

The online version of the article can be read here.

But here is the scanner version, to those paper lovers.

Source: The International New York Times, Monday, January 5, 2015.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Tragedies that sank my heart

Folks,

There were two tragedies in Australia that disturbed me the most in the past week.

First is the Sydney cafe siege in which an idiotic Islamist (unfortunately) held hostages of the patrons. The perpetrator and the two hostages were apparently killed when the police were rescuing the latter.

The death of the hostages saddened me the most, but the death of the perpetrator is one that I have no regret except for cherish and joy.

I hope the perpetrator will rot in hell for his action, which is clearly un-Islamic (goes against the teaching of the religion) and pathetic.

On the other hand, I sympathise with the family of the hostages who were also killed during the traumatic time of being rescued by the authority. I am saddled by the utter sadness.

This is why, I, as a Muslim, will never allow any religious scholars -- whether Christians, Muslims or otherwise -- to run and rule for a country, for fear of radical Islamic views that will results in the mushrooming of many others that would follow suit.

Just recently, a tragic incident happened in Pakistan, in which the Taliban was blamed as the mastermind behind the death of some 140-odd students in a school.

This reiterates my view once again about choosing and voting for a religious leader to run for the country.

In Malaysia, there are two Islamist groups that are politically linked. The first is Pertubuhan Agama Se-Malaysia (PAS) and second is Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA).

Both of these groups are also pressure groups in which they aspire to create Malaysia as an Islamic state.

While the idea is actually ideal, and very much welcomed by the Muslim community; I on the other hand, am not sure which part of Islamic teachings or sects or school of thoughts do they belong to.

Some of them are pathetically radical, calling for a ban on this and that; while other in the faction are more moderate, progressive, and pragmatic in their approach to certain issues.

Judging from the actions abroad, both in Pakistan and Australia, as well as others elsewhere; I am more than affirmative of my view of dismissing an Islamic state.

As for me, a state need not be Islamic; but the act of one is definitely indeed.

Islam does not advocate killing of others in the name of religion. And nor does Islam endorse its practitioners to impose its values to others.

The world as it currently is need not be Islamic.

It should be a safe haven where everyone could live in peace, prosperity and harmony, without fear of being intimidated by particular religious groups.

I denounce such a despicable act of killing innocent children and I pray that those behind the attack will be brought to justice, and eventually be forgiven by the families of the victims and God the Almighty.

Once again, I reiterate my view that a country should be ruled by moderates and not some religious scholars.

Second is the barbaric acts of murdering eight children in Australia.

Why oh why must these beautiful children be killed at such a young age, when they have yet to enjoy the bounty and plenty good things in this world?

I really am unable to fathom this.

Just what is this world turning into, I wonder.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Most read books in the world

Friends,

Recently, the Geneva-based think tank World Economic Forum published the list of most read books in the world (quoting figures published by another source, it seems).

What is most interesting to note that The Holy Bible, the sacred book for Christianity, is the most widely read book in the world, with 3,900 million (or 3.9 billion) copies sold in the past 50 years.

Come to think of it, I think that the main reason for this may be due to the fact that:

  • Christianity is the largest religion in the world - the data published by Pew Research Center in 2011 showed that there are 2.2 billion followers of Christianity.
  • Most Bibles are present in almost all hotel rooms - whether people  actually reads them, that is a different matter
Being a Muslim, this information of course struck me in the head, in the sense that I am interested to know how many Muslims actually read The Holy Quran?

And come to think of it, why is the Quran not in the ranking list? There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, the second largest religion after Christianity, and the Quran is still not part of the ranking. That seems a bit ... odd.

Is it because Muslims are not fond of reading the Quran, or is it because the Quran was discounted from the rank or is it because of something else? 

Just a thought.

I am somewhat concerned on the ranking [I am in no way disputing them, but just have a tinge of doubt], but then again, the information presented below came from an established body of World Economic Forum.


Below are the list of books that are widely read (as appeared in the World Economic Forum Facebook page). On cursory glance, it seems that the rank was formed through the number of copies sold in the past 50 years.

Rank
Book
Number of copies sold in the past 50 years
1
The Holy Bible
3,900 million
2
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung
820 million
3
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
400 million
4
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
103 million
5
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
65 million
6
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
57 million
7
The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meter
43 million
8
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
33 million
9
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
30 million
10
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
27 million

Source: World Economic Forum

The table above is nicely translated to the info-graphic shown below:


(Source: The World Economic Forum)

Self Glory?

Folks,

I wonder what is the very purpose this picture? Self glory? Self gratification?

While I am proud that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, I feel that it is inappropriate to compare our religion with others, what more in the manner that is portrayed in this picture.

I don't understand the very purpose of this picture and the patheticity as well as absurdity of the person creating this.

Isn't this one of the sins that we Muslims must avoid? That of riak [self glory]!

I must remind myself first, followed by others that Islam is about tolerance, peace and harmony, and certainly not about boasting which religion is superior and/or better than other religions in the world.

Even Prophet Muhammad was very tolerant and respectful of those professing other faiths. You can clearly see this in the hadiths [prophetic saying] and other ancient Islamic books written by the scholars of the past.

Have some respect for other religions, you mangkuk tandas [toilet bowl]!



[disclaimer: this image is not mine]