SO WHAT IS NEW?

Happy New Year to everyone, eight days late but what is the rush? I never bothered to go out and celebrate the end of 2008 and ushering the new year of the Ox. I just let the clock ticked past twelve midnight and missed the fireworks, what the hell, it happens every year anyway. For me, 2008 is the year to forget that i ever lived through it. So many bad things happened to me of epic proportion that i welcome some mental lapse if possible, amnesia they call it.

So what is new for this year 2009? Despite my wish for a better world, the year started off on a bad note. The Middle East is burning again courtesy of the Israel regime to oust Hamas. This episode is like a re-run of old movies which never ends. Until and unless somebody who are influential like the US, Britain, France and Russia are serious and honest in looking for permanent solutions start acting to solve the issue, we are not going to see much changes on CNN or BBC coverages and headlines for the rest of 2009 and even next couple of years. OIC cannot do much more than issuing rhetoric statements, and the world just can go to the streets at most to protest the invasion by Israel.

Meanwhile the outgoing Mr Bush supported Israel's action saying they are justified in retaliation to Hamas rockets. For Mr Bush Israel citizens have the right to live in peace at all cost but not the Palestinians. They have suffered for years from Israeli war machine and the blockade that has denied them every basic human needs from free movement to supply of food and medicine, and also economic activities. What are the Arab countries doing to support the Palestinians other than condemning the invasion? Nothing! Why? Because their governments also rely on the US for support. The irony is that the US wants to be the middle man to solve the issue despite their bias towards Israel! Go figure!

Economy wise, 2009 does not look too promising also for the whole world. The US is still trying to figure out how to get out of the mess it creates due to greed. Two over million people in the US are out of jobs and more are to be retrenched. Mr Obama is starting to get a headache even before assuming the Office, courtesy of Mr Bush bad handling of the economy and over spending on his war machine in Iraq and Afghanistan. The rest of the world including Malaysia starts to feel the fever when the US falls sick. We can stop dreaming about salary increase, hefty bonus and other allowance as companies start to go into contigency plans just to survive the next few years.

Personally, looks like there will be less holiday or fishing trips for me, less movie outing, less Kentucky Fried Chicken dinners, postponement of a new car purchase, less shopping (although my wife may not agree!), more home cook meals and sitting on the sofa staring at the idiot box!

People say history will always repeat itself and those who do not learn from history are the worst fools you can find on this planet. I have been through 1987, 1997 recessions, so what is new?

TERRORISM IS NOT ISLAMIC

Islamic terrorism, that is what they like to term it everytime there is a violent episode of public massacre carried out by terrorists who happened to be Muslims. In the wake of Mumbai massacre at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Hotel, the Jewish centre and the train station, which should be condemned in the strongest term by every individual regardless of race and religion, the media are so quick to call it Islamic Terrorism equivalent to 9/11 in New York in 2002.

Why is the media love to use the term so much, and associates the religion to the act of terrorism when Islam never teaches its followers to do such a violent act especially against the innocent public? Why were the IRA were not called Christian Terrorists, or Sri Lankan Tigers called Hindu Terrorists. Why only Islamic Terrorists? I think the term used is an injustice to Islam as it implies that Islam is a religion of violence and every Muslim is a possible terrorist.

There are over a billion Muslims in this world who came from so many countries and from so many races. China has more than 30 millions Muslims, more than the whole population of Malaysia of 27 millions. Indonesia has more than 200millions Muslims, then there are Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Arab countries, Russia, Albania, Bosnia, Turkey, Philliphines, Nigeria and so many more including the United States and Great Britain. In the US, Islam is the fastest growing religion nowadays.

The term which is popularly used by CNN and BBC, has created a phobia against Islam intentionally or not. In the US, the 9/11 and the continuos emphasis on the term Islamic Terrorism, has made their citizens so scared of anybody looking like Arabs. A lot of the arrested suspects believed to be Arabs extremists turned out to be Sikhs from India. This is the result of stereotyping certain look to certain race and religion, generalization that Muslims are terrorists, Muslim countries are terrorist states. I wonder who created all these to suppot their narrow agenda?

I think the act of violence by those who happened to be Muslims are part of their struggles related to the issues of freedom, independence, politics and vengence in their countries, the act has nothing to do with Islam. The only way to fight terrorism is to find the root causes of disatisfaction or anger, and remove it by offering amicable solutions.

We could trace most of the violent acts by the Arabs regardless of their countries to the issue of occupied lands by Israel, and the injustice toward Arabs in occupied territories. The US has not done enough on this issue through so many peace process and keep failing because the solutions offered were lopsided in Israel's favor. By supporting Israel in terms of moral, monetary and military technologies, the US is seen as the enemy by certain groups of etremists.

The massacre in Mumbai is related to land and independence of Kashmir which is sandwiched between India in the south and Pakistan in the north. India and Pakistan has fought three wars over this mountainous land over the last few decades. The terrorists who were killed in Mumbai last week were believed to have originated from Kashmir according to the Indian intelligence. They also used the act as a vengence against the US, Great Britain and Israel for all the involvement in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, hence why they were very specific in looking for the tourists who come from these countries. The act as nothing to do with Islam as a religion!

Malaysia used to fight terrorism from after the Japanese left right up to 1986 in the form of Malayan Communist Party. The majority of the guerillas were chinese who subscribed to the ideology tied to Peking eventhough they came from rural towns in Malaysia. Majority of them were Buddhist, but the British back them never called them Buddhist terrorist because it was not proper and will reduce support from the local chinese who did not subscribe to MCP ideology. The British and their Malayan counterparts had launched the heart and mind campaign, introduced steps that removed the reason for the arm struggle among the people and eventually eliminated the threat of communism totally in 1986 via a peace treaty signed in Thailand.

The world should learn from the Malaysian experience in fighting terrorism instead of creating more Islamic Phobia by associating a terrorism act to a religion, instead of the nationality of the terrorists. They should investigate deeply into the root cause that managed to turn a group of young kids into a group of ready-to-die terrorists. Most of them requires permanent political solutions from the related governments.

There is a saying that goes " one man's terrorist could be another man's freedom fighter". Hopefully,we do not have to deal with both versions if we all could solve our differences amicably at the table with a cup of tea and a lot of smiles.

FATWA

This morning paper is buzzing with objections over the latest fatwa issued by the Malaysian National Fatwa Council against practicing Yoga. This came a few weeks after declaring another controversial fatwa on Tomboy and Lesbianism. I myself could not believe what i read.

First thought came to mind was that was it necessary to issue a fatwa (religious ruling) on such an issue and whether an in-depth study on the necessity and effect on the believers directly and unbelievers indirectly was done.

What is a fatwa? Well, it is a religious ruling issued by the religious authorities like imams and muftis who sit on the panel on issues which are not so clear and can affect a Muslim. They are supposed to be a guide when one is not so sure if an activity or thing is haram or not. Subjects which are not clearly mentioned in the Quran (words of God) or the Hadith (the sayings of the Prophet) may require a ruling done as there are many conflicting opinions by various parties regarding the issues. The problem with fatwas in Islam is that once they are issued they become enforceable and therefore those who do not follow it may be subjected to legal implications if they are enforced.

But in the subject of faith which is the core of religious practice of any religion, whereby a person upon confession of one's belief in God and His messenger, the person is to submit himself to all its practices, tenets and do's and dont's as to reflect his commitments as a believer. This unwritten contract between a believer and his God and how good he practices it forms the basis of judgement by God onto him which to affect his rewards in the hereafter. A person may call himself a Muslim because he was born to a Muslim parents, but if he does not practice all the tenets of Islam, he is just a plain Muslim by name. Along his long and winding life, he will face many tests on his faith, situations that may call upon his moral judgement, friends ask him to drink alcohol at a bar or commit adultery or take drugs for instances, how he handles these situations will reflect what kind of Muslim he really is. God will test every believer in many forms throughout their lives so He could reward them and those who failed are given plenty of chance to redeem themselves before they move to the next life.

The question that i want to ask is do we need to be guided every step of the way on every issue with endless rules and fatwas so our iman (faith) is not easily eroded? Are we so fragile that we need such protection? Didnt our parents and education system prepare us enough on the fundamentals of being a Muslim so we can set on a life journey on the right path? Arent we given the minds (akal) to differentiate between what is right, halal and wrong, haram when we come across one in our path? Personally, i would prefer to be tested to the limit on my faith and come out victorious without somebody holding my arms, at least i know i got what it takes to be a good Muslim. In my life, i have been through many tests on my faith, and i am pleased to come out in one piece.

I believe many Muslims are strong in their faith and can tell the difference between right and wrong. A simple activity like Yoga if taken as an exercise to strecth sore and stiff bodies would not erode one's faith. I think most people would know once an exercise becomes entertwined with religious practices and would withdraw if they feel in conflict with their faiths. The religious bodies should stop treating the Muslims in this country like kids as they are matured and well educated and changing with the times. They should concentrate on serious issues which are more of urgent nature like Mat Rempit, money politics, bribery, misuse of power, drug usage, premarital sex among Muslim teenagers, husbands who mistreated their wives, deviationist teachings etc.

If they do need to clarify certain religious issues which are not clear, maybe it should be in a form of advice and not fatwas. Let God decide whether a believer is true to his faith and deserve the rewards in the hereafter, who are we to play God?