I miss my old favourite songs, and therefore I shall change my imeem player back. To those of you non-Muslim friends who visit these blog, you can pause the player if you don't feel comfortable. Afterall, I too would do the same if I'm not comfortable with your songs :)

The previous song I put was:



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I wonder what's happening in Gaza. I'd been getting daily 'doses' of news bits from TODAY on the way to work. And I haven't read any newspaper today, so yeah...

I hope the Palestinians get a bit of relieve with the 3hr daily ceasefire...

Anyway, there was an article in Berita Harian a few days ago about 'understanding' why the Jews of Israel do what they do. It goes all the way back to a period before the WWII. Jews slowly lost their rights as humans, living in Germany. And during the WWII, thousands were tortured and killed for no reason except for the belief they believe in (right?). It was NOT by Muslims btw, it was by the Germans, in case you're wondering... Anyway, that holocaust, that genocide, that massacre, as it is said in the article, affects the Jews greatly (of course it would). It is said that when Hamas sent rockets flying into Israel, the Jews probably feel threatened and decided to relatiate.

However, why do they want to retaliate by killing more than 700 Palestinian CIVILIANS, I have no idea. Especially since these too are the Palestinians who had to give part to their land for the Jews from German to live it. (right?) These are the Palestinians who gave them a chance to live, and here they are killing them.

Reminds me of a peribahasa, "bagai melepaskan anjing tersepit". :I

What we see today is a Jewish extremism act. My point is, just as there are Islamic extremists/militants, there are Jewish extremist/militants, Christian extremist/militants and other kinds of extremists/millitants (I'm thinking of Tamil Tigers etc). These extremists/militants most probably become extremists/militants because they themselves or their fellow 'brothers and sisters' or ancestors had had to face oppression in one way or another.

And the aftermath of this Israel attacks on Gaza, I'm afraid, may just give rise to the world seeing more Islamic extremists/militants. (there was an article in TODAY I think which mentioned this) They saw violence, all they saw was violence and they shall grow up to embrace violence as part of their lives... I'm just saying that if after this, we see more Islamic extremists/militants coming from Palestine, don't blame the Islamic teachings...

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Just wanna share what was shared with me... What is aqidah?

3 translations of Surah Al-Baqarah (2): 177

Yusuf Ali:
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces Towards east or West; but it is righteousness- to believe in God and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing.

T.U. Hilali-M. Khan:
It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allâh, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allâh, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masâkin (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât), and gives the Zakât, and who fulfill their covenant when they make it, and who are As-Sâbirin (the patient ones, etc.) in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are AlMuttaqûn (pious - see V.2:2).

M. Pickthall:
It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the prophets; and giveth wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor-due. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the God-fearing.

Taken from here.

As I've mentioned earlier, English (or Malay too for that matter) cannot cover the Arabic words fully. Arabic words are rich with meaning and one English translation do not truly give justice to the real meaning of alot of Qur'anic verses...

Anyway, do visit youngmuslims.ca... The online library looks interesting. And there was one book recommended to me: "To be a Muslim" by Fathi Yakkan.

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The Tafsir of Surat Al-Ikhlas (Chapter - 112)
Which was revealed in Makkah
The Reason for the Revelation of this Surah and its Virtues

Imam Ahmad recorded from Ubayy bin Ka`b that the idolaters said to the Prophet, "O Muhammad! Tell us the lineage of your Lord.'' So Allah revealed(Say: "He is Allah, One. Allah He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none comparable to
Him.'')

Similar was recorded by At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Jarir and they added in their narration that he said,"(As-Samad) is One Who does not give birth, nor was He born, because there is nothing that is born except that it will die, and there is nothing that dies except that it leaves behind inheritance, and indeed Allah does not die and He does not leave behind any inheritance.(And there is none comparable to Him.) This means that there is none similar to Him, none equal to Him and there is nothing at all like Him.''

Ibn Abi Hatim also recorded it and At-Tirmidhi mentioned
it as a Mursal narration. Then At-Tirmidhi said, "And this is the most correct.''

A Hadith on its Virtues

Al-Bukhari reported from `Amrah bint `Abdur-Rahman, who used to stay in the apartment of `A'ishah,the wife of the Prophet, that `A'ishah said, "The Prophet sent a man as the commander of a war expedition and he used to lead his companions in prayer with recitation (of the Qur'an). And he would complete his recitation with the recitation of `Say: He is Allah, One.' So when they returned they mentioned that to the Prophet and he said,(Ask him why does he do that.) So they asked him and he said, `Because it is the description of Ar-Rahman and I love to recite it. So the Prophet said,(Inform him that Allah the Most High loves him.)'' This is how Al-Bukhari recorded this Hadith in his Book of Tawhid. Muslim and An-Nasa'i also recorded it.

In his Book of Salah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Anas said, "A man from the Ansar used to lead the people in prayer in the Masjid of Quba'. Whenever he began a Surah in the recitation of the prayer that he was leading them, he would start by reciting `Say: He is Allah, One' until he completed the entire Surah. Then he would recite another Surah along with it (after it). And used to do this in every Rak`ah. So his companions spoke to him about this saying; `Verily, you begin the prayer with this Surah. Then you think that it is not sufficient for you unless you recite another Surah as well. So you should either recite it or leave it and recite another Surah instead.' The man replied, `I will not leave it off. If you want me to continue leading you(in prayer), I will do this; and if you all do not like it, I will leave you (i.e., I will stop leading you).' They used to consider him to be of the best of them to lead them in prayer and they did not want anyone else to lead them other than him. So, when the Prophet came they informed him of this information
and he said,(O so-and-so! What prevents you from doing what your companions are commanding you to do, and what makes you adhere to the recitation of this Surah in every Rak`ah) The man said, `Verily, I love it.' The Prophet replied,(Your love of it will cause you to enter Paradise.) This was recorded by Al-Bukhari, with a
disconnected chain, but in a manner indicating his approval.

A Hadith that mentions this Surah is equivalent to a Third of the Qur'an

Al-Bukhari recorded from Abu Sa`id that a man heard another man reciting(Say: "He is Allah, One.'') and he was repeating over and over. So when morning came, the man went
to the Prophet and mentioned that to him, and it was as though he was belittling it. The Prophet said,(By He in Whose Hand is my soul, verily it is equivalent to a third of the Qur'an.) Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i also recorded it.

Another Hadith Al-Bukhari recorded from Abu Sa`id, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah said to his Companions,(Is one of you not able to recite a third of the Qur'an in a single night) This was something that was difficult for them and they said, "Which of us is able to do that, O Messenger of Allah'' So he replied,("Allah is the One, As-Samad'' is a third of the Qur'an.) Al-Bukhari was alone in recording this Hadith.

There's more. You can read it here.