Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Do Our Leaders know the Law?
In Yesterday's Star, IGP Ismail Omar was asked why the trio were not arrested, replied "What offence (did they commit), you tell me?"
For goodness sake, they have confessed that they were responsible for the staging and screening of the sex video. What more do you want? What kind of IGP do we have? You want a layman to spell out the relevant law to you, kah?
Also on the same page, our famous sex actor CSL called on Anwar to prove that it was not him in the sex video. Another goon making a stupid demand. Anwar did not set up the whole thing and he has denied being the man in the video so why must he go through all the trouble to prove himself. I thought the onus is on the prosecutor to prove the accused has committed a crime and not the other way round? Oooops, sorry, CSL is not a lawyer.
For goodness sake, they have confessed that they were responsible for the staging and screening of the sex video. What more do you want? What kind of IGP do we have? You want a layman to spell out the relevant law to you, kah?
Also on the same page, our famous sex actor CSL called on Anwar to prove that it was not him in the sex video. Another goon making a stupid demand. Anwar did not set up the whole thing and he has denied being the man in the video so why must he go through all the trouble to prove himself. I thought the onus is on the prosecutor to prove the accused has committed a crime and not the other way round? Oooops, sorry, CSL is not a lawyer.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Prophet Muhammad’s promise to Christians
By Dr. Muqtedar Khan
Muslims and Christians together constitute over fifty percent of the world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace. One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization.
In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their Prophet and try to practice it in their lives.
In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possesses a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1400 years under Muslim protection.
St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery
The Promise to St. Catherine:
"This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)."
The first and the final sentence of the charter are critical. They make the promise eternal and universal. Muhammed asserts that Muslims are with Christians near and far straight away rejecting any future attempts to limit the promise to St. Catherine alone. By ordering Muslims to obey it until the Day of Judgment the charter again undermines any future attempts to revoke the privileges. These rights are inalienable. Muhammed declared Christians, all of them, as his allies and he equated ill treatment of Christians with violating God’s covenant.
A remarkable aspect of the charter is that it imposes no conditions on Christians for enjoying its privileges. It is enough that they are Christians. They are not required to alter their beliefs, they do not have to make any payments and they do not have any obligations. This is a charter of rights without any duties!
The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even though it was penned in 628 A.D., it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person.
I know most readers, must be thinking so what? Well the answer is simple. Those who seek to foster discord among Muslims and Christians focus on issues that divide and emphasize areas of conflict. But when resources such as Muhammad’s promise to Christians are invoked and highlighted it builds bridges. It inspires Muslims to rise above communal intolerance and engenders good will in Christians who might be nursing fear of Islam or Muslims.
When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we deny our fundamental humanity. In this holiday season, I hope all of us can find time to look for something positive and worthy of appreciation in the values, cultures and histories of other peoples.
-- Dr. Muqtedar Khan is Director of Islamic Studies at the University of Delaware and a fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.
Muslims and Christians together constitute over fifty percent of the world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace. One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization.
In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their Prophet and try to practice it in their lives.
In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possesses a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1400 years under Muslim protection.
St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery
The Promise to St. Catherine:
"This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)."
The first and the final sentence of the charter are critical. They make the promise eternal and universal. Muhammed asserts that Muslims are with Christians near and far straight away rejecting any future attempts to limit the promise to St. Catherine alone. By ordering Muslims to obey it until the Day of Judgment the charter again undermines any future attempts to revoke the privileges. These rights are inalienable. Muhammed declared Christians, all of them, as his allies and he equated ill treatment of Christians with violating God’s covenant.
A remarkable aspect of the charter is that it imposes no conditions on Christians for enjoying its privileges. It is enough that they are Christians. They are not required to alter their beliefs, they do not have to make any payments and they do not have any obligations. This is a charter of rights without any duties!
The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even though it was penned in 628 A.D., it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person.
I know most readers, must be thinking so what? Well the answer is simple. Those who seek to foster discord among Muslims and Christians focus on issues that divide and emphasize areas of conflict. But when resources such as Muhammad’s promise to Christians are invoked and highlighted it builds bridges. It inspires Muslims to rise above communal intolerance and engenders good will in Christians who might be nursing fear of Islam or Muslims.
When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we deny our fundamental humanity. In this holiday season, I hope all of us can find time to look for something positive and worthy of appreciation in the values, cultures and histories of other peoples.
-- Dr. Muqtedar Khan is Director of Islamic Studies at the University of Delaware and a fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Prayer Rally in Kuching
The normally conservative Sarawak Christians expressed unhappiness over the government's handling of the Bible issue and decided that enough is enough. Their anger and frustration is reflected in their response that “The Christians of Sarawak are rising up for the first time to confront an issue which has deeply affected them. We have been very quiet all this while but enough is enough and we want to send this message to those in the corridors of power."
Let us not let our brothers and sisters in East Malaysia stand alone. Let us rise up and be united in our prayers for freedom to worship our God . We fear no man but our God.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Sexland
We the rakyat had better get used to it. Our country is being run by nincompoops and sex crazy people. We have had people in parliament inferring the parliament roof leakage was similar to a woman's monthly period. We had one CM accused of rapiing an underaged girl, a minister suspected of raping his maid, a speaker and a top mca minister caught on video having a gala time. And to top it all, our top man is accused of having an affair with a "cannot be mentioned name", resulting in her murder. And we must not forget a particular CM showing obscene signs with his hands during an election. What has got into these people? And these people are so crazy over sex that their plot is always based on sex. And sex is again used in the latest episode to bring down Anwar. Come on lah, be more creative and imaginative. With such mentality, you will never find employment in any movieland. Firstly, Anwar is already in the midst of a sodomy trial and secondly he is of high profile and thus can be recognised easily. Under this circumstance, which normal & intelligent person would want to further expose himself. Probably Rahim Thamby Chik, Shazryl Eskay and Perkasa treasurer Shuib Lazim who had confessed that they are the ones behind the screening of the sex video, are not normal or intelligent. Moreover you have overkilled poor Anwar with sex, and no one is going to believe anymore new release.
BTW, the above three people are all umno people, a special branch was seen at the screening and no police raid was carried on the screening of the porno film. Speaks volume of our justice system, isn't it?
BTW, the above three people are all umno people, a special branch was seen at the screening and no police raid was carried on the screening of the porno film. Speaks volume of our justice system, isn't it?
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
BN-Malaysia will never be an Islamic State, So stop using this scare tactic.
Everytime there is an election, the component parties of BN will, without fail, raise the issue of the Islamic state and challenge DAP/PKR to make a stand. This time with the Sarawak Election at hand, the issue is again highlighted, and this time by Lee Seng Kok of the MCA. He had criticised DAP and PKR for sacrificing the rights of the non-Muslims by compromising with PAS on the Islamic state concept. BN must be really running out of ideas to play the same old record repeatedly. He and the BN may be ignorant of the facts, but the rakyat are not. Maybe he should read RPK's piece here, and realise that the concept of an Islamic state will never materialise as the DAP and PKR will never agree to it. And PAS alone does not have the number to change the constitution. So dont scare us with this bull about the Pakatan having reached an agreement with PAS about the implementation of the Islamic state concept. As YB LGE said, PAS President Hadi Awang was merely stating PAS stand on the issue, but it is not Pakatan's stand.
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