Sunday, September 30, 2007

UCAPAN DATO' WAN MOHAMAD BIN DATO' SHEIKH ABDUL AZIZ
KETUA PENGARAH JAKIM SEMASA MAJLIS PERTEMUAN KETUA PENGARAH BERSAMA
PEGAWAI-PEGAWAI KANAN JAKIM PADA 18 JULAI 2007, JAM 9.00 HINGGA 11.00
PAGI DI DEWAN SYURA, ARAS 9, BLOK D7, JAKIM

Terima kasih saudara pengacara majlis, Ustaz Zakaria bin Othman.

Y.Bhg Tuan Haji Sumali bin Amat
Timbalan Ketua Pengarah Pengurusan JAKIM,

Pengarah-pengarah Bahagian,

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan yang dikasihi sekalian.

Assalammualaikum wbt

Sebelum kita mulakan majlis ini, marilah sama-sama kita
membaca Ummul Kitab bagi menambahkan lagi keberkatan majlis, dan yang
kedua khususnya bagi kita mengenang dan memperingati 3 orang bekas Ketua
Pengarah JAKIM atau di peringkat awal dahulu dipanggil Setiausaha,
Bahagian Ugama di Jabatan Perdana Menteri (JPM) yang telah meninggal
dunia dan tidak lagi bersama kita iaitu yang pertamanya Allahyarham Dato'
Ismail Panjang Aris, Setiausaha MKI yang pertama. Kedua, Tuan Haji Nawawi
Mahmud juga Setiausaha dan kalau tidak salah ingatan saya pada zamannya
juga telah dikenali dengan gelaran Ketua Pengarah dan yang terbaru ialah
Allahyarham Dato' Haji Mohamad Shahir bin Abdullah. Kita juga
memperingati sahabat-sahabat kita warga JAKIM keseluruhannya yang tiada
lagi bersama kita. Al-Fatihah…..

Begitu juga saya mengambil peluang ini untuk memperkenalkan
Penasihat Undang-Undang JAKIM yang baru melapor diri menggantikan Tuan
Haji Sekeri Mamat yang bertukar menjadi Penasihat Undang-Undang Negeri
Terengganu Darul Iman. Jadi yang menggantikan beliau ialah En. Meor
Hashimi, sila bangun memperkenalkan diri. Kita mengalu-alukan LA (Legal
Advisor) kita yang baru menjadi warga JAKIM dan kita juga mengharapkan
rakan-rakan kita di JAWI dapat mengeratkan hubungan dengan LA kita
khususnya dalam perkara-perkara yang memerlukan khidmat beliau.

Saya juga ingin mengambil kesempatan ini untuk mengucapkan
terima kasih kepada Y.Bhg. Dato', tuan-tuan dan puan-puan sekalian kerana
dapat hadir tanpa uzur dan bijak memilih keutamaan. Saya bersangka baik
bahawa ada beberapa orang yang mungkin tidak dapat hadir pada hari ini
kerana ada urusan rasmi yang tidak dapat dielakkan kerana sudah terikat
dan terpaksa menyempurnakannya demi kepentingan Jabatan dan saya juga
berharap tidak ada di kalangan pegawai yang tidak hadir tanpa uzur dan
tanpa ada urusan rasmi. Yang tak hadir sepatutnya beri penjelasan.

SEMANGAT KERJASAMA
Saya rasa tidak sabar nak ucap tahniah dan terima kasih kepada semua,
khususnya Bahagian Keurusetiaan dan Perhubungan Antarabangsa di mana kita
semua baru-baru ini menjayakan Konferen Akademi Fiqh Antarabangsa yang
merupakan program besar bagi JAKIM. Bukan senang nak mengurus program
peringkat Antarabangsa dan lebih sukar lagi untuk mengurus tetamu dari
luar negara lebih-lebih lagi dari Timur Tengah dan Afrika. Tetapi
Alhamdulillah yang datang ini ialah para ulama'. Ramai di kalangan
mereka ialah ulama' besar yang memang kita kenali. Jadi kita rasa syukur
dan kita harap kerjasama seumpama ini dapat kita buktikan melalui
aktiviti yang lain. Bila ada aktiviti besar atas nama JAKIM lebih-lebih
lagi atas nama negara kita sisihkan segala sentimen bahagian, kita beri
kerjasama sepenuhnya kerana ini adalah aktiviti Jabatan, ini adalah
aktiviti negara.

Saya juga ingin ucapkan terima kasih kepada rakan-rakan yang menghantar
ucapan tahniah terutama melalui SMS di atas perlantikan saya sebagai
Ketua Pengarah JAKIM. Saya terpaksa sebut di sini sebab ada yang yang
tidak sempat saya jawab. Jadi, saya minta maaf banyak-banyak. Kalau
melalui e-mail tu mungkin suatu hari nanti saya boleh jawab. Tapi, tak
apalah, dah masuk hari ke-3, macam kita melayan tetamu juga, kira sudah
selesai tahniah di sini cukup. Tadi Tuan Haji Sumali, TKP(P) sudah
mewakili tuan-tuan dan puan-puan menyampaikan ucapan tahniah kepada saya.
Saya ucapkan terima kasih dan lebih terharu apabila ada yang memberi
harapan dan lebih terharu lagi sebab ada yang berani memberi ingatan,
memberi nasihat yang baik. Ini suatu ingatan. Jadi saya ucap terima kasih
sebab saya tahu ini satu tugas yang besar.

Ketua Pengarah JAKIM bukanlah suatu jawatan yang besar sangat dalam
perkhidmatan awam, tetapi beban dan amanah yang kita galas ini sebenarnya
sangat besar. Ini kerana kita adalah agensi di peringkat Persekutuan yang
diamanahkan oleh Kerajaan dan kita jangan lupa kita diamanahkan oleh
Majlis Raja-raja Melayu untuk mewakili Islam dan umat Islam. Fokus kita
ialah bagaimana nak memajukan umat Islam. Sebab nama kita pun Jabatan
Kemajuan Islam Malaysia. Saya juga sentiasa ingat kepada semangat hadith
Nabi S.A.W. bahawa kalaulah kita mendapat satu nikmat dan seumpamanya
kita tidak boleh tunjuk kegembiraan yang keterlaluan, sebab ia sebenarnya
bukanlah milik kita, dia hanya bersifat sementara. Jadi kita bersyukur dan
sememangnya patut bersyukur dan dalam masa yang sama mengikut semangat
hadith juga kita tidaklah boleh menunjuk sikap yang pasif seperti tidak
menghargai nikmat dan kepercayaan yang diberikan kepada kita. Tempat ini
(Ketua Pengarah) sebenarnya layak diisi oleh
sesiapa sahaja. Kalau kita ikut semangat ucapan Saidina Abu Bakar,
"walaupun saya ini dilantik mengetuai kamu, tetapi tidak semestinya saya
adalah yang terbaik di kalangan kamu". Maksudnya kita ada kekurangan.
Jadi kekurangan inilah yang perlu ditokok tambah oleh para sahabat, perlu
disokong, kerana misi kita adalah misi besar.

JAKIM LAKSANA KERJA DAKWAH
Kita buat kerja bukan sebarang kerja, kerana kerja yang kita buat ini
hasilnya bukan dalam tempoh kita berada dalam perkhidmatan awam
semata-mata tetapi ini adalah suatu kerja dakwah yang akan menjadi
bekalan kita sepanjang hayat, baik di sini (dunia) ataupun di sana
(akhirat). Ini adalah suatu amanah dan kita semua bernasib baik kerana
ditakdirkan oleh Allha Taala ditempatkan di JAKIM. Saya rasa ini satu
rahmat, suatu nikmat untuk kita berkhidmat kepada agama secara langsung.
Kita berkhidmat kepada agama dalam pelbagai forum, selepas pencen esok
pun kita boleh berkhidmat, tetapi ini peluang yang sangat terbuka luas
yang mesti kita rebut dan hargai pada setiap detik. Saya juga telah
berazam untuk memikul amanah ini dan menggalas tanggungjawab ini. Saya
berjanji pada diri sendiri, saya telah berjanji kepada Y.B Menteri kita,
Dato' Dr. Abdullah Md. Zin dan saya telah dipanggil oleh Y.Bhg. Tan Sri
Ketua Setiausaha Negara beberapa bulan yang lalu. Selain daripada
menerima
amanat, ada juga teguran-teguran yang dia berikan. Saya juga berjanji
kepada beliau untuk melaksanakan harapan beliau itu dengan kerjasama
rakan-rakan di JAKIM. Saya secara terus terang juga telah sebut kepada
KSN, bahawa JAKIM sebenarnya mempunyai keluarga besar. Kita ada rangkaian
besar di negeri-negeri yang kadang-kadang orang lupa bahawa agensi agama
negeri juga adalah keluarga kita. Jadi saya merayu kepada KSN supaya
turut memperkasakan agensi agama negeri kerana mereka adalah rangkaian
kita. Kalau lain-lain Kementerian mempunyai kelebihan kerana mereka
mempunyai banyak agensi baik di peringkat pusat atau kebanyakan Jabatan
atau agensi berkenaan ada pejabatnya di negeri. Jadi oleh kerana kita
menghormati semangat Perlembagaan Persekutuan, suatu pendekatan yang
boleh kita ambil ialah kita hormati kuasa negeri, dalam masa yang sama
kita hendaklah anggap bahawa agensi agama negeri adalah keluarga terdekat
kita yang mesti kita dekati. Walaupun dalam banyak segi kita boleh
kata kita mempunyai kelebihan, maklumlah kita Jabatan di bawah JPM,
tetapi kita mesti menghormati orang lain. Walau apa sekalipun, kita mesti
pandai belajar untuk menghormati orang lain. Dalam konteks ini kita mesti
menghormati pihak berkuasa agama negeri.

Y.Bhg. Dato', tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, mengenai harapan banyak
pihak kepada JAKIM, sama ada daripada stake holder ataupun khususnya
daripada Y.B Menteri, saya kira sudah sampai masanya untuk saya berkongsi
maklumat ini dengan tuan-tuan dan puan-puan. Sebenarnya pada akhir tahun
lalu saya dipanggil oleh Y.B Menteri untuk berbincang dengannya. Saya
anggap sesi itu bagaikan satu interview kepada saya. Hampir satu jam
setengah kami berbincang bersama. Sebenarnya dia banyak memberi panduan
dan beberapa isyarat penting kepada saya. Di hujung perbincangan itu
keputusan 'temuduga' itu terus keluar. Dia beri tahu bahawa saya akan
diberi amanah untuk menggantikan Y.Bhg. Dato' Mustafa yang akan tamat
tempoh kontraknya pada Julai 2007. Jadi saya faham maksud Y.B supaya saya
buat persediaan dan bersedia dari segi mental, jiwa dan seumpamanya. Oleh
kerana saya terikat dengan suasana profesionalisme, tentulah saya
menggigit rapat rahsia itu sehinggalah pada bulan Mac tahun ini
saya menerima surat perlantikan daripada SPA untuk memulakan tugas mulai
15 Julai 2007. Jadi Y.B Menteri mempunyai harapan yang tinggi kepada
JAKIM dan saya kira sebahagian yang beliau ingatkan saya telah pun beliau
sebut dalam Majlis Penyerahan Tugas baru-baru ini (Jumaat 13 Julai 2007).

PENERAJU KEMAJUAN DAN PEMBELA UMAT
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, hasrat Y.B Menteri ingin melihat
JAKIM menerajui banyak perkara. Oleh itu, kita mestilah menonjolkan imej
bahawa kita adalah agensi agama peringkat Persekutuan yang mencetuskan
pembaharuan dan kemajuan kepada umat Islam dan sekaligus menjadi pembela
kepada Islam dan umat Islam di Malaysia. Dengan pendekatan wasatiyyah
yakni kalau kita dengar dalam banyak ucapan beliau (Y.B Menteri) bahawa
kita (JAKIM) sebagai sebuah Jabatan Kerajaan, bukannya NGO. Tentulah
pendekatan kita tidak boleh sama dengan NGO dan ini kita perlu didik
pegawai-pegawai kita supaya mereka tahu macam mana hendak bersikap
sebagai penjawat awam. Kita perlu ada budaya kerja kita sendiri. Kita ada
saluran dan banyak forum sebenarnya kerana kalau kita manfaatkan kemudahan
kita dalam sektor kerajaan, saya kira seperti kita tidak cukup umur untuk
melakukan kerja-kerja yang bermanfaat. Tuhan beri peluang kepada kita
untuk buat kerja agama. Kita mempunyai banyak kebebasan, kita
boleh fikir, boleh rancang. Kadang-kadang polisi itu bukan datang dari
'atas' ke 'bawah'. Saya perhatikan dalam pengurusan hal ehwal Islam kita
banyak bergantung kepada inovasi dan kreativiti kita. Kita boleh
tonjolkan idea kita ke atas (pihak pengurusan tertinggi) dan inilah ruang
yang saya nak buka lebih luas di JAKIM.

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, seperti sebelum ini juga saya suka membuka
ruang yang lebih luas untuk tuan-tuan mencadangkan apa saja aktiviti,
kalau boleh kita nak sebut sebagai produk baru JAKIM atau apa sahaja
untuk memajukan atau menonjolkan JAKIM sebagai agensi yang memajukan
Islam dan Umat Islam di Malaysia. Tetapi oleh kerana kerja ini besar,
kita mesti majukan organisasi JAKIM terlebih dahulu. Kita mesti
perkasakan diri kita dahulu. Tak mungkin kita dapat menyempurnakan tugas
besar tanpa kita mempunyai kekuatan dalaman.

BERINTEGRITI DAN MENJADI ROLE MODEL
Selaian daripada itu tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, saya juga nak berkongsi
harapan Y.Bhg Tan Sri KSN kepada JAKIM. Saya sebenarnya telahpun
melaporkan apa yang telah Tan Sri KSN beri pandangan dan teguran kepada
JAKIM kepada Dato' Ketua Pengarah kita yang dulu, kepada Y.B Menteri dan
saya pun sempat berbincang dengan Tuan Haji Sumali TKP(P), sempat
berbincang dengan Pengarah JAWI, Dato' Che Mat Che Ali, kerana ada juga
isu-isu yang diberi pandangan oleh Tan Sri KSN berkenaan dengan JAWI dan
MAIWP terutamanya. Tetapi perkara besar yang boleh saya rumuskan daripada
harapan Tan Sri KSN ialah oleh kerana kita ini sebuah agensi agama, maka
kita perlu memberikan penekanan lebih kepada integriti. Kelihatan bahawa
KSN tidak rela melihat isu ini dipandang remeh atau diambil mudah kerana
sedikit kesilapan kita, kekurangan kita, boleh mencalarkan imej Kerajaan
yang mendokong Islam Hadhari. Kita sebagai urusetia Islam Hadhari mesti
menjadi role model dan inilah juga istilah yang beliau
(KSN) sebut. Kita juga mesti bijak menentukan keutamaan sehingga tidak
menampakkan imej agensi agama terlalu ghairah untuk melaksanakan
kerja-kerja yang menyebabkan kita dipandang serong.

Walaupun contoh yang dibawa oleh Y.Bhg. Tan Sri sebenarnya contoh yang
terpaksa kita sangkut dengan sebuah Jabatan Agama Negeri dalam Unit
Penguatkuasaan. Kita sebenarnya mempunyai maklumat yang lengkap dan kita
yakin maklumat itu maklumat yang benar dan dalam banyak keadaan kita
mempertahankan agensi agama negeri. Kadang-kadang YB. Menteri kita dalam
kabinet pun keseorangan apabila dia mempertahankan agensi agama negeri
dan kadang-kadang agak sukar nak mempertahanan diri kalau kesilapan yang
berlaku begitu ketara. Ini Y.Bhg. Tan Sri KSN sebut, kita perlu jaga,
sama ada yang menyentuh aspek operasi atau pun pengurusan institusi
agama. Dia juga mengharapkan kita ke depan dan menjadi contoh.

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, JAKIM sebenarnya sebuah Jabatan yang lama.
Tahun hadapan genaplah usia JAKIM 40 tahun serentak dengan penubuhan
urusetia MKI. Kalau dipanjangkan umur, saya amat bersyukur kerana 40
tahun daripada usia JAKIM, 30 tahun daripadanya saya menghabiskan usia
saya dengan JAKIM. Tentulah saya seperti tuan-tuan dan puan-puan tak nak
mensia-siakan usia kita dengan membuat kerja yang Allah Taala tak beri
apa-apa ganjaran. Sebab itu kita berazam dan saya rasa memang tepat
sekali apa yang diperkatakan oleh KSN iaitu perubahan kepada aspek
integriti untuk agensi seperti JAKIM adalah suatu yang sangat penting.

HARAPAN KP BARU
Sekarang tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, izinkan saya menyampaikan harapan saya
pula. Saya teringat pesan Nabi, kalau nak memberi pesan, jangan beri
banyak sekali gus. Jadi hari ini saya bagi sedikit dahulu, kerana kita
ada forum yang lain lagi seperti dalam Mesyuarat Pengurusan, Mesyuarat
Pagi dan lain-lain. Nanti Pengarah-pengarah Bahagian boleh bawa apa yang
saya sampaikan pada hari ini ke dalam mesyuarat Bahagian masing-masing
untuk dimaklumkan kepada anak-anak buah masing-masing. Pada hari ini ada
beberapa perkara yang saya terfikir pada malam tadi mungkin lebih aula
untuk saya sebut pada hari ini.

(i) Sempurnakan amanah dengan sempurna
Yang pertama tuan-tuan dan puan-puan , saya harap kita semua dan kita
didik juga anak-anak buah kita supaya berazam untuk menyempurnakan tugas
dan amanah di JAKIM dengan sempurna. Tunaikanlah amanah dengan sempurna
sebab kita akan dinilai. Kalau dalam perkhidmatan awam, JAKIM akan
dinilai oleh Perdana Menteri, KSN dan Agensi lain juga tahu menilai kita.
Tetapi bagi kita yang faham agama ini, kita sentiasa ingat bahawa kita
akan dinilai dan akan jawab di sana (akhirat). Saya rasa itu faktor
pendorong yang lebih kuat. Kalau begitu tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, oleh
kerana kerja ini (di JAKIM) kerja yang berat dan sememangnya kita memang
banyak kerja, kita boleh memilih untuk tidak bekerja atau pun berkerja.
Ini kerana ketua kita tidak semestinya tahu apa yang kita lakukan.
Manusia ini ada keterbatasan. Kita boleh kerja, kita boleh tak kerja.
Kalau kita memilih untuk tidak bekerja dengan sempurna, bererti kita
memilih supaya darah daging kita, anak isteri, keluarga kita membesar
dengan sumber yang haram. Jadi kita pilihlah untuk melaksanakannya dengan
sempurna sebaik yang mungkin, InsyaAllah.

Oleh kerana kerja yang kita buat ini kerja berat dan banyak, sudah pasti
sukar untuk kita melaksanakannya tanpa bantuan orang lain. Kalau seseorang
itu boleh melaksanakan sesuatu kerja dengan sempurna tanpa bantuan orang
lain, sudah pasti kita tidak perlu kepada organisasi, dan kita tidak
perlu kepada JAKIM. Jadi sememangnya kita perlu kepada orang lain. Kita
perlu kepada anak buah. Kita perlu kepada bimbingan dan nasihat ketua
kita. Jangan tidak pandang atas, dan jangan tidak menjeling ke bawah.
Kita perlu berbincang, melapor, mendapat idea, berkongsi pengalaman dan
sebagainya. Kadang-kadang ada orang lain lebih banyak mempunyai
pendedahan dan pengalaman dan tentulah ada harga dan nilainya yang boleh
kita manfaatkan. Saya kira kalau kita tidak menghargai kebolehan dan
pengalaman orang lain, ini juga satu pembaziran. Oleh kerana kita
perlukan pertolongan orang lain, jadi kita perlu bekerja dalam satu
semangat berpasukan, hormat-menghormati dan setiap orang daripada kita
ada ketua dan perlu patuh kepada arahan ketua. Jangan mengambil
pendekatan mengelak dari kerja.

Kita juga perlu sedar bahawa ada ketikanya kita terpaksa berhadapan
dengan cabaran dan dugaan dalam tugasan kita. Jadi, waktu-waktu kita
berdepan dengan cabaran dan dugaan, maka kita kena bersama-sama. Jangan
kita menambahkan lagi masalah yang sedang dihadapi seperti kita buka
mulut di sana-sini mengutuk JAKIM, perlekeh kawan-kawan sendiri
contohnya, sebab kita semua orang JAKIM, tidak kira dari mana kita
datang. Kita adalah orang JAKIM. Kita sama-sama perkuatkan, kita perbaiki
dari dalam dan kalau ada cabaran kita hadapi bersama dengan semangat
ukhuwah Islamiah.

(ii) Sedia hadapi cabaran dan dugaan
Yang kedua, kita perlu hadapi cabaran-cabaran tersebut dengan tenang,
waras, berani dan bijak. Kadang-kadang dalam keadaan ramai kita akan
mendapat kewarasan dan ketenangan. Bila keseorangan, kita akan jadi
gelabah. Tapi bila ada sahabat memberi pandangan, kita dapat timbang,
hati kita jadi tenang, fikiran kita dirawat, kita disuntik dengan
kekuatan yang baru dan ini suatu yang mesti dihadapi oleh JAKIM dan
agensi agama negeri. Kalau kita pencen esok, kita nak terlibat dalam NGO
agama misalnya, itulah yang akan kita hadapi. Orang buat kerja agama
mesti berdepan dengan dugaan dan cabaran. Perkara yang menjadi budaya
untuk orang yang bekerja untuk agama ialah kita akan dipinggirkan,
disisih, direndahkan. Ini sesuatu yang boleh kita jangkakan. Sesiapa yang
tidak sanggup dipinggir dan diremehkan, dia tidak boleh buat kerja agama.
Sebab dia perlu ada kekuatan sanggup berdiri tegak di saat-saat ia
dipinggirkan, tak dipandang, tak diberi penghormatan.

Di Malaysia sebenarnya kita tidak lagi berada dalam situasi
itu sepertimana yang pernah kita alami 10 bahkan 30 tahun yang lalu.
Dunia semakin berubah. Jadi kita perlu ambil peluang ini kerana banyak
pihak sebenarnya mereka nak bersama kita. Kita ambil peluang ini sebab
ramai lagi orang lain yang nak buat kerja untuk agama juga. Tetapi yang
penting ialah kita menghulurkan jambatan dan mereka akan meniti untuk
pergi bersama kita. Kalau kita tidak ada rangkaian yang baik dengan
lain-lain agensi, kita akan lemah. Sekarang ini pun kita mendapat
kekuatan kerana kita bersahabat baik dengan banyak Kementerian yang
fungsinya ada yang bertindih dengan JAKIM dan saling memerlukan. Sebab
itu kita dapat berpakat. Dalam pengurusan halal umpamanya, banyak
Kementerian yang sokong kita. Dalam isu-isu aqidah, kita berjaya dan kita
boleh kata Alhamdulillah kita menang sekarang ini dalam pusingan pertama
dalam usaha membanteras ajaran salah. Bukan kerana usaha kita
semata-mata,
tapi kerana banyak pihak yang membantu. Tapi kebanyakkannya dalam hal ini
orang tak nampak. Ini kerana banyak kerja-kerja yang dibuat di belakang
tabir.

Jadi maknanya kita jangan berdiri seorang. Jangan kita rasa kitalah yang
terbaik dan tak perlu orang lain. Sikap ini akan merugikan JAKIM. Jadi
pendekatan kita, kalau dalam konteks dakwah selalu saya sebut dengan
rakan-rakan di Bahagian Dakwah, bahawa NGO, mereka lebih aktif dalam
kerja-kerja dakwah ini. Saya daripada awal lagi berpegang dengan yakin
bahawa orang yang terlibat dengan kerja-kerja NGO ini adalah orang yang
sangat ikhlas berkhidmat untuk agama. Kita juga tidak nafikan mungkin ada
satu dua 'pisang busuk' dalam setandan yang terlibat dalam NGO atas dasar
kepentingan-kepentingan peribadi dan seumpamanya. Jadi kita mesti
menunjukkan bahawa walaupun kita rasa kita berada di kedudukan yang baik,
kita juga memerlukan kepada NGO untuk memperkasakan aktiviti dakwah
contohnya. Begitu juga dalam sektor-sektor lain, kita perlu sokongan
lain-lain agensi.

Oleh kerana kita berdepan dengan banyak cabaran, kita perlu tenang
supaya kita dapat berfikir dengan bijak. Ini kerana orang yang gelabah,
kalau bijak sekalipun fikirannya, maka dia tidak menjadi bijak. Jadi kita
perlukan ketenangan. Saya rasa masing-masing perlu kepada kaedah dan
teknik tersendiri untuk mengambil pendekatan rohaniah, tarbiah ruhiyah.
Dengan cara itu, kita lebih terbuka. Allah akan ilhamkan kita untuk
membuat keputusan yang terbaik dan bila kita yakin keputusan yang kita
pilih itu adalah datangnya daripada Allah, kita ambil dan pertahan dengan
berani. Sebab kita yakin itu bukannya keputusan yang datang dari kita. Itu
adalah keputusan yang Dia ilhamkan untuk kita. Bila kita berani, orang
lain akan takut. Maaf saya terpaksa bawa satu contoh lama, bahawa orang
yang takutkan anjing, dia tengok anjing dia jadi gelabah, akibatnya
anjing yang akan kejar dia walaupun anjing itu anjing kurap. Tapi, kalau
jenis manusia yang takut anjing, apabila anjing nak kejar
dan gigit dia, tetapi dia tenang sambil dia tunduk ambil batu, walau dia
tak pukul atau baling batu pada anjing itu, anjing itu yang takut
kepadanya dan akan lari. Dia tidak perlu lari, dia hanya perlu sedikit
keberanian untuk ambil batu, kalau perlu baru baling. Maaf saya sebut
pasal anjing. Saya orang yang sukakan anjing. Sebab dia berkhidmat untuk
tuannya, jaga keselamatan. Tapi ada juga anjing yang Allah jadikan jenis
liar, jenis nak gigit orang sahaja. Dia tidak ada kerja selain daripada
menyalak orang, mencari kesalahan orang, kalau jenis macam ini kita
jangan takut dengan dia. Dia cari saja kesilapan agensi agama, sebab dia
tak ada kerja lain. Kerja dia memang menyalak. Jadi kita jangan hirau
sangat salakkan dia bahkan kita teruskan dengan kerja kita. Tapi batu
tetap digenggaman, kalau rapat kamu kena. Jika dia tidak kacau kita, dia
hal dia, kita hal kita. Kadang-kadang anjing garang pun kalau kita lintas
depan dia, kita kena bagi sedikit hormat pada dia, dia pun
tak berani gigit. Ada ketika kita perlu pandai juga menghormati anjing,
dia tak akan gigit kita. Mungkin anjing liar akan menjadi anjing jinak
yang baik, menjaga tuan dia, di bawa ke balai polis, bantu polis, bantu
kastam dan anjing itu bertukar jadi anjing baik. Tapi hakikatnya dia
tetap anjing. Sebab Allah takdirkannya menjadi anjing dan dia juga
makhluk Allah.

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, oleh kerana kita yakin kita terpaksa
berhadapan dengan situasi yang mencabar seumpama ini, saya ingat pada
suatu ayat ai-Quran yang bermaksud "sekiranya kamu menolong Allah,
nescaya Allah menolong kamu dan mengukuhkan kedudukan kamu." Ini landasan
kita berpijak. Dan kita jangan lupa, kalau kita buat analisis kita juga
ada kekuatan, tapi kadang-kadang kita tak hargai. Kita adalah urusetia
MKI. Siapa pengerusi MKI? Bukan sebarang orang yang mempengerusikan MKI,
Y.A.B Perdana Menteri. MKI adalah satu majlis di peringkat kebangsaan
yang bukan ditubuhkan oleh mesyuarat-mesyuarat di jalanan, tetapi MKI
ditubuhkan oleh Persidangan Majlis Raja-raja Melayu. Ini kekuatan kita
dan kita menjadi urusetia MKI. Maknanya banyak ruang yang kita boleh bawa
ke forum yang tertinggi. Kalau di peringkat dalaman, kita serius memikir,
memikir dan merancang, bahkan kalau kita ada masalah sekalipun, saya rasa
MKI lah bapa dan datuk kita yang boleh kita mengadu.

Kita lihat akhir-akhir ini pendekatan yang diambil oleh Y.A.B Perdana
Menteri selaku pengerusi MKI, beliau memberi ruang banyak forum selain
daripada MKI. Contohnya petemuan dengan Ashabus Samahah Mufti-mufti
secara tertutup dan banyak perkara yang cukup baik yang dibincangkan dari
hati ke hati oleh mufti-mufti kita dengan Perdana Menteri. Tahun sudah
juga saya masih ingat lagi PM arah kita buat perjumpaan dengan para
ulama' yang terpilih. Kita rasa terharu melihat ada di kalangan
ulama'-ulama' kita yang berani memberi pandangan-pandangan dan
menyampaikannya dengan cara bijak kepada PM. Sebenarnya mereka boleh
memilih untuk mengungkit perkara-perkara tersebut di luar. Tetapi mereka
menyampaikannya dengan baik dari hati ke hati kepada PM. Jadi hubungan
ulama' dengan umarak wujud dalam satu forum yang begitu harmoni. Kita
boleh manfaatkan ini dan lebih-lebih lagi apabila PM arahkan supaya
program ini akan dijadikan sebagai acara tahunan. Kita rancang elok-elok
supaya yang
mana isu yang tidak padan untuk kita nak bercakap dengan PM, para ulama'
ini sampaikan pula kepada PM. Saya jangka mereka akan dapat sampaikannya
dengan cara yang amat bijak kerana mereka tidak ada kepentingan peribadi.

(iii) Melukis dan mewarnai emej baru
Perkara yang ketiga, selain daripada apa yang saya sebutkan
tadi supaya kita berazam melaksanakan amanah dengan sempurna, kita
berjanji taat setia untuk sama-sama hadapi cabaran, dan perkara yang
ketiga yang saya ingin sampaikan ialah saya nak jemput kita semua
khususnya pegawai-pegawai kanan Jabatan untuk sama-sama kita 'melukis'
dan 'mewarnai' JAKIM dengan imej yang baru. Maksud saya kalau perlu kita
rebrand organisasi kita agar ia kekal relevan dengan tuntutan semasa.
Organisasi kita ini kalau dalam konteks sektor kerajaan, ia sudah dilihat
agak lapuk kalau dalam masa 10 tahun masih tidak berubah dan berkembang.
Sesuatu organisasi kalau ia berdepan dengan tugas baru, bebanan yang
semakin bertambah, tetapi tak nak berubah, jadi ia dilihat sebagai sudah
lapuk.

Kalau kita lihat kecenderungan sekarang ini, PM selalu bercakap tentang
hub halal, dan Malaysia sebagai hub kewangan Islam, TPM pula bercakap
tentang hub pendidikan. Kita yang bertanggungjawab dengan pendidikan
islam ini takkanlah kita nak ketinggalan pula. Kalau dalam bidang
pengajian tinggi, Malaysia boleh dikatakan berjaya, tapi itu bukan urusan
JAKIM, itu urusan orang lain (Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi). Melalui dasar
liberalisasi pendidikan khususnya di peringkat pengajian tinggi, kita
lihat kemasukan dan kebanjiran pelajar-pelajar asing begitu banyak.
Tetapi dalam bidang pengajian Islam, walaupun sudah mula tetapi ia masih
dalam peringkat pengajian tinggi sahaja. Di peringkat menengah belum
lagi. Tetapi dalam sektor lain sudah ramai terutamanya orang Cina dari
Tanah Besar China, daripada Indonesia, mereka menghantar anak-anak
mereka belajar di peringkat sekolah menengah, kolej-kolej swasta di
Malaysia. Namun dalam bidang pendidikan Islam kita masih jauh
ketinggalan. Sebab itu kita sudah mengorak langkah membuka pintu
institusi di bawah kita kepada negara jiran. Seperti di Darul Quran, kita
buka seluas-luasnya kepada negara Brunei dan lain-lain. Dulu kita tak
berapa buka sebab kita kata kita nak bantu saudara-saudara kita di
Selatan Thai, Philipines, Singapore sahaja. Sebab di sana pusat pengajian
tahfiznya agak ketinggalan. Brunei misalnya, ia sudah ada pusat tahfiznya
sendiri. Kenapa perlu dia datang sini ? Tetapi suasana sudah berubah,
walaupun mereka (Brunei) ada pusat tahfiz, tetapi mereka hendak datang ke
Malaysia juga. Kita benarkan. Untuk jangka panjang, ini sesuatu yang baik
untuk kita. Kalau tuan-tuan dan puan-puan yang banyak terlibat dengan
forum MABIMS, kita lihat betapa eratnya, mesranya pimpinan kita dengan
pegawai-pegawai tinggi negara anggota MABIMS. Rahsianya ialah mereka dulu
(pimpinan MABIMS) peringkat menengahnya mereka belajar di sini, satu
kelas, musim durian ikut kawan balik kampung, pergi negeri
Perak makan tempoyak, pergi Melaka makan cencaluk, ikut pergi Kelantan
makan budu, negeri Terengganu tentulah makan keropok lekor. Jadi ramai
juga di antara mereka yang bertemu jodoh dengan orang kita di sini. Jadi
bila kita bincang benda-benda yang sensitif (dalam MABIMS) sangat mudah
untuk kita selesaikan secara adik beradik. Ini kerana sudah ada hubungan
kejiwaan. Jadi semasa conference Fiqh Akademi baru-baru ini, bila saya
berbincang dengan Menteri Keadilan Maldives dan ketika saya bersama
Ambassador Saudi menyambut ketibaan pengerusi International Islamic Fiqh
Academy, Dr. Soleh, mereka menceritakan di Maldives, pegawai-pegawai
tingginya kebanyakannya lepasan dari UIA. Jadi anak-anak mereka semua
dihantar belajar di Malaysia. Di sana (Maldives) penduduknya sedikit. Tak
padan nak tubuh satu universiti. Jadi jiwa mereka jiwa Malaysia. Kalau
mereka belajar Thanawi di Malaysia, ambil STAM di Malaysia, masuk kolej
tinggi pun di Malaysia, balik jadi pegawai tinggi di Negara
masing-masing, maka rangkaian kita luas. Itu kita bercakap tentang 12
bidang kerjasama MABIMS. Tapi kalau bercakap bab halal pula, tentulah
mereka akan berkiblat kepada Negara Malaysia. Sepertimana orang yang
belajar di UK, bila dia mampu dan upaya dia hantar anak dia juga belajar
di UK, yang mana belajar di USA kalau dia mampu dia hantar anak dia
belajar di USA. Sebab sentimen itu memang fitrah.

MULAKAN DENGAN DIRI SENDIRI
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, kerja di JAKIM ini ada kerja-kerja yang ada
nilai-nilai intelektual. Misalnya di peringkat pegawai kanan, mestilah
orang yang banyak membaca, banyak maklumat. Kalau buka e-mail pun paling
kurang dua kali sehari, mesti tahu dan kenal web-web yang penting yang
berkaitan dengan tugas kita. Kita nak buktikan kepada orang lain yang
kita juga mampu. Bukan kita nak menunjuk-nunjuk. Sebab kita nak ambil
semangat ayat "berkerjalah nescaya Allah, rasul dan orang-orang beriman
melihat amalan kamu". Allah pasti melihat, ar-Rasul pasti tahu tetapi
dalam ayat ini juga disebut al-mukminun, sebab orang lain nak jadikan
kita sebagai contoh. Kita kena ingat kalau kita nak tunjuk contoh yang
baik, kita kena tunjukkan kejayaan kita. Mudah-mudahan dapat dijadikan
contoh oleh orang lain.

Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan, kita tidak ada pilihan selain terpaksa mulakan
dengan diri sendiri lebih-lebih lagi peringkat pegawai kanan. Kita perlu
menunjukkan sifat bertanggungjawab dan mesti kelihatan bersemangat sebab
kita ada anak buah dan kita pegawai kanan. Kecuali kalau kita lepas
kedudukan kita sebagai pegawai kanan. Tetapi apabila kita diamanahkan
sebagai pegawai kanan maknanya kita jadi ketua, jadi KPP, ada yang yang
jadi TKP. Jadi ini satu amanah dan kita mesti tunjukkan semangat itu
supaya ia dapat menyuntik semangat orang lain. Kita juga kena cuba
tunjukkan sifat kasih kepada organisasi, hormat kepada ketua, sayang
kepada anak buah kita. Sayang anak buah ini maknanya ketua mesti beri
bimbingan dan berani memberi teguran. Salah satu kelemahan kita ialah
apabila kita mungkin boleh buat kerja yang baik dan cemerlang tetapi kita
tidak ada keberanian menegur yang salah. Jadi kita terpaksa terlebih
dahulu menunjukkan yang kita adalah seorang yang patuh dan ia akan
diperhatikan oleh anak buah. Kalau dia tengok KPP dia jenis yang pijak
kepala, buat kerja tak bincang, buat kerja tak rujuk, tak lapor, pergi
sana sini tak beritahu, tak hadir mesyuarat tak bagi tahu, tak sudi
hantar sms, tak sudi buat panggilan, maka ini juga akan jadi ikutan
kepadaa anak-anak buahnya. Ini satu gejala dan budaya yang buruk yang tak
boleh nak dijadikan contoh.

ARAHAN BAGAIKAN HUTANG
Selain daripada itu, sebagai ketua juga, setiap tugasan dan
tanggungjawab yang diamanahkan kepada kita, kita perlu tanamkan dalam
ingatan kita. Ini supaya setiap kali KP atau TKP tanya, maka tidaklah
kita terpinga-pinga. Jadi itu satu indicator yang tidak sihat (tidak
menguasai tugas). Maknanya kita tidak beri perhatian kepada arahan-arahan
yang diberikan. Sehingga ketua terpaksa tanya. Kadang-kadang bila ditanya
pun kita tak tahu yang mana satu tugasan kita. Ini tak sihat. Di
peringkat kita, tak boleh berlaku dan di JAKIM tak boleh berlaku. Apa
yang diarahkan kena beri perhatian yang berat. Anggaplah arahan itu
sebagai satu hutang dan hutang itu pasti ditunggu dan perlu dicatit. Kita
catitlah sebab dia satu hutang yang perlu kita jelaskan.

Di peringkat pegawai kanan ini saya harap kita dapat melaksanakan apa
yang dirancang dan apa yang diarahkan. Kita dah buat SKU (Sasaran Kerja
Umum). Kita dah beri banyak masa, dan jabatan dah banyak buang duit. Kita
keluar (mesyuarat) fikir sampai tengah-tengah malam. Bila kita balik, kita
laksanalah apa yang kita rancang, dan jangan lupa kita kena laksanakan apa
yang diarah. Sebab ada benda yang memang kita tak rancang, tetapi kita
diarah, jadi kita terpaksa buat. Ada benda-benda baru, keperluan baru,
kita tak boleh kata kita nak buat benda yang kita fikir saja. Kita nak
buat benda yang datang daripada idea kita sendiri. Kalau idea orang lain,
kita tak nak buat, bahkan kalau kita pergi satu bahagian, kalau kita ingat
ini idea orang lama, kita tak nak buat, kita nak buat idea kita saja. Itu
bukan satu budaya berorganisasi. Saya juga telah menanam azam, bahawa
setiap hari Isnin saya tak nak buat apa yang saya fikir saja. Banyak
benda-benda yang difikir oleh KP-KP kita
dulu, yang mesti kita semua teruskan. Tapi dalam kita meneruskan
perjalanan ini kita ada hak untuk mencipta idea kita sendiri tanpa kita
abaikan perkara-perkara lama yang baik untuk kita teruskan. Jadi budaya
ini saya harap kita teruskan di peringkat Bahagian. Kenapa saya sebut
mesti kita teruskan di peringkat bahagian ? Ini kerana kita tak akan
duduk satu bahagian sampai bila-bila. Mungkin saya nak bagi isyarat,
dalam masa terdekat ini tidaklah ada rombakan besar-besaran. Tetapi siapa
kata saya tak boleh rombak bila-bila masa. Mesti kita kena rombak dan saya
akan pilih masa yang paling sesuai misalnya bulan November. Jadi untuk
tahun ini kita sempurnakan tugas sebaik mungkin. Saya akan bincang dengan
pegawai-pegawai kanan dan pegawai-pegawai lama untuk memantapkan
organisasi kita dan YB Menteri juga prihatin dan dia beri saya kebebasan.
Cuma saya sentiasa ambil maklum dan saya hargai kebebasan yang dia beri.
Ini bukan bermakna saya buat sesuka hati, tapi saya akan maklum
kepada beliau juga. Dan mungkin ada perkara yang perlu saya dapatkan
keputusan dia.

LAKSANAKAN APA DIRANCANG DAN DIARAH
Jadi tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, selain daripada kita melaksanakan apa
yang dirancang,apa yang diarahkan, di peringkat pegawai kanan boleh juga
merancang apa yang kita nak buat. Di peringkat cawangan, tuan-tuan boleh
rancang banyak benda dan bincang dengan Pengarah. Sekiranya ia sesuatu
yang terlalu baru lebih-lebih lagi melibatkan implikasi kewangan, jangan
pandai-pandai, bincang dulu dengan Timbalan Ketua Pengarah mengikut
sektor masing-masing. Kalau perlu, buat paper bawa dalam Mesyuarat Pagi
atau Mesyuarat Pengurusan. Dapat info-info tambahan daripada
sahabat-sahabat kita. Kalau bukan perkara besar, kena ada keberanian di
peringkat bahagian buat pembaharuan dan tentulah saya akan hargai
Pengarah dan KPP yang berani buat keputusan. Tetapi kita kena imbangkan
juga siapa yang patut buat keputusan tentang sesuatu perkara. Jangan KPP
berani buat keputusan yang sepatutnya dibuat oleh Pengarah. Jangan
Pengarah berani buat keputusan yang sepatutnyat diputuskan oleh TKP.
Masing-masing kena tahu sempadan. Saya dulu pun sentiasa ingatkan diri
saya, sama ada perkara ini saya putuskan, ataupun saya kena rujuk kepada
KP. Saya rasa Pengarah-pengarah di bawah sektor operasi pun ada
pengalaman. Ada perkara yang saya putus, dan ada perkara yang saya tak
akan putus kecuali lepas itu saya maklumkan kepada KP. Dan ada perkara
yang saya fikir ini bukan peringkat saya, bukan di peringkat timbalan,
maka KP yang putuskan. Jadi kita kena tahu garis pengurusan kita,
sempadan kita, dan itu pun satu petunjuk kita ni jenis hormat orang atau
tidak.

Saya teringat apa yang Tan Sri KSN sebut. Ini mungkin satu ingatan
kepada sesiapa saja yang jadi KP JAKIM. Dia bawa contoh, dalam
perkhidmatan awam ini kadang-kadang berlaku di mana Ketua Jabatan sangat
mahir dan sangat berpengalaman dan sangat lama di sesuatu agensi. Memang
satu dunia iktiraf dia lebih baik daripada menteri dari segi mempunyai
maklumat dan pengalaman dalam bidang tertentu. Tapi bukan bermakna dia
boleh membuat keputusan yang sepatutnya diputuskan oleh menteri. Bukan
semestinya dia umum sesuatu perkara yang sepatutnya diumum oleh menteri.
Kalau berlaku konflik antara Ketua Jabatan dengan menteri misalnya, kata
Tan Sri KSN dia akan lebih memihak kepada pihak yang ada autoriti. Itu
prinsip dia. Kalau KSU bertelagah dengan menteri, dia memihak kepada
menteri. Kecuali kalau terbukti menteri itu buat keputusan yang salah,
ketika itu dia akan memihak kepada KSU. Tetapi dalam keadaan biasa dia
akan lebih memihak kepada siapa yang lebih berautoriti. Saya ambil
itu sebagai satu nasihat dan juga satu ingatan. Saya tak akan pandang
kecil perkara ini dan saya rasa prinsip itu patut kita amalkan bila-bila
masa.

SIAPA PATUT BUAT KEPUTUSAN
Jadi kita kena nasihatkan pegawai-pegawai kita. Ada peringkat yang PP
patut buat keputusan dan kita kena percaya kepada PP. Biar dia buat
keputusan. Tapi kita kena ingat ada perkara yang KPP kena putuskan, ada
Pengarah yang kena putuskan kalau di peringkat Bahagian. Kalau melibatkan
hal besar yang lain, kena merujuk timbalan. Saya baru-baru ini ada bincang
dengan Tuan Haji Murat (Pengarah Bahagian Pentadbiran dan Kewangan). Saya
bagi satu contoh saja. Contoh lain yang lebih banyak saya akan sebut
dalam Mesyuarat Pengurusan. Misalnya, apa saja urusan yang melibatkan
luar negeri, saya fikir orang yang patut buat keputusan ialah KP, bukan
timbalan, bukan pengarah, jauh sekali KPP. Kecil atau besar, kecuali
kalau ada perkara yang diperturunkan kuasa, kita amalkan empowerment
dalam sektor tertentu. Saya bagi contoh lain, misalnya orang luar negeri
datang ke tempat kita nak buat kajian tentang JAKIM. Bukan KPP, bukan
Pengarah, bukan Timbalan yang boleh buat keputusan. Kalau
dulupun saya panjangkan kepada KP sebab research tentang JAKIM bermakna
maklumat tentang Malaysia. Ini perkara besar. Kadang-kadang kita kena
dapatkan nasihat daripada Wisma Putra atau daripada EPU. Itu contoh, tapi
ada perkara yang melibatkan luar negara tetapi kita boleh perturunkan
kuasa, macam orang dari luar negeri nak datang melawat ke JAKIM. Itupun
dalam kes-kes yang terpilih. Kita tengok dari mana dia datang.
Sekurang-kurangnya kita maklum kepada KP. Kalau ok kita proceed. Itu
kalau orang luar datang sini. Begitu juga yang melibatkan kita dengan
orang luar. Kita nak hantar pegawai ke luar negeri samada untuk ikut
kursus , lawatan kerja, untuk mengikuti delegasi kementerian lain, mana
boleh pergi begitu saja tanpa Pengarah tahu, kalau Pengarah pergi TKP tak
tahu, atau timbalan pergi KP tak tahu. Ini tak boleh kita benarkan
berlaku. Begitu juga bila kita nak pilih pegawai melanjutkan pengajian,
berkursus di luar negara, kita ada sistem. Lebih-lebih lagi pengalaman ke
luar negara merupakan satu pendedahan yang baik yang patut kita kongsi
kepada ramai pegawai-pegawai kanan yang lain. Semua ini perlu keputusan
daripada pihak atasan. Pihak atasan dia melihat keseluruhan. Kalau
peringkat Bahagian yang buat keputusan, ada peluang dia bagi pegawai
Bahagian dia saja yang pergi. Orang lain tak merasa. Kalau merasa pun
tempat-tempat yang orang lain tak nak pergi dah. Bukan saya buat contoh
yang tidak ada kena mengena, tetapi contoh yang boleh dikiaskan. Budaya
ini saya tak mahu.

KEMAJMUKAN JAKIM
Tuan-tuan dan puan, satu keunikan JAKIM ialah kemajmukan pegawai kita.
Di JAKIM ada ustaz, ustazah dan ada non ustaz atau ustazah. Satu lagi
ciri-ciri unik kita ialah kita ada pelbagai skim perkhidmatan. Ada
Pegawai Hal Ehwal Islam, ada PTD dan senarai perkhidmatan yang lain semua
ada di sini. Hampir semua ada perkhidmatan-perkhidmatan yang membantu.
Jadi kita ada core business dan ada support business. Jadi kita mesti
bijak mengadun kekuatan sebab masing-masing ada kekuatan dan kita kena
kurangkan sentimen yang menganggap orang lain lebih lemah, orang lain
lebih berilmu, dan sebagainya. Sentimen-sentimen ini tidak baik. Satu
perkara yang baik juga apabila pengiktirafan diberikan kepada non ustaz
ustazah apabila orang luar memanggilnya ustaz ustazah. Namun sebaliknya
ada juga ustaz ustazah yang tidak menunjukkan kredibilitinya sebagai
ustaz ustazah kerana adakalanya mereka sombong, susah nak berkongsi
pandangan dengan orang lain dan sebagainya.

Selain daripada itu, ciri-ciri kenegerian juga adalah satu sentimen yang
kurang sihat. Zaman saya dan rakan-rakan dulu kebanyakkannya dari
Kelantan, Kedah, Pahang, Terengganu dan negeri-negeri lain. Tetapi dunia
dah berubah. Sudah tidak penting lagi sentimen kenegerian. Kita harap
perkara ini tidak wujud di JAKIM. Di JAKIM kita ada dua sektor . Sektor
Operasi dan Sektor Pengurusan. Dan saya nampak JAKIM perlu wujudkan satu
lagi sektor iaitu Sektor Dasar. Tapi perkara ini elok sama-sama kita
fikirkan kemudian. Buat masa ini jalinan kerjasama antara kedua-dua
sektor yang sedia ada ini amat penting. Kerjasama antara bahagian di
JAKIM juga Alhamdulillah sangat memuaskan.

Selain daripada itu kita kena kukuhkan jalinan kerjasama dan hubungan
kita dengan pihak luar. Kita kena mulakan dengan memperkukuhkan
organisasi dalaman dulu kemudian kita lihat hubungan luar kita. Ini
kerana kita tak mampu laksanakan semua perkara dalam satu masa, jadi kita
perlu kerjasama daripada orang lain untuk melakukan kerja bagi pihak kita.
Tapi mestilah kita pandai merendah diri, insyaAllah orang dengan rela hati
akan membantu kita. Biarlah kita yang menghasilkan produk, tetapi
kilangnya di luar. Program yang dirancang oleh JAKIM tetapi hasilnya
dikeluarkan oleh pelbagai pihak. Contohnya ialah seperti program KAFA dan
takmir. Program itu dari kita, tetapi kilangnya di negeri. Kita juga boleh
fikirkan produk-produk baru untuk kerjasama dengan negeri-negeri. Banyak
perkara yang boleh kita trokai.

PERLUAS JARINGAN
Selain daripada itu, hubungan kita dengan NGO perlu ditingkatkan
khususnya dalam kerjasama dakwah. Tugas besar kita dalam dakwah ialah
dakwah kepada Orang Asli dan saudara kita. Kita harap, dengan strategi
ini kita dapat mengurangkan gejala murtad. Kita tidak boleh menangani
gejala murtad ini melalui jalan mahkamah semata-mata, sebaliknya kita
perlu tanganinya melalui jalan dakwah. Kita ada kekuatan seperti Bahagian
Baitulmal di Wilayah. Kita nak ucap tahniah kepada Baitulmal kerana
baru-baru ini telah menjuarai aktiviti dakwah saudara baru di wilayah dan
dari itu kita perlu cipta lebih banyak modul-modul dakwah saudara baru dan
kita jual kepada negeri-negeri tanpa bayaran untuk mereka laksanakan.

Selain itu, untuk kita mengeratkan hubungan kita dengan lain-lain
agensi, saya ingin peringatkan kepada Bahagian-bahagian tertentu untuk
mengatur kunjungan hormat saya kepada pihak-pihak yang berkenaan dalam
masa yang terdekat. Sebagai contoh tolong aturkan perjumpaan saya dengan
Pengerusi LEPAI, Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Fatwa Kebangsaan di mana saya
adalah sebagai Setiausahanya.

Selain daripada itu tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, kita juga kena ambil
peluang untuk memperluaskan jawatan kader post JAKIM di lain-lain agensi.
Semalam, saya ada terima satu surat daripada satu kementerian memohon
supaya JAKIM menghantar pegawai kita ke sana. Ini ada kaitan dengan
Mesyuarat Penyelarasan Islam Hadhari yang dipengerusikan oleh Y.B
Menteri. Saya jangka masih banyak kementerian dan jabatan lain akan
meminta pegawai JAKIM untuk ditempatkan di Kementerian mereka. Buat masa
ini kita mempunyai jawatan kader post sebanyak 352 jawatan yang diisi.
Ini belum diambil kira jawatan yang belum diisi. Begitu juga dengan
pengisian di PDRM sebanyak 963 jawatan yang mesti diisi oleh JAKIM.

Selain daripada itu, JAKIM juga perlu ada satu kumpulan yang menjalankan
kerja-kerja think thank group (kumpulan pemikir) sebab saya percaya
walaupun kita mempunyai banyak pengalaman, pendedahan dan kita tahu apa
yang patut kita buat, tetapi kita juga perlu menghargai pandangan
daripada pihak luar yang hendak membantu memajukan Islam dan umat Islam.

MENGADU IKUT SALURAN
Akhir sekali, saya ingin maklumkan kepada tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, dan
saya harap tuan-tuan dan puan-puan juga tolong sampaikan perkara ini
kepada anak-anak buah masing-masing bahawa saya boleh dihubungi melalui
e-mail untuk memberi pandangan, cadangan, syor dan kalau hendak mengadu
juga boleh melalui email saya wan@islam.gov.my. Tuan-tuan juga boleh
berjumpa dengan saya selepas jam 5.00 petang di pejabat saya, kerana
biasanya saya balik lewat ke rumah, kerana saya diberi rahmat oleh Allah
Taala menduduki kuarters kerajaan di Putrajaya. Tuan-tuan juga boleh
menghantar mesej malalui handphone saya (012 2399864). Cuma saya ingin
berpesan kalau hendak mengadu boleh, tetapi jangan mengadu domba. Kalau
mengadu biarlah ada fakta, jangan kita terjebak dengan fitnah. Saya juga
ingin ingatkan kepada pegawai-pegawai kanan supaya lebih terbuka untuk
mendengar masalah anak-anak buah. Jangan sampai mereka takut untuk
mengadu masalah kepada kita.

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, saya menerima arahan daripada Pejabat Tan Sri
KSN supaya berjumpa dengannya bersama-sama dengan pegawai JAKIM, JAWI dan
MAWIP pada hari Jumaat ini kerana ada beberapa isu yang hendak
dibangkitkan oleh beliau termasuklah aduan-aduan yang diterima oleh
beliau mengenai kita. Kita juga boleh mengambil peluang ini untuk mengadu
mengenai masalah-masalah yang dihadapi dan saya percaya Tan Sri KSN
prihatin dengan setiap masalah.

SIAPA TKP (OPERASI) ?
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, saya juga ingin maklumkan bahawa tempat
Timbalan Ketua Pengarah (Operasi) buat masa ini belum diisi. Ia akan
diputuskan secara muktamat oleh SPA. Jadi saya tidak suka bercakap
perkara yang SPA belum putuskan. Cuma saya ingin nasihatkan, siapa sahaja
yang dilantik sebagai TKP(O) JAKIM, maka kita akan menerimanya dan saya
berharap beliau akan banyak membantu saya dalam memajukan JAKIM. Untuk
sementara ini saya telah meminta Ustaz Che Hassan Pahmi menjalankan tugas
TKP(O) secara tanggungan kerja.

AMANAT DARI HATI BUKAN LIDAH
Satu perkara yang ingin saya kongsi dengan tuan-tuan dan puan-puan,
iaitu sewaktu saya dilantik sebagai TKP(O) JAKIM. Saya bersedia dari segi
mental bahawa saya dilantik sebagai timbalan dan saya mesti bersedia untuk
menjadi timbalan sampai pencen. Itu yang saya didik kepada jiwa saya.
Dengan cara ini, saya tidak akan langkah dan pijak kepala ketua saya.
Siapa saja yang datang sebagai KP, maka dia adalah KP saya. Saya juga
akui secara jujur bahawa apabila saya dilantik sebagai TKP(O), selain
daripada saya berazam untuk menjadi timbalan sampai pencen, saya juga
dapat 'membaca' bahawa saya juga mesti bersedia jika diberi kepercayaan
untuk menjadi KP. Itu mendorong saya untuk belajar, perhati dan lihat
kerana banyak benda yang kita tidak tahu. Kalau ditakdirkan sampai
masanya saya jadi KP, sekurang-kurangnya saya bersedia dari segi
psikologi. Saya harap siapa saja di antara tuan-tuan di dalam dewan hari
ini boleh dilantik sebagai TKP(O) JAKIM. Jadi dia kena anggap dirinya
sebagai timbalan dan bukannya Ketua Pengarah. Timbalan ertinya orang yang
sanggup membantu ketua. Seorang timbalan tidak boleh merasa tidak selesa
bekerja dengan ketua. Jadi tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, itulah amanat saya
dan saya mohon maaf sekiranya ada salah dan silap. Saya harap ia dapat
disampaikan kepada anak-anak buah masing-masing yang mana patut
disampaikan. Saya juga berharap tuan-tuan dan puan-puan faham bahawa apa
yang saya sampaikan pada hari ini sebenarnya datang daripada hati saya
yang ikhlas dan bukannya dari lidah semata-mata.

Sekian terima kasih.
Assalamualaikum w.b.h.
14 Ogos 2007
Sumber : Unit Perhubungan Awam JAKIM

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Makkah Attack Threat

Makkah Attack Threat Draws Flack

A Republican presidential hopeful's suggestion to attack Islam's holiest
sites in order to deter a nuclear attack on American soil has come under
scathing criticism from the Bush administration and Muslims.
A Republican presidential hopeful's suggestion to attack Islam's holiest
sites in order to deter a nuclear attack on American soil has come under
scathing criticism from the Bush administration and Muslims.

Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo has said that the best way to deter a nuclear
terrorist attack on the US was to threaten to bomb the holy cities of
Makkah and Madinah.

Casey said the Republican aspirant's statements were "reprehensible" and
"absolutely crazy".

"Any suggestion that the defense of the American homeland or the defense
of American interests would ever justify attacking holy sites or
religious sites is just simply an idea that goes against the length or
breadth of US history," he said.

"…we want to have good, positive relations with countries certainly in the
Middle East and broader Muslim world."

A spokesman for Tancredo's campaign, Alan Moore, said the Republican White
House aspirant stands by his statements.

In 2005, Tancredo threatened to "take out" Islamic holy sites if
terrorists ever launched a nuclear attack against the US.

The threat was the latest in anti-Islam statements warning Americans of
"militant Islamism, "radical Islamism" and Muslims in general.

Last year, prominent pastor Rev. O'Neal Dozier, a former adviser to
President George W. Bush, told a Radio show that Islam was a "cult" and
"dangerous" religion.

Prompt action by US Muslim leaders have forced radio hosts and pastors
critical of Islam to offer on-air apologies and backtrack on their racist
remarks.

Unworthy

Tancredo's statements were strongly condemned by Muslim leaders.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said
Tancredo's statements were "unworthy of anyone seeking public office in
the United States," according to The Denver Post.

"Perhaps it's evidence of a long-shot candidate grasping at straws and
trying to create some kind of a controversy that might appeal to a niche
audience of anti-Muslim bigots," said CAIR Spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.

Tancredo's statements also fueled anti-US sentiments in Pakistan.

"Such threats appear real, if seen in the prospect of the deployment of a
large number of US troops in Saudi Arabia," Sen. Sajid Mir, the Vice
President of the Mttahida Majlis-e-Amal, was quoted as saying by The News
daily.

He called Tancredo's statements absurd, provocative and an expression of
sheer insanity and arrogance.

The Pakistani leader also called on Muslims to snub cooperation with the
US on the so-called "war on terror".

"It is high time for Muslim countries to dissociate themselves from the
so-called US-led war against terror and chalk out a collective strategy
to combat US designs," he said.

On Wednesday, August 1, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama
warned to strike Al-Qaeda in Pakistan without gaining Islamabad's
approval if Pakistan failed to take on the Osama Bin Laden's network.

IOL, Agencies

http://www.worldbulletin.net/ , printed on 06.08.2007.


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MURTAD: Pengkhianatan Kepada Allah

MURTAD
Pengkhianatan Kepada Allah
Petikan dari Majalah Dian, Ogos 2006

Kesahihan dakwaan kononnya 100,000 umat Islam negara ini murtad
masih boleh dipertikaikan, meskipun berita mengenainya hangat
diperkata. Isu pemesongan akidah ini memang sangat sensitif tetapi
ianya menjadi satu cabaran besar kepada semua lapisan umat Islam.

"Saya melihat isu murtad di negara ini semakin serius.
Berdasarkan laporan secara tidak rasmi daripada mereka yang bekerja
di pejabat Pendaftaran Negara, orang Melayu dan India muslim yang
menukar agama mereka semakin bertambah ketara bilangannya," demikian
bicara awal Dr.Muhammad Nur Manuty mengenai topik yang kembali
hangat melanda tanah air.

Menurut beliau, pendedahan terhadap isu murtad ini membawa
impak yang berbeza kepada umat Islam di negara ini. Kebaikan yang
diperolehi daripada pendedahan isu ini ialah dapat menyedarkan
masyarakat Islam, tetapi dalam masa yang sama ia memburukkan lagi
pandangan orang bukan Islam terhadap agama Islam jika isu ini luas
diperkata.

Jelasnya, terdapat beberapa faktor penting yang menyumbang
kepada gejala murtad ini. Perkembangan pembangunan sosial dan
ekonomi berserta rempuhan globalisasi dan juga kecanggihan teknologi
memberi kemungkinan besar bertambahnya jumlah orang-orang Islam yang
murtad di negara kita.

"Keadaan bertambah buruk apabila sebahagian daripada orang
Melayu yang terdedah kepada pengaruh modenisme ataupun pasca
modenisme dan sekularisme telah terjebak dengan gejala sosial
sehingga ada yang sanggup yang menukar agama.

Selain itu jelasnya, gerakan Kristianisasi oleh mubaligh-
mubaligh agama tersebut terhadap orang Kristian yang sudah menukar
agama mereka kepada agama lain terutama agama Islam, giat dijalankan
dan ia turut menjadi punca gejala murtad ini semakin berleluasa.

"Di dalam majalah Times beberapa tahun yang lalu telah pun
dinyatakan secara terang mengenai perkara ini. Bahkan Dr. Chandra
Muzaffar sendiri ada memberi ulasan dalam satu makalah di akhbar New
Straits Time tentang bahaya gerakan mubaligh Kristian secara global.
Ini merupakan satu petanda bahawa gerakan mubaligh Kristian memang
bertekad untuk menjadikan dunia Islam terutama alam Melayu sebagai
pentas pengkristianan setelah mereka berjaya mengkristiankan
masyarakat Indonesia."


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Rupa2nya tanpa kita sedo, dalam makanan yg kita makan sehari2, kita tak
boleh main balun aje? sebab itulah terjadinya penyakit kencing manis,
lumpuh, sakit jantung, keracunan makanan dan lain2 penyakit apabila
kita
telah tua nanti. Apabila kawan2 telah mengetahui ilmu ini, tolonglah
ajarkan kepada yg lain2nya.


Ini pun adalah diet Rasullulah SAW kita juga. Ustaz Abdullah Mahmood
kata,
Rasullulah tak pernah sakit perut sepanjang hayatnya kerana pandai jaga
pemakanannya sehari2. apa kata kita ikut diet ini kawan2. tak payahlah
susah2 makan pil untuk kurus? Insyaallah kalau kawan2 ikut diet
Rasullullah
ini?. Garenti? kawan2 takkan sakit perut ataupun keracunan makanan.

Jangan makan SUSU + DAGING


Jangan makan DAGING + IKAN


Jangan makan IKAN + SUSU


Jangan makan AYAM + SUSU


Jangan makan IKAN + TELUR


Jangan makan IKAN + DAUN SALAD


Jangan makan SUSU + CUKA


Jangan makan BUAH + SUSU CTH :- KOKTEL


# JANGAN MAKAN BUAH SELEPAS MAKAN NASI , SEBALIKNYA MAKAN BUAH TERLEBIH
DAHULU, BARU MAKAN NASI.


# TIDUR 1 JAM SELEPAS MAKAN TENGAHARI.


# JANGAN SESEKALI TINGGAL MAKAN MALAM . SESIAPA YG TINGGAL MAKAN MALAM
DIA
AKAN DIMAKAN USIA DAN KOLESTEROL DALAM BADAN AKAN BERGANDA.

Nampak memanglah pelik.. tapi, kalau tak percaya... kawan2
cubalaa.................................
Ianya takdelah dalam jangka masa terdekat nie.... Ianya berkesan bila
kita
sudah tua nanti.

Dalam kitab juga ada melarang kita makan makanan darat bercampur dengan
makanan laut.
Nabi pernah menegah kita makan ikan bersama susu. di kuatiri akan cepat
mendapat penyakit.
Ini terbukti oleh saintis yang menjumpai dimana dalam badan ayam
mengandungi ion+ manakala dalam ikan mengandungi ion-, jika dalam
suapan
ayam bercampur dengan ikan maka terjadi tidakkan balas biokimia yang
terhasil yang boleh merosakkan usus kita.


p/s : Sampaikan walau sepatah...


Al-Quran Juga ada mengajar kita menjaga kesihatan spt membuat
amalan spt:-


Mandi Pagi sebelum subuh @ sekurang kurangnya sejam sebelum matahari
naik.
Air sejuk
yang meresap kedalam badan boleh mengurangkan lemak mengumpul. Kita
boleh
saksikan orang mengamal mandi pagi kebanyakan badan tak gemuk.


Rasulullah mengamalkan minum segelas air sejuk (bukan air ais) setiap
pagi.
Mujarabnya Insayallah jauh dari penyakit (susah nak kena sakit).


Waktu sembahyang subuh disunatkan kita bertafakur (iaitu sujud sekurang
kurangnya seminit selepas membaca doa). Ia boleh mengelak dari sakit
pening
atau migrin. Ini terbukti oleh para saintis yang membuat kajian kenapa
dalam sehari perlu kita sujud. Ahli-ahli sains telah menemui beberapa
milimeter ruang udara dalam saluran


darah di kepala yg tidak dipenuhi darah. Dengan bersujud maka darah
akan
mengalir keruang berkenaan.


Nabi juga mengajar kita makan dengan tangan dan bila habis hendaklah
menjilat jari. Begitu juga ahli saintis telah menjumpa bahawa enzyme
banyak
terkandung di celah jari jari, iaitu 10 kali ganda terdapat dalam air
liur.
(enzyme sejenis alat percerna makanan, tanpanya makanan tidak hadam)
Wassalam...

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Amalan terbalik.. Betulkan segera!

"10 AMALAN YANG TERBALIK"
Marilah kita bermuhasabah atau menilai dan menghitung kembali tentang
amalan harian kita. Kadang-kadang kita akan dapati amalan kita adalah
terbalik atau bertentangan dari apa yang patut dilakukan dan dituntut
oleh Islam. Mungkin kita tidak sedar atau telah dilalaikan atau
terikut-ikut dengan budaya hidup orang lain. Perhatikan apa yang
dipaparkan dibawah sebagai contoh amalan yang terbalik:-

1. Amalan kenduri arwah beberapa malam yang dilakukan oleh keluarga simati
selepas sesuatu kematian (malam pertama, kedua, ketiga, ketujuh dan
seterusnya) adalah terbalik dari apa yang dianjurkan oleh Rasulullah di
mana Rasulullah telah menganjurkan jiran tetangga memasak makanan untuk
keluarga simati untuk meringankan kesusahan dan kesedihan mereka.
Keluarga tersebut telah ditimpa kesedihan, terpaksa pula menyedia makanan
dan belanja untuk mereka yang datang membaca tahlil. Tidakkah mereka yang
hadir makan kenduri tersebut khuatir kalau-kalau mereka termakan harta
anak yatim yang ditinggalkan oleh simati atau harta peninggalan simati
yang belum dibahagikan kepada yang berhak menurut Islam?

2. Kalau hadir ke kenduri walimatul urus (kenduri kahwin) orang kerap
salam berisi (hadiah wang yang diberi semasa bersalam). Kalau tak ada
duit nak dikepit dalam tangan, maka segan ia nak pergi makan kenduri.
Tetapi kalau ia menziarah orang mati, tidak segan pula salam tak berisi.
Sepatutnya kalau menziarah keluarga si matilah kita patut memberi
sedekah. Kalau ke kenduri kahwin, tak bagi pun tak apa kerana tuan rumah
panggil untuk diberi makan bukan untuk ia menambah pendapatan.

3. Ketika menghadiri majlis pemimpin negara kita berpakaian cantik kemas
dan segak tetapi bila mengadap Allah baik di rumah maupun di masjid,
pakaian lebih kurang saja bahkan ada yang tak berbaju. Tidakkah ini suatu
perbuatan yang terbalik.

4. Kalau menjadi tetamu di rumah orang dan di beri jamuan, kita rasa segan
nak makan sampai habis apa yang dihidangkan kerana rasa segan dan malu,
sedangkan yang dituntut dibanyakkan makan dan dihabiskan apa yang
dihidang supaya tuan rumah rasa gembira dan tidak membazir.

5. Kalau bersolat sunat di masjid amat rajin, tapi kalau di rumah, sangat
malas. Sedangkan sebaik-baiknya solat sunat banyak dilakukan di rumah
seperti yang dianjurkan oleh Rasulullah untuk mengelakkan rasa riak.

6. Bulan puasa adalah bulan mendidik nafsu termasuk nafsu makan yang
berlebihan tetapi kebanyakan orang mengaku bahawa dalam carta
perbelanjaan setiap rumah orang Islam akan kita dapati perbelanjaan di
bulan puasa adalah yang tertinggi dalam setahun. Sedangkan sepatutnya
perbelanjaan di bulan puasa yang terendah. Bukankah terbalik amalan kita?

7. Kalau nak mengerjakan haji, kebanyakan orang akan membuat kenduri
sebelum bertolak ke Mekah dan apabila balik dari Mekah tak buat kenduri
pun. Anjuran berkenduri dalam Islam antaranya ialah kerana selamat dari
bermusafir, maka dibuat kenduri, bukan kerana nak bermusafir, maka dibuat
kenduri. Bukankah amalan ini terbalik? Atau kita mempunyai tujuan lain.


8. Semua ibubapa amat bimbang kalau-kalau anak mereka gagal dalam periksa.
Maka dihantarlah ke kelas tuisyen walau pun banyak belanjanya. Tapi kalau
anak tak boleh baca Quran atau solat, tak bimbang pula bahkan tak mahu
hantar tuisyen baca Quran atau kelas khas mempelajari Islam. Kalau guru
tuisyen sanggup dibayar sebulan RM20.00 satu pelajaran 8 kali hadir tapi
kepada Tok Guru Quran nak bayar RM15.00 sebulan 20 kali hadir belajar pun
menggeletar tangan. Bukankah terbalik amalan kita? Kita sepatutnya lebih
berbimbang jika anak tidak dapat baca Al Quran atau bersolat dari tidak
lulus periksa.

9. Kalau bekerja mengejar rezeki Allah tak kira siang malam, pagi petang,
mesti pergi kerja. Hujan atau ribut tetap diharungi kerana hendak
mematuhi peraturan kerja. Tapi ke rumah Allah (masjid) tak hujan, tak
panas, tak ribut pun tetap tak datang ke masjid. Sungguh tak malu manusia
begini, rezeki Allah diminta tapi nak ke rumahNya segan dan malas.

10. Seorang isteri kalau nak keluar rumah samada dengan suami atau tidak,
bukan main lagi berhias. Tetapi kalau duduk di rumah, masyaAllah.
Sedangkan yang dituntut seorang isteri itu berhias untuk suaminya, bukan
berhias untuk orang lain. Perbuatan amalan yang terbalik ini membuatkan
rumahtangga kurang bahagia.

11. Kita cukup teruja untuk meng'forward' kan sms atau emel dalam bentuk
gossip2 artis kepada kawan2. Malah kebanyakkan sms emel tersebut tidak
benar dan boleh menjatuhkan maruah org lain. Tapi kenapa susah sangat
nak forward emel2 peringatan sebegini kepada kawan2 kita??.....


Cukup dengan contoh-contoh di atas. Marilah kita berlapang dada menerima
hakikat sebenarnya. Marilah kita beralih kepada kebenaran agar hidup kita
menurut landasan dan ajaran Islam yang sebenar bukan yang digubah mengikut
selera kita. Allah yang mencipta kita maka biarlah Allah yang menentukan
peraturan hidup kita. Sabda Rasullullah SAW: "Sampaikanlah dariku
walaupun satu ayat." (Riwayat Bukhari)

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Petua untuk mereka yang BERPUASA

Puasa yg berkesan utk kesihatan

Gejala-gejala yang berlaku semasa berpuasa:
Beberapa perkara akan berlaku disebabkan oleh pembuangan toksin dan
bahan buangan ketika kita berpuasa seperti nafas berbau, peluh juga
berbau,
kulit kering bersisik dan gatal, air kencing pekat dan berbau dan
mungkin
juga kerap kencing, buang air besar selepas beberapa hari berpuasa,
sakit
kepala, lenguh badan dan demam (kesan toksin keluar dari lemak ke
darah,
sebelum keluar dari badan), dan mungkin juga berlaku selsema dan
kahak serta
lendir dan keputihan.

Pesanan: Jika gejala ini tidak serius, jangan cuba ubatkan kerana ia
akan berhenti dengan sendirinya.

Cara berbuka dan bersahur yang berkesan:

(i) Berbuka dengan buah dan air bertapis yang tidak dimasak (guna
water-filter) .
(ii) Solat Maghrib terlebih dahulu bagi memberi peluang perut
mencerna makanan
(iii) Makan makanan yang senang hadam dan kurangkan masakan
berminyak, berempah dan pedas. Seelok-eloknya makan sayur, tahu dan
kekacang.
(iv) Kurangkan kadar makanan dari biasa
(v) JANGAN minum air sambil makan. Insya-Allah jika makan secara
perlahan-lahan, masalah tercekik tidak akan berlaku.
(vi) Minum air putih atau teh herba atau minuman yang mengandungi
getah anggur, buah kembang semangkuk dan biji selasih sebanyak yang
terminum. Waktu sahur elok makan buah dan susu atau sebarang makanan
cecair.

Cara berpuasa yang tidak berkesan:

(i) Makan terlalu banyak (waktu sahur dan berbuka)
(ii) Makan makanan yang pedas dan berempah serta payah hadam
(iii) Makan terlalu banyak daging binatang terutama bagi pengidap
batu karang, gout dan alahan.
(iv) Mengulangi makan sepanjang malam.
(v) Kurang minum air pada malam hari atau lebih minum air semasa
makan
(vi) Tidur selepas kenyang makan

Makanan yang menjejaskan khasiat puasa kerana mengandungi bahan
kimia:

(i) Kopi dan teh.
(ii) Air paip masak yang tidak ditapis.
(iii) Makanan yang ada bahan pengawet, pewarna, perasa tiruan
seperti burger, sosej, mee segera, air tin & kotak, air squash,
nugget dan
seumpamanya.
(iv) Makanan masin perlu dielakkan semasa berpuasa kerana ia
menyebabkan air bertakung dalam badan (water retention)
(v) Merokok

Fasa-fasa puasa yang berjaya:

Fasa pertama (2-3hari):
Perut akan terasa lapar, badan cepat letih, cepat marah kerana kadar
glukosa dalam darah rendah

Fasa kedua (3-14 hari):
Kurang selera makan, senang gelap mata, nafas berbau, lidah menjadi
putih atau berdaki manakala badan menjadi lesu.

Fasa ketiga(14-akhir puasa):
Lidah menjadi bersih, nafas hilang bau, selera makan baik, tenaga
mula pulih dan kadar glukosa menjadi normal kembali. Di fasa ini juga
mental,
emosi dan badan semakin optimum dan diri menjadi orang baru. Keadaan
puasa
begini hanya dicapai oleh mereka yang benar-benar mengawal makan dan
minum
supaya proses asidosis dan ketosis di dalam badan berjalan lancar.

Amalan hari raya yang merosakkan manfaat puasa:

(i) Makan banyak (terutamanya daging, berempah, berlemak dan
berminyak)
(ii) Makan kerap
(iii) Kuih-muih yang payah dihadam
(iv) Air yang mengandungi pewarna, perasa tiruan

Manfaat puasa yang berkekalan:

(i) Kurang makan kerana perut dah kecut
(ii) Kesihatan bertambah baik

Saya akhiri dengan sabda Rasulullah s. a. w. yang bermaksud:
"Ada banyak orang yang berpuasa tetapi ia tiada memperolehi dari
puasanya itu, selain dari lapar dan dahaga (yakni tiada mendapat
pahala)."

'Selamat Berpuasa & Selamat Berjuang'


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Earthquake tips

Our Ref: JMM.APL15/442/19 Jld ( 12e )/ ( 162 )
PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION
Issued by Malaysian Meteorological Department
Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation
at 8.00 am 13/09/2007

1. Earthquake Information

A strong earthquake has occurred with these preliminary parameters:

Time of Occurrence : 7.49 am on 13 September 2007

Coordinates : 3.0 South 101.0 East

Location : Southern Sumatera , 160km Northwest of Bengkulu,
Indonesia. 584km Southwest of Johor Bahru.

Magnitude : 6.8 on Richter scale

APA HARUS ANDA LAKUKAN SEMASA BERLAKU GEMPA BUMI

Sekiranya anda di dalam bangunan

Tinggal kekal di dalam bangunan. Ambil perlindungan di bawah meja,
meja tulis atau bangku yang

teguh atau tempatkan diri anda di ambang pintu atau satu sudut.
Begerak ke arah laluan sebelah

dalam (ambang pintu atau bingkai berstruktur atau sebelah dalam
bangunan iaitu pusat paling

kuat dan kurang kemungkinan untuk runtuh. Ia juga akan mengurangkan
impak daripada objek

yang jatuh) di mana mungkin. Pilih lokasi yang boleh memberikan udara
untuk bernafas dalam

keadaan di mana bangunan runtuh di sekeliling anda.

Jauhkan diri anda daripada tingkap, rak buku, kabinet, cermin berat,
pasu bunga tergantung dan

lain-lain objek berat yang boleh menggelungsur dan jatuh. Gerakan
bergulung boleh meremukkan

cermin. Berhati-hati dengan kepingan simen yang jatuh.

Peluk sesuatu (kot, selimut, buku, akhbar, kotak kadbod dan lain-lain)
untuk menutup kepala dan

muka daripada sampah-sarap dan serpihan kaca.

Jangan gunakan lilin, mancis atau lain-lain punca api disebabkan ada
kemungkinan kebocoran gas.

Padamkan semua api.
Sekiranya anda di luar bangunan

Pindah ke kawasan terbuka dengan berhati-hati jauh daripada talian
kuasa, tiang letrik, pokok,

bangunan tinggi, dinding dan tiang lampu. Bahaya paling besar daripada
sampah-sarap yang jatuh

ialah di luar pintu dan hampir ke dinding sebelah luar. Jauhi daripada
talian letrik yang jatuh.

Tinggal kekal di kawasan terbuka hingga gegaran berhenti.
Sekiranya di dalam stor yang sesak

Jangan tergesa-gesa untuk ke muka pintu atau keluar memandangkan
beratus-ratus orang lagi

mungkin mendapat idea yang sama. Sekiranya anda perlu meninggalkan
bangunan, pilih jalan

keluar dengan berhati-hati sebaik mungkin dan bertenang.

Jauhkan diri daripada rak-rak peragaan yang mengandungi objek-objek
yang mungkin jatuh.
Sekiranya di dalam bangunan tinggi

Berlindung di bawah meja atau perabot berat yang seumpamanya. Jauhkan
diri daripada tingkap.

Jangan tergesa-gesa keluar memandangkan tangga mungkin rosak dan sesak
dengan penghuni

lain.

Adalah lebih baik mencari keselamatan di mana anda berada sehingga
gegaran berhenti, dan

kemudian tinggalkan bangunan sekiranya pemindahan diperlukan.

Jangan gunakan lif sebab bekalan kuasa mungkin terputus.

Tinggal kekal di dalam bangunan di tingkat yang sama.
Sekiranya anda di laluan pejalan kaki dekat bangunan

Berjalan masuk ke arah muka pintu untuk melindungi diri anda daripada
batu-bata, kaca,

kepingan simen dan sampah-sarap lain yang jatuh.
Sekiranya di dalam kereta yang bergerak

Berhentikan kereta secepat mungkin apabila telah pasti selamat di
kawasan yang sesuai. Walau

bagaimana pun, jangan berhenti di bawah jambatan atau lintasan atas
atau rentangan kabel atau

di mana bangunan boleh runtuh ke atas anda.

Tinggal di dalam kereta hingga gegaran berhenti. Kereta adalah
penyerap kejutan yang amat baik

dan akan mengayak di atas spring semasa gempa bumi, tetapi ianya
adalah satu bedung yang

selamat untuk menilai situasi anda.

Bila anda terus memandu selepas gegaran, berwaspada terhadap bahaya
yang terhasil daripada

gempa bumi seperti objek yang sedang atau telah jatuh, wayar letrik
yang terendam atau laluan

jalan yang rosak atau berlubang-lubang.

Source of information :
http://www.met.gov.my/malay/perkhidmatan/seismologi/seismic_event.html


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Hijrah akidah Yusuf Estes
SHEIKH YUSUF ESTES.

ZUARIDA MOHYIN
SHEIKH Yusuf Estes ialah seorang cendekiawan terkenal yang tidak pernah
jemu mengembangkan syiar Islam ke seantero dunia serta mengedarkan
bahan-bahan ceramah dalam pelbagai medium kepada umat manusia.
Ikuti autobiografi penghijrahan akidah beliau dari seorang pengkhutbah
Kristian kepada pendakwah Muslim yang aktif dan disegani.
Saya dilahirkan dalam sebuah keluarga yang berpegang kuat kepada agama
Kristian di Midwest, Amerika Syarikat. Hakikatnya, nenek moyang kami
bukan sahaja membina gereja-gereja dan sekolah-sekolah sepanjang tanah
ini tetapi keturunan kami juga merupakan orang yang paling awal datang ke
situ.
Semasa di sekolah rendah, kami sekeluarga ditempatkan semula di Houston,
Texas pada 1949. Kami selalu menghadiri gereja dan saya telah dibaptiskan
pada usia 12 tahun di Pasadena, Texas.
Pada zaman remaja, saya teringin melawat ke gereja-gereja lain untuk
mempelajari Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Charismatic movement,
Nazarene, Church of Christ, Church of God, Church of God ini Christ, Full
Gospel, Agape, Chatolic, Presbyterian dan banyak lagi.
Namun, pengkajian saya tidak terhenti kepada agama Kristian. Agama
Hindu, Yahudi, Buddha, Metaphysics dan kepercayaan tradisi orang Amerika
turut saya selidiki. Sayangnya agama Islam tidak menjadi pilihan.
Bagaimanapun, saya tertarik dengan perbezaan jenis muzik terutamanya
Gospel dan Klasikal. Memandangkan keluarga saya ramai yang kuat agamanya
dan muzikal, ia secara tidak langsung menjadikan dua bidang ini sebagai
pengajian permulaan. Semua ini membawa saya kepada jawatan Paderi Muzik
di beberapa gereja di mana saya menjadi ahli gabungan selama lebih
setahun. Saya mula mengajar keyboard pada 1960 dan sehingga 1963, saya
berjaya memiliki studio sendiri di Laurel, Maryland yang diberi nama
Estes Music Studios.
Sepanjang 30 tahun, saya dan bapa banyak bekerjasama mengendalikan
pelbagai program hiburan. Kami juga membuka kedai piano dan organ di
Texas, Oklahoma hingga ke Florida. Meskipun memperoleh kekayaan namun
sukar temui ketenangan fikiran.
Persoalan seperti; "Mengapa kita diciptakan Tuhan?", "Apakah yang Tuhan
mahu kita lakukan?", "Siapa Tuhan sebenarnya?" dan "Kenapa kita percaya
dengan dosa sebenar?" sering menghantui diri. Namun semua persoalan ini
dibidas keras malah menyuruh anda menerima tanpa mempersoalkannya atau
itulah 'misteri' dan anda tidak perlu mempersoalkan hal itu.
Suatu hari tahun 1991, saya terkejut apabila diberitahu bahawa orang
Islam mempercayai kitab Bible. Malah lebih memeranjatkan, mereka juga
mempercayai bahawa Nabi Isa itu utusan Allah, Rasul, dilahirkan luar
biasa tanpa berbapa, Nabi Isa akan kembali pada akhir zaman. Memang ia
sesuatu yang sukar dipercayai, apatah lagi fikiran saya tentang Islam
agak negatif.
Ayah saya sangat aktif menyokong kerja-kerja gereja, terutamanya dalam
program sekolah sehingga beliau ditahbiskan (dipersucikan) pada 1970. Dia
dan ibu tiri saya mengenali ramai mubaligh Kristian dan pendakwah sehingga
pernah membantu pembinaan "Prayer Tower" di Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mereka berdua
juga terlibat mengedarkan kaset-kaset ceramah di rumah-rumah orang tua,
hospital dan rumah pesara.
Namun pada 1991, ayah mula berurusniaga dengan seorang lelaki dari Mesir
dan menyuruh saya menemui lelaki beragama Islam itu. Pada awalnya saya
agak keberatan apa lagi mengetahui bahawa mereka adalah pengganas,
perampas, penculik dan pengebom. Bukan itu sahaja, mereka juga bukannya
mempercayai Tuhan, yang mereka tahu hanya mencium tanah lima kali sehari
dan menyembah kotak hitam di tengah padang pasir.
Tidak! saya tidak akan berjumpa dengannya. Berkali-kali juga ayah
mendesak dengan mengatakan dia seorang yang baik. Kerana tidak tahan
dengan permintaannya, akhirnya saya bersetuju dengan syarat; pada hari
Ahad, selepas ke gereja, membawa kitab Bible, seutas salib dan memakai
kep yang tertulis 'Nabi Isa adalah Raja'. Isteri dan dua anak perempuan
saya ikut serta dalam pertemuan itu.
Saya terkejut kerana saya menantikan seorang yang bertubuh sasa dengan
jubah, serban, berjanggut paras dada dan bulu kening bercantum di dahi.
Tetapi lelaki ini jauh berbeza, tiada janggut dan kepalanya hampir botak.
Yang pasti, orangnya menyenangkan dan mesra. Semua ini jauh daripada
sangkaan awal saya. Pun begitu, matlamat saya pada masa itu hanya satu
iaitu, 'menyelamatkannya'.
Ketuhanan
Saya banyak bertanyakan soalan kepadanya, terutamanya yang berkaitan
dengan ketuhanan dan perihal nabi-nabi. Dia banyak mengiyakan. Kami
semakin rancak berbual dan semenjak itu hubungan kami semakin rapat. Saya
dapat rasakan yang dia seorang yang baik, pendiam dan sedikit pemalu.
Banyak topik yang kami bualkan acap kali bertemu dan ada ketikanya saya
cuba selitkan beberapa mesej tentang agama kami.
Pada suatu hari saya dapat tahu bahawa teman Islam saya, Mohamed
terpaksa berpindah dan tinggal sementara waktu di masjid. Kami bersetuju
menumpangkan Mohamed di rumah besar kami.
Pengenalan pendek dengan seorang lelaki yang mengakui paderi Kristian
yang telah melakukan kerja-kerja mubaligh untuk gereja lebih 12 tahun di
selatan dan tengah Amerika Syarikat dan Mexico serta di New York
membawanya tinggal bersama kami dan Mohamed. Kami berbual tentang konsep
kepercayaan dalam agama Islam.
Mengejutkan saya apabila diberitahu bahawa setiap paderi Katolik, mereka
belajar agama Islam dan ada di antaranya yang memiliki doktor falsafah
dalam subjek itu. Ini satu yang baru bagi saya.
Semenjak itu kami sentiasa berbincang tentang agama masing-masing. Kami
pernah bertanyakan perubahan versi kitab masing-masing. Pernah sekali
saya bertanyakan kepada Mohamed sejak 1,400 tahun sudah ada berapa versi
al-Quran. Pendek jawapannya hanya ada satu iaitu al-Quran malah ia telah
dihafal oleh jutaan manusia. Bagi saya ini sesuatu yang mustahil.
Bagaimana kitab saya boleh berubah-ubah sedangkan al-Quran tetap
terpelihara.
Pada suatu hari teman paderi saya bertanyakan Mohamed keinginannya untuk
mengikutnya ke masjid untuk mengetahui keadaan di sana. Sekembalinya
mereka, saya bertanya kepada paderi itu apa yang dilakukan oleh orang
Islam? Dia memberitahu, tidak ada apa yang dilakukan hanya sembahyang dan
pulang. Pelik, tidak ada ceramah ataupun nyanyian.
Beberapa hari kemudian, sekali lagi paderi itu mahu mengikut Mohamed ke
masjid. Kali ini mereka pergi agak lama sehingga hari sudah gelap. Bila
pulang saya dapati, Peter (paderi) sudah melakukan syahadah. Saya
terkejut dan semalaman memikirkan hal itu, lalu menceritakan kepada
isteri. Tambah mengejutkan, apabila isteri saya juga menyuarakan
hasratnya untuk bergelar Muslim kerana mengakui kebenaran Islam.
Saya terus memanggil Mohamed dan kami berbincang sepanjang malam
sehingga masuk waktu solat Subuh, Mohamad meminta izin untuk melaksanakan
kewajipannya. Pada detik itu, saya menyedari erti kebenaran dan sudah tiba
masanya untuk saya membuat pilihan yang bakal menyelamatkan saya sama ada
di dunia mahupun akhirat.
Saya ke belakang rumah, ambil sekeping papan lapis dan di situlah saya
sujud mengadap kiblat. Saya meminta, kepada-Nya petunjuk dan bimbingan.
Selepas dari itu, saya benar-benar dapat merasakan perubahan di dalam
diri. Saya terus naik ke atas dan mandi dengan harapan ia akan
membersihkan dosa-dosa. Saya kini seorang yang baru dan berazam membina
kehidupan atas dasar kebenaran.
Pukul 11 pagi hari itu, saya mengucap syahadah bersama dua saksi iaitu
sebelum ini Father Peter Jacob dan Mohamed Abel Rehman. Kemudian diikuti
isteri dan beberapa bulan selepas itu, bapa pula melafazkan syahadah.
Anak-anak saya dipindahkan dari sekolah Kristian kepada sekolah Muslim.
Sepuluh tahun kemudian mereka berjaya menghafal al-Quran. Akhir sekali,
ibu tiri saya pula mengakui kebenaran Islam."


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A professor was walking along a very narrow hall
when he came face to face with a rival.

The passage way was too narrow for two to pass.
The rival, pulling himself up to his full height, said with a sneer,
"I never make way for fools!"

Smiling, the Gracious Professor stepped aside and with a bow replied, "I
Always Do."


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Lawak Orang Terengganu

Samekong dan salang sejahtera. Sini saye ade satu cite untuk
pengajarang
semue. Bagi sape-sape yang nok gi interbiuw dang ade niat nok nippu
mase
interbiuw tu, ingat- ingatlah cite ni. Kisoh benar ni tau bukang
rekaang!!!

Beberape hari yang lepas, satu temuduge kenaikang pangkat telah dibuat
oleh
saloh sebuoh anok syarikak TNB. Biaselah kang kalu nok naik pangkat
mestilah duduk ujiang bertulis dang lepas tu barul! ah ujiang bercakak
pulok (temuduga lah tu) test suare lah pulok. Dang dalang rama-rama
yang
terpilihtu ade tige kawang kite dari Tranung telah dipilih untuk di
temuduge. Kebetulang pulok tige kawang kite ni adelah peserte ketige
yang
pertame. Ape lagi debor peruk lah kawang 3 orang nih. Kawang yang
nombor
satu mule la merungut, (kene bace ikut loghat terengganu!) .......

"Baru je sapa sini, letih tok hilang lagi, doh bale baru sapa pulok".

Sampuk pulak kawan yang kedue ni.... "mapuh kite kalu lagu ni... aku
doh
kecuk perut ni".

Dang bersuare la pulok kawang yang ketige ni dengang berlagok macho
seraye
berkate "Mu nok takut bende gok awang eh... Kalu die tanye, mu jawap
je
la. Kalu mu tok tahu, mu bahang gi la jawap bende pun.... Janji mu
jawap
doh. Hok mu due ekor ni takut sangat bak pe.... Bukangnye tukang
interbiuw
tu nok makang mu. Cer mu tengok aku nih, rilek je. Siap buleh control
ma!
cho lagi".

Tibe mase yang ditunggu-tunggu, make name kaw ang kite yang pertame ni
pun
dipanggil.

Dalam 15 minit kemudian, kawang yang pertame ni pun kuor lah. Ape lagi
macang kera kene belacang la kawang nombor due ni dok tanye ape soalan
yang
di tanye oleh tukang interbiuw tadi.

"Eh awang! menatang bende tukang interbiuw tanye mu tadi???". awang
nombor
satu tadi pong jawap, "Susoh jugok soalan die, tapi aku tok ingak doh
bende yang die tanye tadi, tapi se je yang aku ingak die tanye....
pengerusi TNB yang baru sape name. Aku pung jawaplah Datuk Jamaluddin
Jarjis".

Kawang nombor due pulok menyampuk "Ah sudoh! aku tok reti starang nok
sebuk name tu. Guane nih awang? Aku rase nok terkecing doh ni. Ah! aku
tulih kat tangan je la awang. Kalu die tanye senang le sikit aku nok
jawak."

Pastu sapok le pulok kawang nombor tige yang berlagok panda nih, "Bak
pe
yang mu jadi bodo sangak nih. Jangang tulih kat tangang, nanti tukang
interbiuw tu na! pok mu tulih situ. Mu tulih kat getoh spenda mu tu.
kalu
die tanye, mu selok la sikit spenda mu, mu buat-buat la gatal kat
perut.
Pah tu mu kerling la sikit name pengerusi TNB tu".

Ape lagi... kawang nombor due ni pong suke la dengor idea bernas
kawang
die tu. Tapi die tok tahu yang kawang die nombor tige tu pong panik
gok,
sebab die pong tok tahu nak sebut macang mane.

Name kawan nombor due pun dipanggil... . Dalang 20 minit kawang nombor
due
tok kuor2 lagi. Kawang yang nombor tige panik doh nape kawang die tu
tok
kuor2 lagi. 5 minit pah tu, kuor la kawang nombor due ni dengang muke
tersenyum. Kawang nombor tige pong tanye la, amende soalang yang kuor,
jawap la kawan no due ni, "Susoh gok soalang die tapi soalang
pengerusi
TNB tu aku buleh jawap... aku sempak selok spenda aku. Tukang
interbiuw
tok nampok aku selok tadi".

Kawang nombor tige ni pong panik la. "Ah sudoh awang! aku p! ong
sebenor
nye tok tahu jugok nok sebuk name pengerusi TNB tu".

Jawap lah kawang no due tadi. " Mu tulih pade getoh spenda mu tu
macang
aku buat nih"

Kawan no tige pulok jawap," Aku nok tulih macam mane aku tok pakai
spenda"


Ape lagi kelang kabut le kawang kite. Tibe-tibe kawang no satu yang
dari
tadi berdiam diri tadi bagi idea..... "Ape bende yang susoh sangat ni
awang, mu beri je spenda mu kat die kejap."

Ape lagi bergegas la kawang2 ni pegi toilet untuk berpindoh suor
dalang.
Tok lame lepah tu name kawang no tige ni pong dipanggil. Dengang
semangak
berkobor-kobor dan rase confident yang amat sangat kawang kite ni
masuk
dalam bilik interbiuw tu. Tok sapa 10 minit kawan nombor 3 ni kuor
sambil
tergaru-garu kepale dengang muke kepelikkang. Kawang2 die yang dok
luor ni
tanye la kenape kuor awal sangat?

Kata kawang nombor tige, mase ahli panel tanye name pengerusi TNB tu,
die
jawap je la. Tapi, tok pasa-pasa semue ahli panel su! ke sampai kang
ade
yang mengalir-alir air mate tok tahang sangat. Pastu kawang2 ni tanye
la,
mase ahli panel ni tanye name pengerusi TNB tu, ape mu jawap. Dengang
confident die bagitahu dengan kuat dan lantang..... ......... ...
"Datuk
Calvin Klien".

Rupe-rupenye mase kawang ni berpindoh seluor dalang tadi, kawang yang
sorang ni dah terpakai terbalik rupenye yang belakang ke depang, yang
depang ke belakang. Name pengerusi TNB kat belakang, name jename spenda
tu
pulak kat depan. Tergelok besorlah kawang2 yang due orang lagi
tu.....Gitulah cerite nye.... spang kederang sunggoh!!!

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REASONS NOT TO STAY IN FIVE STAR HOTELS

Question : " What would you like to have ..Fruit juice, Soda, Tea,
Chocolate, Milo, or Coffee?"

Answer: " tea please "

Question : " Ceylon tea, Herbal tea, Bush tea, Honey bush tea, Ice
tea or green tea ?"

Answer : "Ceylon tea "

Question : "How would you like it ? Black or white ?"

Answer: "white"

Question: "Milk, Whitener, or Condensed milk ? "

Answer: "With milk "

Question: "Goat milk, Camel milk or cow milk"

Answer: "With cow milk please.

Question: " Milk from Freeze land cow or Afrikaner cow?"

Answer: " Um, I'll take it black. "

Question: " Would you like it with sweetener, sugar or honey? "

Answer: "With sugar"

Question: " Beet sugar or cane sugar ?"

Answer: "Cane sugar "

Question:" White , brown or yellow sugar ?"

Answer: "Forget about tea just give me a glass of water instead."

Question: "Mineral water or still water ? "

Answer: "Mineral water"

Question: "Flavored or non-flavored ?"

Answer: "I'll rather die of thirst


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Mutiara keimanan - Barisan di akhirat

>> Suatu ketika, Muaz bin Jabar r.a megadap Rasulullah s.a.w dan bertanya
> baginda: ' Wahai Rsulullah tolong huraikan kepadaku megenia firman Allh
> SWT':
>>
>> ertinya:
>> 'Pada sangkakala ditiup, maka kamu sekalian datang berbari-baris. "
>> (Surah al-Naba')
>>
>> Mendengar pertanyaan ini, baginda menangis dan basah pakaian dengan air
> mata. Lalu menjawab: "wahai Muaz, engkau telah bertanyakan kepada ku
> perkara
> yang amat besar, bahawa umatku masing-masing dengan pembawaan mereka
> sendiri..." Maka dinyatakan apakah 12 barisan tersebut:
>>
>> Barisan Pertama
>> Diiringi dari kubur dengan tidak bertangan dan berkaki. Keadaan mereka
> dijelaskan melalui satu seruan dari sisi Allah Yang Maha Pengasih:
'Mereka
> itu adalah orang-orang yang sewaktu hidupnya menyakiti hati jirannya.
Maka
> demikian balasannya dan tempat kembali mereka adalah neraka...."
>>
>> Barisan Kedua
>> Diringi dari kubur berbentuk babi hutan. Datanglah suaradari sisi Allah
> Yang MAha Pengasih: "Mereka itu adalah orang yang sewaktu hidupnya
> meringan-ringankan solat. Maka inilah balasannya dan tempat kembali
mereka
> adalah neraka...."
>>
>> Barisan Ketiga
>> Mereka berbentuk keldai, sedangkan perut mereka penuh dengan ular dan
> kalajengking. "Mereka itu adalah orang yang enggan membayar zakat. Maka
> inilah balasannya dan tempat kembali mereka adalah neraka..."
>>
>> Barisan Keempat
>> Diiringi dari kubur dengan keadaan darah seperti air pancutan keluar
dari
> mulut mereka. "Mereka itu adalah orang yang berdusta di dalam jual beli.
> Maka inilah balasannya dan tempat mereka adalah neraka..."
>>
>> Barisan Kelima
>> Diiringi dari kubur dengan bau busuk daripada bangkai. Ketika itu Allh
>> SWT
> menurunkan angin sehingga bau busuk itu mengganggu ketenteraman di
Padang
> Mahsyar. "Mereka itu adalah orang yang menyembunyikan perlakuan derhaka
> takut diketahui oleh manusia tetapi tidak pula rasa takut kepada Allah
> SWT.
> Maka inilah balasannya dan tempat kembali mereka adalah neraka..."
>>
>> Barisan Keenam
>> Diiringi dari kubur dengan keadaan kepala mereka terputus dari badan.
> 'Meraka adalah orang yang menjadi saksi palsu. Maka inilah balasannya
dan
> tempat kembali mereka adalah neraka..."
>>
>> Barisan Ketujuh
>> Diiringi dari kubur tanpa mempunyai lidah dari mulut mereka mengalir
>> nanah
> dan darah. "Merka itu adalah orang yang enggan memberi kesaksian di atas
> kebenaran. Maka inilah balasnya dan tempat kembali mereka adalah
> neraka..."
>>
>> Barisan Kelapan
>> Diiringi dari kubur dalam keadaan terbalik dengan kepala ke bawah dan
>> kaki
> ke atas. "Mereka adalah orang yang berbuat zina. Maka inilah balasnya
dan
> tempat kembali mereka adalah neraka..."
>>
>> Barisan Kesembilan
>> Diiringi dari kubur dengan wajah hitam gelap dan bermata biru sementara
>> di
> dalam diri mereka penuh dengan api gemuruh. Mereka adalah orang yang
makan
> harta anak yatim dengan cara yang tidak sebenarnya, maka inilah
balsannya
> dan tempat kembali mereka adalah neraka..."
>>
>> Barisan Kesepuluh
>> Diiringi dari kubur dalam keadaan tubuh mereka yang penuh dengan
penyakit
> sopak dan kusta. Mereka adalah orang yang derhaka kepada ibubapa. Maka
> inilah balasannya dan tempat kembali mereka adalah neraka..."
>>
>> Barisan Kesebelas
>> Diiringi dari kubur mereka dalam keadaan buta mata kepala, gigi mereka
> memanjang seperti tanduk lembu jantan, bibir mereka melebar sampai ke
dada
> dan lidah mereka terlanjur memanjang sampai ke perut mereka dan keluar
> beraneka kotoran. Mereka adalah orang yang minum arak. maka inilah
> balasannya dan tempat kembali mereka adalah neraka..."
>>
>> Barisan Kedua Belas
>> Mereka diiringi dari kubur dengan wajah yang bersinar-sinar laksana
>> bulan purnama. Mereka melalui tittian sirat seperti kilat. Maka datang
> suara dari sisi Allah Yang Maha Pengasih memaklumkan:> 'Mereka adalah
> orang
> yang banyak berbuat baik, mereka menjauhi perbuatan derhaka, memelihara
> solat, ketika meninggal dunia keadaan mereka sudah bertaubat. Maka
inilah
> balasannya, dan tempat kembali nereka adalah syurga, mendapat keampunan,
> kasih sayang dan keredhaan Allah Yang Maha Pengasih..."
>>
>>
>> Jika engkau mahukan kemesraan dengan Allah, maka garanglah terhadap
>> dirimu
> sendiri. Jika engkau merasakan manisnya berhubung dengan Allah, tahulah
> engakau betapa peritnya berpisah denganNya...
>>
>> Wallahu a'lam
>>
>> Bersabda Rasulullah s.a.w, ertinya:
>>
>> "Sampaikanlah pesananku kepada umatku walaupun dengan sepotong ayat"

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Banyak dosa hati keras

SEMUA orang tahu racun sangat berbahaya. Jangankan racun, keracunan
makanan pun ditakuti.

Bagaimanapun, tidak ramai orang yang tahu betapa bahayanya dosa. Ia lebih
berbahaya daripada racun.

Dosa membuatkan seseorang merana di dunia dan akhirat. Paling teruk kalau
terminum racun orang akan mati tetapi bahaya dosa orang akan dibakar di
neraka dan sebelum dibakar api neraka, orang berdosa ini terlebih dulu
membakar yakni menyusahkan orang lain di dunia.

Ada orang kata dosa adalah soal peribadi masing-masing, buat masing-masing
tanggung, jaga kubur masing-masing.

Sangat tidak betul kata-kata itu. Kubur kita orang lain yang gali manakala
kubur orang lain terkadang kita yang kena uruskan.

Maknanya dosa yang kita lakukan akan menyusahkan orang lain. Peminum arak
rasa itu perbuatan peribadi, duit dia dan kalau mabuk dia yang
terhoyong-hayang.

Memanglah duit dia tetapi jika dah mabuk dia langgar orang, dah berapa
ramai mangsa kemalangan angkara pemabuk. Rumah tangga lintang pukang dek
kerana arak. Kan menyusahkan orang tu.

Antara bahaya dosa yang banyak itu ialah:

(1) Akan dicabut daripadanya nur iaitu cahaya dan seri keimanan terutama
apabila melakukan dosa besar. Muka yang tidak pernah dibasahi air wuduk
akan kehilangan serinya. Wajah inilah yang akan menerangi anggota wuduk
di akhirat nanti.

(2) Tertutup daripada kebenaran. Maknanya pendosa mana baik dan buruk
tetapi tak ikut kebaikan, dia tahu yang buruk tetapi tidak dapat
meninggalkannya.

(3) Hilang rasa spontan terhadap amal kebaikan dan ganjaran serta tawaran
pahala. Bila sebut syurga dia tidak teringin, bila disebut neraka tidak
takut apa pun malah mengejek masuk neraka bukan seorang.

(4) Berat dan payah benar apabila ingin beramal sebaliknya mudah dan
ringan apabila diajak melakukan dosa dan maksiat.

Menurut ibnu al Qayyim, sesiapa yang melakukan dosa pada waktu malam, dia
amat berat untuk melakukan amal pada siang kerana dosa yang dilakukan
pada waktu malam menghalang beramal dan begitulah sebaliknya.

(5) Dosa membuatkan hati jadi keras dan degil. Payah benar nak dengar
nasihat. Dia nasihat orang boleh tapi sangat berat bila ditegur. Suka
bertekak, berbalah dan tidak menghormati orang lain. Bahasanya kasar dan
tidak menghormati perasaan orang lain.

(6) Dosa derhaka kepada orang tua boleh berjangkit kepada anak-anak. Allah
membalas dengan tindakan anak yang akan menyakitkan hatinya sebagaimana
dia menyakiti ibubapanya.

(7) Dosa menjadi hijab doa payah diterima Allah. Ada riwayat yang
menyatakan sesiapa makan makanan haram, doanya tidak diterima Allah
selama 40 hari.

(8) Terkadang dosa menjadi penghalang daripada mendapat dan menemui jalan
penyelesaian.

(9) Dosa menjadi penyebab turunnya bala Allah. Ada satu hadis, Rasul
bersabda yang maksudnya apabila nampak sangat zina dan riba, sesungguhnya
mereka mengizinkan Allah menurunkan azab.


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TWO TRUE STORIES ABOUT RACISM

1) I'm sure many of you watched the recent taping of the Oprah Winfrey

Show where her guest was Tommy Hilfiger. On the show, she asked him if
the statements about race he was accused of saying were true.
Statements like"..."If I'd known African-Americans, Hispanics, Jewish
and Asians would buy my clothes, I WOULD NOT have made them so nice. I
wish these people would *NOT* buy my clothes, as they are made for upper
class white people."

His answer to Oprah was a simple "YES".
Where after she immediately asked him to leave her show.

My suggestion?
Don't buy your next shirt or perfume from Tommy Hilfiger.
Let's give him what he asked for. Let's not buy his clothes, let's put
Him in a financial state where he himself will not be able to afford the
ridiculous prices he puts on his clothes. BOYCOTT.
PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE YOU KNOW. Then send it to the whole
community that's not white people and see the result. We have to see the
result of unity.

Let's find out if Non-whites really play such a small part in the
world. Stop buying any range of their product, perfume, cosmetics,
clothes, bags, etc.

2) Scene took place on a British Airways flight between Joh it then?"
she responded. "You placed me next to a black man. I do not agree to sit
next to someone from such a repugnant group. Give me an alternative
seat."
"Be calm please," the hostess replied. "Almost all the places on this
Flight is taken.

I will go to see if another place is available." The Hostess went away
and t hen came back a few minutes later. "Madam, Just as I thought,
there are no other available seats in the economy class. I spoke to the
captain and he informed me that there is a seat in the business class.
All the same, we still have one place in the first class." Before the
woman could say anything, the hostess continued: "It is not Usual for ou
company to permit someone from the economy class to sit in the first
class. However, given the circumstances, the captain feels that it would
be scandalous to make someone sit next to someone so disgusting." She
turned to the black guy, and said, "Therefore, Sir, if you would like
to, please collect your hand luggage, a seat awaits you in first class."

At that moment, the other passengers who were shocked by what they had
just witnessed stood up and applauded.


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KUASA SULTAN

The Star Online > Nation Monday August 13, 2007

Sultan expresses concern over host of issues

SHAH ALAM: Immediate action must be taken to check corruption,
bureaucratic red tape, race problems, religious intolerance, the brain
drain and crime, the Sultan of Selangor said. Sultan Sharafuddin Idris
Shah said Malaysia had achieved tremendous progress over the last 50
years. Describing Malaysia as a blessed country, he said the people
certainly had much to be thankful for but should not rest on their
laurels as Malaysians also needed to take stock of what the country
needed to do in the next 50 years. "Corruption is still a problem,
which the people are very concerned about, and more effective action
needs to be taken," he said. Describing corruption as a cancerous
cell, the Sultan said if graft could not be wiped out, it should be
checked effectively. He also took to task government agencies that
continued to slow down approvals for foreign investors, saying the
lackadaisical attitude of some government servants had affected the
investment momentum.
"They must change their mindset because delays mean escalating costs and
lost job opportunities, which may even lead to corrupt practices," he
said. The Sultan said he was upset because the mindset of some people
had not changed, saying he feared investors may move to neighbouring
countries which were very competitive in attracting investors.
Selangor, he said, was one of the country's most important states and he
needed to emphasise this. In a strongly worded interview, the Sultan
said he had given Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo a deadline
for applications after the end of an investment promotion trip. He
acknowledged the Federal Government had set up the Special Task Force to
Facilitate Business (Pemudah) to fast-track procedures and transactions
between the Government and private sector. "That is good but more
needs to be done because the feedback from investors is that there is a
greater need for a bigger push. Time waits for no one. We do
not want investors to be discouraged from investing in Malaysia, as our
neighbouring countries would also be willing to accept them." The
Sultan also expressed his concern over the country's brain drain, saying
talented young people were leaving the country. "No one, irrespective
of his race, should be denied any opportunities. I am sad to see good
people being lost to other countries," he said. He said Singapore was
the greatest benefactor and that even the Singapore National Library was
designed by a Malaysian. In another case, he said, a highly qualified
Malaysian academic was not accepted by local universities but was invited
by the National University of Singapore to head a department. The
Sultan feared talent from the tourism and hospitality sectors would be
affected when the island republic's integrated entertainment resorts
opened. On race relations, he called for the young to have friends
from other races, saying this was important. He said
Tunku Abdul Rahman was very particular about national unity and as the
nation celebrated Merdeka, no one should forget his legacy of insisting
on racial harmony. The Sultan urged the people in Selangor to reject
any form of racial and religious intolerance. "Islam respects other
religions and other religions must also respect Islam," he said, adding
multiracialism must be instilled at primary school level. "If there is
a need to re-evaluate our school system, then our authorities must do so
to promote better racial harmony," he said. On crime, he said the
police needed support from the people as they lacked manpower and
facilities to fight crime. The Sultan said he had asked the Selangor
state government to install more CCTVs as a way to check crime. He
said he was aware Selangor had the highest crime rate because of the
influx of people from other states and foreigners to work in the state.
On the environment, he said the state had planted over a
million trees while the palace had committed itself to planting 5,000
trees on its grounds. "The environment is our concern and will remain
so. Tree replanting is essential," he said, adding that tree-planting
efforts in Bukit Jelutong were commendable. The Sultan said he was
also upset with the use of his name by unscrupulous people for securing
state awards or low-cost houses. "I am disheartened by such people
because Selangor does not sell state awards, that is clear, even to the
people. "But I am glad that the people in Selangor have taken the
trouble to call the palace to verify claims from such dishonest people,"
he said. The Sultan said the people could call his private secretary
Datuk Mohamed Munir Bani at 03-5519 4242 or e-mail
istanamastika@yahoo.com to check. He said the palace believed in
transparency and would be pleased to get feedback from the rakyat on
developments in Selangor.

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KUASA SULTAN

The Star Online > Nation Monday August 13, 2007

Sultan expresses concern over host of issues

SHAH ALAM: Immediate action must be taken to check corruption,
bureaucratic red tape, race problems, religious intolerance, the brain
drain and crime, the Sultan of Selangor said. Sultan Sharafuddin Idris
Shah said Malaysia had achieved tremendous progress over the last 50
years. Describing Malaysia as a blessed country, he said the people
certainly had much to be thankful for but should not rest on their
laurels as Malaysians also needed to take stock of what the country
needed to do in the next 50 years. "Corruption is still a problem,
which the people are very concerned about, and more effective action
needs to be taken," he said. Describing corruption as a cancerous
cell, the Sultan said if graft could not be wiped out, it should be
checked effectively. He also took to task government agencies that
continued to slow down approvals for foreign investors, saying the
lackadaisical attitude of some government servants had affected the
investment momentum.
"They must change their mindset because delays mean escalating costs and
lost job opportunities, which may even lead to corrupt practices," he
said. The Sultan said he was upset because the mindset of some people
had not changed, saying he feared investors may move to neighbouring
countries which were very competitive in attracting investors.
Selangor, he said, was one of the country's most important states and he
needed to emphasise this. In a strongly worded interview, the Sultan
said he had given Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo a deadline
for applications after the end of an investment promotion trip. He
acknowledged the Federal Government had set up the Special Task Force to
Facilitate Business (Pemudah) to fast-track procedures and transactions
between the Government and private sector. "That is good but more
needs to be done because the feedback from investors is that there is a
greater need for a bigger push. Time waits for no one. We do
not want investors to be discouraged from investing in Malaysia, as our
neighbouring countries would also be willing to accept them." The
Sultan also expressed his concern over the country's brain drain, saying
talented young people were leaving the country. "No one, irrespective
of his race, should be denied any opportunities. I am sad to see good
people being lost to other countries," he said. He said Singapore was
the greatest benefactor and that even the Singapore National Library was
designed by a Malaysian. In another case, he said, a highly qualified
Malaysian academic was not accepted by local universities but was invited
by the National University of Singapore to head a department. The
Sultan feared talent from the tourism and hospitality sectors would be
affected when the island republic's integrated entertainment resorts
opened. On race relations, he called for the young to have friends
from other races, saying this was important. He said
Tunku Abdul Rahman was very particular about national unity and as the
nation celebrated Merdeka, no one should forget his legacy of insisting
on racial harmony. The Sultan urged the people in Selangor to reject
any form of racial and religious intolerance. "Islam respects other
religions and other religions must also respect Islam," he said, adding
multiracialism must be instilled at primary school level. "If there is
a need to re-evaluate our school system, then our authorities must do so
to promote better racial harmony," he said. On crime, he said the
police needed support from the people as they lacked manpower and
facilities to fight crime. The Sultan said he had asked the Selangor
state government to install more CCTVs as a way to check crime. He
said he was aware Selangor had the highest crime rate because of the
influx of people from other states and foreigners to work in the state.
On the environment, he said the state had planted over a
million trees while the palace had committed itself to planting 5,000
trees on its grounds. "The environment is our concern and will remain
so. Tree replanting is essential," he said, adding that tree-planting
efforts in Bukit Jelutong were commendable. The Sultan said he was
also upset with the use of his name by unscrupulous people for securing
state awards or low-cost houses. "I am disheartened by such people
because Selangor does not sell state awards, that is clear, even to the
people. "But I am glad that the people in Selangor have taken the
trouble to call the palace to verify claims from such dishonest people,"
he said. The Sultan said the people could call his private secretary
Datuk Mohamed Munir Bani at 03-5519 4242 or e-mail
istanamastika@yahoo.com to check. He said the palace believed in
transparency and would be pleased to get feedback from the rakyat on
developments in Selangor.

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Kisah-1

Ketika belajar di Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Salleh (bukan nama

sebenar) telah bertemu jodoh dengan isterinya Siti Rahmah (bukan nama

sebenar). Salleh mengambil jurusan kejuruteraan manakala Siti Rahmah

mengambil bidang perakaunan. Sekarang mereka telah 15 tahun berkahwin
dan

dikurniakan Allah dengan 7 orang anak. Beberapa bulan yang lepas saya

berkunjung ke rumah Salleh di Kajang. Kebetulan pada pagi Ahad itu
selepas

solat Subuh di Masjid Kajang saya bertemu dengan Salleh. Dia terus
mengajak

saya ke rumahnya. Dia menyewa rumah teres setingkat tidak jauh dengan

Masjid.

Saya mengenalinya sejak hampir 10 tahun yang lalu. Pagi itu tidak sedar

kami telah berbual-bual hampir lima jam. Saya ingin berkongsi tentang

keluarga Salleh ini yang pada saya satu contoh keluarga yang mendapat

keberkatan Allah.

1. Salleh bekerja makan gaji dan pendapatan bersihnya sebulan kurang
dari

RM3000.

2. Isterinya adalah anak sulung, walaupun berkelulusan ijazah namun
menjadi

suri rumah sepenuh masa atas kehendak Salleh. Sebagai penghargaan
kerana

isterinya sanggup tidak bekerja, Salleh memberikan RM300 sebulan kepada

ibu-bapa mertuanya setiap bulan.

3. Di samping itu Salleh juga memberi kepada ibunya di kampung RM200

sebulan. Bapa Salleh telah meninggal dunia.

4. Dia memiliki Toyota Unser dengan ansuran RM500 sebulan.

5. Dia membayar rumah sewa RM400 sebulan.

6. Di rumahnya serba lengkap dengan perabot (TV, Peti Sejuk, Mesin
Basuh,

Set Sofa) serta teratur dan kemas.

7. Pelik tetapi benar, bil elektrik dirumahnya kurang dari RM20 sebulan

sedangkan jirannya tidak pernah kurang dari RM60. TNB dah buat
pemeriksaan

bahawa meter di rumahnya tidak rosak. Begitu juga dengan bil air kurang

dari RM10 sebulan.

8. Empat orang anaknya dihantar ke sekolah agama integrasi.

9. Bayangkan dia boleh hidup dengan Selesa walaupun gajinya kecil jika
di

nisbahkan dengan keluarganya yang agak besar.

Sejak berkawan dengannya ada beberapa perkara yang saya lihat jadi
amalan

dia yang patut di contohi;

1. Solat Duha menjadi amalan hariannya walaupun ketika pergi outstation

2. Solat Istikharah menjadi suatu amalan walaupun nak membeli benda
yang

kecil seperti nak membeli mesin basuh.

3. Sering membaca Surah Al-Waqiah

4. Tidak terlibat langsung dengan sistem Riba. Dia menggunakan Kredit
Kad

Bank Islam. Pinjaman kereta pun menggunakan sistem pinjaman Islam.

5. Buat baik kepada Ibu bapa dan Ibu Bapa mertuanya.

6. Suka menolong orang dan memberi derma

7. Semua anak-anaknya mempunyai akhlak yang baik dan jarang kena
sebarang

penyakit.

8. Dia dah empat tahun menggunakan Toyota Unser, sekali pun tidak
pernah

rosak atau menyusahkan nya.

9. Segala masalah yang dihadapi dapat diselesaikan dengan mudah dan
cepat.

Kisah-2

Ketika saya bujang dahulu saya sering menziarahi kawan saya, Norizam
(bukan

nama sebenar) yang tinggal di Masai Johor. Pada hari Ahad itu saya
sampai

di rumah Norizam selepas waktu Asar. Norizam memperkenalkan Abang dia,

Rashid (bukan nama sebenar) yang baru sampai dari Kuala Lumpur. Rashid

berkunjung ke rumah Norizam kerana untuk menghadiri temuduga pada pagi

Isnin di Johor Baru.

Kawan saya Norizam ini, dalam beberapa hal dia tidak berpuas hati
dengan

abangnya. Kadang kala saya tidak suka mendengar dia merungut tentang

abangnya. Petang itu Norizam merungut lagi iaitu abangnya datang untuk

temuduga kerja sebagai Pengurus Besar (General Manager). Gaji Rashid

sekarang ialah RM10,000 sebulan. Katanya tidak mencukupi. Dia akan
minta

gaji sebanyak RM14,000 sebulan untuk tempat baru ini.

Saya pun berasa hairan gaji RM10,000 sebulan tidak mencukupi sedangkan

hanya mempunyai dua orang anak sahaja. Beberapa tahun kemudian baru
saya

tahu kenapa gaji abangnya RM10,000 tidak mencukupi. Ini ada kaitan
dengan

tiada keberkatan hidup.

Perkara-perkara yang pada pandangan saya menyebabkan Rashid jadi susah

ialah seperti berikut;

1. Banyak sangat terlibat dengan sistem Riba. Pinjaman Kereta, Kad
Kredit,

Pinjaman Rumah, Akaun Simpanan semuanya Sistem Konvensional (Riba)

2. Menggunakan banyak kad kredit konvensional kemudian bayar pokok
sahaja.

Bermakna memakan riba yang berterusan.

3. Sering bertukar kereta sebab kereta selalu bermasalah walaupun
kereta

baru (Masalah kena curi dan kemalangan jalan raya)

4. Sering bertengkar dengan isteri.

5. Isteri sering masuk hospital kerana penyakit misteri.

6. Anak perempuan sulungnya yang di tingkatan tiga kena tangkap basah.

7. Suka menengking jika ada orang mintak derma.

8. Soal sembahyang lima waktu dipandang sebelah mata sahaja.

Kedua-dua kisah ini adalah sesuatu yang lumrah berlaku di sekeliling
kita.

Kadang kala kita tidak sedar langsung atau tidak menghiraukan langsung

untuk mencari keberkatan hidup.


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We are embroiled in a Constitutional Crisis

Yes, we are embroiled in a Constitutional Crisis
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan ibni Al-Marhum
Sultan Mahmud Al Muktafi Billah Shah has already been unofficially
informed that Malaysia Today is garnering online signatures to
support a ten-point Peoples' Petition (Petisyen Rakyat) appealing for
Tuanku to intervene and rectify the very troubling and extremely
alarming state of affairs in this country. And Tuanku has also been
told that thus far we have obtained about 10,000 signatures, to which
Tuanku sighed and retorted that this is going to be another
responsibility he has to take care of.

We are due to officially submit the petition to Tuanku a week or so
before Hari Raya. Nevertheless, since Istana Negara comes under the
Prime Minister's Department, the powers-that-be can of course deny us
access to The Agong. That, in fact, happened back in November 1999.

Soon after Parliament was dissolved in November 1999, I tried to meet
The Agong, who at that time was the Sultan of Selangor. The purpose
of my request to meet The Agong was to hand him a letter expressing
our anxiety at what could possibly happen in the event Barisan
Nasional lost its two-thirds majority in the 29 November 1999 general
election -- or worse, if Barisan Nasional garnered less that 50% of
the seats in Parliament. This anxiety was certainly not misplaced as
had been proven in the Sabah episode when two Chief Ministers were
sworn in and finally, through the intervention of Kuala Lumpur,
Pairin Kitingan was declared the legitimate Chief Minister and PBS
ended up forming the State Government. History has shown this can and
has happened and therefore history could be repeated on the morning
of 30 November 1999 if we did not take precautions.

What we were concerned about (and don't ask me who the "we" are) is
that in the event Barisan Nasional, say, won 49% of the Parliamentary
seats and the four opposition parties (PAS, DAP, PKN and PRM) won 51%
of the seats, a Barisan Nasional Prime Minister could still be sworn
in to form the government. This is because Barisan Nasional, though a
coalition of 14 political parties, is a legally registered coalition;
whereas PAS, DAP, PKN and PRM were a 'loose' coalition that was not
legally registered. Therefore, say, PAS won 20% of the seats, DAP
15%, PKN another 15%, and PRM 1%, Barisan Nasional, at 49%, would
still be considered the largest minority and therefore its 49% would
beat PAS' 20%, DAP's 15%, PKN's 15% and PRM's 1%.

In short, Barisan Nasional would be regarded as one party winning 49%
of the seats and not 14 parties winning 49% while the four opposition
parties would be considered as four parties winning lesser seats than
Barisan Nasional and not one party winning 51%. So, Barisan
Nasional's collective 49% would beat the four opposition parties if
their seats are looked at individually instead of collectively.

The letter we wanted to hand to The Agong was signed by the four
opposition leaders -- Fadzil Noor, Lim Kit Siang, Dr Wan Azizah Wan
Ismail, and Dr Syed Husin Ali -- agreeing to combine all the seats
the four opposition parties were to win so that they could be treated
as a block just like the Barisan Nasional seats. On Thursday night, I
sent the letters to the four opposition leaders who were campaigning
all over the country with instructions to the couriers that the
letters must be returned by dawn. We sent two cars to each leader in
case one car broke down or got involved in an accident -- or in case
they get ambushed along the way. We also did not reveal which car was
carrying the letter in case....well, you know in case what.

The next morning I got the four letters back and around noon that
Friday I rode to the Istana Negara on my Yamaha Virago but was not
allowed into the palace. I explained that I am The Agong's nephew and
wanted to see Tuanku about a family matter. The palace official told
me that they are under strict instructions from the Prime Minister's
Department that no one gets to meet The Agong until after the general
election, not even family members. I phoned two of The Agong's sons,
my cousins, and tried, through them, to get to meet Tuanku. They told
me that even they, Tuanku's own sons, can't get access to The Agong.
I had no choice but to hand the letter to the palace official with
instructions that the letter be personally handed to The Agong. I
then went for my Friday prayers.

I went back to the office at 2.30pm and, lo and behold, there was a
letter waiting for me in the fax machine, the fastest response ever
from the government and which should have made the Book of Records.
It was a letter from the Prime Minister's Department turning down my
request to meet The Agong with instructions to try again after the
general election. Realising that Barisan Nasional was thinking
exactly what we were thinking and that they had pre-empted our every
move, we took steps to hire a helicopter and placed it on standby. In
the event the four opposition parties do win 51% or more of the
Parliamentary seats, the helicopter would take to the air and pick up
the four opposition leaders and drop them onto the lawn of the Istana
Negara so that they can get sworn in to form the new government;
beating Barisan Nasional to it like what Haris Salleh did to Pairin
in Sabah.

But, again, Barsian Nasional pre-empted this. The Agong was not in
the Istana Negara but was safely hidden in Langkawi where we could
not get to him. Invariably, The Agong was well-guarded and not even
his own sons could get to him. Anyway, that is all academic now.
Barisan Nasional managed to win two-thirds of the seats though it won
only 54% of the votes. So it did not matter any longer whether we
could reach The Agong or not.

Expect, therefore, that we may again get blocked and may not be able
to personally meet The Agong to hand Tuanku our Peoples' Petition. At
best they might just allow us to meet a palace official like what
happened to PAS yesterday when all they managed to meet was the
Penyimpan Mohor Besar Raja-Raja Melayu, Tan Sri Engku Ibrahim Engku
Ngah. Nevertheless, this is good enough as this would still be
regarded as official and would be as good as personally handing the
petition to The Agong. And that is why Malaysia Today chose to
conduct an online petition. Other than making this easier for all to
sign, an online petition would be public knowledge and even if they
block us from personally handing the petition to The Agong, they will
not be able to block knowledge of the petition. This means The Agong
will know about it even if the hardcopy version does not reach him.

Yes, November 1999 taught us a thing or two and it is not that easy
to do us in a second time.

Now, some have asked me: what can The Agong do? Sure, The Agong
receives our petition. But what can The Agong do about it when the
Rulers have no power? Undeniably, those who ask this question have
not read the Federal Constitution of Malaysia or do not even realise
that we have one. Even those who are aware of the Constitution point
out that Article 43 of the Constitution forbids The Agong from
interfering in the running of the government. The Agong, they argue,
can only act on the advice of the Prime Minister. Actually, that is
not quite true.

Article 43 (1) says: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall appoint a Jemaah
Menteri (Cabinet of Ministers) to advise him in the exercise of his
functions.

Note that it says the Cabinet is 'to advise him in the exercise of
his functions'. It says 'advise' and this is the one word that has
been wrongly interpreted as The Agong receives instructions from the
Cabinet. If they had meant for The Agong to receive instructions from
the Cabinet then Article 43 (1) would have used the word 'instruct'
and not 'advise'.

Now, look at Article 43 (1) (a) that says: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong
shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister) to preside
over the Cabinet a member of the House of Representative who in his
judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the
members of that House.

Note that Article 43 (1) (a) says that The Agong shall appoint as
Perdana Menteri 'a member of the House of Representative'. It does
not say that the Perdana Menteri must be the President of Umno or the
Chairman of Barisan Nasional. The only criterion for the appointment
of the Perdana Menteri is: 'who in his judgment is likely to command
the confidence of the majority of the members of that House'.

Note that part again: 'who in his judgment is likely to command the
confidence of the majority of the members of that House'. What
happens if The Agong, in his judgement, feels that the Perdana
Menteri is UNLIKELY to command the confidence of the majority of the
members of that House? In other words, what happens if 111 Members of
Parliament pass a vote of no confidence in Parliament? Would The
Agong then not, in his judgment, form an opinion that the Prime
Minister no longer commands the confidence of the majority of the
members of that House?

Okay, you may argue that this is in theory only and in practice could
never happen. We can never see the day when 111 Members of Parliament
will stand up in Parliament and pass a vote of no confidence against
the Prime Minister, you might say. Never mind! Even if you think that
in practice this will never happen, what is important is that in
theory it is possible and it will be perfectly legal to do so, and
The Agong, according to the Constitution, can intervene and remove
the Prime Minister. And it is not treasonous to talk about it or
actually do it because the Constitution provides for it.

What is even more interesting is Article 43 (4) of the Federal
Constitution that says as follows: If the Prime Minister ceases to
command the confidence of the majority of the members of the House of
Representatives, then, unless at his request the Yang di-Pertuan
Agong dissolves Parliament, the Prime Minister shall tender the
resignation of the Cabinet.

Yes, once 111 Members of Parliament pass a vote of no confidence on
the Prime Minister, he (plus the entire Cabinet) has to resign,
unless the Prime Minister asks The Agong to dissolve Parliament --
which means we shall then have fresh elections (and later I will show
you that The Agong can refuse to dissolve Parliament even if the
Prime Minister asks him to).

This continues in Article 43 (5) which says: Subject to Clause (4),
Ministers other than the Prime Minister shall hold office during the
pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, unless the appointment of any
Minister shall have been revoked by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the
advice of the Prime Minister but any Minister may resign his office.

In short, while the Prime Minister must resign, if it pleases The
Agong, the Cabinet Ministers can stay in office.

Now, let us look at a hypothetical situation. Say 111 Members of
Parliament secretly meet The Agong or send him a petition saying that
they have lost confidence in the Prime Minister, although no official
vote of no confidence has been tabled in Parliament, this can also be
regarded as the majority of the Members of the House having lost
their confidence in the Prime Minister and The Agong can act on that.

Okay, now let us look at Article 32 (1): There shall be a Supreme
Head of the Federation, to be called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who
shall take precedence over all persons in the Federation and shall
not be liable to any proceedings whatsoever in any court.

And Article 32 (2) says: The Consort of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (to
be called the Raja Permaisuri Agong) shall take precedence next after
the Yang di-Pertuan Agong over all other persons in the Federation.

In short, The Agong is the Supreme Head of Malaysia while his consort
is The First Lady who 'takes precedence next after the Yang di-
Pertuan Agong over all other persons in the Federation'. Maybe the
New Straits Times can stop calling Jeanne Danker The First Lady as
this goes against our Constitution.

The Agong's supreme power is further clarified in Article 39 which
says: The executive authority of the Federation shall be vested in
the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and exercisable, subject to the provisions
of any federal law and of the Second Schedule, by him or by the
Cabinet or any Minister authorised by the Cabinet, but Parliament may
by law confer executive function on other persons.

The icing on the cake is of course Article 40a.

40a. (1) In the exercise of his functions under this Constitution or
federal law the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall act in accordance with
the advice of the Cabinet or of a Minister acting under the general
authority of the Cabinet, except as otherwise provided by this
Constitution; but shall be entitled, at his request, to any
information concerning the government of the Federation which is
available to the Cabinet.

40a. (2) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may act in his discretion in the
performance of the following functions, that is to say:
(a) the appointment of a Prime Minister;
(b) the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of
Parliament;
(c) the requisition of a meeting of the Conference of Rulers
concerned solely with the privileges, position, honours and dignities
of Their Royal Highnesses, and any action at such a meeting and in
any other case mentioned in this Constitution.

40a. (3) Federal law may make provision for requiring the Yang di-
Pertuan Agong to act after consultation with or on the recommendation
of any person or body of persons other than the Cabinet in the
exercise of any of his functions other than:
(a) functions exercisable in his discretion;
(b) functions with respect to the exercise of which provision is made
in any other Article.

Now, while 40a (1) says "the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall act in
accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or of a Minister acting
under the general authority of the Cabinet", it also says "except as
otherwise provided by this Constitution". So this means The Agong can
act WITHOUT the advice of the Prime Minister wherever the
Constitution allows him to do so.

Article 40a (2) in fact allows The Agong to "act in his discretion in
the appointment of a Prime Minister". This therefore makes it
perfectly legal for The Agong to use his discretion in appointing the
Prime Minister of Malaysia. Discretion here would mean that The Agong
can do what he feels is right and if he feels that Tengku Razaleigh
Hamzah should be the Prime Minister then Tengku Razaleigh it is.

And Article 40a (3) says that "Federal law may make provision for
requiring the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to act after consultation with or
on the recommendation of any person or body of persons other than the
Cabinet in the exercise of any of his functions other than functions
exercisable in his discretion". This means two things:

1. Any person or body of persons other than the Cabinet CAN advice
The Agong; which means these other people can override the Prime
Minister.
2. But these same people who can override the Prime Minister cannot
override The Agong in cases where The Agong is allowed to exercise
his own discretion.

And finally Article 41: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be the
Supreme Commander of the armed forces of the Federation. So, in
short, while Article 31 makes The Agong the Supreme Head of the
Federation, Article 41 makes him the Supreme Commander of the armed
forces. If that is not power then I don't know what is -- unless you
don't know what the word 'Supreme' means.

Now, recently, the government openly declared that Malaysia is not on
the verge of another Constitutional Crisis, 20 years after the first
two. Actually this is not true. Malaysia is not on the verge but is
already embroiled in a Constitution Crisis. But those who walk in the
corridors of power are trying to hide this fact from us. Allow me to
reveal a message I received from one of my Deep Throats in the
corridors of power. The following is self-explanatory and
demonstrates what I am trying to say:

Two names, Nik Hashim and Hashim Yusof, were given by the CJ, both
whom are 'kaki bodek', as possible candidates to replace him. Both
these candidates were rejected by the Rulers. After their
elimination, as a consolation, they were promoted to the Appeals Court.

Since the Rulers had rejected Nik Hashim and Hashim Yusof, the next
in line would be Justice Dato Abdul Hamid Mohamed and Justice Dato
Alauddin Mohd. Sherif. But the CJ does not favour these two because
they are independent-minded, apolitical and well-known for their
integrity. The CJ bypassed these two on the pretext that both are
close to retirement in a year or two.

On the Rulers' insistence, the PM and the CJ had no choice but to
accept Justice Hamid as President of the Court of Appeal and Justice
Alauddin as the Chief Justice of Malaya. Both of them were appointed
by the Agong on 5 September 2007.

On the same day of the above two appointments, a senior lawyer from
the private sector, Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi, 62 years old, became the
first person to be directly-appointed to the Federal Court. He is
UMNO's Legal Adviser and a member of its Disciplinary Committee plus
is Fairuz's 'kaki' from the Kedah days.

His leaving a lucrative private sector practice where he was making
millions a month in legal fees -- repeat, millions a month -- raises
questions in the minds of the members of the bench, the chattering
class, and some important MPs on both sides of the political aisle.
The speculation is that he could probably succeed Fairuz as CJ.

It is an open secret that the Prime Minister wanted a two year
extension to Fairuz's contract. But this was rejected by the Agong
and his brother Rulers. As a temporary arrangement, the PM asked the
Agong to appoint Fairuz on a three-month contract. The Agong is still
holding back his agreement on this matter.

This whole affair, yet again, shows the PM's duplicity. Here is a God-
given chance to do something about our Judiciary, which has been
systematically destroyed over the last 25 years. Instead of doing
something about it, which is what the people want, the PM is still
trying to keep the rot afloat by working with Fairuz.

It is a shame that today our Rulers have to step in to defend the
Constitution and rebuild our much-battered institutions. It is also a
sad reflection of our UMNO-led governance. You have to expose this
and do not worry about the authenticity of the information as my
information is from impeccable sources. You will be doing Malaysians
a great public service by exposing this latest Constitutional Crisis.


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Lailatul Qadr: Malam misteri yang dirindui kedatangannya

Lailatul Qadr: Malam misteri yang dirindui kedatangannya

Ustaz Zainudin Hashim
Fri | Sep 28, 07 | 10:15:10 am MYT

Tazkirah Ramadan | Umat Islam di seluruh dunia akan memasuki fasa ketiga
pelaksanaan ibadat puasa serta amal-amal ibadat sunat yang lain pada
minggu hadapan, ini bermakna sedar atau tidak, Ramadan tetap akan
meninggalkan kita buat tempoh setahun.

Apa yang perlu sama-sama kita ingatkan antara satu sama lain, ialah
kenangan positif yang kita kecap sepanjang berada dalam bulan Ramadan,
iaitu bulan yang dipenuhi dengan segala macam keberkatan, rahmat,
keampunan Ilahi serta program-program yang dapat membebaskan diri
daripada api neraka.


Itulah bulan yang banyak memberi kita peluang untuk mendapatkan rahmat
Allah, keampunan-Nya dari segala kesalahan yang telah kita lakukan
sebelum ini, memohon kepada-Nya agar diri kita, keluarga serta anak-anak
bebas daripada siksaan api neraka.


Masa yang paling sesuai untuk kita lakukan kesemua itu adalah di tengah
malam, di ketika ramai manusia sedang seronok tidur dan mungkin juga
sebahagian mereka sedang menonton rancangan kesukaan mereka, kerana pada
waktu itu suasana hening menyelubungi manusia, justeru waktu itu juga
amat berkesan untuk menyatakan rasa hati kepada Maha Pencipta.


Apatah lagi pada malam akhir-akhir di bulan Ramadan, terdapat satu malam
yang disebut oleh Allah SWT dengan jelas sebutan namanya yang mulia dalam
satu surah yang pendek, malam yang diturunkan padanya kitab suci al-Quran
sebagai petunjuk kepada manusia menuju jalan kebenaran dan keselamatan di
dunia dan akhirat, iaitulah malam yang sangat dikenali dengan Lailatul
Qadr - atau diterjemahkan sebagai malam takdir.


Dalam al-Quran, Allah SWT berfirman yang bermaksud: "Sesungguhnya Kami
telah menurunkan (Al-Quran) ini pada Malam Lailatul-Qadar, Dan apa
jalannya engkau dapat mengetahui apa dia kebesaran Malam Lailatul-Qadar
itu? Malam Lailatul-Qadar lebih baik daripada seribu bulan. Pada Malam
itu, turun malaikat dan Jibril dengan izin Tuhan mereka, kerana membawa
segala perkara (yang ditakdirkan berlakunya pada tahun yang berikut);
Sejahteralah Malam (yang berkat) itu hingga terbit fajar!" (Quran,
Al-Qadr 97: 1-5)


Berdasarkan ayat di atas dapat dilihat bahawa malam al-Qadar disebut juga
dengan malam yang penuh keberkatan. Sebab pada malam itu Allah mencucuri
pelbagai rahmat, keampunan dan keberkatan kepada orang yang beramal
dengan khusyuk dan berdoa dengan penuh keikhlasan.


Kepada mereka Allah memberikan ganjaran kebaikan yang sama nilainya dengan
beramal seribu bulan. Firman Allah bermaksud: "Malam al-Qadar itu itu
lebih baik daripada seribu bulan" (Surah al-Qadr, ayat 3) .


Sebab-sebab Allah adakan Lailatul Qadr
Allah SWT Taala yang Maha Pengasih Lagi Maha Penyayang, amat menyayangi
hamba-Nya yang taat beribadat kepada-Nya, ia tidak lain adalah untuk
menganugerahkan kepadanya pahala-pahal yang banyak, supaya dengannya dia
akan dapat masuk syurga.


Terdapat beberapa pandangan ulama yang menyebut bahawa, Allah SWT
mempunyai sebab kenapa Dia mengadakan Lailatul Qadr buat umat Nabi
Muhammad s.a.w antara lain.


Menurut Imam Malik, Rasulullah melihat bahawa umur umatnya tidak sepanjang
umat sebelum mereka, baginda bermohon kepada Allah memberikan peluang di
mana umatnya supaya dapat beramal dengan yang nilainya sama dengan amalan
umat sebelum mereka.


Sementara Imam al-Qurtubi pula berpendapat, Rasulullah diperlihatkan
kepadanya usia umat terdahulu, maka Baginda berasa usia umatnya terlalu
pendek hingga tidak mungkin dapat mencapai amal seperti yang diraih oleh
umat terdahulu yang usianya panjang. Purata usia umat Muhammad antara 60
hingga 70 tahun menurut maksud satu hadis Rasulullah. Sebab itu Allah
menawarkan malam al-Qadar yang mempunyai nilai pahala seribu bulan kepada
Rasulullah, para sahabat malah kepada seluruh umat baginda s.a.w.


Justeru, malam al-Qadar adalah satu kurniaan Ilahi yang dianugerahkan
oleh Allah kepada Rasulullah dan umatnya sebagai tanda kasih sayang dan
rahmat-Nya yang menyeluruh. Amal kebajikan seseorang hamba Allah pada
malam itu adalah lebih baik daripada amal kebajikan selama seribu bulan
atau menurut ulama sebagai 83 tahun empat bulan.


Dorongan Nabi supaya umatnya terus beribadat pada malam tersebut
Kerana keutamaan ini, Rasulullah menganjurkan umatnya agar mencari dan
seterusnya mendapatkan malam al-Qadar yang penuh keberkatan itu. Dalam
hal ini, Rasulullah perlu dijadikan ikutan yang menampilkan teladan
terpuji dalam menghidupkan malam terakhir Ramadan.


Ini dilakukan dengan melaksanakan iktikaf, membangunkan keluarga agar
lebih meningkatkan amalan ibadat pada malam hari dan tidak mendekati
isterinya dengan tujuan memperbanyakkan amal ibadat di masjid seperti
solat tahajud, Witir, solat Tarawih, membaca dan tadarus al-Quran serta
berzikir kepada Allah dan amalan solih lain yang dianjurkan Islam.


Rasulullah sentiasa memanjatkan doa ke hadrat Ilahi. Antara yang sering
Baginda baca ialah doa maksudnya: "Wahai Tuhan kami! Anugerahkanlah
kepada kami kebajikan di dunia dan juga kebajikan di akhirat serta
peliharakanlah kami daripada seksaan api neraka yang pedih."


Doa yang dilafazkan itu bukan sekadar satu permohonan untuk memperoleh
kebajikan dunia dan akhirat, malah untuk memantapkan langkah dan
kesungguhan agar dapat meraih kebajikan yang dijanjikan Allah. Ini kerana
doa itu sendiri membawa maksud satu permohonan yang penuh tulus dan
pengharapan, di samping disusuli dengan usaha melipatgandakan amal ibadat
yang mendekatkan diri kepada Allah.


Selain itu, setiap Muslim dianjurkan bertaubat dan memohon ampun kepada
Allah daripada sebarang kesalahan dan dosa selama ini. Setiap manusia
tidak terlepas daripada kealpaan dan seterusnya melakukan kesalahan yang
dilarang Allah. Dalam hal ini, Rasulullah bersabda maksudnya: Setiap anak
Adam tidak akan terlepas daripada melakukan dosa dan sebaik-baik orang
daripada kalangan yang berdosa itu ialah yang bertaubat kepada Allah.
(Hadis riwayat Tirmizi dan Ibnu Majah)


Berdasarkan permohonan inilah maka Allah menurunkan Lailatul Qadar.


Hikmah dirahsiakan kehadirannya
Sesungguhnya ayat al-Quran yang menceritakan tentang masa berlaku
Lailatul Qadr, tidak dijelaskan secara jelas, kerana ia bertujuan agar
manusia tidak hanya tertumpu pada satu malam sahaja jika mereka tahu
malam tersebut, justeru ia dirahsiakan agar mereka menghidupkan setiap
malam terakhir Ramadan dengan amalan-amalan yang pernah dilakukan oleh
baginda, para sahabat dan para solihin terdahulu.


Syeikh Muhammad Abduh berpendapat bahawa sebab malam itu diturunkan kepada
umat Muhamad kerana Qadar itu bermakna ketentuan atau takdir. Pada malam
itu Allah mula mentakdirkan agama-Nya dan memerintahkan nabi-Nya untuk
menyeru manusia kepada agama yang melepaskan mereka daripada segala
kehancuran dan kerosakan.


Pendapat Syeikh Muhammad Abduh ini berdasarkan kenyataan bahawa al-Quran
pertama kali diturunkan pada malam al-Qadar. Turunnya al-Quran pada
dasarnya adalah watikah pelantikan Muhammad sebagai nabi dan rasul yang
bertanggungjawab menyampaikan risalah Islam. Begitu juga dalam mengubah
corak hidup manusia daripada alam jahiliah kepada suasana Islam. Ertinya
malam al-Qadar itu adalah malam disyariatkan Islam kepada umat Nabi
Muhammad sebagai agama penyelamat untuk seluruh alam.


Ada ulama lain yang menyatakan bahawa penyebab dikatakan dengan malam
al-Qadar kerana pada malam itu Allah menetapkan takdir setiap makhluk
baik berupa rezeki, umur atau sakit atau sihatnya seseorang untuk jangka
masa setahun, iaitu dari malam al-Qadar tahun ini hingga ke malam
al-Qadar tahun depan.


Mengenai jatuhnya malam al-Qadar, ulama berbeza pendapat mengenainya.
Imam Nawawi berkata bahawa sebahagian ulama menyatakan malam itu bergilir
dari tahun ke tahun. Ertinya apabila pada tahun ini berlaku pada malam 29
Ramadan, maka tahun akan datang datang pada malam berbeza.


Hal sama dikatakan oleh Ibn Hazm bahawa Lailatul Qadar itu ada kalanya
pada malam 21, 23, 25, 27 atau 29 Ramadan.


Sementara menurut jumhur ulama, Lailatul Qadar berlaku pada malam yang
sama pada setiap Ramadan iaitu pada malam 27 Ramadan. Ini berdasarkan
hadis Rasulullah daripada Ubai bin Ka'ab yang diriwayatkan oleh Tirmizi
dan hadis dari Mu'awiyah yang diriwayatkan Abu Dawud. "Saya mendengar
Rasulullah bersabda carilah Lailatul Qadar itu pada malam 27."


Sebahagian sahabat dan ulama mencuba menentukan Lailatul Qadar dengan
cara lain, iaitu menggunakan rumusan tertentu.


Ibnu Abbas berkata bahawa surah al-Qadr itu terdiri daripada 30 kalimah.
Kata salamum hiya (selamat sejahteralah malam itu) berada pada kalimah
yang ke-27. Oleh itu Ibnu Abbas menyatakan bahawa malam al-Qadar berlaku
pada malam ke-27.


Sementara sebahagian ulama menyatakan bahawa kalimat Lailatul Qadr
terdiri daripada sembilan huruf. Dalam surah al-Qadr kata-kata Lailatul
Qadr itu diulang-ulang sebanyak tiga kali. Maka sembilan darab tiga
adalah 27. Maknanya Lailatul Qadar itu berlaku pada malam 27.


Sementara ulama lain seperti Ahmad Marzuk dan Ibnu Arabi berpendapat
bahawa Lailatul Qadar itu berlaku pada malam Jumaat ganjil pada 10 malam
terakhir Ramadan.


Namun dalil yang paling kuat mengenai Lailatul Qadar adalah hadis
daripada Aishah yang diriwayatkan oleh Imam Bukhari. "Carilah
sedaya-upaya kamu Lailatul Qadar itu pada sepuluh malam ganjil pada akhir
Ramadan."


Perbezaan pendapat sahabat dan ulama ini sebenarnya adalah satu kenyataan
bahawa tidak ada satu dalil jelas yang menunjukkan bila malam ini berlaku.
Tetapi sahabat dan ulama bersepakat dengan hadis Rasulullah yang
diriwayatkan oleh Aishah tadi bahawa malam itu berlaku pada sepuluh malam
ganjil akhir Ramadan.


Menurut Prof Wahbah al-Zuhayli, sebab dirahsiakan Lailatul Qadar supaya
umat Islam sentiasa berusaha beribadah pada setiap malam Ramadan tanpa
menumpukan pada satu malam saja. Ini kerana setiap malam pada Ramadan
memiliki hikmah dan rahsia tersendiri.


Tanda-tanda berlakunya Lailatul Qadr
Di antara tanda yang sempat terlihat pada masa Nabi s.a.w adalah
bahwasanya ketika baginda bersujud di waktu Subuh di atas tanah yang
dibasahi dengan air, ertinya bahawa pada malam itu turun hujan sehingga
baginda sujud di atas tanah yang berair.


Lailatul Qadr adalah malam dibukanya seluruh pintu kebaikan, didekatkannya
para kekasih Allah, didengarkannya permohonan dan dijawabnya segala doa,
amal kebaikan pada malam itu ditulis dengan pahala sebesar besarnya,
malam yang lebih baik daripada seribu bulan. Maka hendaknya kita berusaha
untuk mencarinya dengan bersungguh-sungguh.


Malam itu tenang dan hening, keadaannya tidak dingin dan tidak panas;
siangnya pula memancarkan cahaya matahari yang warnanya pucat; pada malam
itu juga malaikat Jibril akan menyelami orang yang beribadat pada malam
itu dan secara tiba-tiba kita akan rasa sangat sayu dan kemudiannya
menangis teresak-esak.


Ada pendapat yang berkata, bahawa orang yang menemui lailatul qadar akan
melihat nur yang terang benderang di segenap tempat hingga keseluruhan
ceruk yang gelap gelita.


Ada pula menyatakan bahawa kedengaran ucapan salam dan kata-kata yang
lain daripada malaikat.


Ada juga yang melihat segala benda termasuk pohon-pohon kayu rebah sujud.


Ada yang berkata doa permohonannya makbul.


Fokus umat pada malam tersebut
Lailatul Qadr seperti yang dijelaskan di atas, adalah masa yang paling
sesuai untuk mengajukan segala permohonan kepada Allah SWT, apa yang
perlu dilakukan pada malam tersebut ialah dengan perkara-perkara berikut:


Menghayati malam tersebut dengan ibadah


Beriman dengan yakin bahawa malam lailatul qadar itu adalah benar dan
dituntut menghayatinya dengan amal ibadah.


Amal ibadah itu dikerjakan kerana Allah semata-mata dengan mengharapkan
rahmat dan keredhaanNya.


Kesimpulan, persoalan bila sebenarnya berlakunya Lailatul Qadr, hanya
Allah SWT sahaja yang tahu.


Apa yang telah dinyatakan kepada kita melalui hadis-hadis Nabi s.a.w ialah
tanda-tanda dan juga malam-malam yang kemungkinan berlakunya Malam
al-Qadr.


Berdasarkan hadis Nabi s.a.w menghidupkan 10 malam terakhir dengan
beriktikaf, ramai di kalangan ulama' cenderung mengatakan bahawa malam
tersebut kemungkinan besar akan berlakunya Malam al-Qadr.


Mengenai cerita pelik yang berlaku, usahlah dijadikan pegangan, oleh
kerana para sahabat juga mencari Malam Al-Qadr dengan berdasarkan
tanda-tanda yang telah Nabi saw ceritakan kepada mereka. Malah, tidak
terdapat sebarang periwayatan mengenai apa yang telah dilihat oleh para
sahabat. Maka tidak melihat, tidak bermakna tidak mendapat ganjaran Malam
al-Qadr!


Fikir masalah umat ketika sedang beritikaf adalah ibadat
Bukan sahaja melakukan ibadat qiyamullail itu dikira sebagai satu amal
ibadat yang baik di sisi Allah SWT, malah memikirkan sesuatu khususnya
mengenai masalah yang melanda umat Islam hari ini juga dikira sebagai
ibadat yang besar, apatah lagi ketika menjalani proses beri’tikaf dalam
masjid pada malam-malam terakhir Ramadan.


Lebih-lebih lagi masalah umat secara global, sama ada keruntuhan moral,
perilaku, akhlak di kalangan remaja lelaki mahupun perempuan, masalah
krisis keyakinan terhadap Islam di kalangan mereka yang mempunyai profil
tinggi dan lain-lain, kesemua itu dapat ditangani jika masing-masing
memainkan peranan sebagai hamba Allah yang mempunyai jati diri sebagai
orang yang bertakwa seperti yang dituntut dalam ayat mengenai matlamat
pelaksanaan ibadat puasa.


Fadilat Lailatul Qadr
Mungkin terdapat sesetengah orang menyangka bahawa mendirikan Qiyamullail
pada disepertiga (1/3) malam iaitu dengan hanya bersolat Tarawih (Qiyam
Ramadan) berjemaah pada awal malam, iaitu selepas Solat Ba'diyah Isya'.
Apakah orang seperti ini mendapat ganjaran atau pahala seperti mereka
yang bersolat di malam Al-Qadr (sekiranya berlaku Lailatul Qadr pada
malam tersebut)?


Berkata Muhaddis terkenal, Sheikh Nasyirudin Al-Albani (didalam buku
Risalah Qiyam Ramadan) :
"Sebaik-baik malam ialah Malam Al-Qadr, kerana baginda s.a.w bersabda
:'Barangsiapa yang berqiyam pada Malam Al-Qadr (berjaya mendapatkannya)
dengan keimanan dan pengharapan, telah diampunkan dosa-dosa yang telah
lalu' - [Hadith riwayat kedua Sheikh dari hadith Abu Hurairah, Ahmad
5/318].


Sementara Sheikh Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi menceritakan mengenai syarat
beramal pada malam Al-Qadr, katanya :
"Membawa kepada apa yang harus dilakukan oleh seorang Islam pada malam
tersebut ialah : bersolat Isya' berjemaah, Solat subuh berjemaah dan pada
malamnya mendirikan qiyamullail.


Di dalam Sahih diriwayatkan bahawa Nabi bersabda :"Barangsiapa yang
bersolat Isya' berjemaah, seolah-olah ia berqiam di separuh malam, dan
barangsiapa yang bersolat subuh berjemaah, seolah-olah ia bersolat
disepanjang malam tersebut. (Riwayat Ahmad, Muslim dan lafaznya, dari
hadis Osman, Sahih Jami' Saghir - 6341).


Dan tujuannya ialah : Barangsiapa yang bersolat Subuh dengan
tambahan-tambahan di dalam waktu Isya', adalah sebagaimana yang
diriwayatkan di dalam Hadis Abu Daud dan Tirmizi :


"Barangsiapa yang solat Isya' berjemaah bagaikan berqiyam separuh malam,
dan barangsiapa bersolat Isya' dan Fajar bagaikan ia berqiyam sepenuh
malam (sumber yang sama - 6342)."


Semoga tahun ini kita mendapat rezeki untuk bertemu dengan Lailatul Qadr,
iaitu satu malam yang penuh dengan misteri, supaya pahala amalan kita
dilipat gandakan oleh Allah dan dikira sebagai amal-amal yang solih,
Insya Allah. - mks.

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From Dolahgate to Lingamgate

From Dolahgate to Lingamgate
Category: General Posted by: Raja Petra
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Din Merican

The controversy with regards to the video-clip -- now aptly dubbed
Lingamgate -- and the ongoing public debate surrounding it is about
the judiciary and the rule of law; which are universally accepted as
indispensable pillars of an enlightened government, a modern economy
and civilised life. In other words, this is to ensure that no person
will be subjected to the whims of another; as what should be in a
just society. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the
judiciary is the branch of government primarily responsible for
interpreting the law. It must therefore be above the executive branch
of the government, even above the Prime Minister, and certainly above
all those who walk in the corridors of power.

The judiciary's foremost role is to defend and uphold the
Constitution and to ensure that the rule of law prevails. A pervasive
element in the judiciary's role at every level is the protection of
each person's constitutional, human, civil and legal rights. The
judiciary also has an essential role in protecting us from the wrong-
doing of others, protecting the weak from the strong, protecting the
powerless from the powerful, as well as protecting individuals from
the unwarranted or unlawful exercise of power by the State.

The judiciary and the rule of law are the things which, perhaps, more
than any other, affect people's daily lives. The Anwar Saga of the
Reformasi days, the ongoing Altantuya Fiasco, plus many more such
'circuses' only serve to reinforce the argument that an independent,
impartial and un-exploitable judicial system is second to life itself.

Before we dwell into the recent announcement of the setting up of an
'independent' panel, it is pertinent for Malaysians to recall that
the legacy of the past, a pall that hangs over our judiciary,
continues to haunt this nation till this very day. The rot, we must
remember, began some 20 years ago and which saw the judicial system
on a slide down a slippery slope that promises to get worse before it
gets better.

Since the dismissal of the Lord President, Tun Salleh Abbas, the 1988
suspension of five eminent judges, and the eventual sacking of Tan
Sri Justice Wan Sulaiman and Tan Sri Justice George Seah, Malaysians
of all walks of life -- not to mention the Bar Council, civil society
groups and politicians -- have been expressing grave concern over the
independence of our judiciary. Doubts have also been raised with
regard to the character, integrity and performance of some of our
judges.

Tun Salleh Abbas was ousted supposedly on grounds of 'misbehaviour'.
Later, the Tun defined 'misbehaviour' as unlawful or immoral conduct
'such as bribery, corruption and acts done with improper motives',
none of which, Tun Salleh Abbas maintained -- and the public as well
-- to this very day applied to his dismissal. Strangely enough,
'misbehaviour' is a perception of what characterises the state of the
legal system as a whole from 1988 to the present day. In particular,
it dramatically took our judiciary down this greasy slope, gathering
speed as it went down the abyss.

After this most regrettable 1988 saga, there were growing allegations
about the involvement of some of our judges in corrupt practices.
There was the infamous 33-page 'poison-pen letter', one believed to
have been written by a then senior judge, which provided names, cases
and extremely fine details of specific allegations. The said poison
letter drew headlines in the mainstream media at home and abroad.
With mounting pressure from the Bar Council, politicians, civil
society groups and the general public, the then Attorney-General
promised to look into the matter. But nothing came out of it.
Instead, he caused more controversy than dignitaries did in a lifetime.

Then yet another case came out into the open. This was the Ayer Molek
affair involving a complex commercial wrangle over land acquisition
and shares. As it was connected to a senior politician and an
important corporate player, the Appeal Court reversed a High Court
ruling but was, in turn, overruled by the Federal Court. This Ayer
Molek case led to finger-pointing to a lawyer, since then known in
some circles as 'Mister Fix It', who was acting for a politically
well-connected tycoon and who allegedly attempted to bribe some
members of the judiciary. There was also a scandal implicating a
senior Minister in a share allocation exercise. This was again
covered up by the authorities.

After that the sex scandal of the Melaka Chief Minister exploded onto
the scene which implicated him in affairs with various women,
including a 15-year old girl, besides alleged misuse of state funds
that ran in millions upon millions. But the powers-that-be at the
time prevented further investigation and, as if in defiance of public
outrage, this disgraced politician was reinstated to an important
party post. What is worse, it also inflicted damage on the legal system.

Once again, despite promises by the authorities to get to the depth
of this matter, nothing was done. Instead, the public was soothed
with talk of a 'Code of Ethics' for judges. After much debate, in
1994 it was agreed that a code should be drafted. However, owing
largely to protests by certain judges, this too did not see the light
of day. As a result of the continued series of allegations on the one
hand, and empty promises by the authorities on the other, nothing was
really done to restore faith in the fairness and independence of the
judiciary -- and as such in that same process the rule of law also
suffered.

The above is, in a nutshell, the long and short of where we are
today. And the situation has been getting worse rather than better.
Not only does 'Mister Fix It' continue to work hand-in-glove with a
familiar politically-well-connected tycoon, but he is also alleged to
be engineering judicial appointments at many levels, besides bribing
some of them as well. According to local media reports, a prominent
serving Cabinet Minister is said to be also involved.

All told, Malaysians across the board and cutting across political
party lines and other sectarian divide are simply aghast at the state
of the judiciary, the rule of law, and the future of the country.
There is now a ground swell of public anger. It is against this
backdrop that the public is today debating over the video-clip
revelation and wondering where the hell this country is heading.

From the initial comments by the members of the special independent
panel entrusted with the task of investigating the video-clip, the 26
September announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister that the
government had set up a panel appears to be a rush-job, not to
mention confusing one as well. None of the panel members were clear
about their terms of reference. At this point of time, they have not
received their letters of appointment either. The impression given is
that this initiative was done in haste, reinforced by the fact that
their appointments were made over the telephone.

What continues to puzzle the public is the rather cavalier manner in
which this panel is being established. One wonders whether this is
the way the government makes important decisions, in particular on a
matter that has raised serious public concern across the board. The
other worry is about why the Deputy Prime Minister rather than the
Prime Minister himself, who is also the Minister of Internal
Security, had to make this announcement.

It must be recalled that the Prime Minister had earlier, on September
21, directed the Inspector-General of Police to immediately start a
thorough investigation into the video recording which has implicated
a prominent lawyer purportedly brokering the appointment of judges.
Has the Deputy Prime Minister's announcement superseded the decision
of the Prime Minister? Furthermore, was this matter fully discussed
by the Cabinet? It would appear that it was not, because the
announcement was on September 25, a day before the weekly Cabinet
meeting. Is the setting up of the panel then a fait accompli?

Also, questions are being raised about the position of individual
members of the component parties in Barisan Nasional as represented
in the Cabinet. They remained elegantly or otherwise silent. Yet
another question is whether the idea of the selection of the members
of the panel -- comprising a former Chief Judge of Malaya, Tan Sri
Haidar Mohamed Noor as its Chairman, a former opposition politician
Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, and a former Court of Appeal Judge, Datuk
Mahadev Shankar -- ever discussed by the Cabinet prior to the Deputy
Prime Minister's announcement? Neither has there since been any
confirmation that the setting up of the panel had been endorsed by
the Cabinet at its meeting yesterday; September 26.

The Chairman of the panel is an independent non-Executive Director of
the CIMB Group which is headed by the Deputy Prime Minister's own
brother. Tan Sri Lee Lam, as Chairman of the National Service
Council, works closely with the Deputy Prime Minister in the latter's
capacity as Minister of Defence. He is also a director of several
firms such as Media Prima Berhad whose companies include some
mainstream media. Datuk Mahadev has a legal background and remains a
consultant to a well known legal firm.

The whole matter leads to more questions than answers, raising
concerns of the public. Why not leave the investigation of the
authenticity of the video-clip in the hands of the police, as decided
earlier by the Prime Minister? Under these circumstances, it behoves
on the three-member panel to recognise that, today, more than ever as
we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of independence, that good
governance, especially of the judiciary, and the character and
integrity of judges, is not only paramount but vital.

The public and the future of the country are at stake. The panel must
take into account that if the government does not deal with past
deeds, how can it deal with the future, not to mention the present.
The current controversy over the video-clip goes to the very heart of
governance, that is, the rule of law, on the one hand, and
transparency and accountability, on the other.

At yesterday's meeting to announce Malaysia's ranking on the
Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International (TI)
at the Integrity Institute of Malaysia, the founder president of the
TI Malaysian chapter, Tunku Aziz Ibrahim, said the following:

"In the long years I have been involved in the fight against
corruption both here in Malaysia and internationally, I have only
ever applied the term systemic corruption, in our part of the world,
to neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines. Today, we (Malaysians)
are playing in the same league with them, and from all indications,
we are winning hands down."

He further added:

"In the last three years, in our own backyard (Malaysia), matters
have come to such a head, and in ways that suggest that corrupt
practices have become a way of life, that I feel justified in saying
that unless there is a demonstration of stronger and more focused
leadership to confront corruption decisively, Malaysia will continue
to carry a stigma of a country that has developed unethical public
behaviour, or not put too fine a point on it, corruption into a fine
art form with politicians and civil servants outdoing and
outperforming one another in the race to accumulate riches that defy
our imagination."

He also highlighted that:

"Today, we (Malaysians) are the grip of a widespread institutional
fatigue. Every major institution of Government, the justice system,
the road transport department, the Anti-Corruption Agency and local
government, to name but a few, have been ethically compromised and
have become in varying degrees a hotbed of corruption to such an
extent that public confidence in these institutions has all but
evaporated. Institutional failures resulting from poor,
unprofessional and unethical leadership are the primary cause of the
systemic corruption we now experience in Malaysia."

In addition, he noted:

"...The outcome of the investigation of the Lingam Tape is being
awaited with bated breath because the implications for the future of
our country are going to be profound."

Be that as it may, besides having direct impact on the lives of our
citizens on a daily basis in more ways than one, the judiciary has
economic consequences on the country. Malaysia has gained the
notorious reputation of practicing cronyism in politics which has
contaminated the judiciary and the civil service. This discourages
investments by a great majority of firms at home and abroad who do
not know people in high places. That, in turn, translates into slower
economic growth, loss in national competitiveness, lower government
revenues, fewer jobs, not to be forgotten the shame that it brings to
the country.

Simply put, tainted persons and those of questionable character --
whether in the judiciary, civil service or government -- should not
hold office. And this is exactly what Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah Ibni
Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah stressed in his policy speech recently.
In respect of the judiciary, it is a fundamental principle in any
legal system that a judge should not meet with any litigant. To say
the least, this is not conducive to public trust in the judiciary. As
it is often said, "justice should not only be done but be seen to be
done".

The appointment of the panel, which is an administrative measure with
no force law, is at best a half-measure and the public cannot be
faulted for being cynical about it or behind the motive for setting
it up. The perception is that the government continues to play as in
the 1980s and 1990s to the present fast and easy with the law to
decide cases on purely political grounds. In view of the above, the
setting up of the panel should only be seen as a first step to begin
cleansing the judiciary. The next logical step for the government is
to put the appointment of judges in the hands of an independent
commission.

For this to happen, a Royal Commission on the Judiciary is urgently
warranted.

There must be a root and branch reform of the legal system. Only then
will there re-emerge the likes of Tun Suffian, Tuanku Sultan Azlan
Shah and Tun Salleh Abbas, and others like Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdul
Kadeer, Tan Sri Gunn Chit Tuan, Tan Sri Kadir Sulaiman and Tan Sri
Siti Normah, to name but a few. They, it must be remembered, all
joined the judicial and legal service priding themselves on being the
best and to give the best. In the meantime, either the newly
appointed President of the Appeal Court, Datuk Justice Abdul Hamid
bin Mohamad, or the Chief Judge of Malaya, Datuk Justice Alauddin bin
Mohd Sherif, personalities of long-standing service in the judiciary
and, above all, men of character and integrity, should be elevated to
the post of Chief Justice.

Our Third Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn, passionately believed in
the inviolability of the Constitution and the Rule of Law. He always
insisted on justice, both economic and social, for all and also
equally demanded that everyone must be accountable before the law. He
proved this by his ability to move courageously, even boldly, when in
a tight spot, or even when issues of principles are at stake.

The panel should heed all of the above in carrying out its duty. The
panel does not have to wait or be bound by whatever its terms of
reference may be. Only then can sanity be restored in this country of
ours.


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Foreign Policy In Focus: Monks Versus the Military

http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4582

Monks Versus the Military
Kyi May Kaung | S
eptember 26, 2007
Editor: John Feffer


Foreign Policy In Focus

www.fpif.org

In Rangoon and other cities of Burma, Buddhist monks have
confronted the military dictatorship with an unusual technique: they
refused to accept alms. In Buddhist tradition, this boycott is the
ultimate insult monks can deploy. On September 26, the government finally
responded to the monks' boycott by cracking down on the protests, which
attracted as many as 100,000 people at their height. Police reportedly
killed one protestor, and arrested as many as 200 monks. The future of
the democracy movement in Burma remains unclear.
Throughout the protests, the monks have used the symbols and practices
of Buddhism to express their discontent and rally public support. At
first only a few monks demonstrated in towns such as Pakokku, where the
authorities used hired thugs, now called Swan Arr Shin (Possessors of
Strength) to lasso and catch the fleeing monks with lariats. Then the
thugs threw the monks in prison where they forced them to disrobe and
tortured them. In Pakokku, the monks kept some army officers captive for
a few hours, but since then, they have walked through cities and towns
silently, observing the Theravada monks' traditional discipline of
silence and downcast eyes. They have also been chanting the Metta Thoke
or Loving Kindness Sutra, which sends and shares merit to all living
beings.

According to eyewitness reports, the monks maintained their silence even
when they met with Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's democracy leader and Nobel
Peace Laureate, who has been under house arrest since May 2003. When a
group of about 500 monks was inexplicably allowed to walk past her house
on Saturday, she came out of a side gate dressed in yellow (the color of
the religious order or thathana) to pay her respects.

With the implicit blessing of a woman increasingly considered the
matriarch of Burma, the number of monks marching in the streets increased
together with the numbers of lay people forming human chains to support
them. The monks are a generation younger than the dissidents and
activists who led the last major challenge to the military junta in 1988.
Foreign journalists estimate the number of protesting monks countrywide to
be 500,000, which equals the number of conscripted and other soldiers in
the junta's standing army. Now that the government has decimated Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy party, the monks are the only
organized force strong enough to challenge the junta.
Drawing from Buddhism In smuggled-out videos and photographs taken by
citizen journalists inside Burma, masses of shaven-headed monks in
rust-red and maroon-red robes hold out their hands in the gesture of
shikoe or paying respect. Some of the monks appear to be hiding their
faces from the camera, but the majority does not hide. During the
protests, the monks often marched behind a banner with the colors of the
Buddhist thathana. Or they were led by a monk holding his black lacquered
begging bowl upside down. In Burmese, the word for "strike" or "to strike"
- thabeik hmauk -- literally means "to turn the thabeik or begging bowl
upside down."

It is the custom in Burma for monks to make their rounds of the
neighborhoods every morning with their begging bowls. They stand silently
outside each house for a few moments. Usually the lady of the house will
donate a few scoops of cooked rice, or whatever curry she can afford. The
monk is not supposed to be choosy and cannot refuse whatever is offered.
Once back at the monastery, the monk may not eat at leisure, savoring
each flavor, but must instead mix all the offerings up in his bowl and
then eat this mush.

In Theravada Buddhist belief, a monk, as the Buddha Gautama himself did,
does a layperson a favor by allowing him or her to obtain merit by
accepting alms from them. It is not the other way around. So when a monk
or monks refuse alms from the junta, it is an act of severe moral
censure.
Theravada means the the creed of the theras. It is the oldest form of
Buddhism, that Burma shares with other South and Southeast Asian
countries such as Sri Lanka (in fact Burma got its Buddhism from Sri
Lanka in the 10th century), Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. The Vinaya, or
rules of the order, have come down from the time of the historic Buddha,
the Gautama Buddha (Prince Siddartha before he obtained Enlightenment)
and number a total of 227 rules. These begin with the Ten Commandments
(do not destroy life, do not become intoxicated, and so on) and extend to
rules regarding personal possessions, modes of dress, and rules regarding
meals (monks may not eat any solid food after 12 noon until dawn of the
next morning).

These rules have long shaped Burmese culture and society, for it is a
devoutly Buddhist country. In the 1950s, the democratically elected Prime
Minister U Nu banned the eating of beef, went on Buddhist retreats, and
sponsored the Seventh Great Buddhist Synod, during which monks from all
over the world discussed the sacred texts. Despite this official
promotion of Buddhism, Rangoon and other cities were more secular and
westernized. Under the system established by General Ne Win, who took
over in a military coup in 1962, the Burmese have sought solace in
religion. The isolation of the country has also led to renewed
superstition and animist beliefs, which have always co-existed with
Buddhism in Burma since ancient times. The military rulers, with their
low level of education, are notoriously superstitious.
Adhering officially to Buddhism, the military regime has repressed and
harassed other religions, for instance destroying churches and hilltop
crucifixes in the Chin state in the northeast and forcibly deporting the
Muslim Rohingya to Bangladesh. In the late 1990s, the junta set up a
rival Karen force led by pseudo monks to attack the Karen National Union
forces, which is predominantly Baptist and has been in armed struggle
against the central government for more than half a century.
The ruling generals wish to be known as major patrons of Buddhism. At
the same time, at least since 1975, the military junta has been using
Buddhist institutions to consolidate its power. The founder of the
current military government, General Ne Win, barely tolerated the monks
and tried to control them through a system of ID cards in 1975. More
recently, it has excommunicated monks who do not follow the Vinaya, those
who do not observe vows of celibacy, and other rules. The junta calls this
process Thathana Thant Shin Yay or the Cleansing of the Sangha (the
community of monks). The junta has used the senior monks - the Nakaya
Sayadaw, which it appoints - to control, judge, and police the Burmese
Sangha. For this reason, the current presiding Nayaka have been
ineffective as liaison between the demonstrating monks and the
government. When the monks' protests started, an open letter from the
underground organization behind the protests, warned the Nayaka to see
that the
protestors' grievances were heard.

There is a long tradition of Buddhist monks challenging the political
status quo. Under the Burmese kings, until the British annexation of
Burma in 1886, the Buddhist monks, especially the Thathana Paing or the
Buddhist Patriarch, in many instances tried to prevent the worst excesses
of the authoritarian kings. They also sometimes took on diplomatic
functions, going to neighboring countries such as China, most famously in
the 13th century. In the British period, the monks were at the forefront
of the independence movement, some sacrificing their lives for the
freedom for the country.

The monks of Mandalay, known as the Yahan Pyo (Young Monks) have been
active in politics since the 1950s. In 1992, Burmese monks went on strike
against the military regime, refusing alms from army families. In the late
1990s, there were incidents in Mandalay where the most sacred Maha Myat
Muni image was desecrated. This sacrilege, widely considered a junta
provocation, angered the monks and set off riots.
Roots of the Current Protests The military government has repeatedly
used massive force to suppress peaceful demonstrations of unarmed
civilians. This cycle of protests and government counterforce is
memorialized in recent Burmese history by a series of dates. On July 7,
1962, shortly after seizing power, the junta shot university student
demonstrators and dynamited the Rangoon University Student Union
building. During the troubles of 1967, the junta tried to blame high rice
prices on the native Sino-Burmese community, and its provocateurs
instigated rioting against Chinese-owned businesses. In 1975 came riots
after the family of former U.N. Secretary General U Thant brought his
remains home. On September 18, 1988, the government began to clamp down
on the mass pro-democracy movement, which was born that year. And on May
30, 2003, in what is known as the Depayin massacre, hired thugs attacked
Suu Kyi's entourage.

This present round of demonstrations began on August 18, when the
government raised the price of
diesel oil by 500% in order to cover a budget deficit that resulted from
a salary hike for civil servants.

The junta's move of the Burmese capital to Pyinmana, now called
Naypyidaw (King's Royal City), must have also contributed to the budget
deficit. The military government covers these deficits by its old methods
of printing new money or by declaring some denominations void. Its
privatizations since 1988 have enriched a new class of well-connected
business people or oligarchs at the expense of the impoverished majority.

The August 2007 demonstrations were led by well-known dissidents such as
Min Ko Naing (with the nom de guerre Conqueror of Kings), Su Su Nway (now
in hiding), and others. The military quickly cracked down and still has
not allowed the International Red Cross to visit Min Ko Naing and others
who are reportedly in Insein Prison after being severely tortured.

It was at this point that the monks of Burma, coordinated by an
underground organization, stepped into the foreground and added new life
to the movement. Under Suu Kyi's leadership, passive resistance, with Suu
herself worshiping with leading monks, has been the norm since 1988.
Prospects for the Future The scale of the demonstrations has caught the
attention of the international media. Experienced and highly successful
international dissident groups such as the U.S. Campaign for Burma have
started a vigorous media and fundraising drive and are pressuring Chinese
embassies overseas as well as the UN Security Council. The Chinese
government has the most extensive ties with the Burmese junta, and India
too is on good terms with the government. Even as the monks were
marching, an Indian company
bought some more tracts of land from the junta for natural gas
exploration in Burma.

The UN has taken up the Burmese issue again, and both President George
W. and Laura Bush have spoken up for Burma. The Bush administration has
announced heightened sanctions against the Burmese junta, a widened visa
ban for junta officials, and greater scrutiny of their financial
transactions. Since 2004 when the first round of sanctions was put in
place, Burmese officials have allegedly been keeping euro accounts or
accounts in Singapore. The administration is looking into ways of cutting
off the flow of funds into and out of the coffers of the ruling elite.

In Burma itself, the military needs to realize that a government can
benefit by having an active opposition party as an early warning
indicator. Such a party can help the government democratically structure
meaningful policies that are developmental and not detrimental. The
military would be wise to form a transitional government with Suu Kyi at
least as a minister (of labor affairs or education) or as an ombudsman.
So far, it seems, the military is afraid of such an option.

The monks and the people of Burma have legitimate grievances. They have
the right to their own lives, to improve their lives, to speak up and be
left alone. Moethee Zun, a former student leader of 1988, now based
overseas, in a privately produced video has called for the military
government to "approach us. We are not your enemies. You have a
responsibility to the people and so do we."


Kyi May Kaung holds a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and
has two degrees in economics from Rangoon University. She is a
Washington, DC-based writer and analyst, a contributor to Foreign Policy
in Focus, and a close observer of the Burmese scene since the 1960s. For
more articles in FPIF's Religion and Foreign Policy focus, please visit
www.fpif.org.

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Russia is far from oil's peak

Russia is far from oil's peak
By F William Engdahl

The good news is that panic scenarios about the world running out of
oil any time soon are wrong. The bad news is that the price of oil is
going to continue to rise. "Peak Oil" is not our problem. Politics
is. Big Oil wants to sustain high oil prices. US Vice President Dick
Cheney and friends are all too willing to assist.

On a personal note, I've researched questions of petroleum since the
first oil shocks of the 1970s. I was intrigued in 2003 with something
called the Peak Oil theory. It seemed to explain the otherwise
inexplicable decision by Washington to risk all in a military move on
Iraq.

Peak Oil advocates, led by former BP geologist Colin Campbell and
Texas banker Matt Simmons, argued that the world faced a new crisis,
an end to cheap oil, or Absolute Peak Oil, perhaps by 2012, perhaps
by 2007. Oil was supposedly on its last drops. They pointed to
soaring gasoline and oil prices and to the declines in output of the
North Sea, Alaska and other fields as proof they were right.

According to Campbell, the fact that no new North Sea-size fields had
been discovered since the North Sea in the late 1960s was proof. He
reportedly managed to convince the International Energy Agency and
the Swedish government. That, however, does not prove him correct.

Intellectual fossils?
The Peak Oil school rests its theory on conventional Western geology
textbooks, most by American or British geologists, which claim oil is
a "fossil fuel", a biological residue or detritus of either
fossilized dinosaur remains or perhaps algae, hence a product in
finite supply. Biological origin is central to Peak Oil theory, used
to explain why oil is only found in certain parts of the world where
it was geologically trapped millions of years ago.

That would mean that dinosaur remains became compressed and over tens
of millions of years fossilized and were trapped in underground
reservoirs perhaps 1,200-2,000 meters below the surface of the Earth.
In rare cases, so goes the theory, huge amounts of biological matter
should have been trapped in rock formations in the shallower ocean
regions such as in the Gulf of Mexico or North Sea or Gulf of Guinea.
Geology should be only about figuring out where these pockets in the
layers of the earth, called reservoirs, lie within certain
sedimentary basins.

An entirely alternative theory of oil formation has existed since the
early 1950s in Russia, almost unknown to the West. It claims that the
conventional US biological-origins theory is an unscientific
absurdity that is unprovable. They point to the fact that Western
geologists have repeatedly predicted finite oil over the past
century, only then to find more, lots more.

Not only has this alternative explanation of the origins of oil and
gas existed in theory, the emergence of Russia as the world's largest
oil and natural-gas producer has been based on the application of the
theory in practice. This has geopolitical consequences of staggering
magnitude.

Necessity the mother of invention
In the 1950s, the Soviet Union faced "Iron Curtain" isolation from
the West. The Cold War was in high gear. Russia had little oil to
fuel its economy. Finding sufficient oil indigenously was a national-
security priority of the highest order.

Scientists at the Institute of the Physics of the Earth of the
Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Geological Sciences
of the Ukraine Academy of Sciences began a fundamental inquiry in the
late 1940s: Where does oil come from?
In 1956, Professor Vladimir Porfir'yev announced their conclusions:
"Crude oil and natural petroleum gas have no intrinsic connection
with biological matter originating near the surface of the Earth.
They are primordial materials which have been erupted from great
depths."

The Soviet geologists had turned Western orthodox geology on its
head. They called their theory of oil origin the "abiotic" theory -
non-biological - to distinguish it from the Western biological theory
of origins.

If they were right, oil supply on Earth would be limited only by the
amount of organic hydrocarbon constituents present deep in the Earth
at the time of the planet's formation. Availability of oil would
depend only on technology to drill ultra-deep wells and explore into
the Earth's inner regions. They also realized that old fields could
be revived to continue producing, so-called self-replenishing fields.
They argued that oil is formed deep in the Earth, formed in
conditions of very high temperature and very high pressure, like that
required for diamonds to form.

"Oil is a primordial material of deep origin which is transported at
high pressure via 'cold' eruptive processes into the crust of the
Earth," Porfir'yev stated. His team dismissed the idea that oil is is
biological residue of plant and animal fossil remains as a hoax
designed to perpetuate the myth of limited supply.

Defying conventional geology
The radically different Russian and Ukrainian scientific approach to
the discovery of oil allowed the USSR to develop huge gas and oil
discoveries in regions previously judged unsuitable, according to
Western geological exploration theories, for the presence of oil. The
new petroleum theory was used in the early 1990s, well after the
dissolution of the USSR, to drill for oil and gas in a region
believed for more than 45 years to be geologically barren - the
Dnieper-Donets Basin in the region between Russia and Ukraine.

Following their abiotic or non-fossil theory of the deep origins of
petroleum, the Russian and Ukrainian petroleum geophysicists and
chemists began with a detailed analysis of the tectonic history and
geological structure of the crystalline basement of the Dnieper-
Donets Basin. After a tectonic and deep structural analysis of the
area, they made geophysical and geochemical investigations.

A total of 61 wells were drilled, of which 37 were commercially
productive, an extremely impressive exploration success rate of
almost 60%. The size of the field discovered compared to the North
Slope of Alaska. By contrast, US wildcat drilling was considered to
have a 10% success rate. Nine of 10 wells are typically "dry holes".

That Russian geophysics experience in finding oil and gas was tightly
wrapped in the usual Soviet veil of state security during the Cold
War era, and was largely unknown to Western geophysicists, who
continued to teach fossil origins and, hence, the severe physical
limits of petroleum. But slowly it begin to dawn on some strategists
in and around the Pentagon well after the 2003 Iraq war that the
Russian geophysicists might be on to something of profound strategic
importance.

If Russia had the scientific know-how and Western geology did not,
Russia possessed a strategic trump card of staggering geopolitical
import. It was not surprising that Washington would go about erecting
a "wall of steel" - a network of military bases and anti-missile
shields around Russia to cut its pipeline and port links to western
Europe, China and the rest of Eurasia.

English geographer and geopolitician Halford Mackinder's worst
nightmare - a cooperative convergence of mutual interests of the
major states of Eurasia, born of necessity and need for oil to fuel
economic growth - was emerging. Ironically, it was the blatant US
grab for the vast oil riches of Iraq and, potentially, of Iran that
catalyzed closer cooperation between traditional Eurasian foes, China
and Russia, and a growing realization in western Europe that their
options too were narrowing.

The peak king
Peak Oil theory is based on a 1956 paper by the late Marion King
Hubbert, a Texas geologist working for Shell Oil. He argued that oil
wells produced in a bell-curve manner, and once their "peak" was hit,
inevitable decline followed. He predicted that US oil production
would peak in 1970. A modest man, he named the production curve he
invented Hubbert's Curve, and the peak as Hubbert's Peak. When US oil
output began to decline in about 1970, Hubbert gained a certain fame.

The only problem was, it peaked not because of resource depletion in
the US fields. It "peaked" because Shell, Mobil, Texaco and the other
partners of Saudi Aramco were flooding the US market with dirt-cheap
imports from the Middle East, tariff-free, at prices so low
California and many Texas domestic producers could not compete and
were forced to shut their wells.

Vietnam success
While the US oil multinationals were busy controlling the easily
accessible large fields of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and other areas
of cheap, abundant oil during the 1960s, the Russians were busy
testing their alternative theory. They began drilling in a supposedly
barren region of Siberia. There they developed 11 major oilfields and
one giant field based on their deep abiotic geological estimates.
They drilled into crystalline basement rock and hit black gold of a
scale comparable to the Alaska North Slope.

They then went to Vietnam in the 1980s and offered to finance
drilling costs to show that their new geological theory worked.
Russian company Petrosov drilled in Vietnam's White Tiger oilfield
offshore into basalt rock some 5,000 meters down and extracted 6,000
barrels a day of oil to feed the energy-starved Vietnam economy. In
the USSR, abiotic-trained Russian geologists perfected their
knowledge and the Soviet Union emerged as the world's largest oil
producer by the mid-1980s. Few in the West understood why, or
bothered to ask.

Dr J F Kenney is one of the only Western geophysicists who has taught
and worked in Russia, studying under Vladilen Krayushkin, who
developed the huge Dnieper-Donets Basin. Kenney told me in a recent
interview that "alone to have produced the amount of oil to date that
[Saudi Arabia's] Ghawar field has produced would have required a cube
of fossilized dinosaur detritus, assuming 100% conversion efficiency,
measuring 19 miles [30.5 kilometers] deep, wide and high." In short,
an absurdity.

Western geologists do not bother to offer hard scientific proof of
fossil origins. They merely assert their belief as a holy truth. The
Russians have produced volumes of scientific papers, most in Russian.
The dominant Western journals have no interest in publishing such a
revolutionary view. Careers, entire academic professions are at
stake, after all.

Closing the door
The 2003 arrest of Russian Mikhail Khodorkovsky, of Yukos Oil, took
place just before he could sell a dominant stake in Yukos to
ExxonMobil after a private meeting with Cheney. Had Exxon gotten the
stake, it would have had control of the world's largest resource of
geologists and engineers trained in the abiotic techniques of deep
drilling.

Since 2003, Russian scientific sharing of knowledge has markedly
lessened. Offers in the early 1990s to share knowledge with US and
other oil geophysicists were met with cold rejection, according to
American geophysicists involved.

Why then the high-risk war to control Iraq? For a century, US and
allied Western oil giants have controlled world oil via control of
Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or Nigeria. Today, as many giant fields are
declining, the companies see the state-controlled oilfields of Iraq
and Iran as the largest remaining base of cheap, easy oil.

With the huge demand for oil from China and now India, it becomes a
geopolitical imperative for the United States to take direct military
control of those Middle East reserves as fast as possible. Cheney
came to the job of vice president from Halliburton Corp, the world's
largest oil-geophysical-services company. The only potential threat
to that US control of oil just happens to lie inside Russia and with
the now-state-controlled Russian energy giants.

According to Kenney, Russian geophysicists used the theories of
brilliant German scientist Alfred Wegener fully 30 years before
Western geologists "discovered" Wegener in the 1960s. In 1915,
Wegener published the seminal text The Origin of Continents and
Oceans, which suggested an original unified landmass or Pangaea more
than 200 million years ago that separated into present continents by
what he called continental drift.

Up to the 1960s, supposed US scientists such as Dr Frank Press, the
White House science adviser, referred to Wegener as "lunatic".
Geologists at the end of the 1960s were forced to eat their words as
Wegener offered the only interpretation that allowed them to discover
the vast oil resources of the North Sea.

Perhaps in some decades Western geologists will rethink their
mythology of fossil origins and realize what the Russians have known
since the 1950s. In the meantime, Moscow holds a massive energy trump
card.

F William Engdahl, author of A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil
Politics and the New World Order, Pluto Press Ltd. To contact:
www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net.

(Copyright 2007 F William Engdahl.)


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Shahrir: Judicial hangover from 1988 crisis

Shahrir: Judicial hangover from 1988 crisis
Beh Lih Yi
Sep 25, 07 3:25pm


exclusive Oct 10, 1988. What was to have been a special morning for
veteran parliamentarian Shahrir Abdul Samad ended with him being
penalised for defiance.

Just 46 days earlier, Shahrir had won the Johor Baru parliamentary
seat as an Independent in a by-election, with a whopping majority of
12,613 votes. He had held the seat for three terms since 1978, but on
an Umno ticket. He had resigned from the seat after his fallout with
then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, forcing a by-election.

As the swearing-in ceremony got underway in Parliament, he stunned
the House by refusing to stand when he was called to take the oath of
office before Speaker Mohamed Zahir Ismail. He was ordered to leave
the House.

Sixteen days later, Shahrir returned and took his oath before Zahir
so that he could keep the seat and perform his duties as a member of
parliament.

His refusal to take the oath the first time was an expression of how
strongly he feels about judicial integrity, he recalled in a two-hour
interview last week at his office in Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur.


Zahir (left), a former High Court judge, was part of a six-member
tribunal that had found then Lord President Salleh Abas (right)
guilty of misconduct earlier that year and recommended his dismissal.

"I don't think it was a right thing to do (to sack Salleh)," said
Shahrir, now 57.

"To do it (impeach Salleh) without having all the necessary strong
reasons to make that move, that's the failure of the system - because
once you damage it, it's not easy to get it back..."


In 1988, Mahathir had Salleh tried by a special tribunal on charges
of misconduct, for questioning constitutional amendments that
seriously eroded the powers of the judiciary.

Two of five Supreme Court (now known as the Federal Court) judges -
George Seah and Wan Sulaiman Pawanteh - who had ruled that the
tribunal was convened unconstitutionally were sacked along with
Salleh after being found guilty of misconduct by the tribunal.

Return to Umno

The protest was typical of a politician often deemed a maverick
because of his outspoken ways and independent thinking.

Having been trained in economics and statistics, he then earned a
Master's in Business Administration. From 1983-1987, he helmed the
federal territory and welfare ministries respectively and was
generally seen as a potential high flier in Umno politics.

But 1987 saw infighting within party resulting into two bitter
factions - Team A and B - and then Umno being deregistered after
being declared illegal in a court ruling.


A supreme council member at the time, Shahrir was in Team B camp led
by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (photo). However, he was left out of the
new Umno pro-tem committee along with seven other council members.

Amidst the crisis, Shahrir resigned as MP and contested the ensuing
Johor Baru by-election as an Independent.

Shahrir returned to Umno in 1989 but took a back seat until his
return to full-time politics in the 2004 general election, when he
retained the Johor Baru seat.
'Ridiculous stage'

So what has changed within the judiciary two decades after his one-
man protest in Parliament?


Shahrir said he believed that the repercussions of the 1988 judicial
crisis are still being felt today, even coming to the "ridiculous
stage" where people can correctly predict the outcome of court cases.

"There are some judges who think they still have to be over-
conservative or over-protective of the government, rather than
justice," he argued, quipping that they may perhaps think they are
still in 1988.

Something has to be done, he said, and it needs to come from judges
themselves.

"It's really more of a problem of culture and personality, which has
caused the judiciary to be held in a position of some disrepute. I
hope that this culture can be dismantled if the personalities who are
now occupying the judiciary understand that things have to change and
try to go back (to how it used to be)."

Asked to comment on revelations in an explosive video clip on alleged
'judicial appointment-fixing', Shahrir said the matter has to be
investigated.


The eight-minute edited clip, said to be recorded in 2002, shows
senior lawyer VK Lingam talking on the phone allegedly with Chief
Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim - then the chief judge of
Malaya - about judicial promotions, among other matters.


(Ahmad Fairuz is said to have denied any involvement in the matter,
while Lingam has not been available for comment as he is said to be
abroad.)

"If (mentions of) fixing cases are bad enough, fixing appointments
will be worse," Shahrir noted.

He was not too optimistic that the problems within the judiciary can
be fixed anytime soon.

"Once the system is tampered with for some frivolous reason, the
repairs may take a long time to happen. You will need another
generation (to see the effects)," he added.


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Malaysia's judiciary on Candid Camera

Malaysia's judiciary on Candid Camera
By Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia - On May 27, 1988, then-prime minister Mahathir
Mohamad, his party faced with a legal challenge from rivals that
threatened his leadership, summoned Malaysia's top judge, Salleh
Abas, and gave him an ultimatum: resign or face a judicial tribunal.
That secret private meeting led to suspension of Salleh and five
other top judges (three of whom were later reinstated). It
precipitated a crisis from which the judiciary has never recovered.

Today, the once-powerful Mahathir, 82, is under sedation in intensive
care after surgery to treat a infection following a heart-bypass
operation on September 4.

And today, the credibility of the judiciary itself is also on life
support after explosive revelations in a widely circulated (including
on YouTube) eight-minute video clip featuring what appears to be a
well-connected senior lawyer, V K Lingam, purportedly discussing
promotions and factionalism among senior judges over the phone with
Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, the No 3 judge in the country at the
time the clip was recorded on a mobile phone in 2002.

Lingam is also seen apparently talking to Fairuz about the latter's
own rise within the judiciary. Ahmad Fairuz is today the country's
chief justice, due to retire next month. The lawyer is also heard
saying that he had discussed the judiciary with tycoon Vincent Tan
and another prominent ruling party politician - both regarded as
intermediaries to then-prime minister Mahathir. The conversation
suggests that certain top judges are closely connected with the
country's top leaders via political intermediaries and business cronies.

The minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Nazri Abdul Aziz,
has said that the judge implicated in the video clip had called him
to deny that he was the one talking to the lawyer.

Some see these revelations as God-sent. One academic told Asia Times
Online, "This is a sterling opportunity to draw out the oligarchic
control of this country - a chance to pull away from the ethnic ding-
dong that's going on. Here is the oligarchy of wealth and privilege:
an Indian lawyer, a Chinese tycoon, a Malay judge, etc. And claiming
to do this in the interests of the country, of the PM" (Mahathir).

The affair gives a whole new meaning to the word muhibbah (Malay for
"interracial goodwill") - while the elites divide and rule the rest
of the country, secure in their own positions of wealth and power. It
was only recently that Ahmad Fairuz stirred controversy when he
suggested that reference to the English common law in Malaysia's
legal system be abolished. The move sparked an outcry among non-
Muslim groups who felt that it would pave the way for the adoption of
sharia (Islamic law) precepts.

Civil-society groups have already called for the suspension of the
chief justice. The Bar Council is organizing a march of lawyers from
the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, the administrative capital, to
the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday. They will submit a
memorandum to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and the cabinet calling
for a royal commission of inquiry to investigate the allegations in
the video clip.

The government announced on Tuesday it is setting up an independent
panel to investigate the video clip. The Bar Council welcomed this as
a first step, but is still asking for a royal commission of inquiry
which should also look into the state of the judiciary and the need
for a Judicial Appointments Commission.

The video has demonstrated that Malaysians cannot leave the
appointment and promotion of judges in the hands of the few, said
lawyer Dipendra Harshad Rai in a published comment. He joined others
in calling for the establishment of an independent commission for the
appointment and promotion of judges.

Prior to 1988, he said, the top judge would forward a name, after
police vetting, to the prime minister. This process also included the
top judge consulting the bar chairman and other senior bar members.
Although this practice was done informally, it did provide some
assurance that only people of good character, competence and
suitability were recommended, observed Dipendra.

The events of 1988 saw the end of this process. "Appointments and
promotions of judges were left basically to the chief justice and the
prime minister. Never have the fate of so many been decided by so
few," said Dipendra. "No doubt, only those with the right political
patronage and right beliefs were considered as suitable."

The video clip will affect every aspect of civil society, he added.
"A layman who loses his case will feel that it was because the system
is corrupt no matter how right the decision may have been," he said.
"An investor would think twice before investing simply because the
corrupt lawyers and corrupt judges will get him no relief."

The video clip was revealed to the media by former deputy premier
Anwar Ibrahim, who is now trying to stitch together an alliance among
Malaysia's disparate opposition parties. Anwar himself was a victim
of the judiciary, having been incarcerated after trials widely
regarded as politically motivated.

Not surprisingly, faced with such compelling disclosures, the
government has cast doubts on the authenticity of the video clip. But
many Malaysians do not appear to be in the least surprised at the
revelations and the clip has been posted all over Malaysian websites
and blogs.

In 1999, opposition leader Lim Kit Siang tabled a substantive motion
in Parliament expressing concern over serious allegations of judicial
impropriety that had emerged in a defamation suit against the Asian
Wall Street Journal.

In his motion, Lim pointed out that Lingam was alleged (by the
Journal correspondent in an amended defense) to have written part of
a 1994 judgment in a defamation case brought by Vincent Tan against
the journalist. The judgment was alleged to have been typed by
Lingam's secretaries, corrected by the lawyer and the final draft
dispatched to the judge on a floppy disk. Lingam was also said to
have placed the then former chief justice, Eusoff Chin, in his debt
by getting their families to vacation together in New Zealand. Both
the lawyer and the judge had posed for pictures with their arms
around each other and with each other's families. The photographs
later found their way on to the Internet and were widely circulated,
sparking an earlier outcry.

Unlike the strong reaction in Pakistan when the country's top judge
was dismissed and later reinstated, there is unlikely to be a similar
reaction in Malaysia to the latest revelations - notwithstanding the
lawyers' march on Wednesday and an emergency general meeting on
October 6. The concern and outrage may be there, but for the most
part, many Malaysians are no longer surprised at how low the
judiciary has sunk, their expectations severely diminished since 1988.

While the call for a royal commission was appropriate, there was no
guarantee it would achieve anything. "You can have all the
'independent' commissions in the world, but as long as you have some
influential people prepared to use their leverage in such
unprincipled ways, then no independent commission is going to be
independent," said the academic mentioned earlier. He predicted there
would be a concerted attempt to damp down the crisis.

Much would depend on how far Malaysia's Conference of Rulers (the
country's nine sultans) would want to stick out their necks to defend
the judiciary from executive interference.

Coming on the heels of a lackluster economy, both locally and
globally, and allegations of widespread corruption, the crisis in the
judiciary is the last thing Abdullah needs. His administration has
been battered with accusations of lethargy, inertia and lack of
vision. Given the current domestic climate and the credibility
crisis, a significant economic downturn could have uncertain
consequences and the country could pay a price.

The next general election is not due until early 2009 - though many
have been expecting polls within the next six months - so Abdullah
has plenty of time to let this crisis run its course and subside.
Nonetheless, his reluctance to take decisive action has tarnished his
own credibility. His administration has still not yet implemented a
key recommendation from a royal commission to investigate the police
- the call for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct
Commission - though officials claim progress is being made.

The fractured opposition parties stand to gain from this crisis of
credibility facing the judiciary. But they are unlikely to win the
next general election given the ruling coalition's iron grip on the
mainstream media and its control of development purse-strings.

That would leave the judiciary still in tatters. So, as much as
Abdullah may be loath to back a royal commission of inquiry, he faces
little choice if he wants to restore the credibility of the judiciary
- and his administration. The alternative is sinking deeper into a
morass of corruption, decay and disillusionment.

Anil Netto is a Penang-based writer.

(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

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Walk for justice ends with memo submission

Walk for justice ends with memo submission
Sep 26, 07 11:51am

A peaceful 'Walk for Justice' organised by the Bar Council ended with
the submission of a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Department
calling for the establishment of a royal commission of inquiry to
stem the slide in the judiciary.

A four-member delegation from the Bar Council submitted the
memorandum to an official from the PM's Department. The premier is
currently in New York.

Having earlier defied a police order not to march to the office, some
1,500 protesters waited patiently outside for their representatives
to hand over the memorandum, braving heavy rain which started about
12.45pm.

The protesters - most of them lawyers - had taken about 30 minutes to
reach the building.
They chanted "We want justice" as they marched, holding placards
stating "Judiciary has gone to the dogs" and "Judiciary has gone
(down) the drain".

A four-member delegation led by Bar Council chairperson Ambiga
Sreenevasan then went into the PM's Department to meet with an official.

The protesters, who had gathered at the Palace of Justice in
Putrajaya this morning, were denied permission by the police to march
the 3.5 kilometres to the Prime Minister's Department to submit the
memorandum.

According to eyewitnesses, Putrajaya police chief Supt Abdul Razak
Abdul Majid told the protest organisers - the Bar Council - that the
march could not proceed due to security reasons.

Bar Council vice-chairperson Ragunath Kesavan confirmed this to
Malaysiakini when contacted at the time. He added that they would
proceed with the march.

The protesters heard a short speech from Ambiga before starting their
march at noon - an hour later than scheduled.
"We walk peacefully and with dignity," said Ambiga, who added that
she was overwhelmed by, and proud of, the good turnout today.

She said that the march is a "walk for justice" as "we deserve a
first-class judiciary".

"When lawyers walk, that means there is something wrong. We want
changes in the judiciary," she said.

Independent panel

Ambiga also reiterated that the Bar welcomed the government's move to
set up an independent panel to look into the Lingam tape, the latest
in a series of scandals involving the judiciary.

"This shows that the government recognises that there is a problem.
However we still want a royal commission of inquiry," she said.
Ambiga said of the inquiry: "It can only be the first step. They
can't force the presentation of witnesses or documents."

She described the heavy security during the protest, including the
presence of anti-riot police and a police helicopter, as "an act of
intimidation".

This morning, seven buses packed with protesters were stopped by
police from entering Putrajaya, but they made their way on foot to
the Palace of Justice.

When contacted, Abdul Razak said he was busy (on the ground) and was
not able to comment.

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Will we miss the boat again?

Will we miss the boat again?
Steven Gan
Sep 25, 07 6:20pm

Seven years ago we thought we had him. The evidence was
incontrovertible. There were photos of him and then chief justice
Eusoff Chin, looking very much like two buddies having a fun time on
a pleasure boat in Lake Wakatipu.

But the 1994 photos alone, which have been posted on the Internet for
many years, were not good enough. After all, the two claimed to have
innocently 'bumped' into each other while on holiday.

So we produced more evidence - this time showing that the two flew on
the same flight during their week-long trip, first to Auckland then
Christchurch. And it wasn't just being on the same plane, both were
either in business or first class.



At the time of the controversial New Zealand holiday, influential
lawyer VK Lingam was representing tycoon Vincent Tan in a law suit
against veteran journalist MGG Pillai, whose appeal in the Federal
Court, the country's highest bench, was heard by a three-member panel
headed by Eusoff himself.

The late Pillai must have felt vindicated by the latest expose. After
all, the court had ordered him to pay RM2 million in damages. One can
almost see Pillai - who eventually did not pay a single sen to Tan -
smirking from where ever he is today.

Pillai was not the only one sued by Tan and Lingam for the temerity
to suggest that the duo have an inside track with the judiciary.
Others slapped with defamation suits included top lawyers Tommy
Thomas and Param Cumaraswamy, the former United Nations special
rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.

Also hit was Asian Wall Street Journal's Raphael Pura. In his
defence, Pura dropped a stunning bombshell - he alleged that the High
Court judgment on the Pillai case was in part written by Lingam
himself. He had evidence to prove it, but this was thrown out of
court in double-quick time.

Same cast of characters

When Malaysiakini ran the story in 2000, there were repeated calls
for a royal commission to probe the matter. The Bar Council sought an
emergency general meeting but it was barred from holding it after a
court injunction. Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang demanded
a special session of the Parliament to discuss the controversy.

Sound familiar?

Indeed, the same cast of characters were involved in last week's
disclosure of the grainy eight-minute video showing Lingam brokering
the appointments of top judicial men.


Also featured was his well-connected tycoon friend, Tan. By 2002 -
the year the video was taken - Eusoff had already retired. It was his
protégé, Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, who is embroiled in this
scandal. Playing the supporting role is Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, a
junior minister but a trusted aide of then prime minister Dr Mahathir
Mohamad.

Together they were the untouchables - the masters of the Malaysian
universe, so to speak. Apparently, they still are.

Cake walk

The government took pains to cast aspersions on the authenticity of
the video. And while a few grudgingly concede that the video may not
be 'doctored', still, you can't really prove who was at the other end
of the line, can you?

But that should be a cake walk for the police. All they need to do is
to obtain the telephone records of both Lingam and Ahmad Fairuz to
see if any number matches. Simple really.

The 13,500-strong Bar Council has called for a full-blown royal
commission to examine the rot in the judiciary since the sacking of
chief justice Salleh Abas in 1988.

Rightly so, the investigation must begin with the Salleh episode and
go beyond it.

There were other equally serious cases which ought to be re-opened -
the Ayer Molek controversy, the 'poison pen' letter by former High
Court judge Syed Ahmad Idid, the case involving then High Court judge
Muhammad Kamil, who publicly admitted getting telephone directives
from Eusoff over an election petition, and the trials of ex-deputy
premier Anwar Ibrahim - the man who revealed the Lingam tape.

Clearly, the three-member independent panel announced by Deputy Prime
Minister Najib Abdul Razak today - and restricting the probe to
examining the authenticity of the Lingam tape - falls way too short.

An inquiry of this magnitude requires nothing less than a royal
commission.

Something's rotten

It was Lingam who was involved in the Ayer Molek company share
dispute, where he manipulated the court system in such a way that the
case went before a 'friendly' High Court judge. Not surprisingly, he
won.

However, the Court of Appeal later described the lower court decision
as 'an injustice' and ticked off Lingam, who was representing one
of the parties in the complex commercial dispute, for being
'unethical', and accused him of bringing the administration of
justice into disrepute.

NH Chan, one of the three judges who heard the appeal, resorted to
quoting Shakespeare's Hamlet, 'there is something rotten in the
state of Denmark', to press his point. He was obviously referring to
the High Court commercial division, then housed in Kuala Lumpur's
Wisma Denmark.

The plot thickened when the case went up to Federal Court. The three-
member panel which heard the appeal was headed by none other than
Lingam's holiday buddy, Eusoff. To pad the numbers, Eusoff included
a High Court judge on the panel. This was unconstitutional as the
judge was not qualified to sit on the Federal Court bench.

Predictably, Eusoff and his colleagues overruled the appellate court,
ordered the comments against Lingam be expunged and berated the Court
of Appeal judges for bringing the administration of justice into,
yes, disrepute.

The dark era

Interestingly, in the explosive video featuring him, Lingam
unabashedly proclaimed that his action was for the sake of the country.

"We want to make sure our friends are there for the sake of PM and
for the sake of the country. Not for our own interest, not for our
own interest. We want to make sure the country comes out well," he
declared.

It's been 20 years since Salleh and two other top judges were
unceremoniously sacked. Three others were suspended but later
reinstated. That episode was a watershed in our judiciary, kicking
off a dark era where justice goes to the highest bidders and
litigants can choose the judge before whom they wish to appear.

Almost a generation has suffered because of our 'tidak apa'
attitude to the judicial crisis. Here's another chance for us to
make amends.

We have missed the boat - not once but twice. Indeed, for the sake of
the country, we cannot afford to blow this one chance. Only then will
our country 'come out well' but probably not the way Lingam had
intended it to when he made the remark.


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UPM admits flaws, to return seized laptop

UPM admits flaws, to return seized laptop
Syed Jaymal Zahiid
Sep 25, 07 4:43pm

University Putra Malaysia (UPM) has caved in to pressure by students
and human rights groups and agreed to return the laptop it
confiscated on Sept 15 from first-year student Yee Yang Yang, 19.


However, there is a catch - he will have to get the laptop and other
personal belongings from the Sri Serdang police.

The university security unit had handed these over after Yee lodged a
police report on Sept 17.

This morning, a 10-member delegation - representing students and
civil society groups - met with corporate communication officer
Abdullah Arshad and security unit head Othman Jailani.

The delegation was part of a group of 50 who had gathered outside the
university and then marched peacefully to the entrance, where they
were stopped by security personnel.

There was slight tension when DAP leader Ronnie Liu, who heads the
party's NGO Bureau, began arguing with two of the guards.

Suara Rakyat Malaysia secretariat member S Arutchelvan defused the
tension by negotiating for a 10-member delegation to meet with a
representative of the vice-chancellor.

They were then led to an office in the modern language studies
faculty to hand over the six-page memorandum to Abdullah and Othman.

'Procedures flawed'

Following this, Othman conceded that the confiscation procedure was
flawed.


"We admit that there were flaws in the confiscation process and we
will look into the matter. We welcome the suggestions made by
everyone here," he said.

Both Othman and Abdullah said the investigation involving Yee has
ended and that the university wants an amicable solution to the
matter which has seen students stand up to the campus authorities.
They did not reveal the outcome of the probe.

Liu then suggested that UPM issues a letter informing the police that
it had completed its investigation, in order to inform the police
that there is no longer a need to hold Yee's belongings

Othman agreed, also promising that he would do his best to amend the
procedural flaws.

He further told the delegation that he was checking on the officers
involved in the Sept 15 raid on Yee's room, to determine if they had
acted properly.

Yee, who was present, only said that he "was glad" that the issue had
been settled.

He had previously denied UPM's claims that the laptop had
pornographic material in it - among other accusations - and
attributed the incident instead to his leanings in student politics.

Rival students groups - dubbed 'anti-establishment' and 'pro-
government'- are preparing for campus elections on Oct 2 in all
public universities.

Last year, the anti-establishment group - generally regarded as pro-
opposition - had boycotted the election in protest of allegedly
unfair procedures and intimidation by various campus authorities.


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Fahamkah Dia Dengan Doktrin Pengasingan Kuasa?

Fahamkah Dia Dengan Doktrin Pengasingan Kuasa?

Kemaskini terbaru di Malaysiakini antara lain memaparkan penjelasan
terbaru Menteri Di JPM, Datuk Mohd Nazri Aziz mengenai tindakan beliau
memberikan jawapan bagi pihak Ketua Hakim Negara berkenaan isu hangat
pendedahan rakaman video oleh Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim minggu lepas.


Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz berkata,
beliau mengumumkan penafian bagi pihak Ketua Hakim Negara berhubung
pendedahan 'pita Lingam' kerana beliau adalah menteri yang menjaga
portfolio undang-undang.


"Saya menteri beliau. Saya menteri yang menjaga hal ehwal mengenai
perundangan," katanya sambil menambah, Ketua Hakim Negeri berbuat
demikian kerana tahu wartawan akan bertanya beliau (Nazri) mengenai
perkara itu.


Tiba-tiba minda saya kembali pada zaman mula-mula menuntut dahulu, dalam
bidang pengajian awam. Subjek pertama yang dikenali adalah Asas Sains
Politik. Satu bab penting dalam subjek berkenaan adalah mengenai Doktrin
Pengasingan Kuasa. Dipetik daripada Wikipedia:


Pembahagian Kuasa atau dalam bahasa Inggeris dipanggil "Separation of
Powers" merupakan satu doktrin dalam pemerintahan demokrasi yang
membahagikan urusan dalam negara kepada tiga cabang utama : Pemerintah
(Eksekutif), Perundangan (Legislatif) dan Kehakiman.


Ia untuk mengelak atau menghindari bahaya "kezaliman" (tyranny), di mana
dikatakan doktrin pembahagian kuasa (atau fungsi) dapat mewujud dan
mengekalkan kepimpinan, kebebasan sebenar dan menghindari
kemaharajalelaan (despotisma) dengan cara membahagi-bahagikan kuasa untuk
mewujudkan semak dan seimbang (check and balance) antara kuasa tersebut.


Di bawah pembahagian kuasa, kerajaan dipecah kepada tiga cabang, iaitu:
* Legislatif atau penggubal undang-undang
* Eksekutif atau pentadbir kerajaan berdasarkan undang-undang
* Kehakiman atau pelaksana undang-undang


Cabang-cabang ini mempunyai peranan yang berbeza tetapi saling bergantung
antara satu cabang dengan lain. Misalnya hakim dilantik oleh ketua
Eksekutif, manakala undang-undang yang berpunca dari cabang legislatif
akan digunakan oleh badan kehakiman untuk membuat keputusan, manakala
pihak eksekutif pula akan menguatkuasakan undang-undang tersebut.


Doktrin ini juga diperteguhkan lagi dengan elemen semak dan seimbang
iaitu setiap badan mempunyai kuasa yang terhad dan boleh memeriksa serta
menghadkan kuasa badan yang lain. Oleh itu, seorang Hakim walaupun
dilantik oleh ketua Eksekutif boleh menjatuhkan hukuman undang-undang
kepada ketua eksekutif tersebut kerana badan kehakiman mempunyai
kebebasan kehakiman dan para hakim dilindungi oleh kekebalan kehakiman.


Sekiranya elemen ini tiada, maka pembahagian kuasa sekadar nama sahaja.
Doktrin pembahagian kuasa amat nyata di negara Amerika Syarikat. Di sana
setiap badan saling memeriksa penyalahgunaan kuasa satu sama lain. Malah,
setiap badan mempunyai elemen semak dan seimbangnya masing-masing.
Misalnya polis boleh disoal siasat oleh satu badan bebas yang lain.
Disamping itu, badan legislatif di kebanyakan negara adalah dwidewan
misalnya di Malaysia yang mempunyai dua dewan iaitu Dewan Rakyat dan
Dewan Negara. Dua dewan ini adalah penting untuk memastikan semak dan
seimbang dilaksanakan dalam penggubalan undang-undang.


Sistem kehakiman adalah bebas daripada pengaruh eksekutif dan legislatif.
Dalam erti kata lain, dalam konteks Malaysia Ketua Hakim Negara mempunyai
autonomi untuk menjalankan tugas beliau dan tidak bertanggungjawab kepada
mana-mana pihak melainkan Yang DiPertuan Agong.


Justeru apa gerangan Menteri ini mengatakan bahawa beliau
bertanggungjawab kerana 'saya adalah menteri yang menjaga hal ehwal
mengenai perundangan?'


Tidakkah ini memberikan gambaran jelas, bahawa memang wujud campurtangan
eksekutif di dalam sistem kehakiman Malaysia? Apakah doktrin ini hanya
sekadar bunga penyeri di dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan, bukan untuk
amalan di bawah indikator demokrasi berparlimen?


Saya belum sampai tahap tergamak mengatakan bahawa menteri ini tidak
faham asas doktrin ini, tetapi saya terus tertanya-tanya, salahkah apa
yang saya belajar dahulu?


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KeADILan desak Ketua Hakim Negara jawab isu rakaman klip video

KeADILan desak Ketua Hakim Negara jawab isu rakaman klip video
Sep 25, 07 | 4:55:26 pm MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, 25 Sept (Hrkh) - Kenyataan demi kenyataan dikeluarkan oleh
Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Dato' Seri Mohammed Nazri Aziz
berhubung kononnya Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Ahmad Fairuz menafikan
pembabitannya dalam perbualan bersama peguam dalam isu klip video yang
didedah Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim.


Setelah mewakili Ahmad Fairuz dalam menafikan perkara itu hari ini Nazri
pula menjelaskan mengapa beliau memberi kenyataan dan katanya beliau
berhak memberi kenyataan berikutan portfolionya sebagai menteri yang
bertanggungjawab dalam hal perundangan.

"Mengapakah Dato' Seri Nazri Aziz begitu beria-ria bercakap bagi pihak
Ketua Hakim Negara tentang skandal video ini?" soal Naib Presiden
KeADILan, Sivarasa Rasiah dalam satu komennya terhadap isu itu hari ini.


Pertamanya, agak pelik dan luar biasa bagi seorang Ketua Hakim Negara
untuk meminta seorang Menteri mempertahankan integritinya, kata Sivarasa.


"Bilakah permintaan ini dibuat? Nazri Aziz tidak pula menjawab soalan
ini," katanya.


Keduanya kata beliau, isi responsnya itu tidak kurang peliknya, dan
sebenarnya sukar untuk dipercayai.


"Ini adalah kerana satu-satunya respons yang telah diberikan kepada
rakyat oleh Ketua Hakim Negara sendiri, tanpa bantuan sebarang Menteri,
hanyalah sekadar kenyataan 'Tiada komen' dalam tulisan semata-mata, iaitu
dua hari selepas pendedahan dibuat," katanya.


Baginya, adalah satu perkara yang tidak elok untuk seorang yang menjawat
jawatan di peringkat eksekutif, apatah lagi seorang Menteri di Jabatan
Perdana Menteri bercakap bagi pihak pegawai tertinggi iaitu badan
kehakiman, katanya.


Tindakan ini secara langsung mencabar kewibawaan prinsip pengasingan
kuasa yang menjadi salah satu tunjang demokrasi negara ini, katanya.


Respons luar biasa yang diberikan Nazri membawa satu persoalan sama ada
Tun Ahmad Fairuz tidak mampu mempertahankan integritinya sendiri,
katanya.


"Nazri juga sedang cuba mempersoalkan kebenaran video tersebut. Akan
tetapi, persoalan ini sudah tentu dapat dijawab dengan senangnya jika
disiasat oleh pasukan forensik yang berkebolehan," katanya.


Soalan yang perlu dijawab sekarang ialah adakah Ketua Hakim Negara
bercakap dengan VK Lingam pada tahun 2002, (berdasarkan isi perbualan
itu, bahagian yang menyebut melantik Tan Sri Mokhtar Abdullah sebagai
Hakim Tinggi Malaya menunjukkan bahawa perbualan ini berlaku sebelum Tan
Sri Mokhtar Abdullah terjatuh dan mengalami koma pada bulan Ogos 2002),
katanya.


Menurut Sivarasa, soalan ini bukanlah terlalu sukar untuk dijawab dan
setelah pasukan penyiasat mendapat semua nombor telefon mereka pada masa
itu, rekod telefon mereka untuk tahun tersebut boleh diteliti untuk
memastikan sama ada mereka pernah berbual bersama, katanya.


"Mungkin Menteri kita ini bolehlah memberikan cadangan ini kepada pihak
penyiasat. Jika kita ingin menyelamatkan integriti bidang kehakiman kita,
salah satu daripada tiga tiang utama sistem pemerintahan kita, maka
persoalan-persoalan ini seharusnya dijawab serta-merta," katanya. - mns


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Kembali kepada Islam untuk elak kisah Nurin Jazlin berulang

Kembali kepada Islam untuk elak kisah Nurin Jazlin berulang
Sep 24, 07 | 12:07:34 pm MYT

Kira-kira dua tahun lalu, seorang bapa pernah memberitahu, hidupnya
sentiasa di dalam keadaan "takut" dan "risau". -kira

Bapa ini yang menetap di Kampung Pandan Dalam, Kuala Lumpur mempunyai
lima orang anak perempuan dengan yang sulung berusia 15 tahun dan yang
bungsu berusia tujuh tahun.


Pada ketika itu, kesemua anaknya masih bersekolah samada menengah mahupun
sekolah rendah. Kedua ibu-bapa ini bekerja di sektor swasta.


Dia memberitahu, hidupnya sentiasa takut dan risau dengan keadaan lima
orang anak perempuannya yang bersekolah ini.


Hampir setiap waktu, dia akan menghubungi rumah samada anaknya sudah
berada di rumah ataupun tidak. Dia terlalu bimbang dengan keselamatan
anak-anaknya ini.


Katanya, hatinya akan berdebar walaupun anaknya keluar berjalan kaki
secara bersendirian walaupun tidak sampai 500 meter dan di waktu siang
hari.


Selain itu, dia juga terlalu bimbang dengan tahap sosial anak-anak
remajanya itu. Dia cukup yakin "peer group" boleh mempengaruhi tingkah
laku anaknya ini jika dia terleka seketika.


Dalam isu yang lain, seorang pakar motivasi pernah memberitahu dia
menghadapi kes yang mana seorang remaja perempuan yang bersopan santun,
berbudi bahasa dan dalam lingkungan keluarga bahagia telah dirogol kerana
tidak melayan seorang lelaki yang cuba mengurat dirinya itu.


Keluarga dan remaja tersebut dikatakan "trauma" dengan insiden ini
memandangkan kehidupan mereka yang cukup bahagia dan patuh dengan ajaran
agama.


Bukti tahap sosial masyarakat makin buruk
Akhirnya isu yang terbaru dan disifatkan suatu tragedi kepada tahap sosial
masyarakat kini adalah kematian tragis seorang kanak-kanak Nurin Jazlin
Jaziman pada 17 September 2007 yang lalu.


Gadis yang berusia lapan tahun dan pelajar tahun dua Sekolah Rendah
Kebangsaan Desa Setapak yang di laporkan hilang pada 20 Ogos 2007 lalu
ditemui mati dalam sebuah beg pakaian sukan di Taman Petaling Jaya Utama,
Petaling Jaya. Dia menjadi mangsa penderaan seksual melampau!


Pada 2003, seorang kanak-kanak Nurul Huda Abdul Ghani,10 tahun ditemui
mati selepas dicekik dan dirogol di Kampung Pekajang, Tanjung Kupang,
Gelang Patah, Johor.


Pada 8 Januari 2004, satu lagi kes yang membabitkan kanak-kanak Harirati
Saridi ditemui mati dan dirogol ketika dalam perjalanan ke sekolah di
Kampung Ratau, Menggatal, Kota Kinabalu Sabah.


Kemudian pada 22 Disember 2004, kes Siti Syazwani Ahmad Dusuki, murid
tahun tiga Sekolah Kebangsaan Pinang Tunggal, Sungai Petani Kedah
dilaporkan hilang ketika pulang mengaji al-Quran ditemui terbunuh selepas
di rogol di ladang sawit tidak jauh dari rumahnya.


Sebelum ini masyarakat tidak akan lupa kes kematian Nor Iszyani Amlia
Ahmad Iskandar, berusia dua tahun dalam keadaan menyayat hati di
Damansara Damai, Petaling Jaya.


Dalam kejadian ini, dubur kanak-kanak malang itu cedera teruk ditusuk
objek keras manakala kemaluannya ada kesan cubitan.


Ini yang dilaporkan oleh pihak media. Bagaimana pula dengan kejadian lain
yang tidak didedahkan oleh media terutamanya yang dilaporkan kepada pihak
polis.


Atau yang lebih tragis lagi tidak dilaporkan kepada dengan pihak polis
untuk mengelakkan aib keluarga dari kacamata masyarakat umum.


Selain ini, satu kajian Pusat Penyelidikan Innocenti Tabung Bangsa-Bangsa
Bersatu Untuk Kanak-Kanak (Unicef) mendedahkan setiap tahun 3500
kanak-kanak berusia kurang 15 tahun di 27 negara maju meninggal dunia
akbat penderaan dan dikaitkan dengan kemiskinan dan tekanan.


Keadaan ini dikaitkan dengan negara maju akibat masalah sosial dan
keluarga tetapi apa pula kedudukannya di negara ini?


Cukupkah sekadar reaksi marah kita?
Gambaran yang diberikan adalah seolah-olah tahap sosial masyarakat kita
yang ada sekarang sedang menuju ke arah hampir "bobrok", tidak selamat
dan kurang menyakinkan.


Seluruh lapisan rakyat begitu marah, merintih dan kecewa dengan segala
kejadian yang menimpa kanak-kanak ini.


Masing-masing beranggapan kejadian ini tidak harus atau perlu berlaku.


Masing-masing sekadar merintih dengan melahirkan pelbagai harapan seperti
dikenakan tindakan yang tegas terhadap perogol, perlunya kerajaan wujud
pelbagai Akta, meminta masyarakat lain agar lebih perihatin di samping
mengharapkan pihak berkuasa lebih berperanan dan agresif dalam
menguatkuasakan undang-undang.


Apabila dalam tempoh 40 hari tiada sebarang isu besar dan meluas yang
dipaparkan oleh media massa, keadaan akan kembali kembali asal-
meneruskan kelekaan hidup masing-masing dan lupa dengan isu yang cukup
dahsyat ini.


Para ibu bapa yang perihatin dengan tahap sosial masyarakat masa kini
meneruskan "kerisauan" demi "kerisauan" walaupun kerajaan terus hebah
negara sentiasa aman dan tenteram.


Kemudian, rakyat akan merintih, marah dan kecewa kembali apabila isu yang
dahsyat ini kembali berulang setelah mendapat liputan yang meluas dari
media massa.


Masing-masing bersikap stereotaip - minta tindakan tegas, pihak berkuasa
perlu menguatkuasaan undang-undang dan kerajaan perlu lebih bertanggung
jawab.


Hentikan sikap hepokrit sesetengah masyarakat ini. Cukuplah dengan sikap
opportunis kerajaan yang perihatin dengan masalah sosial masyarakat
apabila kembalinya isu yang dahsyat ini.


Sekarang adalah masa kita bertindak dan bukannya kembali merintih, marah
yang selepas itu kita akan lupa kembali kepada sikap "kelekaan" dengan
kehidupan harian.


Apa yang harus kita lakukan?
Masalah sosial bejat masyarakat akan berulang sentiasa kerana kita tidak
pernah bertindak. Kita tidak pernah bertanya kepada diri sendiri, apakah
tindakan yang perlu dilakukan dengan segara akan sosial masyarakat dapat
diperbaiki.


Tanpa disedari sesetengah masyarakat samada yang kaya, sederhana dan
miskin telah melakukan pelbagai kesalahan kerana tidak pernah mendidik
anaknya menjadi manusia yang berguna dan berakhlak.


Ada sesetengah ibu bapa yang tidak pernah melakukan disiplin terhadap
anaknya seperti menegur anak perempuan berpakaian tidak menutup aurat,
pergaulan bebas lelaki- perempuan, masa yang tidak menentu di rumah, anak
menjadi mat rempit dengan alasan kononnya menjaga kebebasan dan
kemerdekaan anak-anak.


Sesetengah mereka tidak pernah menegur anak remaja perempuan yang
berpakaian ketat dan singkat sehingga nampak anak pusat dan seluar dalam
pelbagai warna dari arah belakang apabila mereka duduk.


Sesetengah ibu dan bapa akan mempertahankan anak remaja lelakinya
menghisap rokok atau ditangkap kerana menjadi mat rempit dengan pelbagai
alasan.


Masyarakat umum melihat tingkah laku sesetengah anak remaja Melayu
masakini. Lihatlah cara mereka berpakaian. Lihatlah cara mereka bergaul
dengan orang yang lebih tua.


Lihatlah sikap mereka yang masih remaja duduk melepak sambil menghisap
rokok antara lelaki dan perempuan. Masyarakat hipokrit ini tidak boleh
ditegur tetapi marah apabila berlakunya sesuatu tragedi yang menimpak
anak remaja lainnya!


Sikap hiprokrit masyarakat ini disogok tindakan kerajaan yang terlalu
opportunis.


Kerajaan Islam Hadhari yang tersasar
Kerajaan begitu hebat menghebahkan konsep Islam Hadhari tetapi tiada
sebarang langkah atau tindakan untuk mengurangkan sosial masyarakat yang
hampir "bejat" ini.


Kerajaan hanya kaya dengan konsep, kaya dengan kata-kata dan slogan
tetapi tindakan adalah sifat.


Secara simboliknya apabila kerajaan melancarkan tidak sampai seminggu
konsep Islam Hadhari- suatu konsert dangdut besar-besaran diadakan di
Stadium Merdeka yang dikenali sebagai "Inul-Goyang Garudi".


Suatu fenomena yang cukup dahsyat apabila kerajaan Islam Hadhari
membenarkan media elektronik yang memaparkan pelbagai program hiburan dan
tayangan gambar yang menjolok mata terutamanya yang membabitkan anak-anak
remaja Melayu dan Islam yang terus masuk ke dalam rumah.


Kerajaan Islam Hadhari membenarkan media elektronik mengadakan pelbagai
program realiti termasuk tayangan bagaimana mahu mencari seorang isteri
yang bertentangan dengan kaedah Islam.Malahan suatu ketika dahulu
mana-mana artis lelaki dilarang sama sekali berambut panjang, kini
semakin hebat dan memualkan.


Pelbagai program yang menjolok mata ini disifatkan sebagai "membalas
dendam" untuk kepuasan kerana suatu ketika dahulu kerajaan agak menyekat
kerana ia disifatkan begitu melekakan dan menjejaskan pembentukan
peribadi masyarakat.


Mungkin ada di kalangan masyarakat yang beranggapan ia terpulang kepada
individu untuk melihat mana yang baik dan buruk tetapi anggapan ini
adalah tidak betul kerana kerajaan membenarkan siaran ini dari
berlangsung.


Kenapa negara-negara Islam lainnya masih mengekalkan siaran yang lebih
berdisplin sedangkan kita tidak?


Segala bentuk hiburan yang melampau dan akhlak buruk sesetengah anak
remaja Melayu Islam sememangnya mengundang malapetaka.


Ia boleh mengundang kepada nafsu kepada setiap lelaki atau perempuan di
dalam keadaan jisim yang kecil mahupun besar.


Ia boleh mengundang kepada lelaki yang menghadapi masalah "sexual
disorder" atau kecelaruan seks sehingga kanak-kanak kecil menjadi
mangsanya.


Kerajaan perlu mengakui hakikat dengan kehebatan berjaya menjaga keamanan
dan ketenteram rakyat dalam tempoh 50 tahun tetapi perlu mengakui bahawa
moral sesetengah masyarakat sekarang semakin "bejat".


Kerajaan yang hebat dan bertanggungjawab tidak boleh lepas tangan
terhadap isu yang disifatkan buruk tetapi menghebahkan meluas isu yang
dianggap baik dan positif.


Apa yang penting bertindaklah sekarang. Masyarakat perlu ditegur dan
menegur di antara satu sama lain agar peristiwa ini tidak berulang.


Kaum keluarga yang perihatin dengan masalah moral ini perlu berani
membuat teguran atau tindakan terhadap ibu dan bapa yang bersikap sambil
"lewa" terhadap anak-anak mereka.


Sebagai pemimpin utama negara, Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi juga perlu
bersikap lebih banyak bekerja, menantau dan sensitif dengan membuang
slogan "Kerja bersama saya dan bukan untuk saya" sebagai alasan dia
"lepas tangan" atau tidak mahu bertanggung jawab kepada menteri atau
pegawai yang dilantiknya.


Hentikanlah sikap sesetengah masyarakat Melayu yang hipokrit dan
sesetengah pemimpin kerajaan yang oppurtunis! Kembali kepada ajaran Islam
yang sebenar dan bukan berpaut kepada slogan semata-mata! Bertindaklah ...
- mr

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MPP IPT dibubar, siswa ditampar!

MPP IPT dibubar, siswa ditampar!
Sep 24, 07 | 12:41:30 pm MYT

Semboyan Pillihan Raya Kampus (PRK) telah berbunyi pada hari ini
menandakan 'peperangan' akan meletus.

Hari ini secara rasminya semua kabinet Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar
Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam telah dibubarkan sebagaimana yang telah
diumumkan oleh Jawatankuasa Naib Canselor/Rektor dan Sekretariat Timbalan
Naib Canselor, Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam Malaysia yang memutuskan
bahawa tarikh pembubaran MPP sesi lepas, 2006/2007 mula berkuatkuasa
pada 24 September, hari ini.


Namun, permulaan kepada PRK 2007 ini dipenuhi dengan pelbagai insiden
yang mencemari keharmonian menara gading, tempat menuntut ilmu dan
menimba pengalaman berharga.


Insiden terbaru yang memalukan Universiti Malaya(UM) apabila Pengetua
Kolej Kediaman Ketiga UM telah bertindak menampar seorang pelajar tahun
ketiga Akademi Pengajian Islam UM, Wan Mohd Afifi Wan Zainuddin.


Kejadian berlaku pada 21 September lalu di Kolej Kediaman Ketiga apabila
seorang ahli Pro-Mahasiswa mengambil gambar Pengetua berkenaan ketika
beliau sedang menyoal siasat beberapa siswi lain yang dituduh menceroboh
kolej berkenaan.


Kesemua siswi tersebut didakwa mengedar risalah haram, walaupun ia
dinafikan mereka. Bengang apabila gambarnya dirakam, pengetua tersebut
bingkas bangun untuk merampas kamera tersebut. Namun, Wan Afifi bertindak
pantas menghalang hasrat pengetua tersebut.


"Situasi terus menjadi tegang apabila kemarahan Pengetua yang juga
merupakan tenaga pengajar UM ini memuncak hanya kerana gambarnya
dirakamkan, kemudian bertindak mencekik kolar baju seterusnya menampar
muka saya" jelas Afifi kepada sumber


"Saya tidak menyangka sama sekali seorang yang berpendidikan tinggi
sanggup bertindak sedemikian terhadap saya, yang hanya seorang penuntut,"
ujarnya lagi.


Sebelum ini, berlaku pelbagai insiden di UM, termasuk beberapa siswa
diugut, dibuang kolej, dikasari serta dirampas barang-barang peribadi,
komputer riba dan kamera.


Menurut sumber, kejadian memalukan ini menunjukkan bahawa pengetua kolej
kediaman terlibat dalam taktik kotor pilihan raya dan mereka juga takut
berhadapan dengan mahasiswa yang berani menuntut keadilan bagi
mengembalikan PRK yang bersih dan adil. - mns

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Tragedi Batu Buruk - Polis burukkan imejnya yang sedia

Tragedi Batu Buruk - Polis burukkan imejnya yang sedia
Mohamed Hanipa Maidin

Sep 21, 07 | 3:37:39 pm MYT

Kerjaya seorang polis amat dipandang mulia dan suci di dalam mana- mana
tamaduan manusia termasuk Islam.

Tidak dapat dinafikan polis memainkan peranan yang amat besar dalam
mengawal keamanan dan membenteras jenayah dalam sesebuah negara.
Institusi polis adalah elemen penting dalam mana-mana sistem keadilan.


Atas dasar itu rakyat amat berharap polis menjalankan tugas mereka tanpa
rasa gentar dan memihak (without fear and favour) khususnya dalam
memerangi jenayah.


Justeru itu juga profesionalisme polis mesti dipertahankan jika pasukan
polis ingin dihormati oleh rakyat. Polis tidak harus tunduk kepada
mana-mana pihak dalam melaksanakan tugas dan tanggungjawab mereka.


Malangnya kredebiliti institusi polis di negara ini telah mula diragui
dengan berlakunya beberapa insiden yang secara jelas memburukkan imejnya.


Polis tidak lagi dilihat memfokuskan matlamat utamanya iaitu membenteras
jenayah dan mewujudkan kestabilan dan keamanan. Jenayah semakin hari
semakin meningkat.


Polis pula dengan mudah dirasuah oleh penjenayah-penjenayah besar.
Ditekan oleh UMNO, polis sanggup menggadaikan profesionalisme mereka dan
dalam keadaan yang tertentu profesionalisme tersebut sedia di"lacurkan".


Polis semakin hari semakain jelas menunjukkan sikap memihak mereka dan
mengamalkan budaya "favouritisme". Musuh Umno- golongan pembangkang-
tidak semena- semena juga menjadi musuh polis.Ironisnya semakin banyak
kritikan dibuat berhubung amalan buruk pihak polis semakin teruk pula
rekod dan kredibiliti polis.


Tragedi berdarah yang berlaku di Batu Buruk,Trengganu baru-baru ini hanya
membawa kita kepada satu kesimpulan sahaja- institusi polis semakin
hancur. Persoalannya sampai ke tahap mana Umno mahu institusi polis di
negara ini terus hancur !!!


Secara jujur memang sukar untuk kita memahami kenapakah dengan tiba-tiba
polis bertindak ganas ke atas rakyat Trengganu yang hanya ingin
melaksanakan hak mereka untuk berhimpun secara aman yang dijamin oleh
Perkara 10 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.


Apa yang lebih malang lagi adalah dua orang rakyat negara ini iaitu
saudara Suwandi Abdul Ghani ,37 dan Muhamad Azman Aziz ,21 telah ditembak
dengan peluru hidup dari jarak dekat oleh seorang anggota polis di dalam
insiden tersebut.


Yang lebih menghairankan meskipun rakyat yang ditembak oleh polis, namun
pihak polis telah bertindak menangkap mangsa tembakan tersebut dan
meminta Mahkamah mengeluarkan perintah reman ke atas salah seorang
individu yang ditembak oleh anggota polis tersebut.


Maka mangsa yang dibedah di hospital Kuala Trengganu tersebut bukan
sahaja menderita kesakitan kerana dibedah untuk mengeluarkan peluru tapi
juga terpaksa terbaring di katil dalam keadaan tangannya bergari 24 jam
sambil dikawal oleh polis.


Dilaporkan kedua-dua individu tersebut, yang telah menerima rawatan di
Hospital Kuala Trengganu dan Kubang Kerian berkemungkinan besar akan
didakwa di bawah seksyen 307 Kanun Keseksaan.


Sementara kedua-dua mangsa yang ditembak oleh pihak polis tersebut telah
dan akan direman dan berkemungkinan besar akan didakwa di atas tuduhan
jenayah di Mahkamah , anggota polis yang menembak mereka berdua dibiarkan
bebas tanpa ditangkap,direman jauh sekali untuk didakwa.


Kenapa tidak ditangkap? Alasan polis adalah polis yang menembak kedua-dua
individu tersebut melaksanakan hak mempertahankan diri (self or private
defence).


Alasan ini sudah tentu adalah satu alasan yang "premature" di peringkat
ini kerana forum yang paling layak menentukan sama ada pembelaan self
defence itu terpakai di dalam kes ini hanyalah Mahkamah.


Di dalam konteks kes ini ianya bermakna polis tersebut perlu terlebih
dahulu didakwa di Mahkamah dan terpulang untuk beliau membangkitkan
pembelaan mempertahan diri tersebut di Mahkamah.


Sebagai satu analogi kes , kita tentu masih belum lupa kes Peguam Balwant
Singh yang ditangkap dan didakwa kerana menembak seorang penunggang
motosika berbangsa India.


Balwant telah ditangkap dan didakwa di Mahkamah Tinggi di atas tuduhan
bunuh dan setelah selesai saksi-saksi memberi keterangan, Mahkamah telah
mengambil kira isu pembelaan self defence yang dibangkitkan oleh Balwant
Singh dan memutuskan pembelaan tersebut terpakai kepada Balwant dan
beliau akhirnya dibebaskan.


Jadi jelas penembak harus ditangkap dan didakwa terlebih dahulu sebelum
beliau dibenarkan membangkitkan pembelaan mempertahankan diri tersebut.


Di dalam kes Batu Buruk ini bukan sahaja polis yang menembak dua rakyat
dari jarak dekat menggunakan peluru hidup (yang boleh menyebabkan
kematian) tidak didakwa, tangkap pun tidak!


Tanpa penangkapan dan pendakwaan ke atas polis terbabit , ia menunjukkan
bahawa polis bukan sahaja bertindak sebagai penembak tetapi juga
bertindak sebagai pendakwa, hakim dan juri sekaligus di dalam isu ini.


Dengan ketiadaan penangkapan dan pendakwaan ke atas pihak polis yang
menembak kedua-dua individu tersebut akan mengundang pelbagai spekulasi
antaranya sesuatu cuba disembunyikan oleh pihak polis dari pengetahuan
umum.


Ia juga akan mewujudkan satu "bad precedent" (duluan yang buruk) bagi
kes-kes seperti ini di masa hadapan dan tidak perlu dikatakan ini secara
jelas bertentangan dengan prinsip akauntabiliti seorang penjawat awam.


Ia juga membenarkan persepsi orang ramai bahawa polis di Malaysia
berbudaya "trigger happy" (gembira menembak orang) sekaligus memburukkan
lagi imej dan kredibiliti polis yang sedia buruk.


Demi kepentingan keadilan polis yang terbabit sewajarnya ditangkap,
direman dan seterusnya didakwa di Mahkamah dan pendakwaan yang paling
munasabah ke atas polis terbabit adalah tuduhan cuba membunuh (attempted
murder)!


Bagi saya, polis secara jelas bersalah sepenuhnya di dalam kes ini.
Kenapakah mereka harus mengganggu ceramah yang ingin diadakan oleh BERSIH
yang hanya ingin menyampaikan maklumat kepada rakyat berhubung tuntutan
BERSIH untuk memulihkan sistem demokrasi yang telah tempang di negara
ini.


Sebenarnya partai pembangkang seperti PAS bukan ingin sangat berceramah
di waktu-waktu malam seperti yang dilakukan sekarang. Pembangkang memilih
untuk berceramah di waktu malam ini kerana ini sahaja saluran yang mereka
ada. Mereka tidak dibenarkan memiliki akhbar harian,televisyen dan radio
yang dikuasai semutlaknya oleh Barisan Nasional (baca Umno.


Berkaitan isu penerangan ini Umno secara jelas mengamalkan dasar
apartheid -dasar yang memihak satu pihak dan menindas pihak yang lain.


Walaupun di pentas demokrasi rakyat sepertimana kata seorang Hakim di
India "are not required to sing the same song!" di Malaysia demokrasi
versi Umno tidak mengiktiraf rakyat menyanyi lagu lain selain lagu untuk
setia kepada Umno sahaja - dulu kini dan tak tahu sampai bila!


Jika polis berfikir sejenak hal tersebut sudah tentu mereka tidak
sewajarnya menafikan partai pembangkang untuk bersuara.


Sistem demokrasi seharusnya membenarkan pembangkang untuk bersuara dan
secara timbal balas (reciprocal) rakyat pula hendaklah dibenarkan untuk
mendengar suara pembangkang tersebut.


Polis ,saya percaya, mempunyai pengetahuan laporan-laporan yang dibuat
oleh Suhakam dan Suruhanjaya Diraja Pembaikan Imej Polis yang ditubuhkan
oleh Kerajaan Abdullah Badawi dengan dipengerusikan oleh Mantan Ketua
Hakim Negara,Tan Sri Dzaiddin. Laporan-laporan ini secara jelas
menyatakan bahawa polis tidak boleh sama sekali menafikan hak berhimpun
ke atas rakyat negara ini yang dijamin oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan.


Badan-badan tersebut malahan telah mencadangkan seksyen 27 dan 27A Akta
Polis 1967 yang menyentuh soal perhimpunan di tempat awam dan premis
persendirian dimansuhkan kerana bercanggah dengan prinsip hak asasi
manusia.


Menurut undang-undang pentadbiran, saranan laporan-laporan Suhakam dan
Suruhanjaya Diraja tersebut mewujudkan satu "legitimate
expectation"(jangkaan yang sah) kepada partai pembangkang dan rakyat
untuk mendesak polis mengikut saranan badan -badan tersebut.


Jika rakyat sebagai pembayara cukai tidak mendapat manfaat dari saranan
badan -badan tersebut yag beroperasi di atas duit pembayar cukai apa
relevannya badan-badan tersebut.


Untuk polis dan UMNO, ingatlah kesabaran rakyat ada hadnya. Jangan undang
kemarahan rakyat. Jadilah Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) bukan Polis Raja di
Malaysia (PRDM)! - mr

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Wakaf Al Irshad , Jaminan Bekalan Akhirat
No Rujukan Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Sembilan MAINS :
Bil (5) dalam BAIT-NS 10/97 Jld. 3

Pusat Pendidikan Al-Irshad dulu dikenali sebagai
Sekolah Agama Rakyat Al-Irshad adalah sebuah institusi
pendidikan swasta rendah dan menengah yang berdaftar
dengan Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Sembilan dan Jabatan
Pelajaran Negeri Sembilan beroperasi semenjak tahun
2002 di lokasi yang strategik iaitu persimpangan jalan
utama Seremban-Labu-Nilai-KLIA.

Melalui draf perancangan pembangunan Al-Irshad dengan
izin Allah sebuah kawasan kompleks pendidikan yang
lengkap dengan infrastruktur pembelajaran dan sumber
ekonomi sedang dibangunkan dengan tiga konsep, pertama
sebagai pusat pendidikan pelbagai ilmu. Kedua sebagai
pusat khidmat masyarakat majmuk dan ketiganya sebagai
pusat nadi ekonomi umat Islam.

Objektif Waqaf Al-Irshad
* Menyuburkan amalan waqaf yang sangat dituntut oleh
Islam
* Memberi ruang kepada khalayak Muslim menyertai
ibadah waqaf
* Menyertai rancangan pembangunan dan pembiayaan
Kompleks Pendidikan Al-Irshad yang moden dan selesa
* Mendidik semangat kerjasama khalayak Muslim
berteraskan konsep Ukhuwwah Islamiah dalam aspek
pendidikan dan ekonomi

Penyertaan Waqaf Al-Irshad
Waqaf Al-Irshad berkonsepkan waqaf melalui pembelian
RM 60.00 sekaki persegi lot lantai bangunan Kompleks
Pendidikan Al-Irshad iaitu dengan cara menyumbang
minima RM 10.00 sebulan atau lebih secara berjadual
dalam tempoh sekurang-kurangnya 6 bulan atau maksima
12 bulan dengan tujuan manfaatnya demi kepentingan dan
kebajikan pendidikan umat Islam apabila terdirinya
kompleks kelak.

Penyertaan boleh menggunakan borang yang disediakan.
Pewaqaf boleh memilih beberapa kaedah berikut :
1. Waqaf 1 lot atau lebih secara tunai RM 60.00
2. Waqaf minima RM 10.00 dalam tempoh 6 bulan
3. Waqaf minima RM 10.00 dalam tempoh 12 bulan (2
lot)

Sumbangan waqaf melalui (Tunai/Cek/Wang Pos) atau
masukkan ke akaun bank atas nama PUSAT PENDIDIKAN
AL-IRSHAD akaun BIMB : 5058010003417

atau datang terus ke : PUSAT PENDIDIKAN AL-IRSHAD ,
Batu 10, Jalan Labu – Nilai , 71900 Labu , Seremban ,
Negeri Sembilan.
u/p Ustaz Shaifudin Haji Maulup , Tel/Faks :
06-7913721 / 013-3991359

*************************
"Kamu sekali-kali tidak akan mencapai kebajikan yang
sempurna sehingga kamu menafkahkan harta yang kamu
cintai ke jalan Allah. Dan apa jua yang kamu dermakan
maka sesungguhnya Allah Maha mengetahui." Surah Al
Imran : ayat 92

"Apabila mati anak Adam, terputuslah amalannya kecuali
tiga perkara iaitu sedekah jariah, ilmu yang
bermanfaat dan anak soleh yang mendoakan kepadanya" .
Hadith Riwayat Muslim

WAQAF IALAH SATU IBADAH
MENYERAHKAN HARTA YANG KITA MILIKI
UNTUK KEGUNAAN UMUM MASYARAKAT
DENGAN NIAT SEBAGAI IBADAH
MENDEKATKAN DIRI KEPADA ALLAH SWT

Fadilat Ibadah Waqaf
Waqaf juga dikenali sebagai sedekah jariah, para Ahli
Fiqh berpendapat amalan waqaf adalah satu-satu ibadah
yang berbentuk sedekah jariah yang menjanjikan
ganjaran pahala yang berkekalan dan mengalir kepada
pewaqaf hingga ke hari akhirat selagi harta tersebut
kekal dan dimanfaatkan.

Amalan waqaf ini juga bukan hanya sebagai satu ibadah
sahaja, malahan merupakan satu sistem yang berpotensi
untuk menyumbang kepada kesejahteraan masyarakat Islam
melalui konsep PENGUMPULAN HARTA BERSAMA.

############################

RANCANGAN PEMBANGUNAN AL-IRSHAD

Rancangan Pembangunan Al-Irshad tertumpu kepada
pembangunan jasmani, mental dan spiritual generasi
muda Islam yang terzahir melalui akhlak, pemikiran dan
ketaqwaan. Program Pusat Pendidikan Al-Irshad
terbahagi kepada 3 peringkat pendidikan berteraskan
metode pendidikan Islam antaranya :

1. Pendidikan dan Khidmat Peringkat Muda (usia 6 bulan
– 12 tahun)
> Nurseri (Pusat Asuhan Anak-Anak) : 6 bulan – 3 tahun
> Kelas Didikan Kanak-Kanak (TASKI) : 3 – 5 tahun
> Kelas Pra-Sekolah Kebangsaan : 6 tahun
> Kelas Pra-Sekolah Agama Rakyat : 6 tahun
> Sekolah Agama Rakyat : 7 – 12 tahun
> Kelas Bimbingan Peperiksaan UPSR & UPKK : 10 – 12
tahun
> Kelas Bimbingan Kemahiran Bahasa : 9 – 12 tahun
> Kelas Hafaz Al Quran dan Hadith
> Kursus Motivasi dan Kecemerlangan
> Pembiayaan Kecemerlangan Pendidikan

2. Pendidikan dan Perkhidmatan Peringkat Remaja (usia
13 – 18 tahun)
> Kelas Hafaz Al Quran dan Hadith : 13 – 18 tahun
> Kelas Bimbingan Peperiksaan PMR dan SPM
> Kelas Seni Beladiri dan Kesihatan
> Kelas Kemahiran Kerjaya Tani, Ternak, Komputer &
Berniaga
> Bimbingan Pemulihan Akhlak dan Ibadah
> Bimbingan Kepimpinan, Ceramah dan Pidato
> Pembiayaan Pendidikan ke IPTA/IPTS dalam & luar
negara
> Perlindungan Anak-Anak Yatim dan Miskin

3. Pendidikan dan Perkhidmatan Peringkat Dewasa
> Pengajian kemahiran asas Al Quran dan hafazan
> Pengajian fardu ain berkitab
> Bimbingan talaqqi kitab dan Al Quran
> Kaunseling keluarga dan anak-anak
> Klinik kesihatan dan perubatan
> Kuliah Maghrib dan Subuh
> Qiyamullail dan Sambutan Syiar Islam
> Seminar, kursus dan program pembangunan insan
> Pemulihan akhlak dan ibadah serta kerjaya
> Perlindungan ibu tunggal, warga emas dan fakir
miskin

"BERSAMA KAMI MEMPERTAHAN DAN MEMBANGUNKAN WARISAN
BANGSA"


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Failing Malaysian varsities

Failing Malaysian varsities
Sim Kwang Yang
Sep 22, 07 11:45am

In the last years of his tenure as prime minister, Dr Mahathir
Mohamad must have realised that there is such a thing as too much
nationalism. Without nationwide consultation, without any penetrating
studies by experts, and certainly without seeking opinions from
parents, teachers, and students, his government decreed overnight
that Math and Science must be taught in English.

Not a note of protest was heard from the Malay teachers association,
and other usually irascible Malay nationalist bodies.

The move was an open admission that the exclusive emphasis on Bahasa
Malaysia in schools and universities has failed to produce globally
competitive human resources. Dr M may have been a giant figure in the
short history of Malaysia, and has been instrumental in shaping the
political landscape of our country. But his brand of Malay
nationalism in the matter of the national language has victimised
many generations of young Malaysians in developing their potentials
in more ways than one.

The first casualty of this language policy has been the academic
standard of our local universities. In the 80s, I used to be invited
to student forums in local universities, in my capacity as an
opposition MP. Representatives from other political parties were also
invited, bit it seemed these talks generally degenerated into a BN
bashing session by students of all races.

After one such session, the moderator of the talk who happened to be
the dean of one faculty told me aside on the quiet that the
performance of his students had declined over the years, partly
because they were illiterate in English and could not read
international journals and reference books.

(He also told me that he and other university lecturers were
compelled to mark the students on a curve, so that those Malay
students who failed will be given a pass mark anyway! But that is an
open secret.)

Publish or perish

Those who are acquainted with the unwritten rules of the academia
know that academic standard is subject to international scrutiny. An
academician has to publish or perish. It is very difficult for a
professor to obtain the security of tenure if his original
composition or research findings are not published in prestigious
international journals. Better still, he can publish an authoritative
book, which soon becomes a best seller and a university text book
everywhere.

The idea is that one of the essential roles of the university is the
production of new knowledge through research. The findings of
research must then be published to allow the world academic community
to test and evaluate the research results. Only when it is so
verified can the new theory or findings be accepted as orthodox truth.

Naturally, students - especially those in senior years and in
graduate programmes (or "post-graduate" programmes, as they are
called in British universities) - must refer to an enormous amount of
journals, reference books, and related research materials, in order
to master their area of specialisation.

Invariably, their thesis must contain a great number of quotations
from authoritative sources, footnotes, and a lengthy bibliography. In
conclusion, the thesis writer is supposed to come to his own theory
or perspective, by engaging himself in a debate with all the
authorities, and synthesising all contentious stands into a
harmonious view entirely his own.

Then, the graduate is qualified to pursue an academic career, as a
professor, an assistant professor, or a humble lecturer. This is that
original signification of the term "professor", as one who professes
his own theory through some kind of publication. His academic worth
is often determined by how often he is quoted by other books and
publication. The standing of a university is also determined partly
by how many such professors they have on their faculty.

Though I do not have the figures, I suspect that most academic and
professional journals in the world are published in English. If our
universities are such that English literacy is lacking, we will be
producing graduates who are intellectually like frogs under the
coconut shell, no matter how fluent they are in the national language.

Perhaps the problem lies with the philosophy of education determined
by the government in the first place.

Academic freedom

The idea of the Western university evolved very much after the model
of Plato's Academy. Plato's model was shaped very much by his
philosophy of searching for truth and knowledge as its own end, and
not as a means to an end. It was meant to be a community of scholars
living in close proximity, a refuge free from the power play of the
outside world.

Plato's Academy continued in Europe even after the fall of Athens at
the hands of Alexander the Great from Macedonia and the rise of the
Roman Empire later. The last Academy was finally closed down by the
Byzantine Emperor Justinian in AD 529 because of religious bigotry on
his part.

That is why an institution of higher learning has to enjoy academic
freedom, because without the freedom of thought and speech, there can
never be truth with a capital "T".

Thirty years ago, I did study philosophy in a small university, the
University of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Unlike Malaysia, the
Winnipeg university came under the purview, and was funded by the
provincial government of Manitoba. The unranked university was
administered by a University Senate made up almost entirely of
faculty members, and 12 student representatives. I served as a
student senator for a couple of years, sitting on several committees
like the one in charge of admission of foreign students.

Many of those liberal arts colleges and universities in the West are
run on the assumption that the most important people in a higher
institution of learning are the teachers and the students, and they
should be given a big say in all things in the administration of the
campus.

One year, the provincial government of Manitoba proposed a raise in
tuition fees. The student union organised a demonstration, marching
down from the campus to the state legislature downtown peacefully in
protest, with professors marching with them in support. The proposal
was withdrawn. If such a march happens in Malaysia, the police, the
FRU, and the water cannons will arrive in full force to quash the
"riot"!

The comparison may not be all that fair. As an important institution,
like all other political, social and economic institutions, the
university takes even centuries to mature. We are but a young nation
on the world stage.

I can actually understand how, during the early uncertain years of
independence, the university was seen as a powerful political tool
for nation building. Much stock was placed on the university as a
symbol of independence. Since education tends to be the quickest way
towards social upward mobility, the eradication of poverty and the
lifting of the socio-economic position of the Malays and other native
communities must indeed depend on a tilted policy on university
education.

Nearly half a century of experiment with our own tertiary education
later, in the context of a rapidly changing world, the glaring
negative impacts of our university education are legion.

Send them overseas

Naturally, in all universities, you get the small percentage of the
cream of the crop who would do well anywhere in the world. The bulk
of the university student population though are just glorified super
secondary scholars in terms of their intellectual achievement.

(I had the chance to interview some graduates who were certified to
teach English as a second language. Upon my request, they could not
name even one prominent writer of English literature!)

What ails our universities is more than evident when it comes to the
employability of their products. Tens of thousands of fresh graduates
cannot find a decent job after graduation. They have to be re-trained
at great public expense in order for them to find their place in
society. If you ask me, it is this training mentality that forms the
bedrock of our philosophy of education which stunt students' growth.

Finally, the government is making some noise about creating "apex
universities". There is some welcome talk about academic freedom,
financial independence, and campus autonomy. So far, what little
public discussion there is on the proposal borders on the
superficial. We are indeed a Third-world nation. But the discussion
is better late and superficial than never.

Blame me for being pessimistic, negative, and cynical. As long as
Umno is in power, and they seem determined to do so for the next half
century, no meaningful reform on our tertiary education system will
arrive at our shores. There will be too much politics and too much
vested interests in the way of moving our nation forward in matters
of education. All this talk about making Malaysia the educational hub
of the region is only marketing language to be taken with a giant
block of salt.

My advice for my friends who have children contemplating university
education has always been this: send them overseas!


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Kit Siang: It's Fairuz at the other end

Kit Siang: It's Fairuz at the other end
Sep 21, 07 5:13pm


Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang is convinced that
senior lawyer VK Lingam was chatting with Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz
Sheikh Abdul Halim in the latest video scandal to rock the nation.


In a press statement today, the veteran politician listed out several
reasons for this conclusion.

The most obvious being that although two days have passed since the
video clip was exposed, there has been pin drop silence from both
Lingam and Ahmad Fairuz.

"It would be the first reaction of anyone to a doctored video clip,"
he said. "But Ahmad Fairuz has been in ex-communicado for the past
two days, although he would have no difficulty accessing the video on
the Internet."

He said the person Lingam spoke to was referred to as 'Datuk' and
there were talks of the person getting a 'Tan Sri-ship' in the same
year.

Lim pointed out that Ahmad Fairuz was awarded the Panglima Setia
Mahkota (PSM) by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in June 2002, making him a
Tan Sri.

The video clip, revealed by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, was
said to have been recorded in 2002.

Lim also noted that there were references making "Datuk Heliliah,
Datuk Ramli and Datuk Maroop" as judges.

On Feb 8, 2002, former solicitor-general Heliliah Mohd Yusuf, former
chief registrar Ramly Aliand, former commissioner of law revision
Ahmad Maarop received their letters of appointment as High Court
judges from the King. Their appointments were from Feb 1, 2002.

There was also reference that "in three months time" the person, whom
Lingam was talking to, would be made Court of Appeal president and
"six months time" he was going to be chief justice.

Ahmad Fairuz was sworn in as Court of Appeal president on Dec 1, 2002
and appointed chief justice on March 17, 2003.

AG rapped

Meanwhile, Lim also took a swipe at Attorney-General Abdul Gani
Patail for saying that there were no criminal elements in the video
clip and that Lingam's conversation was a 'monologue' in nature.

Yesterday, Abdul Gani said it was unclear who the lawyer was speaking
to in the eight-minute video clip.

"There is no clear reference that he was talking to a top judicial
officer," he was reported as saying.

Describing Abdul Gani's comments as "outrageous", Lim said the video
clip raised important questions on the chief justice's commitment to
judicial accountability.

"How can the chief legal officer of the government try to minimise
the gravity of the judicial misconduct exposed by the Lingam tape and
shirk off his responsibility by claiming that Lingam was in a
monologue?" he asked.

The video clip showed Lingam, among others, discussing Ahmad Fairuz's
appointment as chief justice of Malaya and chief justice.

There was also a discussion on the appointment of 'friendly' senior
judges.

Lim also noted that Abdul Gani had not challenged the authenticity of
the conversation.


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Student learns varsity no bed of roses

Student learns varsity no bed of roses
Wong Teck Chi and Syed Jaymal Zahiid
Sep 22, 07 2:10pm


Yee Yang Yang, 19, a first-year student in Universiti Putra Malaysia
(UPM), is a lanky soft-spoken Chinese boy who hails from Tawau, a
small town in Sabah.

In a recent interview with Malaysiakini, Yee related his feelings
over the media coverage he received following a tussle between him
and UPM security authorities who confiscated his belongings.

In his earlier teenage years, he has always viewed Peninsular
Malaysia as a place of dreams - dreams that reflected civilisation,
intellectuality and creativity.

"It was much more chaotic back at home. Security is such an issue
there because of the heavy presence of illegal immigrants," said Yee,
referring to his hometown.

"I have always viewed universities as a 'paradise'. This perception
was imbued in me by my sister," he said.

'I'm a nobody'

However, Yee said that his indulgence in his self-concocted ideals
ended prematurely after only three months in UPM.

His dreams of finding paradise in university were crushed by a
reality he had never expected.

Yee told Malaysiakini that until today, he has no idea as to why he
was subjected to such treatment by the university authorities.

Yee, admitting his fear, is clueless on why he was chosen as the target.

"I'm only a first-year student. I am a nobody. I don't know why they
targeted me," he said.

Yee also explained that things do not look good for him back at Tawau.

"Sabah dailies, with no knowledge of campus elections, has higlighted
my name in the negative manner.

"This has led to family members and neighbours pressuring my parents
for answers and asked if I have offended any particular race," he said

Fortunately, he said, his family had a ready answer - a simple 'no'.

Yee also related how his mother had not been able to sleep, and how
the family had instructed his sister to return home if the situations
gets any worse. Yee's sister is also a university student in the
peninsula.

"She's (Yee's mother) worried that I will be suspended and persecuted
by the campus authorities because the vice-chancellor had said I have
committed various offences. My mother even asked if I had
pornographic materials in my laptop," said a worried Yee.

Belongings not returned

Yee is also very grateful to his family members who have displayed
nothing less than support for their only son.

Yee's sister, never lacking optimism, had told him that she would
write a letter of complaint to the university though it is uncertain
as to how such a move will deter the VC from penalising Yee.

"They (Yee's family) said I must fight for my rights and that I need
not fear if I am not guilty," Yee said with determination.

"Before I came to UPM, my parents told me to make friends with not
just students, but also with people outside university, so I will be
wiser and not ignorant of the society I am living in," he added.

Yee's case is currently under investigation by UPM authorities and
they have yet to return Yee's belongings.

The Bar Council Human Rights Committee, which is of the view that
Yee's case was a gross violation of his basic human rights, has
promised to aid Yee in any way possible.

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Klip video bebal RTM dan mengapa orang ramai merusuh...

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 Sept (Hrkh) - Perkataan 'rusuhan' selalunya disambut
dengan jawapan dan tanggapan yang negatif, namun secara tidak langsung
ramai yang tidak cuba untuk menyelidiki, mendapat gambaran asas atau cuba
menyoroti tindakan timbal balik sebab musabab orang ramai merusuh pada
satu-satu kejadian.

Rusuhan selalunya tercetus disebabkan timbulnya tindakan melampaui batas,
provokasi, cabar-mencabar, mengasak atau membelasah oleh pihak -pihak
yang tertentu yang akhirnya menyebab orang awam melakukan tindakan yang
sama bagi membalas diatas perbuatan tidak perikemanusiaan itu.

Malah penjenayah ataupun penjahat lazimnya tidak merusuh, tetapi
seringkali kedengaran dilakukan oleh orang awam, masyarakat setempat,
golongan tertentu, peladang, penternak, petani, penduduk setinggan yang
tidak puas hati dengan sesuatu keadaan yang dianggap telah melampaui
batasan.


Rusuhan tidak terjadi dengan sendirinya dan bukan dilakukan secara
suka-suka, hobi seperti vandalisme yang secara tidak langsung sebagai
satu manifestasi sesetengah pihak menzahirkan ekspresi diri (luahan hati)
ataupun orang biasa yang suka merosakan harta benda awam tetapi satu
manifestasi tidak puas hati di atas apa yang berlaku


Dalam laman web kamus terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, perkataan rusuh
bermaksud tidak aman; huru-hara; kacau; gempar,ribut, kecoh,
kelang-kelibut, tegang dan kelam kabut dan menyelitkan contoh dari sudut
bahasanya iaitu 'Mereka merusuh kerana tidak puas hati dengan keputusan
pengadil.'


Rusuhan di negara luar seperti di Palestin, Pakistan,Indonesia dan Mexico
adalah disebabkan rakyatnya yang sudah tidak tahan lagi dengan sikap pihak
berkuasa ataupun parti pemerintah yang dilihat semakin menindas, menzalimi
dan menekan nasib hidup rakyat.


Begitu juga dengan siri-siri kejadian rusuhan di Malaysia sekitar tahun
1999 akibat ramai pihak tidak puas hati dengan pemecatan Mantan Timbalan
Perdana Menteri Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim daripada jawatannya, dan ada
rusuhan diantaranya dimulakan oleh pihak yang tidak berpuas hati dengan
Anwar Ibrahim sendiri supaya imej dan nama baiknya tercemar.


Rusuhan juga bukan sesuatu yang baru di negara ini,dan sejarah pernah
merakamkan tragedi Rusuhan Natrah atau Maria Hertogh berlaku di Singapura
pada 1950 kerana sehingga seramai 18 orang terbunuh atau mati syahid dan
173 orang cedera ketika bertempur dengan tentera dan polis British.


Ketika itu bangunan dan kereta berhampiran padang dekat mahkamah telah
dibakar.


Tumpuan utama ialah Masjid Sultan di Singapura dan Singapura diletakkan
di bawah perintah berkurung selama 2 hari 2 malam. ISA telah digunakan
dengan sebaik-baknya bagi membendung keganasan merebak.


Tatkala berlakunya rusuhan, maka perkara-perkara tidak diingini pun boleh
berlaku seperti membakar bendera, membaling batu, pukul memukul,
merosakkan harta benda awam.


Sikap bebal RTM mengapi-apikan provokasi
Sebaiknya tindakan yang wajar dilakukan oleh pihak -pihak yang terbabit
ialah berbincang, menggunakan keadah rundingan dan budi bicara baagi
mengelakkan dari terjadinya rusuhan dengan mengambil langah-langkah
pencegahan bukannya menimbulkan provokasi sehingga mencetuskan suasana
tegang.


Lebih buruk lagi pihak pemerintah sering kali menuduh pihak pembangkang
memulakan rusuhan dan seringkali mencetuskan suasana tegang dan ini
dipanjangkan lagi kejadian di Batu Burok 8 September lalu.


Malah cuba memburukkan imej pembangkang dengan tayang klip RTM baru-baru
ini dengan memaparkan tulisan 'ini bukan budaya kita' menjurus kepada isu
dakwaan kononnya rusuhan didalangi pembangkang di Batu Buruk pada 8
September lalu dalam satu ceramah anjuran Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih
dan Adil (Bersih).


Sedangkan imej awal kejadian baling batu dan himpunan umat Islam di
jalan-jalan raya adalah imej dari rakaman perjuangan rakyat Palestin
menentang rejim Israel, kata Setiausaha Agung PAS Dato' Kamarudin Jaffar
baru-baru ini.


Selain itu terdapat juga imej dalam klip video tersebut mengenai
perjuangan rakyat Indonesia merusuh menentang pentadbiran Presiden
Suharto satu masa lalu untuk mengembalikan demokrasi di Indonesia,
katanya.


Klip video yang berniat jahat dan bebal ini, sekaligus menghina
perjuangan rakyat kedua-dua negara tersebut yang umum mengetahui bahawa
rakyat negara tersebut terpaksa berbuat demikian kerana tekanan yang
dihadapi, katanya.


Dengan menggunakan klip video ini secara menggabungkan tiga kejadian
berasingan dan merujuk kepada niat politik bagi memburuk-burukkkan
pembangkang, RTM dilihat bertindak melampau, katanya.


Berhubung klip imej lelaki membakar bendera jalur gemilang dalam kes
rusuhan di Batu Buruk, Kamarudin berkata gambaran secara keseluruhannya
ialah bermotifkan politik.


RTM dan Kementerian Penerangan sedikit pun tidak menayangkan tindakan
ganas polis terhadap orang awam dan klip video tembakan menggunakan
peluru hidup yang dilepaskan anggota polis ke atas orang awam, katanya. -

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

How are u feeling today ? hope much better..

I AM SURE YOU WILL RESPOND
What if Allah couldn't take the time to bless us today because we
couldn't
take the time to thank Him yesterday ?
What if Allah decided to stop leading us tomorrow because we didn't
follow
Him today ?
What if we never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when Allah
sent the Rain ?
What if Allah didn't walk with us today because we failed to recognize
it
as His day?
What if Allah took away the Quran tomorrow because we would not read it
today ?
What if Allah took away His message because we failed to listen to the
messenger ?
What if the door of the Mosque was closed because we didn't open the
door
of our heart ?
What if Allah stopped loving and caring for us because we failed to love
and care for others ?

What if Allah would not hear us today because we would not listen to Him
?
What if Allah answered our prayers the way we answer His calls ?
What if Allah met our needs the way we give Him our lives ?
What if We failed to send this message on?


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Fwd:

10 REASONS WHY SHOULD YOU LEAVE WORK AT 6.00PM

1. Employment letter stated that working hour finish at 6 .00pm.

2. Work is a never-ending process even you stay until next morning
you
will never finish it.

3. Human are not robots even robots / machines have to rest or else
will facing breakdown problems.

4. You love your career, but your family is even more important in
your
life.

5. If you failed in your life, you boss is not going to be the one
who
gives you a helping hand whereas your family would befinitely
offer help.

6. You do not want to screw up or make your life miserable because
of
your job.

7. Monthly salary = Work from 9am - 5.00pm, if 5.30pm = $0.00 + 0
Bonus +
Ang Pau + 0 Appreciation + Bad Health + Bad Social Life + Poor
Family
Relationship. Equal To: Unproductive Employee + Performance Drop
+
Company Reputation Drops + Retrenchment Rate Increases +
Resignation Rate
Increases

8. If the person who disagree to the above formulation, we think
he/she
is a loser who is no life, kiss ass person, heartless asshole,
doomed
workaholic, son of a bitch, etc. He/she deserves the 'Best
Employee of
"The Year' award!

9. You don't give a fucking damn if your boss fires you.

10. For the Chinese, remember this 'House In The East No Longer Keep
You,
Then Just Move to The West House' - Dong Ka Hmm Ta, Ta Sai Ka!


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Kubur Setiap Hari Menyeru Manusia Sebanyak Lima (5) Kali ...

1. Aku rumah yang terpencil,maka kamu akan senang dengan selalu
membaca Al-Quran.
2. Aku rumah yang gelap,maka terangilah aku dengan selalu solat
malam.
3. Aku rumah penuh dengan tanah dan debu,bawalah amal soleh yang
menjadi hamparan.
4. Aku rumah ular berbisa,maka bawalah amalan Bismillah sebagai
penawar.
5. Aku rumah pertanyaan Munkar dan Nakir,maka banyaklah bacaan
"Laa ilahaillallah, Muhammadar Rasulullah", supaya kamu dapat
jawapan kepadanya.

<http://www.animationfactory.com/animations/school/writing_supplies/117b
9b/>

Lima Jenis Racun dan Lima Penawarnya ......
<http://www.animationfactory.com/animations/accents/misc/38a4d/>

1. Dunia itu racun,zuhud itu ubatnya.
2. Harta itu racun,zakat itu ubatnya.
3. Perkataan yang sia-sia itu racun,zikir itu ubatnya.
4. Seluruh umur itu racun,taat itu ubatnya.
5. Seluruh tahun itu racun,Ramadhan itu ubatnya.

(Kirimkan Untuk Rakan-Rakan Muslim Anda Yang Lain Sebagai Tanda
Sahabatnya Sedang Mengingatinya ...)


Nabi Muhammad S.A.W bersabda:
<http://www.animationfactory.com/animations/food/vegetables/8c318/>

Ada 4 di pandang sebagai ibu ", iaitu :

1. Ibu dari segala UBAT adalah SEDIKIT MAKAN.
2. Ibu dari segala ADAB adalah SEDIKIT BERBICARA.
3. Ibu dari segala IBADAT adalah TAKUT BUAT DOSA.
4. Ibu dari segala CITA CITA adalah SABAR.

Berpesan-pesanlah kepada kebenaran dan kesabaran.
Beberapa kata renungan dari Qur'an :


Orang Yang Tidak Melakukan Solat:

<http://www.animationfactory.com/animations/food/fruit/8aa19/>
Subuh : Dijauhkan cahaya muka yang bersinar
Zuhor : Tidak diberikan berkah dalam rezekinya
Asar : Dijauhkan dari kesihatan/kekuatan
Maghrib : Tidak diberi santunan oleh anak-anaknya.
Isyak : Dijauhkan kedamaian dalam tidurnya

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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

[MToday] Poorer, poorer, porah!

Raja Petra Kamarudin


This was what Sabah's Daily Express reported on Saturday, 15
September 2007, in its news item titled 'Poor due to missing RM4b':

Among the reasons Sabah ended up being the poorest State is the
disappearance of RM4 billion from Yayasan Sabah's coffers during the
tenure of Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan as its Chief Executive. Parti
Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) President Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said this
in reply to the former's allegation that Sabah's lowly status was due
to Barsian Nasional rule.

Kurup felt that Jeffrey owes Sabahans an explanation on the RM4
billion. Former Premier Tun Dr Mahathir said in 1995 that RM4 billion
was unaccounted for in Yayasan Sabah's accounts when Parti Bersatu
Sabah ran the State Government. However, the matter remained at that.

Kurup, who is Sook Assemblyman, also told Jeffrey, who is Parti
Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Steering Committee Chairman for Sabah and
Sarawak, not to count his chickens before they are hatched. "Jeffrey
should be patient enough to wait for the verdict of the people in the
next election," he said in a statement. He also advised Jeffrey not
to look at Sook and instead look at what he had done for the Bingkor
constituency during his one decade as its Assemblyman.

"If Jeffrey thinks he could do better than the present BN government
I ask him to first of all list down what he had done when he was the
Assemblyman," he said. He said Jeffrey should also reflect why he was
so praiseworthy about the BN Government when he was in the BN but is
now singing an entirely different tune. "Simply, it is an act of
desperation after his attempts to join any of the BN component
parties were rejected outright," he said.

Meanwhile, PKR Sabah Youth Vice-Chief, Muada Joe Ojihi, and Beaufort
Vice-Chief, Guandee Kohoi, in a joint statement, said the BN would be
given a run for their money in the coming general election. "The
winds of change are blowing strong in Matunggong and Kuala Penyu and
it is similar in other places. Based on our visits with Dr Jeffrey to
other areas, we believe the BN will get a surprise," they said.

"Kurup should have asked himself the reasons why half the PBRS
divisions in Sabah have closed shop. Can he point out where are the
PBRS strongholds that have been acknowledged by the BN?" they asked.
They were confident that the people of Sabah are with the PKR just
like when they were with Berjaya in 1976 and with PBS in 1985.

Yes, we can all remember the former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir
grumbling about the missing RM4 billion from the Sabah Foundation
(Yayasan Sabah) at the time when the PBS government was ruling Sabah.
The Chief Minister then was of course Pairin, Dr Jeffrey's brother.
Note one important thing in the Daily Express report above: Barisan
Nasional whacks Dr Jeffrey but makes no mention of his brother,
Pairin, who was the Chief Minister then. Was it not Pairin who
appointed his brother, Dr Jeffrey, the Chief Executive of the Yayasan
Sabah? And if there is the matter of the missing RM4 billion then
should not his 'handler' also be held accountable?

Why is there no mention of Pairin and why has he been exempted from
criticism? Simple! That is because Pairin is now in the ruling
government while Dr Jeffrey is in the opposition. The issue,
therefore, is not about the missing RM4 billion but the fact that Dr
Jeffrey is opposed to the government. Also note that, at the time
when both brothers were in the ruling government, this issue never
surfaced. Tun Dr Mahathir raised the issue when the PBS left the
ruling coalition to join the ranks of the opposition. But when PBS re-
joined the ruling coalition the matter was dropped. And now that Dr
Jeffrey is back in the opposition only he is taken to task while they
make it appear like Pairin is totally innocent of the 'crime' even
though he was in charge then and was responsible for putting his
brother in charge of the Sabah Foundation.

Dr Jeffrey was detained of course -- but not for the missing RM4
billion though. He was detained under the Internal Security Act for
launching a campaign to pull Sabah out of the Federation of Malaysia.
It seems, according to the Federal Government, this is a criminal
act. Sabah can certainly not be allowed to leave the Federation
because half the oil and gas comes from Sabah and Sarawak and Sabah
alone contributes about RM10 billion to the Federal coffer.
Terengganu contributes another RM20 billion while Sarawak the balance
RM10 billion to give Petronas an estimated income of RM40 billion a
year. And this will certainly increase corresponding to the increase
in the price of oil.

I have not actually studied the Sabah State Constitution (I assume it
has one) or scrutinised the Agreement when Malaysia was formed. The
common perception is that Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak joined
Malaysia. Those from Sabah argue that the state did not join Malaysia
as Malaysia did not exist yet then. What happened was that Singapore,
Sabah and Sarawak teamed up with Malaya to form Malaysia.

This would mean Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak are equal to Malaya, not
equal to the 11 other states in Peninsular Malaysia. Currently, Sabah
and Sarawak (Singapore has of course now ceased to be in Malaysia)
are treated at par with the other 11 states such as Selangor, Perak,
Penang, Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Negeri
Sembilan and Melaka.

This is where the dissatisfaction lies. Sabah and Sarawak feel they
should be above the other 11 states. Their status is in fact at par
with the Federation of Malaya. Sabah and Sarawak did not join
Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak teamed up with Malaya to form Malaysia.
And this is why these two states have special privileges that were
spelt out in the 20-point agreement. For example, their Chief of
Police is called Commissioner of Police (CP) and not Chief Police
Officer (CPO) like the Peninsular Malaysian states. They also have
State Ministers and not Executive Council Members (EXCO Members) like
in the Peninsular Malaysian states. And Sabah and Sarawak can decide
who can and can't enter their states plus whether any of their
citizens can be barred from leaving the state. The other Peninsular
Malaysians states can't do this.

Now can you understand why Sabahans and Sarawakians took offence to
the recent 50th Merdeka celebration? They argue that they have been
merdeka (independent) for only 44 years and not 50. Malaysia did not
exist until 44 years ago. In 1957, when this country became
independent, it was called the Federation of Malaya. Only six years
later, when the Federation of Malaya merged with Singapore, Sabah and
Sarawak, was the name changed to the Federation of Malaysia. And
Sabahans and Sarawakians make it very clear that Sabah and Sarawak
did not join Malaysia. It was an equal partner with the Federation of
Malaya and therefore above the other Peninsular Malaysian states.

Anyway, the issue we would like to discuss today is not the status of
Sabah and Sarawak and whether they should celebrate 44 years or 50
years of Merdeka. What we want to talk about is the allegation that
RM4 billion has disappeared from Yayasan Sabah.

The Chief Executive of the Sabah Foundation is appointed by the Chief
Minister of Sabah. During the time of the PBS government, the Chief
Executive of the Sabah Foundation and the Chief Minister of Sabah
were brothers. Now, if it is true that Dr Jeffrey siphoned RM4
billion of the raykat's money, why was he not brought to book? He was
detained but he was detained for suggesting that Sabah pull out of
Malaysia. What we need to know is: is this a crime? Is it a crime to
suggest that Sabah pull out of Malaysia? Is there not a provision in
the agreement that says if Sabah conducts a referendum and if 75% of
the rakyat of Sabah choose for the state to leave Malaysia then Sabah
can legally do so? If so, then why was Dr Jeffrey detained?

I remember when I too was detained in April 2001. I was detained for
opposing Barisan Nasional and for going against the Prime Minister.
Since when is this a crime? Since when does this make me a traitor to
the Malay race? Since when does this make me a traitor to the nation?
Apparently, when you oppose the political party in office and/or the
Prime Minister this makes you a traitor to God, King, Country and
Race. Such is the very shallow mentality of Malaysians in general and
the Malay leaders in particular.

Okay, Dr Jeffrey, the Chief Minister's brother, misappropriated RM4
billion of the peoples' money. What action was taken against him? Was
Dr Jeffrey, the Chief Executive of the Sabah Foundation, or Pairin
who appointed his brother the Chief Executive of the Sabah
Foundation, brought to justice? Instead, Pairin's party was admitted
into Barisan Nasional and is now a member of the ruling coalition.

Is this how criminals are treated? They are alleged to have swindled
RM4 billion of the peoples' money. However, instead of being sent to
jail, they are rewarded and honoured. Or did the swindle never take
place? Did the two Kitingan brothers really steal RM4 billion of the
peoples' money or is this utter rubbish?

Let us look at what is real and an indisputable fact. Let us look at
the latest Auditor-General's report on Sabah's finances -- the
Laporan Ketua Audit Negara, Penyata Kewangan Kerajaan Negeri Sabah
Tahun 2006, published by the Jabatan Audit Negara.

In 2006, Sabah saw an increase in revenue of RM482.74 million that
resulted in its revenue increasing 27.1% to RM2.26 billion from
RM1.78 billion in 2005. The state expenditure, however, increased by
RM284.86 million to RM1.92 billion in 2006 from RM1.64 billion in 2005.


Now, how did this increase in revenue come about? The three main
sources of revenue are sales tax of RM656.07 million, forestry
revenue of RM505.16 million, and petroleum royalty of RM409.73. In
other words, Sabah is living off the land and not earning money from
its investments.


What must be noted here is that Sabah's investments increased to
RM1,271.62 million in 2006 from RM878.77 million in 2005, RM590.78 in
2004, RM327.27 in 2003 and RM144.22 in 2002. That is almost ten-fold
in four years. Why then has this exorbitant increase in 'investments'
not attracted a proportionate increase in revenue? Why is it that the
state's main revenue earner are still sales tax, forestry revenue and
petroleum royalty? And note that the increase in forestry revenue is
because the state is accelerating the cutting down of forests plus
the price of oil has gone up.

Another important point to note is that Sabah's cash reserves which
was RM86.23 million two years ago has dwindled to RM68.09 with only
RM24.03 million in the State Treasury. That is all the cash Sabah
has, RM24.03 million. In spite of the large increase in revenue and
the remarkable increase in investments, the cash reserve in the State
Treasury is peanuts. Everything went up since 2002 -- the revenue,
investments -- but the cash reserves went down while the expenses
increased.

Where did all the money go?

"Kerajaan Negeri perlu berusaha untuk menambah hasil dan berbelanja
secara berhemat untuk mengukuhkan lagi kedudukan Akaun Hasil
Disatukan," said the Auditor-General. 11,014 projects were planned in
the RMK9 (Ninth Malaysia Plan), said the Auditor-General. However, to
date, only 3% or 30 projects have been completed while 6,201 projects
or 58.3% have not even been launched yet. The Auditor-General also
said that they have no information whatsoever on 364 or 3.3% of the
projects. This means no one knows what happened to them.

Joseph Kurup is raising issues about what happened decades ago when
the Kitingan brothers were running Sabah. Look, if they are guilty of
misappropriating RM4 billion of the state's money then charge them
and put them on trial. Why do nothing other than complain about it in
the Daily Express? And why honour those you call criminals by
admitting them into Barisan Nasional and by giving them positions of
power in the State Government? Is this how criminals should be
rewarded? Is Barisan Nasional nothing but a den of thieves? And if
they are not criminals then stop shouting, screaming, ranting and
raving. Instead, focus on how the state is being run now, under the
present administration.

Billions of Ringgit are disappearing even as you read this. Billions
of Ringgit are entering the state coffer only to disappear without a
trace. Investments are being made in the billions of Ringgit. But
none of these investments are earning the state any income. The state
depends on revenue earned from cutting down forest reserves many
times the size of Singapore Island. It depends on revenue earned from
taxing the rakyat billions of Ringgit in the form of Sales Tax. It
depends on the price of oil going up and the petroleum royalty it
earns from that. And it spends every single Sen of what it earns and
saves nothing as cash reserve. For the billions a year it earns,
Sabah has only RM24.03 million to show for it in the State Treasury.
How can it earn RM2 billion a year and only have RM24.03 million to
its name? And how can more than RM1.271 billion in investments not
see a single Sen in profit?

This is what the state must look into. This is what Sabah must focus
on. Forget about something that happened 20 years ago under a
different administration. If there are criminals from amongst you
then flush them out. Stop grumbling while honouring these same people
you call criminals with positions of honour and power. Joseph Kurup
says that Sabah is poorer because of the Kitingan brothers. I say
poorer, poorer, porah!


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[Mkini] 44 years later, Dayaks still feel marginalised

44 years later, Dayaks still feel marginalised
Tony Thien
Sep 17, 07 11:52am

Feelings of marginalisation and deprivation are prevalent among the
Sarawak Dayak community despite the special rights and privileges
enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution and the safeguards to protect
native customary rights (NCR) land, said an opposition leader.

"After 44 years of independence where are we Dayaks in regard to the
implementation of social and economic activities within the ambit of
the special rights and privileges, including the safeguards to our
NCR land?"

This was the question posed by Sarawak National Party (Snap)
president Edwin Dundang Bugak when speaking at the party's 16th
triennial general assembly yesterday.

Dundang, who has been re-elected for a new three-year term, said
Malaysia is a partnership consisting of many partners based on the
social contract embodied in the Malaysian Constitution, Inter-
Governmental Commission Report and other related documents.

The social contract was agreed and signed by all partners as a basis
to form a new nation - Malaysia.

"We want every Malaysian to remember that Sarawak and Sabah agreed to
sign (the Malaysia Agreement) only when ( the country's first prime
minister) the late Tunku (Abdul Rahman) assured the inclusion of our
special rights and privileges, including the protection of our NCR
lands," said Dundang.

He added that Snap wanted to re-affirm the pledge to uphold the
Malaysian Constitution as the basis of the party's struggle.

"Without this document there is no Malaysia," he told some 100
delegates from 44 branches throughout Sarawak.

He said the terms and conditions, especially on the special rights
and privileges of the Dayaks cannot be disputed.

Greatest concern

Dundang said for the Dayaks, the greatest concern about forming
Malaysia then was the fear that they would lose their NCR lands.

"Now, despite the safeguards, most of the NCR lands are gone, not
taken and sold by outsiders as we feared but by our own Sarawak
people who abused their political power and positions," he added.

The Snap chief said Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) always claims that
there are about 1.5 million acres of NCR land in Sarawak.

"If the state government is sincere, transparent and has no hidden
agenda, we call on them to show where these NCR lands are," he added.

Dundang also spoke of the less equitable distribution of
opportunities for the Dayaks in education, the economy and the civil
service at both state and federal levels.

As for Snap, he told the delegates that they must continue with the
struggle despite the poor performance of the party in the past
elections.

Snap is facing an uncertain future as it is now appealing to the
court against a Kuala Lumpur High Court's ruling last year to uphold
the Registrar of Societies' (ROS) decision to de-register the party
in November 2002.

The party's struggle must continue irrespective of what happens after
the legal process has been exhausted, said Dundang.

Welcomes Umno

Dundang later told reporters that Snap would welcome the entry of
Umno into Sarawak if due respect and recognition is given to special
rights and privileges, including protection for NCR lands.

Responding to a question, he said the party has not come to the stage
to discuss whether to dissolve the party and have its members join Umno.

At the TGA, a former MP for Bintulu Ting Ling Kiew was elected the
new deputy president, succeeding Justine Jinggut, who did not seek re-
election.

Kebing Wan, a former political secretary to the chief minister, was
elected senior vice president, succeeding former senator Michael Bong.

Edmund Stanley Jugol was re-elected as secretary-general while
businesswoman Ibi Anak Uding was elected Wanita chief and Dayrell
Walter Entrie was re-elected as Youth chief.


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[Mkini] Gov’t-sanctioned plot to kill MTUC?

Gov't-sanctioned plot to kill MTUC?
Syed Jaymal Zahiid
Sep 17, 07 7:06pm

The government is allegedly using religion as a means to 'divide and
weaken' the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC), claimed a source.

"Religion has played a big part in shaping the country's policies.
Now religion is being used to weaken workers' movements as well,"
added the source who works closely with trade unions.

The government is said to be backing the Islamic Union Federation of
Malaysia (PPIM) whose registration is pending an approval from the
Registrar of Society (ROS).

The source said a religion-based union in a country where religion is
constantly exploited to rake in votes, will counter the influence of
MTUC which is seen as an opposition-dominated body.

"If you form an Islamic-based federation of unions, the mere mention
of Islam itself will draw Muslim workers to join and when the concept
of Islam is controlled by a certain political party, it won't be
difficult to control them (Muslim workers)," he reasoned.

Deputy minister involved

The source also claimed that Deputy Human Resources Minister Abdul
Rahman Bakar was behind the alleged conspiracy.

"Even though some said he (Abdul Rahman) was merely applauding PPIM's
establishment, we have credible information that he was behind its
formation right from the start," he said.

The source pointed out that Abdul Rahman had been vocal in his
criticisms against MTUC and one occasion even accused it of being an
"opposition tool to incite hatred towards the government."

The deputy minister has also accused the MTUC leadership of having a
strong socialist leaning and stressed that the Barisan Nasional-led
government has zero-tolerance for left wing ideologies.

Several well-known union leaders were also implicated in the alleged
conspiracy against MTUC, which represents more than 500,000 private
sector workers in the country and has more than 200 affiliate bodies.

Meanwhile, the source said these individuals were allegedly 'pro-
establishment' and were currently helming 'yellow' unions.

'Yellow' unions refer to bureaucratic and passive unions while 'red'
unions are more aggressive in their tactics pertaining to engagement
with employers.

Internal politics

The source further claimed that the alleged internal feud in MTUC was
also a factor in the alleged conspiracy.

"So Abdul Rahman gathered all those who were opposed to incumbent
president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud (photo) to form an alliance to
weaken the MTUC president and the MTUC as a whole," he claimed.

On the ROS approval for PPIM, the source said the green light would
be given after the MTUC elections in December.

"This is because they know Shahir will win in the elections. The kill
is when PPIM finally becomes a recognised labour entity.

"This is when the Muslim members of MTUC will jump over to PPIM," he
explained.

Abdul Rahman could not be contacted for comment. Syed Shahir, on the
other hand, said he would be responding on this matter later this week.

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http://ferdigi.blogspot.com/

Sering kita mendengar dan mungkin melakukan kegiatan rutin yang dilakukan
sebelum bulan Ramdhan adalah saling berma'afan satu dengan yang lain.
Yang secara dalil di sandarkan kepada hadist berikut.
Doa Malaikat jibril Menjelang Ramadhan:

"Ya Allah tolong abaikan puasa umat Muhammad, apabila sebelum memasuki
bulan Ramadhan dia tidak melakukan hal-hal yang berikut:

* Tidak memohon maaf terlebih dahulu kepada kedua orang tuanya (jika
masih ada);

* Tidak bermaafan terlebih dahulu antara suami istri;

* Tidak bermaafan terlebih dahulu dengan orang-orang sekitarnya." )))

Maka Rasulullah pun mengatakan Amiin sebanyak 3 kali. Dapat kita
bayangkan, yang berdoa adalah Malaikat dan yang meng-amiinkan adalah
Rasullullah dan para sahabat, dan dilakukan pada hari Jumaat.

Hadits tersebut dha'if dan munkar karena menyelisihi hadits yang shahih
sebagai berikut:
"Artinya: Nabi Shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam naik ke atas mimbar kemudian
berkata, "Amin, amin, amin".
Para sahabat bertanya. "Kenapa engkau berkata 'Amin, amin, amin, Ya
Rasulullah?"
Nabi Shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam bersabda, "Telah datang malaikat Jibril
dan ia berkata:

'Hai Muhammad celaka seseorang yang jika disebut nama engkau namun dia
tidak bershalawat kepadamu dan katakanlah amin!' maka kukatakan, 'Amin',
kemudian Jibril berkata lagi,

'Celaka seseorang yang masuk bulan Ramadhan tetapi keluar dari bulan
Ramadhan tidak diampuni dosanya oleh Allah dan katakanlah amin!', maka
aku berkata: 'Amin'. Kemudian Nabi Shallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam berkata
lagi.

'Celaka seseorang yang mendapatkan kedua orang tuanya atau salah seorang
dari keduanya masih hidup tetapi justru tidak memasukkan dia ke surga dan
katakanlah amin!' maka kukatakan, 'Amin".

[Hadits Riwayat al-Bazzar dalam Majma'uz Zawaid 10/1675-166, al-Hakim
4/153 dishahihkannya dan disetujui oleh Imam Adz-Dzahabi dari Ka'ab bin
Ujrah, diriwayatkan juga oleh Imam al-Bukhari dalam Adabul Mufrad no. 644
(Shahih Al-Adabul Mufrad No. 500 dari Jabir bin Abdillah)]

Saling berma'afan sebelum Puasa Ramadhon termasuk perkara baru dalam agama
ini (bid'ah). Dan kita tahu semua perkara yang baru dan diada-adakan
adalah sesat dan tempatnya dineraka. Bid'ah dalam terminologi syari'at
adalah setiap ibadah yang diada-adakan oleh manusia tapi tidak ada
asalnya dalam Al-Qur'an maupun As-Sunnah, demikian ini berdasarkan sabda
Rasulullah

"Artinya : Barangsiapa membuat sesuatu yang baru dalam urusan kami (dalam
Islam) yang tidak terdapat (tuntunan) padanya, maka ia
tertolak"[Disepakati keshahihannya: Al-Bukhari dalam Ash-Shulh (2697).
Muslim dalam Al-Aqdhiyah (1718)]

Dan sabda beliau.

"Artinya : Barangsiapa melakukan suatu amal yang tidak kami perintahkan
maka ia tertolak"[Al-Bukhari menganggapnya mu'allaq dalam Al-Buyu' dan
Al-I'tisham. Disambungkan oleh Muslim dalam Al-Aqdhiyah (18-1718)]

Kemudian sabda Rasul lainnya.

"Artinya : Hendaklah kalian menjauhi perkara-perkara baru yang
diada-adakan, karena setiap perkara baru (dalam agama) adalah bid 'ah,
setiap bid 'ah itu sesat, dan setiap yang sesat itu (tempatnya) di
neraka" [HR. Abu Dawud dalam As-Sunnah (4607). Ibnu Majjah dalam
Al-Muqaddimah (42). Tambahan "dan yang setiap yang sesat itu (tempatnya
di neraka)" pada riwayat An-Nasa'I dalam Al-Idain (1578)].

Penekanan hadis diatas tidak dikhususkan pada berma'afan sebelum berpuasa
Ramadhan tetapi memberikan penekanan kepada tiga perkara yang semuanya
sangat penting dan akan celaka bagi orang yang tidak melakukannya yaitu,
celaka bagi yang tidak bersalawat kepada nabi, celaka bagi yang tidak
melaksanakan kewajiban di bulan Ramadhan dan celaka bagi orang yang tidak
berbakti kepada orang tuanya (Birrul Walidain).

Maka tradisi berma'afan sebelum Ramadhan tidak ada tuntunannya dari
Rasulullah dan para Sahabatnya.
Untuk itu bagi kita yang sudah mengetahuinya tinggalkanlah perkara-perkara
baru dalam agama yang hanya akan membawa kita kepada kesesatan dan neraka.

Wallahualam


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AMALAN DI BULAN RAMADHAN

1. Mengucapkan tahniah (Selamat datang Ramadhan atau Selamat menyambut
Ramadhan.

2. Niat sebulan bagi malam yang pertama dan selanjutnya niat untuk
hari-hari.

3. Sembahyang Isyak berjamaah di masjid/surau.

4. Solat Tarawikh 20 rakaat.

5. Tadarus membaca bersemak dan berturut-turut juzuk.

6. Tidur malam membaca 4 ayat terakhir Surah Al Kahfi supaya dikejutkan
bangun tepat jam 4.00 pagi.

7. Bangun jam 4.00 pagi dan setengah jam untuk Qiamullail ringan (Solat
Tahjud, Solat Taubat dan Solat Hajat)

8. Jam 4.30 pagi kaum ibu masak sahur.

9. Jam 5.00 pagi/5.15 pagi makan sahur.

10.Jangan tidur sesudah sahur.

11.Solat Subuh berjemaah di Masjid.

12.Tadarus pendek.

13.Matahari tinggi segalah, lakukan solat Isyraq.

14.Menjalankan kerja harian dan menjaga pancaindera.

15.Jam 11.00 pagi tunaikan Solat Dhuha.

16.Lakukan Solat Kafarah Baul 2 rakaat. Rakaat pertama selepas Fatihah
baca Surah Al Kautsar 7 kali dan rakaat kedua selepas Fatihah baca Surah
Ikhlas 7 kali.

17.Jam 12.00 tengahari tidur, niat tidur waktu Qailulah (ganti jaga satu
jam diwaktu sahur)

18.Solat Zuhur berjemaah.

19.Tadarus pendek.

20.Sebelah petang kaum ibu menyediakan berbuka petang.

21.Solat Asar berjemaah di Masjid.

22.Jika masa petang jangan gunakan untuk bersiar-siar atau menonton TV
yang melibatkan kemaksiatan. Sebaik-baiknya digunakan untuk mengikuti
majlis-majlis ilmu atau berdoa kerana waktu itu amat mustajab.

23. Berbuka dengan ala kadar iaitu minuman yang belum dipanas oleh api
atau dengan buah kurma atau buah tempatan.

24.Segera Solat Maghrib di Masjid.

25.Makan malam bersama keluarga.

26.Bersiap sedia untuk ke masjid menunaikan Solat Isyak dan Tarawikh
secara berjemaah.

KELEBIHAN-KELEBIHAN YANG LAIN

1. Menghadiri majlis ilmu setiap langkah di beri pahala ibadah sunah
setahun.

2. Mengekali berjemaah diberi balasan dengan disediakan sebuah bandar
khas di Syurga.

3. Membuat hubungan baik kepda kedua ibu bapa, Allah pandang dengan
penuh kasih sayang.

4. Isteri taat kepada suami diberi pahala seperti pahala Asiah dan
Mariam.

5. Sesiapa yang menyampaikan hajat saudaranya disampaikan 1000 hajatnya
di akhirat.


Mengurangkan berat badan di dalam menjalani ibadah Ramadhan

1. Sebelum puasa timbang badan

2. Kawal berbuka puasa

3. Pastikan semakin lama menunaikan ibadah puasa akan semakin kurang
berat badan

4. Elakan daripada makan berlebihan


RANCANG PENINGKATAN IBADAH RAMADHAN

1. Sepuluh hari yang pertama adakan muhasabah amalan.

2. Sepuluh hari yang kedua, pastikan keimanan bertambah kuat dan
selaraskan dengan sempena Nuzul Quran.

3. Sepuluh hari yang ketiga kuatkan azam untuk beramal di malam Al Qadr
:

i. Dengan melakukan Solat Maghrib,Isyak dan Tarawikh berjemaah.

ii. Atau ditambah dengan Solat Subuh berjemaah

iii. Duduk dengan air sembahyang dan baca Al-Quran, Ayat Kursi, Surah Al
Baqarah terakhir (Amanarrasul), Surah Az-zalzalah, Suraah Al Kafirun,
Surah al Ikhlas dan Surah Yasin.

iv. Bagi kaum ibu yang uzur, baca zikir.

v. Bangun pukul 1.00 pagi tunaikan Solat Sunat Wuduk, Solat Hajat, Solat
Tasbih, Solat Taubat, Solat Istikarah.

vi. Jika sedang beramal, badan terasa sejuk dan terharu maka inilah
tanda-tanda mendapat Lailatul Qadar.

SELAMAT TINGGAL RAMADHAN

i. Pastikan Tarawikh terakhir

ii. Ucapkan Selamat Tinggal Ramadhan dengan penuh terharu dan berdoa
semoga dipertemukan sekali lagi dengan Ramadhan yang akan datang.

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Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Distilling the Essence of Islam

(Din Merican and M. Bakri Musa)


Dear Bakri:

I had the pleasure of chatting with Imam Feisal Rauf at the Blog House in
Bukit Damansara last Sunday (September 9, 2007) after he led our Maghrib
prayers. The occasion was the special interfaith Doa Selamat prayers
seeking Allah's Blessings for Tun Mahathir's speedy recovery from his
second bypass operation on Tuesday September 4th. As you know, The Tun
had his first on January of 1989.
Apart from being the former Prime Minister and an outstanding leader, Tun
Mahathir was also my mentor and hero. Thus the multi-faith
congregational prayers Imam Feisal led had a special significance for me.
The Imam's greater effort is in trying to bridge the divide
between the West and Islam. I thoroughly enjoyed his recent book and
understood his theme: the commonality of our faiths with their universal
message of love, charity, and goodwill.
Until I met him, I did not know that he had studied at a local school in
Kuala Lumpur. That explained his impeccable Malay and special affection
for Malaysia!
I was also delighted to learn that he is the son of the
distinguished and yet very humble Egyptian scholar-teacher, the late Tan
Sri Professor Dr. Muhammad Rauf of Al-Azhar University, Cairo. I must
say that Imam Feisal also inherited his father's handsome features!
The late Professor - I knew him as Dr. Rauf - was my professor at the
University of Malaya when I did Islamic Studies in my first year (1960).
He (Al-Fatihah) taught Islamic History, the Quran, and the Hadith. He had
a huge influence on my thinking about and my attitude towards our
religion. Prior to that, my exposure to our Holy Book, like you I
presume, was through the lessons taught by my simple kampong ustaz.
Hence the special bonding I felt for Imam Feisal, as reflected
in my affectionate hug after the Maghrib prayer that Sunday. I had to
hold back my tears. I felt deep within my heart that he reminded me very
much of my earlier special Professor of Islam. Yet it did not occur to me
to ask him whether he knew Professor Rauf! Imam Feisal's manner of
speaking, appearance, and views on Islam were very much of my enlightened
intellectual Professor Rauf, Imam Feisal's father.
I am happy to have met the Imam and to know that he inherited
much of his father's legacy. Dr. Rauf was the first teacher who said to
me that there is no compulsion in Islam. He was always composed,
rational, and very analytical in his discourses on Islam, the Quran and
The Prophet, pbuh.
I still have Yusof Ali's Translation of the Quran, which I acquired on his
recommendation 47 years ago, as well as Professor Hitti's History of the
Arabs. Both are very old and tattered volumes now.
I saw Professor Rauf some years ago when he was the Rector of
the International Islamic University. I was very touched and honored
that after so many years he still remembered me as "you are that student
who came knocking at my office door" to seek clarifications on certain
verses of the Quran which he had quoted during his lectures. Once he
cleared my doubts, he eased my mind. He made me appreciate our religion
and its theological and philosophical underpinnings.
Strange as it may seem to some people, our teachers and
professors do have a profound influence on our lives. I am reminded of
Surah Al-Luqman (Surah 31), which was first introduced to me by the Late
Professor. Luqman the Wise, for whom the Surah is named, counseled his
son, among other things, to keep up his prayers, command what is right
and forbid what is wrong, and to bear anything that happens to you
steadfastly. The late Professor Dr. Rauf was an Al-Luqman to me. What a
small world for me over 40 years later to meet his son, Imam Feisal.
Imam Feisal and I met almost by chance. What brought us together at Blog
House that Sunday was our genuine concern for the health and well being
of Tun Mahathir whom we both admire for his many achievements as Prime
Minister and a Muslim Leader par excellence.

Salam and Selamat Berpuasa,

Din


* * * * *

Bakri's reply:

Dear Din:

Unlike you, I have not as yet had the privilege of meeting Imam Feisal. I
have viewed his lectures and interviews on television, and read a few of
his books, including his latest, What's Right With Islam: A New Vision
for Muslims and the West and What's Right with Islam: is What's Right
with America. The most memorable phrase I take from both books is that
America is "the most Sharia-compliant" state today. Food for thought for
those ardent advocates of an Islamic state!
Muslim leaders like Imam Feisal and the Aga Khan (who was also
in Malaysia recently to officiate the famed architectural prize in his
name) provide a much-needed counterpoint to the likes of the deluded
Osama bin Ladin and the ever-growling Ayatollah.
Imam Feisal and the Aga Khan capture best for me the central Quranic
message: Command good and forbid evil. From that central theme flow
other subsidiary ones, like treating others as you wish to be treated.
That in essence is Allah's message to all His prophets, and thus the
major themes of all faiths. If only our leaders - religious and secular
- could emphasize this commonality instead of being obsessed with our
differences!
That interfaith Doa Selamat prayer for the Tun is a superb example of this
endeavor of using religion to bring people together and not to divide
them. I tip my songkok to Marina Mahathir for initiating this. It gave
an opportunity for all Malaysians to express their love and prayers for
the Tun, besides bringing us together. Marina is experienced at
arranging these ecumenical gatherings when she headed the AIDS Council.
Of course there will always be the bigots who fear that such mixing of
religions would "adulterate" our faith.
Such small mindedness is not confined to the uninformed or uneducated. In
1998 when Hari Raya and Chinese New Year coincided, the government wisely
seized upon the rare and unique opportunity to remind Malaysians of the
virtues of generosity and tolerance by capitalizing on the dual joyous
occasions. Petronas came out with an imaginative and a memorably
uplifting advertising jingle.
However at the Hari Raya prayers I attended at a mosque on the campus of
University Islam, I heard very little of that spirit expressed in the
sermon. Instead, the Imam venomously lashed out at those who dared
elevate non-Islamic festivities to the exalted status of Hari Raya, a
direct assault on the government's noble intention.
Long soporific sermons have their sleepy effect on me rather quickly, but
the ferocious intensity of the Imam's fulminating tirade kept me awake.
Words like "heathens," "blasphemy," and "sacrilege" were liberally
sprinkled in his sermon, irreverently incongruous in a place of worship
and at a traditionally forgiving season.
I am pleased that The Star will be publishing a regular column by Imam
Feisal during this Ramadan. The works of Muslim leaders like Imam Feisal
and the Aga Khan capture best for me the meaning of dakwa (teaching) and
zakat (charity). Imam Feisal with his Cordoba Initiative and the Aga
Khan with his string of universities and health centers give us a more
enlightened meaning of the two important concepts in Islam.
I have another observation on Imam Feisal. Unlike his father, the Imam is
a product of America's modern liberal education, having graduated in
physics from Columbia, an Ivy League university. Like the other
religious leader I admire, Asghar Ali Engineer, Imam Feisal's background
in the physical science and his quantitative skills give precision to his
thought. In physics and engineering, you cannot simply agak agak
(guesswork) or the bridge you designed would collapse.
Imam Feisal illustrates my point, elaborated in my book An Education
System Worthy of Malaysia, of the need to revamp our religious stream.
Our future ulamas and religious scholars must be exposed to the widest
field of study before embarking on their religious career.

Sallam and Selamat Berpuasa,

Bakri

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ANDAI INI YANG TERAKHIR

andai kau tahu ini Ramadhan terakhir
tentu siangnya engkau sibuk berzikir
tentu engkau tak akan jemu melagukan syair rindu
mendayu..merayu...kepada-NYA Tuhan yang satu
andai kau tahu ini Ramadhan terakhir
tentu sholatmu kau kerjakan di awal waktu
sholat yang dikerjakan...sungguh khusyuk lagi tawadhu'
tubuh dan qalbu...bersatu memperhamba diri
menghadap Rabbul Jalil... menangisi kecurangan janji
"innasolati wanusuki wamahyaya wamamati lillahirabbil 'alamin"
[sesungguhnya solatku, ibadahku, hidupku, dan matiku...
kuserahkan hanya kepada Allah Tuhan seru sekalian alam]

andai kau tahu ini Ramadhan terakhir
tidak akan kau sia siakan walau sesaat yang berlalu
setiap masa tak akan dibiarkan begitu saja
di setiap kesempatan juga masa yang terluang
alunan Al-Quran bakal kau dendang...bakal kau syairkan

andai kau tahu ini Ramadhan terakhir
tentu malammu engkau sibukkan dengan
bertarawih...berqiamullail...bertahajjud...
mengadu...merintih...meminta belas kasih
"sesungguhnya aku tidak layak untuk ke syurga-MU
tapi...aku juga tidak sanggup untuk ke neraka-MU"

andai kau tahu ini Ramadhan terakhir
tentu dirimu tak akan melupakan mereka yang tersayang
mari kita meriahkan Ramadhan
kita buru...kita cari...suatu malam idaman
yang lebih baik dari seribu bulan

andai kau tahu ini Ramadhan terakhir
tentu engkau bakal menyediakan batin dan zahir
mempersiap diri...rohani dan jasmani
menanti-nanti jemputan Izrail
di kiri dan kanan ...lorong-lorong redha Ar-Rahman

Duhai Ilahi....
andai ini Ramadhan terakhir buat kami
jadikanlah ia Ramadhan paling berarti...paling berseri...
menerangi kegelapan hati kami
menyeru ke jalan menuju ridho serta kasih sayangMu Ya Ilahi
semoga bakal mewarnai kehidupan kami di sana nanti

Namun teman...
tak akan ada manusia yang bakal mengetahui
apakah Ramadhan ini merupakan yang terakhir kali bagi dirinya
yang mampu bagi seorang hamba itu hanyalah
berusaha...bersedia...meminta belas-NYA


andai benar ini Ramadhan terakhir buat kita
MAAFKAN SEMUA KESALAHAN YANG PERNAH DILAKUKAN

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Naval scandal: Najib must explain or quit

Naval scandal: Najib must explain or quit
Kim Quek, Malaysiakini
Sep 13, 07 12:57pm


While the nation is still reeling from the RM4.6 billion PKFZ 'Ghost
Town' scandal, another mega bombshell hits the national screen - the
RM6.75 billion patrol vessel scandal.

A RM5.35 billion contract to build naval vessels awarded in the 90s
that has been inflated to RM6.75 billion is now teetering on failure,
under circumstances that have exposed the utter incompetence and
decadence of the Malaysian political leadership and administration.

The 2006 Auditor General's Report, tabled in Parliament on Sept 7,
has revealed astounding details that indicate dubious award of
contract to an obviously unqualified contractor, failure of technical
and financial management, hefty illegitimate contract price increases
and overpayment, unjustifiable waiver of penalties, huge undocumented
payments and complete failure of ministry oversight.

The history of this mega scandal could be traced back to the 90s when
a company owned by an Umno stalwart Amin Shah Omar Shah was awarded a
contract in September 98 to design and build six patrol vessels for
the Royal Malaysian Navy for the contract price of RM5.35 billion.


The company is PSC-Naval Dockyard Sdn Bhd (PSC-NDSB), which is a
subsidiary of Penang Shipbuilding & Construction Sdn Bhd, a company
owned by Amin Shah.

Contract breaches

Under the terms of contract, the contractor is obligated to deliver
the vessels in stages, starting from March 2004 and completing
delivery in April 2007. However, PSC-NDSB could only deliver the
first two vessels in mid-2006, and the remaining four are still
remote from their final stages of construction, with their completion
assessed at 19% to 56% at December 2006.

And even the first two vessels delivered were hardly operational, as
they were riddled with defects (298 recorded complaints) and were
found to have 100 and 383 uncompleted items respectively.

It is obvious that as far as contract performance is concerned, PSC-
NDSB is a total disaster. Its failure is attributed to serious
financial mismanagement and technical incompetence, the latter being
apparent from its track record of only having built trawlers and
small police boats in the past.

However, instead of terminating the agreement and demanding for
compensation as good governance would have so demanded, the
government has done the exact opposite.

The Defence Ministry has not only kept the contractor but also made
hefty overpayment, increased the contract price drastically and
waived all penalties, all without any justification.

The contract price was increased from RM5.35 billion to RM6.75
billion in Jan 2007, for which the auditor-general could find no
justification. Neither could he find valid ground for the generous
payment of RM4.26 billion to the contractor up to December 2006 when
value of works done was only RM2.87 billion - an overpayment of
RM1.39 billion or 48%.

Further, there was no reason for the cabinet's decision in Nov 2006
to waive the imposition of penalty for late delivery amounting to no
less than RM214 million. The AG also noted the abnormally generous
payment of RM1.07 billion as deposit, which amounts to 20% of
contract price, upon signing the agreement.

Most alarmingly, the Defence Ministry is found to have made huge
payments to the contractor without supporting documents. Between
December 1999 and January 2002, 14 progress payments amounting to
RM943 million were made, for which no payment vouchers or relative
documents were found.

In spite of these enormous overpayment and contract price increases,
the AG found the contractor in serious financial deficit and warned
the government of further losses ahead due to contractor's weaknesses.

The auditor-general criticised the project steering committee -
headed by defence minister cum deputy prime minister Najib Abdul
Razak - for failing to provide the necessary oversight over the project.

Government failure

Reviewing the entire fiasco, one cannot escape the conclusion that
this is a classical example of contemporary Malaysian mega failure
that transcends the Mahathir/Abdullah era division. It demonstrates
that the weaknesses of the Mahathir era have not only been carried
over but have further been compounded with new weaknesses
characteristic of Abdullah's leadership.

In simple words, while Mahathirism is characterised by corruption and
cronyism, Abdullah allows these characteristics to flourish and at
the same time compounding them with his unique brand of hands-off
leadership - indecision and indifference. Abdullah would let nature
take its own course. Needless to say, such policy (or the lack
thereof) would spell disaster on a mega project gone foul.

Take the present patrol vessel scandal. No doubt Mahathir is faulted
for having awarded such a huge and high-skill project without tender
to an obviously incompetent crony - a glaring case of corruption and
cronyism, but mind you, Abdullah was the leader who allowed the
failed contractor to drag on and dubiously rewarded him with contract
price escalation and overpayment, entailing all sorts of
irregularities with criminal implications, causing the public to
loose billions with no end in sight.

Agreed that the real decision-maker in this case may not be Abdullah
but Najib, but still as the prime minister, he must take
responsibility for having failed to provide the kind of leadership
that could have averted the deterioration of this disaster. In fact,
I doubt whether the cabinet has been properly briefed or consulted,
much less given meaningful deliberation over the relevant issues, in
spite of their stupendous nature in monetary terms.

I wouldn't be surprised if the cabinet is carrying on its traditional
role inherited from the Mahathir era as largely a rubber stamp,
busybody over trivial issues such as Namawee's Negarakuku, but
oblivious to massive hemorrhage of public funds through such fiascos
as this RM6.75 billion patrol vessel contract or the RM4.6 billion
PKFZ 'Ghost Town' project.

Najib must explain

There is no doubt that Najib must bear the brunt of the present
disaster. As defence minister and leader of the project steering
committee monitoring and overseeing the progress of the project, he
is responsible for major decisions and development relating to the
contract. And he must now answer the following crucial questions:

Why wasn't the contract promptly terminated when the contractor
committed a major breach through its severe failure to deliver the
vessels?
Why was the contract price increased from RM5.35 billion to RM6.75
billion? Who authorised the increase?
Why was the penalty for late delivery amounting to no less than RM
214 million waived? Who authorised the waiver?
Why was the contractor overpaid by 48% by December 2006 - being paid
RM4.26 billion for works done valued at RM2.87 billion? Who
authorized the payment?
Why were there no payment vouchers or other supporting documents
relating to 14 progress payments amounting to RM943 million made
between December 1999 and January 2002?
Unless Najib can provide satisfactory answers to the above question,
he must resign forthwith.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Agency should waste no further time in
commencing earnest investigations into the many serious
irregularities of this project, in particular, criminal collusion
with the contractor and breach of trust by top government leaders and
officials, including those relating to the award of this contract.

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MP to query RM1b contract to Taib's son

MP to query RM1b contract to Taib's son
Malaysiakini
Sep 14, 07 2:31pm


A DAP legislator said today that he would ask questions in Parliament
and the Sarawak Legislative Assembly about the Auditor-General's
Report 2006 regarding the RM1 billion bridge replacement project
awarded to a company owned by a son of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

DAP's Chong Chieng Jen - the Bandar Kuching parliamentarian and Kota
Sentosa state assemblyperson - told a press conference in Kuching
that the AG's report was a 'damning audit report' about the affairs
surrounding the award of the seven-year contract.

The contract was given by the Sarawak cabinet to Kuching-based
Titanium Management Sdn Bhd in 2000 to replace 384 bailey(pre-
fabricated steel) and wooden bridges on a design-and-build basis with
an initial contract sum of RM551.01 million.

Total allocation RM1.02b

In November 2006, the state government reduced the number of bridges
to be built under the contract by 62 to 322.

However, it revised the contract sum upwards to RM947.84 million - an
increase of RM396.82 million, or 72% - according to the AG's report.
According to the AG's report, up to December 2006, a total of 259
bridges were completed with the remaining 63 bridges under
construction with interim claims totaling RM741.24 million.

It added that the state government estimated the total cost when all
bridges were completed by September 2007 would be RM947.84 million.

Under the contract between Titanium Management and the state
government, payment could be paid in cash or in kind (with land).

Up to December 2006, the contractor had submitted a total of 71
claims for progressive payments totaling RM741.24 million. Of the
total, RM500.95 million - including RM26.97 million interests (on
delayed payments) - had been paid to the company.

Chong said that based on the AG's report it would seem that RM240
million of the total claims had not been paid. Based on the
agreement, the government is liable to pay 2% interest per month on
delayed payments.

The agreement states that claims for progress payments of certified
work done must be paid within 26 days of the claims being received.

Ah Long's interest rate

Commenting on this, the opposition elected representative said the
interest charged - 27% per annum (compounded) - is almost equivalent
to Ah Long's interest rate.

Taib's eldest son Mahmud Abu Bekir holds 1,430,000 shares, or more
than 50% of the company equity. His major partner is Chris Chung Soon
Nam (900,000 shares) and a former state director of the Public Works
Department (PWD), Michael Ting Kuok Ngie (10,000 shares).

Chong, who read out parts of the AG's report to reporters, said the
report released earlier this week raised questions regarding the
contract award to a company registered only in 1998 with a paid-up
capital of RM2.4 million to undertake a government project valued at
more than half-a-billion ringgit.

Titanium has subsequently awarded all its contract works out to 44
sub-contractors.

According to the AG's report, the company had failed to conduct
detailed and complete preliminary studies as it was required to do so
before being awarded the design-and-build contract on a turnkey basis.

This had partly resulted in partly cost escalation when actual works
were carried out.

However, auditor-general said the contractor's completion rate of the
bridge replacement project was satisfactory - not a single bridge
project was behind scheduled time, it added.

Jabu's statement

Chong said the government must explain the serious cost over-runs as
it involved the people's money and he intended to raise the matter in
Parliament and the State Assembly next month.

Meanwhile, in what appeared to be a initial reaction to the AG's
report, Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu, a close Taib ally, was
quoted today in the Borneo Post as blaming the delay in the
completion of certain federal road projects in Sarawak to the lack of
planning, control and supervision of such projects given to the state
government.

He said if the state had been given better control by the federal
authorities through PWD and other state agencies over project
planning, control, supervision and implementation some of the delays
could have been avoided.

Commenting on this, Chong said Jabu - who is also in charge of public
works - was only trying to divert public attention from the real
issue, such as the contract award and its huge cost over-runs given
to the company controlled by Taib's son.

"His (Jabu's) comments are ridiculous and laughable," he added.

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HOW TO RECRUIT THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB?

Put about 100 bricks in no particular order in a closed room
with an open window.


Then send 2 or 3 candidates in the room and close the door.


Leave them alone and come back after 6 hours and then analyze the
situation.

If they are counting the bricks. Put them in the Accounts Department.

If they are recounting them..Put them in Auditing.

If they have messed up the whole place with the bricks. Put them in
Engineering.

If they are arranging the bricks in some strange order. Put them in
Planning.

If they are throwing the bricks at each other. Put them in Operations.

if they are sleeping. Put them in Security.

If they have broken the bricks into pieces. Put them in Information
Technology.

If they are sitting idle. Put them in Human Resources.

If they say they have tried different combinations, yet not a brick has
been moved. Put them in Sales.

If they have already left for the day. Put them in Marketing.

If they are staring out of the window. Put them on Strategic Planning.

And then last but not least. If they are standing around talking
to each other and not a single brick has been moved.....

Congratulate them and put them in Top Management.

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SelamatDatangBulanRamadhan..........

Do'a Malaikat Jibril :
"Ya Allah tolong abaikan puasa ummat Muhammad,
apabila sebelum memasuki bulan Ramadhan dia tidak melakukan hal-hal
yangberikut:


Tidak memohon maaf terlebih dahulu kepada kedua orang tuanya (jika
masihada);

Tidak berma'afan terlebih dahulu antara suami istri;

Tidak berma'afan terlebih dahulu dengan orang-orang sekitarnya.

Maka Rasulullahpun mengatakan amiin sebanyak 3 kali.
Dapat kita bayangkan, yang berdo'a adalah Malaikat dan yang
meng-amiinkanadalah Rasullullah dan para sahabat, dan dilakukan pada
hari Jum'at.

Tanpa Disedari

11 bulan
banyak kata sudah diucapkan dan dilontarkan
tak semua menyejukkan,

11 bulan
banyak perilaku yang sudah dibuat dan diciptakan
tak semua menyenangkan,

11 bulan
banyak keluhan, kebencian, kebohongan
menjadi sebahagian dari diri,

saatnya istirahat dalam "perjalanan dunia"
saatnya membersihkan jiwa yang berjelaga,
saatnya menikmati indahnya kemurahanNya
saatnya memahami makna pensucian diri

Selamat menunaikan Ibadah Puasa
bersama kita leburkan kekhilafan,

Semoga dengan puasa mempertemukan kita
dengan Keagungan Lailatul Qadar
dan kita semua menjadi pilihanNya
untuk dikabulkan do'a - do'a
dan kembali menjadi fitrah

Oleh itu saya terlebih dahulu memohon maaf jika saya ada berbuat
kesalahan, baik yang tidak disengajakan mahupun yang disengajakan,
semoga kita dapat menjalani ibadah puasa dengan khusyuk, diberkati dan
dirahmati Allah S.W.T, insyaallah.

"Selamat Berpuasa kepada semua"...


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After having failed his exam in "Logistics and Organization", a student
goes and confronts his lecturer about it.


Student: "Sir, do you really understand anything about the subject?"
Professor: "Surely I must. Otherwise I would not be a professor!"
Student: "Great, well then I would like to ask you a question. If you
can
give me the correct answer, I will accept my mark as is and go. If you
however do not know the answer, I want you give me an "A" for the exam.
"

Professor: "Okay, it's a deal. So what is the question?"
Student: "What is legal, but not logical, logical, but not legal, and
neither logical, nor legal?"

Even after some long and hard consideration, the professor cannot give
the student an answer, and therefore changes his exam mark into an "A",
as agreed.

Afterwards, the professor calls on his best student and asks him the
same
question.

He immediately answers: "Sir, you are 63 years old and married to a 25
year old woman, which is legal, but not logical. Your wife has a 18 year

old lover, which is logical, but not legal. The fact that you have given

your wife's lover an "A", although he really should have failed, is
neither legal, nor logical."

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Sempena bulan Ramadhan yang mulia ini marilah berhenti memakan ayam
daging yang dijual dipasar-pasar. Sebab-sebabnya adalah seperti berikut
:

1. Kajian menunjukkan bahawa 92 peratus penternak ayam daging di
Malaysia terdiri dari bangsa asing yang bukan beragama Islam. Mereka ini
secara suka-suka akan menaikkan harga ayam tanpa menghiraukan harga
siling yang telah ditetapkan oleh kerajaan. Alasan mereka ialah harga
makanan ayam telah naik dengan mendadak. Selalunya apabila makanan ayam
naik 10% , harga ayam dipasaran akan dinaikkan sebanyak 30%.

2. Kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa 100 peratus pengeluar anak ayam adalah
terdiri dari bukan Islam. Mereka juga akan suka-suka menaikkan harga
anak ayam tanpa sebarang sebab.

3. Kajian juga jelas menunjukkan bahawa 100 peratus pengeluar makanan
ayam adalah terdiri dari bukan Islam. Pengeluar makananlah yang selalu
disalahkan bila harga ayam dipasaran naik. Memang mereka bersalah kerana
bersubahat dan berkomplot dengan penternak ayam dan pengeluar anak ayam
untuk menaikkan harga terutama apabila umat Islam akan berpuasa dan juga
semasa menyambut hari raya.

4. Semua orang tahu bahawa 100 peratus penjual ayam bahagian makanan
halal dipasar adalah terdiri dari orang Melayu yang untungnya sangat
rendah kerana tersepit diantara kenaikan harga dari pembekal dan kawalan
harga dari kerajaan. Mereka ini boleh berhenti menjual ayam dan menjual
daging sekiranya bangsa sendiri tidak lagi makan ayam.

5. Ayam daging yang kita beli dipasar bukan lagi ayam yang sebenarnya.
Ianya adalah sejenis modifikasi bahan makanan. Ayam-ayam moden hari ini
kelihatan semuanya memakai baju yang sama. Mereka didudukkan di dalam
bilik yang sempit dan diberi makan mengikut peraturan. Ayam-ayam ini
juga diberi pelbagai jenis pil dan hormon agar ianya 'kelihatan' subur
dan menarik apabila ianya telah disembelih untuk dijual di pasar.
Ayam-ayam ini juga tidak pernah mengotorkan kaki mencakar tanah mencari
cacing. Badan ayam-ayam ini tidak pernah dipanah oleh cahaya matahari.
Bayangkan dalam masa 40 hari dari sebiji telor yang menetas dengan kuasa
eletrik, ianya siap sedia untuk dihidangkan ke meja makan.

6. Ramai penternak ayam masih menggunakan sejenis antibiotik yang
mempunyai kesan karsinogenik (penyebab barah) dan boleh merosakkan
sistem saraf pusat. Nitrofuran, satu kelas drug yang amat toksik
digunakan untuk mengawal penyakit yang menyerang ayam ternakan. Seorang
doktor haiwan di Johor, mendapati rintangan terhadap antibiotik tersebut
telah wujud dalam sekumpulan ayam ternak yang dirawatnya.

7. Mereka yang kerap memakan daging ayam kini perlu lebih berhati-hati
berikutan kadar hormon yang tinggi pada haiwan itu boleh mengakibatkan
pelbagai komplikasi kesihatan.
Pensyarah Fakulti Farmasi, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Dr. Mohd
Zulkefeli Md. Jusoh berkata, kekerapan memakan ayam khususnya daripada
jenis 'ayam daging' akan membawa kepada ketidakseimbangan hormon dalam
tubuh.
Lebih membimbangkan lagi katanya, dalam tempoh jangka panjang, mereka
yang kerap memakannya menghadapi risiko penyakit kanser.
"Secara amnya, tubuh kita memang mempunyai sistem kawalan bahan-bahan
asing. tetapi ia hanya berfungsi untuk tindak balas jangka pendek sahaja
dan tidak dapat menentukan apa yang akan berlaku selepas itu," katanya.
Menurut Mohd Zulkefeli, kulit ayam juga boleh mendatangkan kemudaratan
kerana ia banyak terdedah kepada pelbagai bahan kimia yang beracun.
Justeru, beliau mengingatkan orang ramai supaya memastikan bahagian itu
ketika membeli ayam daging di pasar.
Beliau bagaimanapun tidak menggalakkan orang ramai memakan kulit ayam
kerana mengandungi kolesterol yang tinggi dan berpotensi menyumbang
kepada penyakit jantung.
Perkara sama turut dibangkitkan oleh pakar pemakanan daripada Jabatan
Pemakanan dan Dietetik, Fakulti Perubatan dan sains Kesihatan,
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
Pakar tersebut yang enggan dikenali berkata, pembesaran ayam daging yang
bergantung kepada tindak balas hormon memudaratkan sistem pertahanan
badan manusia yang memakannya.
"Hormon yang terkumpul dalam badan manusia itu boleh menjadi punca
kepada penyakit sekiranya sistem pertahanan badan gagal meneutralkannya
(hormon) dalam tempoh singkat."
"Apabila bahan-bahan yang tidak biasa diproses ini gagal disintesis dan
dipecahkan, ia boleh memberikan kesan apabila tua kelak," katanya ketika
dihubungi Utusan Malaysia hari ini.
Tambahnya, selain hormon, ayam daging juga mempunyai kadar kolesterol
yang tinggi berbanding makanan lain dalam kumpulan makanan berprotein.
Keadaan ini meningkatkan lagi risiko didatangi penyakit-penyakit seperti
penyakit jantung, diabetes dan masalah kegemukan.
"satu perkara yang perlu disedari adalah ayam daging membesar secara
tidak normal. Justeru, adalah dikhuatiri ia juga boleh menjadi penyebab
kepada penyakit-penyakit baru yang tidak pernah wujud sebelum ini,"
ujarnya.
Saya menyeru anda semua supaya berhenti membeli ayam daging dipasaran
yang telah diubahsuai susunan genetik nya, dikawal harganya oleh
golongan kapitalis, diracuni serta telah menjalani food programming
secara kaedah yahudi yang sangat memberi kesan kepada pertumbuhan minda,
boleh menyebabkan mati pucuk serta mandul dan juga menjadi punca utama
kepada kanser rahim serta kanser payudara.
MARI KITA BERHENTI MAKAN AYAM DAGING DEMI MASA DEPAN BANGSA DAN AGAMA.

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Saturday, September 15, 2007

Kes Subashini: Satu ketidakadilan pada orang Islam, kenapa didiamkan?

Mohamed Hanipa Maidin
Apr 18, 07 | 05:44:23 PM

Kes Subashini v Saravanan membuka sekali lagi lembaran baru pertembungan
bidang kuasa Mahkamah Syariah dan Mahkamah Sivil di negara ini.

Secara ringkasnya fakta kes ini adalah seorang wanita Hindu , Subashini
Rajasingham telah berkahwin dengan seorang lelaki Hindu bernama Saravanan
Thangathoray pada tahun 2001.

Hasil perkahwinan mereka terdapat dua orang anak iaiti Dharvin Joshua
berumur 3 tahun dan Sharvind berumur 1 tahun. Saravanan kemudiannya telah
memeluk agama Islam dengan nama Islamnya Muhammad Shafi.

Memandangkan isterinya kekal dalam agama Hindu, Muhammad Shafi tidak
mempunyai pilihan selain daripada pergi ke Mahkamah Syariah Wilayah
Persekutuan untuk mendapatkan perintah pembatalan perkahwinannya dengan
isterinya yang masih beragama Hindu.


Menurut undang-undang Islam, perkahwinan Muhammad Shafi adalah dikira
terbatal secara automatik apabila beliau memeluk Islam tatkala isterinya
enggan masuk Islam dan kekal dalam agama Hindu.


Bagaimanapun di dalam undang-undang yang sedia ada Muhammad Shafi perlu
mendapatkan perintah Mahkamah terlebih dahulu bagi membatalkan
perkahwinannya dengan bekas isterinya tersebut kerana Seksyen 46 ( 1 )
Akta Undang-Undang Keluarga Islam ( Wilayah Persekutuan ) 1984
memperuntukkan bahawa:


" Jika salah satu pihak kepada sesuatu perkahwinan itu murtad atau
memeluk satu kepercayaan lain daripada Islam , maka perbuatan yang
demikian tidak boleh dengan sendirinya berkuatkuasa membubarkan
perkahwinan itu melainkan dan sehingga disahkan demikian oleh Mahkamah."


Muhammad Shafie tidak mempunyai pilihan selain daripada pergi ke
Mahkamah Syariah kerana meskipun perkahwinannya dengan bekas isterinya
dikawal oleh Akta Membaharui Undang-Undang (Perkahwinan dan Penceraian)
1976 (selepas ini dirujuk sebagai Akta tersebut) , Akta tersebut sendiri
menghalang Muhammad Shafie untuk memfailkan petisyen penceraian di
Mahkamah Tinggi (Sivil ) kerana berdasarkan seksyen 51 Akta tersebut
diperuntukkan:


" Jika satu pihak kepada sesuatu perkahwinan telah masuk Islam maka
pihak yang satu lagi yang tidak masuk Islam boleh mempetisyen untuk
penceraian."


Berdasarkan seksyen 51 Akta tersebut adalah jelas Muhammad Shafie
dihalang oleh undang –undang sivil sendiri untuk memfailkan petisyen
penceraian di Mahkamah Sivil.


Seksyen 51 digubal di atas falsafah bahawa memasuki agama Islam dikira
satu kesalahan matrimonial dan yang demikian pihak yang masuk Islam
dinafikan haknya untuk mendapatkan remedi di Mahkamah Sivil.


Di dalam kes Pedley v Majlis Agama Islam , Pulau Pinang (1990) 2 MLJ 307
Y.A Hakim Wan Adnan menyatakan bahawa " satu perkahwinan bukan Islam
tidak dibubarkan apabila satu pihaknya memeluk Islam. Ia hanya memberi
alasan kepada satu pihak satu lagi yang tidak masuk Islam untuk
memfailkan petisyen penceraian (di Mahkamah sivil).


Meskipun di dalam kes tersebut Kadi Besar memutuskan bahawa perkahwinan di
dalam keadaan tersebut akan dibubarkan mengikut undang –undang Islam,
Hakim Wan Adnan menyatakan; " pernyataan Kadi Besar itu tidak akan
menjejaskan keadaan Plaintif di dalam pandangan undang-undang peribadinya
dan undang-undang sivil negara."


Kesan ketara seksyen 51 dalam konteks kes ini adalah perkahwinan antara
Muhammad Shafie dan Subashini akan terus wujud selagi mana Subashini
tidak memfailkan petisyen penceraiannya di Mahkamah Tinggi dan ini
mendatangkan satu ketidakadilan kepada pihak yang masuk Islam.


Meskipun di dalam kes ini Muhammad Shafi telah mendapatkan perintah
pembubaran perkahwinannya dengan Subashini di Mahkamah Syariah namun
ianya tidak berkesan membubarkan perkahwinannya ke atas Subahsini , Ini
kerana menurut seksyen 4 atau 8 Akta tersebut perkahwinan tersebut , jika
sah hendaklah berterusan sehingga dibubarkan


( a ) dengan kematian salah satu pihak ;
( b ) dengan perintah sesuatu Mahkamah yang mempunyai bidangkuasa yang
layak ; atau
( c ) dengan dikri pembatalan yang dibuat oleh sesuatu Mahkamah


"Mahkamah" di dalam seksyen tersebut ditakrifkan sebagai Mahkamah Tinggi
atau Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi.


Di dalam kes ini bagaimanapun Subashini telah memfailkan petisyen
penceraian di Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur bagi membubarkan
perkahwinannya dengan Muhammad Shafi . Sebelum petisyen penceraian
tersebut didengar, Subahsini telah membuat permohonan bagi mendapatkan
perintah injunksi bagi :-


a.Menghalang Muhammad Shafi mengislamkan anak –anak mereka ;
b.Menghalang Muhammad Shafi untuk memulakan atau meneruskan prosiding
berhubung dengan perkahwinan mereka dan anak-anak mereka di Mahkamah
Syariah .


Mahkamah Tinggi yang mendengar permohonan injunksi tersebut meskipun
pada awalnya membenarkan injunksi diberikan secara ex parte telah
membatalkan perintah injunksi tersebut atas alasan-alasan berikut :-


a.Injunksi tidak boleh diberikan ke atas apa-apa prosiding di Mahkamah
Syariah di bawah seksyen 54 (b) Akta Relif Spesifik 1950 kerana Mahkamah
Syariah bukan Mahkamah yang lebih rendah daripada Mahkamah Tinggi ;
b."Subject matter" bagi permohonan injunksi tersebut adalah termasuk
dalam perkara yang berkaitan undang-undang Islam maka berdasarkan Perkara
121 (1A) Mahkamah Sivil tidak mempunyai bidangkuasa untuk mendengar
permohonan tersebut.


Subashini telah memfailkan rayuannya di Mahkamah Rayuan dan di Mahkamah
Rayuan dua orang Hakim Hakim Dato' Suriyadi dan Dato" Hassan Lah) telah
memutuskan menolak rayuan Subashini manakala Hakim Gopal Sri Ram
memberikan keputusan yang menentang (dissenting judgment).


Keputusan Mahkamah Rayuan khususnya keputusan Hakim Dato' Hassan Lah
telah dikritik secara bertalu-talu oleh pihak bukan Islam dan juga
sesetengah orang Islam sendiri kerana Hakim tersebut telah memberikan
satu pandangan bahawa Subashini masih mempunyai peluang ( recourse )
untuk pergi ke Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah jika beliau tidak berpuas hati
dengan keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah kerana di bawah Akta Pentadbiran
Undang-Undang Islam ( Wilayah Persekutuan )1993 iaitu di bawah seksyen 53
terdapat peruntukkan yang membenarkan Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah untuk
menyemak keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah yang membenarkan permohonan
Muhammad Shafie .


Yang Arif Hakim Hasan Lah di dalam penghakimannya menyatakan;
" I think the wordings in that section (section 53) is wide enough to
enable the wife to apply to the Syariah Appeal Court to exercise its
supervisory and revisionary powers to make the ruling on the legality of
the husband's application and the interim order obtained by the husband
on the ground that the Syariah Court had no jurisdiction over the matter
as she is not a person professing a religion of Islam. The wife could
have done that rather than asking the Civil Court to review the Syariah
Court's decisions".


Kritikan yang dibuat oleh pihak-pihak bukan Islam adalah Mahkamah Syariah
tidak layak sama sekali mengadili orang bukan Islam dan cadangan Dato
Hasan Lah adalah bercanggah dengan Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang
memperuntukkan bahawa bidangkuasa Mahkamah Syariah hanya ke atas orang
Islam sahaja.

Kritikan tersebut secara jelas mengabaikan atau mengenepikan perkara
–perkara berikut :-
a.Cadangan Hassan Lah adalah bagi memberikan ruang untuk Subashini
mendapatkan peluang untuk meminta Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah , sekiranya
beliau tidak berpuashati , melihat atau menyemak legaliti keputusan
Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah.
Dalam melakukan hal tersebut Subashini hanya perlu menulis surat kepada
Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah untuk meminta Mahkamah Rayuan Syariah menyemak
kembali keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah yang membenarkan permohonan
Muhammad Shafi
b.Tidak langsung membicarakan peruntukkan seksyen 51 Akta Membaharui
Undang-Undang (Perkahwinan dan Penceraian) 1976 yang menghalang sama
sekali Muhammad Shafi memfailkan penceraiannya dan mendapatkan
perintah-perintah yang berkaitan (ancillary orders) di Mahkamah Sivil
yang mana seksyen 51 ini adalah satu diskriminasi yang ketara ke atas
orang Islam dan boleh dihujahkan bercanggah dengan Perkara 8 Perlembagaan
Persekutuan yang memperuntukkan persamaan di sisi undang-undang (equality
before the law).
c.Memaksa untuk Muhamad Shafie untuk tunduk dan menyerah diri kepada
bidangkuasa Mahkamah Sivil ke apabila Muhammad Shafie dijadikan Responden
di dalam petisyen penceraian yang difailkan oleh Subahshini di bawah
seksyen 51 Akta Membaharui Undang-Undang (Perkahwinan dan Penceraian)
1976 sedangkan berdasarkan seksyen 3 (3) Akta tersebut secara jelas
memperuntukkan bahawa Akta tersebut tidak terpakai kepada orang Islam
tetapi enggan mengarahkan Subashini untuk tunduk kepada Mahkamah Syariah
bagi mencabar keputusan Mahkamah Syariah .
d.Tidak langsung mengambil kira kritikan Hakim Dato Suriyadi di dalam
penghakimannya kepada pihak-pihak yang menjadi pemerhati di dalam
kes tersebut seperti Sisters In Islam, Woman's Aids Organization (WA
), Woman's Centre for Change (WCC), Bar Council dan yang lain yang
meskipun diberi peluang untuk mengemukakan hujah mereka telah tidak
membuat persiapan yang mencukupi (ill prepared) di dalam mengemukakan
hujah bagi membantu Mahkamah.

Hakim Dato Suriyadi menyatakan, " Well-intentionned third parties,
championing certain views did not contribute much to the proceeding
before us due to their ill preparedness."

Kesimpulannya kes Subahsini ini merupakan satu lagi plot baru pihak-pihak
tertentu memanipulasi keadaan bagi mewujudkan satu rasa tidak puas hati
di kalangan bukan Islam khususnya terhadap peranan Mahkamah Syariah dan
perlaksaaan undang-undang Islam di negara ini.

Dalam banyak keadaan isu-isu seperti ini disensasikan dengan
diputarbelikan atau disembunyikan fakta atau isu yang sebenar. - mks.


Ketua Penerangan,
Dewan Pemuda PAS Pusat.


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THE TERRORIST STATE PROTECTS A TERRORIST!

 
THE   TERRORIST  STATE   PROTECTS   A   TERRORIST!
 
 
 
On 6 April 2007, a terrible injustice occurred in the United States of
America. A Federal Judge in El Paso Texas granted freedom on bail to one
of the world's most notorious terrorists --- a man by the name of Luis
Posada Carriles.
 
Carriles is being charged with illegal entry into the US in 2005 as a way
of camouflaging his larger crimes of murder and terrorism carried out at
the behest of US intelligence and its clandestine networks against the
Cuban Revolution and other progressive movements in Latin America.
Carriles was the mastermind behind the mid-flight bombing of a Cuban
airliner in October 1976 which killed 73 persons, including students,
young Cuban athletes and foreigners. It was this terrorist who also
triggered off a series of terrorist attacks upon tourist resorts in Cuba
in 1997 which led to the death of an Italian tourist and injured many
Cubans. He was responsible, it is alleged, for some of the countless
attempts by US agents to assassinate the President of the Cuban Republic,
Fidel Castro himself.
 
These acts of terrorism should be viewed in the larger context of various
other plots hatched by the US to crush the Cuban struggle to preserve its
independence and integrity. We know that terrorists in the pay of the US
have tried to spread viruses, bacteria and fungi, some produced in US
laboratories, in Cuban plantations and among animals and even human
beings!  Some of these terrorists are linked to Miami, Florida in the US
with its colony of Cuban exiles who with the collaboration of the US
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have established well financed centres
for the subversion of the Cuban Revolution. There was also the crude and
clumsy 1961 US sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba which killed 176
Cubans.
 
While US agents and collaborators plan terrorist acts against the Cuban
people with impunity, any attempt by patriotic Cubans to expose US
terrorism is punished heavily. Thus, the fate of the famous 'Cuban
Five'.  These are Cubans who were arrested in Miami in September 1998 on
the charge that they constituted a threat to US national security when in
fact they were merely trying to uncover dangerous and violent activities
being planned by extreme right wing terrorist groups in Miami against
Cuba.  Today, these five Cuban men languish in US jails.
 
It is not just Cuba that terrorists like Carriles target. Carriles was
involved  in Operation Condor, a vicious  campaign of state terrorism and
intelligence operations organized by a number of right-wing dictatorships
in Latin America from the fifties to the eighties with the total support
of the US which resulted in the death and disappearance of  tens of
thousands of  opponents and critics of those governments. It is alleged
that Carriles was also part of the dirty war against the people of
Nicaragua after the Left oriented Sandinistas came to power in that
country in 1979.
 
By shielding Carriles and his crimes from judicial scrutiny through a
crafty legal manoeuvre, the US has told the world once again that it
protects terrorism as long as the terrorist is on their side. For the
people of the world, the Carriles episode is confirmation of what they
have known all along : that the US has no qualms about resorting to the
most brutal forms of terrorism if it serves its interests. This is why a
lot of people now realize that the US 'War on Terror' only serves its own
nefarious agenda of global hegemony.        
 
 
Dr. Chandra Muzaffar,
President,
International Movement for a Just World (JUST).
 
 
15 April 2007. 
 

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Dealing with Our Differences: Reflections on Mauludul Nabi

M. Bakri Musa

The third Muslim month of Rabi al-Awwal holds special significance;
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. was born on its twelfth day. While Muslims
universally agree on its significance, there is little agreement on how
the day should be observed.
In many Muslim societies, Mauludul Nabi is celebrated with all
the exuberance of a major festival, with elaborate celebrations and joyous
activities. Malaysia has public parades with believers singing praises of
the prophet s.a.w. and glittering ceremonies honoring exemplary citizens.
It is also a public holiday. In the Middle East, festivities of Mauludul
Nabi rival that of Eid.
There are those who believe that as Muslims we should always be mindful of
the prophet's teachings and exemplary ways every single day of our life;
his birthday should therefore be no different from any other day.
Celebrations or expressions of joy were frowned upon if not condemned as
aping the Christians with their Christmas. That Holy Day has today
degenerated into another highly commercialized holiday, its religious
foundation all but forgotten.
In my small California community, for Mauldul Nabi we had a potluck dinner
with our imam giving a short lecture recalling the sterling exemplary
qualities of our prophet s.a.w. We did not "celebrate" as much as honor
the day. With that we were able to accommodate the differing views among
our congregants.
Attitude towards the prophet's birthday is not the only issue that divides
our ummah. There are also profound juristic differences (ikhtilaf). In
Pakistan, the Ismailis were once declared as heretics; today the Shiites
are branded as kafir (infidel) – a particularly derogatory term.
Meanwhile in Malaysia, you are considered less a Muslim if not an
outright kafir if you are not attired in a particular fashion.
In this season of Mauludal Nabi, we would do well to recall how the
prophet s.a.w. and those closest to him dealt with differences among
them.
He was able to establish a viable community in Medinah by creatively
managing the differences not only among Muslims (between the immigrant
Meccans and native Medinans) but also between Muslims and non-Muslims.
For the Muslims, he emphasized the commonalities among them, while with
non-Muslims he accepted those differences and accommodated them.


Degree of Differences

Before we could creatively manage our differences we need to first
understand them, their bases and dynamics. At one extreme are those
differences that arise through ignorance. The solution is as obvious as
it is simple: better education. At one time the Christians were wrecked
with divisions between those who believed the earth was flat versus those
who thought it was round. With better knowledge, that issue is settled.
Today the earth is flat only metaphorically, as per Thomas Friedman.
Caliph Omar once asserted that the prophet said to him that the dead would
bear the burden of those who wailed at his or her funeral. The prophet's
wife Aishah rebutted by referring to the Quranic verse that says
(approximately translated) no soul should bear the burden of another.
This incident highlights a number of relevant points. One, we should not
hesitate correcting our leaders if we feel they have erred. This
reminder is more for leaders. Two, hadiths are not what the prophet
s.a.w had uttered, rather what the chain of narrators (isnad) claimed to
be the sayings of the prophet. (Exceptions would be hadith qudzi
documented in the Quran.) This difference is subtle yet profound. It
led to the labeling of those who critically analyzed the hadith as
"anti-hadith" and thus "us-Islamic." Last, we are blessed in Islam to
have an ultimate point of reference not in an authority figure as the
Pope, rather a set of documents that was set down at and had remained
unchanged since the prophet's time, and which we believe to be God's
word. Our fatwas, practices, and hadiths must be validated against the
Quran.
In enlightening someone, it is just as important to provide the correct
knowledge as in delivering it. A story is related that the prophet's
grandsons Hussain and Hassan once observed an older man performing
ablution incorrectly. They wanted to correct him but were afraid lest he
would be offended. They devised a plan to have the man judge them as to
who was better at performing ablution. As the two proceeded to perform
their ablution, the old man suddenly discovered that he had been
performing his incorrectly. The lesson was effectively imparted.
Often in our self-righteousness and zeal to correct others, we may
inadvertently turn them off.


Living With Our Differences

At the other extreme is where the differences are so profound as to be
irreconcilable, as one being a believer and the other, an atheist. No
amount of education or debate could change that. In the language of
social science, that is an "indivisible conflict." It is much more
dangerous precisely because it cannot be reconciled. Religious and civil
wars are vicious and difficult to resolve because they are based on
indivisible conflicts.
Atheists and believers may have profound differences in their personal
beliefs, nonetheless that should not stop them from affording each other
the common courtesies as fellow human beings. The goodwill generated
through such social interactions would transcend their profound
differences in beliefs, or make those differences irrelevant. As to who
would end up in Heaven, that is the prerogative of God, and only His.
Meanwhile they get to enjoy peace on earth.
When the prophet found that the divine revelations he received were
irreconcilable with the existing beliefs of his fellow tribesmen, and he
was unable to convert them, he chose (or instructed to by God) to move
away rather than risk fratricide. Thus began the Hijrah.
Between these two extremes of irreconcilable differences and one based on
ignorance lie the bulk of the disagreements that divide us. One is of
the old half-full versus half-empty glass variety. The reality is the
same, only our perceptions differ. We bring different beliefs, cultures,
and experiences to bear on our perceptions. The solution here would be to
learn and appreciate the perspective of others.
A related source of difference is illustrated thus. There is a place in
Alaska where the qiblat could either be southeast, if we go by the usual
Mercator projection of wall maps, or northwest over the pole if we use
Google Earth.
The solution in this instance would be to go with the majority and pray
that Allah accepts your prayers. There would be chaos if one half of the
congregation were to face one way and the other half, the opposite. Heed
the wisdom of the Quran: Allah will not allow His community be in error.
Go with the consensus.
The recurring dispute over whether Ramadan and Eid should be based on moon
sighting or calculations falls into this category.
A comparable disagreement arose during the prophet's time. In a widely
quoted narration, the prophet instructed his followers on a journey to
pray Asar at Bani Quraizah. The party however was delayed and Asar time
came while they were enroute. Disagreement arose as to whether they
should stop and pray or wait till they reach their destination. Half
stopped to pray and the other half did not. At the end of their journey
they sought the prophet's advice and was told that both were correct.
These days hardly a gathering goes by without someone lamenting on the
lack of Muslim unity. If only we were united and not divided into the
various sects, our problems would go away. On the contrary, as in the
biological world, the success of Islam is precisely because of our
diversity. It is this that makes Islam universal, adaptable to the
nomadic Bedouin tribesmen, the tropical Malaysian fishermen, and dwellers
of Mongolian steppes.
We should view differences amongst us as a sign of Allah's Grace, as
eloquently stated in the Quran. We should go beyond mere tolerating to
embracing it. We should expand our horizon and view our differences in
generous terms. As with America, our diversity is our strength, not our
weakness. Muslim unity does not mean and should not lead to Muslim
unanimity.


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The Muslims in Malaysia have not seriously played the role of 'muballigh' Says Prof Khoo

Malaysia An Unusual And Complex Country, Says Prof Khoo
By Wan A Hulaimi

LONDON, April 14 (Bernama) - A veteran Malaysian academician has
described his country as "very unusual and so complex" before an
audience of British Muslims.

"Malaysia is truly Asia", Emeritus Professor of History, Datuk Dr Khoo
Kay Kim said in an interview-discussion which was part of the weekly
event of the London City Circle Islamic group, when asked the question
if there were lessons to be learnt from the role of Islam in
Malaysia's plural society.

"It is not that we don't have problems. We do have problems but they
stem from misunderstandings not hatred," he said.

He cited a recent event where Muslims demonstrated before a church
after rumours about a group of Muslims being prepared for conversion
to Christianity.

"It turned out that these boys were Indians, so the Hindu Indians made
loud noises about the conversion of their children, then it turned out
that these were the young children of Christian Indian parents being
prepared for religious initiation," he added.

"Non-Muslims in Malaysia generally do not understand Islam because
Muslims think Islam has nothing to do with non-Muslims. The Muslims in
Malaysia have not seriously played the role of 'muballigh' (spreaders
of religion).

"I can tell you that the Muslims are not explaining Islam to non-
Muslims. Muslims also should not distance themselves (from them). I
said this on TV and they got angry with me. You have to play your role
as 'muballigh'.

"The young are not taught Islam properly, the fundamentals of Islam.
As my Pakistani friend told me, the fundamentalist is a good Muslim
who knows the fundamentals of Islam. He is not a terrorist," Prof Khoo
said.

Citing the experience of his own family, he said that his son wanted
to do a doctorate in Islamic Studies in Britain but was disappointed
when he could not get financial assistance from Malaysian officials
who asked him why a non-Muslim would want to pursue the subject of
Islam.

There has been unrest in Malaysia even before the May 13 incident but
generally Malaysia is a tolerant country.

The biggest statue of the reclining Buddha in that part of the world
is not in Thailand but in the Islamist controlled state of Kelantan,
he told the audience.

He said that the government recently wanted to promote 'Islam
Hadhari', the idea of progressive Islam, but what is needed in
Malaysia now is not Islam Hadhari but Muslim Hadhari, progressive
Muslims who reach out to non-Muslims and explain their religion.

"Islam in Malaysia has never really been given the opportunity to
cross over to the non-Muslims because they (the Muslims) have been
told not to," he said.

Asked if the New Economic Policy affected the climate of tolerance in
Malaysia, he said that tolerance is always there but the division of
parties meant that the politicians are always looking at racial
issues.

"We have to make our young comfortable with one another," he said.

"People like to preserve their cultural identity. But you have to
explain to them that if they become part of a nation then questions
like cultural identity will no longer matter."

He said that the government is now realising this and is looking for
better ways to integrate the young through the education system.

Elaborating on the Rukunegara, he said that the children are asked to
learn the principles of nationhood by rote without understanding its
content.

"The Asian approach to education is very mechanical. They learn by
rote, they believe in the correct answer. The Malaysian education
system is like that, you must always give the correct answer, you must
always ask the correct question.

The students are asked to memorise the Rukunegara, the Rule of Law and
so on, but if you ask them what the Rule of Law is they don't know."
he said.

Forty years on, Prof Khoo, a member of the panel that formulated the
Rukunegara holds this view: "So far it has no serious effect on
society."

But even with all that, Malaysia is still a 'blessed society', he
said.

When a member of the audience told him that she was not as optimistic
on the future of the country, Prof Khoo replied that he had lived 70
years in Malaysia through thick and thin, and the country had always
been able to overcome its problems.

"You should not listen to people who complain too much; you should
listen to people who take the trouble to know the country," he said.

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No to IFC, Yes to Dialogue

13 APRIL 2007 | 25 RABIULAWAL 1428H

No to IFC, Yes to Dialogue
IFC is not meant for Interfaith Dialogue

ABIM views with grave concern the call made by the Opposition Leader Mr.
Lim Kit Siang at the Parliament on Tuesday urging the government to set up
an Interfaith Council. Although the majority of Muslims objected to the
earlier proposal to form an Interfaith Commission, a fact that is well
known to Mr. Lim himself, he argued that sensitive inter-religious issues
will be resolved with the formation of such a council. His view on this
matter implies that the IFC is the only means to promote inter-faith
dialogue and that the Muslims’ objection to its formation lacks valid
justification

Our objection to the formation of such a body, as well as the reasons
why we objected, was well documented. However, constant calls made by the
non-Muslim politicians and religious leaders for the formation of such a
body on the ground that it will promote inter-religious harmony through
dialogue and protect the constitutional rights of the non-Muslims only
serve to cast Muslim organizations opposing to such a move in bad light.
We therefore reiterate our objections on the following grounds:


IFC is not a mechanism for Interfaith Dialogue. It is meant to be an
institution that promotes a one sided view about religious freedom, which
its proponents claimed to be based on “prescribed international
norms”, without rooms for disagreements.


IFC started on a wrong footing. Our representatives who sat on the
multi-faith committee which was set up to discuss the formation of an
inter-religious council in early 2001 was appalled by the incessant calls
by the proponents of the IFC, most of them were members of the Human
Rights Committee of the Bar Council, for a review of the constitutional
provisions which restrain a Muslim from converting to other religions.
Being insensitive to the reservations from the representatives of Muslim
organizations, they presented cases on the application for apostasy,
which they lost, and urged others to support their call. This confirmed
our view that they were not there to hold dialogues but to promote and
impose upon others their own view about freedom of religion, especially
the right of a Muslim to apostatize.


IFC is set to interfere with matters internal to one’s religion. It
is a seemingly “inter-faith” body with a strong urge to criticize,
condemn and make unsolicited recommendations on intra-faith issues beyond
juristic competence of its members. This is glaringly evident by the
actions of its proponents, including the non-Muslims, who continuously
condemned basic tenets of Islam for which they have no competence to do
so. Allowing such condemnation to take root in an “inter-faith” body
will only do more harm than good in our efforts to promote religious
harmony.


There had been deliberate attempts by the proponents of the IFC to
selectively put forth constitutional provisions which seem to be
supportive of their view about the unbridled freedom of religion and
discard others which are not in their favor in order to substantiate
their arguments. And yet, they claimed to uphold the Federal
Constitution. In the National Conference Toward the Formation of the
Interfaith Commission of Malaysia organized by the Bar Council and a host
of other organizations in February 2005, there were heated arguments on
why Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution, which limits the
propagation of religious beliefs among those professing the religion of
Islam, was not mentioned at all in the draft Bill for the proposed
Commission. Despite legitimate claims that the organizers should take
Article 11(4) into consideration in drafting the Bill, the general
atmosphere of the debate during the conference had been to condemn the
Clause 4 of Article 11 for
restraining one’s right to unbridled freedom of religion. Although the
constitutionality of the draft Bill was seriously questioned, it was
finally adopted by the Conference. Now we ask, which Constitution that
the proponents of the IFC, including Mr. Lim Kit Siang, are adamant to
uphold? To us, this is just an example of “selective
constitutionalism” adopted by the proponents of the IFC as a strategy
to promote sectional interests.

We call on Mr. Lim Kit Siang to stop making assertion that the IFC is
the only mechanism for interfaith dialogue and hold others at ransom to
accept such assertion. We also call on the Opposition Leader to take into
consideration the views of the majority of the Muslims who are against
such a proposal when making statements on the IFC and other related
issues. We really want to see that Mr. Lim and his Democratic Action
Party truly promote the interests of all Malaysians regardless of race
and religion. Reading Mr. Lim’s statement in the Parliament on Tuesday,
as well as that of his other colleagues participating in the parliamentary
debate on that day, we could not but conclude that the Opposition Leader
and his party had not made much progress in this regard.

We believe that meaningful interfaith dialogue could only be held when
all parties to the dialogue have sincere intention to promote
understanding and harmony among different religious communities. It
should not be an avenue for imposition of one’s view over the others or
an opportunity to demonize other religions.


KHAIRUL ARIFIN MOHD MUNIR
Secretary General
Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM)


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"Can There Be an Islamic Democracy?"

Can There Be an Islamic Democracy?
Review Essay

by David Bukay
Middle East Quarterly
Spring 2007
http://www.meforum.org/article/1680

Are Islam and democracy compatible? A large literature has developed
arguing that Islam has all the ingredients of modern state and society.
Many Muslim intellectuals seek to prove that Islam enshrines democratic
values. But rather than lead the debate, they often follow it, peppering
their own analyses with references to Western scholars who, casting aside
traditional Orientalism for the theories of the late literary theorist and
polemicist Edward Said, twist evidence to fit their theories. Why such
efforts? For Western scholars, the answer lies both in politics and the
often lucrative desire to please a wider Middle East audience. For
Islamists, though, the motivation is to remove suspicion about the nature
and goals of Islamic movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and,
perhaps, even Hezbollah.

Western Apologia

Some Western researchers support the Islamist claim that parliamentary
democracy and representative elections are not only compatible with
Islamic law, but that Islam actually encourages democracy. They do this
in one of two ways: either they twist definitions to make them fit the
apparatuses of Islamic government—terms such as democracy become
relative—or they bend the reality of life in Muslim countries to fit
their theories.

Among the best known advocates of the idea that Islam both is compatible
and encourages democracy is John L. Esposito, founding director of the
Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understan