Is he fat? No he is "horizontally challenged"

Are you always Politically Correct in what you say? Meaning do you refer a bum as a 'displaced homeowner' or a blind person as a 'visually challenged' person? Or am I the only one who mostly calls a spade a spade?

"Politically Correct"
According to wiki (well they have referenced it to a book so it's not the work of a 12 year old kid):
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, handicap, and age-related contexts. In current usage, the terms are often used to connote intolerance, while the usage politically incorrect has been used by some as an implicitly positive self-description.

Some examples
Say no to fat, say yes to "horizontally challenged"
Say no to thin, say yes to "horizontally challenged"

Say no to tall, say yes to "vertically challenged"
Say no to short, say yes to "vertically challenged"
Say no to midget, say yes to "vertically challenged"

In the US, say no to black, say yes to "African American"
In the US, say no white, say yes to "Caucasian"
In the US, say no to Indian, say yes to "native American"
In the UK, say no to Paki, say yes to "Pakistani"

I don't know how correct they are but a list of "politically correct" words can be found here. A book that is quite good is The Official Politically Correct Dictionary.

Nobody likes racism
I see the point in many cases. Racism exists and racism is a disease. In the UK, the word 'Paki' has been misused so much so that you can't call a Paki a Paki anymore. This Prince whatever got into quite a mess for using this 'Paki' word. And it makes sense.

The funny thing is when Indians or Bengalis get called 'Pakis' by the Caucasians (trying to be politically correct here!). If one knows it, the Southern part of India (Tamil Nadu, etc) and Srilanka demographically have darker skin colour than the northern part of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. When a Tamil gets called a Paki (and it happened to my Tamil colleague), it gets strangely hilarious. It's like calling Caucasian Brits as Polish!
Imagine a White bloke saying to a South Indian "Go home, Paki" to which the South Indian replies "Get lost, you Polish freak". Nah, my South Indian colleague wasn't like this when he got called a Paki, but I have this phrase in my mind just in case I get called 'Paki' by a Caucasian Brit!

Similarly, everyone knows well the sensitivity regarding the word 'black' and 'nigger'. There's a lot of politically correct words these days to replace such words.

Nobody likes mockery
Racism is the most common issue that initiated so many politically correct words today. However, people can get offended without having to resort to any racial terms.

Take 'fat' for example. A lot of fat kids in school are subject to bullying and harrassment due to the fact that they are overweight or sometimes obese. Now obesity can be a medical condition; it's not always down to eating shit loads of junk food. And grown-up fat people also get victimised by the 'physically fit' people regularly. Hence the politically correct word 'horizontally challenged'.

Similarly, midgets are to be called "vertically challenged", a ghetto area/neighbourhood is to be called "economically disadvantaged area".

Excuse my mind for thinking about this particular conversation -
Person A: You live in a ghetto!
Person B: No you twat, I live in an economically disadvantaged area.

Nobody likes insults
Sister term for mockery really. A bum might feel insulted if you call him a bum, so call him a "homeless person". And don't call a lunatic a lunatic! Before you know it, he might turn you into a "physically challenged" person. Mentally ill is the politically correct word for a crazy person.

And there are many cultural terms as well, that are sometimes grouped into racial insults but they are usually used by people to refer to a person from their own race that they see as not 'culturally fit'. 'Fresh-off-the-boat (or FOB)' is one such word used in America to imply any immigrant and 'Freshie' is the corresponding word in England. The ironic thing is when third-generation immigrants use these words to new immigrants (or first-generation immigrants) that come in the land of opportunity for the same reason as their own forefathers. Try calling your dad a FOB and your mum a freshie next time!

"I'm not racist, I just don't like white people!"
Haha that's a good one. I know some "Desi" people (South Asians) have this mentality and so do some black people. It is okay for an Indian to vote nobody but an Indian, or a black to vote for nobody but Obama, but it ain't okay for a white to vote a white!

You're just as racist as a white person who insults non-whites if you are a non-white person insulting a white.

"Support Our Troops"

Have you heard this phrase before? If you're a blog reader, then probably yes. But what does it mean literally and in essence?

Our/Their/My/Your Troop
Who is the "our" here and which troop represents "us" here?

Let's start with the obvious one. "Our" is the US-UK population and the troop that represents "us" are the "American-British" troop in foreign lands. But has the other side of the coin ever crossed your mind?

That "our" means the Afghan/Palestine population and the troop that represents "us" are the "Taliban-Hamas" troop.

Or "our" meant the Cuban/Vietnamese population and the troop that represented "us" are the "Cuban-Vietnamese" troop.

Or "our" meant the Indian/Malaysian population and the troop that represented "us" are the "Indian/Malaysian" troop that drove the British out of their lands.

So who is "us" and what is "our troop"?

Still not clear? Maybe these two contrasting pictures would help or make it even more unclear:

Picture 1: Support Our Troops (Our = US army)


Picture 2: Support Our Troops (Our = Talibans in Afghanistan)



The US army/Talibans don't necessarily represent "us"
A lot of stuff have been dedicated for "our" troops, claiming they represent "us". Music bands (like 3 Doors Down) and celebrities in general have gone platinum with their performance showing support for "our" troops. But do they really represent "us"?

Someone said, "Our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are not serving our country, they are serving Bush's stupid plans."
And another said, "And I say that the Talibans are WITHOUT A DOUBT oppressors."

Don't forget the very truthful phrase: "One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist".

And even if they represent "us"
So what if they represent "us"? Do they represent justice and truth? Or do they represent torture, oppression and massacre?

Would the German population be correct if they were saying "Support Our Troops" in WWII? Is your support based on nationalistic and tribal grounds or is it out of justice and truth?

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 in India against the British forces, were known to the British as the "Great Mutiny", but to Indians as the "First War of Independence". Who was "our troop" there to be supported?

"Get out of America"
It's quite sad and hilarious as well when some Americans, while supporting their troops blindly, throw this phrase to anybody who don't support "our (US)" troops. If that is not bigoted racism and nationalism, then what is? Thankfully, we have native Americans who beg to differ and don't support "their" troops if they are committing mass murders and rapes in the name of "war casualties".

Another braindead guy asked anybody not supporting US troops to stop "usual oil digging propaganda theories and killing of innocents" as a shield. This is the internet so I don't know who that braindead guy is; for all I know, he could be Lynndie England's high-school sweetheart.

Tighter Rules Fail to Stem Deaths of Innocent Afghans at Checkpoints

Hitler and supporters of Hitler are in the making, with these foolish people, supporting "their" troops no matter how much oppression and genocide they are causing. We can all sing along "When I'm gone" as long as "I" is one of us.

I enjoy satirical shows where a lot of humour is presented by way of ironical statements. Here's one such script:

"You know, I'm a man who believes in the American dream. I-I really do. And that dream is I'm in charge, and if you don't like what I'm sayin', then I'm gonna make wisecracks a-and drop a bomb on 'ya. That's it! That for me is, the, uh, the American dream, OK? And maybe, our country oughta sing a song about it, and have me walk around in slow motion.
That's the fully realized dream. You know, maybe then you could make a movie about me doin' that and we could do action figurines and then myself makin' a movie about blowin' the shit out of you while I make a wisecrack. That's the beauty of America. I'm allowed to dream! That's the dream!
... We'll be right-we'll be right here in the air conditioning, watching the news, and stewing over people like you who-who are trying to break into our houses, and trust me, you come into my house, buddy, you know there's gonna be, uh, uh, in store for a little double-barrelled surprise, OK? I will take you, and I will shoot a hole in you! And then I will torture you, and your family... for...freedom."

I'd really like to see the day when the oppressed people have the option to say what troop they want the rest of us, not being oppressed, to support. People like, the children of Gaza, as in here.

Dowry Culture to Groom: That's Retardism (Part 4)

Enough of external news, let me share some insider news now. And let me first tell you that I am ashamed that such incidents happened and continue to happen in my culture, but when you are ingrained to understand something in a certain way, anything contradictory to it sounds odd and unacceptable. Try talking about the ill-effects of fornication and drinking to many Westerners and you would see how their minds are ingrained into thinking how right fornication and drinking is.

My uncles and aunts
When you have the popular Indian culture with regards to dowry as defined here, being the parent of unmarried daughters is seen as a social burden. We have a local word for these parents, they are called "kanyadaygrosto pita" which translates into "father burdened with an unmarried daughter", and the social perception towards such fathers/mothers is not very pleasant.

My grandfather from my mother's side, has 8 daughters and 0 sons, meaning I have 7 maternal aunts and lots of cousins. My grandfather wasn't exactly the 'wealthy' person in society, and marrying off his daughters to good, respectable grooms (i.e. my uncles) seemed a mountainous task. I know many proposals that came to my younger aunts got turned down after the groom's family found out that my aunt's family is not rich enough, that they cannot make them 'happy' with the 'dowry gifts'.

My own mother, may Allah be kind to her always, also had to go through some of the ill-effects of dowry culture. A lot of times, it is the groom's family, who puts a lot of mental pressure to the bride and these things don't always come out because women in my society has the reputation of 'enduring social injustice' without complaining.

The opposite is true for my uncles who got married to outsider women, i.e. my aunts. Less than 10 years back I think, an uncle of mine got married and received plenty of 'gifts' including a car, a TV, new furnitures and stuff. Even then, my uncle's side complained that during the wedding feast (if I remember correctly), the bride family didn't make a good impression, and the car that they gave as a gift, was not the most pretty, newest model in the market.

Subsequent harrassment
This is again untold stories in my culture. It gets leaked or gets out only when the harrassment reaches the extreme condition, like the ones mentioned in Part 2 and 3.

The husband or the family of the husband would remind the wife of her family's shortcomings during the wedding (i.e. the 'gifts') in every opportunity that arises.

Ponder O Muslims and humans!
No wonder many women in my society now see 'Western' culture to be the liberating society for women, because back in her home, she is treated like a trash. No wonder they turn into Socialists, because Socialists and Human Rights organisations are the only heard voices in my society against such inhumane prejudice. No wonder many women in my society then links this behaviour from their husbands to Islam, this humiliation upon them as a product of Muslim culture.

Laa! Do not mix this with Islam. This is Hinduism and paganism. This is oppression.

Our Lord says (as translated):
“…And live with them (the women) in kindness…” [Qur’aan an-Nisaa'4:19]

The Messenger of our Lord, peace and blessings be on him, said, "A believing man should not hate a believing woman. If he dislikes something in her character, he would be pleased with some other trait of hers." (Saheeh Muslim)

And the Messenger said, "The most perfect of believers in faith is the best of them in character. And the best of you are those who are the best to their women." (Sunan at-Tirmidhee)

Dowry Culture to Groom: That's Retardism (Part 3)

Ponder upon two more stories, and I am mentioning them both in one Part.

Monimala 'set afire for dowry,' fighting for life
A young housewife, set afire allegedly by in-laws, is fighting for her life. The victim, Monimala, 20, got more than 40 percent of her body including face and chest burnt during the incident. Source

Newly married woman killed for dowry

A newly married woman was killed by her husband over dowry. The victim, Rozina Khatun, 18, got married only 20 days ago. But her husband Jahangir Khan tortured her regularly for dowry money after their marriage, the police said.

Failing to realise the dowry money, Jahangir beat up his wife and strangled her at his house at about 10:30pm on Thursday. Jahangir and all his family members went into hiding following the incident. Source

Dowry related deaths is one of the chief concerns in India, and guess who are most vocal against it? The Socialists. (Rising number of dowry deaths in India)

I wish the Muslims were more vocal than them and I wish the Muslims would raise their voice against the 'elderly scums' and Muslim terrorists oppressing my sisters.
I can post news after news such as this and all of this is to illustrate one point and one point only: Dowry culture to groom is retardism and turns humans into animals.

Dowry Culture to Groom: That's Retardism (Part 2)

Ponder upon this story and see if you are human enough to appreciate the inhumane characteristic of the perpetrators:

Parvin Khatun, 25, had both her hands amputated at wrists and made almost blind by a vicious bomb attack allegedly orchestrated by her husband and in-laws in October 2000, for dowry.

Just three months into Parvin's marriage with Mohammad Alamgir Hossain Tipu in April 2000, in exchange for a dowry of Tk 9,000 (£90), 1.25 bhoris of gold ornaments, and nine bhoris of silver ornaments, she was approached again by her husband and in-laws for more.

Her husband, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law pressed her to return to her parents and bring at least Tk 5,000 more, or nine pieces of corrugated tin, putting Parvin, who was only sixteen back then, in a very difficult situation.

Only three months ago, her father, Mohammad Abdul Alek, a day labourer, had to endure immense hardship to arrange a dowry for his daughter's wedding.

"I didn't know from where my father would get the extra amount. However I went to my parents, but returned empty handed two days later," Parvin said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I'm the only daughter with three sons in the family, and I could feel the pain of my parents and the brothers, who were feeling totally helpless," she added.

When Parvin tried to explain to her husband and the in-laws that her parents are too poor to meet their demand, her husband's entire family became furious. They started citing, day and night, examples of other families in the village who had received larger amounts of dowries.

One Saturday morning in October 2000, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law asked her to collect hay from the harvest of paddy, and pile them up in front of their house. As she gathered the hay, she found two neatly wrapped packets underneath.

"My mother-in-law and sister-in-law asked me to take the packets to my room and to open those. They ran out of the room, and I don't remember anything after that," Parvin said.

She was admitted to Rajshahi Sadar Hospital with horrendous injuries, where doctors amputated both of her hands from the wrists. She lost one of her eyes, and can hardly see with the other. She said all her body bears marks of injuries.

As usual a case was filed with Paba police station, which kept dragging on. At one point a village shalish (an unofficial court of village elders and influential people) 'settled the matter' by ordering her husband and his family to return the entire amount of dowry that Parvin's family had paid at the time her wedding, and granted her husband's family immunity from any punishment.

"They did return the dowry to my parents, but I got nothing. Now I'm struggling hard to live on as a handicapped person," Parvin sobbed. (Source)

Apart from the dowry related oppression, let me remind you that these 'village elders' are of similar cults as those scumbags that I mentioned here. And you can easily spot the trend with these cults: make an arbitration council, shame the victim, give respite to the criminal, and sometimes torture the victim even further. This is the type of cult that is existent in many parts of the world today, sadly. And when you hear or see a Muslim screaming against the oppressive Zionists and non-Muslim soldiers (as they should), please remind them to scream against these Muslim terrorists as well and not be biased against their Muslim sisters being tortured by animal-like Muslims, sometimes in the name of 'Islam'.

Dowry Culture to Groom: That's Retardism (Part 1)

This has been in my mind for a long time. I grew up in a culture that is heavily influenced by the Indian culture and traditions, and from one of the despicable practices that Muslims in Bengali/Indian culture have acquired is the practice of dowry to the groom, i.e. the husband, as a condition for marriage to take place.

What is Dowry?
This needs to be defined first. Dowry is payment, in the form of cash, cheque or other goods, to the groom, before marriage between them can take place. Any money paid to the bride (or the bride's family) before marriage is technically dowry but that is not of concern here, as that is not the subject of oppression in society, nor is it the generally accepted usage of the term dowry (feminists should definitely agree with me on this!). Henceforth, whenever dowry is mentioned, it is with regards to dowry to the groom, not the bride.

Gift: We don't call a spade a spade
The word 'dowry' has caused a lot of social tension and is now linked to the groom (and his family) being shallow and oppressive. Hence people don't like calling a spade a spade.

Dowry is now referred to as a 'Gift' or an 'Honour'. Cool. I want gifts too! I want a Porsche 911 and a mansion in Beverly Hills, California as 'gifts'!

Origin of Dowry (aka 'Honorary Gift')
I think most Westerners and 'educated, civil' society in the non-Western world, who are accustomed to this word dowry, know that it has something to do with Indian culture or Hinduism. Therefore many Hindus have tried to explain and defend this origin, to appear this as civilised and acceptable, but make no mistake, the concept of 'dowry' is from Hinduism, just as accepting a man to be the literal 'Son of God' is also from Hinduism (no, I will bet, it is not an Abrahamic tradition!)

At this point, let me mention that dowry was very much practised in Europe as well, in ancient Greece and elsewhere, dating back to the ancient Babylonian 'Code of Hammurabi' (read).

I will not beat around the bush here. I will take in from the horse's mouth (Hindu literature and rituals) to remove any doubt you may have, that dowry ('gift') is not from Hinduism.

"The ritual of worship while crossing the border (Simantapujan):

1. Definition: The practice of honouring the groom at the border after he leaves his village (or if the proposal is from the same village, when he leaves his house) and enters the bride’s village by the bride’s relatives offering him clothes, etc. is known as the ritual of worship while crossing the border (Simantapujan).

2. Welcoming the groom and honouring the elder son-in-law: ‘In this ritual of worship (puja) the bride’s father washes the feet of the groom and offers him clothes and ornaments. At the same time he also offers betelnuts and betel leaves to all other members of the groom’s side. Before the ban on the dowry system by the law, the bride’s father would give the dowry to the groom’s father. The groom’s father would receive the dowry fearing that it may not be given after the marriage. According to the scriptures the offering to the groom (Varadakshina) is given after the giving away of the bride (Kanyadan)." Source

So within this Hindu source (that wishes to unite Hindus all over the world), one can see that not only is dowry a part of Hindu ritual, the father of the bride also has to wash the feet of the groom to honour him! So if any man out there wants to be honoured by having your feet washed by the father of the bride, marry a Hindu girl!

One may also notice that the dowry ban is talked about, which is the ban in India (read) after Hindus misused this ritual by finding loopholes into it. And then came the politically correct word 'gift' with no pre-conditions attached to it. Obviously, India's laws are defined as per the notion of the country being a 'socialist, secular, democratic, republic' and consideration to Hindu laws and rituals do not officially come under the country's laws if they contradict the Constitutional values of India.

The Indian legal advice website, mentions some interesting things about dowry (bearing in mind, they are not representing Hinduism but rather Indian supreme laws):

"The ancient marriage rites in the Vedic period are associated with Kanyadan. It is laid down in Dharamshastara that the meritorious act of Kanyadan is not complete till the bridegroom was given a dakshina. So when a bride is given over to the bridegroom, he has to be given something in cash or kind which constitute varadakshina. Thus Kanyadan became associated with varadakshina i.e. the cash or gifts in kind by the parents or guardian of the bride to the bridegroom. The varadakshina was offered out of affection and did not constitute any kind of compulsion or consideration for the marriage. It was a voluntary practice without any coercive overtones. In the course of time, the voluntary element in dowry has disappeared and the coercive element has crept in. it has taken deep roots not only in the marriage ceremony but also post-marital relationship. What was originally intended to be a taken dakshina for the bridegroom has now gone out of proportions and has assumed the nomenclature 'dowry'." Source

And I would be fair here. It was not meant as a coercive persuasion, with the groom's family demanding "I want this, this and this"; rather it was a ritual that the bride's family gave as gifts to honour the groom. However, without this ritual, the marriage is not complete and Hindus exploited it, with their caste system (read), whereby it was expected that the bride's family must make the groom and his family 'happy' with the 'gifts'; otherwise that would mean the bride would later be harrassed and tortured with even the possibility of cancellation of marriage.

So the popular 'Indian culture' as related to dowry was set out as follows:

"One of the evils of Hindu marriages is the ubiquitous dowry system. The amount of dowry can be a very substantial amount, even in dollar terms, depending upon the financial status of the parties involved. Sometimes greedy mother-in-laws and husbands subject the poor brides to innumerable hardships for not meeting their expectations in respect of the dowry. Cases of bride burning are not unknown. Indian penal code prescribes severe punishment for such acts. But the cases take years and decades before the courts deliver justice.

Hindu marriages are also very expensive because of the status, dowry, expensive gifts, family prestige and other issues involved. The bride's parents have to bear the brunt of most of the expenses and in many cases it leads to their financial indebtedness." http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_marriage.asp

It is this dowry culture that has led to unthinkable degrees and numbers of oppression and violence towards women. Sadly, many Muslims who should have nothing whatsoever to do with this 'caste system' and 'dowry', are more eager than the modern Hindus in this respect to exploit women and humiliate them. That is what I am going to highlight in subsequent parts, God willing.

Make things easy, Muslims! (Part 1a)

Another long series, inshaAllah, addressing the hastiness and improper, incorrect means of conveying information and calling to the Lord. This is quite religious in nature, therefore I think it is best to dedicate whole of Part 1 of the series with proofs from Quran and Sunnah and what the Scholars mentioned as appropriate, about patience, wisdom, kindness and associated characteristics.

I'd then focus on various practical examples that I have personally known or heard of and perhaps put forward few very plausible, hypothetical situations to pin-point the characteristics that go directly against Quran and Hadeeth.

What is established from the Speech of our Lord is that one must have correct knowledge about what they are talking about, be patient and kind, and exert wisdom in conveying the information to those who do not know.

Quranic Verses

The following translated Verses are appropriate (and commentaries to follow later):

1. "Say: this is my way, I call to Allaah upon sure knowledge (Baseerah); I and whosoever follows me ..." [Surah Yusuf 12:108]

2. "And follow not ( i.e., say not or do not or witness not) what you have no knowledge of. Indeed the hearing, sight and the heart, one will be questioned of all of those" [Surah al Israa 17:36]

3. "The believers (Mu'minoon) are nothing but brothers to one another. So make reconciliation between your brothers, and fear Allah, that you may receive Mercy" [Surah al Hujuraat 49:10]

4. "O you who believe! Let not a group amongst you mock another group; it may be that the latter is better than the former! Nor let (some) women ridicule other women; it may be that the latter are better than the former! Nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How evil is it to insult one's brother after having Faith (Imaan)! And whosoever does not repent, then such are the Oppressors (Zalimoon)" [Surah al Hujuraat 49:11]

5. "O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion; indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? And fear Allah..." [Surah al Hujuraat 49:12]

6. "Invite (mankind, O Muhammad) to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better" [Surah an Nahl 16:125]

7. "And by the Mercy of Allaah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh hearted, they would have broken away from around you; so pardon (their faults), and ask (Allaah's) Forgiveness for them" [Surah Al ‘Imraan 3:159]

8. "And speak to him mildly, perhaps he may accept admonition or fear Allaah" [Surah Taha 20:44] (Referring to Prophet Moses in his admonition to one of the worst people in the history of mankind, Pharaoh!)

9. "...Only those who are patient shall receive their reward in full, without reckoning (i.e. limit)" [Surah az-Zumar 39:10]

10. "And do not insult the false gods that they worship besides Allaah, lest they insult Allaah wrongfully without knowledge..." [Surah al Anaam 6:108]

Prophetic Hadeeth

1. The Prophet, peace and blessings be on him, said, "Make things easy and do not make things difficult, give glad tidings and do not repel the people [from you]." (Saheehayn)

2. The Prophet said, "O Aaishah (wife of the Prophet), Allah loves kindness in everything." (Saheehayn, in which Aaishah went overboard in her speech to the Jews!)

3. The Prophet said, "Proceed with calmness and tranquility up until you enter their (disbelieving) land, then invite them to Islaam and inform them of what Allaah the Most High has made obligatory upon them (as it relates to the religion). For by Allaah, if Allaah was to guide a single person through you, then it would be better for you than red camels.” (Saheehayn)

4. The Prophet said, "It is enough lying for a man to speak of everything that he hears." (Saheeh Muslim)

5. The Prophet said, "It is enough sin for a man to speak of everything that he hears." (Saheeh Muslim)

6. The Prophet said, "And Allah dislikes gossip (قيل وقال) for you, asking too many questions." (Saheeh al-Bukhari)

7. The Prophet said, "Allah has sent this command to me through revelation: Take to humility. Let no man pride on another man, nor adopt superiority complex and let no one be unjust to anyone." (Saheeh Muslim)

8. The Prophet said, "Truly the religion is easy. And no one contends with the Deen except that it will overwhelm him. So seek out a balanced correctness, do as much as you can, and rejoice (at your reward). And seek assistance (from Allah) in the early morning, the afternoon, and some part of the late night." (Saheehayn)

9. The Prophet said, "What an evil habit it is for a man to say: 'They claimed...'" (Sunan Abu Dawud)

10. The Prophet said, "O you who have spoken the words of faith but faith has not entered your hearts! Do not backbite about the Muslims or seek our their faults, for whoever seeks out their faults, Allah will seek out his faults even if he is in his house." (Sunan Abu Dawud)

11. The Prophet said, "Indeed you (Muslims) were only sent to make things easy, and you were not sent to make things difficult."

Relevant narrations from the Commander of the Believers

1. 'Alee, the son of Aboo Taalib, said:

"Narrate to people what they can understand; do you want Allah and His Messenger to be disbelieved?"

(Saheeh al-Bukhari, Chapter about a person preferring some people with certain knowledge to the exclusion of others.)

2. 'Umar, the son of al-Khattab, said:

"Beware of fitnah (trials and afflictions), for a word at the time of fitnah could be as devastating as the sword"

To be continued...

Now this Part 1 needs a bit of research and I need to be careful about what I say, since speaking about Verses of the Quran and Hadeeth is not for every Ahmad. The Prophet of Allaah said:

1. "Whoever says anything about the Quran without knowledge, then he should take his abode (home) in hell" (Sunan Abu Dawud)

2. "Whoever talks about the Quran on the basis of his opinion, and even if he says something true in it, he has made a mistake" (Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan an-Nasa'i)

Please bear with me as I would update you, God willing, with the commentaries of these Verses and Scholarly clarifications.

Edit:

Part 1b (April 2010)

Part 1c (April 2010)

Facebook mania (Part 2)

A lot of matured people would agree with me on this as they are not uncommon.

Wasting time and being addicted
Look at that teen kid who failed his school test. From the most normal reasons is that he was playing games for too long or he was into 'social' stuffs instead of studying. From checking facebook status and notifications to the newly developed 'chat' mode, many people spend more time on facebook than with their family. And that is perceived to be the cool thing to do!

I have seen guys chatting with over 10 people simultaneously on facebook. It's not unique to facebook, as MSN and Yahoo would do this as well, but time wasted on talking about what that girl was wearing the other night and what that guy was talking the other day takes up more than time spent on life outside of facebook. It's very common to see in buses and trains, people checking on facebook and updating their 'status'. 'Twitter' is also another similar stuff, while that is more mobile-based.

No wonder companies and schools monitor how much time their employees and students spend on social sites and make redundancy decisions based on such information. Many companies and schools have blocked it as well. I am myself guilty of checking facebook and updating stuff during work, but I got away with it!

Some interesting and somewhat obvious quotes from an interview done by Associate Professor (Reader in UK) of Psychology in Carleton University, Canada can be read here. Various surveys and statistics are also available (use 'google'!) to see the time spent on facebook. We had drug addicts, sex addicts, games addicts, etc and now we have 'facebook addicts'!

Who's your friend?
The privacy concern is always there. Let's be honest, how many of your contacts do you know well enough? How many have you met or talked to over the phone?
I can pull out pictures, notes, private information about many people who are not even in my friends' list just by going from one page to another page. Security settings are not as secure as you think they are. And maybe your security settings are strong, but that photo album from your friend's friend contains photos of you and your lover smooching in that club which you probably don't want everyone to see!

And what happens when that picture is not only seen, but also shared to the whole world? How would you feel to see an almost naked picture of your sister in a 'drunkteens.com' type of website?

You might think, well I'm a guy, what can happen to me! Well, think again dude. A newspaper reported in Bangladesh that various groups of frauds are active, whereby they posed as 'hot chicks', befriended the guy, set up an appointment, took a hooker with them, let the hooker have five minutes of pleasure with the guy while the group secretly films it and takes photos, and then before you know it, they blackmail you. And you may happen to be this honest, decent guy everyone knows or a respected person in your family and stuff, and all that is about to die away.

All this might sound all about gloom and doom, but really, who's your friend and who's your friend's friend?

Poking other people's business
Now this is somewhat natural I guess and therefore people might just say it ain't poking, it's getting to know what your friends are up to. Well whatever you call it, your friend probably doesn't want you to see what type of conversations she is having with her future husband or her mother, and you may not want others to see that particular wall-to-wall conversation with one of your contacts.
Obviously, you should have used private messaging but other business, like what groups you join, what applications you use, it's all open to the world. And many people might have nothing better to do other than to catch up with what you're up to! And you may not even know that 'friend' of yours!

Blackmailing and misusing
I already mentioned about it above. But I emphasize again, I know of facebook accounts that have been hacked or maybe somehow the person got control of it, and then misused it fully. From using your private pictures to using your friends and family's private pictures and sharing them and putting them up in websites is not unheard of.

So what then?
Well people would use facebook, regardless of these adverse effects. I use facebook and would continue to use it. But it's important not to let this usage turn into an addiction or to put something in it that can be misused.

I know people use facebook for genuine, perfectly valid reasons, like being in touch with your brother who happens to live in Congo. Someone once commented, how would life be without facebook? I say, just go back about 4 years and you'd see how life was without facebook. People survived well without it, and will survive even if it stops tomorrow.

Facebook mania (Part 1)

Reading my earlier posts, one might assume I am always a very serious person with some sort of agenda or propaganda or something. Other than what I have stated about my blog, I'm sorry to disappoint anyone who's thinking otherwise. I think it's good time to talk a bit about less-serious stuffs like facebook instead of rape and murders and genocides. Although, honestly speaking, expect a lot more serious stuff like that, in future, God willing.

"I'm into facebook"
I first came to know about facebook in the autumn of 2006, in an internet forum for students, and when this member started posting her profile link and all, I really thought it's just like any other site and a total waste of time. (Well it is a waste of time in many cases though!)

I have used other social networking sites prior to that, like hi5 and zorpia, but they all failed the test of time and popularity compared to facebook. An entrepreneur was talking the other month about how genuine the ideas of sites like facebook and google were, but come to think about it, social networking sites and search engines were already existent before facebook and google. But yes, the creators had talent and insight into the business as they knew exactly what the users wanted and needed (being users themselves) and provided a very simple, safe and free solution to the user needs (that other social networking sites and search engines could not give).

It's very normal to see school, college and university students (teens and youths) to be on facebook, and that was the case initially, but in recent years, even the middle-aged and elderly (not to be confused with the village elderly scums I mentioned here) people are on facebook. Of course while the 20-year old daughter happens to have just over 500 friends, the 50-year old momma happens to have just under 50 friends, but almost everyone (using the internet) is there.

I know my cousins and friends are there and almost every single person I met at uni is there, and I am there too!

Here's a real-life facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=423147527852&ref=mf

"I've been fraped"
With any new craze, expect new urban words and phrases popping all over the place. 'Frape' is a good example. It's when you leave your facebook account signed on and someone else (your roommate or friend) comes and 'rapes' your account, i.e. makes you look like a freak.

Finally guys can claim to be raped too, or fraped. Though you can probably understand easily that the person has been fraped, if you know him/her well to know that he won't say "I like sausages, hot and big" for a facebook status.

The entertainment industry is also capitalising on such things. You now have stand-up comedians making people laugh over something that happened in facebook (try Aziz Ansari) or TV shows and movies making references to it (Gossip Girl, etc). It's expected though; coz facebook is the happening thing these days (along with al-Qaeda and terrorism).

"Add me up on facebook"
Please don't disagree with me on this coz it's so damn true. Facebook has replaced the traditional way of communication, just as emails replaced letters.

• You like someone, find the person on facebook.
• You looking for someone, type his name or email address.
• You want people to come to this happening event (birthdays, parties, conferences, etc), put up an event invitation to your 500 friends and you can save money trying to text them or call them or do it the traditional 'card invitation' way.
• You want to preach your ideas to your contacts and unknowns, set up facebook groups, notes, links, etc. (Blogs, forums and websites also fall under this purpose but they are not as happening as 'facebook'!)
• You have this arranged marriage thing going, get to know your bride/groom on facebook.
• And the list goes on and on...

It's even opened doors to the shy ones, the geeky and nerdy ones, the "social outcasts". Never mind not being able to say a single line when you're with the person, open up your mind on facebook! It's like the MSN and Paltalk chatters, the virtually 'social' people.

People also tend to do whatever they like, knowing fully well that contacts would see them or comment on them. From crazy photos from nights out to the coolest gadget you got, you'll get noticed! Certainly, this facebook mania is here to stay until something else takes its place. If you're not in it, that's probably because you got bored, so step back and watch the 10-12 year old kids take your place and get this mania going!

I'll mention few things about the ill-effects this mania has caused in Part 2.

Double Homicides & Gang Rape by Terrorists

These are two very recent stories that came out. The first one is about two terrorists, one a Muslim by name and the other a Hindu by name, uniting for one purpose: to turn a girl into an orphan by killing both her parents. The second one is about a poor girl who was gang raped, while the neighbours were all aware of her screams during the incident.
I will let you decide which is a greater act of terrorism.

First incident
One of the terrorists proposed marriage to the victim's parents for their daughter, but due to the criminal reputation of the terrorist, the parents duly refused his proposal. It happened in the capital city of Bangladesh, and the parents had even made arrangements for their daughter to flee off to Malaysia in an effort to save her from the terrorist. Read here in Bengali.

Murderers are sadistic in general, but what is even more horrific is the way they commit such murders and the mentality they have. These terrorists, while killing both the mother and the father, told the elder daughter (the elder sister of the family, who was present during the act of murder) as a solemn mode of confirmation, "We have left your mother and father dead, now stay alone."

I personally don't think even an ounce of humanity is left in these terrorists. I would leave the Words of our Lord for such terrorists when He said (as translated), "“And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein; and the Wrath and the Curse of Allaah are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him”
[Quran, Chapter 4: al-Nisaa, Verse 93]

Maybe it's of no use preaching to braindeads, which is why I'll expound on what is the prescribed punishment for these terrorists later, God willing.

Second incident
The story is as follows: the poor girl lives with another girl in a slum and the local drug addicts have been bothering her for some time and on the day of incident, they made an attempt to rape her but the girl strongly defended herself with a dagger-like knife (locally called 'boti') which prompted the addicted youths to threaten her and leave.
Following that, she and the other girl she lived with felt very insecure and went to the neighbour's house for shelter. (In case you're wondering, in places like that and situations like these, the victim does not have access to security forces and the local police are sometimes corrupt enough to rape an orphan-girl themselves.)

What happened after that is tragic. During dinner time, the neighbour liaised with the youths to bring them over and this time, betrayed by the neighbouring family, she could not defend herself. The scums dragged her in another room, gang raped her and left. The number of rapists probably were more than 10 (yes, ten!) and there were loud screams initially that the entire neighbourhood could listen, but nobody did anything to save her, until the screams disappeared to silence.

I don't really have much to say on this incident. One of the readers of the news commented that he cried just reading the news and another commented the entire neighbourhood are to blame and should be hanged for failing to provide security to the girl.

I'd again leave off with the Verse of our Lord for such people:
"The recompense of those who wage war against Allaah and His Messenger and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off from opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter"
[Quran, Chapter 5: al-Maaidah, Verse 33]