1.18.2012
1.04.2012
On Religion, From My Eyes
Disclaimer:
this is mostly my own personal musings on my religion, Islam. it's supposed to be read with an open mind. if you don't have one, go away. now. seriously, i don't want to offend you.
Another Disclaimer:
these rants are a bit of a mix between religion in general and also religion in my own country. which country doesn't really matter, but if you must know, it's that little one in southeast asia, and coincidentally sandwiched between thailand and singapore.
Yet Another Disclaimer:
again, this is meant for an open mind. if for any reason you believe yourself to be a very judgmental (not that i'm judging you or anything) sentient entity (non-humanoid intelligent lifeforms could be out there!) do leave now. please, for the love of whatever deity you worship, go away.
Yet Another, Another Disclaimer:
if you think these disclaimers are already tl;dr (that's too long; didn't read for those who aren't versed in the lingo of teh webz), you might also go away, because the actual post is a lot longer.
still here? okay then, go ahead and read my ridiculous rant on religion.
but then again, maybe no one will actually read any of my crap, but that's fine really.
An Introduction, For All Things Need One
First off, i'd like to make it clear: I'm a muslim. It's who i am, and i'm proud to be one. Well, at least i am of the religion itself. As to the state it's in, not so much perhaps.
I'll be the first to admit, I'm not be the most devout nor the most learned of muslims; I can't quote off the top of my head verses of the holy Quran, nor any of the Prophet's (PBUH) hadith, save perhaps a few that most probably know anyway. So perhaps my thoughts are unimportant, insignificant in relative to the words of others of far greater knowledge than me. Yet these are my musings, and i'll be the only one responsible for them.
Some might consider my way of thinking far too liberal, far too influenced by the modern world. Maybe they're right, maybe at the end of days i'll suffer for it. However that is between me and Allah SWT, and only I shall answer for it. In the meantime, while I do believe that Islam in itself is beautiful and perfect in it's myriad of ways, i do cling to my belief that to follow blindly is a fool's endeavor. Did Allah not give me a healthy mind to ponder this realm of wonders built for us? Did He, in His infinite wisdom, not endow me with a conscience of my own, so that i may find true faith, and not just mere illusions of faith enforced by fellow mortals?
On Faith
Because after all, Islam, like any religion, is one based on faith. And faith is in truth a personal matter, for faith thrust against one's will is meaningless. Ponder this: if you pray to the Almighty because you are told to do so, be it by your parents or teacher, are you really praying to Him? Faith of that sort is not truly faith, but merely a ploy to gain approval of our peers, an act that i personally believe means almost nothing at all. Simply trying to force our views into another in my opinion would do nothing but foster bitterness and resentment towards those very same views.
There was a time, when i viewed it all as nothing more than tomfoolery. All i saw everywhere around me was how people get worked up over religion, and how it seemed to make tempers flare. The only thought i had was: screw this, i'll pray if my parents are looking, and to hell with it at other times. At least that was how i initially thought. Yet for some reason even when my parents, when nobody else was around, I didn't stop. Somehow, for no inexplicable reason, I still performed my prayers. i still fasted when the time came. Heck, i even began to fast on days that i wasn't required to. No one told me to; it would've been easy enough to lie my way out every single day.
And yet, I still woke up every morning just to perform my Subuh prayer, I recited the doa (prayer) at each meal, and I still go to bed at night praying to Allah for my family. Maybe this could be attributed to a matter of habits, but i believe this is when i found my faith. Granted, it wasn't the most profound change, i still maintain skepticism in a lot of my views, but it is what made me believe there actually is an omnipotent force watching me, that my deeds were in judgement.
So i'll say this: faith cannot be forced. The values and knowledge of a religion can be imparted to anyone, but to force it upon them will not create faith. Faith is something that is found in one's own journey, and anything else is nothing but a fabrication. And deeds of fabricated faith is merely an act, something that holds no sincerity, and that is nearly as bad as doing nothing at all. After all, isn't one of the requirements for a deed to be accepted is ikhlas, which is basically sincerity?
On Preaching
I have nothing against preaching, or dakwah as we call it, but on occasion i find that instead of making me a firm believer of my religion, they in turn make me question it. It's fine really when these sermons are a call for good deeds, or a rallying cry towards more prayers. But sometimes i believe things are taken too far; when it starts to instill a dose of hate on other beliefs. Disbelief is always forefront in my heart whenever i hear muslims blindly insult other religions, or in worse cases praying for their deaths, which sadly too say, is not that uncommon these days.
Really, did i misread all the things i learned in school? Were we not taught that the Prophet himself forgave his foes, and always, even when wrongly persecuted, prayed for the best towards them? Yet all i see these days are 'muslims' who somehow claim to be the most devout yet hold no respect for any opinion save their own. Instead of thinking up of valid arguments, all it usually amounts to is a ridiculous amount of incessant insults that make the rest of us look like... well, complete idiots.
And people wonder why today's society holds more atheists (and agnostics) than ever before.
Most of history is littered with wars for religion, isn't it time to move on already? I always thought that humanity would've already moved beyond the point where we'd even consider taking another man's life for anything other than self-defense, but apparently we're not. If we really want to attract others to even be interested in considering our religion, we'd really need to stop being pure jerks. It's a simple enough concept: respect others if you wish to be respected. Public view of Islam isn't exactly at an all time high, and being disrespectful to others certainly won't help any. This is especially true on the internet, where almost everything is visible to almost everyone across the globe. And what do they see? People claiming to be devouts of religion cursing everyone and everything that doesn't agree with their views.
True, this holds true for all religion, but in this country it's mostly 'muslims' who act out like this. Often i see those asking questions that are even remotely contrasting general belief be lambasted without mercy. And by lambasted, i mean insulted with the most vulgar words imaginable and have every single member of his/her family (extended family package included for the lucky ones!) threatened with a billion forms of self-righteous punishment. This is not upholding yhe dignity of anything, it's just you being a discriminating ass.
Some of these would claim that they're tired of being nice, which they somehow believe justifies being assholes. To those with this answer i ask this: if you're so devout and learned in your belief, why stop being nice? Isn't patience a virtue that is lauded throughout all of our religion? If you're so easily provoked, perhaps it's better if you lay off the keyboard and rethink on just what exactly you learned from religion. Otherwise, you're doing nothing save telling the world that you deserve no respect and so does your religion. When this form of behavior becomes the norm of our society, it's not really that hard to imagine why more and more turn to atheism or other forms of non-religious belief: it's simply more appealing compared to being an overzealous, self-righteous, and incredibly pompous human being. So to all those who keep turning to swears and curses (threats, too): just stop for a moment and think to yourself. You keep asking others to remember religion so why don't you ask yourselves this: does Islam itself really tell me to hurl endless torrents of insults and curses towards my fellow men (and women)? I imagine not, so just why exactly are you doing it?
p.s.: i'm not saying i don't curse or swear occasionally(okay, a lot) (fine, a whole lot). But at least i tend to hurl them at inanimate objects instead of a living person.
Seriously, war and violence is never a good way to promote religion and using religion to justify death and destruction is even worse. So please, please don't keep on hurting your fellow human beings (be it mentally or physically) just for the sake of religion. If there's anything our religion is supposed to be about, it's peace. At least that's what i thought during that class on how the Prophet decreed to us that we're only supposed to wage battle in defense of ourselves. Come to think of it, wasn't one of the Prophet's rules of war is to not harm any religious buildings of other beliefs? In the modern age, I think that would translate to "don't insult another man's faith, even if they're not your own".
On Education and Science
Oh, the occasional anti-education sentiments is also a stance that will end up detracting all interest and any modicum of respect held towards us.
Every year, when the results of public examinations (we have them here for some reason, even though it's stupid) are being released, somehow i never fail to hear Friday sermons stressing how unimportant worldly education is compared to religious knowledge.
Yes, knowledge of religion is important. But to undermine everything else is simply uncalled for and will ultimately drive away all forms of advancement. It sickens me when i'm occasionally (which is actually pretty often) subjected to how useless and insignificant science or mathematics is when i die. Do these people never consider that science and religion could mutually co-exist, and even benefit each other?
For instance, science doesn't deny that there are forces beyond our perception, in fact science has plenty of theories that acknowledge how limited our perception is (such as higher dimensions). I for one believe that science has reaffirmed my belief in the presence of God in the universe. When i consider how improbable the entire existence universe is, it makes me believe that certainly there's a guiding hand out there that made sure that single inconsequential atom of hydrogen was exactly where it was supposed to be to form that big old sun of ours, which we'd be a tad bit cold without it's presence.
Did Allah not create this vast, wonderful universe as a testament of his greatness for all to see? Did the Quran not beseech us to look upon all of creation and behold it's wonders so that we may appreciate Allah even more? How can we possibly begin to even recognize all of Allah's creation without the proper knowledge? Economics, the various branches of science, mathematics, and a multitude of various fields of knowledge are a necessity in today's world. Without these, the entire progress of mankind would fall into stagnation and eventually our collective knowledge will decay and become a thing of the past. Then where would we be? Cavemen, perhaps fighting for scraps of food, where once scientific processes bolstered our food production.
Ultimately i simply don't see how denouncing various fields of knowledge would in any way at all improve religion. If treated right, science and religion are in no way harmful to the other. It is we, these ever so finite, ever so fickle, mere mortals, who are always thinking of ways disprove the views of anyone and everyone, that somehow our thoughts alone are infallible. Without knowledge of all forms, mankind would not be where it is now. We'd still be trying to figure out how to make it through the day without being food for everything else. Or arguing over petty rivalries and minor discomforts (wait, we still do that don't we?). So seriously, please stop saying that science (or any other knowledge, i'm just preferential to science!) isn't important.
Because it is. All knowledge is beneficial; any one could improve our lives or even save them. And they're all equally important.
Last Words That Are Never Going To Be Famous
Phew, that was a pretty long rant for something that no one will ever probably read. But still, had to write this somewhere.
Basically, what i'm trying to say is: don't let religion divide us all. Religion, be it Islam or any other, is supposed to make us better human beings. It's not supposed to make us wage an endless cycle of war that is ultimately pointless. I keep hearing all these ustaz and ustazah proclaim that Islam is a perfect religion; well prove it then. Be a better human being. Be kind, try not to hurt others, and above all else love your fellow men (and women!).
As I said before, I do believe that religion is perfect in a myriad of ways, but we mustn't forget that it's also open to interpretation. The Quran may be infallible, but it doesn't exactly always give a direct answer. After all, who could possibly truly understand the words of God? Some of it end up being interpreted by men, and men, by all definitions, are fallible.
Peace be with all of you, my fellow homosapiens. (and other sentient lifeforms)
P.s. I'm pretty sure this all sounded a lot better in my head while my brain was heatedly debating the finer points of this rant with itself but most of it's lost due to a tad bit of procrastination.
this is mostly my own personal musings on my religion, Islam. it's supposed to be read with an open mind. if you don't have one, go away. now. seriously, i don't want to offend you.
Another Disclaimer:
these rants are a bit of a mix between religion in general and also religion in my own country. which country doesn't really matter, but if you must know, it's that little one in southeast asia, and coincidentally sandwiched between thailand and singapore.
Yet Another Disclaimer:
again, this is meant for an open mind. if for any reason you believe yourself to be a very judgmental (not that i'm judging you or anything) sentient entity (non-humanoid intelligent lifeforms could be out there!) do leave now. please, for the love of whatever deity you worship, go away.
Yet Another, Another Disclaimer:
if you think these disclaimers are already tl;dr (that's too long; didn't read for those who aren't versed in the lingo of teh webz), you might also go away, because the actual post is a lot longer.
still here? okay then, go ahead and read my ridiculous rant on religion.
but then again, maybe no one will actually read any of my crap, but that's fine really.
An Introduction, For All Things Need One
First off, i'd like to make it clear: I'm a muslim. It's who i am, and i'm proud to be one. Well, at least i am of the religion itself. As to the state it's in, not so much perhaps.
I'll be the first to admit, I'm not be the most devout nor the most learned of muslims; I can't quote off the top of my head verses of the holy Quran, nor any of the Prophet's (PBUH) hadith, save perhaps a few that most probably know anyway. So perhaps my thoughts are unimportant, insignificant in relative to the words of others of far greater knowledge than me. Yet these are my musings, and i'll be the only one responsible for them.
Some might consider my way of thinking far too liberal, far too influenced by the modern world. Maybe they're right, maybe at the end of days i'll suffer for it. However that is between me and Allah SWT, and only I shall answer for it. In the meantime, while I do believe that Islam in itself is beautiful and perfect in it's myriad of ways, i do cling to my belief that to follow blindly is a fool's endeavor. Did Allah not give me a healthy mind to ponder this realm of wonders built for us? Did He, in His infinite wisdom, not endow me with a conscience of my own, so that i may find true faith, and not just mere illusions of faith enforced by fellow mortals?
On Faith
Because after all, Islam, like any religion, is one based on faith. And faith is in truth a personal matter, for faith thrust against one's will is meaningless. Ponder this: if you pray to the Almighty because you are told to do so, be it by your parents or teacher, are you really praying to Him? Faith of that sort is not truly faith, but merely a ploy to gain approval of our peers, an act that i personally believe means almost nothing at all. Simply trying to force our views into another in my opinion would do nothing but foster bitterness and resentment towards those very same views.
There was a time, when i viewed it all as nothing more than tomfoolery. All i saw everywhere around me was how people get worked up over religion, and how it seemed to make tempers flare. The only thought i had was: screw this, i'll pray if my parents are looking, and to hell with it at other times. At least that was how i initially thought. Yet for some reason even when my parents, when nobody else was around, I didn't stop. Somehow, for no inexplicable reason, I still performed my prayers. i still fasted when the time came. Heck, i even began to fast on days that i wasn't required to. No one told me to; it would've been easy enough to lie my way out every single day.
And yet, I still woke up every morning just to perform my Subuh prayer, I recited the doa (prayer) at each meal, and I still go to bed at night praying to Allah for my family. Maybe this could be attributed to a matter of habits, but i believe this is when i found my faith. Granted, it wasn't the most profound change, i still maintain skepticism in a lot of my views, but it is what made me believe there actually is an omnipotent force watching me, that my deeds were in judgement.
So i'll say this: faith cannot be forced. The values and knowledge of a religion can be imparted to anyone, but to force it upon them will not create faith. Faith is something that is found in one's own journey, and anything else is nothing but a fabrication. And deeds of fabricated faith is merely an act, something that holds no sincerity, and that is nearly as bad as doing nothing at all. After all, isn't one of the requirements for a deed to be accepted is ikhlas, which is basically sincerity?
On Preaching
I have nothing against preaching, or dakwah as we call it, but on occasion i find that instead of making me a firm believer of my religion, they in turn make me question it. It's fine really when these sermons are a call for good deeds, or a rallying cry towards more prayers. But sometimes i believe things are taken too far; when it starts to instill a dose of hate on other beliefs. Disbelief is always forefront in my heart whenever i hear muslims blindly insult other religions, or in worse cases praying for their deaths, which sadly too say, is not that uncommon these days.
Really, did i misread all the things i learned in school? Were we not taught that the Prophet himself forgave his foes, and always, even when wrongly persecuted, prayed for the best towards them? Yet all i see these days are 'muslims' who somehow claim to be the most devout yet hold no respect for any opinion save their own. Instead of thinking up of valid arguments, all it usually amounts to is a ridiculous amount of incessant insults that make the rest of us look like... well, complete idiots.
And people wonder why today's society holds more atheists (and agnostics) than ever before.
Most of history is littered with wars for religion, isn't it time to move on already? I always thought that humanity would've already moved beyond the point where we'd even consider taking another man's life for anything other than self-defense, but apparently we're not. If we really want to attract others to even be interested in considering our religion, we'd really need to stop being pure jerks. It's a simple enough concept: respect others if you wish to be respected. Public view of Islam isn't exactly at an all time high, and being disrespectful to others certainly won't help any. This is especially true on the internet, where almost everything is visible to almost everyone across the globe. And what do they see? People claiming to be devouts of religion cursing everyone and everything that doesn't agree with their views.
True, this holds true for all religion, but in this country it's mostly 'muslims' who act out like this. Often i see those asking questions that are even remotely contrasting general belief be lambasted without mercy. And by lambasted, i mean insulted with the most vulgar words imaginable and have every single member of his/her family (extended family package included for the lucky ones!) threatened with a billion forms of self-righteous punishment. This is not upholding yhe dignity of anything, it's just you being a discriminating ass.
Some of these would claim that they're tired of being nice, which they somehow believe justifies being assholes. To those with this answer i ask this: if you're so devout and learned in your belief, why stop being nice? Isn't patience a virtue that is lauded throughout all of our religion? If you're so easily provoked, perhaps it's better if you lay off the keyboard and rethink on just what exactly you learned from religion. Otherwise, you're doing nothing save telling the world that you deserve no respect and so does your religion. When this form of behavior becomes the norm of our society, it's not really that hard to imagine why more and more turn to atheism or other forms of non-religious belief: it's simply more appealing compared to being an overzealous, self-righteous, and incredibly pompous human being. So to all those who keep turning to swears and curses (threats, too): just stop for a moment and think to yourself. You keep asking others to remember religion so why don't you ask yourselves this: does Islam itself really tell me to hurl endless torrents of insults and curses towards my fellow men (and women)? I imagine not, so just why exactly are you doing it?
p.s.: i'm not saying i don't curse or swear occasionally
Seriously, war and violence is never a good way to promote religion and using religion to justify death and destruction is even worse. So please, please don't keep on hurting your fellow human beings (be it mentally or physically) just for the sake of religion. If there's anything our religion is supposed to be about, it's peace. At least that's what i thought during that class on how the Prophet decreed to us that we're only supposed to wage battle in defense of ourselves. Come to think of it, wasn't one of the Prophet's rules of war is to not harm any religious buildings of other beliefs? In the modern age, I think that would translate to "don't insult another man's faith, even if they're not your own".
On Education and Science
Oh, the occasional anti-education sentiments is also a stance that will end up detracting all interest and any modicum of respect held towards us.
Every year, when the results of public examinations (we have them here for some reason, even though it's stupid) are being released, somehow i never fail to hear Friday sermons stressing how unimportant worldly education is compared to religious knowledge.
Yes, knowledge of religion is important. But to undermine everything else is simply uncalled for and will ultimately drive away all forms of advancement. It sickens me when i'm occasionally (which is actually pretty often) subjected to how useless and insignificant science or mathematics is when i die. Do these people never consider that science and religion could mutually co-exist, and even benefit each other?
For instance, science doesn't deny that there are forces beyond our perception, in fact science has plenty of theories that acknowledge how limited our perception is (such as higher dimensions). I for one believe that science has reaffirmed my belief in the presence of God in the universe. When i consider how improbable the entire existence universe is, it makes me believe that certainly there's a guiding hand out there that made sure that single inconsequential atom of hydrogen was exactly where it was supposed to be to form that big old sun of ours, which we'd be a tad bit cold without it's presence.
Did Allah not create this vast, wonderful universe as a testament of his greatness for all to see? Did the Quran not beseech us to look upon all of creation and behold it's wonders so that we may appreciate Allah even more? How can we possibly begin to even recognize all of Allah's creation without the proper knowledge? Economics, the various branches of science, mathematics, and a multitude of various fields of knowledge are a necessity in today's world. Without these, the entire progress of mankind would fall into stagnation and eventually our collective knowledge will decay and become a thing of the past. Then where would we be? Cavemen, perhaps fighting for scraps of food, where once scientific processes bolstered our food production.
Ultimately i simply don't see how denouncing various fields of knowledge would in any way at all improve religion. If treated right, science and religion are in no way harmful to the other. It is we, these ever so finite, ever so fickle, mere mortals, who are always thinking of ways disprove the views of anyone and everyone, that somehow our thoughts alone are infallible. Without knowledge of all forms, mankind would not be where it is now. We'd still be trying to figure out how to make it through the day without being food for everything else. Or arguing over petty rivalries and minor discomforts (wait, we still do that don't we?). So seriously, please stop saying that science (or any other knowledge, i'm just preferential to science!) isn't important.
Because it is. All knowledge is beneficial; any one could improve our lives or even save them. And they're all equally important.
Last Words That Are Never Going To Be Famous
Phew, that was a pretty long rant for something that no one will ever probably read. But still, had to write this somewhere.
Basically, what i'm trying to say is: don't let religion divide us all. Religion, be it Islam or any other, is supposed to make us better human beings. It's not supposed to make us wage an endless cycle of war that is ultimately pointless. I keep hearing all these ustaz and ustazah proclaim that Islam is a perfect religion; well prove it then. Be a better human being. Be kind, try not to hurt others, and above all else love your fellow men (and women!).
As I said before, I do believe that religion is perfect in a myriad of ways, but we mustn't forget that it's also open to interpretation. The Quran may be infallible, but it doesn't exactly always give a direct answer. After all, who could possibly truly understand the words of God? Some of it end up being interpreted by men, and men, by all definitions, are fallible.
Peace be with all of you, my fellow homosapiens. (and other sentient lifeforms)
P.s. I'm pretty sure this all sounded a lot better in my head while my brain was heatedly debating the finer points of this rant with itself but most of it's lost due to a tad bit of procrastination.
6.07.2011
6.06.2011
time to start saving....
...so i could spend it.
to-buy-list:
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: 5 Book Set
to-buy-list:
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: 5 Book Set
3. a couple of t-shirts.
0DCGzw~~_35.JPG)
4. and a bunch of other stuff that would probably need to wait for me to get a job.
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