.

We have not always found comfort in killers.
We have not always found solace being rocked
in the bosoms of those who silently pray
and openly destroy.
No, not always have we mistaken mimicry for mastery
or pretending for knowing
or enslavement for freedom.
But across my memory—
across my memory marches millions—
bold, regal, resilient, confident—
unshackled feet stumping up spirits
to guide us through this fickle material world.
We like sun and moon folk,
universal souls praying our prayers,
singing our songs.
Eshu, Ogoun, Shango, Yemaja, Oshun, Obatala, Oya,
Damballah, Ayida Wedo, Loa, Nkongo, Olodumare and Yami.
We know all of you by name.
We are people of beginnings, of culture, of strength.
Not always have we given into the empty threats
and scare tactics of the powerless ones.
Not always have we allowed the blood of our sons and daughters
to color the streets while we’re walking asleep,
marching to the beat of that siren song.
They’re still wearing their sheets,
with nooses in reach,
showing their teeth and smiling, it seems.
But I hear in the breeze
in the rustle of the trees
and the dangling of the feet,
they say, please, don’t let them ever forget.
You see, not always have we suffered from amnesia.
Not always have we forgotten how to conjure up spirits,
ancestor wisdom,
fix up a mixture,
spiritual elixir,
ancient traditions.
We, like magicians,
god-like vision, we—
we are people of sight.
So, no, not always have we fallen
for this okie doke
or inhaled the hazardous smoke of the manipulators
or been satisfied with crumbs for meals
our hands have prepared.
Hughes said life for us ain’t been no crystal stair,
but at least the steps are there
to push us up higher,
teach us how to go beyond the destroyer’s disguises,
look them in the eyes and be able to see.
Because what’s surprising when you know the nature of a beast
and especially when they’ve shown the same face for centuries?
So you tell me,
what’s the difference between two sisters in New Orleans
shot point-blank in the back of the head,
and two women bound in their car in Baghdad?
Or government-sanctioned killings in Kenya,
and a sister held hostage in a house in Virginia?
Or poverty in Haiti, poverty in Jamaica,
rape in Rwanda or rape in Somalia?
A sweatshop in China or one in Guatemala?
Or small pox and blankets, syphilis and Tuskegee,
formaldehyde and FEMA, ethnic cleansing and Katrina?
I recall within a speech Dr. King made us aware,
he said injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
So they can spare us their drama, huh?
We got the heart of them field working mamas.
We carry the torch of that ancestor fire.
So with every fiber that flutters in our being,
with every find that comes from our seeking,
with every hearing that comes from our listening,
and every sight that comes from our seeing,
we must be faithful, strategic, victorious and free.

-Sunni Patterson 

BBW Book Sales. (^_^)

Assalamualaikum~~~ long time no post eh? hehe

ok, so for today i will share about my recent going to the BBW Books Sales.

you guys familiar with Big Bad Wolf Book Sales?
well, let me tell you this- it is the ultimate books-shopping experience that i`ve been to! (so far).
this once-a-year book sales offers books at 70-90% discount! imagine that and it is not used books okeyh!
this year, the event was hold on the 12-17th november at south city plaza and i got a chance to be there~ hehehe

so i went there from gombak and after 2 bus rides, one lrt ride and one ktm ride later, i arrived to this "heaven for booklovers". and actually went there alone because nobody wanted to accompany me. (T_T). wuwuwuwu. oh, and i went there on the first day and in the morning where the famous, most-coveted books were still there. most of titles by stephen king were already "cleaned" though, and it`s only an hour since the sales start, how crazy is that? but i was unfortunate enough to get 2 of his books- the stand, and skeleton crew which by the way, both was the last copy of the title.

here are some pictures :-

the sales! - look at all those beauties! the varieties and choices almost killed me. hhahah

my stash of books, i brought the green bag *was prepared coz i know my books would be heavy.

my beloved books! <3

i could die happy~

GOT THIS FOR A FREAKIN RM12!! I REPEAT RM 12!!!

 
i honestly can say that the experience of going to the sale was to be compared to going to genting or vacation or something like that. hahaha. i mean the books were so cheap that the sales prepared boxes for the customers to put their books in and my stash of seventeen books were actually very little to be compared to those other crazy bookies! hahahaha.

you know what? i`m craving for next year BBW sales already! and i will prepare much much more money than this year which was RM 180 something. ahahaha.

hey, even if you`re not so much of a book person, you should at least come for there are a lot of books varieties -architecture, recipes, children books, political, history, and academic things like the dictionary i bought. and who knows that you would be able to gain interest in reading. i mean, reading is never bad right? hehehe :P


p/s-i don`t know why, but too much reading novels will always cause sleep disturbance to me.  i mean, continous images will appear in my mind during my sleep. is this normal? (>_<)

Pelita.

just read teacher`s saliza blog, and oh my, i just found out that my beloved f.4 and f.5 english teacher just had her retirement.

best teacher ever.

 
masyaallah, so much was her contribution towards her students.
really, she`s one of the reason why i take english as my major,
she made me fell in love with english.

selamat bersara teacher juriana!
may Allah bless you always...

walaupon agak cliche, tp nak letak jgak puisi ni. huhuhu. -

Jika hari ini seorang Perdana Menteri berkuasa
Jika hari ini seorang Raja menaiki takhta
Jika hari ini seorang Presiden sebuah negara
Jika hari ini seorang ulama yang mulia
Jika hari ini seorang peguam menang bicara
Jika hari ini seorang penulis terkemuka
Jika hari ini siapa sahaja menjadi dewasa;
Sejarahnya dimulakan oleh seorang guru biasa
Dengan lembut sabarnya mengajar tulis-baca.
 

p/s- always loved her humor, quizzes and chocolates. hehehe. (^_^)

.

i had deactivated my FB account.
i`m not blocking you k? huhuhuhu



p/s- penggunaan fb sudah out of control. (T_T)

"We Eat Mystical Poetry"

today i`m gonna write about our class mystical poetry events that took place on 15th October 2010. this event was organised by my class, engl 1515 sec 3 for our continuous assessment mark(20%). so our team got the theme mystical poetry, (other class got romantic and beat poetry). best kan? hehehe. so what is mystical poetry actually? we kind of interpret it ourselves and came up with these sub themes-Birth, Life, Death, and Destination(the hereafter). and the characters were demons, angels, adulterers, illegitimate child, murderer, pain, memories, arrogance, and malakul maut(played by me, yours truly). hehehee. my group was in charged with Death, so, we acted a scene of sakaratulmaut of an arrogant man. so, that`s how i got the part- malakul maut. here`s some pictures of the night taken from my friends fb. hope they don`t mind. hehehehe.. ;). 

make-up time~ hehehe

aku sorang je tiba2 menyibuk kaler hitam. huahauhau

lovely classmates!

natijah make up itu tadi, credit to liya safura, hehehe

:D

so, overall, alhamdulillah, the night was a success. several people even praise my performance. thanks to them :D. and also i felt honoured to be choosen for the performance. tq2. but of course, there`s some bad news, our lecturer said that our performance was a little off the theme :(. huk huk. but still she gives credit to the performance, so, hopefully she would not deduct too much marks of our group. huhuhu. but all in all, we are all the best! (^_^). best night ever! yeah!

Sekitar UIA.

this post is requested by Subaidi Samat.

so, what better way to show uia than set of picts rite? here it goes:

uia`s main building aka tangga firaun.

HS SQUARE~

errr.. tmpat letak kereta.. *mgkin xperlu kot nak masukkan gambar ni..

dalam bas dpan main entrance.

Iqra`. love this~

in front of SHAS mosque.. posing tu mgkin agak melampau.. hahaha

sebelah kiri library, sebelah kanan research management.

depan centre for language. credit to nor hanani for the horse.. hehehe

SHAS MOSQUE

Kulliyyah of Human Sciences and Benl

cafe The Grill. *tak best pon

theater by IIUM theater club

Kulliyyah of HS and Benl again.

Institute of Education~

expressive corner. tarian zapin pakai jeans. unique x? hahaha

main cak lempong tengah jalan, tengah panas.

dalam masjid., muka insaf x?? hahaha

dalam masjid lagi.

inside darul hikmah library~

masa convest, yg belakang tu supposedly ramli sarip. *camera 32 megapixel, paham2 jo lah. T_T

so, that`s it. really enjoy my time here. :D. <3 UIA!
*Uitm tetap di hati though. hehehe

terbang.

what do i do to deserve such warm and kind friendship?

sometime,
i feel like your kindness
is way too much for me,
like i don`t deserve it,
and i really think i don`t.

but,
still you accept me,
no judgement passed,
all warmth, never cold,
all sweet, never bitter,

i would like to fly
just like you~

terbang~ terbang~ terbang~

Science of Quran.

this semester, i`m taking the subject the science of quran and i feel that i really like that subject.. :).

it`s so interesting and on one of the assignments, i really feel satisfied with my work and so, i`m going to publish it here:-

The Impacts of Neglecting the Study of Science of Quran

The study of Science of the Quran is vital and essential for Muslims. It is with Science of the Quran that we would be able to analyse, interpret and thus, appreciate the meaning of the Quran. It is a sad thing that our generation nowadays seemed to overlooked and unappreciative of this subject. The impacts of neglecting this study could be very serious towards the individuals and societies.

First of all, let us explore the impacts of neglecting this study towards individuals. Since this subject is essential in order for us to gain the ultimate knowledge of the Quran, the failure to learn it will make an individual distant towards the Quran and as a result fail to acknowledge the Quran as the guidance for Muslims. In the Quran chapter 2:38, it is stated as such:-

'We said: Get ye down all from here; and if, as is sure, there comes to you guidance from Me, whosoever follows My guidance on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve' (2:38).

From the above aya, it is proven how important the Quran is as our guidance. Those who do neglect the Science of the Quran will surely unable to grasp the understanding of the Quran and therefore are incapable of applying the wisdom in their daily lives. We could see how polluted and damaged the morality of our generation these days- adulteries, fornications, corruptions, and murders are so rampant that it seems that the world have gone backwards towards the uncivilised state it had once been. And for sure it is not an exaggeration to say that their hearts are far away from the true teachings of the Quran which could be obtained from the study of Sciences of Quran. 
Other than that, failure to learn the Science of Quran can also results in the misinterpretation of the meaning of the Quran. As the Quran was written in Arabic using an abstract language, it is easy for it meaning to be misinterpreted. Those, who read the direct translation without a tafsir may very well get a wrong idea of the intended, original meaning of the Quran and this is very dangerous as it can affect our aqidah. For example, we can observe in Malaysian legal event that shocked the country some years ago which is the Lina Joy case where a woman asked for a declaration of her infidelity from Islam to the high court. What`s this got to do with Science of the Quran was the arguments from the Quran that were posed by the plaintiff. The plaintiff used the following ayahs from the Quran to argue that to convert from Islam to other religions is allowed in Islam:-  

“Let there be no compulsion in religion” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:256).

And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means  
better (than mere disputation), unless it be with those of them who inflict 
wrong (and injury): but say, “We believe in the Revelation which has 
come down to us and in that which came down to you; our God and your God is One; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam).” (Surah Al ‘Ankabut: 29:46)

Those who believe (in the Qu’ran) and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christian and the Sabians, – any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surah Al Baqarah: 2:62)

To take these ayahs and claimed that Islam allowed for a Muslim to convert to other religion, is clearly not acceptable as the ayahs were clearly taken out of context and have a deeper underlying meanings. For the first ayah, (2:256), this refers to the non-Muslim where it is said that we can`t force a non-Muslim to convert to Islam and clearly do not refer to Muslim converting to other religions. As for the second ayah,(29:46), this refers to the way for a Muslim to invite the “Ahlil Kitab” to Islam which is through a good way and the ayah do not exactly meant that “since the God of the Muslims and the Ahlil Kitab is the same, it is okay for us to worship either religion” like what had been understood by the plaintiff. The third ayah, (2:62), on the other hand does not refer to the general mankind; instead, it is a part of the story of the Jews where the story told of the past infidelity done by the Jews. The example mentioned shows how the Quran may be misinterpreted from its original meaning and therefore illustrates the great importance of studying the Sciences of Quran.

Neglecting the study of Science of Quran will also bring about negative consequences for the societies. In a society, the Quran is needed as a primary source of shariah and knowledge as was stated in the Quran:-

“You shall rule among them in accordance with GOD's revelations to you. Do not follow their wishes, and beware lest they divert you from some of GOD's revelations to you. If they turn away, then know that GOD wills to punish them for some of their sins. Indeed, many people are wicked. (5:49)

Based on the above ayah, it is a must that the Quran be placed as the highest level of authority in jurisprudence and knowledge in a society. But, it is a regrettable thing nowadays that our leader decides to build our jurisprudence based on the western values. And hence, matters that are explained in the Quran such as the principles of Munaqahat, or punishments for adulteries, thievery, murder and drinking alcohol are not being followed by the societies. And this subsequently affects the morality of the societies. For instance, baby-dumping by adulterers are widespread like a plague, thievery and murder are rampant in the societies, and matter of riba’ are taken lightly by banks and the Muslims can openly and easily buy and indulge alcoholic drinks. The Study of Science of Quran will convince its learners the importance of following Islamic jurisprudence. Since the punishments posed by the Quran on certain matters may seemed harsh and it is hard for people with “modern” way of thinking to accept it, the study of Science of Quran will shed some lights on the hikmah of the punishments and rules governed by the Quran. In return, this will encourage the implementations of rules based on our ultimate book of guidance, the Quran.

Based on the arguments mentioned above, it is clear the harmful and damaging consequences of neglecting Science of Quran as one of the studies in our daily lives. And hence, it is urgent that those involved, encourage and provide this wonderful branch of study to our societies so that they may get a better understanding of Quran. Better understanding of the Quran will also create a societies whose hearts are bound to the wonderful teachings of Quran.

p/s- don`t plagiarize ok? heheehe

.

i want a faith that beats like yours.

.

sad is when you failed to wake up for sahur after you had already bought a scrumptious meal the night before. imagine the devastation i felt when i saw that the clock showed 6.30. T_T. not to mention the food wasted.

oh, this is depressing.

serve u right, lain kali, duduk la sorang2 lagi..

nasi.. nasi.. nasi.. ahahahaha