"He rules [all] affairs from the heavens to the earth: in the end will [all affairs] ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what you count.[As-Sajda:5]
When I was young, never mind how long ago, my siblings and I were trained the hard way, to respect time. My dad would start the car and left anyone who did not get into the car on time. There were occasions when we even had to go back by public transportation, or walk back home, all 1-2 kilometers sometimes under the scorching sun, should we miss the time agreed to have my dad pick us up from a specified venue. Can't blame him. He was an MCKK boy (no..no.. MCgay-gay applies much later to some of his juniors). During his college years, (somewhere in the UK where punctuality has been an established culture), he had the dining hall door slammed on his face precisely at the time when it was suppose to shut, not a second later, nor earlier. I believe they referred to the the doorkeeper as, "Anti-Angel of Death". He, my dad, even got himself locked out of the dormitory once or twice for not coming in on time.
So they say that the opposite attracts, because my mother is the total opposite of punctual. She is the only one spared and got away with not being on time with my dad. We use to wonder why back then, arguing that it was not fair to practice double standard. Well that was answered when we got married ourselves, and found out why the rules do not really apply to the wife. We learned, the power of "quid pro quo"..."you nice to me, I nice to you", why do you think husbands tend to be less moody by sunset?
More importantly though, apart from learning the power to remote-control the husband, we learned the importance of respecting time. We did not like it when we had to wait for our mum to come pick us up from school, late, when we were having tons of homework, studying and chores awaiting back home to perform. So we understood, at an early age, that you screw up others' schedule when you make them wait. Suddenly, as cruel as my dad had seem, later in life, we appreciated his ruthlessness and insistence on teaching us the value of time. Otherwise, we'd all end up like our mom when it comes to timings. At the age of 70ish.. she still manages to get away with it!!!
Thanks to my parents, I become a person who is punctual, ( I know, bloody boring ain’t it?). I'm sure you are too, “boring” just like me. So I'm pretty sure that you understand that the problem is, in Malaysia, through my experience, (I'm sure you share the same experience too), no one will know that you are punctual because no one is there at the agreed venue to notice that you are, indeed punctual. I don't know about you, but if there's one thing that irritates me to the max, is non-punctuality. Wait, actually it's a tie between that and people who cut my queue. Although the latter should not, in my opinion be allowed to breed, as even the sheep know how to queue when rounded up by the Sheppard's dog, and if you're worst than a sheep, is there a point to being a human?
To me, it is a sign of disrespect. A person who does not respect my time, does not care the inconvenience they cause simply by upsetting my schedule, which in turn is tied up to other people's schedule, ergo wasting their time too, because they have to wait for me, waiting for the person who did not respect my time. Basically it's just pure display of disrespect, period. I am often tempted to reward the last minute and latecomers to the clinic with a Mickey Mouse watch each, and a note saying,
“Dear valued customers,Congratulations!! You are our top 5 latecomers. As a token of our appreciation to you, we present you with this lovely Mickey Mouse watch, something that had escaped your parents’ minds to equip you with when you were a child, in hope you may be constantly reminded of the timings of our consultation. Remember, you are valuable to us, just like OUR time is to us. Have a good day and don't forget to change the batteries every 3months!!!”
My daughter would tell me, "it's just 5 minutes late ummi" and I would explain to her, (she was nine then), that if 4.45 is equivalent to 4.46, or 4.47 and so forth, then why bother giving it individual timings. Might as well call the time from 4pm to 4.30 pm as "the four o'clocks". Let's see how many people will walk away with Gold Medals during a competition if precise timing does not matter. There are agents from the bomb squad that can diffuse a bomb within one minute. An accident can occur within a fraction of a second. The sad part is, time lost will never be recovered. Well, this statement is valid until someone comes up with an actual time traveling machine.
At the age of 15, my daughter, smarter now, would answer my comment above, "but time is relative ummi", to which I had given her the answer,"but our appointments are all on earth right? Not somewhere in Mars whereby their planet has a different circumference is perhaps bigger so the time taken to rotate on its axis differ from that of earth's therefore the timing is different. Subdued, she would walk away mumbling "I'll never make it to the debate team." I would encourage her, "Try harder next time".
"See you at the four o'clocks" ; tell me any productivity is going to come out of this.
The importance of time and punctuality can be detected in the Quran, for example in Al Araf verse 34;
"To every people is a term appointed; when their term is reached, not a moment can they cause delay, nor can they advance (it in anticipation)."
I did think about the excuses of being late, taught by my hubby and wondered if they may work on the Angel of Death. Maybe not. Then I thought of what happens if God is a procrastinator. No, don’t answer that please. Many women would find their cruel mother in law, still alive.
Then I thought about what my daughter had said about time, that it is relative. Of course. Einstein understood that. Bingo!! So THAT’S why people are constantly late!! People who are not punctual probably think that GMT stands for "Gupiter Meridian Time". Of course they can get away with it with the people who do not know that Gupiter starts with a "J".
Think about it. Time is something humans have created. A line from Adflin Shauki’s film, “Sumolah”, rang in my mind;
“Masa, siapakah yang mereka masa? Kerana masalah, jiwa ku sentiasa di dalam keadaan tertekan” Translated to: "Time, who created time? Because of time, I am constantly under pressure emotionally”
(Actually it sounded funnier in BM, as some things are in their own languages. Needless to say, there are some things that are best left un-translated. For instance, “We start from scratch” translated to “Kita mula dengan menggaru”, should not have become.)
What’s the point of this whole article you ask me? There is no point. I ramble, that’s what I do. Why are you still reading this? But since you’re still with me, let’s talk about the relativity of time. Oh wait. Feedback on this blog says my posts are too long (what do you expect, I'm a grumpy ol' fart who have many things to nag about. Try approaching half a century and tell me you don't have anything to nag about...) . So what I'll do is I'll rip this verbiage into half. So go ahead and have a Kit Kat. My next post will follow, soon after you've all recovered from that lid lag I just gave you. Below is the snippet.
Find out what Stephen Hawking's ideas and the Quran have in common, and of course more useless information tucked in between, in my next post "Your Time or Mine Reloaded". Excited already? Well, you'll have just to wait then. Serve you all right for complaining my articles are long....muwwahhaahhaahhaa...(sadistic Mad scientist laughter)
P.S. While taking that break, try not to get caught drinking beer. Stick to something safe (from the Malaysian Inquest) like Tapai, it's a halal way of getting high.
If I were to decide on what should be the 8th wonder of the world, it has to be the brain of a bigot. While scientists are busy fiddling with Einstein's brains, I seriously suggest the scientists do a pro bono on the research of the brain of a bigot, try to comprehend what goes on in there, or whether the act of bigotry actually is a spinal level act, bypassing the atrophied brain.
Honest to God, I cannot even begin to understand what may have gone on, in these pathetic excuse of walnut brains of the people who were responsible in being irresponsibly stupid, by participating in that regretfully imbecilic protest in Shah Alam. It could be politically related, what's not in Malaysia, but the point is ; "What point are they trying to make?"
The thing that annoys me most is that they have got the cheek proclaim the act as Islamic. Which Islam are they talking about? Is it the same Islam that teaches the ummah tolerance and liberality as evidenced in the Surah An nahl surah 90
"Allah commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that ye may receive admonition."
Or the same Islam that encourages the spread of Islam via beautiful preaching, as He said so in An Nahl surah 125
"Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance."
Is it the same Islam that prohibits destructive behaviour, on the contrary encourages good deeds, as what is stated in the surah Al Baqarah surah [195]
"And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to destruction; but do good; for Allah loveth those who do good."
Is it the same Islam that encourages holding a counsel for the purpose of upholding righteousness, and not to impose hostility and iniquity, as we can learn from surah Al Mujadila [9]
" O ye who believe! when ye hold secret counsel, do it not for iniquity and hostility, and disobedience to the Messenger; but do it for righteousness and self-restraint; and fear Allah, to Whom ye shall be brought back"
Is it the same Islam that does not favour power abuse, like what was said by Allah in Surah Muhammad 22 - 23:
"Then, is it to be expected of you, if ye were put in authority, that ye will do mischief, in the land, and break your ties of kith and kin? [23] Such are the men whom Allah has cursed for He has made them deaf and blinded their sight."
If what happened in Shah Alam that Friday did not tally with what God had said, as evidenced by the surah in the Quran, and many more, then by all means, stop proclaiming that it was an Islamic act. It's just shameful ,degrading and inexcusable.
God said in Al Hajj (22) verse 39 - 40;
"It is permitted for those who have been persecuted to fight. God is able to give them victory. [22:40] The ones who were driven out of their homes without justice, except that they said, "Our Lord is God!"If it were not for God defending people against themselves, then many places of gathering, markets, support centers, and temples where the name of God is frequently mentioned, would have been destroyed.God will give victory to those who support Him. God is Powerful, Noble."
If they think that this is an act of "Jihad", well then, they have something else coming their way In Al Qasas verse 83 - 84 God said;
"That House of the Hereafter We shall give to those who intend not high-handedness or mischief on earth: and the End is (best) for the righteous. If any does good, the reward to him is better than his deed; but if any does evil, the doers of evil are only punished (to the extent) of their deeds."
We may pray in different gestures, or different places we call the 'house of God' each, but at the end of the day, all prayers go to the same God; Al Baqarah:186;
"When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: let them also, with a will, listen to My call, and believe in Me: that they may walk in the right way. "
I have nothing else to say except to extend my deepest, sincerest apology on behalf of Islam, to my Hindu brothers and sisters for this inexcusable act of ......I still can't think of a word to roll "imbecilic, cruel, harsh, irresponsible, nauseating, bigotry, pedantic, parochial, misrepresenting, against the teachings of Islam" all into one.
I know this is not a laughing matter, but I thought I'd leave this video, to ease the tension.
I was not there when our “Bapa Kemerdekaan”, Tunku Abdul Rahman hailed “Merdeka!!” three times at the Melaka Stadium, in 1954. (oops..1957, but really, does it make any difference how long we've attained "Independence"?) But my father was. He was there to witness this land being liberated from British Empire. We asked him one day, what it was like to be there. Glossy eyed, he answered, “there are no words to describe, how it felt like when Tunku shouted “merdeka!”. All the emotions just came rolling in all at once, and when we shouted after him the word “merdeka!” those emotions just gushed through our screams. Some of us even shed tears of joy.” For a man of few words (obviously shutting up is not hereditary) that was one of the longest sentences I’ve heard my father spoke for a long time. Well the longest was the lecture I got for not praying consistently when I was a teenager. Now THAT was equal to the accumulation of his sentences for like 2 years perhaps, but that is another story. For a moment, I could not decide whether to feel awed about what he had just said, or to be awed by the fact that he was capable of uttering more than 2 sentences at one time. Obviously it was a Kodak moment.
To the generation thereafter, we have taken our Nation’s Independence for granted, because we were not there to feel the difference between how it was to be ruled by the British, and how life was after the British left. My grandfather, who was a man of lesser words than my dad,(come to think of it, the only words I remember him ever spoken to me was ‘pergi mandi’, when he saw me still clad in my school uniform past Maghrib, running around with my siblings), was a hard laborer. He use to work in KTM and for extra money, he did odd jobs in the kampong. It was tough on him, as he had 14...yes, 14 kids to feed. ( I don't think the potentials of rubber was fully explored let alone made accessible to public during that time). Although he did not say much to us, my grandmother did the talking for him (now that lady have no problems in talking. In fact the problem lies in getting her to zzzzip it). She said that it was tough just to bow to these “orang putih” almost all the time. Although they can be nice to you, they still go around thinking they are superior and you are just one class above the animals’. Looking at some of us driving on the road today, I do tend to agree with the “orang putih” sometimes – the bit about ‘no better than the animals’.
51 years past Independence, what have we achieved? Well, for starters, we are one of the fast growing third world country. Infrastructures, although, can be better, especially most of the parts in Sabah and Sarawak, are much better, albeit, of course, there is a price to pay for this….. Then, along came Tun Mahathir. Because he stayed longer than many would like to have him around (because they too would like to have a go at the PM post before their times on earth are up, or before some nasty political scandal unveils dooming their political career, or whichever comes first), people started to dislike him. It’s human nature, people like something new, and as time passes, they find fault with the present and crave for something new again. But whatever said and done, we have to admit, that without him, this country would not have propelled and grown so fast. Some call him “kuku besi” but, let’s face it, we Malaysians need a strong charismatic character to kick us on the butt and make us move from our comfort zone. Life was never the same after punch card was it? Now we are indebted to others who come early to punch our cards by proxy, how inconvenient!! I pity those who came to post after Mahathir, because it is not easy to out shadow him. Even hitherto, he is still giving us what he’s got. I think that is a clear sign of being a Nationalist, don’t you think? . It’s not easy to compete with a leader who takes in as much knowledge from reading as he does the air. (it’s the nose…heh..heh…I’m just jealous because my nose is kemek you know…) Our education system, although can do much….MUCH better, (if the government tells us otherwise, just ask them how come their kids are not in any one of the government schools?) is still made available to every single citizens. Our health system covers free treatment for all. Be a Pakistan, or Indian or Indonesian citizen, for example and you will appreciate how lucky we all are that when we are sick, we need not buy everything, from medication right up to the needles and syringes for injection or blood taking. Needless to say, there's room for improvement....way a lot of room...I salute the dedicated medical staff who despite are overworked and underpaid, continued to perform their duties to the best they can. (serving mostly ungrateful people, if I may add)
Of course one will say, why compare to the nation who are worst off than us, why not compare with, say America. Well, true, but at the same time we struggle to push for betterment, we should not discard from our minds, the word “gratitude”. The inexcusable act of mankind in the absence of intention, is perhaps to take things for granted. We are just half a decade old as a nation, that’s like a teenager in the history of the existence of a nation. It is evident by the growing pains that we are undergoing today. And like teenagers, we fight, we scream, we kick, and throw harsh words at our parents, as some parents can be a daft pair.
We scream hatred, conduct demonstrations in places sure to cause disruption in hope to catch major attention ( I mean, who’s to give a hoot if one is to demonstrate somewhere where you can hardly get phone transmission right? But we have to remember, if we demonstrate for justice, our act of erecting justice must be consistent with not causing injustice to the innocent bystanders and those who’s life depends on the daily earnings from the venue of that demonstration, . Cakap kena serupa bikin kan?), we rediscovered the power of the people as evidenced in the last GE election, all as the part and parcel of growing up as a nation. But we must remember, siblings fight because they love each other. (More when you enter the rabbit hole) There are many things we need to sort out as a nation. First and foremost, at the heart of all this chaos we’re going through, we have to bear in mind that, whether we like it or not, we are stuck with each other. Deal with it. There is no question of creating ONE MALAYSIA, because we have always been one,(although there are people who do many things to break this, in order to stay relevant if not dominant as a political power). It’s re-branding it. It’s to remind us during our growing pains, that despite all this fight, we are still one, just one dealing with the growing pain.
We need to understand that if we are as righteous and religious as we proclaim ourselves to be, then the first thing we need to work on is eliminating racism. Malays need to instigate this process by embedding this simple fact into our thick skulls; that we need to be fair, and we need to share. NEP at its gist is an excellent policy. We somehow lost it at the implementation level. My grandfather, as I’ve mentioned earlier was a laborer. 2 generations later, via NEP, his next generation had managed to prove that NEP had served its purpose.
Well, almost. I would like to have this successful NEP story happening to my Non Malay brothers and sisters too. How can I stand tall and proud amongst my fellow Malaysians knowing that I had it served to me on a silver platter. Someone can turn around and tell me that it’s easy for me to condemn the NEP because I’ve already tasted it’s fruits, and that I’m not grateful with what was given to me. Well, to them I say (well, the actual thing I would say to them is terribly inappropriate to broadcast..), if I were to be happy with the scholarship I got in order to educate me, and keep quiet to show that I’m grateful, then it was not scholarship that I took, but pure bribery. Bribery to keep my mouth shut from voicing out injustice. That was what the government sent me to do right, to BE educated? Well, now that I am educated what good is education to someone if he turns his head and look away when injustice is staring him straight into the eyes? Keeping silent about it would mean condoning injustice.
How can we call ourselves people who are "enlightened", angry and are ready for jihad when someone insults Allah or Islam for example, yet in turn, we insult Allah by not acknowledging His words that humans are all equal; even breed next generation of racists? Children are like sponges, they absorb just about anything taught to them. We should stop putting racial ideas into their minds. We can start by not segregating them at a young age. Vernacular schools should not exist. It’s a symbol of hypocrisy. Here we are, shouting MUHIBBAH and then we turn around and separate our kids, even before they hit puberty.
Then, we need to turn this Democratic Country, on papers, yet Kleptocratic by practice, the other way round. I would, and I'm sure like many of us Malaysians, would like to feast our eyes upon the civil servants', or the police’s badges that bears the words, "Saya Anti Rasuah", knowing that there is no silent “N” sitting at the beginning of the word “anti”…
Yes, we may have the tallest, flattest, longest building or whatever not, to show the world that we are on our way to joining the developed countries, but is there a point to chasing after materialistic endeavours, when we leave behind a legacy of a failed human nation? (as in failed humans...)
As time passes by, the enemy is no longer the "penjajah" from a land far far away. The enemy is amongst us, the people who destroy the next generation by indulging in corruption, bad politics, racial oppression, wait, that's all redundant. So what does Merdeka means to us now? If we are to allow governing powers to continue the legacy of the British in the "divide and rule" policy, then I guess, we have yet to gain our Independence.
If "Merdeka" is a synonym for freedom, then let there be freedom of the minds, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of our own ego, freedom from any form of oppression and so forth. If I were to go on, then I might as well write a book about it.
Here’s what I hope the future would be. It would be nice to wake up someday, and have all our children answer this question, “what are you”, “I am a Malaysian” or not have to refer to fellow Malaysians as Malay or Non Malay, Bumis or Non Bumis.
Someday, somehow, someway, I hope to be able to experience all that mixed emotions and tears of joy gushing out through my eyes,as I scream the word, "Merdeka!!!" in the same manner as how my father had experienced it. Until then, I guess I will just have to settle with Sudirman's video clip;
Have you ever experience laughing so hard, beyond control, your body shaking like you've been electricuted by an innocent hair drier while soaking yourself in the bath tub, at something that is not even funny? No, this post is not about Malaysian Politics, or even some of the funny but not in a ha ha way, decisions made by some Muslims playing Spanish Inquisition, ooops...I meant Spanish Harlem. What next? Whip those who get caught drinkingtapai juice in public? I mean, why the double standards right?
Nay, Nahey, No, I'm not talking about those non laughing matters that make us laugh nevertheless. I'm talking about Kuru disease. After exploring, well, not in depth, two other rare diseases, (go on, click on the link and find out what I wrote about "Foreign Accent Syndrome" and about Alice In Wonderland Syndrome in "Alice Wha'?" which coincidentally have little to do with the diseases) , Kuru Disease, commonly known as "Laughing Death", of course common to us but for the tribal Fore People of Papua New Guinea, whereby this disease is exclusive to, Kuru is the common term, is a disease characterized by sudden bursts of maniacal laughter.
Doctors from around the world came in to unravel this mysterious disease, as it hits the headlines in the 1950s. Physicians observed men and women with shaking limbs, which subsided with rest, but a month to three months later sufferers would begin to sway and stumble, lose the ability to stand, become cross-eyed and lose the power of coherent speech before eventually dying. (Hmh...sounds like a malingerer on a Mournday morning, except for the dying part. They just don't die). The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke reported that tests on the deceased showed the emergence of holes in the brain, known as "swiss-cheesing." that caused the deaths.
At some point, a U.S. physician Carleton Gajdusek, later awarded the Nobel Rrize in 1976, for his discovery , deduced that the infection was transmitted through a village custom of eating dead family members. Is there a cure? Let's ask Dr House;
Apparently, when cannibalism was eliminated, the epidemic came to an end. Here's another interesting article regarding The Laughing Death.
There is a great lesson to be learned here my friends. As much as we feel like eating up some of our dreadful relatives,(or is it just me?), there's karma to deal with. Unless the relative is truly worth eating and then you die laughing because of it...then go ahead...
How to not die young you ask me? ( err..apart from not eating up your irritating relatives, no matter how tempting it is). Well, here are some tips;
1. Minimize breathing Malaysian air sometime during the Musim Jerebu (we may as well make it as official as Musim Tengkujuh, Musim Kemarau, Musim Pilihanraya dan sebagainya). The Malaysian air is as transparent as our government.
2. If there is any probable cause of my death, highest in probability would be from reading the local newspapers. Seriously, on top of loosing RM1.20 per copy, some of the articles posted in there could really be detriMENTAL to one's health, we could all laugh till we die...or more likely, until we die.....or both...
Fore note : Before we proceed I need to get something out of the way first. Just in case anyone thinks that via this "Let's Read The Quran" campaign, I'm devoted to converting people into Islam, well, I'm not. I mean, why should I? If what, according to some Muslims, (who obviously missed reading the surah from Al-Baqarah verse 284 :
"To Allah belongeth all that is in the heavens and on earth. Whether ye show what is in your minds or conceal it, Allah calleth you to account for it. He forgiveth whom He pleaseth, and punisheth whom He pleaseth. For Allah hath power over all things.")
who insist that ONLY the Muslims will go to heaven, is true, then why should I try to convert anyone? As far as I'm concern, the more I convert, the more crowded the heaven will become. Don't we all have had enough putting up with each other and with that earthly congestion of the human species with that "propagate forth" to increase quantity (nothing said about quality) crap? It'll be nice to have some quiet and peace for a change. Hmm...maybe that is what it means when people say "Heaven is Serenity"; obviously you get serenity from scarcity of the human species!!!
So, having that out of the way, those who missed my introduction note on the second LRTQ campaign, kindly click on the logo below the blog archives, to quickly grasp what this abbreviation is all about before some ISA flers come knocking on the door thinking LRTQ stands for "Let's Ramp The Queen" or something like that (actually 'something like that' is not suitable for viewing).
Mathematical wonder in the Quran ; what a beautiful way to kick off my Quranic posts. Besides, this post will fully exhaust the readers, so much so, shorter and less interesting topics after this may be welcomed with sighs of relief. Although I'm cynical of some of the "Mathematical Miracles" posted out there, by overzealous Muslims who in the process of spreading Islam, becomes a bit kiasu and would post anything mathematical then insist they make sense even though clearly they do not (not even to themselves I suspect), in the race against the Christians to convert the whole world, if not securing their bases on the moon already, (In this aspect, at least the Jews get away with just possessing big noses that suck off as much air possible simply because it's free. Hey, it wasn't me who invented this lame joke, someone else did. I'm just jumping onto the band wagon. At least they don't try too hard to convert the whole world) , there are however, explanations that makes complete sense.
I will only post to you some of the mathematical wonders of Quran, which I feel makes sense to me. Although my line concerns health, but during my school and part of my Uni years, my strength did lie in Mathematics, and Physics actually. The reason I did not pursue mathematics or physics as a career, was that I did not see a recession proof job, coming out of these lines. That and the nerd image of mathematicians and physicists (with the exception of Sophia, who found a very interesting application of Maths particularly of her "divine proportion", hence turning THAT into a recession proof career. )
Men have long dwindled in their love affair with numbers. One of the millions of examples is the number 1.618 or more so called the Divine Proportion, also known as the Golden Ratio. By the way, looking at Monalisa below, I don't know about you, but her expression reminded me of someone's wife (who happens to wear the pants in the family..or dare I say country?...wink..wink..)....trying to smile yet struggling to defy the obstinate facial muscles against atropy. Hey...was botox invented by Leonardo? Was that the mystery behind Monalisa?
Or even the picture of Maria Sharapova, taking time off from tennis to model, exhibits divine proportion to some people out there, although I'm not sure what is proportion of divinity some may achieve staring at her pin ups. It's not a picture of Maria? Well done!! Go ahead and pat yourself on the back. Most people hardly notice the face, I rest my case.
Women spend lots of money in the madness to achieve "Divine Proportion", in fact there is too much money spent on achieving this, I'm beginning to suspect a conspiracy theory of "Divine Proportion" being instigated and exacerbated by none other than the plastic surgeons. Or perhaps a cunning plot by dentists, in another twisted, well conceived plot. I heard of one MB who made billions from just staring into the oral cavities (must be "The Chosen One"). It's no wonder the rakyat jelata in Kajang have extremely beautiful set of teeth and even dentures. And I thought they all went to that famous Dr Rashid's dental clinic somewhere near the old bus station. Darn, I should have taken up dentistry instead...or politics...or both, which have already been proven to synergize the money making power.
The concept of using numbers to prove the authenticity of The Book of God, is not a new one. For example, the Hebrews have some interesting combination of numbers, to prove that the bible is not the work of humans. The name of God, אל ("El"), has a numerical sum of 31. This is one of the few numbers which when reversed gives a number whose square is also the reversal of the first number's square.
31 a mirror image of 13 312 = 961 and 132 = 169.
961 a mirror image of 169
. Another example is the Greek name of Jesus (ιησους) is 10+8+200+70+400+200 = 888.
(Let me guess, the Ancient Javanese gematrical value of Toyo-L is 999?)
. 13 is a significant gematrical number along with 7. HERE is some examples of the significance of number 7 in the Bible and HERE for it's significance in the Quran. Ivan Panin came up with the "hidden code" of number 7. And of course, CRITICISM will always be there. Of course, it's easier to criticize than to come up with something.
. Number 961 occurs in a number of critical places and has been called "the signature of God". For example, the sum of the gematrical values of the names Abraham (248), Sarah (505) and Isaac (208) is 961. (Ask most women in these days though, we're probably more familiar with the number 916. For men who haven't got a clue as to what 916 means, and if you're coincidentally still struggling to a get woman, well, THAT's why)
. Each testament contains a creation account. The Old Testament has Genesis 1 and 2, of course. The New Testament has the gospel of John:
"In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made".John 1:1-3
If you take the gematrical values of all the letters in Genesis 1:1 and apply this formula:
The number of letters x The product of the letter values _________________________________________
The number of words x The product of the word values
you get π (pi) to 4 decimal places, that's 3.1416. Now, isn't that interesting? For those who actually slept in Maths classes and woke up hungry thinking pi is savory served with tea as a reward for those who slept longest in class, kindly click HERE for more info, thank you.
(Click on rabbit hole to find out just like the previous Books, are there any Mathematical wonders in the Quran? and many other useless stuff that may or may not tickle you...)
Mathematical Quran?
Just like the Bible, Quran too is claimed to have it's mathematical pattern in it. I will start with the simple finding of mathematical symmetry in the Quran. For example;
- The word "month" (shahr) occurs 12 times - The word "day" in it's singular form(yawn) occurs 365 times - The word "days" (ayyam, yawmayn) occurs 30 times - The words "satan" (shaytan) and "angel" (malak), occur 88 times, EACH. - The words "this world" (dunya) and "hereafter" (akhirah) occur 115 times, EACH.
There are more examples if you care to listen into this short video;
Just in case, like me, you were wondering, perhaps Muhammad, with the help of mathematicians of that time had created the repetition of these numbers, especially the number of days in one month or year, I did took the time to check and found out that the Quran came way before the usage of the current month and year calculations of the time the code 19 was discovered. Muhammad was born in the year 570 - 632 CE, whilst the current system of calculating month, the Gregorian year , what we currently use internationally, (unless you live in the state of Kelantan), came about in 1578. During biblical times, the common calendar in use was the lunar calendar.
In an ordinary year, one year may comprise of any one of these; 353, 354 or 355 days long; in a leap year, it may be 383, 384 or 385 days. So basically, if Muhammad wanted to convince the people of the originality of the Quran, he would have made it in such a way that the word "day" in it's singular form would be mentioned any amount given above, commonly accepted by the community at that time, instead of 365, which is an accepted figure long after his death.
Then we may ask ourselves, what if the counting of these figures are condition to produce the results by the people after Muhammad? Interesting. Ah, and so the plot thickens. But unlike the thickening plot of Malaysian politics, which qualifies more like a thicken pot of reheated curry basi, in a mamak store who insisted that, keeping the curry overnight and reheated the next day, IS the secret recipe of an ultimate curry, this plot does not require two toothpicks to keep the eyelids from being ptosis-ed, nor muscle relaxants from the locked jaw from excessive yawnings.. Read on my friends and you can decide for yourselves.
Before I go further on to other examples of Mathematical wonders in Quran, please be reminded of judgments based on priori and posteriori, which you may be able to appreciate as we go along with the discussion. Although I'm a Muslim, and nothing gives me more pleasure than to be able to boast about Mathematical Miracle in the Quran, I still would like to uncover the mystery based on the utmost desire to find the truth, not uncover a phenomena blinded by the desire to win an argument for the sake of erecting "the truth".
Based on the symmetrical findings written earlier, of course there are arguments regarding the "perfection" when stating the "day" for instance, in view of the many types of "years" and "months" in astronomy. For instance;
Sidereal year 365.2564 mean solar days Tropical year 365.242199 days Anomalistic year 365.2596 days
Click HEREto see the explanation of these years mentioned.
Or even months;
Sidereal month 27.3 2 1 66 days Synodic month 29.530588 days Nodical or draconic month 27.21220 days Anomalistic month 27 55455 days Click HERE to see the explanation of these months mentioned. HERE is an interesting argument in regards to the "year" picked to sum it up to 365, as well as the very basic process of feeding the data into the computer in order to get the results stated above, which I find totally amusing. The amusing bit came upon reading how these brilliant minds try to outwit each other. Kind of like witnessing the opposition parties and Barisan National trying to outwit each other, only much less amusing in the latter since non of them are intelligent enough to actually be witty enough to outwit each other. (with the exception of a handful, I must say). I will leave it up to you, my dearest readers to draw your own conclusion, if not further embark yourselves into looking for the truth.
Go on and take a break from this verbiage to watch the short video I posted below. It's hilarious watching them argue, trying to make a point and proving themselves right. Looking at Pa and Ma there, showing off their mathematical skills, is like watching the government trying to convince the rakyat, that 1 + 1 = 3. Enjoy, have a chuckle or two;
Another mathematical wonder believed to have been decoded, by Dr Khalifa, started off with the challenged he took up from the surah17:30 ;
"On it is 19"
Although an atheist like Dr House would probably dismiss it as a misprint, or maybe claim that Muhammad have had too much of tapai when he jotted this one down (hey, I said Dr House, not me who'd probably say all those dreadful things. Besides, tapai is halal according to the fatwa flers, just another example why people who graduated from Madrasah schools and later become the Imams, should be made to study at least science and mathematics) it is claimed to be a kind of mathematical code given by God to prove the authenticity of the Quran, merely not Muhammad's child play.
Whilst it was discovered by Rasyad Khalifah, in year 1974 ( in Wikipedia it is stated in 1973, but then again, Wikipedia did state that our first,spaceflight participant, oops....well, Russians called him cosmonaut, Americans; Astronaut, and Malaysians; Gay-Or-Not, Syeikh Muszaphar is an orthopedic surgeon, which clearly he was not, considering that at that time, he was undergoing his masters program, and no one I know have heard him passing that. Last I heard, he was busy making money out of his fame. Then again, I may be wrong, err...the part about him being an actual qualified surgeon, that is), and this breakdown of 1974 depicts the No 19, discovered in the year '74. Of course, even people like me can say that Khalifah could have plot it in such a way, to make the year of 1974, the year of discovery even if the number of years from the Quranic revelation to the day the code was discovered to be 1406, which coincidentally happens to be 19 x 74. The whole of Quran mentions 19 only once and that is in the surah 74. What's a couple of years in waiting for Khalifah, to reach the year 1974 to release his finding, compared to the many potential converts when they discover this "miracle". So, let's just leave that as a coincidence shall we?
Below is the Surah posted in whole, that made Number 19 intriguing.
The Hidden One.
74:0 In the name of God, the Gracious, the Compassionate.74:1O you hidden one.74:2Stand and warn.74:3 Your Lord glorify.74:4Your garments purify.74:5Abandon all that is vile.74:6Do not be greedy.74:7 To your Lord be patient.74:8So when the trumpet is sounded.74:9That will be a very difficult day.74:10 Upon the ingrates it will not be easy.74:11So leave Me alone with the one I have created.74:12I gave him abundant wealth.74:13Children to bear witness.74:14I made everything comfortable for him.74:15Then he wishes that I give more.74:16No. He was stubborn to Our signs.74:17I will exhaust him in climbing.74:18He thought and he analyzed.74:19So woes to him for how he analyzed.74:20Then woe to him for how he analyzed.74:21 Then he looked.74:22Then he frowned and scowled.74:23Then he turned away in arrogance.74:24 He said, "This is nothing but an impressive magic."74:25"This is nothing but the words of a human."74:26I will cast him in the Saqar.74:27Do you know what Saqar is?74:28 It does not spare nor leave anything.74:29Manifest to all the people.74:30On it is nineteen.74:31We have made the guardians of the fire to be angels; and We did not make their number except as a test for those who have rejected, to convince those who were given the book, to strengthen the acknowledgment of those who have acknowledged, so that those who have been given the book and those who acknowledge do not have doubt, and so that those who have a sickness in their hearts and the ingrates would say, "What did God mean by this example?" Thus God misguides whoever/whomever He wishes, and He guides whoever/whomeverHe wishes. None knows your Lord's soldiers except Him. It is but a reminder for people.74:32No, by the moon.74:33By the night when it passes.74:34By the morning when it shines.74:35It is one of the great ones.74:36A warning to people.74:37For any among you who wishes to progress or regress.74:38 Every person is held by what it earned;74:39 Except for the people of the right.74:40In paradises, they will be asking74:41About the criminals.74:42"What has caused you to be in Saqar?"74:43They said, "We were not of those who offered support (or observed contact prayer)."74:44"We did not feed the poor."74:45 "We used to participate with those who spoke falsehood."74:46 "We used to deny the day of Judgment."74:47"Until the certainty came to us."74:48Thus, no intercession of intercessors could help them.74:49Why did they turn away from this reminder?74:50Like fleeing zebras,74:51Running from the lion?74:52Alas, every one of them wants to be given separate manuscripts.74:53No, they do not fear the Hereafter.74:54No, it is a reminder.74:55Whosoever wishes will take heed.74:56 None will take heed except if God wills. He is the source of righteousness and the source of forgiveness.
Just to digress a little, I wonder if Saqar is coincidentally "the black hole"....hmmm....
Although some people may just have some kind of fetish over this number nineteen, there are people out there who takes this number seriously, as some kind of a code from God, to be revealed on the year 1974 by humans. As an example, should one were to take one of the most uttered verse by Muslims "Bismillahirrahmanirrahim", (as for those who wonder what is the most uttered word - well, it is an expletive and is not suitable for viewing in this post), we say that at the beginning of anything we do, and it means "In the name of Allah, the Gracious and the Compassionate", or Bismillah for short, one would notice that the number of alphabets, in Arabic in the word "Bismillahirrahmanirrahim" is 19. The proportion of each component of this word, "ism" (name) and followed by each description of God, "Allah", "Rahman" (Gracious), and "Rahim"(Compassionate) are all multiples of the number 19. If you have the time, the passion and the patience to read, it is worthwhile to feast your eyes on the debate between Dr Sagan and Edip Yuksel in "The Prime Argument". I give you the bit about "Bismillah" ;
Although this phenomenon (the opening statement consists of 19 letters, and each word occurs in multiple of 19) represents a minute portion of the code, it was described by Martin Gardner in the Scientific American as "ingenious" (September, 1981, p. 22-24)
"A study on the gematrical values of about 120 attributes of God which are mentioned in the Quran, shows that only four attributes have gematrical values which are multiples of 19. These are "Wahid" (One), "Zul Fadl al Azim" (Possessor of Infinite Grace), "Majid" (Glorous), "Jaami" (Summoner). Their gematrical value are 19 , 2698, 57,and 114 respectively, which are all divisible by 19 and correspond exactly to the frequencies of occurrence of the Basmalah's four words." (Remember,"ism" = 19, Allah = 2698, Rahman = 57, Rahim = 114)
Again, another coincidence, or is it? Too many coincidences sounds like Malaysian politics, so, you do the math folks.
Frankly, I find this a gazillionth times more awesome than Rubic's cubic, although of course, for example, 2698 could also be a multiple of the number 2, (2 x 1349), and so forth, but it was number 19 that was mentioned in 74:30 "On it is Nineteen" to be "the secret code" or "the lead" in the mystery of the whole surah, and it was not "On it is Two". Surah 74 is about "The Hidden One" that makes a promise of showing itself in time to come. Well, I guess the time has come and "The Hidden" is unveiled. The number 19 basically ensures the authenticity of the Quran, because any alterations to it would cause an imbalance in the harmonic structure, if not compromising the meaning of the sentence.
Another method of approach with the numbers in the Quran, as used many times for the Bible and the Torah, is using the gematrical value of the words in the alphabetical order. Below is an example of gematrical value in Arabic. Hebrews and Greeks have their own. Coincidentally (?), the very first Surah in the Quran96:1, comprises of 19 verse. It's too bad that God had not made it a straightforward sign, instead made us crack our heads to "break the code". For instance, He could have just made the word "Allah" with a gematrical value of 1 or even 19. That would have been boring and raises less controversies and that would make the human species quickly bored and God, less mysterious. While the latter may make men create stories of what God is, or even debate about His existence, boredom may make men turn to war instead, well yet another excuse for it anyway. Instead, "Allah" in Arabic carries gematrical value of 66 (from left to right calculated as1 + 30 + 30 + 5 ) . Again, He purposely did not make it 69, otherwise men would spend time making love, not war, and the fire in hell would go to waste, CONCLUSION: There is no conclusion. The conclusion is what an individual choose to draw out of all the data given. If a person wants to believe in the evidence, he will. For those who does not want to believe in the evidence, there will be cynicism, no one can make anyone believe in anything, unless he himself wants to.
Even if for example, the existence of God cannot be proven by means of mathematics and science, it still does not rule out the that god does not exist. Why should everything be proven by science and mathematics anyway? After all, science and mathematics are subjected to human's intellectual capacity. If humans are not THAT intelligent to prove the existence of God by their own tools, while it may prove that humans are incapable of reaching the height of intelligence to prove the existence of God, it still does not prove that whatever it is the humans try to prove exist, does not exist. Basically, it's like an ant, trying to prove the existence of say....a human being. Besides, there are other ways we have not exhausted besides our senses that have not been utilized. How do one explain intuition? How do one explain the extra sensory perception? Perhaps that is what is meant that humans only use a minute percentage of the brain? Perhaps if we explore our own brain, and learn to fully utilize it, concentrate not just on things that our common senses are able to perceive, but also other unexplainable senses dismissed as rubbish (simply because science and mathematics are unable to prove them) then maybe we will be able to see the light, perhaps in a different manner.
It was said (albeit I have yet to venture into this whole subject), that the number 19 is the gematrical value of the word "ONE" in all scriptural languages Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic. For example, in Arabic, the word for "ONE" is "WAHD" (pronounced Waahed). The gematrical values of the letters W, A, H, and D are 6, 1, 8, and 4, respectively. These numbers add up to 19 (6+1+8+4=19). That is the message from God, over and over again. That we are all, indeed one. If the human race believe this in their hearts, there will be no war amongst us. I have this favourite quote, that may have even come from me, (when you've aged, sometimes you won't even realize that you've just let out gas, let alone remember it. Hmm..perhaps that was what Teoh Beng Hock suffered from, before he took the plunge as voluntarily as the giving of information, to his death. He had forgotten that he had a wedding to attend to, his, and a kid to father. But wait! He was not old. Then again, this is Malaysia. If people can be made to look younger,(on other people's money) never mind the inability to lift up the lips to smile be the slight glitch, but they are also able to be made older, even on the records. Heck!! They can even make the immigration record disappear!!! Malaysia Boleh!!! (boleh kiraaaaa oneeeee). So here's the quote, that may have been mine...or maybe not..
"We are like the rainbow, beautiful in our individual color components, yet are ONE".
After all, religion is about uniting the humans as manifested in the teachings. The Quran states:
"O mankind, we created you from a single (pair) of male and female and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know one another (not that ye may despise each other). Verily, the most honoured of you in the sight of God is he who is the most righteous of you"[49:13].
The Bible says;
"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth'. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis1:26-27
From an ancient Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna said:
"One who is without ill will for any creature, is friendly and compassionate, impartial, free from malice, does not hate, has love, in harmony everywhere,…is dear to me."
"He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye"
So what are we really fighting about then? Imagine if the head is in disagreement with the other systems of the body, the bowel for instance, the result would be chaos. (Although the anus sometimes have 'a mind' of it's own when instigated by bad leftover curry for instance, and they perch without the consent of the supreme head, there will be moments when the head can regain control of the anus. This control of the supreme head is definitely more effective than the control of 'the other head' when it comes to the male gender though, but pardon me for the digress) But imagine this lack of control and syncronicity in a larger magnitude. The result would be catastrophic, which coincidentally is exactly current state of the world.
So I guess, racism is basically like a man fighting with systems that make him up, fighting against each other. The result would be him ending up with frequent visitations to the hospital, and the doctors, rich. In racism, there's always the people who benefit from it. If you cannot grasp any of those mathematical jargons up there, I'm not worried. But if you don't get this simple basic fact that we are one, and that racism is a waste of time, then we should all be extremely worried...
On personal note, although I find those mathematical "coincidences" awesome, the whole Quran itself is something truly wonderful and great, a treasure for the living, with or without the Capua, (no, I don't mean Capua in the south of Italy, I meant the Abacus) to prove the mathematical wonders in it.
I leave you with this video, (if you have not left earlier already) on Scientific and Mathematical (the latter is mentioned towards the end of the video), for your perusal.
Good news!! We're back with "Let's Read The Quran" campaign!!
During the first campaign (January 14 – February 14 2009) there were four friends Syed, Walski, Marina and Anas who got together in the campaign and about 50 blogs participated helping us reach a larger audience.
This time around, four more friends will be part of the main team; they are Art Harun, Jahamy, Pah Nur and Nizam
To recap, the campaign is not only for Muslims, but also for our brothers and sisters who are Christians, Buddhists Hindus, Sikhs and those who believes in a God-Head but not so gung-ho about being in any brand of religion, too – come join us and share your ideas! You can join this campaign even if you are an atheist!
The goal of this campaign is to encourage people to read the Quran in the language they understand most and find in it areas of common values in our day to day living. We also want to hear your feedback and comments.
What is the Campaign all about? Read the Quran in the language that you are familiar with.
When will the campaign start and end? August 22nd to September 21st (Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri)
Where? Participating blogs in the blogospheres.
Why? So more people know what the Quran says and what the Quran does not say and to match it to what is really said in our daily lives.
Who? Everyone who wants to – the more the merrier! If you have a Blog, Facebook, etc carry the logo/icon.
How?
- To join the campaign, place the accompanying logo/icon at your blog. - Write or share short articles based on the Quranic text. - Share what you find in the Quran with family and friends. - Ask questions about the Quranic message - Read the Quran – eg click here http://www.islamicity.com/QuranSearch , www.altafsir.com
First and foremost, just in case anyone thinks that via this "Let's Read The Quran" campaign, I'm devoted to converting people into Islam, well, I'm not. I mean, why should I? If what, according to some Muslims, (who obviously missed reading the surah from Al-Baqarah verse 284 :
"To Allah belongeth all that is in the heavens and on earth. Whether ye show what is in your minds or conceal it, Allah calleth you to account for it. He forgiveth whom He pleaseth, and punisheth whom He pleaseth. For Allah hath power over all things.")
who insist that ONLY the Muslims will go to heaven, is true, then why should I try to convert anyone? As far as I'm concern, the more I convert, the more crowded the heaven will become. Don't we all have had enough putting up with each other and with that earthly congestion of the human species with that "propagate forth" to increase quantity (nothing said about quality) crap? It'll be nice to have some quiet and peace for a change. Hmm...maybe that is what it means when people say "Heaven is Serenity"; obviously you get serenity from scarcity of the human species!!!
Apart from showing my Non Muslim brothers and sisters that unlike the misrepresentation of some Muslims today, Islam as a religion, is not vile, (some of the Muslims, perhaps, but not Islam per se) another reason for me to partake in this campaign is to encourage the Muslims including myself, to rediscover Quran, because, unfortunately distasteful as it may sound, the Quran has become, a classic; a book whereby people are very much aware of it’s existence, and know it is a great book, yet no one actually read it, indulge in it, which is a shame, because Quran has so much to offer.
I truly believe, that should the Muslims increase their attempt to decipher Quran in depth, the problems in regards to the Muslim occurring today, known to be caused by either misintepretation of Islam by the Muslims themselves, or simply funda-MENTAL-ism (although I have to point out that fundamentalism can sometimes be CIA sponsored. No? How do you explain CIA's involment in funding and training people like Osama bin Ladin and the Al Qaeda, during the times America wanted to get Russia out of Afganistan? and who knows what else eh?). Who knows, by participating in this campaign, some of us the Muslims may change our minds about that pre-planned suicide bombing say next month at the parliament.
In the first LRTQ campaign postings, I wrote about the scientific aspect of the Quran. If you have the passion not to mention immense patience to read (trust me, I tend to write verbiages), you can read them in HERE, HERE AND HERE. And for the benefit of those who had missed the first Let's Read The Quran (LRTQ) campaign, you can read initial introduction of it HERE. Oh, and I also wrote about controversial issues, (which many like to sweep under the carpet to avoid the wrath of public response) like "To cover or not to cover, was it ever a question" and "Honor Killings" from the first LRTQ.
We have our differences, Muslims (even amongst ourselves) and Non Muslims, but I believe we can and should work on the common grounds instead of concentrating on exacerbating the differences. Let's put aside our differences, and try to bridge on our similarities instead. All religion teaches good, not evil. Even the "Sky Kingdom", founded by Ayah Pin (click HERE to view the family portrait of Ayah Pin) teaches the disciples to "make love, not war"
Well, Happy Reading everyone and to my brothers and sisters who fast, well, let's kill those baaaaaad sugar and cholesterol !! Peace yawll!!!!
"He rules [all] affairs from the heavens to the earth: in the end will [all affairs] ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what you count.[As-Sajda:5]
When the world turn their back on you, you show your butt to them...
