The Pretender

Oh, you've arrived? Okay, so here's how to get to my apartment. Take the elevator to third floor, turn right and then left, take another elevator down to second floor, turn left and then right, then take the last elevator back to third floor. Turn right, and my apartment is the second door to the left. Piece of cake.

This post is intended for non-Muslims, to clear some general misconceptions about Islam.



Allah is God of Muslims only

The general perception among non-muslim is, Allah is God for muslims only, and non-muslims are forbidden to refer God as Allah. For us muslims, Allah is God of everything. Basically, we believe that Allah is your God also, not just our God.

The name Allah means God, as a single entity, where no other power could even remotely rival or challenge Him. It has been used even before Islam, which proves that Allah is not God for muslims only.

So, if you're referring to God as a single entity (Tuhan yang Maha Esa), in which no other power could rival Him, then it is correct to refer Him as Allah, even if you're not a muslim.



Quran is a Holy Book of Islam, and non-muslims may not use it

This is another misconception. Firstly, Quran is essentially not a book. Initially, it was passed around verbally, and it was only compiled into a book after the death of Prophet Muhammad, during the time of the caliphs. Think of Quran as a guidance or a reference, the book is just its physical form.

Secondly, similar to the notion that Allah is God of everything, Quran is for everyone. It's true that Torah (Taurat) is for Jews only, and that Bible is for Christians only, but Quran is for everyone.

You can use it as a source of knowledge, either scientifically or spiritually. In fact, the Big Bang Theory, which was scientifically proven relatively recently, was actually revealed in the Quran more than 1,400 years ago, in a time when no technology exists to prove it. There are many other scientifically proven theories that was actually revealed in Quran hundreds of years before. It would only mean that everything foretold in the Quran is true, and will be proven to be true, in due time.

You can also use it as historical reference. There are a lot of things that can be learned from Quran. We muslims even use it for medical purposes.

By the way, the notion that Muhammad is the author of Quran is another misconception. Quran is the word of Allah, Muhammad is just a vessel in which it was passed to us human. It is impossible for human (or any other being for that matter) to produce such a miracle as Quran. Muhammad himself was illiterate.

Benda ni nampak lebih ridiculous bila sumbernya adalah Persatuan Pengguna Malaysia (CAP), Majlis Agama Islam Malaysia dan Jabatan Kastam Malaysia, tapi medium penyebarannya adalah melalui email yg diforward2, bukan melalui medium yang lebih reliable macam akhbar, televisyen dan radio, ataupun melalui website pihak-pihak terbabit. Siap keresahan, mintak maaf lagi sebab terlambat bagitau.


Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) tak ada pun keluarkan kenyataan mengenai perkara ni? Mereka ni lah authority yang bertanggungjawab menentukan status halal barangan pengguna di Malaysia. Bukannya CAP, Majlis Agama Islam Malaysia ataupun Jabatan Kastam(!).


Furthermore, Majlis Agama Islam Malaysia sebenarnya tidak wujud. Apa yang wujud adalah Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM). Dulunya memang Jakim yang bertanggungjawab terhadap barangan halal, tapi sejak 2006, HDC ditubuhkan untuk promote Malaysia sebagai "Global Halal Hub". Seiring dengan itu, tanggungjawab menentukan status halal barangan pengguna diberikan sepenuhnya kepada HDC. Sekali lagi saya tekankan, Jakim, CAP ataupun Kastam tiada kuasa untuk menentukan status halal sesuatu barangan.


Saya dah buat sedikit cross-reference, ternyata, apa yang dikatakan oleh “Persatuan Pengguna Malaysia, Majlis Agama Islam Malaysia dan Jabatan Kastam Malaysia” sangat2 bercanggah dengan apa yang dikatakan oleh HDC. Apa yang saya dapati, sijil halal yang diberi kepada KFC, Cadbury, Nestle (maggi) dan Ajinomoto masih lagi berkuatkuasa.


Kalau kita nak tau status halal sesuatu barangan, rujuk kepada HDC. Jangan rujuk kepada email yang tak tau kesahihannya. Ini dia link direktori halal HDC:
http://e-halal.hdcglobal.com/directory/index.php


Email-email macam ni dikarang oleh pihak-pihak tidak bertanggungjawab dan banyak masa terluang, kemudian ia disebarkan oleh pihak-pihak yang rasa bertanggungjawab, tetapi tiada masa untuk mengkaji kesahihannya.

"O Squiggly Line in my eye fluid. I see you there lurking in the periphery of my vision. But when I try to look at you, you scurry away. Are you shy Squiggly Line? Why only when I ignore you do you return to the center of my eye? O Squiggly Line, it's alright, you are forgiven."

p/s:

Hari ni besday aku.

"Birthday boy call semua orang ke?", kata member aku bila aku call dan cakap hari ni besday aku.

"Abis tu takde sape wish"

Sungguh lonely hidup aku.

Birthday party Aisyah yang pertama. Paklong tak dapat datang.. Takpela, tengok dari Skype pun takpe, walaupun kualiti video macam 3gp, pastu suara tak dengar langsung. Anyway, party sedang berlangsung skrg, terimalah live update, secara langsung dari Ilam Studio, Christchurch!



Ini dia birthday girlnya! Aisyah si rambut tocang, gigi dua batang.



"Aisyah and The Gang", featuring:
Aisyah, birthday girl yang bad mood, pipi tak terkontrol. Ayah dgn Tok Daddy kat belakang, ayah tengah mencurik pandang. Ibu, tengah pegang Aisyah, nampak idong dgn gigi je. Paksu, muka separuh.



Okay, tibalah masa yang dinanti-nantikan, acara tiup lilin! Opps, setting videocam dulu..



Okay, semua orang nyanyi Happy Birthday, Paklong kat New Zealand pun nyanyi sama-sama.. Tak sabarnye nak tengok Aisyah tiup lilin buat kali yang pertama, hati berdebar-debar ni!





CIS!!!
HAMPEH!!!



Tibalah pula ke acara makan-makan.. Diorang semua tengah makan-makan sekarang ni, ada laksa, ada soto, ada puding, kek tu dah memang wajib la. Paklong kat New Zealand ni pun tengah makan jugak, nasik lauk sardin.

Kadang2 aku terpikir, apasal lak aku nak buat entry "Coke Blog Update" ni? Antara dua blog aku ni, targetnya berbeza. The Pretender adalah untuk family2 dan member2. Always Coca-Cola pulak adalah untuk pengumpul barangan Coca-Cola.


Aku buat entry ni dulu untuk promote blog tu, tapi member2 rapat aku sendiri cakap, diorg takde interest, so diorg taktau la camane nak appreciate. Kiranya, aku salah target customer la ni. Lagipun dulu takde "Recent Posts" kat left sidebar ni.


Anyway, blog Coca-Cola tu dah ada customer base nya sendiri. On average, ada la dlm 15 uniques sehari. Okay la untuk blog muda (baru sebulan) dan blogger muda (baru start blogging Nov 2008) macam aku ni. Actually, a bit better then this blog, average 7 uniques sehari.


So, aku rasa entry ni dah obsolete. Aku takkan post kat sini bagitau update blog Coca-Cola aku lagi. Kalau korg ada interest nak tengok collection aku, ataupun apa2 info yang aku tulis pasal Coca-Cola, tengok la kat left sidebar tu kalau ada post baru. Aku akan update blog tu setiap 2-3 hari sekali.


Entry terbaru aku ni ialah compilation pelawat2 blog tu yang datang melalui search diorg kat Google. Interesting jgk tengok apa yang org search. Silalah klik kat link ni ye.

Google My Coke