The Middle Way? You're kidding me

I frequently hear words to this effect from a lot of people,

"alaa..yes, i do this and that, but at least i still pray and fast"

"i don't think that's applicable in this age, that's all medieval"

"i believe capitalism is the way forward"

If you're Richard Dawkins then i wish you all the best sir. but if you're muslim and you say you're a muslim and you identify with the muslim culture, then uh-oh maybe we need to reflect a bit.

Is the frequently touted 'middle way' permissible? can you do little bits here, little bits there, and create a mixed collage?



see this verse and decide for yourself;

"Verily, those who disbelieve in Allâh and His Messengers and wish to make distinction between Allâh and His Messengers (by believing in Allâh and disbelieving in His Messengers) saying, "We believe in some but reject others," and wish to adopt a way in between.

They are the true disbelievers. And We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating torment." (An Nisa':150-151)

And even when translated into english, that's pretty strong stuff. The people we usually brand as 'kafir totok', at least they're clear in their disbelief. What about us? if we believe in some aspects but reject others? Do we like being 'true disbelievers'? *shudder*

Believing 'there is no god but Allah' has major implications for your actions, your way of life. It entails that your systems, your laws, your etiquette, and your conduct all come from Him.

And we're not branding anyone here but ourselves, cause it ain't right to point at others. When you point one finger, another 3 point back at you *taken from a mural at SK Seksyen 7 Kota Damansara*

Are we accepting Islam as our way of life?

parable of the toy

Imagine you're a kid. A 7-year old kid.



One day you're walking in the supermarket. Why a 7-year old child would walk alone in the supermarket, i don't know, but you're walking nonetheless..and you suddenly spot your dream toy.



your heart beats fast. you've been wanting this toy since you were 4! tears of joy roll down your face..you could now buy it with the money you got from your relatives last raya. elated at your new purchase, you proudly carry it home, you want to show it to everyone. mom, dad, your big brother, even the boy next door who has a similar toy..but of course, yours is more precious.

You knock on your door. You show it to your dad, but he takes it away from you. You start getting angry at your dad, saying

'Why are you taking it from me??!!'

you're all mixed up inside..you're sad, you're furious at your dad, you want to cry, you want to hit him, you feel helpless cause after all he's your dad and you can't really fight your dad.

I'm taking this from you, he says, because you can't have it.

And it's as simple as that. Just because your dad says no.

You plead with him, please please let me have that toy

He says this is for ages 10 and up. You're only 7. Its not time for you to play with it.

You plead and beg and throw tantrums, but nothing's gonna change. You feel defeated, and you decide you just have to trust your dad..he may give it back to you or he may keep it in storage forever or he may give you another toy or he may give the toy to someone else, and that's up to him..you can only hope.

"Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children, as the likeness of vegetation after rain, thereof the growth is pleasing to the tiller; afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw. But in the Hereafter (there is) a severe torment (for the disbelievers, evil-doers), and (there is) Forgiveness from Allâh and (His) Good Pleasure (for the believers, good-doers), whereas the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment."
(57:20)

Trust in Allah, and trust that if you follow his commands he will give you the best that you can hope for..

"...and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allâh knows but you do not know" (2:216)

Ya Allah, give me strength over things which you have ordained eventhough it is hard on me.

failing

did my econs quiz via the random shooting method.



and got a 30-39% mark -.-

its supposed to be a social science right. normal humans don't use that much maths for everyday economic activities.

Most of the time its just random shootings.

But not my inflatable chair. I had a deep, 5-second contemplation before buying that.

we're pirates, arrrrrrr

Yesterday in LSE100 the module was 'Who owns ideas?', mostly discussing intellectual property, who should own it and copyright.

Which reminded me of an incident last year when i was still living in LSE halls.

I got this email from the IT services department:

Please be advised that IT Services has received notification (see below) that copyright material has been made available from the IP address apparently being used by your computer. Internet access from this IP address will be disabled until I receive reply to this message with the following assurances:

1. That the offending copyright material has been removed from the computer.
2. That you will not in future make any copyright material available via the LSE network.

The period of disconnection will not be less than one working day; I will normally process replies around 17:00.

This activity is against the law, and contravenes the Rules and Regulations that registered users of the School’s IT facilities are bound by. These can be found on the IT Services Intranet pages at:

http://www.lse.ac.uk/itservices/Rules/default.htm

Conditions of Use of IT Facilities at the LSE can be found at:

http://www.lse.ac.uk/itservices/Rules/condits.htm

Your attention is drawn to sections on Legal Requirements and Prohibited Uses (point 7 and 8) and to the LSE Disciplinary Regulations (points 15 to 18).

Please use the School’s IT and Network facilities responsibly. Not only is the copying and sharing of copyright material illegal, this activity consumes network bandwidth to the disadvantage of others who wish to use the IT and Network facilities for their academic studies.

Should IT Services be notified of further instances of copyright material being made available from an IP address used by your computer then further action will be taken.

Regards

Jeremy Skelton
pp Malcolm Barker
Network Manager, IT Services



-----Original Message-----
From: SonyPicturesEntertainment [mailto:SPECopyright@mc.mediasentry.com]
Sent: 14 October 2009 23:40
To: Skelton,J
Subject: Case ID 952157896 - Notice of Claimed Infringement

Wednesday, October 14, 2009


RE: Unauthorized Distribution of the Copyrighted Motion Picture Entitled
District 9


Dear Jeremy Skelton:

We are writing this letter on behalf of Columbia Pictures Industries Inc., ("Columbia Pictures").

As you may know, Columbia Pictures is the owner of copyright and exclusive distribution rights in and to the motion picture entitled District 9.

No one is authorized to perform, exhibit, reproduce, transmit, or otherwise distribute the above-mentioned work without the express written permission of Columbia Pictures, which permission Columbia Pictures has not granted to 158.143.185.230.

We have received information that an individual has utilized the above-referenced IP address at the noted date and time to offer downloads of the above-mentioned work through a "peer-to-peer" service.

The attached documentation specifies the location on your network where the infringement occurred, the number of repeat violations recorded at this specific location, as well as any available identifying information.

The distribution of unauthorized copies of copyrighted motion pictures constitutes copyright infringement under the Copyright Act, Title 17 United States Code Section 106(3). This conduct may also violate the laws of other countries, international law, and/or treaty obligations.

Since you own this IP address, we request that you immediately do the following:

1) Disable access to the individual who has engaged in the conduct described above; and
2) Terminate any and all accounts that this individual has through you.

On behalf of Columbia Pictures, owner of the exclusive rights to the copyrighted material at issue in this notice, we hereby state that we have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by Columbia Pictures, its respective agents, or the law.

We also hereby state that we believe the information in this notification is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that MediaSentry is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive rights being infringed as set forth in this notification.

Please contact us at the above listed address or by replying to this email should you have any questions.

We appreciate your assistance and thank you for your cooperation in this matter. In your future correspondence with us, please refer to Case ID 952157896.

Your prompt response is requested.

Respectfully,

A Kempe
Enforcement Coordinator
MediaSentry.

Before i came to London, I was downloading so many movies I forgot when it started. They finally caught up with me here.



Which is an interesting revelation of who owns ideas across the world.

In Britain, its Big Business.

In Malaysia, its your pasar malam DVD seller.

At least LSE had more sympathy, disconnecting me for only one day. The enforcement officer wanted my accounts terminated -.- That's for messing with the real authorities in the state: the people with money.

Threatened, i naturally wrote an apology letter, saying i was 'sorry i did it' and that i 'would remove the film from my computer' and i would 'never do it again'.

Of course i removed the film from my computer..

...onto my external drive.



But the last part was true, i didn't do it again.

It feels like stealing, eventhough you're taking from ridiculously rich companies. And now my drive is emptied of all the other downloads. Except Kungfu Panda.

Islam is easy~

my first attempt at a song production:



Lyrics:
Islam itu mudah kalau buat semuanya
(All) Islam itu mudah kalau buat semuanya

(All)
Bukan solat saja
Bukan akhlak saja
Bukan dakwah saja
Kena buat semuanya

Buat sikit saja bukanlah Islam namanya
(All) Buat sikit saja bukanlah Islam namanya
Bukanlah Islam namanya
Bukanlah Islam namanya
Bukanlah Islam namanya

Lyrics: Ikmal Nordin

Arrangement: Ikmal Nordin

Singers: Ikmal Nordin
Shukri Hariri
Izzat Za'ba
Hamidi Yusoff
Khalil Imran
Adam Hamdan

Cameraman: Adam Hamdan

*clapclapclap* to everyone involved..you guys are awesome :DDD

canvases

*krik3*

that's the sound of crickets who've taken over this blog in my absence. If cyber crickets exist, that is. Maybe they do, and someone made a virus out of them that only attacks silent blogs. If you are a virus-maker visiting this blog, DO NOT charge me with criminal liability for putting these ideas into your head.

Okay pretty overwhelming week. Ups and downs. We laugh and we cry. In short, everything's normal.

"We have created man in hardships" (Al Balad:4)

This road. Its does things to you.

The threads of your life slowly unravel, piece by piece, and all that you love will be carried away, to quote Stephen King.

But new threads form, stitch by stitch, and you never know what the ultimate canvas will look like.

I leave that to Him =)