Garden Seekers

Calling all FRESHiE! Keep a lookout for the Freshman Orientation Camp!

2009-06-01T14:14:00.001+08:00

Thank You

2009-02-14T01:19:00.002+08:00

Alhamdulillah, all praises to the Almighty, for it is with His Grace that we are able to announce that the total amount collected from the Gaza Humanitarian Donation Drive is $6,500! This is an unbelievable sum considering the limited manpower and time that we had. This sum will go a long way to help better the conditions of the civilians of Gaza who are still now without proper food, water, sanitation and shelter.

Mercy Relief will be using that money to supply food to Gazans. They have already held stocks in Egypt and Israel waiting to enter Gaza once the situation is more stable. Log on to Mercy Relief's website for more updates!

Thank you once again for all your help. Wouldn't have done it without you. :) Special thanks to Ariff who helped out in the planning of the drive!

If Ya peeps wanna donate for Gaza funds...

2009-02-13T11:45:00.001+08:00

Assalamu alaikum,

You can still donate to Gaza mercy relief through the following ways.

1) Tele- Mercy
1900 112 1010 ( for a $10 donation)
1900 112 1050 (for a $50 donation)

2) Cheque
Cross to: 'Mercy Relief Limited' and indicate 'Gaza Conflict Relief' on the reverse.
Send to: 160 Lorong 1 Toa Payoh #01-1568, Singapore 310160

Please check the attachment to see that this info is correct

Wassalam
--
Free Gaza

Usrah this Thursday

2009-02-10T10:57:00.000+08:00

Impressed when Syeikh Ahmad Deedat made the Christian tongue-tied?

In awe when Dr Zakir Naik made the Hindu dumbfounded?

But what would YOU do if you were asked controversial questions on Islam; an attack on your aqidah?

How would YOU respond?

Find out in our upcoming usrah discussion! *Note ammendments to venue

Tauhid Uluhiyyah: Proving the Siratul Mustaqim

Guided by Ustaz Ismail Al-Khatib
Date: This coming Thursday, 12 Feb 09
Venue: NUS, Yusof Ishak House Commitee Room 3
Time: Maghrib-Isyak

GAZA Donation Drive Duty Roster for 2-6 Feb '09

2009-01-31T00:09:00.002+08:00

Do contact Nani at 92314045 if you wish to fill some slots. Sms your name, preferred slots (with alternatives), email address and matric number. You may also wish to join the slots which have already been filled. If anything, the experience doing booth duty has taught us that THE MORE, THE MERRIER!!

Thanks a lot to the volunteers, including those who joined last minute or on-the-spot. The tins are heavy all thanks to you! Only Allah can reward you for your kind deeds.

Duty Roster for NUSMS-Mercy Relief Donation Drive 28-30Jan

2009-01-27T01:37:00.002+08:00

Click on Picture to enlarge

NUSMS - Mercy Relief Gaza Donation Drive

2009-01-23T21:35:00.008+08:00

Overview

NUSMS is collaborating with MERCY RELIEF(www.mercyrelief.org) to carry out an on-campus donation drive for the Gaza humanitarian crisis
from 28 January 2009 Wednesday to 6 February 2009 Friday.
We have identified 4 locations around the Kent Ridge campus to act as collection points and they are:

1. Arts AS1 Walkway
2. Techno Edge
3. Outside LT27 (SCI)
4. YIH Student Societies Area

Each collection point will be operational from 10am-6pm on all 8 days and will be furnished with 2 donation tin cans.
Each booth has to be manned by at least 2 volunteers on 4 2-hourly slots (10-12pm, 12-2pm, 2-4pm, 4-6pm)

Recruitment

Booth Volunteers

There are 224 slots open throughout the drive. We plead for your assistance in helping us man the collection booths during your breaks.

In your reply, do include your personal details such as:
Name
Faculty/Year of Study
Email address
Contact Number

Feedback

Should you have any suggestions on how we can better proceed with the drive,
feel free to email us at treasurer@nusms.org.sg or drop an sms at 92314045.

We thank you for contributing your thoughts and concerns about the Gaza crisis on the nus_muslimsoc yahoogroup. Show your support by signing up as committee members or booth volunteers with your friends (and even family members!) Do spread the word to the rest of your NUS schoolmates!

Your kind assistance will go a long way in making this donation drive a success. InsyaAllah your efforts will be rewarded here and in the hereafter. If you have been looking for a means to help our brothers and sisters in Gaza, here is your chance. Fulfil your amanah.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Weekly Usrah Circle (Every Thursday)

2009-01-21T13:21:00.003+08:00

WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT ANOTHER EVENT FROM THE HUMAN ENRICHMENT SECRETARIAT OF NUSMS!!

Details:
Every Thursday (starting on the 29th of Jan 09)
7pm - 9pm
YIH Student Societies Area
Light refreshments will be provided

Usrah guide:

Ustaz Iqbal Abdullah is a free-lance Muslim missionary who is actively involved in the dakwah scene. Being one of the few Ustaz in Singapore who can confortably give lectures in the English Language, Ustaz Iqbal is well known to an English-speaking audience locally and overseas.

Ustaz Iqbal embraced Islam in 1981, and upon completion of his A Levels, he pursued his Islamic education at the International Islamic University in Pakistan and Al-Azhar University, before being a student of the eminent Yemeni scholar, Syaikh Umar Al-Khatib, for 7 years.

He is currently the principal at Azizah Chisty Quranic Centre and also teaches at various mosques. His lectures include those that center on the fields of Islamic Jurisprudence, Quranic Exegesis, hadith, Quranic recital and Tajweed, Arabic Language and group reading of traditional and contemporary Arabic books on Islam. He is also an author of several books on Islam.

As the Arabs see the Jews - His Majesty King Abdullah.

2009-01-20T21:53:00.002+08:00

Another interesting article about the Palestinian conflict. This has never come to light in current media. Sad to say its a story thats been kept quiet in the mainstream.

Taken from an entry on NUS Muslim Soc Yahoogroups by Bro Hasanul

If anyone's looking for a book perhaps, try the book by the late Edward Said, "The Question of Palestine". :)

This article, written by King Abdullah, in 1947 is a must read, especially
for all post world war II generation, and for us too lest we forget. Please
forward to the entire world to let the world population know, the history,
the plight and the people behind the current tragedy in Palestine, and to
do any small actions and contribution possible to stop the genocide of the
Palestinians. From being their homeland for more than 2000 years, within 80
years, they are murdered and driven out from their home, cornered into
portions in West Bank and Gaza, or refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, without
being allowed any full self rule, labeled terrorist for fighting for their
rights, and constantly subjected to sanctions, raids and bombing. And all
these being supported by the so called Police of the World, and the
civilized nations of the West. Imagine these happening to our family, our
home, our land, and ourself?? Your support in any small way is being
accounted by the All Mighty.

Summary

This fascinating essay, written by King Hussein's grandfather King Abdullah
in November 1947, appeared in the United States six months before the 1948
Arab-Israeli War. In the article, King Abdullah disputes the mistaken view
that Arab opposition to Zionism (and later the state of Israel) is because
of longstanding religious or ethnic hatred. He notes that Jews and Muslims
enjoyed a long history of peaceful coexistence in the Middle East, and that
Jews have historically suffered far more at the hands of Christian Europe.
Pointing to the tragedy of the holocaust that Jews suffered during World
War II, the monarch asks why America and Europe are refusing to accept more
than a token handful of Jewish immigrants and refugees. It is unfair, he
argues, to make Palestine, which is innocent of anti-Semitism, pay for the
crimes of Europe. King Abdullah also asks how Jews can claim a historic
right to Palestine, when Arabs have been the overwhelming majority there
for nearly 1300 uninterrupted years? The essay ends on an ominous note,
warning of dire consequences if a peaceful solution cannot be found to
protect the rights of the indigenous Arabs of Palestine.

http://www.kinghuss ein.gov.jo/ kabd_eng. html
"As the Arabs see the Jews"
His Majesty King Abdullah,
The American Magazine
November, 1947

I am especially delighted to address an American audience, for the tragic
problem of Palestine will never be solved without American understanding,
American sympathy, American support. So many billions of words have been
written about Palestine?perhaps more than on any other subject in
history?that I hesitate to add to them. Yet I am compelled to do so, for I
am reluctantly convinced that the world in general, and America in
particular, knows almost nothing of the true case for the Arabs.

We Arabs follow, perhaps far more than you think, the press of America. We
are frankly disturbed to find that for every word printed on the Arab side,
a thousand are printed on the Zionist side. There are many reasons for
this. You have many millions of Jewish citizens interested in this
question. They are highly vocal and wise in the ways of publicity. There
are few Arab citizens in America, and we are as yet unskilled in the
technique of modern propaganda. The results have been alarming for us. In
your press we see a horrible caricature and are told it is our true
portrait. In all justice, we cannot let this pass by default.

Our case is quite simple: For nearly 2,000 years Palestine has been almost
100 per cent Arab. It is still preponderantly Arab today, in spite of
enormous Jewish immigration. But if this immigration continues we shall
soon be outnumbered? a minority in our home.

Palestine is a small and very poor country, about the size of your state of
Vermont. Its Arab population is only about 1,200,000. Already we have had
forced on us, against our will, some 600,000 Zionist Jews. We are
threatened with many hundreds of thousands more. Our position is so simple
and natural that we are amazed it should even be questioned. It is exactly
the same position you in America take in regard to the unhappy European
Jews. You are sorry for them, but you do not want them in your country. We
do not want them in ours, either. Not because they are Jews, but because
they are foreigners. We would not want hundreds of thousands of foreigners
in our country, be they Englishmen or Norwegians or Brazilians or whatever.

Think for a moment: In the last 25 years we have had one third of our
entire population forced upon us. In America that would be the equivalent
of 45,000,000 complete strangers admitted to your country, over your
violent protest, since 1921. How would you have reacted to that? Because of
our perfectly natural dislike of being overwhelmed in our own homeland, we
are called blind nationalists and heartless anti-Semites. This charge would
be ludicrous were it not so dangerous. No people on earth have been less
"anti-Semitic" than the Arabs. The persecution of the Jews has been
confined almost entirely to the Christian nations of the West. Jews,
themselves, will admit that never since the Great Dispersion did Jews
develop so freely and reach such importance as in Spain when it was an Arab
possession. With very minor exceptions, Jews have lived for many centuries
in the Middle East, in complete peace and friendliness with their Arab
neighbours.

Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut and other Arab centres have always contained
large and prosperous Jewish colonies. Until the Zionist invasion of
Palestine began, these Jews received the most generous treatment?far, far
better than in Christian Europe. Now, unhappily, for the first time in
history, these Jews are beginning to feel the effects of Arab resistance to
the Zionist assault. Most of them are as anxious as Arabs to stop it. Most
of these Jews who have found happy homes among us resent, as we do, the
coming of these strangers.

I was puzzled for a long time about the odd belief which apparently
persists in America that Palestine has somehow "always been a Jewish
land."
Recently an American I talked to cleared up this mystery. He pointed out
that the only things most Americans know about Palestine are what they read
in the Bible. It was a Jewish land in those days, they reason, and they
assume it has always remained so. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
It is absurd to reach so far back into the mists of history to argue about
who should have Palestine today, and I apologise for it. Yet the Jews do
this, and I must reply to their "historic claim." I wonder if the
world has
ever seen a stranger sight than a group of people seriously pretending to
claim a land because their ancestors lived there some 2,000 years ago!

If you suggest that I am biased, I invite you to read any sound history of
the period and verify the facts. Such fragmentary records as we have
indicate that the Jews were wandering nomads from Iraq who moved to
southern Turkey, came south to Palestine, stayed there a short time, and
then passed to Egypt, where they remained about 400 years. About 1300 BC
(according to your calendar) they left Egypt and gradually conquered
most?but not all?of the inhabitants of Palestine.

It is significant that the Philistines? not the Jews?gave their name to the
country: "Palestine" is merely the Greek form of
"Philistia." Only once,
during the empire of David and Solomon, did the Jews ever control
nearly?but not all?the land which is today Palestine. This empire lasted
only 70 years, ending in 926 BC. Only 250 years later the Kingdom of Judah
had shrunk to a small province around Jerusalem, barely a quarter of modern
Palestine.

In 63 BC the Jews were conquered by Roman Pompey, and never again had even
the vestige of independence. The Roman Emperor Hadrian finally wiped them
out about 135 AD. He utterly destroyed Jerusalem, rebuilt under another
name, and for hundreds of years no Jew was permitted to enter it. A handful
of Jews remained in Palestine but the vast majority were killed or
scattered to other countries, in the Diaspora, or the Great Dispersion.
From that time Palestine ceased to be a Jewish country, in any conceivable
sense.

This was 1,815 years ago, and yet the Jews solemnly pretend they still own
Palestine! If such fantasy were allowed, how the map of the world would
dance about!

Italians might claim England, which the Romans held so long. England might
claim France, "homeland" of the conquering Normans. And the French
Normans
might claim Norway, where their ancestors originated. And incidentally, we
Arabs might claim Spain, which we held for 700 years. Many Mexicans might
claim Spain, "homeland" of their forefathers. They might even claim
Texas,
which was Mexican until 100 years ago. And suppose the American Indians
claimed the "homeland" of which they were the sole, native, and
ancient
occupants until only some 450 years ago!

I am not being facetious. All these claims are just as valid?or just as
fantastic?as the Jewish "historic connection" with Palestine. Most
are more
valid. In any event, the great Moslem expansion about 650 AD finally
settled things. It dominated Palestine completely. From that day on,
Palestine was solidly Arabic in population, language, and religion. When
British armies entered the country during the last war, they found 500,000
Arabs and only 65,000 Jews.

If solid, uninterrupted Arab occupation for nearly 1,300 years does not
make a country "Arab", what does?

The Jews say, and rightly, that Palestine is the home of their religion. It
is likewise the birthplace of Christianity, but would any Christian nation
claim it on that account? In passing, let me say that the Christian
Arabs?and there are many hundreds of thousands of them in the Arab
World?are in absolute agreement with all other Arabs in opposing the
Zionist invasion of Palestine.

May I also point out that Jerusalem is, after Mecca and Medina, the holiest
place in Islam. In fact, in the early days of our religion, Moslems prayed
toward Jerusalem instead of Mecca. The Jewish "religious claim" to
Palestine is as absurd as the "historic claim." The Holy Places,
sacred to
three great religions, must be open to all, the monopoly of none. Let us
not confuse religion and politics.

We are told that we are inhumane and heartless because do not accept with
open arms the perhaps 200,000 Jews in Europe who suffered so frightfully
under Nazi cruelty, and who even now?almost three years after war's
end?still languish in cold, depressing camps. Let me underline several
facts. The unimaginable persecution of the Jews was not done by the Arabs:
it was done by a Christian nation in the West. The war which ruined Europe
and made it almost impossible for these Jews to rehabilitate themselves was
fought by the Christian nations of the West. The rich and empty portions of
the earth belong, not to the Arabs, but to the Christian nations of the
West.

And yet, to ease their consciences, these Christian nations of the West are
asking Palestine?a poor and tiny Moslem country of the East?to accept the
entire burden. "We have hurt these people terribly," cries the West
to the
East. "Won't you please take care of them for us?" We find
neither logic
nor justice in this. Are we therefore "cruel and heartless
nationalists" ?
We are a generous people: we are proud that "Arab hospitality" is a
phrase
famous throughout the world. We are a humane people: no one was shocked
more than we by the Hitlerite terror. No one pities the present plight of
the desperate European Jews more than we. But we say that Palestine has
already sheltered 600,000 refugees. We believe that is enough to expect of
us?even too much. We believe it is now the turn of the rest of the world to
accept some of them.

I will be entirely frank with you. There is one thing the Arab world simply
cannot understand. Of all the nations of the earth, America is most
insistent that something be done for these suffering Jews of Europe. This
feeling does credit to the humanity for which America is famous, and to
that glorious inscription on your Statue of Liberty. And yet this same
America?the richest, greatest, most powerful nation the world has ever
known?refuses to accept more than a token handful of these same Jews
herself! I hope you will not think I am being bitter about this. I have
tried hard to understand that mysterious paradox, and I confess I cannot.
Nor can any other Arab.

Perhaps you have been informed that "the Jews in Europe want to go to no
other place except Palestine." This myth is one of the greatest propaganda
triumphs of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, the organisation which
promotes with fanatic zeal the emigration to Palestine. It is a subtle
half-truth, thus doubly dangerous. The astounding truth is that nobody on
earth really knows where these unfortunate Jews really want to go! You
would think that in so grave a problem, the American, British, and other
authorities responsible for the European Jews would have made a very
careful survey, probably by vote, to find out where each Jew actually wants
to go. Amazingly enough this has never been done! The Jewish Agency has
prevented it.

Some time ago the American Military Governor in Germany was asked at a
press conference how he was so certain that all Jews there wanted to go to
Palestine. His answer was simple: "My Jewish advisors tell me so." He
admitted no poll had ever been made. Preparations were indeed begun for
one, but the Jewish Agency stepped in to stop it. The truth is that the
Jews in German camps are now subjected to a Zionist pressure campaign which
learned much from the Nazi terror. It is dangerous for a Jew to say that he
would rather go to some other country, not Palestine. Such dissenters have
been severely beaten, and worse.

Not long ago, in Palestine, nearly 1,000 Austrian Jews informed the
international refugee organisation that they would like to go back to
Austria, and plans were made to repatriate them. The Jewish Agency heard of
this, and exerted enough political pressure to stop it. It would be bad
propaganda for Zionism if Jews began leaving Palestine. The nearly 1,000
Austrian are still there, against their will.

The fact is that most of the European Jews are Western in culture and
outlook, entirely urban in experience and habits. They cannot really have
their hearts set on becoming pioneers in the barren, arid, cramped land
which is Palestine. One thing, however, is undoubtedly true. As matters
stand now, most refugee Jews in Europe would, indeed, vote for Palestine,
simply because they know no other country will have them.

If you or I were given a choice between a near-prison camp for the rest of
our lives?or Palestine?we would both choose Palestine, too.

But open up any other alternative to them?give them any other choice, and
see what happens! No poll, however, will be worth anything unless the
nations of the earth are willing to open their doors?just a little?to the
Jews. In other words, if in such a poll a Jew says he wants to go to
Sweden, Sweden must be willing to accept him. If he votes for America, you
must let him come in.

Any other kind of poll would be a farce. For the desperate Jew, this is no
idle testing of opinion: this is a grave matter of life or death. Unless he
is absolutely sure that his vote means something, he will always vote for
Palestine, so as not to risk his bird in the hand for one in the bush. In
any event, Palestine can accept no more. The 65,000 Jews in Palestine in
1918 have jumped to 600,000 today. We Arabs have increased, too, but not by
immigration. The Jews were then a mere 11 per cent of our population. Today
they are one third of it.

The rate of increase has been terrifying. In a few more years?unless
stopped now?it will overwhelm us, and we shall be an important minority in
our own home. Surely the rest of the wide world is rich enough and generous
enough to find a place for 200,000 Jews?about one third the number that
tiny, poor Palestine has already sheltered. For the rest of the world, it
is hardly a drop in the bucket. For us it means national suicide.

We are sometimes told that since the Jews came to Palestine, the Arab
standard of living has improved. This is a most complicated question. But
let us even assume, for the argument, that it is true. We would rather be a
bit poorer, and masters of our own home. Is this unnatural? The sorry story
of the so-called "Balfour Declaration, " which started Zionist
immigration
into Palestine, is too complicated to repeat here in detail. It is grounded
in broken promises to the Arabs?promises made in cold print which admit no
denying.

We utterly deny its validity. We utterly deny the right of Great Britain to
give away Arab land for a "national home" for an entirely foreign
people.
Even the League of Nations sanction does not alter this. At the time, not a
single Arab state was a member of the League. We were not allowed to say a
word in our own defense.

I must point out, again in friendly frankness, that America was nearly as
responsible as Britain for this Balfour Declaration. President Wilson
approved it before it was issued, and the American Congress adopted it word
for word in a joint resolution on 30(superscript: th) June, 1922. In the
1920s, Arabs were annoyed and insulted by Zionist immigration, but not
alarmed by it. It was steady, but fairly small, as even the Zionist
founders thought it would remain. Indeed for some years, more Jews left
Palestine than entered it?in 1927 almost twice as many.

But two new factors, entirely unforeseen by Britain or the League or
America or the most fervent Zionist, arose in the early thirties to raise
the immigration to undreamed heights. One was the World Depression; the
second the rise of Hitler. In 1932, the year before Hitler came to power,
only 9,500 Jews came to Palestine. We did not welcome them, but we were not
afraid that, at that rate, our solid Arab majority would ever be in danger.

But the next year?the year of Hitler?it jumped to 30,000! In 1934 it was
42,000! In 1935 it reached 61,000! It was no longer the orderly arrival of
idealist Zionists. Rather, all Europe was pouring its frightened Jews upon
us. Then, at last, we, too, became frightened. We knew that unless this
enormous influx stopped, we were, as Arabs, doomed in our Palestine
homeland. And we have not changed our minds.

I have the impression that many Americans believe the trouble in Palestine
is very remote from them, that America had little to do with it, and that
your only interest now is that of a humane bystander. I believe that you do
not realise how directly you are, as a nation, responsible in general for
the whole Zionist move and specifically for the present terrorism. I call
this to your attention because I am certain that if you realise your
responsibility you will act fairly to admit it and assume it.

Quite aside from official American support for the "National Home" of
the
Balfour Declaration, the Zionist settlements in Palestine would have been
almost impossible, on anything like the current scale, without American
money. This was contributed by American Jewry in an idealistic effort to
help their fellows. The motive was worthy: the result were disastrous. The
contributions were by private individuals, but they were almost entirely
Americans, and, as a nation, only America can answer for it.

The present catastrophe may be laid almost entirely at your door. Your
government, almost alone in the world, is insisting on the immediate
admission of 100,000 more Jews into Palestine?to be followed by countless
additional ones. This will have the most frightful consequences in bloody
chaos beyond anything ever hinted at in Palestine before.

It is your press and political leadership, almost alone in the world, who
press this demand. It is almost entirely American money which hires or buys
the "refugee ships" that steam illegally toward Palestine: American
money
which pays their crews. The illegal immigration from Europe is arranged by
the Jewish Agency, supported almost entirely by American funds. It is
American dollars which support the terrorists, which buy the bullets and
pistols that kill British soldiers?your allies?and Arab citizens?your
friends.

We in the Arab world were stunned to hear that you permit open
advertisements in newspapers asking for money to finance these terrorists,
to arm them openly and deliberately for murder. We could not believe this
could really happen in the modern world. Now we must believe it: we have
seen the advertisements with our own eyes. I point out these things because
nothing less than complete frankness will be of use. The crisis is too
stark for mere polite vagueness which means nothing.

I have the most complete confidence in the fair-mindedness and generosity
of the American public. We Arabs ask no favours. We ask only that you know
the full truth, not half of it. We ask only that when you judge the
Palestine question, you put yourselves in our place.

What would your answer be if some outside agency told you that you must
accept in America many millions of utter strangers in your midst?enough to
dominate your country?merely because they insisted on going to America, and
because their forefathers had once lived there some 2,000 years ago?

Our answer is the same.

And what would be your action if, in spite of your refusal, this outside
agency began forcing them on you?

Ours will be the same.

Challenge Shield 6 Promo

2009-01-13T21:12:00.003+08:00

The annual NUSMS Sports Event is back with a new twist! Instead of the traditional Soccer tournaments for men and Captain's Ball tornaments for the ladies, this year, mixed teams of 4 men and 4 women will compete in a variety of telematch games that will challenge your physical and mental strength.?

So come join us for a day of fun and get a chance to interact with students and youths not just from NUS, but also from other institutions and organisations as well.?

To sign up, please contact Walid (92781543 or zahlid@hotmail.com) or Shaza (96164170 shaza_amalina@hotmail.com)

Mentoring Anyone?

2009-01-11T11:42:00.002+08:00

An article about Madrasah Education, by our Brother Hasan.

Mentoring Anyone?
Hasanul Arifin

The aftermath of PSLE results in Madrasah schools, followed by nationwide publicity for APEX Irsyad mentors, has led to a wave of mentoring requests by individual madrasah schools, as well as the establishment of other mentoring platforms for madrasah students on campus.

While there is a positive sense of activism spreading throughout the campus among undergraduates, capacity-building platforms have yet to be established which would assist such dedicated activists to enrich and enlighten themselves to look at the problems in society at a deeper level. While undergrads are concerned about helping others, the same concern is not as apparent in helping the self so that they can help others.

What is it that is hindering madrasah students from performing as well as their secular counterparts in national exams? Is there a problem with madrasah students in the first place? If there is, would mentoring be the best possible solution in the long run?

Let us consider the various factors that may very well be the source of disappointment in madrasah schools academic achievements:

1) Philosophy of education
As mentioned in a previous article, the Islamic philosophy of education whose objective is to develop individuals in an Islamic sense, does not fit snugly in the secular national education's objective of developing citizens who would be able to contribute to the country's economy.

This is because the generation of asatizah from madrasah schools who come back from their studies in Islamic universities all around the world are not viewed as active contributors of the economy.

If such is the case, then is the flaw inherent in the secular viewpoint, who has a myopic vision and definition of 'contributors of the economy'? Or is the madrasah to be blamed for not aligning themselves to the secular philosophy of education?

We must be aware, that the primary objective of madrasah schools is to produce the replacement generation of religious leaders and teachers.

Why is it that the local Catholic seminaries and private Christian schools are not under the same limelight as much as the Madrasah schools are? Are there double standards in looking at each of these religious institution's objectives?

Wouldn't it be better if Singapore can produce its own generation of religious scholars and teachers who would understand the Singaporean context of living, instead of relying on other countries to do so? If Madrasah schools were to be closed, then obviously the above-mentioned objective of producing our own home-grown Islamic scholars and teachers can never be achieved.

Our nation's leaders have to consider the economic costs of crimes as well, if religious education is to be abandoned or to be viewed as of secondary importance. Because ultimately a good Muslim is a good citizen, although the other way round is not true.

As such, looking from a national and secular perspective, the role of the Madrasah schools is then to generate sufficient numbers of religious scholars and teachers so as to reduce the economic costs of crimes.

If the mentioned notion is to be treated as a premise and reason to keep Madrasah schools, then the responsibility and challenge of the madrasah schools would be to develop a new class of scholars and teachers who can connect with the masses and educate society effectively. As such, they must develop new methods, or revise traditional methods of teaching, and most importantly, to go beyond simply rhetorics!

If the above premises are to be rejected, then we may want to view the problem as a fundamental flaw in their curriculum.

2) The flaw in Madrasah Curriculum
Madrasah students are normal people too. Except for a gifted few, others have troubling grappling with the heavy and rigorous demands of a heavy curriculum. When madrasah schools fail to meet expectations, they always blame their heavy curriculum. However, it is quite contradictory that they are the ones who set the curriculum and syllabus themselves!

If we are to reject the notion that the objective of Madrasah schools are not to produce specialists in the realm of religious knowledge, then we must reconcile with the notion that the objective of the Madrasah schools are then to produce good Muslims who are good citizens, who can contribute to the country's definition of 'economy' (without considering the economic costs of crimes).

As such, we may want to revise the curriculum to meet the new objectives. As such, there would be a need to formulate a new approach to education, such that the religious fundamentals (fardhu ain) are not ignored, while maintaining a balanced focus on economically-viable subjects as defined by the state. It is also important to take note of the average student's learning capacity in developing a curriculum.

At first, it seems as if this discourse is negative because there seem to be a deviation from the true philosophy of Islamic education. However, looking at in from another perspective, this may actually pave way for other opportunities for Madrasah graduates. The opportunity that I am talking about is that the Madrasah schools can now act as platforms and catalysts for the Islamization of secular knowledge.

If the Madrasah schools are really serious in creating an 'Islamic learning environment', they must consider that the secular subjects such as physics, chemistry, biology, geography and other social sciences, must be taught from an Islamic worldview. For instance, if the teachings of science fail to consider the link to Tauhid Rububiyyah, Uluhiyyah and the nature of Wujudiyah of Allah, then they can consider themselves to have failed in creating a learning environment that is truly Islamic in essence.

Madrasah graduates have an edge over their Muslim counterparts in secular schools, because they may be better platforms for the sound education of fardhu ain subjects. It is hoped that with the goal of Islamization of knowledge in mind, they would be at the forefront of innovation in science, social science and financial sciences in an Islamic Worldview, that would tackle the problems of society that is increasingly disappointed by the effects of secularism and capitalism.

Mentoring Anyone?
While mentoring is indeed a positive approach towards assisting the Madrasah to fare better in national examinations, an equal amount of focus must be put into the development of mentors, who can be active contributors towards the overarching objective of the Islamization of knowledge.

Capacity-building platforms that promote intellectualism must be established to complement the activism of these mentors, so that they realize the roots of the problems of madrasahs - the need to reform not just the curricula and textbooks of the Madrasah, but to be aware of the true philosophy and objectives of Islamic education.

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The writer hopes that tertiary student organizations such as the NUS Muslim Society would be the intellectual capacity-building platform to develop the new generation of intellectual activists, who are academic innovators and devoted Muslim individuals, towards the end goal of the Islamization of secular knowledge.

Gaza...

2009-01-09T12:20:00.003+08:00

A short article thats been written by Robert Fisk from the newspaper 'The Independent'. Provided by Bro Azhar Yasin on NUS Muslim Soc Yahoogroups.

Robert Fisk: Why bombing Ashkelon is the most tragic irony

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

How easy it is to snap off the history of the Palestinians, to delete the narrative of their tragedy, to avoid a grotesque irony about Gaza which – in any other conflict – journalists would be writing about in their first reports: that the original, legal owners of the Israeli land on which Hamas rockets are detonating live in Gaza.

That is why Gaza exists: because the Palestinians who lived in Ashkelon and the fields around it – Askalaan in Arabic – were dispossessed from their lands in 1948 when Israel was created and ended up on the beaches of Gaza. They – or their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren – are among the one and a half million Palestinian refugees crammed into the cesspool of Gaza, 80 per cent of whose families once lived in what is now Israel. This, historically, is the real story: most of the people of Gaza don't come from Gaza.

But watching the news shows, you'd think that history began yesterday, that a bunch of bearded anti-Semitic Islamist lunatics suddenly popped up in the slums of Gaza – a rubbish dump of destitute people of no origin – and began firing missiles into peace-loving, democratic Israel, only to meet with the righteous vengeance of the Israeli air force. The fact that the five sisters killed in Jabalya camp had grandparents who came from the very land whose more recent owners have now bombed them to death simply does not appear in the story.

Both Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres said back in the 1990s that they wished Gaza would just go away, drop into the sea, and you can see why. The existence of Gaza is a permanent reminder of those hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who lost their homes to Israel, who fled or were driven out through fear or Israeli ethnic cleansing 60 years ago, when tidal waves of refugees had washed over Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War and when a bunch of Arabs kicked out of their property didn't worry the world.

Well, the world should worry now. Crammed into the most overpopulated few square miles in the whole world are a dispossessed people who have been living in refuse and sewage and, for the past six months, in hunger and darkness, and who have been sanctioned by us, the West. Gaza was always an insurrectionary place. It took two years for Ariel Sharon's bloody "pacification", starting in 1971, to be completed, and Gaza is not going to be tamed now.

Alas for the Palestinians, their most powerful political voice – I'm talking about the late Edward Said, not the corrupt Yassir Arafat (and how the Israelis must miss him now) – is silent and their predicament largely unexplained by their deplorable, foolish spokesmen. "It's the most terrifying place I've ever been in," Said once said of Gaza. "It's a horrifyingly sad place because of the desperation and misery of the way people live. I was unprepared for camps that are much worse than anything I saw in South Africa."

Of course, it was left to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to admit that "sometimes also civilians pay the price," an argument she would not make, of course, if the fatality statistics were reversed. Indeed, it was instructive yesterday to hear a member of the American Enterprise Institute – faithfully parroting Israel's arguments – defending the outrageous Palestinian death toll by saying that it was "pointless to play the numbers game". Yet if more than 300 Israelis had been killed – against two dead Palestinians – be sure that the "numbers game" and the disproportionate violence would be all too relevant. The simple fact is that Palestinian deaths matter far less than Israeli deaths. True, we know that 180 of the dead were Hamas members. But what of the rest? If the UN's conservative figure of 57 civilian fatalities is correct, the death toll is still a disgrace.

To find both the US and Britain failing to condemn the Israeli onslaught while blaming Hamas is not surprising. US Middle East policy and Israeli policy are now indistinguishable and Gordon Brown is following the same dog-like devotion to the Bush administration as his predecessor.

As usual, the Arab satraps – largely paid and armed by the West – are silent, preposterously calling for an Arab summit on the crisis which will (if it even takes place), appoint an "action committee" to draw up a report which will never be written. For that is the way with the Arab world and its corrupt rulers. As for Hamas, they will, of course, enjoy the discomfiture of the Arab potentates while cynically waiting for Israel to talk to them. Which they will. Indeed, within a few months, we'll be hearing that Israel and Hamas have been having "secret talks" – just as we once did about Israel and the even more corrupt PLO. But by then, the dead will be long buried and we will be facing the next crisis since the last crisis

Alas, it is indeed sad to know, that this side of the story is forgotten and completely ignored by the mainstream press.

Let us all make Dua for our brothers and sisters over in Gaza. Amin.

Public Lecture on Islamic Finance

2008-12-05T17:49:00.001+08:00

For more information on this public lecture on Islamic Finance, do visit the following website:
http://www.sawcentre.nus.edu.sg/events/2008/IslamicFinance/index.htm

Idul Adha Awareness Programme 08/09 -

2008-11-08T21:50:00.005+08:00

Salaam Alaik Brothers and Sisters!!!

In conjunction with Hari Raya Haji/Idul Adha in the month of December, NUS Muslim Society is organising:

Idul Adha Awareness Programme 08/09

Three main activities will be organised, aimed at increasing awareness about Idul Adha and its significance to Muslims. These programs are:

NUS Inter-Faith Group Idul Adha Immersion

This is aimed at allowing each faith groups to gain experience and unique insights into the activities held during this festive occasion, the reasons, and the significance of Idul Adha in Islam

Creating and Bridging bonds with our International Muslim Students

We would like to invite our International Muslim Students, to come join us, working hand in hand with our local students, in carrying out this important event in Islam. Don't miss this chance to build and strengthen our ukhwah with fellow brothers and sisters in NUS, and Tentera Mosque.

Purchasing of sheep for Aqiqah

With the momentous importance of Idul Adha in mind, NUS Muslim Society also plans to purchase a sheep/goat which cost around $293 inclusive 7% GST to contribute to this event. Therefore, we would like to involve the NUS Muslim student population by collecting any amount of contribution to make up the figure. These contributions will go towards the purchasing of the sheep/goat.

Any excess funds will be donated to the mosque.

Anyone who is interested to participate, volunteer or donate funds for the purchase of the sheep, please contact:

Ahmad Aizat Bin Rahmat: aizat@nusms.org.sg (98766753)

So come join us as together, we celebrate the occasion of Idul Adha

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

2008-11-04T13:44:00.004+08:00

Salaam Alaik'

This is kinda last minute, but if you guys are free come down for this talk by:

Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore

presents a panel discussion on

Terrorism and Ideology in Singapore

Panelists: Haslina Hassan, Ministry of Home Affairs; Ustaz Mohamed Feisal Mohamed Hassan, Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG)

Venue: Department of Malay Studies, Seminar Room,

Blk AS7, #04-13 (Shaw Foundation Building)

Date: 5^th November 2008

Time: 12 noon – 1.30 pm

** Lunch will be provided.

Abstract
The panel will discuss the relationship between terrorism and ideology. Among the topics to be covered are acts of terrorism committed by people of different racial and religious backgrounds, the current threat of terrorism to Singapore and the reasons that could cause a person to fall prey to terrorist ideology... Also to be discussed is the significant role that the local community is playing in countering the threat. The panel discussion will also cover the role of the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) in the rehabilitation of the Jemaah Islamiyyah (JI) and self-radicalised detainees in Singapore and in raising the community's awareness of the terrorists' misinterpretation of Islamic concepts. It will also highlight the elements of the JI's ideology and the RRG's rebuttals against them.

About the Speakers
Haslina Hassan is an officer from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Her work involves engaging the community on the threat of terrorist ideology and how the community can play a part in countering the threat.
Ustaz Mohamed Feisal Mohamed Hassan is a member of the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) Secretariat and the Religious Rehabilitation Counselors (RRC). He graduated from the International Islamic University Malaysia with an Honours in Philosophy. He obtained his MA in Islamic Thought from the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC), IIUM. His thesis is entitled "The Relevance of al-Ghazali's Doctrine of Al-Wasat (The Desired Balanced Middle Way) in Countering The Ideologies of Extremists with Special Reference to the Jemaah Islamiyyah in Singapore". He is currently based at Khadijah Mosque, Singapore.

Blog Design Revamp

2008-10-23T21:05:00.003+08:00

Assalamualaikum to all!

Thank you for visiting NUSM Garden Seekers Blog.

For your info, the blog is currently undergoing revamping period to serve you better. Hope to seek your patience and understanding in this matter.

Brace yourself for a fresh NEW NUSMS Blog look soon! (yes, very soon!)

By the meantime, do check back more often to find out more about our upcoming events that we have installed for you!

- Ariff

Islamic Science: Discussing selected issues in relation to Secular Science

2008-10-09T21:41:00.005+08:00

Theme: Islamic Science: Discussing selected issues in relation to Secular Science
Date and Time: 22 Oct 2008, 1830-2100 hrs
Venue: Yusof Ishak House Function Room
Speaker: Abdullah Othman

Mr Abdullah Othman is one of the few key speakers on Islamic Science in Singapore. After pursuing his undergraduate studies in Biology at the National University of Singapore, he decided to further his studies at a Masters level at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisational in Islamic Science, under the eminent contemporary thinker, Syed Naquib Al-Attas.

Mr Abdullah is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Malaya, pursuing Islamic Education Institution studies.

He is also the current director of Andalus Corporation Pte Ltd, Cordova Education Pte Ltd, Darul Andalus Pte Ltd and Institut Pengajian Tinggi Al-Zuhri which are important private centres of Islamic education offering courses from nursery up to diploma level.

Programme Itinerary
1830-1900 Registration of Participants and distribution of food packs and Chapter 3 of Syed
Naquib's Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam
1900-1915 Maghrib Prayers
1915-2030 Talk on Islamic Science by Abdullah Othman
2030-2100 Floor discussion and Q/A session

Spirituality Explored: Tiding Difficult Times With Prayer

2008-10-09T20:45:00.002+08:00

Theme: Spirituality Explored: Tiding Difficult Times With Prayer
Date and Time: 15 Oct 2008, 1830-2100 hrs
Venue: Yusof Ishak House Function Room
Speaker: Al-Fadhil Ustaz Iqbal Abdullah

Ustaz Iqbal Abdullah is a free-lance Muslim missionary who is actively involved in the dakwah scene. Being one of the few Ustaz in Singapore who can confortably give lectures in the English Language, Ustaz Iqbal is well known to an English-speaking audience locally and overseas.

Ustaz Iqbal embraced Islam in 1981, and upon completion of his A Levels, he pursued his Islamic education at the International Islamic University in Pakistan and Al-Azhar University, before being a student of the eminent Yemeni scholar, Syaikh Umar Al-Khatib, for 7 years.

He is currently the principal at Azizah Chisty Quranic Centre and also teaches at various mosques. His lectures include those that center on the fields of Islamic Jurisprudence, Quranic Exegesis, hadith, Quranic recital and Tajweed, Arabic Language and group reading of traditional and contemporary Arabic books on Islam. He is also an author of several books on Islam.

Programme Itinerary
1830-1900 Registration of Participants and distribution of food packs and reading materials
1900-1915 Maghrib Prayers
1915-1930 Quranic Recitation of selected verses led by Ustaz Iqbal
1930-2015 Tazkirah on "Tiding Difficult Times With Prayers" by Ustaz Iqbal
2015-2045 Floor Discussion, sharing and Q/A session
2045-2100 Isyak Prayers and Closing Dua by Ustaz Iqbal

Evenings with MS..

2008-10-06T22:35:00.008+08:00

Assalamualaikum,

On behalf on the Human Enrichment secretariat, NUSMS would like to invite you to our Da'wah talks on the 15th and 22nd of October 2008. Details of the talk is presented below:

Refreshments will be provided during the talk.

In addition, registrations are also open for the programmes that would be offered in the poster above. Further details of the programmes would be posted on this blog at a later date.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us at hasanul@nusms.org.sg, or alternatively at enrich@nusms.org.sg.

We look forward to your presence.

Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb.

Knowledge vs Wealth

2008-09-20T22:20:00.001+08:00

"A learned person is superior to a worshipper as the full moon is superior to all the stars. The scholars are heirs of the prophets and the prophets do not leave any inheritance in the shape of dirhams and dinars, but they do leave knowledge as their legacy. As such a person who acquires knowledge acquires his full share." [Abu Dawud and Tirmizi]

Knowledge is superior to wealth for ten reasons

Ali (RA) was once asked what was better: wealth or knowledge. He said, Knowledge is superior to wealth for ten reasons:

(1) Knowledge is the legacy of the prophets. Wealth is the inheritance of the Pharaohs. Therefore, knowledge is better than wealth.

(2) You have to guard your wealth but knowledge guards you. So knowledge is better.

(3) A man of wealth has many enemies while a man of knowledge has many friends. Hence knowledge is better.

(4) Knowledge is better because it increases with distribution, while wealth decreases by that act.

(5) Knowledge is better because a learned man is apt to be generous while a wealthy person is apt to be miserly.

(6) Knowledge is better because it cannot be stolen while wealth can be stolen.

(7) Knowledge is better because time cannot harm knowledge, but wealth rusts in course of time and wears away.

(8) Knowledge is better because it is boundless while wealth is limited and you can keep account of it.

(9) Knowledge is better because it illuminates the mind while wealth is apt to blacken it.

(10) Knowledge is better because knowledge induced the humanity in our Prophet to say to Allah, "We worship Thee as we are Your servant," while wealth engendered in Pharaoh and Nimrod the vanity which made them claim Godhead.

Resource:http://www.islamicity.com/articles/articles.asp?ref=IC0602-2913&p=1

Do check the resource for more enlightenment :) May success be upon those who seek Lailatul Qadr

Ayat al Kursi- آية الكرسي -the Verse of the Throne

2008-09-10T23:42:00.003+08:00

Ayat al-Kursi is verse 255 of the second chapter (Surah) of the Holy Quran, Surat al-Baqarah (The Chapter of the Cow)Below is the Arabic text, the transliteration, and the English translation and then some of the benefits of reciting this verse, the Verse of the Throne:

اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ لاَ تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلاَ نَوْمٌ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلاَ يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلاَّ بِمَا شَاءَ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ وَلاَ يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ

Allahu la ilaha illa huwa, Al -Haiyul-Qaiyum La ta'khudhuhu sinatun wa la nawm lahu ma fi as-samawati wa ma fil-'ard Man dhal-ladhi yashfa'u 'indahu illa bi-idhnihi Ya'lamu ma bayna aydihim wa ma khalfahum wa la yuhituna bi shai'in min 'ilmihi illa bima sha'a Wasi'a kursiyuhus-samawati wal ard wa la ya'uduhu hifdhuhuma wa Hu wal 'Aliyul-Adheem

The translation: "Allah! There is no god but He - the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him Nor Sleep. His are all things In the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede In His presence except As he permitteth? He knoweth What (appeareth to His creatures As) Before or After or Behind them. Nor shall they compass Aught of his knowledge Except as He willeth. His throne doth extend Over the heavens And on earth, and He feeleth No fatigue in guarding And preserving them, For He is the Most High. The Supreme (in glory)."[Surah al-Baqarah 2: 255]

Vitrues of reciting Ayat al Kursi
Ubayy bin Ka'b (radiAllahu anhu) reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Abu Mundhir! Do you know which Ayah in Allah's Book is the greatest? I said: 'Allah and His messenger know best.' He (peace be upon him) again said: 'Do you know which Ayah in Allah's Book, according to you, is the greatest?' I (Abu Mundhir) replied: ‘It is 'Allah la ilaha illa Huwal-Hayyul-Qayyum'.[2:255].Thereupon he (peace be upon him) patted me in the chest and said, ' Rejoice by your knowledge, O Abu Mundhir! (i.e, may this knowledge be a source of respect, honour and benefit to you)'.

"Asma' bint Yazid (radiAllahu anhu) reported, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say about these two following Ayahs, i.e, verses: "Allah! There is no god but He - the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. [2:255], And, Alif Lam Mim, Allah! There is no god but He - the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal [3:1-2], That they contain Allah's Greatest Name."[Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal in his Musnad]

It was narrated that Abu Umamah Al-Bahili (radiAllahu anhu) said: The Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: "Whoever recites Ayat al-Kursi immediately after each prescribed Prayer, there will be nothing standing between him and his entering Paradise except death." [an-Nasa'i, Ibn Hibban, ibn Sunni, at-Tabarani, ibn Hibban - Sahih]

Abu Dhar (radiAllahu anhu) said; O Messenger of Allah, what is the greatest thing that has been revealed to you?’ He said, Ayat al-Kursi, 'Allah! La ilaha illa Huwa' [an-Nasa'i]When you lie down in your bed, recite ayat al-Kursi, Allah! La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists… [al-Baraqah 2:255] until the end of the ayah, then you will have a protector from Allah and no shaytan (devil) will come near you until morning comes[Sahih al-Bukhari]

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah (RadiAllahu anhu) that the Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: "In Surat Al-Baqarah there is a verse which is the best of all the verses of the Qur’an. It is never recited in a house but Shaitan leaves: Ayat Al-Kursi." Everything has its pinnacle and the pinnacle of the Qur’an is Surah al-Baqarah. In it there is an ayah which is the greatest in the Qur’an: Ayat al-Kursi[at-Tirmidhi]

It is reported by way of Abu Hurairah (radiAllahu anhu) that someone used to come upon him and take from the charity – which the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) had made him guardian over – night after night, so on the third night, he said: "I will report you to the Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), the man said: 'Let me teach you some phrases with which Allah will cause you benefit’ – they were very eager for good – so he said: 'When you go to, read Ayat al-kursi (Verse 255 of Surah Al-Baqarah) completely, for there is still upon you from Allah a guardian, and no shaitan can get close to you until you enter upon morning.' Then he (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: "He told you the truth and he is a liar, (that was a shaitan). [Sahih Al-Bukhari]Ali ibn abu Talib (RadiAllahu anhu) narrates, "I cannot understand how a person, who is a Muslim, and owner of reason (intellect) can spend the night without reading Ayat al Kursi. If you knew the benefits of it, then you will never discard it under any condition"

Abdullah bin Mas'ud (radiAllahu anhu) narrates that a person said to Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam): "O Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), teach me something through which Allah I will give me benefit." He said: "Continue reciting Ayatul Kursi. This will be a means of protection for you, your children and even those houses which are near your house.

It is reported by at-Tabarani that the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: "The one who recites Ayat al-kursi after the conclusion of an obligatory prayer, he is under the care of Allah until the next prayer commences."[at-Tabaraani’s At Targheeb wat-Tarheeb (2:435)]

Taken from http://www.sufispot.com/search/label/ayat-al-kursi

Unity

2008-09-05T19:57:00.002+08:00

One of the main factors that lead to the rise of this Ummah is its unity and that’s why Islam has organized our lives in a way that maintains this unity and develops it. This is a Divine Law "If you are united, you will become powerful". The non-Muslims discovered this Divine Law and they have applied it, which in turn lead to their rise and power. Look around you and read the names: The European Union, The United Kingdom, The United States of America, Euro, Shengen (Europe-wide traveling visa) etc. They have applied the Law of Unity. But because they have neglected other Divine Laws, like faith in Allah for example, their power is only temporary, and they are already overwhelmed with different internal problems and weaknesses. You must apply the whole system, the whole matrix of Divine Laws, and only then will you be able to lead the whole world to prosperity, security, and happiness.

Unity is demonstrated in Islam at four different levels:

1- The level of the Ummah: Wake up Muslims!! We are ONE Ummah, and we worship ONE GOD. It doesn't matter if your father is from China or if you mother is from Jamaica, we are one body, one entity, ONE Ummah! Allah the Almighty says: "Verily, this community of yours is a single community, and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore serve Me (and no other)" (21:92).

2- The level of the Country: Love for one's country does not contradict with one's loyalty to the Ummah or to one's Faith in Allah. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) demonstrated this form of bonding when he was migrating from Mecca to Medina. With Mecca now behind him, he looked back and said, "Oh Mecca, how much I love you, and if your people did not drive me out of you, I would have never lived in any other place."

3- The level of the Neighborhood: Neighborhood ties are very important in Islam, to the extent that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "Jibreel kept on telling me to take care of my neighbors and strengthen my relationship with them until I thought that they would inherit me."

4- The level of the Family: The importance of uterine relationships (Silat Al-Arham) and family ties are constantly referred to in the Quran, and they form a small-scale level of domestic unity.

Now what have we done with these levels of unity? First it started with drifting away from the sense of unity with the rest of our Ummah. How many of us actually feel the bond that is supposed to exist with our brothers and sisters in Western China or in Turkey. How many of us even think of them? Ask your friends how they feel about the Ummah. How many of them will ask you "What? Ummah? What is that supposed to mean?” We have destroyed the first level of our unity and therefore we started to drift away from each other. Then comes the sense of belonging to one's country. How many of us actually feel that they love their countries (of course aside from supporting it during international sport events)? How many of us have feelings of patriotism? Many of us have no idea about these feelings. How many Muslims when living in a foreign country try to avoid contact with their brothers from the same country fearing that they might be a burden on him. There goes the second level of unity.

Look at our neighborhoods, how many neighbors living in your building do you know by name? How is your relationship with them? Is there mutual care and trust or is there isolation and avoidance? O Muslims have you forgotten how important your relationship with your neighbor is in Islam? We have even lost our third level of unity. Sadly, the final level of unity in Islam was not in a better case than those mentioned before. Look at our families, how many of us actually sit with their parents and talk with them and benefit from their experiences? How many of us feel eager to be with their parents? How is your family? How often do you get together? If you live away from them, how often do you call? Is your family really still united? You know, that was our last level of unity we just lost.

O Muslims, what then do you expect??? We did not obey the Divine Law! We lost every single level of unity and therefore there was no escape from the result, a terrible decline in all aspects of society. We need to build those bridges once again. We have to unity again on each of these four levels! Enough selfishness because its killing us! Enough thinking only about yourself because its suicide! Wake Up Muslims! We Are ONE Body! ONE Ummah! We Need Each Other!!

How Islam promotes Unity: All Islamic rituals help maintain and develop unity amongst Muslims. We pray five times a day, preferably in congregation so that everyone living on the same street, working in the same place, or studying at the same school could get together in a straight line and pray to their Lord. Then there is a weekly gathering for the whole neighborhood during the Friday Prayer (Jumuah), this helps maintain the neighborhood's unity. Another larger scale of unity maintenance and development is during the month of Ramadan. All Muslims around the world spend the same month fasting. In a single city they cease from eating and start eating at the same time. This is another form of unity. And of course, there is the Pilgrimage (Hajj), the manifestation of Muslim unity. Muslims from all around the globe come to same place, wearing the same clothes, worshiping the same God, repeating the same sentence, walking in the same direction at the same time, having the same goal, and getting the same reward. It’s unity at its highest levels. See how Islam helps us maintain and develop our unity? And see how separated we are today?

During the Battle of the Trench, the Muslims were racing against time trying to finish digging a trench that would prevent the entry of some 10,000 Pagans into Medina in order to fight them. The Muslims were experiencing great hunger so they used to put a rock in a cloth and tie it around their abdomen so that the rock would press against their stomach and give it a sense of fullness. On the other hand, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was tying two rocks against his stomach. When Jaber ibn Abdullah (rAa) saw this he ran to his wife and asked her what food they had. She replied saying that all they had was one chicken and some bread. So Jaber went to the Prophet and secretly invited him alone to his house for some food.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) looked at him and asked, "Alone Jaber? You want me to come to your house and eat alone?" So Jaber replied saying that there was only a very little amount of food, but the Messenger of Allah only repeated, "Alone Jaber? Alone? I was never to eat alone when the rest of the Believers are hungry." This is how the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) felt towards the rest of the community. They were one body. This feeling of unity and care about his people is also manifested in his constant plead to Allah. He would cry, "O Allah, my Ummah, my Ummah." He constantly asked Allah to mercy us. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) wasn't living for himself, he was living for us also, and for all of humanity.

All immigrations throughout history lead to tensions that most of the times turned violent between the native inhabitants and the immigrants. This is clearly demonstrated between the Europeans and the Native Americans in North America, the Turks and the Germans in Germany, as well as many other examples. The only immigration that was totally peaceful was the one the Muslims of Mecca made to Medina. A Muslim from Medina would take his brother coming from Mecca into his house and literally split the house into two by building a wall in the middle. He would give the immigrant, willingly, half of his wealth and possessions.

Can you imagine the extent of unity that these people were experiencing? That's how we should try to be, enough selfishness, enough living just for yourself. Make a promise today; “I won't live for myself anymore. I belong to this Ummah and I will live for it!” Do you want to practice that? Do you want to start building those bridges of unity? Go home, hug and kiss your parents, or pick up the phone and call them. Ask Allah to flourish your family ties and bless you with mercy amongst one another. Invite your neighbors over and rebuild those bridges! We got lots of work to do, but at least we have a clear path ahead of us. We’re learning the Divine Laws that control the rise of our Ummah, so lets apply them!!

A Beautiful Teacup

2008-09-02T20:38:00.002+08:00

Taken from http://www.sufispot.com/2008/05/sufi-story-tests-in-life-beautiful.html

Life is full of moments that pass us by. Sometimes we hardly notice when something really significant is happening and at other times we catch hold of it and learn and grow from it. These stories are everyday occurences that perhaps each one of us has faced at some time, they all hold some truth; some lessons that we can benefit from InshAllah!

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked

antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke.

"You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me alone', but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. Stop it! I'm getting dizzy! I screamed. But the master only nodded and said,'Not yet.'

Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'

Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better', I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'

Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and I couldn't believe it was me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.''

I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up.

I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked.

I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any colour in your life.

And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you'.

Allah knows what He's doing for all of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will, which we can never escape.

Strange are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he thanks (God), thus there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble and shows resignation (and endures it patiently), there is a good for him in it~~~

It's strange how the seemingly unimportant things in life can often prove to be significant trials~~~*Allahumma inna na'oodhoo bika min ilmin laa yanfa'O Allah, we seek your protection from knowledge that brings no benefit... wa min qalbin laa yakhsha'and from a heart which does not fear you... wa min 'aynin laa tadma'and from an eye which does not tear...wa min dua'aain laa yusma'and from a dua which is not heard... Ameen

May Allah (S.W.T) bring you out of the darkness of illusion into the light of knowledge, adorn your manners with gentleness, and grant you deeds that are accepted in HIS Presence. AmeenInnaAllah ma'as sabireen

Fountains Of Noor Team

The Islamic Worldview - Syed Naquib Al-Attas

2008-08-27T00:13:00.004+08:00

From the Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam:

From the perspective of Islam, a ‘worldview’ is not merely the mind’s view of the physical world and of man’s historical, social, political and cultural involvement in it as reflected, for example, in the current Arabic expression of the idea formulated in the phrase naẓrat al-islam li al-kawn.

It is incorrect to refer to the worldview of Islam as a naẓrat alislam li al-kawn. This is because, unlike what is conveyed by naẓrat, the worldview of Islam is not based upon philosophical speculation formulated mainly from observation of the data of sensible experience, of what is visible to the eye; nor is it restricted to kawn, which is the world of sensible experience, the world of created things. If such expressions are now in use in Arabic in contemporary Muslim thought, it only demonstrates that we are already being unduly influenced by the modern, secular Western scientific conception of the world that is restricted to the world of sense and sensible experience.

Islam does not concede to the dichotomy of the sacred and the profane; the worldview of Islam encompasses both al-dunyā and al-ākhirah, in which the dunyā-aspect must be related in a profound and inseparable way to the ākhirah-aspect, and in which the ākhirah-aspect has ultimate and final significance. The dunyā-aspect is seen as a preparation for the ākhirah-aspect. Everything in Islam is ultimately focused on the ākhirah-aspect without thereby implying any attitude of neglect or being unmindful of the dunyā-aspect. Reality is not what is often ‘defined’ in modern Arabic dictionaries as wāqicīyyah, whose use, particularly in its grammatical form wāqicīy, is now in vogue.

Reality is ḥaqīqah, which significantly is now seldom used due to the preoccupation with wāqicīyyah which only points to factual occurrences. A factual occurrence is only one aspect in many of ḥaqīqah, whose ambit encompasses all of reality. Moreover, a factual occurrence may be an actualization of something false (i.e. bāṭil); whereas reality is the actualization always of something true (i.e. ḥaqq). What is meant by ‘worldview’, according to the perspective of Islam, is then the vision of reality and truth that appears before our mind’s eye revealing what existence is all about; for it is the world of existence in its totality that Islam is projecting. Thus by ‘worldview’ we must mean rucyyāt al-islam li al-wujūd.

The Islamic vision of reality and truth, which is a metaphysical survey of the visible as well as the invisible worlds including the perspective of life as a whole...

NUS Muslim Society's Annual General Meeting

2008-08-13T10:20:00.001+08:00

Assalamualaikum wr wb, to all NUSMS members and friends.

You are cordially invited to NUS Muslim Society's Annual General Meeting. The details are as follows:

Day/Date: Friday, 15 August 2008
Venue: PGP Auditorium
Time: 7.30 pm (Light refreshments will be served at 7.00pm. Mass Maghrib prayers will start at 7.20pm.)

Your presence is greatly appreciated.

Thank you and regards,
NUSMS 44th Executive Committee

Financial Literacy Talk

2008-08-11T08:55:00.000+08:00

Islamic Intellectualism

2008-08-06T08:50:00.000+08:00

Islamic Intellectualism
by Murad Wilfried Hofmann
(Thursday, November 13, 2003)

:: Islamic intellectual history as guidance for Islam in the 21st century ::

It is risky enough to predict the future, never mind to do so without first looking at the past. It is from the patterns and lessons of history, that we can form assumptions about the future. This being so, several valuable deductions can be made from Islamic history.

First Thesis:

Islamic history has always had an intellectual component. In the Qur'an, Allah (subhanahu wa Ta‘ala) instructs people to observe, ponder, reflect, and use rationality to understand the world and their position in it. The Qur’an is the only “holy” script that makes such an appeal, and consequently, from its inception, Islam has been a rational religion par excellence.

Second Thesis:

Islam, from the beginning, encouraged and demanded intellectual activity and training. Islam is a religion, not a philosophy, and Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was a Messenger, not a theology professor.

Nevertheless, Islam demanded and demands intellectual activities. Early on, these activities mainly took the form of collecting, scrutinizing, and systematizing the Revelation and the prophetic tradition, the Sunnah. In this context, Hasan al Basri, Malik b. Anas, Ibn Ishaq, al-Bukhari, at-Tabari and others developed historiography, linguistics and jurisprudence to unprecedented levels.

In the Islamic civilizations of Damascus, Baghdad, Lahore, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, al-Fustat, Kairouan, and Fez, Muslims became the custodians of the Greek intellectual miracle. Furthermore, they developed and innovated the classical heritage, ultimately producing their own unique, intellectual tradition. The European intellectual exploits of the Renaissance would have been unthinkable without Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, al-Biruni, al-Khawarizmi, ar-Razi, lbn al-Haytham, Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun.

It would be a mistake to claim that people like Ibn Hanbal, al-Ash‘ari, Ibn Hazm and Ibn Taymiyya were not intellectual because they arrived at orthodox conclusions and opinions. Ibn Hanbal did try to protect Muslim doctrine from Greek philosophy. Al-Ash‘ari, through his radical critic of epistemology, did deny the feasibility of metaphysical deductions. Ibn Hazm did reject the utility of qiyas and tafsir in certain situations. Ibn Tayrniyya did abhor that Neo-Platonism and Gnosticism had gained a foothold within Islam via Sufi circles. Nevertheless, they all employed intellectual analyses to arrive at their conclusions and opinions, thus perpetuating the intellectual tradition of Islam.

Western Orientalists are wrong to insinuate that Islam ever was monolithic. Rather, it was pluralistic in practice and intellectual thought. Except for tawhid and the finality of the prophethood of Muhammad, almost everything, including the modalities of the other four pillars of faith, was open to discussion. Within Islamic Jurisprudence, half a dozen schools of law (madhahib) not only developed, but, also, as in Makkah, taught simultaneously, an intellectual feat unknown to any other system of law.

The notion of taqlid --in and of itself not at all irrational--did considerable damage by stifling innovation even outside of ‘aqida, ‘ibada and mu‘amalat . Nevertheless, during the reign of taqlid , the Muslim world never stopped developing intellectually as exemplified by Ibn ‘Arabi, al-Sirhindi, Shah Waliullah, and Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab.

In philosophy, intellectual battles were fierce. This is clear when one reads al-Ghazali’s devastating critique of philosophy (At-Tahafut al-Falsafiya ) and the equally opinionated reply by Ibn Rushd (At-Tahafut at-Tahafut ). How refreshing and how reassuring that diversity of opinion, as our Prophet put it, can be a blessing. Needless to say, if Ibn Rushd lived and wrote today, some contemporary Muslim fanatic would probably stifle his views in the name of Allah.

Third Thesis:

Lack of pluralism means decadence. Islam has always been pluralistic. The conflicts between A‘isha and ‘Ali, Mu‘awiyya and ‘Ali, and ‘Ali and the Kharijiyya were not only intense, but bloody. So were the conflicts between ‘Ummayds and ‘Abbasides, the Mutazila and Ash‘ariyya, Sunnis and Shi‘is, ‘Ibadi and ‘Alawi Muslims, not to mention the bloody suppression of Sufi extremism in the case of al-Hallaj. These attempts to make Islam monolithic resulted not only in the destruction of much intellectual pluralism; they, also, ushered in a phase of decadence from which we have only recently begun to awake.

Muslim decadence, also, resulted from other causes, including the cultural devastations wrought by the Mongol onslaught and the Catholic Reconquista in Spain. Political and economic insecurity drove Muslims underground intellectually. Religion was privatized, popularized, and made rigid in the most marginal details. In this way, Islam managed to survive both Western and Soviet colonization. This is the good news. The bad news, however, is that in this defensive mode Islam became politically irrelevant and almost Talmudic in its over-legalization. In the process, Sufism, too, degenerated into a folksy sort of Islam whose original spiritualism was ritualized.

Another contributing factor to Islamic decadence was political oppression. Despotism, and the suppression of religious critique by despotic rulers, became and remained the rule in the Islamic world. By developing their own administrative penal law (at ta’zir ), the rulers emancipated themselves, not only from their ‘ulama , but also from the shari’ah itself. Censorship turned into dependency until finally, in the 2Oth century, the ‘ulama were rejected by the Islamic movements of the youth.

This being the past what is the present?

For the first time ever, the contemporary world has been culturally colonized by a single civilization, the Occident. This process, under way since the late Renaissance, found its intellectual bearings in the European Enlightenment, also known as Project Modernity. Having origins in Europe and perpetuation in America, Occidental thought, technology, products and mores dominate the globe. The world has come to use one language, English. Neither Greek, Latin nor Arabic ever came close to this feat.

Since superior civilizations always spread, this is not wholly peculiar, except in scope. What is peculiar, devastatingly so, is that the Occidental ideology, the first ideology based primarily on atheistic assumptions, is becoming global as well. Kant's critique of metaphysics and his dismantling of the proofs of God, Marx’s defamation of religion as “opiate for the people," and the ruthless Social-Darwinism propagated by Nietzsche are now common currency, as has been proven by the disasters of WWI, Stalinism, the Holocaust, WWII, Maoism, and ethnic cleansing.

The modern scene is, however, also characterized by post-Newtonian Physics, ushered in by Planck, Einstein, Hahn, and Heisenberg; new mathematics, ushered in by Frege; new microbiology and medicine; and new communications technology.

This being the present, what is the future of Islam in the 21st century?

First Assumption:

Given the communications revolution, Islam, always intended to be universal, will become universal.

Second Assumption:

English will become Islam’s main language for da’wah .

Third Assumption:

Muslim scholarship will move west. Scientists always seek environments conducive to their research, and this gives an enormous advantage to places where academic freedom is guaranteed and where one is not persecuted for publishing unwelcome views. There has already been an exodus of qualified Muslim scientists to Europe, the U.S. and Canada. In 1999, the first Nobel Prize in natural sciences conferred on a Sunni Muslim, was given to an Egyptian working in Germany and the U.S.

Fourth Assumption:

Lay intellectuals will become increasingly important. In the past, the corruptibility of some ‘ulama and their marriage with governments lead to the prominence of lay reformers. Al-Afghani, Hassan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, Muhammad Asad, Allama Mohammad Iqbal, Abul-Ala Maududi, Abbas Madani and other leaders of Islamic movements were not products of traditional ‘ulama training. This trend is bound to grow, restoring to Islam the ideal of a religion free from sacramental clergy and an institutionalized “church.”

Fifth Assumption:

Muslims will produce “Occidentalists.” In the time of the Prophet, Muslims had access to Jews and Christians, and knowledge about other monotheistic religions was locally available. Later this changed, and the Occident and Orient grew apart. Christian Orientalists, ever since John of Damascus, started to defame Islam. Muslims lacked Christian specialists until the 20th century when Christians started to convert to Islam in large numbers.

Sixth Assumption:

Muslims will tackle the Sunnah issue. Muslims obviously don't have a Qur'an problem, but they do have a Sunnah problem. Goldziher, Margoliuth and Schacht were not justified in being sweepingly skeptical, but they were, also, not entirely wrong in asserting that parts of the body of ahadith are questionable. Dr. Fazlur Rahman, in his book Islamic Methodology in History, identified a major cause of this when he pointed out that from the time of al-Shafi‘i, Muslims felt obliged to project the entire living Sunnah back to the Prophet. Equipped with new methodologies for historical critique, including computer-based linguistic analysis, 21st century Muslim intellectuals should be able to reestablish maximum authenticity for most of the Sunnah.

Seventh Assumption:

If the Sunnah challenge is met, Muslim intellectuals will develop convincing models, ones that include human and women’s rights, for an Islamic State and economy. Since Prophet Muhammad dictated the Constitution of Madinah, Muslims rarely had to make an intellectual effort to cope with issues of state and government. Al-Mawardi and Nizam al-Mulk are cases in point. Today's intellectuals face a different challenge. They must develop, from scratch, the theoretical bases of an Islamic “democracy,” i.e. a state that is neither a theocracy in the Shi‘i sense, a monarchy, or a community without shari’ah. They must tackle the challenge of integrating Western notions of human rights into the framework of Islamic jurisprudence. Part of this challenge involves restoration of women’s rights worldwide and reinterpretation of Qur’an 4:3, 4:34, and 2:228.

Eighth Assumption:

Muslim intellectuals will develop guidance for Muslim dhimmi. The presence of millions of Muslims in non-Muslim countries is a new problem in Islamic history. Only India, under British rule, experienced a problem of this magnitude. These Muslims need to know how to behave under non-Muslim law, especially on issues of marriage, divorce, inheritance, burial, halal slaughtering and riba . We need nothing less than a madhhab for dhimmi Muslims.

Ninth Assumption:

Western intellectual Muslims will develop new modes of da’wah. For 200 years, the Muslim world has experienced the military, industrial and commercial consequences of the Age of Reason, without understanding Western rationalism, scientism, and progressiveness. Today, due to colonial education and Muslim immigration to the West, we have a growing number of Muslim intellectuals who can understand Western ideology on its own ground and by its own rules. These intellectuals are equipped to dismantle the fundamental delusions of Enlightenment rationalism and its over-confidence in the rationality, maturity, and independence of man. In other words, through understanding the Western ideology, they can dethrone “sovereign” man and reinstall faith in God in full accordance with the foundational assumptions of modern philosophy and science. Muslim intellectuals must start from Descartes, Kant, Hume and Comte, but avoid arriving at Marx, Darwin, Freud and Nietzsche. Their task is to reground faith by pointing out the irrationality of atheism; the ambivalence of agnosticism; and the probability and plausibility of the existence of God, i.e. the rationality of faith.

Tenth Assumption:

Muslim intellectuals will stop acting apologetically. This necessarily presupposes the existence of, and in turn will produce, Muslim intellectuals who are assertive and proactive, rather than apologetic and reactive.

Eleventh Assumption:

Muslim intellectuals need to be intellectuals. Muslim intellectuals have a very special role to play, but this does not mean they all must become activists. On the contrary! It would be a major contribution toward the expansion of Islam if a Muslim intellectual did no more than quietly demonstrate that one can be a successful academic and, simultaneously, a convinced and practicing Muslim. The importance of this is witnessed by a common reaction that myself and other Muslim reverts receive: "How can one of us, obviously well educated and not stupid, opt for that religion!”

Twelfth Assumption:

Islam will become the dominant religion of the 21st century. If my first eleven assumptions are correct, my final assumption is that, Allah willing, thanks to the impact of Muslim intellectuals, Islam may well become the dominant religion of the 21st century, at least in North America and parts of Europe, with enormous repercussions for the rest of the globe.

Money Matters

2008-07-31T22:51:00.002+08:00

MS Invites You!

2008-07-24T18:56:00.001+08:00

For those who have been with us this past year...
Who have supported us in any way...
WE THANK YOU!

For those who are new...
The freshmen taking their baby steps into the tertiary world...
WE WELCOME YOU!

To all of you...
Young or old...
Freshmen or graduating seniors...
YOU are invited to NUSMS' final event this academic year...

NUS MUSLIM SOCIETY APPRECIATES AND WELCOMES!!

Where we appreciate our senior members and welcome our new ones...

Join us, as we look back to the previous year and reminisce, while looking forward to the new academic year to come...

Get to know more about the Muslim Society, interact with juniors and seniors from all walks of life, all kinds of faculties, and even, different countries..

08/08/08
Prince George's Park Residence, Function Room 1
6PM

See you soon :)

NUSMS 44th Eecutive Committee
Academic Year 2007/2008

__._,_.___

The Importance of the Intellectual Struggle Against Darwinism

2008-07-24T18:44:00.003+08:00

Harun Yahya

Darwinism, by arguing that life and the entire universe are the work of blind chance, is easily the most dangerous ideology confronting us today. It formed the basis of all harmful movements, including communism and fascism, devastating mankind. Despite its scientific refutation time and again there are still those who seek to keep Darwinism alive purely for ideological reasons.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing when it comes to Darwinism. People equipped with factual or analytical want of the discussion, unaware of the grave danger that it actually represents, unaware of the terrible social and moral disasters the theory of evolution has brought with it, unaware of the damage wreaked by Darwinist thinking over the last century and a half, may also look down on such a vital intellectual struggle against it. By denying the existence and oneness of God and the responsibility of each man and woman to Him, Darwinism prepares the groundwork for destruction by indoctrinating people with the idea that human beings are irresponsible products of blind chance and are no more than yet another species of animals.

The most obvious heritage of the dominance of Darwinism and its symbiotic partner, the materialist philosophy, radically is the distorted answer to the fundamental question, “what is man?”. Some people who would previously have answered “man is a being created by God to live by the moral values revealed by Him,” have now, as a result of deceptive indoctrination, fallen into the erroneous thought “man came into being by chance, and is an animal that developed through the struggle for survival.” There is a grave price attached to such a grave error in thinking, from which ruthless ideologies such as racism, fascism or communism, as all violent worldviews, have been feeding.

Darwinist Thinking Lies at the Root of All Harmful Ideologies

A look at the general history of the 20th century, a period of war, conflict, anarchy and chaos, and thus of terrible human suffering, should be enough to realize disastrous results of Darwinism. In the last century millions of people were killed, slaughtered, abandoned to starvation and death, and left neglected, homeless and defenseless by the same perverted ideologies, and all for nothing. Millions more were subjected to inhuman treatment that should not even be inflicted on animals. Ruthless dictators with Darwinist mindsets led vast masses of people into conflict, turned brother against brother, ignited wars, initiated bombings, brainwashed masses, and by placing guns in the hands of the ignorant caused countless deaths of men and women and the young and the old.

Fascism and communism head the list of these ideologies that cast such a shadow over mankind. On the surface they appear to be movements that are diametrically opposite seeking to destroy one another. Yet these ideologies are all fed and draw strength from the common intellectual source—the materialist philosophy and its natural sciences version, Darwinism—which pay the service of attracting vast masses of people into their ranks.

Shortly after it was first put forward, the theory of evolution expanded beyond such fields as biology and paleontology, and began exerting an influence in many other spheres, from human relations to historical interpretation, from politics to social dynamics. In particular, when the Darwinist falsehood “nature is the arena of struggle and conflict” was applied to society, a supposedly scientific guise was bestowed on Hitler’s master race perversion, Marx’s error that the history of man is nothing but a “class conflict,” the capitalist view that “the strong grow stronger by crushing the weak,” the ruthless exploitation of third world countries by imperialist nations, and the racist attacks and discrimination to which people of different color are still subjected today. Those who regarded human beings merely as an advanced species of animal kingdom had no qualms about trampling on others in order to elevate themselves, eliminating the sick and weak, or slaughtering races they regarded as different and inferior. Because their theories, with their scientific masks, tell them that their acts were a “law of nature.”

As we have seen, Darwinism, the social harm wreaked by which many people are unaware of, has inflicted terrible disasters on mankind. The theory of evolution, which is devoid of any scientific evidence and goes no further than being an outdated dogma, is still blindly supported today solely for the sake of propagating atheism, despite the lack of any scientific findings to back it up.

Terrorism Can Be Eradicated through the Intellectual Elimination of Darwinism

Everyone knows what a horror terrorism is; yet most people are unaware that its ideological foundation is no other than Darwinism.

It is clear that the falsehood that “man is a fighting animal,” inculcated in people’s subconscious minds by Darwinism, is a highly influential one. Darwinism sets out a worldview and a method. The basic concept underlying this worldview and method is “conflict with anyone not of one’s own.”

This may be explained as follows; there are different beliefs, worldviews and philosophies on Earth. These may regard one another in one of two ways:

1) They may respect the existence of others, seek to build dialogue with them and follow a “human” path.
2) Alternatively, they may prefer the path of conflict with others, pursuing their own benefit by harming them, in others words behaving “like animals.”

The horror of terrorism is nothing more than an expression of this second perspective. Therefore, what needs to happen in the context of the fight against terror is to eliminate terror’s basic foundation, in other words the waging of an intellectual struggle against Darwinism. Once Darwinism has been intellectually eradicated, terrorist organizations will collapse and the horror of terrorism will be brought to an end.

However, so long as there are endeavors made to keep Darwinism alive, so long as people are indoctrinated with Darwinist falsehoods, terror can never be brought to an end. No wonder young people sign up to terrorist cells while schools and universities are dominated by Darwinism. In order for a person to become a terrorist he or she must first believe that their targets are not human, that conflict is a law of nature, that killing and murdering are legitimate, and that they are not accountable to God. In other words, they have to be Darwinists. There is no point in talking about “love, tolerance, compassion and peace” to someone raised for years to think that unconscious atoms came together to produce life, and that progress is impossible without conflict. Nor will questioning how they could execute ruthlessly murdering of innocent people do any good. It is pointless to expect such people to respect others, abide by the laws and obey the state.

Fighting terror without waging an intellectual struggle against Darwinism will be of no more use than trying to eliminate mosquitoes in a swamp. The only way of eliminating these harmful parasites is to dry out the mosquito-infested swamp. That is why we need to move against Darwinism with courage and knowledge.

This Great Intellectual Struggle Must Not Be Ignored

The facts we have touched on in brief here clearly show the grave danger that Darwinism represents, and the importance of the intellectual campaign to be waged against it. Even so, some people still underestimate the impact of this intellectual struggle under the false logic of saying, “What is so important about Darwinism?” or “Nobody believes in Darwinism any more, so there is no need to bother about it.” Such objections in effect become obstacles to Muslims campaigning against Darwinism. These and similar claims form the bulk of excuses to avoid taking part in the intellectual struggle.

There are various reasons why such excuses are made, foremost of which being a strange kind of fear of Darwinism fuelled by lack of information. People who imagine that the theory of evolution rests on scientific evidence may well imagine that in fighting against Darwinism they are effectively fighting against science. Since they imagine that science proves evolution, they may fear that if they begin taking an interest in the subject they will be influenced by such indoctrination, their own beliefs will be weakened and their worldviews will change.

Such fears are groundless. Evolution is an unscientific theory. Every new discovery in every branch of science over the last 50 years has proved that evolution is a fabrication and that Creation is the manifest truth. The truth revealed by science is that God created the universe out of nothing and that the theory of evolution is of no scientific worth whatsoever.

One of the mistakes that those who are unaware of Darwinism’s defeat in the face of science make is to try to reconcile Darwinism and Islam. Since they imagine resistance is futile, they seek to come up with their own “middle grounds” and imagine that they can thus neutralize the danger. However, this is a very dangerous and mistaken approach to adopt. First and foremost, as we have already stated, the invalidity of the theory of evolution has already been proven. Not a single reference can be shown in the Qur’an pointing to evolution, contrary to what may be claimed, and it is instead revealed that our Lord brought life and the entire universe into existence by commanding it to “Be!”

Therefore, instead of avoiding the intellectual struggle against Darwinism or producing imaginary scenarios such as “Islamic evolution,” Muslims today, when information is so easy to obtain, must educate themselves on this subject and support the great intellectual campaign.

It needs to be made clear that this intellectual struggle is a very wide-ranging one; it must be waged through the use of all technological means, by following all scientific developments, collecting the facts revealed by scientific progress and by presenting clear and evident proofs. The idea that Darwinism can be defeated by repeating a few objections (for example “since human beings are descended from apes, why are there still apes around and why have they not turned into human beings?”, etc.) that have become very familiar over recent years, without offering sufficient information and evidence, stems from a failure to reflect sufficiently on the scale of the phenomenon. A person exposed to constant doses of Darwinist propaganda from a variety of sources will obviously be unable to alter a clichéd way of thinking with such facile objections. For that reason, people who imagine that science actually supports evolution need to be shown that evolution is unscientific by being given the results produced by science. That is the essence of the intellectual struggle against Darwinism.

The Intellectual Struggle against Darwinism Calls for Unity

In order for such a comprehensive intellectual campaign to be effective, it is of utmost importance that Muslims should act in a spirit of unity. God has revealed in the Qur’an that Muslims needed to be united in their struggle against denial. One verse describes how corruption appears on Earth unless Muslims act as one:

Unbelievers are the friends and protectors of one another. If you do not act in this way there will be turmoil in the land and great corruption. (Qur’an, 8: 73)

At a time when atheism is widespread in many parts of the world, when terror and anarchy threaten all mankind, when many defenseless and innocent people are oppressed, what true believers must do is to use all the means at their disposal to wage this intellectual struggle against godlessness. If Muslims fail to establish unity among themselves, citing different ways of thinking, this will reduce the effectiveness of this great intellectual campaign. It is essential that they set their differences of opinion aside and work together to disseminate religious moral values.

All Muslims must play their part in the intellectual struggle against Darwinism. All Muslim civil society organizations, associations, foundations and societies must act within a common awareness, without thinking whether the struggle against Darwinism and materialism is inscribed in their organization’s constitution and must contribute to the campaign against Darwinism. Ignoring all other activities than those engaged in by their own foundations, societies or organizations, and thinking along the lines of “not part of our community, no importance to us” is an attitude ill-befitting Muslims. Avoiding the intellectual struggle against Darwinism under such circumstances, advancing various kinds of excuses, failing to act in a spirit of unity and togetherness may be behavior for which they will be held responsible both in this world and in the Hereafter. It is exceedingly important that sincere Muslims avoid making such a mistake.

Muslims’ struggle against atheism, employing all the means at their disposal in order to gain the approval of God, will, by the will of God, result in the best possible outcome for all mankind. Sincere endeavor in a spirit of unity and togetherness will be a means whereby “the truth will conquer and falsehood be vanished,” as promised by God. This promise of Almighty God’s is a source of enthusiasm and excitement for all believers:

Rather We hurl the truth against falsehood and it cuts right through it and it vanishes clean away! Woe without end for you for what you portray! (Qur’an, 21: 18)

The Ongoing Darwinist Deception

Research shows that Darwinism is still continuing to deceive. Surveys carried out in European countries in particular, especially in France, Germany and Britain, have revealed that the great majority of people imagine that the theory of evolution is a scientific fact. People taken in by the evolution deception turn their backs on believing in God and religious moral values. A survey carried out by the United Nations made this abundantly plain. According to the survey, only 18% of Europeans believe that God created man, whereas 82% imagine that man evolved from other species. Country by country the situation is as follows:

- Germany – only 14% of the population, of whom 35% are Catholics and 36% Protestants, believe in Creation.
- France – Around 18% of people believe in the fact of creation.
- Britain – 20% of the public believe in Creation.
- Spain – In Spain, with a vast majority of Catholic population, only 13% believe in the fact of Creation.
- Norway – Believers in Creation make up 19% of the population.
- Finland – 80% of the population are evangelical Christians though only 16% believe in Creation.
- Sweden – 12% of people believe that God created man.
- Denmark – 9% of the population believe in Creation.
- Belgium – The level of believers in Creation is 10%.
- Switzerland – 24% of the public believe in the fact of Creation.

This picture once again reveals the importance and urgency of explaining how the scientific evidence refutes evolution and why Darwinism is no more than a figment of imagination, and that the scientific truth points to Creation.

For more information, pls visit:
http://www.darwinismrefuted.com/

The Muslim Scientific Endeavour- Part 1

2008-07-17T16:04:00.002+08:00

The Muslim Scientific Endeavour

by Hasanul Arifin

I was sitting in my first biology class one day when my professor was sharing with the class about the fundamental principles underlying scientific endeavour. He was talking about natural causality as the one of the principles in which all events can be traced from.

“Everything in the natural world is dictated by natural laws. In the study of science, there is no God or any other supernatural being responsible for the phenomena we perceive every day.”

We live in an age whereby secularism and atheism is the dominant discourse in scientific endeavour. An age defined by the pursuit of wealth as opposed to spirituality and true knowledge.

When we talk about secularism in science, we mean that scientific endeavour that removes the concept of God. And atheism in science, of course, is the total rejection of the concept of God in scientific endeavour. And scientific endeavour, we define as the pursuit of knowledge, not restricting only to the study of natural phenomena, but extend towards the social sciences as well.

As Muslims, we have a different worldview of what science is, and what objectives it should lead to. Unfortunately, this dominant discourse, propagated by the vast machineries of the West, have resulted in some sort of a subtle indoctrination of secularist, materialistic and atheist concepts even among our own Muslims intellectuals. This has resulted in the rise of false leaders in the Muslim world, claiming to be representatives of Islam, spreading confusion and falsehood in the name of the religion. Academics and celebrated figures like Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Rashid Khalifa who have contributed to a lot of damage in the Muslim intellectual world.

And how do we respond to this confusion and fitna, both from the West and from our ignorant Muslim brothers and sisters?

It is incumbent that the Muslim intelligentsia to be educated in the correct Islamic worldview, as opposed to the Western secularist, materialistic and atheist worldview. It is incumbent that the Muslim intelligentsia be aware of the correct philosophy in our quest for knowledge and truth.

So what exactly is the Islamic philosophy of science?

Islamic science is the scientific endeavour that is rooted to the Islamic worldview. And the Islamic world view is the comprehensive and universalizing vision of Existence or Reality as it really is, based on the epistemology of divine unity (Tawhid) that reflects the inter-relatedness of all things and thus the unification of knowledge. It acknowledges that all creation is designed so for the higher purpose of servitude to the One True God, based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Quoting from the Qur'an:

"I have created the jinn and humankind only for My worship." 51:56

Islamic science views all creation as an expression of truth, and that all creation has meaning and purpose for Man to ponder on. As stated in the Qur’an:

“He created the heavens and the earth with the truth, highly exalted be He above what they associate (with Him).” 16:3

“Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord! Thou hast not created this in vain! Glory be to Thee; save us then from the chastisement of the fire.” 3:191

Unfortunately, the dominant discourse has forced us to be preoccupied with the technicalities of how things work, instead of what it actually means. We are preoccupied with what Newtonian Laws of Mechanics are, of how the mitochondria of the cell provides energy, of why sodium reacts with water in such a fashion, until we forget the big picture which what all of this actually mean!

This preoccupation is analogous to studying words by merely studying what are the alphabets that consist a particular word, how are the alphabets positioned to form that word, instead of looking at the big picture to realise what the whole word actually means!

Modern Western Science reduces reality to the empirical, are only concerned with the observable and measurable. Anything that cannot be observed via the 5 senses, or measured using physical tools, is not considered science. This rejects the realm of the supernatural as part of a holistic understanding of the universe, as the Qur’an says:

“This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah. Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them.” 2:2-3

In the Islamic worldview, according to Syed Naquib, the world of nature is another form of Divine Revelation analogous to the Holy Qur’an itself. The only difference is that nature is a great, open book that is created, and presents itself in multiple and diverse forms. It is but a symbol of expression of the might, brilliance and creativity of God. Science is a kind of ta’wil or allegorical interpretation of the empirical things that constitute the world of nature. And as such, science must base itself firmly upon the tafsir or the interpretation of the apparent or obvious meanings in nature.

In other words, the Muslim scientific endeavour is a spiritual endeavour- an effort to know more of Allah s.w.t and His attributes, so that we can be in better servitude! This is the ta’wil of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jailani in his book Sirrul Asrar, in which he relates the word ‘ibadah’ or servitude to ‘ma’rifah’ or gnosis which is the knowledge of Allah s.w.t and His Oneness! Because servants can perform their duties better if they know their master. And lovers would able to love their significant others better if they know who they love.

The objective of the Muslim scientific endeavour is to seek wisdom and justice. Wisdom, according to Syed Naquib, is defined as the knowledge given by God that enables the recipient to know the right place, or to render correct judgement as to the right place of a thing or an object of knowledge. Justice is the condition whereby things or objects of knowledge are in their right places. And the right places are as defined by the Holy Quran, which is the book of guidance that encompasses all truth and reality (haqiqah). And adab, is the spectacle of justice reflected by wisdom.

The Muslim scientist, whether in the study of natural phenomena or the social sciences, must be educated in adab in his/her scientific endeavours. Only then will he/she be uplifted to the status of khalifah or vicegerent of Allah, as justice and wisdom is reflected and manifested in his/her actions and duties.

To be continued..

MYIS RC 5--The Quest for Jerusalem- Religious or Territorial

2008-07-04T00:42:00.002+08:00

Prelude Talk to the MYIS Series Discussion- The Quest For Jerusalem

2008-06-23T23:46:00.002+08:00

MYIS- Personal Religious Orientation: Reconciling The Differences

2008-05-30T23:37:00.002+08:00

Nikah Gantung: A Viable Alternative to Unlawful Dating?

2008-05-20T16:30:00.002+08:00

Nikah gantung has been a practice by members of the Malay Muslim community for quite some time. Despite this, up to date there are very few academic studies or publications that have been conducted or written on the particular subject matter, although it has been briefly mentioned in the book “Malay Kinship and Marriage in Singapore”.

So what exactly is nikah gantung? According to the anthropological study mentioned above, nikah gantung is a suspended marriage contract that is practised by the Javanese and Boyanese communities. This practice, although not widespread or prevalent enough to be considered a social phenomenon, cannot be considered to be uncommon either, especially within the communities that have been mentioned earlier. The suspension or gantung that has been mentioned here is the suspension of the rights to consummate the marriage. In other words, the couple that is going through such a marriage contract is still registered and legally bounded to one another by a state-appointed kadi in an akad nikah ceremony in accordance to the Shariah. The only difference is that the right to consummate the marriage is temporarily suspended for a stipulated amount of time. This altered clause, however, is based on the reason that the nikah gantung mentioned here is the marriage with a girl who has yet to attain puberty, hence is deemed to be unfit for consummation, until she has attained puberty, in accordance with the Shariah. As such, the girl continues to live in her parents’ household, separate from her husband, until she has attained puberty. When this is achieved, the suspension or gantung is then lifted, and the girl is then handed over to her husband for consummation and starts the life of a wife in her husband’s household from that point onwards (Djamour, 1958).[1]

This definition of nikah gantung, however, differs from the personal studies that I have conducted. Nikah gantung still remains, although it is practised in a different way, possibly because it has evolved over time to adapt and suit the changing needs of the community as well as to suit the changes in the marital laws in Singapore where child marriages are no longer legal.

As such, the concept of nikah gantung differs with different individuals. Mr Zawawi Buang, a 47 year old Javanese Workshop Instructor who went through nikah gantung at the age of 21 back then and is still happily married with 4 children, shares that the temporary suspension or gantung as mentioned above does not only involve the temporary suspension of the rights to consummation but also the temporary suspension of a proper marriage ceremony for a stipulated period of time. In other words, his concept of nikah gantung also involves postponing of the bersanding ceremony to a later date, usually for up to 2 years from the akad nikah ceremony. The reason in doing so is mainly to save up enough money to afford the costs of the marriage ceremony as well as the financial liabilities that would be incurred in living together, which may include the purchasing costs of a HDB apartment. As such, after the akad nikah ceremony, the married couple would live in separate households, restricting their engagements with one another to that of a social, non-sexual relationship. The husband is still required to contribute part of his income to support the livelihood of the wife in accordance to the Shariah, although they may be living separately from one another. This act of living separately comes to an end once the bersanding ceremony is conducted. As such, the relationship after the bersanding evolves to that of a typical husband and wife, where the husband is then allowed to consummate the marriage.

This concept of nikah gantung differs with the one held by Madam Mariam Alias, a 46 year old private tutor of mixed Indian-Malay descent who went through nikah gantung at the age of 19 back then and at present, is happily married with 7 children. Madam Mariam’s concept of nikah gantung extends beyond working adults saving up for the bersanding ceremony and the financial liabilities that would be incurred for a married couple living together. In fact, Madam Mariam views nikah gantung as the ideal alternative to the dating culture prevalent among youths today which may be a slippery path towards zina (illegitimate sex), modelling her ideas based on the marriage trends of youths in Saudi. As such, her concept of nikah gantung revolves around the idea of parents taking up the responsibility to support the married couple financially. In other words, her idea of temporary suspension or gantung here is the temporary suspension of the financial responsibilities and commitments of a husband towards his wife until the husband is financially ready and the couple is independent enough to live their lives together on their own.

This could be seen from one point of view as the Islamic solution for students in love who are concerned in the halal and haram aspects of gender interactions and are already set in committing their lives to one another. On the other hand, from another point of view, this proposed solution may open doors to even more problems, which may include the loss in the sacredness of the marriage contract, because immature youths may abuse the circumstances that they are offered and treat the marriage contract lightly, resulting in the possible increase in divorce rates. This worry is expressed by Farhana Bibi, a 21 year old undergraduate at NUS, who fears that students today may not have the maturity to go through nikah gantung. However, she also expressed that with both the financial and emotional support from the parents, divorce may not be the end product of such marriages. In addition, she restricts the right to nikah gantung to only those who are spiritually and emotionally prepared to be committed to one another.

This restriction suggested, however, is difficult to define and measure. According to Ustaz Abdul Rahman Shariff, a deputy kadi who has handled several cases of nikah gantung before, nikah gantung is often performed among youths whom he feels has not yet achieved the maturity required to carry out the roles of husbands and wives. In contrast, nikah gantung is also used among youths as a cover up of unwanted pregnancies too.

Besides the potential problems of immaturity and divorce, there are moral and ethical considerations with respect to this nikah gantung concept suggested by Madam Mariam too. As stated by Ustaz Abdul Rahman Shariff in a phone correspondence, such a concept is foreign to the spirit of Muslim marriages, whereupon the signing of the marriage contract, the husband is obliged to fulfil his obligations towards his wife, especially financially. The obligations mentioned here are those that encompass the maintenance of lodging, clothing, food and general care of the wife (Hammudah, 1977)[2]. Ustaz Abdul Rahman disagrees with the notion that parents should bear the financial burden of their children’s marriage, because this is quite contrary with the fundamental terms and clauses of a marriage contract, forcing the parents to carry out the roles and responsibilities that are not supposed to be theirs. This view is shared by Mr Zawawi, who argues that the suspension of the financial responsibilities of a husband would reduce the marriage institution to that of a ‘legalised’ boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. This shaky affair would be made more complicated should the couple disrespect the mutual agreement of restricting their relationship to that which is non-sexual in nature. This circumstance may lead to unwanted pregnancies, which would further add to the financial burden that is borne by the parents. In addition, the young husband may not be matured or responsible enough to anticipate his new role as a father to his children.

Madam Mariam defends her idea of nikah gantung, asserting that the prevention of sin is greater in value than that of divorce. In fact, divorce is never considered a sin, whereas unlawful gender interaction is. She further adds that the usage of contraceptives, common in today’s world, would help to prevent unwanted pregnancies as discussed previously.

I can recall a conversation that I had with a female friend in NUS, where she draws upon the similarity of this concept of nikah gantung to that of Rasulullah S.A.W’s marriage to Aisyah R.A. This argument, according to Ustaz Abdul Rahman Shariff, cannot be accepted because the context is different altogether. Firstly, Rasulullah is a matured adult with the financial ability to support a wife. Secondly, Aisyah was still a 6 year old girl (although there has been dispute over this age but this will not be discussed in this article) hence Rasulullah S.A.W is postponing the consummation of his marriage until Aisyah has reached the age of puberty. This concept of nikah gantung would be more consistent with that suggested by Judith Djamour in her anthropological studies stated earlier in this article and not with the one introduced by Madam Mariam. As such, Ustaz Abdul Rahman argues that such comparisons cannot be used due to its inherent contextual differences.

In conclusion, nikah gantung is a tricky subject that has not been studied in great detail and its definitions vary from one individual to another, possibly due to the individual’s cultural background and religious orientation. On one hand, nikah gantung is perceived to be a practice that is largely cultural in nature, that is, the temporary suspension or postponement of the bersanding ceremony. On the other hand, it is perceived to be an alternative solution to unlawful dating practices prevalent among youths today. However, with regards to the latter, there are varying opinions in its viability as a solution, as well as the moral and ethical concerns that are attached to it. In my opinion, I am more inclined to accept the arguments against nikah gantung as an alternative solution to unlawful dating practices. This is because marriage should be guided by the ethical principles of mutual love and compassion, as stated in the Qur’an:

“And one of His signs is that He created mates for you from yourselves that you may find rest in them, and He put between you love and compassion; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect.” (Surah Al-Rum: 30)

The guiding principles of love and compassion mentioned here in my opinion, are not only between the couple, but extend towards their parents as well. And how would love and compassion be extended to our parents if we are to burden them financially with our marriage? Indeed, the intentions of making our love relationships lawful via nikah gantung may be to prevent the occurrences of sin and zina. But to do this without considering the guiding principles of love and compassion towards our parents would make our intentions inadequate and not fully aligned with the spirit of Islam. In addition, the idea of formulating a practical easy way out, in my opinion, is in contrast to the spirit of jihadun-nafs (the strive against one’s lowly desires) and the Prophet S.A.W ‘s suggestion of performing the fast to quell the sexual urges if one cannot afford to marry.

Nonetheless, nikah gantung remains a debatable subject open to further scrutiny and analysis.

Written by:

Hasanul Arifin

1^st Year Bioengineering Undergraduate

NUS Muslim Society

[1] Djamour.J, Malay Kinship and Marriage in Singapore, London School of Economics Monographs of Social Anthropology, July 1958, pg 71

[2] Hammudah.A, The Family Structure in Islam, American Trust Publications, 1977, pg 150

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So what are your views with regards to this issue? Can nikah gantung be the solution to our love relationship woes? Should parents support the youth marriage financially? Do we need a paradigm shift in our society to enable this to happen?

The Role of Freewill in the Grand Design of The Creator (Muslim Youth Intelligentsia Series 2008)

2008-05-07T08:10:00.002+08:00

Da'wah Talk- The Akhlak and Sirah of Rasulullah S.A.W

2008-04-08T08:30:00.006+08:00

Ustaz Tarmizi and our moderator, Brother Ridhwan

Our Attentive Audience. Though small in size, but very much in high spirits.

Attentively learning from the stories of the Prophet

Our Ustaz is very engaging, isn't he?

Religious Freedom For Indonesian Maids: An Issue to ponder

2008-03-11T13:30:00.002+08:00

Restrictions on Religious Freedom

We went to a labor agency in Jurong West. They kept our Indonesian money, cosmetics, and praying garments. They said it would be given to us on our return. The agency told me we are not allowed to pray because the employer doesn’t like it. The Indonesian agent also told me I wouldn’t be able to pray. I felt very sad.
─Aisyah Fatah (not her real name), Indonesian domestic worker, age twenty-one, March 4, 2005

Human Rights Watch interviewed domestic workers who reported they were forbidden from attending church if they were Christian, or praying or fasting if they were Muslim. In many cases, employment agents were the first to order domestic workers to stop praying, and confiscated their holy books, prayer shawls, and prayer rugs. In one case, a domestic worker reported:

The agent in Singapore was cruel…. I was wearing a head scarf. They took it and threw it away…. He took all my family phone numbers, my prayer books, my scarf, and prayer shawl. He searched my bag and took all of these things out roughly.²⁷⁹

Another worker, Kartika Hatmoko, said, “When I arrived, my madam [employer] said I was not allowed to pray. When I came here, the agency took away my praying attire.”²⁸⁰ One domestic worker told Human Rights Watch, “They said I cannot pray, that I cannot fast during Ramadan.”²⁸¹ Kanthi Unisa, a Sri Lankan domestic worker, said, “I asked my agency, I want to go to church. They said if you want an off day, take S$25 [U.S.$15] off your salary per day.”²⁸²

Many domestic workers told Human Rights Watch that one of their main recommendations to the Singapore government would be to protect their freedom to practice their religion. Tuti Prihatin, a domestic worker, said:

They don’t give us freedom to practice our religion. They almost sent me back. If you want me to stay here, I must practice my religion. If I pray, I remember my God. The Singapore agency took my Holy Koran. It made me very, very sad. Even money is less important to me.²⁸³

After a lively discussion with several fellow Indonesian domestic workers about recommendations to the government, one domestic worker said, “We should be given freedom to worship. We have to be given freedom to practice religion. Make it punishable for employers who don’t comply.”²⁸⁴ Another added that it was not only freedom to pray but from coercive proselytizing, “[My employers] are Christian, and they want me to be Christian…. They told me if I was Christian, they would give me an off day every Sunday. This is what makes me saddest. They don’t let me fast, I cannot read the Koran. I cannot even touch it.”²⁸⁵

Article 18 of the UDHR establishes, “the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion…and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”²⁸⁶ The Singapore Constitution states that, “Every person has the right to profess and practise his religion and to propagate it.”²⁸⁷

The restrictions employers and labor agents place on some migrant domestic workers’ freedom to fast, to pray, and to attend religious services in accordance with their religious beliefs constitute a clear infringement of their freedom of religion as protected under international human rights law. In some cases, confiscation of prayer materials and the Koran as well as targeted religious insults designed to humiliate domestic workers could also be considered a form of psychological abuse and degrading treatment.

Taken from: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/singapore1205/6.htm#_ftnref284

MYIS Synonimity of Malays and Muslims?

2008-03-04T16:01:00.002+08:00

Guest speaker: Assoc Prof Syed Farid Al-Atas

Dept of Malay Studies, NUS

Synopsis: The Relationship between Islam and Being Malay

This talk steers discussion away from the “problem” of Malay identity and suggests that the real problem has to do with one of the religious orientation of the Malays. While Malays are Muslims, there are a variety of ideological orientations to be found among the Malays. Some are progressive, some are not. Prof Farid will discuss the criteria that can be used to assess the various orientations and where Malay identity comes in.

Readings:

You may pick up relevant readings specially prepared for you from the desk of PBMUKS, Yusof Ishak House (Student Societies’ Area). Available Wednesday (tomorrow) onwards. Reading updates will be posted on the blog.

Islamic Awareness Programme- Judgement Day Lecture- Pics

2008-02-20T10:46:00.002+08:00

Ustaz Hamzah Jumaat and our moderator, Brother Ridhwan

Our Attentive Audience

Updates on the Calender of Events (Feb-March)

2008-02-14T13:33:00.000+08:00

Salam 'Alaikum Wr. Wb.

May this email reach everyone in good health and iman. On behalf of NUSMS, I would like to extend an invitation to everyone to all our events in February and in the upcoming month of March. Details are as follow:

February

16th February 2008: Visit to An-Nahdah Mosque by International Students -Volunteers Needed-

A rare opportunity to bring foreign students to (Islamic) places of interest such as the An-Nahdah Mosque and the Sultan Mosque. And definitely a chance to widen your social circle!

Time : 8.45 AM at Prince George Park's (PGP) Residence OR

9.45 AM at An-Nahdah Mosque (Bishan)

19th February 2008: Islamic Awareness Program (IAP) Talk - The End

You know it's coming. You simply know it. It's just a matter of when. And when it does, are you ready to face it? Judgement Day.

Venue : Function Room 2, Student Societies' Area (SSA), Yusof Ishak's House (YIH)
Time : 6.30 PM

Also, registration for the upcoming Overseas Expedition to Mt. Stong in Kelantan (in May) will commence real soon. Be on the lookout for our flyers and posters! Registration will be strictly based on a first-come-first-served basis.

Check out stong-er.blogspot.com!

March

10th - 11th March 2008: NUSMS Bazaar @ Science Foyer

Calling out to all bazaar-junkies! Expect a great variety of glorious (100% Halal) food as well as bargains and value-for-money services! We'll be expecting you there!

11th March 2008: Muslim Youth Intelligentsia Series (MYIS) - Synonimity of Malay and Muslim

Details for the talk will be up on the Yahoo Group by late February. Alternatively, details will also be available at http://myis- forum.blogspot. com.

15th - 16th March 2008: NUSMS Open House 2008

For those who are interested in coming up with the theme and design for our very own NUSMS Open House booth, recruitment for organising committee members is ongoing.

Alternatively, one can volunteer to guide guests from Junior Colleges and Polytechnics as well as foreign students. A good opportuniy to introduce to fellow undergraduates to the NUS Muslim population, NUS Muslim Society and of course, university life!

For enquiries, please email to Maryam at maryam.hashim@nusms.org.sg or to myself, Siti Sarah, at sitisarahmohd@ nusms.org. sg. Your presence and contributions at our events will be very much appreciated.

Syukran. =)

Wassalam,

Siti Sarah Mohammed
Asst Honorary Secretary
44th Executive Committee
NUS Muslim Society

MYIS Gender Interactions Discussion Circle Reminder

2008-02-09T18:29:00.000+08:00

Salam everyone!

The supplementary readings for the upcoming Gender Interactions MYIS Discussion Circle are up!

For more details, please visit us at

http://myis-forum.blogspot.com/

Hope to see u there insya-Allah!

rgds
MYIS 2008 Organizing Commitee

Updates on the Calender of Events (Feb-March)

2008-02-08T10:45:00.001+08:00

12th FEB 2008 - Gender Interaction (MYIS Discussion Circle)

16th FEB 2008 - Visit to An-Nahdhah for International Students {Volunteers Needed}

19th FEB 2008 - The End (The first series of spiritual talks)

5th MAR and 10th MAR 2008 - Computation of CCA points by Maryam, Sarah & Haikal

10th to 11th MAR 2008 - Bazaar organised by Marketing
11th MAR 2008 - Synonimity of Malay and Muslim (MYIS Discussion Circle)

15th to 16th MAR 2008 - Open House Booth {Volunteers Needed and deco of booth}

Muslim Youth Intelligentsia Series 2008- Gender Interactions and last week's pics

2008-02-03T19:17:00.000+08:00

Recruitment Drive for Challenge Shield 5

2008-01-30T16:41:00.000+08:00

Assalamualaikum all,

Challenge Shield, in its fifth year running, is an annual sporting event organized by the NUS Muslim society with the objective of community outreach, enrichment and social bonding. This year, we are going to grow as a Sports Carnival with a keen focus on the message of Islam, health and community.

We are looking for committed individuals who are interested in being part of the Organizing Committee for the abovementioned event. The following are the positions and sub-committee groups available(subject to change):

Management team: Project Director, Assistant Project Director, Secretary, Treasurer
Marketing
Publicity
Public Relations Officer
Welfare Officer
Logistics
Programmes

This would be a good opportunity for you to work behind the scenes in the making of a massive project for the community. Do join us and spice up your CV with CS5!

Note: We are also opening up spaces to non-NUSMS members so if you know of anyone who will be interested or have special expertise in organising such an event, do refer this email to them!
(CCA points will be allocated)

If you are keen, don't hesitate.... email the following information to recruitment.mschallengeshield@gmail.com and we will contact you shortly.

1) Your name, contact number and email.
2) Your faculty and which year you are currently in.
3) Previous experiences (if any---> BUT not necessary)
4) Other CCAs/commitments from Feb 2008 to June 2008
5) Which of the above post are you applying for

We look forward to working with you!

Muslim Intelligentsia Series 2008

2008-01-29T18:49:00.001+08:00

Project Name

Muslim Youth Intelligentsia Series 2008

Project Background

The task of deconstructing and reconstructing Muslim societies had been a continuous process in Muslim experience. Locally, the task has never been more urgent than now. In this aspect, we must be aware of the important role our intelligentsias play in charting the progress of society. By intelligentsias, we meant, in particular, those who occupy (or will occupy) important positions in society and are able to exert direct or indirect influence upon thought, policies and decisions that will affect the community at large. Thus, the education and re-education of our intelligentsias is crucial to the development of society.
Muslim intelligentsias today need to be aware of their role and responsibilities in confronting societal and community issues. In order to effectively carry out this task, they must prepare themselves with the right mindset and equipped with proper knowledge and tools.

Methodology

Andragogy – Focus on various adult learning methodologies customized to ensure relevance and interest of participants. Activities could involve discussions, dialogues, debates, role play, case study, independent reading assignments, and visits to relevant organizations.

Project Objectives

This programme hopes to inculcate in participants the following characteristics:

A reformistic mindset in order to identify and acknowledge problems.
A diagnostic mindset in order to be able to dissect problems and issues at hand.
A critical mindset in order to effectively think through an issue or problem.
A historical mindset in order to inculcate a contextual, non-anachronistic and non-atomistic approach to issues.
A pluralistic mindset in order to recognize the different strands of religious manifestations in individuals and social groupings.
A sociological mindset that will be able to apply and incorporate the tools of social sciences in diagnosing the conditions of society.
An Islamic mindset to complete the holistic mindset to be achieved. To incorporate the fundamentals of Islam in our diagnosis of social issues.

Muslim Youth Intelligentsia Series 2008 Introductory Lecture- The Dynamism of Shariah

2008-01-29T10:58:00.000+08:00

Being A Muslim

2008-01-25T19:01:00.001+08:00

Being a Muslim

By Jawdeh Wazwaz

Being a Muslim means to always smile, no matter how difficult life gets, for it will last a while

It means greeting people of all ethnicities and races, with a salutation of peace, smiling at all faces

Always helping the elderly, and the one in need, and to give in charity, not to be overcome by greed

We must to desire perfection, in piety and gratitude. Always be humble and not have an attitude

It means to obey your parents, not to raise your voice in their sight, and to walk away if someone wants to fight

So am I a Muslim by action, or a Muslim by name, the first is a believer and the other is a shame

I must never become arrogant, boastful, or proud, nor utter silly words, or speak loud

I must respect all Christians, regardless of their behavior, even though we say Jesus wasn’t a savior

I can’t transgress in the earth, I know right from wrong, so I better correct my past, I won’t live too long

Before I’m 6 feet under, and taking nothing with me but my deeds, no more things to worry about, no more needs

As I face my Lord, did I really prepare for that day, from the way I lived my life, it seems I was astray’

So even as a Muslim, I will be punished for my sins if I fail, by going to hell, which ain’t nothing like jail

So I’m not special for being a Muslim at all, if my actions are on the down fall

If people don’t see Islam in my actions, then what do I have to propose, nothing good in my image, which people oppose

So I stand up in prayer, asking God to give me His light, to walk humbly on earth, and to make things right

God created us weak, and in distress, so we can always turn to Him when our life is a mess

God created us to worship Him, not that He is in need, nor will He ever be in need for us, for were only a seed

God taught us the way we should compose our life, to live in harmony and not cause strife

He taught us our purpose and gave us direction; He is tired of hearing everyone’s objection

Thinking that we can develop better standards of living than our Lord, if you live life this way, you won’t get a reward

So I better stop hurting people, God even counts a woman’s tears, while many other people remain in fear

Fear of dying with no shelter, nor food, many more are depressed, in a delusional mood

So I must extend a helping hand to establish goodness to humanity, because too many people are living in insanity

If someone wrongs me, must I retaliate and fight, can I just forgive them, if I have the light

The light of Allah that He gives to whom He please, the only one who gets it are those who bow on their knees

To acknowledge to the creator, that you are indebted to His service, to not get caught up in life, always feeling nervous

The world wasn’t made just for me, we all have a share in its joys and sorrow, so let’s focus on today, for nothings promised tomorrow

So a Muslim who preaches the message must resemble goodness and piety, and to acknowledge there is only one Deity

His name is Allah., He is the One and Only, if you don’t worship Him, you will remain lonely

He is the One who brings life to what was dead, so calling on Him at night, while you lay in bed

And thank Him, o Muslims, for all of His gifts, for if you remain ungrateful, His punishment is swift.

God put us in this world to see how we react, but we failed many times, that’s a fact

So pour out your heart to the one and Only Creator, don’t live your life like a movie that’s playing in the theatre.

Being a Muslim means being grateful for your health, nothing can replace it, not even all the wealth

It means to fear Allah, night and day, and to always reflect, one day you’ll perish away

It means to pray qiyam il layl, out of love and desire, doing that for Allah will raise your iman much higher

It means to not even say one harsh word to your father and mother, to honor your sisters and even your brothers

It means to believe without doubt in the unseen, and to thank Allah for this glorious deen

It means to establish the prayer 5 times a day, the key to heaven, there’s no other way

It means to spend from your wealth to those who live on the streets, who have no place to live, who are called dead beats

It means to honor all the prophets, and imitate their deeds, respect their accomplishments, and follow their lead

It means to excel in learning Islamic knowledge, for the sake of Allah, and to convey it with humility, for it belongs to Allah

We don’t benefit Islam by being Muslims, but it is Islam that elevates the soul, it gives us our sense of purpose, our ultimate goal

It means to treat your neighbor with love, as if related to you by blood, for both of us came straight from mud

It means to honor women by lowering our gaze in their sight, and recite Dua in the middle of the night

It means to glorify Allah, and praise him year after year, and to always know His Judgment is near

It means to go to the Mosque, and thank God for the Nur He gave you, to keep begging Him to guide you and eventually save you

From the punishment of the fire, and the punishment of the grave, so keep walking with reflection or you won’t be saved

Islam, what a beauty, what does it do to a person, it relieves him from stress, so he can stop cursing

Islam calls us to piety, to worship one deity, which would help us relieve our anxiety

Islam is a reward, not a punishment or pain, so read the Koran with reflection, or you’ll be inhumane

Being a servant of God is the most precious role, it takes you out of darkness, nourishes your soul

What more can you ask for, than having contentment, but when you ignore God, you’ll feel resentment

Should I oppress Jews and Christians and every other faith, does the Koran allow me to have such hate?

Does Islam allow me to cheat people from what’s rightfully theirs, and if I steal, is that Islamically fair?

Does Islam order Muslims to convert people out of force, to know the answer, you must read it’s source

It’s called the Holy Koran, a book so divine, yet Most Non-Muslims never gave it any time

To examine its teachings, with an open mind and heart, but instead they attack it, and rip it apart

How can we blame them for their actions, when we failed at representing Gods religion, instead we criticize each other daily, were getting in divisions

So Muslims, we have to spark a fire of love that transcends, to every Non-Muslim, not just our friends

Islam is not just for Muslims, but for all races and faces on earth, if you never accept it, you’ll never know what its worth

So I send you tidings of peace, and I will continue my mission, of spreading this glorious deen, which gave me a vision

I want to make a confession, before we have another recession, if we don’t strive for God, He will implement another succession

A succession of new people who will die in jihad, and people who, when hear the Koran, are very glad

So exchange your tears for hope of a brighter tomorrow, because Islam doesn’t guarantee there won’t be sorrow

Allah didn’t say heaven is easy to achieve, you have to be active, it’s not enough to just believe

Did the prophets suffer, or did they escape the trials they faced, so if we follow in their footsteps, their struggles we must taste

So being a Muslim means to conquer the weakness in your soul, not to follow your passions, getting trapped in a bigger whole

It means to spend the last ten nights of Ramadan in prostration, to honor Allah with a koranic recitation

How much more time will we waste, before we leave this world of toil, and get punished in hell as it boils

So always ponder that today might be your last day, so fulfill your contract with Allah, or he will leave you astray

Muslims, please awaken, from this sleep you’ve been taken, and get serious with your lives, or else one day you’ll be forsaken

It’s better to live in the streets and having God on your side, so stop swerving in wrong directions, and start to abide

Abide to His laws, for Allah was always Kareem, just keep calling on Allah no matter how difficult life may seem

When you wake up on the Day of Judgment after been sleeping many years, you won’t realize how long you’ve been asleep, for you’ll be filled with tears

So if you’re a Muslim, then don’t damage mother earth, take care of her soil, for one day you’ll return to her dirt

Enjoy helping people, and take the bitterness out of your heart, for if you intend to stay devious, it will tear you apart

So make friends, and establish justice in society, always preach to people that there is only one deity.

The Scope of Ibadah

2008-01-22T22:20:00.000+08:00

Salam everyone!

This blog entry is dedicated to those who have queries with regards to the tazkirah given by myself during the Will-2-Wheel 2008 event. Hopefully the article that is to be shared below would help clarify your doubts insya-Allah...

rgds
Hasanul Arifin

The Spirit of `Ibadah in Islam *

By Syed Abul A`la Maududi

Muslim Scholar and Reformer

`Ibadah (act of worship) is an Arabic word derived from `abd (a slave) and it means submission. It portrays that God is your Master and you are His slave and whatever a slave does in obedience to and for the pleasure of his Master is `ibadah. The Islamic concept of `ibadah is very wide.

If you free your speech from filth, falsehood, malice, and abuse and speak the truth and talk goodly things and do all these only because God has so ordained to do, they constitute `ibadah, however secular they may look in semblance. If you obey the law of God in letter and spirit in your commercial and economic affairs and abide by it in your dealings with your parents, relatives, friends, and all those who come in contact with you, verily all these activities of yours are `ibadah. If you help the poor and the destitute, give food to the hungry, and serve the ailing and the afflicted persons, and do all this not for any personal gain of yours but only to seek the pleasure of God, they are nothing short of `ibadah. Even your economic activities, the activities you undertake to earn your living and to feed your dependants, are `ibadah if you remain honest and truthful in them and observe the law of God.

In short, all your activities and your entire life are `ibadah if they are in accordance with the law of God, and your heart is filled with His fear, and your ultimate objective in undertaking all theses activities is to seek the pleasure of God.

Thus, whenever you do good or avoid evil for fear of God, in whatever sphere of life and field of activity, you are discharging your Islamic obligations. This is the true significance of `ibadah, namely total submission to the pleasure of Allah; the molding into the patterns of Islam your entire life, leaving out not even the most insignificant part thereof. To help achieve this aim, a set of formal `ibadat (acts of worship) has been constituted, which serves as a course of training. These `ibadat are thus the pillars on which the edifice of Islam rests.

Will-2-Wheel 2008

2008-01-21T07:47:00.000+08:00

Tazkirah Session

Launch of our NUSMS Blog

Attentive Participants

Project Director Briefing

Enthusiastic Yusuf Breaking The Ice

Ice-Breakers

Can't Wait To Cycle!

In Jubilant Mood!

Preparing To Set Off

Another Group Of Cheerful Participants

Smile Everyone!

Our United Organizing Commitee

Mr President Doubling Up As A Marshaller

Our Favourite Outrider!

Resting At One Of Our Pee Stops

Jubilant Organisers Despite The Fatigue

Games @ Esplanade

Participants Cracking Their Brains!

Cheering Competition (With Our Cute Azhar In The Middle)

Waving Hands In Unison!

Facilitators And Participants Unite!

Having So Much Fun!

Our 'Gelek' King Showing Off His Skills

Outriders Having A Wonderful Time

Back @ East Coast Park

Our Winners!

Hope To See U Again Next Yr Insya-Allah!

Opening Speech by President of NUSMS 44th EXCO

2008-01-19T15:46:00.000+08:00

AlhamduLillah. Praise to be Allah s.w.t for gathering us the health and time to be here today for our Annual General Meeting. First and foremost I would like to thank the 43^rd exco for a job well done during their term and I urge the 44^th to if not emulate, better them. InsyaAllah, all our hard work and efforts will be blessed by Allah s.w.t as we seek the path towards his rahmah and magfirah insyaAllah.

I must say that the past one year has been truly enriching experience and it has not only made me learn about others but more importantly allowed me to muhasabah or introspect and learn more about myself and how to better myself. Secondly I would like to express my utmost gratitude to the syura for entrusting me with this responsibility to lead NUSMS to greater heights. When Sayyidina Umar Alkhattab was elected as Caliph, he stood up and said ‘If you see me do anything wrong, please correct me.’ Quickly, a man stood up and took out his sword pointing it to the face of the Amirul Mukminin. He said, ‘Ya Amirul Mukmimin, correct you I will evin though it means resorting to this (sword). Of course I am not expecting any of you to draw a sword or knife to correct me, but indeed if any of you see me doing something that you feel is unbecoming of a Muslim, I urge you to correct me. I am only but human. And to err is human but to forgive, divine. InsyaAllah with Allah’s guidance and your support, I am able to execute my job with the best of my ability.

To the 44^th exco, today marks the day that we step into office and it signify our commitment to serve the community. May I remind ourselves especially myself to always portray a sense of responsibility towards the society and be the exemplary in our actions. Remember, being in exco is not about being proud of our capabilities but more so of shouldering the responsibility in leading the ummah. So let us all take our responsibilities very seriously.

With that I would not like to present the new exco structure of NUSMS. Last year, we have adopted the division system, and have divided NUS into 3 divisions mainly SMC, ALB and AED along with a service support division. This year however, since the School of Computing has shifted to the old Faculty of Law, the faculties have been shifted around. I now present to you the new divisions, MSN (Medicine, Science, Nursing), ABC (Arts, Business, Computing) and LED (Law, Engineering, Design & Environment). This year too, we have decided to make away with the Head of Division for Service Support Division and replace the post with Assistant Head of Marketing. Therefore, the Service Support Unit will now comprise of Info Systems Officer, Quarter Master, Publications Officer and Assistant Head of Marketing.

I would now present to you all the people that will be filling up these positions.

Vice President (Outreach): Muammad Nurhakim Bin Mohd Yusop

Vice President (Division): Siti Aishah Bee Binte Abdul Rahman

Honorary Secretary: Maryam Binti Hashim

Assistant Honorary Secretary : Siti Sarah Binte Mohamed

Honorary Treasurer : Muhd Hakeem Jawahir Eilyaas

Assistant Honorary Treasurer: Safraz Hakamali

Assistant Head of Marketing: Nur’Ashikin Binte Ahmad

Publications Officer: Farah Khairiah Bte Rifaei

Infosystems Officer: Azhar Bin Mohd Yasin

Quarter Master: Fairus Bin Jasmin

Head of Division (MSN): Suliyati Binte Berori

Deputy HOD (MSN): Farhanah Binte Sultan Ibrahim

Deputy HOD (MSN): Gadisti Aishah Nurulhijjah Mohamed

Head of Division (ABC): Muhd Yusuf Bin Osman

Deputy HOD (ABC): Nani Iryanni Bte Tajuddin

Deputy HOD (ABC): Nurul Huda Bte Jasmani

Head of Division (LED): Farhana Bibi Mahmud Munshi

Deputy HOD (LED): Mohd Azhar Bin Shaharuddin

Deputy HOD (LED): Muhd Hasanul Ariffin Bin Zawawi

In Surah Al Furqan, verse 63 Allah exalted,

“And the (faithful) slaves of the Most Gracious (Allah) are those who walk on the earth with humility and sedatedness, and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness.” (25:63)

May we be part of those that were mentioned in this verse and serve with dignity and tranquility.

Oh Allah, please bless us in executing our duties. Please grant us the strength and wisdom in our service to You. Oh Allah, please do not punish us if we forget or fall into error. Lay not on us burden like that which You did lay on those before us. Oh Allah, please do not put on us a burden greater than the strength we have to bear. Have mercy on us and forgive us all on our wrongdoings. Oh Allah, strengthen our faith and belief and guide us to Your desired path. Place us among those that You love and those who have died championing Your religion. Oh Allah, please strengthen our ummah and unite our diversities. Grant Your mercy on us and bretheren no matter where there are. Amy our ummah be economically empowered, intellectually gifted and be exemplary in our actions. Oh Allah, grant us our wishes and make us all better muslims guided by the Al-Quran and Sunnah.

Rabbana aitina fi dunya hasanah, wa fil akhirati hasanah, wa qina azaba nar. Amin.

Muhammad Haikal

NUSMS 44th EXCO, President

NUSMS 44th EXCO

2008-01-17T18:03:00.000+08:00

Top (from left): Maryam (Secretary), Siti Sarah (Assistant Secretary), Aisyah (Vice President- Divisions), Farah (Publications), Gadisti (Deputy HOD- MSN), Farhanah (Deputy HOD- MSN), Suliyati (HOD-MSN), Nurul (Deputy HOD- ABC), Nani (Deputy HOD- ABC), Shikin (Assistant Marketing), Farhana Bibi (HOD- LED)

Bottom (from left): Fairus (Logistics), Hakeem (Treasurer), Yusuf (HOD- ABC), Hasanul Arifin (Deputy HOD- LED), Azhar (Deputy HOD-LED), Haikal (President), Safraz (Marketing), Hakim (Vice President- Outreach), Azhar (IT)

2008-01-17T11:18:00.000+08:00

Garden Seekers

2008-01-17T11:02:00.000+08:00

Alhamdulillah, at the advent of the new year (in both the hijrah and gregorian calendar), it also marked the birth of the NUSMS blog. . .