What role religion??

Buddhists believe in karma. So, to differentiate between a good Buddhist and one who is not, we look at the person's deeds. But then, maybe the person does not care about what the present future or the next life may bring.

Other religions also have beliefs and teachings for their followers. The teachings, if you should examine them, are definitely the best possible ones by which life on earth can be wonderfully peaceful and happy.

Then, again, it is evidently tough to be good at any religion. People throughout the world belong to either this religion or that religion except for the few rebellious ones like me who believe in God but refuses to join any. Fortunately or unfortunately (my ego at play), God did not create many like me. But then, with so many religious people in the world we would have thought the world a lovely, peaceful place to fulfill whatever earthly mission we come for.

Sad to say, the world today is filled with turmoil. Television bring all the power struggles and hatred among humans to our living-rooms at certain times throughout the day as if to remind us that something has to be done or else, as some have prophesied, the world may come to an end soon. Indeed, it looks like it, for at this rate, if natural disaster do not wipe us out, we ourselves may do the job, what with the numerous atomic weapons so many countries are developing. And playing with this kind of fire, it is just a matter of time before somebody's madness would get us all burnt to cinders.

So, what is the role of religion in our present situation where comparatively few, if any, truly believes in God even though they conveniently belong to one. Apparently, belief in God and religion is being abused by many. Religion has become a social and political tool. Some people belong to a religion so as to be accepted by certain groups of people, to have a place to congregate, a place to show others how devoted they are to a certain God, and so how morally good they must be. Political leaders would appeal to people of the same religion to unite with them so as to fight for the betterment of that particular religion. (As though Almighty God needs help from such mortals!)Thus, the name of God is being abused. Throughout the world, we have labeled nations as Buddhist countries, Christian countries and Muslim countries and in that way create a demand that only that particular religion be given special preference. (Did God ever demand special preference? No, because God is forever Almighty even if there is just one follower. Even if I am God's only believer, He still IS God. He is not more or less God because of His followers' numbers or deeds.)

As humans develop in intelligence, his ego has grown just as much. Some religions have even created new rules and regulations and caused them to be accepted by their followers. Some rules are created to force followers to stick to a particular religion even when the follower has lost faith in it. Actually, Man has the right to believe and choose his own religion. This is important as a person forced to accept a religion may never find belief in it. However, as a member of a society, to make life easier for himself, he may put on the pretense of acceptance. The crux of the matter is, is it from his heart? But then, ego of the authorities concerned are not happy to see others not in the same religion as theirs, feel slighted that their members would leave for another religion and other religions believed inferior to theirs. (Has God ever taught us those things? No, God is beyond and above all those small-minded matters. All these come through the ego of the leaders of religions.)

Today, humans abuse the name of God often in their struggle for power between countries and ethnic groups. And even among themselves, resulting in denominations and their different versions of God's message. The Christians have the Protestants, the Baptists, the Catholics and more while the Muslims have their Sunni, Matahari and others; and when it comes to the Buddhists, there are the many branches of thoughts. (well, I have to leave out others as there would be too many.)

Someone wants to be a leader and to do that even among one religion, there has to be denominations. With more denominations, there can be more leaders. Then, in a country, or among more than one country, there may be more than one religion. To have greater power than other leaders belonging to other religions, conflicts have to caused and fights lead to some kind of submission to the greater religion? and leader. All this leadership and power struggle is happening in the Middle East and many nations.

Perhaps it is time for a new prophet to straighten the minds and cool the ego of humans. To hope for such a solution is easy and according to 'The Secret' fervent hopes do materialise but it needs to be soon as people are beginning to become numbed to even the horrendous happenings brought to us by television.

Disastrously, the role of religion has changed somewhat. There was a time when religious people were respected for their good morals, their sacrifices and services in the name of God and their friendliness to all, regardless of religion with the belief that God created all humans. Today, there is no respect for God's creation even when it is in a similar form.

Are religions as God wishes?

Nowadays, in Malaysia, there are so many problems due to a few objectives that religions are so zealous about. And it is not without good reason that they aim to keep the members of their faith from straying to another faith. After all, it is human nature to ensure that members of any organisation they belong to increase in number in time. This good intention could be considered good if it does not bring along anger and distrust when there is suspicion that someone is straying.

When there is such suspicion, there is anger against those thought to be straying and distrust of the people such suspected strays or wayward ones associates with. With that comes accusing fingers that other faiths could be stealing their members.
And it becomes a very sensitive issue, an issue which can divide friends and citizens.

And I always thought, and still do, that religion is God's teaching for the good of all mankind, not just for a selected group or nation. Read the holy books and they teach us that everything on earth is the creation of God. As such, we must respect each other, respect other people their ways of living and their beliefs. The holy books urged us to be good to each other for all men and women are brothers and sisters, to forgive or be merciful, to be compassionate as we are all fallible humans. In Christianity, God even sent His son to die for our sins.

Yet, throughout the world so many problems arise due to religion. Man knows the greatness of God and with that understanding, some abuse His name to achieve their own ends. Sometimes I wonder how such people can pretend to be holy and religious and perform deeds obviously far from the wishes of God.

I write the last sentence through my own personal experience. You see, as a young man I was very interested in spiritual things and God. I searched for truth in many places, entering temples, churches and mosques. I still remember the time I was given a white robe to wear before stepping into a mosque. I talked to mediums, pastors and priests. I watched as elderly women who claimed not to have married because of giving time to God. Unfortunately for religions, I happened to witness with my own eyes and ears a happening which caused me to look even deeper into religions.

There was this old lady with her beads, her mouth wording prayers as she slowly walked along. A young man suddenly came through the door and went hurriedly past her into an inner portion of the house. The lady's chanting suddenly stopped and turning slightly towards the receding figure of the man who had just passed, she cursed him. It was a great shock to me. How could such a seemingly religious person utter such words? But, that was what she did! My eyes and ears certainly did not deceive me.

So, as a result of that shock I examined in further detail the various practices in religions. I found that, although there was much that must be true, there are some words that must have been put into God's mouth. And as religions divide themselves into sects, we find that there are also so many different interpretations of God's words. Which is right? Well, I found that the humans in a particular sect would consider their own interpretation as correct and others wrong.

With so many differences, which religion should I join? Eventually, although I like and enjoy the practices of some religions, I decided to just be with God as I have through my life known that God is always with me. Each day I thank God for that.

Society should be more sympathetic to transexuals.

Today I read a comment on sex change refusal by a court of law by a reader in the Malaysian Chronicler in which he said: In Islam, sex change is TOTALLY haram (=not allowed). We do not allow anyone to change the gender, as by doing so we will be changing Allah's creation.
The only exception to this ruling is related to a person who has both gender potentials in the body, so a medical treatment can be sought to unify one gender. In this case it will be a correction, and not a change in the creation of Allah, the Almighty.

After reading what has been reading I could not help but felt that human thinking must change in order that the world could be a happier place.

Firstly, let me proclaim myself as someone who certainly believe in God and have great respect for all religions. However, I do not join any religion as from an early age I have found much added thought, teachings and rules of humans in the various religions.

Having said all that, I believe that scientific facts are irrefutable and God teachings must be right for all times, before and after such times when such scientific facts are discovered.

With that in mind, I could not help but try to enlighten someone with the following piece of explanation. (As I am no God but a fallible human, I can be quite egoistic at times and it is at such times that I try to impart what I feel others need to know.)

And I must not forget to add that God's creation is perfect. It is human intervention or careless actions that cause imperfections. Science have revealed that a child may be born with certain imperfections due to consumption of undesirable substances such as certain kinds of medicine or a lack of certain nutrients in the human body. One of these ntrients could be folic acid, the presence of which has been found to be important for the healthy development of the foetus in the mother's womb even from the very beginning. So, we are actually not correcting God creation. God does not need any correction!

Well, this is what I wrote:


Dear ........,
I totally agree with you that we should not play God and change what he has created. Yet, as you yourself said, if the person has two gender potentials in the body, a medical treatment can be sought to unify one gender. However, we humans very often forget that it is not the physical only that is involved. There is also the emotional side. If a person has female emotions, feel and think as a female but possess a male body, which do you think should be the more important, the emotions or the physical? I believe it is the emotions as there is no way we can change the emotions and feelings God has given us. However, medical science can and do help such people in such circumstances by making physical changes so that they can live happier lives. You see, it is also what you call making corrections.

I hope more people could see my point so that more people could be happy and not die of hopeless desperation when these people are born with female emotions trapped in a male body, forced to live a life that can never find fulfillment.

No, I am not unfortunate to be born like Eleesha (the poor man who died when his heart gave way as he felt his whole world collapse after a court refused to allow him to change his sex although he already had a sex operation in Thailand two years ago) but I understand such things as I studied this in my quest for enlightenment. That they do feel the way they do is a fact which all educated humans ought to understand. We should understand these fellow brothers and sisters and not make their lives worst with our own unjustified morals.

Humans create most of the problems.

At one point in my life, if anyone were to say that humans are the ones who create the most trouble, I would have protested. But then, with more experience of life, I have to admit that there is truth in it.

There was a time, I studied part of spiritual exorcism through an Indian priest. It first started with meditation, then awakening of the third eye and then exorcism. Through my experiences and this guru's teaching about the spirit world, I had to admit that spirits do not harm people. It is evil people who use those spirits to harm others, just as religion is for the good of man kind but people use or abuse religion for their own selfish ends.

When I realised how evil most of these spiritual masters are I decided not to continue with the study. I did not wish to one day have to tangle with such type of people even though it is to untangle whatever mischief they have done.

And today, I read about a married couple who abused their Indonesian maid so badly that the poor maid died. How the poor lady must have suffered before she found relief in death. What kind of horrible monsters those people were! Someone commented that they were worst than animals. Please, the next time we talk of such human monsters, do not drag the good name of animals into the thought. Animals are never that bad. Animals kill only because they felt threatened or they needed food for survival. They never kill to exert power over others. Humans are the ones who crave for power and perform the world's most horrendous deeds to gain it.

Perhaps that is the reason God gave humans brains so that, hopefully, with such brains they could teach morals and understand that God is always watching whatever is being done. That is also the reason humans, more than any other creature on earth, need God. If not for the presence of God and the teaching of morals, the conscience would be blunted and easily turn humans to monsters such as the above mentioned couple and those known in history.

This weakness of humans to create problems exists to this very day among the ordinary people as well as people in authority and politics. It exists as long as there is inferiority complex and the need to feel power over others is present.
It is a human tragedy that such a creation which possess brains and the ability to think so well can descend so low, indicating an inability to use their brains correctly. And so, with this weakness, there will always be conflicts, cruelty and exploitation of others, even though the holy book of every religion tells us that all living things are His creations and therefore are to be respected if it is just to show respect and love for Him.

Faith comes from experience.

Last night I was with another Buddhist family and our talk drifted to the strength of one's faith. It is a story of how sincerity and true love for one's 'brother' lead a man to accept a religion.

First of all, before I continue, let me repeat what i have said all this while: I belong to no religion but have a strong belief in God. I know, it's most contradictory for some people but that is how it is. Through personal experiences, I know and feel His presence but religion; that is a totally different story as religion has been messed up by people. Still, I have a healthy respect for all religions.

However, today it is not about me. It is about a young man a friend knew. He grew up deprived of his parents presence. Look after by relatives, he understood the toughness of life. With parents who left nothing to him when they passed away, he depended upon an uncle, his own father's brother.

Without any parents, he grew up always having insufficient funds to finance his education, wants and needs. The uncle always advised him to stop schooling and start working to have money for himself. Luckily for this guy in Penang, his uncle lived near a church in Macalister Road where there was a church. Although his and his uncle's family were Buddhist, the church came to know of his problems. The church was caring enough to provide him with school fees, money for second-hand books and clothing. Otherwise, he would have to drop out of school very early in life.

At form three level, he passed his examination with such good grades that the uncle (imagine that!) became jealous of his results and commented that he should stop schooling then and get a job with his Lower Certificate of Examination results to support his own life. Even the aunt was flabbergasted with the husband's remarks. What kind of job can the young boy of fifteen do to support himself? Apparently, the uncle was unhappy because this young man achieved better results than his sons.

Fortunately, there was always the church and the people there who constantly gave verbal as well as monetary support. Eventually, he got his School Certificate at form five and was able to get a job. With a job and a place of his own, he attended church and became a Christian. Some people were aghast with his embracing Christianity. Yet, these people did not realise that his position then was only made possible by the amazing love that he received from people he did not know, people who were not even related to him. Help came from loving hearts that grew in a church.

I would say he has done the right thing. Perhaps I would have condemned him if he had done otherwise, although I do not believe in condemning people for their choice of religion.

God gives us the choice. That is my belief. Since God is all powerful, and who among us can say otherwise, if he does not want us to have any other choice but one particular religion, he would have not given it existence. Don't worry is you disagree for I respect your religion and God.

The best in any level of society anywhere.

We find the best and the worst in any level of society. Through knowledge of happenings in our world, I have no alternative but to come to such a conclusion.

Just a month ago, I read in the news about this homeless man, a Mr. Dave Talley, who found a backpack. In the backpack were three thousand, three hundred American dollars in cash. Well, a man without money to even secure a small home somewhere must be really poor. Right or wrong, he could have easily persuaded himself to believe it was God's way to help him out of his predicament. He could have slipped the money into his pocket and walked away from the backpack. All that he did not do.

He did not steal it, an act I know some people would stoop to perform, given half the chance. Among the poor, there are thieves and among the rich and powerful, there are those in authority who become even richer through corruption which in my mind is also a kind of thieving, robbing someone in a persuasive way, using the authority they hold just as a common thief would a knife.

No, he did not touch a cent of that money. He returned the full sum as well as the backpack to the owner. Mr. Talley must have known the address from information he found in that backpack. That is what made me say a prayer for that man. He overwhelmed me with the beauty of his deed. Whatever his religion is, he is certainly more god-like than many.

To me, he is the walking example of honesty and greatness. No matter where he is, I wish him my very best. Perhaps, in his present position, he is able to perform his mission well, perhaps indicating to all that you do not need to have anything to be generous, that greatness lies not in the external form but in the inner self of a being.

Lessons from the life of Abraham Lincoln.

Today I read about one of the most famous man in the world who got where he was through true grit and determination. His life is a series of failures that only ended in success through his ability to face hardship and overcome the many obstacles that stood in his path. He is none other than the 16th president of the United States, President Abraham Lincoln.

This man was born into poverty, so poor that his parents were driven out of their land in 1816 and young Lincoln had to do rough and tough jobs to support them when the family moved to then Perry County in Indiana. At the age of nine, he lost his mother.

Then, in 1832, at the age of 23 years, he started a small general store with a friend. He sold out his share of the store to the friend who died soon after leaving him to settle a debt of one thousand dollars. Unable to pay the debt, he became a bankrupt which took him 17 years to settle. Yet, his will to succeed did not lessen.

Even in love, it was no smooth sailing as his first love died even before the proposed marriage. His second match with a woman did not lead to marriage either. Eventually, his luck came in the form of Mary Todd and they were married till death did them part. Their successful married life is a lesson to those who have failed in their very first love.

Lincoln became a lawyer through his own study. In 1837, he was admitted to the bar and from then on we find his contempt for slavery. To act on this, he entered politics where he lost many times before he was elected. His election to the state legislature was only successful at his second attempt. After that he lost when he sought to be the speaker of the state legislature. He lost again when he ran for Congress and was only successful at his second attempt. As a congressman, he did a good job. Yet he failed to be re-elected two years later.

He failed in many things. He failed to get the post of land officer in his own state. He failed to become a senator. He failed to get his party's nomination for vice-presidency.

Such failures could have stopped a lesser man. Yet, in 1860, he was elected the President of the united States of America.

As the president, he turned to his mission of freeing the slaves. To him it was an injustice that could only bring harm to the nation to have masters and slaves. In the eyes of God, all men are equal. In the eyes of this president, all citizens are equal and his greatest mission was to rid the country of slavery. It took a war to do it and he unknowingly gave his life to achieve it, for just six days after the surrender of the Confederate Army to his cause, he was assassinated.

From the story of his life, he must have been given the mission to end slavery in America. To me, he not merely ended slavery in America, he showed the world that all men are born equal and slavery as well as ideas of master race are an injustice which should never be allowed to happen. Never in any religion or God-fearing people can such ideas of slaves and masters be promoted. Even our all powerfult God never consider Himself to be Man's master. He is God, our creator.

The evil that some do, you would never believe until you experience it.

On Thursday night, I went with some friends to attend a seminar on 'camoludin' and as the people with me were ex-colleagues of mine who knew me well, they asked about my life after my wife's demise and from there to the sickness that took her away from me.

I remember November and December 2000 very well as that was the time when my wife started feeling pain in the stomach region and weakness. We went to a clinic where she was told it was her old gastric problem returning. The problem stayed; appearing intermittently until we believed she ought to enter a hospital for a thorough checkup and found that she had gastric ulcer and needed an operation immediately.

She went through the operation in January 2001 and seemed to come out of it without much problem as she had always been strong, with sufficient exercise and proper home-cooked balanced meals. Unfortunately, at that time we did not realise a danger found in operation rooms, the dreaded MRSA, a virus which cannot be eliminated, therefore preventing the healing of wounds. According to what I hear, the MRSA virus is still as dangerous and without any method to destroy it. Well, that virus prevented her wound from healing till the day she passed away in August 2001.

While in the hospital, she was found to have another medical problem, Cushing Syndrome which was the uncontrolled over production of hormones in her body. This lead to all sorts of sicknesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, bloating of the body with too much water retention. When the doctors, first in the Sungai Petani Hospital, then Nam Wah Ee Hospital in Penang and finally in Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, gave her medicine to remove the excess liquid, another problem cropped up; the loss of too much potassium from the body with the heart in danger of stopping its beating. They quickly injected her with potassium while I rushed out to get some bananas.

As she got weaker, she got pneumonia and water was found in her lungs. When her lungs weaken as it got worse, the doctors tried to suck out the liquid with a syringe from the lungs and in doing so punctured one of the arteries. She was immediately wheeled into the intensive care unit where she passed away the next day.At the time of her death, the wound with the MRSA was still not healed.

Since she had not taken drugs containing steroids and she had never taken Chinese medicine which, according to the doctors, contained steriods which can cause Cushing Syndrome; what could have brought it on?

As for her getting the stomach ulcer, I personally believe that the cause came from her work as a teacher and senior assistant in a Chinese school where the headmistress was a sadistic tyrant who was happy to see the teacher under her control suffer in one way or another. I had even made a complaint against her but the system is such that the people at the top seem to not want problems to be aired. However, she did manage to get a transfer but then as events proved, it was too late for her to escape the consequences of the pressure she had to endure.

There was a time when friends did ask me,"So, what did you do?"

I could only tell them I had done all I could when she was alive. No matter what I did after her death nothing could bring her back. I had to accept that. But I believe in karma and that those who had done her wrong were in a worse position; my wife was no longer around to pardon all the wrongs that headmistress had done her. She knew what she had done wrong and would have to bear all that forever. That is a universal justice I do believe in. You see, I do believe in God.

Another reason I do not belong to a religion.

I have come to the conclusion that if anyone wishes to join a religion, do not ask too much, know too much or observe too much about the religion. This conclusion, however I must admit, is just only the result of my own experiences and thoughts.

As a young man in quest of the truth and the spiritual paths, I have been into temples, churches, mosques and all kind of places people claim there are spirits and happenings. I have been to processions of the nine emperor Gods, the Datuk Keramat Diety, St. Anne's in Bukit Mertajam and other happenings in temples. I have even personally seen a young Malay boy jump into a trance-like dance while waiting for a Chinese friend outside a small temple even before the usual medium in front of the deity's statue could be possessed by the deity. (Of course, this is bound to be disbelieved by those who were not present then.)

In those days; it was the 1970s then, human beings were more united, communication on religion and beliefs were easily discussed without the present day suspicion. In the mosque, for example, I was allowed entry to every part of it just clothed in a white cloak which was provided by the guardian of the mosque. So there was no worry whatsoever of doing anything wrong unlike these days when talk of sacrilege is sure to erupt should someone wishes to find fault with someone.

Speaking of sacrilege, which is treating a holy place with disrespect by wearing or not wearing, by having or not having or by doing or not doing something, I have always wondered if the rules have been laid down by God or man.

As my parents were Taoists but claimed to be Buddhist, I have been told by them that those people who are having their periods must not enter the temple or place of worship. So, even if there is a need to pray in a temple, the need has to be put on hold. According to the rules the woman's body at the time of menstruation is considered unclean and therefore not presentable to God. That is something I have always argued with my parents about. I could never accept the belief that a body is unclean just because it is in the natural process of removing waste.

If the process of removing waste from the human body is considered dirty, than what about the process of eliminating toxin from the body through our skin as we sweat, the process of removing carbon dioxide from out body through the lungs in the process of breathing or the process of getting rid of waste from the bladder or the intestines. Does that make our body dirty? The elimination of waste takes place every second of the day. So does that make us unclean and so forever not suitable to enter the places of worship. Or is it just menstruation that has been singled out as the impure state of the body? Would that be an act of God? Certainly not! It has to be an act of Man! What kind of fairness is that?

It is such rules that point me towards the realisation that many religious rules are man-made. Only man could be so small-minded as to consider a woman to be in a 'dirty' state at the time of menstruation which is actually a normal, natural process of eliminating one kind of waste. Such being the case, would God be angry with the presence of one his greatest creations? Furthermore, the act of menstruating is not an act against God for God himself created women thus. It is a perfectly purifying process in itself. Yet, man is petty enough to consider it dirty.

If I had been told that the disallowing of women into a place of worship during menstruation was to prevent inconveniencing women who might possibly be in pain, weak and having stains, I would wholeheartedly agree but surely not because they are impure or is sinful for them to be in God's presence then.

When faced with such a rule and other rules which are man-made, I find it uncomfortable to submit or be a part of a religion which requires its followers to obey its rules. Such being the case, I am more comfortable with my belief that God is always with me no matter where I am, be it at a muddy river, a smelly spot collecting manure for my plants or in a well-scrubbed toilet. God will always be there and I am only answerable to God for all my religious thoughts and deeds.

Should society be so harsh with such a mistake?

The Malaysian government, in a cabinet decision declared that anyone who dumps a baby causing the child to die can be tried for murder and sentenced to death.

At first reading, it is obvious that anyone who causes the death of someone, be it a baby or an adult, ought to be tried for murder and face the death sentence.

In the latest decision, the problem that arises concerns the dumping of babies. The surprising fact is that most doers of such deeds are either mothers or parents of the babies. Since it is the mother or the parents who have committed this foul deed, should we not wonder where the natural love of the mother has gone to?

If we were to ponder on what has caused such mothers or parents to heartlessly throw away the lives of their flesh and blood, we could perhaps come out with some solutions to the problem of baby-dumping, for it must be realised that those young mothers cannot be all so heartless as we think. I sincerely believe those young mothers felt as much, if not more, pain and anguish as any of us in this issue. I believe if there was a solution to the problems they face, they would certainly hug their babies close with protection and reach out for the solution.

I think society has been too harsh with young women who has failed in their path to adulthood. We should consider whether we need to be so harsh, considering that it is a wrong which could happen to even the best of them. We could perhaps turn to God and think how God in His compassion would have wanted us to deal with it.

Who among us has never done a wrong in our lives? Mistakes are plentiful and we learned from those mistakes sometimes. This commitment of mistakes is something which can happen even to the best among us for we are not God. Only God is perfect. All we need do is to think back on our youth and remember the recklessness as well as the carelessness of our inexperienced years to understand that mistakes are so often made. Some mistakes, no matter how genuine they may be, have to be punished of course but such punishment ought to teach and correct rather than to leave the culprit with no way out, pushed to the wall where the person had no alternative. but to escape by committing an even worse act.

We have often read of young women who fall in love, sometimes with the wrong guys. Love and passion could have taken the women away from caution and reason. This is possible to everyone of us in such situations, be you a man or a woman. Let us not be in denial. Let us honestly face the fact that such things do and can happen even to the best educated or moral among us because at the time of love, everything seems so right. That is one reason society ought to introduce sex education so that action brought on by love and passion can happen with some kind of knowledge and safety.

Even with sex education, things can still go wrong for we are all humans. Now when things go wrong and a baby is the consequence, society ought to teach and correct these wayward-perhaps individuals to understand the wrongs they have done and have in place a system of assisting these young parents or of placing the new-born under an adoption scheme if the young mothers are unable to cope with the babies.

At present, society could be too harsh with such unfortunate women who found themselves pregnant out of wedlock. Unable to face such a society, the young mother has no one to turn to for solutions and without such solutions, society has left them with the only way out of their dilemma, to perform the dastardly act of dumping the consequence or be condemned to a kind of hell on earth to herself and her family. Even her own child would be condemned to be a bastard for life. The best option for her is pretty obvious. Yet again, due to inexperience and insufficient knowledge she commits an act which can be fairly easy to trace to her and with the new cabinet decision, there will be no reprieve if the sentence is mandatory death. But then death could be the best gift to her for then she has been punished and the trauma of having to kill her very own beloved flesh and blood will not haunt her any longer as death is the escape route.

But that need not be the case. She is just another human who has committed a wrong and even if society is compassionate enough to accept it as such, she still bears the burden of being a mother before she is ready to take on the responsibility. That is the law of nature. And as she matures, she would have learned her own mistake. With a compassionate society, the child would be safe as there would be no need for the trauma of removing the consequences. Imagine that! In each case two lives would have been saved, two lives that God sent to our world.

When can society be more Godly, be more forgiving like the Almighty, be as compassionate as God and help those less careful or inexperience with knowledge to teach and correct where necessary. It is the way of God and I believe that is what God would want us to be. Let us not just pray but also think of how He would want us to be. Just as He created all of us, He loves us and in our love for Him, we ought to think of Him and what He truly would have us show in our love and understanding of Him, of His compassion and love.

The law ought to be humane and carried out with compassion

How is it we find certain people so very easy to communicate with?

“How is it we find certain people so very easy to communicate with?” That was the question this lady friend voiced after we had talked with each other all the way up and down the hill. It took me back to the numerous encounters with people I find it so easy to be with, to share thoughts and ideas as well as to discuss practically anything under the sun although we have just met.

This lady is a very spiritual person and she believed that those people we have a sense of kinship with are those we have not only met in a past life but also somebody we had been close with.

When she talked about past lives I could relate my belief and knowledge with the experiences and feelings she had.

You see, I strongly believe in reincarnation. Even in my teens I had searched for information on the subject. There was this book which told of a young girl in India who described a house in a certain place so well. She informed the people that she lived there before she died. When she was taken there, she could recognise the house but was surprised at the colour of its walls. She could tell of her family members staying there but upon enquiry found that the house was no longer her family's but was occupied by another family. She described places inside the house. They found the inside just as she had described.

Then there was this uncle who gave up his life-style and marriage to walk the path of healing. I admired the tremendous sacrifice he made in order that others be healed. According to him, the spirit of the elephant diety, Ganesan, descended into him and astounded the area around Butterworth with miraculous healing about forty years ago. In Chinese newspapers at that time people read of his healing power and meditation in a glass-case which according to him, he failed miserably due to his talkative nature. However, through his Tai Pee Sun Temple in Tanjung Bungah, he did a lot of good healing the sick. He was the one who told me of that mission in his life which was to assist Ganesan to help the sick. He related how he was Ganesan’s keeper in an earlier life and Ganesan got him to be his medium to help me ascent to a higher level. He told me about reincarnation.

Of course, I expect some people not to believe in Ganesan and his godly power to heal. There was one Christian who told me nobody but God has the power to heal. Of course, what he had in mind was the Christian God. Unlike me, he does not believe that God may appear in any form to help his creations. I strongly hold onto the saying: 'God works in mysterious ways.', sometimes too mysterious for us humans to understand. As such, it is inevitable that he thought anything that is not the Christian God, yet have the power to heal must be the Satan. Other religions' followers could be thinking along similar lines. I do not wish to quarrel with anyone over this as I also believe that differing views arising from differing experiences and knowledge is possible. (Read about it in an old posting in this blog.) However, if Satan were to heal the sick and bring good to mankind, then certainly God would gladly accept him and appreciate his godly ways, for He is God.

Okay, I have strayed afield. Let me go back to past lives and communication. There are also people who can take you into past lives to help solve certain problems of difficult relationships especially those with parents. Such problems could be solved through understanding, understanding gained from a peep into the past and realization how the strained relationship came about as a result of some circumstances in a past life. With understanding, relationships can be improved.
In past lives, those who were close to us such as marriage partners and close friends can meet again in future lives and the emotional closeness in still there and so they find it easier to click and get to know each other and become close friends. Obviously, such people will find it easier to communicate.

However, that does not mean that new friends who have just met during this present life time cannot be close. If the wave-length are the same, the thinking and belief are similar, of course, they are more able to connect with each other. And their friendship may last forever from one life time to another.

Well, I expect some people not to put any weight on what I have written but then, let us have an open mind and search for the truth. Knowledge can only go to those whose mind is not already closed to new knowledge. For those who believe they know everything already and therefore close the door to everything else, they should not be surprised that they can never see or learn anything more.

The glorious creations of God.

Just take a look at the fantastic beauties below that are scattered here and there in the home of nature



At first sight, I thought those were blue plastic beads. Wow!


Look at the above attractive textured waxy plant.
And from the top of Gunung Bintang water flows to form a waterfall.


Here's something seldom seen, so white and like a kind of huge mushroom.


Such beautiful flowers abound up Gunung Bintang. The above is a ginger flower.



That's a scene almost at the top with the glorious cloudy warm sunny sky contrasting with the cool air under the canopy of those trees up there.

Above is another mushroom, below a flower so tiny yet still sufficient to capture one's attention.


And here's natural beauty in the eye of this beholder.

And finally here's a rare butterfly on Gunung Bintang.

Did you read about my trek up Gunung Bintang and how, after four hours, we were told by someone that we were still seven hours from the top? Well, that was about two months ago. A few weeks ago, four of us made another trip up that mountain hoping to reach the very top in one day. That was what we thought as friends of mine had cycled up the tarred path up Gunung Jerai in a little more than two hours.

We started early in the morning at six-forty-five from Sungai Petani. We reached the waterfalls at Sedim, Southern Kedah at eight-thirty. From there it was a trek with beautiful scenery, plants of various textures, insects, moths and butterflies.

We went up one hill, down it a little to go to another hill and another hill to reach Gunung Bintang. The mountain was not steep but the way up it was long and winding. After passing three waterfalls, we had not reached the summit. By three-thirty in the afternoon, although tired but game enough to continue if we believed that we had the time to return to the foot of the mountain before dark, we decided it was time to turn back.

It had been raining the last few days and the ground was wet and in some places slippery. Everyone of us fell at least three times. Wet socks and muddy shoes were not kind to our feet, especially the toes. One of my big toes suffered the most with it constantly jammed against the shoe each time my foot slipped forward in the damp slippery inner soles of the shoe despite the wet socks. I still have a blue-blacked nail to show today.

Perhaps the shoes were a little too loose. Next time, I would wear more tight fitting shoes for the climb.

Eventually,with pain in the toes or the foot, we eventually reached the bottom when it was already dark at eight-forty-five. Luckily for us, darkness comes later at this time of the year.

Although tired, we had enjoyed our day as all of us were appreciative of the beauty and wonder of nature. One of the ladies who was always ready with her camera to capture the many fascinating scenes and captivating delights of nature was most vocal in her thanks for such a fantastically wonderful time.

Search and you will find. Look and you will see all the glorious creations of God. Actually it is everywhere, in you, in me, in all things big and small created by Him. As I have written we are also a creation of God and anyone who say otherwise do not believe in Him. That is why each and everyone of us is unique in his/her own way. So, starting now, think of your ability to bring out the best in you and enrich this world with whatever you can do for it. The first and easiest thing you can do is smile to yourself in the mirror first thing in the morning. Let the glow of happiness start with you. Then, as you meet your family members and friends, smile to them and see the smile spread, bringing a smile to everyone's lips with the delight of sharing and togetherness in this world.

Greed is the cause of so much harm.

It's the twenty-first century. The world ought to have made much progress in every sphere of human endeavour. And in many aspects, that is true. But then, in some very important aspects of being human, we are still in the dark ages where people still kill for power, followers of religions still abuse the name of God to perpetuate wrongs, man still do not understand that boundaries, countries and race are man-created.

Perhaps, hopefully, it is not a poor understanding of such matters. Perhaps, it is the greed in humans that create such misunderstanding.

Greed comes in many forms. There are those who are greedy for popularity to take themselves to positions of power. They form associations for the interest of a particular race. To get themselves noticed, they had to profess that their race is in peril of being marginalised or weakened as the result of the capabilities of other races.

In Malaysia, we have PERKASA, an association for Malays to ensure that their special privileges and supremacy are safeguarded despite the fact that these people proclaimed themselves to be the very religious followers of God. Do these people truly understand God? Do they not know that all living things in this world are His creations. Every human is His creation. As such God would never agree to one human being more privileged than another, not even when that human has not found Him yet for He is known for His compassion to all. Anyway, would any true believer of God believe that Almighty God would ever create the people of a certain race to lord over all the others?

The greed for power has kept this world in turmoil. Man loses his senses in the struggle for power. To achieve this purpose, there are those who would spread lies, exaggerate matters, use religion, abuse the name of God, plot kill and commit foul deeds.

In Malaysia, race has again and again been used to divide the people. The unfortunate thing is the fact that the leaders of the very party with the slogan of One Malaysia are the ones bringing up matters as racial matters even when those matters have nothing to do with race.

People who constantly use race to achieve their objectives should remember that the world have no real boundaries. Boundaries are man-made, merely lines on maps, no lines on the actual land. Countries are also created by humans. Early humans grabbed the land, lord over the people and proclaimed themselves the rulers. All of us belong to the human race. Skin colours and pigments are due to the environment and the amount of exposure to the sun or other elements of weather. Look at India, for example and we find Northern Indians very fair while southern Indians are so dark. As for languages, they are sounds invented by the people of a similar region. Thus, man created countries, names of countries, races and languages.

The only way to peace is through this understanding and the mastering of greed among us. Mastering greed can only be achieved through spiritual understanding, through the true words of God, not versions we ourselves create to achieve human ends.

Look at the world's religions. Humans have put in so much of his/her own interpretation that almost every religion is as divided as humans in this world. Islam has so many sects. So has Christianity. Buddhism has so many groups too. So does Hinduism. The problem is that man has played God.

That is the reason for my being a monotheist, a believer of one God. However, I belong to no religion as religion has changed some of the words of God and interpreted them for their convenience. I pray to God from anywhere for Almighty God hears my prayers, know my wrongs and rights at all times, no matter where I am, not necessarily in a temple, church or mosque, for I believe God is with me always. (Anybody who thinks that is impossible does not know God as nothing is impossible for God.)

Religions in Turmoil.

The First World War was a result of the desire for Japanese supremacy. The Germans thought they could be the superior race and started the Second World War to prove themselves wrong. Fortunately, we have no Third World War for such a war would have seen the end of the world. As time progresses more and more countries are acquiring nuclear capability and world leaders are increasingly aware that a nuclear war can bring such an end.

Awareness of dire consequences of war does not however prevent war as we can read in the news media each day of destruction and death brought by religious extremists. We have war between countries, arsonists, destroyers, terrorists and killers. In many parts of the world they either send terrorising messages or commit acts which cause death and destruction. Today, we have a war of terrorism.

In Malaysia, we have extremists burning and causing damage to churches and suraus or mosques, just because one home-minister decided to ban the use of the word 'Allah' among Christians; a word which has been in use for so many years in Sabah and Sarawak without any problems of any kind. His ban caused the Christians to take the case to court where they were given back the right to use that word. The decision of the court caused Muslim groups to protest and the leaders of the country even said that the people had the right to such a protest although peaceful protests before this had been disallowed. With that, we saw a number of churches damaged. Later, other extremists damaged some suraus or small mosques.

These terrorists comprise of people who are supposed to be religious; people who give up a normal life to think of ways and means to terrorise those whom they believe are the enemies of their religion. They are devoted to their cause despite having to be on the run, forever weary of armed forces which may put an end to their lives. Yes, obviously they live for a cause; their desire to fight for that cause is so great that nothing much can stop them.

These terrorists are indeed strong in their mission; whatever mission they may claim to have. Nevertheless, having a mission and a cause do not make their acts of terrorism right, no matter how we look at it, be it in reference to international man-made laws or the teachings of God and religion. In fact all religions teach their followers peace and good-will to all mankind, even the followers of other religions.

In Malaysia, good religious leaders come out to condemn such terrorist acts. some even help to protect places of worship from such acts of terrorism. It shows that there are true believers of God, after all and there is still hope for excellent practice of the teachings of God.

Still, when we look at various parts of the world and we see so much destruction in the name of God, certainly, something is very wrong. Perhaps. we ought to do something to stop this worrisome acts of violence that can only beget more violence. Let us study a little the possible causes of such violence.

Look at those who are atheist or those who are studying the wise teachings of great leaders who have found enlightenment. Have such people ever taken up such destructive causes?

Has anyone ever heard of atheist insisting that others join them in their belief? None, right? so, they live life according to the laws of the land and their own conscience or their own divine spirit. They never insist they have any right to anything except that which is truly and proven to be theirs. They move according to the laws of the universe, to truth and facts.

Buddha was once asked by a disciple to tell him about God. He told the disciple that when we do not even know so many other things in this life, how can we know God. Buddha never claim to be God nor nor did he claim to know Him. He found enlightenment. Of course, before he found enlightenment, he did do things I would not have approved of. He left his wife, for example, to seek enlightenment but then that only shows his human weakness before he found enlightenment. So, Buddhism is actually a philosophy of life. It is a wisdom in the approach to living correctly one's life. Except for a few incidents where the craze for power was the cause, Buddhists have no problem living with the rest of the world, regardless of race or religion.

Looks like it is only those followers of religions with a belief in God which are experiencing problems in accommodating or accept the beliefs, acts and ways of others. But then, religions have always taught love, goodwill and peace. The holy book of God, be it the Koran or the Bible, have told us that we are all creations of God. Thus, if we hurt or harm any human, you harm a creation of God. God has always taught us to be good and compassionate, to respect others, no matter what religion the other belong to. When it comes to the Christians, all are children of God and those who have not found the way to God, are lost 'sheep' yet to be helped.

So, could it be that terrorists are people who have been lead astray, for one reason or another, from the word of God? If that is so, what can the religions of such people bring them back to the right path, the path of God?

Perhaps, there is a need for great religious leaders who are courageous enough to reach out to these poor lost followers to help them return to the true teachings of God. The Christians and the Muslims can send their most revered leaders to tell their own followers that the fighting, killing and destruction must stop; that what they are doing is against the teachings of God.

Besides the above move, it is time, religious teachers must go strictly by the original Holy book, not to be interpreted as each leader sees fit. There must be some kind of professionalism, not just a passion to spread the word without caring for the true teachings of God. Professionalism is necessary as humans, be they passionate or otherwise, can and do change or interprete God's words to suit their own beliefs and philosophies. That is the reason both Christianity and the Muslim religion have seen so many sects in their midst. In Christianity, we have Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, Seven Day Adventists while the Muslim religion has the Sunni, Shiite and sufi.

Perhaps, it is time I tell about what happened in the school, Sekolah Menegah Kota Kuala Muda, where I taught in the early 1980s. most of my students were Muslims. As my students were fairly close with me, they once asked me whether I consume pork. Of course, I told them I did. They enquired why I did that as according to someone's teaching, pork was poisonous. Certainly, I was shocked at such a revelation. As a teacher, I definitely could not allow such wrong beliefs to go uncorrected. So, I told them that that was not the reason Muslims do not consume pork, that their religion forbids them from eating pork. They looked at me with such puzzled expression that I had to explain further that pork is not poisonous. I told them, "So many people in the world who are not Muslims eat pork, yet all of them do not die from eating it. Of course, like other animals, such as the cow and the chickens, pigs have their sicknesses. At such times, non-Muslims refrain from eating pork. Otherwise, it is perfectly safe to eat them. As for saturated fats, when it comes to health, such fats are found in all animals." Later, the Ustaz, their religious teacher, who happened to turn up just as I was finished with my explanation, confirmed that what I said was true in my presence.

So, young minds, when given wrong teachings or interpretations can lead such minds astray. It is not the fault of these students that they received such information. The fault lies in the teacher who may have his own interpretation of how that prohibition came about. Therefore, religious bodies have to be stricter in their choice of teachers so that God and not man is served, so that God's words are His and not ours.

Especially in the Ministry of God, truth and correctness of God's words are important. Recently, I heard someone said that the Christians should not translate the English word 'God' to 'Allah' Is that correct? I believe that is wrong. To substantiate my statement, let us remember that Christianity started in the Middle East, not in England. The disciples of Jesus were people from Palestine in the Middle East using the language originating from that place. Christianity certainly did not originate from Britain where English is used. Later, when English-speaking people became Christians, the bible was translated into English with the 'Allah' translated to English and not the other way around.

Truth should never be changed, especially when it has to do with God for there is nothing that is God's which needs to be changed.

And man should not put more into the words of God than what was originally written. When this happens, others are bound to follow and soon we cannot see which is God's and which has been adulterated by man. After many decades, maybe centuries, the words of God would have been changed so much by meddlesome man that the real message is lost, replaced by a message created by man.

So, before such a possibility becomes a reality, we should think of how we can convey the true teachings of God to the followers so that all mankind can know and understand God well enough to know that Gpd does not wish to have any of his followers abuse His name as they terrorise, destroy and kill in His name as if He would have His creations do such foul deeds.

Man must read and understand well God's words to ensure the safety and future of our world.

Respect the disabled..

In a recent court trial, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption commission (MACC) head of prosecution, Datuk Abdul Razak Musa showed disrespect to lawyer Karpal Singh who is a disabled person by making the insensitive remark, "I can sit down but you cannot stand up."

As a learned man, he should have realised that such a remark would only bring shame upon himself. He was immediately reprimanded by Karpal Singh's son who was also a lawyer. Abdul Razak Musa was cautioned by the judge and it ended with him having to apologise to Karpal Singh. The next day saw the Discriminations Against the Disabled coalition send a memorandum to the MACC, Federal Territories, asking that disciplinary action be taken against Abdul Razak Musa for his disrespectful comments. Eventually, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, for which Abdul Razak Musa was working, had to make a press statement in which the MACC tendered an apology.

Merely memorising facts, passing examinations and securing paper qualification does not indicate or prove that a person is truly educated or cultured. The thinking and attitude makes the man. Everybody can think. All have attitudes. But what kind of thinking and attitude do we have? To merely follow the thinking of others is easy as we just copy the thoughts. However, to know what thoughts are right or wrong, we need knowledge and understanding of other people. Attitude is how we look at things. To have the right attitudes, we need to understand the consequences of our attitudes. Are the consequences of our attitudes healthy and good? Are such consequences what we want? Therefore, ability to think correctly and having the right attitudes towards all matters in life is the indicator of having had a good education. In fact, a good education need not necessarily come with a degree, it could also be obtained through what my most respected teachers (Do you know who they are? If you have been reading my previous postings, then you would have known that they are Napolean Hill, Dale Carnagie and norman Vincent Peale.)called the School of Hard-knocks which is knowledge gained from experience in the real world.

In the real world, we find that disabled people can not only gain our respect for the things they are capable of; some are also such inspiring people and a few on them can be found in this blog. According to me, to respect disabled people is to respect God. We ought to remember that we are all God's creatures. God send us forth into this world for a purpose, a mission and it is up to each individual to discover his/her purpose here.

He created some to teach us respect. Faced with disabled people who can perform even better than abled people, many of us may come to learn to show respect and practise humility. Yes, humility! Some are too proud of their normal achievements. Only when they realise that there are some who can achieve even greater heights despite facing great obstacles; only then can such people realise they should have pride but not that proud, not that arrogant. They may begin to realise that although they are apparently not disabled, they are disabled in unnoticeable ways. I would say that there are those who have a disfunction of the brain. They discover that they need to learn respect or be more open-minded; perhaps change their attitudes which have not been right despite having gone through a university education.

Even those who have brain damage have a role to play. Their presence made those who are downhearted realise how fortunate they really are; that they should count their blessings. We may feel pity and learn to be more compassionate towards our fellow humans. However, although such brain damaged people need help and give opportunities for some to do volunteering work and good deeds, they are usually quite happy because they know not unhappiness. So, they have their importance in this existence. I believe they come with a special purpose. That they are willing to come to fulfill such a purpose, we must show our respect to them.

You see, in my understanding of karma and reincarnation, we come with a purpose into this world. Having decided to come thus to improve our karma, we reincarnate into this world. And when we die we return to God and the next reincarnation.

Let us have better understanding.

For those people who have not read my previous posts, I wish to inform that I am neither a Christian nor a Muslim. I am interested in this 'Allah'issue out of a desire to search for truth and achieve a better understanding.

Dr. Mohd Zaidi Ismail, a Senior/Fellow Director of IKIM wrote in 'Understanding the 'Allah' controversy' that 'the established and verified position of the Muslims has always been that the term is not an Arabic derivative but is itself revealed by The One and Only God to humankind through his chosen messengers, Who knows Himself what His Name truly is and without Whom so revealing, man would still be in the dark as to how to correctly call and address Him.'

When Dr. Zaidi talks of messengers of God, I presume he must be having Jesus, Abraham and Muhammad in mind. As I understand, Christians in Arabic countries have been using 'Allah' before the coming of Islam. The use of the word has since then been in their bible until this very day without any conflict as the Muslims in those countries knew that that was so.

When the English-speaking people became Christians, they must have translated the word 'Allah' for God.

As according to what Muslims have told me; that Jesus is the first of the prophet and Muhammad is the last of the prophets', then, it has to be accepted that Christians and muslims pray to the same One and Only God. The only difference is the buildings of worship and their names as well as the translated English word for 'Allah'.

As Dr. Mohd Zaidi Ismail has told us that 'Allah' is the Name of The One and Only God to humankind through his chosen messengers, who could be Jesus, Abraham and muhammad, so that humankind is no longer in the dark as to how He should be addressed, then, is it not right that the same God prayed to by the Christians should correctly address Him by the name 'Allah' which was brought to all mankind through his chosen followers?

As such, can we say that there should be no controversy and all mankind who pray to the same One and Only God, without exception, should be allowed to address Him by the very name He told His chosen messengers to bring to all mankind? Should mankind follow what has been ordained by God and not the whims and fancies of humans?

Let all brothers and sisters of God be united and not find controversy in human beliefs which can lead so many astray. Let us return to God and achieve whatever Good we can do so that we can face Him with pride and love for having been true to His words.

God is with us but some of the things in religion are man-made.

Today, in the Star newspaper online, I read the comments of a Minister in Malaysia. He said that the word ‘Allah’ could be used in Sabah and Sarawak which are two states in East Malaysia while the rest of the states in the Peninsula cannot use that word. In fact, he told reporters that in Penang, Malacca, Federal Territories, Sabah and Sarawak could use the word ‘Allah’ legally speaking.

In the first place, we must admit that God came before us. Everything in this world is his creation. Yet, we sometimes talk as if God belongs to us. Some have lost their direction and claimed that this is their God and therefore they have the right to call him thus. They sort of put a copyright on that name even when they themselves acknowledge, something all intelligent and knowledgeable people have to, that the name, be it God or Allah, is a common word used centuries ago for Him. In fact, as reported in the Star online, the minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, himself admitted that the word ‘Allah’ had been long used in Christianity way before Islam existed. Then when Islam came, the same word was used as it meant God. There was no quarrel about it because no leaders confused the people by making an issue out of it. Also, they pray to ‘Allah’ together, be they Christians, Muslims or others, as the aim for religion then, was to sing in praise of the Almighty and hope for his divine guidance and protection. That was their main aim.

Today, in our miserable world of greed for money and power, we abuse His name to achieve our human desires. This is clear when we see so many denominations in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and other religions. Humans put different interpretations into the words of God as they want their ideas or interpretations to be accepted. They start another denomination so that they can become leaders whose voice will be heard and accepted. Through religion, these people achieved power.

Humans terrorise others in the name of God and religion so that their ideas on issues are heard or forced upon others even when their deeds are against the very religion they claim to be fighting for. This means that they push aside God’s words so that their words can be heard. They forget that God is all powerful, all almighty, that should God want the world to be rid of Ong Ai Wei, all He needed to do is command that Ong Ai Wei will not awaken after his sleep. There is no need for God to call upon His people to sacrifice their lives, no need to kill and be condemned, no need to terrorise and cause the death of so many innocent people; just list those people He wants to sleep unto death. The fact that such people think they need to sacrifice themselves or commit other foul deeds to kill those they believed have wronged their God (Whose God? How can God ever belong to anybody? He is not something we can buy from somewhere. Oh, God, please do something about this.) indicates that they do not actually believe in God being all Almighty or compassionate. They must ask themselves: Do we truly believe in God?

One of the comments holds a lot of truth about some things in religion. When asked about the publication of the herald, which is a Christian publication, this minister said there could be separate editions with only Sabah and Sarawak using ‘Allah’ After all, “It’s all man-made. It’s not carved in stone.” So historically, ‘Allah’ is used by first, the Christens and then, the Muslims. They both used the same word originally, without confusion. The confusion is man-made, just as who should or should not use the word ‘Allah’ is man-made. God in his wisdom would never cause such confusion because the Christian God and the Muslim God are one and the same God. Certainly, and of course, they use the same word. ‘Allah’. Their followers, if they are not allowed to be ignorant of this fact, should know this. They pray to the same God ‘Allah’ and God is rightfully happy but humans are afraid that they may lose some of their followers, thus diluting their powers as leaders of a religion and so are unhappy. All this unhappiness is man-made.

May God give us the strength and courage to know Him truly, to understand the true message of God and have true faith in Him always. Let us stay true to God with our belief in Him. Read your Holy Book well and not allow humans to add what is not given. Study it with the intelligence and wisdom which god has bestowed upon us. All religions teach us good for ourselves, to others and with everyone. Let us return to the path of such goodness.

God moves in mysterious ways.

Even as Muslims and Christians in Malaysia face the problem in the use of the word ‘Allah’ and due to the fanning of emotions by certain quarters with the disastrous results of places of worship being burnt, seven churches were reported to have been burnt, and stones hurled into the premises of a mosque, a group of Muslim NGOs have come forward with volunteers to help prevent further attacks on churches.

This must be one of those mysterious ways God has to solve the problem of ‘brothers’ being thrown against each other into a conflict that should never be. It is proof that there are people who truly believe in God though we see many who profess their faith in a certain religion, yet act as though they believe otherwise. (I shall write more on this which, in a way explains my inability to ‘belong’ to any religion, for I belong to God and not human-set ideals of what should be. )

I really am impressed by the following words of Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia executive secretary Datuk Nadzim Johan’s, ““We wouldn’t want our Christian brothers to be in danger. This is an offer of peace and goodwill,” He called them his Christian brothers.

A man who can think of another human being, especially one who is of a different race or religion, as his brother, deserves my respect and love. For someone to treat all fellow humans as his brothers and sisters, he must be someone who truly believes in God, that all of us come from Him and we are all His creations. As such, we should look upon each other as brothers and we are a ‘One World Family’. If all humans can open their minds up to the true will of God, all our earthly petty quarrels become insignificant and not worth any of the precious time God has bestowed upon us to achieve our true mission in life. (One day, I hope to find time to show how those who think that their calling is to destroy some of the creations of God is actually going against God. In fact, think with full awareness of the previous sentence and that realisation can be clearly reached.)

Yes, as Man sincerely reach out to God and believes as well as understand His power and not the power-cravings of another human, he realises that all of us, no matter what religion we belong to, are His creations; that He created us, existed before us and we belong to Him and not Him to us as he is not Man but the all almighty God.

Perhaps, without the problem of fighting over who can call Him ‘Allah’ and the present church burning, there could not have emerged the understanding of Datuk Nadzim Johan’s that all human beings are brothers, that places for worship, regardless of what humans call them are built in the name of GOD. (For me, the most sincere place for worship is my heart. Prayers of truth come from our hearts. Are you aware of this?)

Without the present situation, the thought that our Christian brothers are in danger could not have come about. For someone who is not a Christian to think of the possible danger such acts of violence can cause the Christians, I dare to say, he is a true man of God. If we have everyone as true to God as this, then there can be no possibility of ‘The End of the World’ for God would then certainly look upon us with even greater love. With such thoughts, I see the light of salvation growing stronger and brighter for all mankind.

Perhaps, through this particular problem, we reach a better understanding of God, an understanding which hopefully can reach into the hearts of those who merely claim to believe, yet those words of belief only comes from the mouth and not from the heart.

It is, in fact, this belief in God from the mouth and not the heart, that is the source of our present world problems. (As this is of utmost importance, I will certainly word my thoughts on this matter in future postings.)

What the Islamic Society of North America says about the use of the word 'Allah'.

Below is a copy of the press release of The Islamic Society of North America (INSA), which explains clearly the usage of the word ‘Allah’ based on Islamic understanding and practice. What do you think of it?
Disagreement to anything read in this blog is allowed to disagree as the aim of this blog is not to sell or push anything onto anybody but to share thoughts and ideas and improve ourselves through such sharing. Any mature disagreement can be written in the comments section.
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The Islamic Society of North America Commends Malaysian Court Ruling that Affirms Religious Freedom of Christians
ARCHIVES 2010

Wednesday, 06 January 2010 Super Admin


The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) commends the landmark ruling by a Malaysian Court on December 31, 2009, that affirms the religious freedom of Malaysian Christians. The ruling asserts that Christians have the right to use the word “Allah” to translate “God” into Bahasa Melayu, the Malaysian language. It strikes down a government ban that was placed in 2007 on the use of the term in Christian literature.

The opponents of the use of the word Allah in reference to God have argued that the term “God” is usually translated by Malaysians who follow faiths other than Islam as “Tuhan” in Bahasa Melayu, not “Allah.” They insist that “Allah” should only be used to refer to God in Islam. This argument is contrary to both Islamic understanding and practice.

The Qur’an is quite explicit that Muslims worship the same God recognized by Christians. The Qur’an commands Muslims to declare that the God they worship and the one worshiped by the followers of revealed books, including Christians, is one: “… and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One, and to Him do we submit.” (Qur’an 29:46)

With regards to actual and historical practices, Christian Arabs have been using the word “Allah” to refer to God in their religious sources since the inception of Islam, and have never been challenged by private Muslims or Muslim governments on this ground. Islamic law is clear that followers of the Christian faith have the right to practice their religion according to their own religious teachings.
We call on the Malaysian government to uphold the religious freedom of Christians and to let the court ruling stand. We also urge Muslim NGOs to respect Islamic teachings and long-held Islamic traditions, and to withdraw their opposition to the use of the word “Allah” by their Christian compatriots.

Louay Safi, Director of Communications and Leadership Development

People who crave for power are the worse.

In Malaysia, we have politicians who crave for power to the extent of turning against the ones they were friends with so as to overthrow them as leaders and, hopefully, gain the leadership position for themselves. They instigated other leaders to resign in order that a fresh election be held so that they stand another chance to be elected into a better position. They would be willing to lie and blacken the good names of others to fulfill their desires as they crave for power.

We also have politicians who are willing to risk the peace and harmony of the country by stirring up feelings. They claim to ban a certain word because they wanted to remove confusion among a certain group of people when, in actual fact, the word has been in use without confusion or disharmony among the people for more than four hundred years. Proof that such a word had been in use for more than 400 years was produced by an online news.

It is indeed sad as the ordinary citizens know that they are not confused or disturbed by the use of such a word as the word was even used by Prophet Muhammad's father during his time and is an ordinary word for God in the Middle East. In order to give excuse for their cause, certain leaders have given the word more meaning than it actually has.

Unfortunately, the stakes are high, as it can mean the turning of the tides of political power. The issue can be used to garner as well as recapture the votes given to the opposition during the last election. I believe a political party see it as an opportunity to gain popularity through this religious issue.

It is becoming obvious that this issue is of great importance in securing votes. The people can see the opposition political leaders giving views that the word is a coomon word meaning God in Arab countries; even in Indonesia where for many. many years, up to this day, Christians and Muslims have used the word in their Bible and their Koran without any problem arising among the people as there was nobody who needed to make an issue of it.

It looks like this issue may not only divide the Christians from the Muslims; it may also create a division among the Muslims themselves. Those who do not belong to the party which hopes to use the issue to gain votes would not be agreeable to any kind of violence as most of the better educated Muslims who are also the financially better off ones would understand and desire peace as a peaceful environment brings progress and true civilisation to the country.

As I see it, the ordinary people are peace-loving and united. I have lots of Muslim friends and we can mix very well, discuss things properly and enjoy walks, exercise and work harmoniously. The heat of the issue is only read in newspapers. The confusion comes from those who hope to gain from the issue. The politicians and their small group of supporters are going into the internet to hope cook up the issue sufficiently to achieve their own goals.

God is for everyone. He creates the whole world. All of us are his creations. He loves us all. Some people ought to understand that He would not want anyone to usurp his power and say, "This is my God and we give Him this name which makes Him different from another God, for there is actually no other God. The Christian God and the Muslim God (I am neither Christian nor Muslim.) are the same as it has already been acknowledged that Jesus was the first of the prophet and Muhammad is the last of the prophet. Unless this part which I had been told by a Muslim, is untrue, then, they are one and the same. Buddha never claims to know anything about God.

Yet, Man wants to use God to achieve their own ends, knowing that religion is a powerful tool to achieve whatever ends he wishes. And it is ironic that religion in which God wants peace and good to permeate this earth would beget so much violence in so many parts of the world today. Peace is indeed the most difficult to achieve.