Preach What Your Name Speaks, Please

How would you feel if you received a friend request only to have their spouse use their account to ask you when did they send you the friend request? Okay, wait, sorry. That can be confusing for some to read. Take it from the top: A sends you a friend request. You approved it. A’s fiancee uses A’s account to ask you the following question, “when did A send you a friend request?” No greetings, no whatsoever. Just straight up questioning. You respond just a little snarkily, because of how rude they were to you initially. Later A returns to his account and bash you for your response, and for being rude to his fiancee. Bonus: A’s name is *ehem* religious.

If y’all thought there was a case of loyalty, there’s a case of blind loyalty here, and maybe a little bit of insecurity.

An account called Putera Islam decided to add this unknowing lady, who later got (I think it’s reasonable!) mad and turned him viral. Soon enough he came to Sultan Melaka Fans page on Facebook, which apparently matches up with the testimony of the lady, who posted statuses mentioning to not ever involve others who aren’t related to the case.  Sultan Melaka Fans page also reprimanded him for the involvement, as well as for only remembering God once he became viral thanks to the woman he harassed.



What we realise is that what really set the lady off is because he accused her of being an apostate for somehow “making his faults viral”.

What soon followed is the fact that he decided to suck up or get other people into his side, for whatever reason, such as on this page as mentioned earlier, courtesy of Sultan Melaka fans, prepare yourself for the large album:


Of course when we are attacked, we try to defend ourselves, right? Understandable why they would try to defend themselves. Other people can be so demeaning and ostracising! They never understand our circumstances, ever! (Okay, honestly, at this point I kinda feel bad la, but it was also kinda your fault, so just admit la kan? No need to involve a sick elderly, or use excuses kan?)


In conclusion… I don’t even know, man. There’s a lot of mess going on here.


All I know is that it started with (assuming that the fiancee did use the dude’s account) the fiancee asking the girl he randomly requested as a friend, for whatever reason (let’s not make assumptions here…) and due to the straight-up rudeness, the girl refused to answer the question (to which even I feel frustrated about, because I’d have at least answered, but also I would respond in a slight snark just to set off a bit of realisation over how rude she was being). She then proceeded to make the dude go viral with these screenshots, as well as to point out his hypocrisy (his name, and for being un-Islamic under certain standards) and he called her an apostate. He also decided to suck up to other accounts as an attempt to get people on his side, but it backfired a bit too quickly. Maybe he was attempting to explain his situation, but I personally would have written a public apology.


Anyway, he also made mentions of his fiancee’s sick mother and that he got hacked. Which is, well, we can all say it’s an overused excuse.

Oh-No! Chinese Man’s Candlelight Marriage Proposal Ends In Disaster

Marriage proposals are supposed to be magical and memorable. Coming up with the right way to ask those four little words (“Will you marry me?”) can be a challenge even for guys who are romantic on an everyday basis.  Although nerve wrecking, they are often sweet and special. Proposals are once-in-a-lifetime moments that are forever granted in a couple’s mind, cherished forever.

In the photos circulating on Facebook, one proposal turned out differently than what was expected.

A college student from China had planned a romantic proposal on the campus of Chengdu Normal University but Lady Luck was not on his side at all.

According to Shanghaiist, he had placed candles that spelled out ‘I love you, marry me’ on the ground and a crowd gathered to watch while he waited for his girlfriend.

Unfortunately, she was late and it started raining. Damn that sucks!

To make matters worse, campus security also showed up to take the drenched guy away.

To all the boyfriends out there: If you are going to propose, always keep in mind the weather conditions especially if you plan to step outdoors! Try to organize a plan B to ensure that the proposition run smoothly.

Two Muslim Teens Beaten To Death For Trying To Steal Cows

What is happening to Secular India now? India is veering to the religious right and BJP and Shiv Sena to blames. When imposing ones religious values on others of other religions is a no brainer at all. There are fanatics in every religion and now the Hindus in India are acting like the ISIS or Taliban. Does PM Modi want his legacy to be an intolerant Hindu Religious BJP government of India who oppressed the Indian citizens of other religious and proved that what happen in Gujarat under his watch was also happening in India as a whole under his watch which is the oppression of the religious minorities?

Two Muslim men were beaten to death by a mob in northeastern India over allegations of cow theft, the latest in a series of similar attacks across the country, police officials said Monday.

Police have filed a criminal complaint and are trying to identify the members of the mob, but no arrests have been made so far.

The attack took place Sunday in a village in Nagon district, when a mob accused the two men of trying to steal cows and began beating them with sticks and rocks.

Police in the district said that by the time they reached the scene the men were already in critical condition, and were declared dead at a hospital.

This is the third cow-related death in the country in the past month. On April 1, Pehlu Khan, a Muslim cattle trader, was lynched by a mob in the western state of Rajasthan as he transported cattle he had bought at an animal fair back to his home state of Haryana. Khan and his family were small dairy farmers.

Hindus, who form 80 percent of India’s 1.3 billion people, consider cows to be sacred, and for many eating beef is taboo. In many Indian states, the slaughtering of cows and selling of beef is restricted or banned.

Over the last two years vigilante groups, who call themselves cow protectors, have become active in small towns and cities across India. Even lower caste Hindus, who usually carry out undesirable tasks such as skinning dead cattle, have faced mob violence.

Selangor Royal audience Monday May 08 or May 11

Who is seeking the Good guys or the sharks and for what and why. Are the Sharks from the hunters to be hunted and hounded away once and for sure from Selangor?

Moroccan cleric defies taboo on women’s inheritance

His efforts to spark a debate on inheritance have won him plaudits from the liberal media and condemnation from his former peers.

abu-hafs-salafisteRABAT: A former radical preacher is the unlikely instigator of a debate on a topic long seen as off-limits in Muslim-majority Morocco: women’s inheritance rights.
The country’s Islamic family laws allocate female heirs half the amount men receive on the death of a relative.

Abdelwahab Rafiki, a former hardline cleric who served time in jail following jihadist bombings in Casablanca, says it is time that changed.

“I invite… religious scholars, sociologists and human rights actors to open a dialogue, primarily in order to uphold justice,” he said.

Rafiki, also known as Abou Hafs, was one of around 100 male writers, journalists and artists who published a book in April called “Men defend equality in inheritance”.

He also appeared on a prime-time television show on the popular 2M channel, arguing that the social roles of men and women had changed since the early days of Islam, meaning it was time for a debate on inheritance rules.

Since his TV appearance, he said, “I have been threatened with death and excommunicated, but I also received many messages of support”.

The 43-year-old was once regarded as a leader of the Salafist-jihadist movement in Morocco.
He was among 8,000 people arrested after jihadist bombings in Casablanca in 2003 killed 45 people.

Death threats

Sentenced to 30 years in prison, he was pardoned in 2012. Last year he stood for election to parliament representing Istiqlal, a conservative nationalist party.
His efforts to spark a debate on inheritance have won him plaudits from the liberal media and condemnation from his former peers.
“Thanks to 2M and Abou Hafs, a new step has been taken in Morocco: equality between men and women in matters of inheritance can now be raised in the public sphere,” local site Medias 24 said.

Weekly magazine TelQuel said he had begun “dismantling one by one the dogmas of radical Islam”.

But Abou Hafs has also received anonymous death threats on social media and been expelled from a national organisation for religious scholars.

He has been denounced by the likes of Mohamed Fizazi and Hassan Kettani, preachers who were also jailed and later pardoned after the Casablanca attacks.

“He didn’t just turn his coat inside out, he tore it up,” Fizazi said.
Kettani said inheritance rules were not just a “red line” but an “impassable wall”.
Islamic scholars argue that the Quran allocates women half the inheritance given to male heirs because men are responsible for protecting women and providing for them.
Religious interpretation

They say the rules were a major improvement on women’s rights in pre-Islamic Arabia.
But Abou Hafs argues that the issue is open to “ijtihad” — the process of interpretation by religious scholars.

“The issue of inheritance must be consistent with evolutions in society” in order to “protect” Islam, he told AFP.

It is not the first time the subject has triggered controversy.
In 2015 Morocco’s official National Council of Human Rights (CNDH) called for women to be guaranteed the same inheritance rights as men, arguing that “unequal inheritance legislation” made women more vulnerable to poverty.

Outraged conservatives rejected any debate on the issue and the ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) slammed the organisation for its “irresponsible recommendation”.
But Nouzha Skalli, a former women’s rights minister, said the lines are moving.

“Until recently, the question was taboo — you couldn’t even debate the subject,” she said.
“As soon as you said the word ‘inheritance’ you were accused of blasphemy. Today, the debate can be held openly.”

“The time has come to break the taboo, which hides major injustices against women,” she said. “The Koran says that God is against injustice.”

Is Saudi Arabia afraid of Israel?

David Blacher, Student of International Relations and ancilary inputs to political zeitgeist


I don’t think “afraid” is either the right or useful word to include in a discussion of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel. In fact, a case may be made that the two countries are working together (albeit with proper diplomatic deniability) to build a framework for a regional settlement. Israeli minister Dore Gold is in regular conversations with retired Saudi general, Anwar Eshki - this doesn’t occur in a political vacuum.

Also, it is a long established fact that the Saudi’s have given the Israeli Air Force overflight permission if they chose to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities. Add to this the placing on the table by King Salmon of his “2030” plan, to which Israel has not agreed, but sees it as a starting point for further talks.

Remember, just as in the stock markets, what everyone in the world of international relations seeks is stability and predictability. While we may not like the internal political realities of either country, we can say with a high degree of surety that these two countries are fully aware that their national interests are closely aligned, and are taking cautious preliminary steps to achieve them.

In the Middle East, everyone is afraid of everyone. This includes Israel.

Saudi Arabia is afraid of Israel, and Israel is afraid of Saudi Arabia, and they are both afraid of Iran, and Iran is afraid of both of them both collectively and individually.

Of course, in official speech, no one is afraid of anyone - they are all strong, and independent and in the right and God is on all of their sides!! But that’s political talk. If that were the case, the situation would not be as it is today, and political officials would not do the things they do.

Each one of them says that they have a strong enough military to take on the other if needed, but the fact is, no one can - not without help.

You would say that Israel is backed by the West, but international politics are complicated and Israel knows how complicated it is. You might say that Saudi Arabia is alone, but it is not as helpless as you think.

I’m not saying that you have a balance of power - power is not balanced, at least not in the traditional sense. but it is skewed in so many directions that it sort of balances out.

However, things are playing out as we speak, and maybe in the near future the scales will be tilted towards somebody. If you ask this question again at that time, I may have a different answer.

Neither.

Saudi Arabia and Israel are not adjacent and have no territorial or other points of contention.  The biggest rivalry for influence that Saudi Arabia has is with the nations nations of Syria and Iran.  Israel was (prior to the Syrian Civil War) a big target / antagonist of these two nations so as long as Israel continues to exist, the focus of their religious enemies is not on Saudi Arabia. 

They are not friends but not enemies either. 

Saudi Arabia certainly respects the power and expertise of the IDF and the fact that Israel probably has nuclear capabilities.  That is not the same as fear.

Over the last year, there has been increased sharing of intel between Saudi Arabia and Israel, that let to the capture of some senior radicals on the border of Jordan and Saudi. While Saudi Arabia is worried especially about Extremism in the form of IS and of late has begun to distance from MB and Hamas, Israel is more happy with Fatah in control of the Palestine region, than Hamas. So in there there is a common objective. Though both are very cautious about the re-emergence of Iran, and that could see blocks emerging in west asia, with Saudi and Iran has the centerpoint


The House of Saud (as opposed to the hoi-polloi) and Israel have a lot of common ground on threats, the most obvious being Iran.  The Saudis also don't really care about the Palestinians, that angle is played up for domestic consumption.  There are definite back-channel coms between them, even rumours (plausible ones) of deals to use remote airbases in the desert in case the IDF was going to hit Iran.  A country has no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent (or at least persistent) interests.

As long as they leave Israel alone, they have no reason to fear them.

Israel has never gone to war except to counter an invasion or the imminent threat of one. Israel simply wants to be left alone. It could care less about the Islamic nations surrounding it, so long as they leave Israel be.

The Saudis are much more concerned about Iran and non-state entities like Daesh/ISIS than they are with Israel. On those issues, they actually have common ground with the Israelis.

PAS: We’re ready with ‘alternatives’ if PKR ties end

Party secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan says 'we know what we are doing' in response to reports that PAS stands to lose the most in three-cornered fights.

Party secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan

KUALA LUMPUR: PAS has devised its own plan on how to pursue its political progress in the country if the party’s leadership decides to sever ties with PKR, its secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said today.

The Kota Bharu MP said as an experienced organisation, PAS has always borne in mind the various possibilities and options it has in deciding on every political step.

“We will certainly have a plan. Our party has been in existence for 66 years and even has its own analysis centre,” he said after chairing a PAS working committee meeting at the party’s headquarters here.

“We always have various plans and alternatives,” he said, adding that the party’s political moves are decided on after much research and thought.
He was commenting on reports of analysts predicting that PAS would be the biggest loser in three-cornered fights in the next general election (GE14) if the Islamist party ends its cooperation with PKR.

A recent survey by Invoke Malaysia concluded that PAS would receive the lowest support from Malay voters in three-cornered fights.
Political analyst Cheah See Kian was also recently quoted by The Sun as saying that by cutting ties with PKR, PAS may find it tough to win even 10 parliamentary seats in GE14, let alone repeat its achievement of winning 21 seats as it did in the last general election of May 2013.

Takiyuddin dismissed such forecasts as mere assumptions.

“Anybody can make suppositions and analyses, but we know what we are doing,” he said.
On April 30, the PAS muktamar (general assembly) voted unanimously to terminate the “tahaluf siyasi” (political cooperation) after its leaders accused PKR of working with PAS splinter Amanah.
They took exception to PKR showing visible support for Amanah during the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections in June last year when both PAS and Amanah lost to Barisan Nasional (BN).
All eyes are now on the PAS Syura Council which is expected to endorse the decision of the muktamar.