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This blogspot is a medium to share my thoughts and adventures apart from promoting my books. Below are the books which have been written or authored and published by myself.


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti".

ISBN 983-42031-0-1, Jun 2006


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Membela Syiar yang Asal"

ISBN 983-42031-1-x, May 2007


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?"

ISBN 978-983-42031-2-2, November 2007


It is interesting to note that while these books were written in Malay it has gained enough attention to merit being part of the collections of the American Library of Congress and National Library of Australia. Look here and here.


While the first three books were published by my own company, the fourth titled "Rumah Azan" was published in April 2009 by a company called Karnadya with the help of the Malaysian national literary body Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It features beautiful pictures along with stories behind selected mosques which could be related to the history of Islam and the Malays alongside the formation of the Malaysian nation. Look at the article A collaboration of old collegemates - the book "Rumah Azan".


My fifth book "Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and Malay Sultanates", an English translation and adaptation of the Malay book "Ahlul Bait (Keluarga) Rasulullah SAW dan Kesultanan Melayu" authored by Hj Muzaffar Mohamad and Tun Suzana Othman was published early 2010. Look here... My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates... . For more information check out my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU.



Like my fourth book "Rumah Azan", the sixth book "Kereta Api Menuju Destinasi" is also a coffee-table book which is published by the company Karnadya with the cooperation of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the main Malay literary body in Malaysia). Coming out January 2011 it features pictures and stories on the adventure travelling by train to all of Peninsular Malaysia along with the interesting places which could be reached this way.


My seventh book "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" in turn is a coffee-table book which is written, editted, designed and has pictures taken by me. Coming out of the factory October 2011, this book which combines family history with history of places such as Singapura, Johor, Batu Pahat, Muar and in fact the history of the island of Java and England has been reviewed with me interviewed live in the program Selamat Pagi Malaysia at RTM1. Look at the article Siaran langsung ulasan buku "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" dan temu ramah di Selamat Pagi Malaysia. Some selected contents have been featured in Sneak peek "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah".


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The "Berpetualang ke Aceh" series of novels could be obtained in e-book form. Enter http://www.e-sentral.com/, click general novel and go to page 4. You can also type the word "Aceh" at the search box. Or click straight Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3.


Friday, July 11, 2008

The Negeri Sembilan journey continued : A look at the fort of Lukut...

Breaking from the current session of remembering the college A Level days... Almost 2 months ago I made a trip round Negeri Sembilan visiting some historical sites along the way . There were many more sites I intended to visit around the state but time does not permit it then.
I finally managed to complete the round with a fresh foray into Negeri Sembilan 2 weeks ago. So let's start telling the story... You could say this continues from where the last trip was cut-off as potrayed in the article Journey to Negeri Sembilan... A night visit to the tomb of Raja Melewar before the journey is closed made June 7th. Here goes! :]

The previous Negeri Sembilan trip was started from Ampang, Selangor through Hulu Langat then entering Negeri Sembilan through the district of Jelebu on to the town of Kuala Klawang then to Seremban followed by Astana or Kampung Penajis in Rembau. On the other hand, this trip was started from Kajang, Selangor before we enter Negeri Sembilan through south of Sepang to get to Lukut our first destination for the day!


For here lies a royal mausoleum containing the tomb of a certain personality by the name Raja Jumaat. Have a look at the article Makam (tomb of) Raja Jumaat, Lukut, Negeri Sembilan in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) ...

Then we head some 3km out of the town of Lukut to get to this juncture...
On the left lies the entry to the Lukut museum...
Inside it's compound then only we realise that our next main destination, the remains of the historical fort of Lukut lies on top this hill while the museum is on the slopes, to the right of this picture... Have a look at the posting Melihat sejarah di Muzium Lukut (Looking at history at the Lukut museum)! in SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART)


Then we climbed up the hill...


This monument says the fort of Lukut was built by Raja Jumaat, a Bugis Riau royalty in 1847. Then Lukut was known for its abundant tin ore and the fort was built as the command centre to control the on-goings around especialy tin mining and the bustling trade...


The view for on top of the hill just outside the remains of the fort...


Upon entering its perimeters, the first thing I noticed was this old rubber tree!


Here are some views of the remains of the fort of Lukut. I'm sorry I'm running out of time... I have to be home by 11 and it's already 10.40 when I wrote this sentence at an Interent Cafe. Cheers! :]













Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Remembering the "A" Level college days. Damansara Utama where the cool days started!

A picture of the shoplots near Uptown Damansara nabbed from the Internet. We used to study and stay in a few blocks of the same shoplots...



Greetings earthlings. Time to start reminiscing again. Continued from the posting Remembering the "A" Level college days. How I got the nickname Fly! made a week ago. Before that, just take note. A friend commented that we did our college orientation week at Section 6 in Shah Alam, not Section 2 as mentioned in the posting. This friend also noted some happenings involving other friends which I have totally forgotten... and it's when I looked back at the article did I remember, we shared the same orientation and temporary rooms with the TESL (those slated to take up university level course for Teaching of English as a Second Language) guys and girls. So that amounts to around 600 of us having to suffer the week there as the TESL people far outnumbered the A Level folks by having twice our number!

Anyway, soon enough the orientation was done and it's time for some serious fun. While the TESL guys had to stay behind in Shah Alam, I think at Section 18 or something, in some PKNS flats (behind fences to boot!), we the A Level people got to move to Damansara Utama where the regular shoplots there became our classrooms and dorms. Not only there's no fences around, there's plenty of entertainment and night-life to boot including pubs and snooker parlours!

This was where our college life got a real fine kickstart and the whole popularity game (chasing girls and getting to enjoy the skirts, know what I mean and such) got off to a whole new level. But first, let's get down to earth. Let's get to the soonest arrangement upon reaching there, of settling down in a room and becoming room-mates for at least the next one year or so...

I think's there's a total of nearly 30 rooms for the guys and slightly less for the girls. Hmm. Perhaps that included the rooms for the seniors, the guys and girls of Batch 6 while me and my mates, the class of 1988 are of Batch 7.

OK. I got into room 51 C. The inmates were (let me just mention the nicknames unless there's none ya) Nash, Fique, Atoque, Adik, Amirul, Apeq, Jim, John, King, Mangor, Salleh, Tonga, Rashes, Zain, Mutt and. Hmm... I think Paqua was also in the same room. OK, that makes 17 of us right? Unless I've forgotten someone, please tell. Anyway, on the whole every room in the A Level PPP/ITM college at Damansara Utama housed about 15 to 20 inmates. So there...

That by the way is the division by rooms. The next was division by classrooms...

Overall, the A Level people could be divided into the arts and science stream students following the system from school followed by the choices made for our intended degree program and how we fare during the SPM examinations in Form Five. Except for those chosen to go straight to the United Kingdom under the BTU (British Top University programmes), we were practically the cream of the crop of the whole Malaysian educations system and that's no exaggeration! Among us where the best from the top residential schools like Malay College in Kuala Kangsar, Perak and Kolej Tunku Kursiah in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan or the top regular schools like Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur and Sri Aman in Petaling Jaya.

I myself was among those called for the BTU interviews. Not that my SPM results were great... I got a total aggregate of 14 while most of those who got called made aggregates of 6, notwithstanding the fact that I hardly studied for the exams. In fact after fighting with dad, I ran away from home during the SPM itself but managed to attend the exams while bunking at a friend's place in Muar for several days!

Perhaps it was my good results in Mathematics that qualified me to be called for the BTU interviews. Nevertheless I didn't make the final cut but getting called for the interview means you would at least qualify for the A Level PPP/ITM program without any further processing, that is you would automatically get to do the A Levels locally before flying overseas.

You see, the standard of those who made the cut for the BTU interview was so high that anyone regardless of how well they did in the interview would qualify to go straight for studies in Canada if they chose to do so! Remember, this was in 1988 and they were just starting the programme. So anyone who volunteered for Canada would make it immediately. Still, as far as I remember none of us, about 50 plus or so who were called for the interview (or was it closer to 100 people?) wanted to go there. All of us wanted to go the UK.

Oh... now I remember. After getting my SPM results, I actually applied to go to the United States to do either Mathematics or Engineering but got called up for the BTU interview instead. So having failed in making the cut, I got into the A Level programme soon enough...

Now, as I said before, except for the BTU guys, we were all the cream of the crop. We were considered a step above the rest that should any of us fail in our exams at any stage during the A Levels programmes, we would automatically qualify to study at ITM (now known As UiTM)!

Oh, what about those who studied under the American degree programme (preparing to go to US) or the Australian programme? Well, it's not too much too say that in the popularity and intelligent stakes among those preparing to go overseas, we were considered the best! Then there's the TESL guys who were preparing to study locally under lecturers from overseas but that is another story...

Back to the division by classrooms. So we have the major division of arts stream versus science stream. The arts stream people were basically divided into those who studied for accountancy and those for law. The science stream into civil, electrical engineering and such. In between were those who opted for the odd subjects such as acturial science and I am among the odd ones. I think apart from me, there's probably only 2 or 3 who intended to take degrees in Mathematics!

The choice of subjects divided my roommates into a few classrooms. If I remember correctly, the ones in the same class with me, class J were Mangor, Tonga and Jim. Anyway, the college population immediately gells into groups. Some were people who have known each other since early school days, some clicked with each other during the orientation days and after...

I noticed among the best well-known guy groups were the ones with Auk (ex- Alam Shah boarding school boy) with his roomates and surrounding groups of ex-MCKK guys (known also as Koleg boys) and ex- SDAR (Sekolah Datuk Abdul Razak Seremban if I remember correctly!) guys. Then there's us the 51C guys. Yes, we were quite popular especially among the girls...

With that I end this second installment (or is it third?) of "Remembering the 'A' Level college days". For the next one, I think we will talk about the out-of-college exploits including those at the discos and what happened with the girls... as and whenever I feel like it ya, cheers! :]



Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Remembering the "A" Level college days. How I got the nickname Fly!

Greetings dear readers. Today I made a quick check of where I had my orientation week for the Batch 7 PPP/ITM "A" Level programme starting 1988 in Shah Alam. From what I remember, I could only surmise it was at Section 2 or Section 3. Whatever, it was at a group of PKNS flats right in front of the main entrance to ITM (now known as UiTM). The flats look somewhat like the picture above... ninus the PAS party flags of course. For the record, I got this picture after making a quick Google image search. So pardon me for any political tinge in it ya. It was surely unintended although I must admit I don't have much respect for the present Malaysian government!

OK. Now comes the process of trying to remember the college days. Believe it or not, I'm writing this straight in an Internet Cafe in Kuala Lumpur while trying to recall what happened some 20 years ago, without any afterthought or premeditation in building up this article. Frankly, I was too busy with other things to even try to record it properly elsewhere before putting it on-line. Nevertheless I'm doing this because I feel I must do it as part of coming to terms with my past while having a look at how much I could remember spontaneously without forcing my brain to churn out the information.

Four days ago, I wrote the article Remembering the "A" level college days some 20 years ago! Just to get the juices flowing... to start the process. Today I thought it best to continue the story with how I got my nickname in college... the short but meaningful "Fly", a name which is still used to call me by my friends from college days, some from later times in university and on. So here goes...

Now some people thought the name "Fly" was given as I was as pesky and obnoxious as the insect namesake. Perhaps they do have a point. When I look back, I do find myself annoying to some, even perhaps to all for my self-centered ways! Then again others thought it referred to the "Fly" as in the zippers of my trousers. And they were not so far off the mark as I was known for my exploits with the girls then, hence the thought...

Anyway, I got the name during my orientation week. Now I couldn't remember was it in the first week or second but I do remember the hours were packed with all sort of activities said to be important in getting used to college life plus confinement in dormitories and the resulting rules...

Yes, we actually stayed in dorms those days although plenty of us were past 18, unlike the juniors in later years who got to choose the places they wanted to stay at out of campus. We on the other hand practically stayed in pigeon holes under strict house rules. Then again I've been in a full-boarding school for four years in Kluang. So I've gotten used to the whole strict rules thing and the idea of being stuck within a very limited courtyard. But perhaps others do need the orientation more since that was the first time they stayed elsewhere without parents or their normal guardians around...

Back to the orientation days. Almost every hour we're up to something or rather, at the receiving end of something including getting ragged by seniors from ITM who were supposed to show the way of things. We had to wake up before 5am every morning and only got to sleep sometime after midnight.

Hmm. Come to think of it, I have trouble remembering the guys who stayed in the same dorm as mine. I think Taufiq who later joined me at dorm 51C and kept in touch until today was one of them. I do remember there was a Kelantanese guy whose name is Tengku something who turned out to be a national level sprinter. And I do remember showing a small album of pictures of my girlfriend then to the 'inmates'. Yep, that was one of the instances where I tried very hard to remain loyal to one girl. At least I did, a few times!

OK. One of our favourite escapades in-between all the activities were to go the Seven Eleven nearby for goodies such as slurpies and sweets. My favourite were the doughnuts, I think it was Dunkin Donuts... all colourful with plenty of finger-licking flavours and I think it cost only 70 cents a piece then!

Soon enough, within a space of 3 days I think, I got addicted to the goodies. Now at every 5am the whole lot us, 200 plus students guys and girls have to dress decently and go to the nearest mosque. Hmm. Was it a mosque or a surau? Whatever, it was the nearest place for congregational prayers. From our dorms, all of us were forced to assemble in the courtyard in rows and orderly walk to the mosque or surau. Whatever..

Now, since my boarding school days, I have sort of perfected the art of disappearing in front of prying eyes and sneak somewhere else to escape from the mundane reality of having to continuosly stay within confined walls. That ability proved to be useful in many instances later including the college days especially during the orientation week. .

I've gotten tired of the whole discipline thing. It felt stupid having to walk in a row like some animals being herded only to be forced to hear some boring lectures especially when one didn't have enough sleep. Besides my taste buds were aching for the goodies at Seven Eleven. So one day I sneaked out unnoticed during the walk.

When I'm done with the goodies, I would just slowly sneak in back to join the rest. Somehow no one noticed... no sir. Those who were initially close to me by virtue of being in the same dorm or group of friends just thought I was somewhere with another group during the lectures. Likewise, if someone were to check with the other group, they would say I would be in another group as I have a knack for socialising across board, joining many groups of diverse interests and personalities with ease! Sometime I would just sit out until the whole affair at the mosque or surau ended and managed to squeeze in back just in time for the walk back to the dorms...

Soon enough I would escape to Seven Eleven and the shops nearby whenever there's a slight chance of getting out. I became so familiar with the territory and the whole thing, so confident I wouldn't get caught that I would zip out right in front of the poor guys who had to stick in the mosque or the surau while flashing the goodies out! Or just walk slowly with a smile as long as the Seniors wouldn't notice. The point being some of the guys noticed. Luckily none blabbed out!

During one of the little gatherings with the guys (yes, some of us got on famously especially among the smokers including me and the guys who turned out to be popular with girls...), one known as Din G said this: "Waaa... you alway go out hah... I think from now on I want to call you Fly!"

You see, "Fly" is a famous boarding school term for escaping from the strict confines of dormitory and school for an illegal outing. Din G came from the famous full-boarding outfit Selangor Science School while I came from it's equivalent in Kluang, Johor.

Oh, by the way his name is something Din... Sharifuddin or something like that. It's normal for any Malay with the word "Din" in his name to be called Din simply for abbreviation. But since there's so many Din, then people often add other nicknames alongside. In this particular Din's case, his steady girlfriend was known as G (at the time lah, now he's married to someone else...). I think her real name was Suzanna something which got abbreviated to Suzie then to Jee or simply G. So this Din is known as Din G and G (because there's also a few girls called G or Jee, both sounded the same...) was known as G Din! Funny isn't it?

So Din began to call me Fly and the guys followed suit. Soon enough even the girls called me that! Initially I wasn't pleased as I thought it was more akin to name-calling. But as I begin to get familiar with more girls (funnily within the space of a few days during the orientation I managed to find the time to gauge that. Now I find it strange how such a thing could have happened in the first place), the name Fly sounded rather cool! And that's how I got that nickname and to some people, it sticks till this very day!

Except for those who knew me much later, that is after I've decided to mend my ways especially regarding the girls, they would simply knew me by the abbreviation of my long name Mohd. (official short-form for Muhammad) Fahrulradzi. And thus most people now know me simply as Radzi. Or Radzi Sapiee (with my father's name Mohamed Sapiee abbreviated) which happens to be my by-line name as a journalist with the English daily The New Straits Times... and now the pen name to introduce myself in my writings especially novels.

Or you can call me Merah Silu, my on-line nickname which started when I joined a particular discussion forum but never Fly. You see, there was a time I myself felt the nickname Fly was associated with a lot of sins and decadence. And later, I got so engrossed with rediscovering my Malay roots after being rather Westernised for more than half my life that having myself associated with an English nickname with plenty of bad innuendos was a big no no!

Then again many from the old days still know me as Fly and it is still a comfortable nickname without any malice. And the name resurfaced more often these days when I happened to bump across many old friend and acquaintances after so many years living like a hermit to mend my ways. Most of them don't even know why real name. And it is much easier to relate the story of renewed friendships and acquaintances to others using the more familiar name. So there...

Now call me what you want... Radzi, Merah Silu or Fly. English or freakish it doesn't matter. Because it refers to the same person never mind all the wrongs that's left behind. There, I'm done! Alhamdulillah! :]


Friday, June 20, 2008

Remembering the "A" level college days some 20 years ago! Just to get the juices flowing...

A nice picture of the city of Shah Alam nabbed from the Internet...

Peace be upon you all. I'm actually in a rush as the time is past 9.30pm and I'm currently in Kampung Baru... I want to get to back to my auntie's place in Ampang by at the latest 10.30 but I must also make this posting to get things started and get a few things off my chest.

You see, I want to start a new series of writings based on what happened during my college days... That is while doing my "A" Levels 20 years ago in preparation for studies overseas, in England that is. But lately I haven't been feeling very well but yet I feel like I must let go of whatever little thoughts on the matter I can release to get the ball going.

OK. I'm in such a rush that right now I couldn't even remember where exactly in Shah Alam that I started the program... Under the PPP/ITM (preparatory college studies conducted by ITM now known as UiTM). Was it in Section 7? One thing I do remember, we started with one week or two weeks of orientation at the area right in front of the main entrance to the main ITM campus.

Whatever, I will try to get this sorted out in time as one main reason I wanted to do this series is to remember the things I've forgotten. Anyway there we were about 200 plus of us, students from all over Malaysia who did well in our SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) exams and thus was chosen to enter the "A" Levels programme starting 1988. I hope they would "accidently" stumble across this article and help me fill in the blanks!

OK. Got to let go of one more thing in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU before I can call it a day. Good night! :]

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Muhammad Nafs al-Zakiya, the great grandson of Prophet Muhammad SAW once touted as the Mahdi more than 1,200 years ago!

A picture which came across after making a Google image search using the keywords "Muhammad Nafs Zakiya". It was in an Italian website. If I surmise correctly, it is the Iranian embassy in Rome...

Assalamualaikum. Peace be upon you. While in the process of writing my "Berpetualang ke Aceh" series of Malay novels 4 years ago, at the same time searching for my roots, I was inadvertantly directed to the name Muhammad Nafs as Zakiya. For information, this man was instrumental in bringing down the Umaiyad Chaliphate. His real name is Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Hassan Al-Muthanna bin Saidina Hassan, the eldest granchild of Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Today, again I felt like making a search on his name. Thus I found this information in a site and decided for posterity to copy and paste it here ya... Hmm... Perhaps I should highlight a few pertinent points a long the way. Do have a look! :]


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Nafs-az-Zakiyah


Oct 27 2007, 08:09 PM


Here is a summary on Imam Nafs-Az-Zakiyah by Allama Syed Al Ninowy (db)


Imam Muhammad al Nafs Az Zakiyah

Name: Muhammad bin Abdullah

Titles: Abdul Qasim, Al Mahdi, Nafs-az-Zakiyah

Linage: Imam Nafs-Zakiyah is the son of Abdullah ibn Hassan ibn Hassan bin Ali .

Characteristics and Physical appearance. In terms of physical appearance and motivation he resembled his great grand uncle Hazrat Hamza ibn Abdul Mutalib . During Imam Nafs-az-Zakiyah's time the Abbasids ruled the Islamic world. These rulers were tyrants who took power by the sword, and so their rule was considered to be illegitimate. Therefore, Imam Nafs-Az-Zakiyah decided to oppose this illegitimate form of government.

Among his prominent supporters were Imam Jafar As-Sadiq , his two sons Musa and Abdullah, Imam Zaid's bin Ali's sons Hussain and Isa and many others. According Isfahani book Maqatil al-Talibiyyin he details on Imam Nafs-az-Zakiyah revolts and emphasizes on Imam Jafar as Sadiq allowing his two sons Abdullah and Musa, to join the revolt along with other alids.

In 145 AH Imam Nafs-az-Zakiyah, he took out the Zhuliqar (double sword) of his great grandfather Imam Ali , and declared a war against the Abbasid ruler Mansoor. However, just like previous two Karbala events in which Imam Hussain and Imam Zaid fought, Imam Nafs-az-Zakiyah was left with a fewer supporters of 313 troops, and as a result he was overpowered by opposing side.

In his life time Imam Nafs-az-Zakiyah wrote a few books, but he told his family if he dies they have to burn his books because it contained a lot of spiritual secrets. He warned them that if the Abbasids got a hold of those books they would have learned many spiritual secrets and known about the future events.

His Martyrdom

Before his martyrdom he gave his family two signs to recognize either if he will either become victorious or be a martyr. According to narrations Imam Nafs-Az-Zakiyah is reported to have said:- Notice when goes away when it sets and sky starts raining then know that I have been martyred. If the sun has set and the sky has not rained then know that I have been victorious (Isfahani) ...Unfortunately, the first sign came true, and Imam Nafs-az-Zakiyah achieved martyrdom.



Oct 27 2007, 08:25 PM


Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Hassan Musanna bin Hassan bin Ali bin Abi Talib, who is known in Islamic history as Nafs az-Zakiyya, was one of the heroes of Ahl al-Bayt and a contemporary of Hazrat Jaafar al-Sadiq (Radhi Allaho Anho) who had revolted against Abbasids in 145 A.H. He established his caliphate in Medina al-Munawwara and the surrounding areas.

Isa bin Moosa, the Abbasid general, was sent from Baghdad with a strong force to crush his rebellion. When the Medinans saw the strong force, many tribes left him one by one until he was left with only 313 followers. Nafs Al-Zakiyya was martyred at a place called Ahjar-uz-Zayt (a place which is not part of the Masjid an-Nabawi ash-Sharif). His Mazar used to be near the old SAPTCO Bus Stand. (The bus stand had also been demolished since a year).

His Mazar was demolished by the Wahhabi militants in 1925. There is a Hadith Sharif narrated by Hazrat Abu Zar Al-Ghifari (Radhi Allaho Anho) wherein the Messenger of Allah had said: “How will you feel when one of my sons will be butchered near Ahjar az-Zayt?” – which indicated the prophecy of Rasool Allah about his martyrdom.

Nafs Az-Zakiyyah was the great grand-uncle of Sayyaduna Ghaus-e-Azam (Sultanul Awliya Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani) from his father’s side. It is also worth mentioning that Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifa (Radhi Allaho Anho) and Hazrat Imam Malik (Radhi Allaho Anho) had extended their support to him. Imam Abu Hanifa had provided him funds to the amount of 20,000 Dinars – a step that earned him the wrath of the Abbasids.

Behind the punishment of both these Imams at the hands of the Abbasids, was that both of them had provided moral and material support to Nafs az-Zakiyya. More details can be found in Ibn Atheer’s Al-Kamil Fit-Tareekh and Abn Katheer’s Al-Badaya wan-Nahayah.



Oct 27 2007, 08:28 PM


Bismillah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem. Alhumdulillah. Peace and blessings on Muhammad, his Noble Companions and Family. Brothers and Sisters, Muslims whose relationship with Allah is one of responsibilities and duties and one of tasks and obligations....audio on http://www.islamiccenterdc.com/khutbassermons.htm?archived=1&page=6 (2-24-2006)

CONSOLIDATING THE MUSLIM RANK AND FILE

PART 23: ISLAMIC OPPOSITION OF AL-NAFS AZ-ZAKIYA (A)

We will continue with Allah's help to uncover areas of ignorance before these areas of ignorance become justification for our own undoing. You can see what is happening today, you can see what has happened in the past couple of days…how this issue of Sunnis and Shi'is has become the favorite instrument of division by those who don't know better and by those who will use anything at their disposal to polarize, divide and to instigate instability and bloodshed amongst the Muslims.

These past months have been an attempt to diffuse the dynamite that we have contributed to by not bringing these issues to the fore. If we can go back and untangle the information that we have in our possession, then we will have spared ourselves what we see happening in front of our own eyes- which translates into victimization, losses, displacement, casualties and general warfare.

We said previously, and we continue to say that Islamic Opposition to illegitimate rulers is an integral part of ourbeing. It's just our lack of information that we don't understand that our normal position in life is to oppose all types of authorities and governments that institutionalize injustice, usurp power and inflict the results upon the average person- you and me and the rest of us in life.

We saw how after the Imamah and Khilafah of Ali ibn Abi Talib (radi Allahu anhu), Muawiya came and he stole power. He didn't come and gain the majority opinion of the Muslims that he should become the ruler- that's not the way he operated. The way he operated was- he imposed himself by the force of arms upon a reluctant Muslim public the same way we have kings and presidents imposing themselves on a disagreeing Muslim public today- nothing much has changed.

We went through the details, and we had to go through the details of Islamic Opposition to rulers who are tyrants, authoritarians, autocrats and monarchs and to add to that sequence, we will take another effort of opposition in the history that we should be identifying with, provided that we have the right information, because much of this information that comes from history books is cooked to serve certain traditions or interests. We have nothing to do with that, we try to take this information as objectively and positively as possible.

The tragedy that happened in Karbala had its fallout on the Muslim public. The Muslim public were aware that a few people, 70 odd committed Muslims with Al-Imam Al-Husein (radi Allahu anhu), stood against a military killing machine and in the calculations of the material and physical world, that conflict resulted in the pulverization of the committed Muslims. This was an epic tragedy that made people react in different ways. We're looking at the Muslim public- there were some people who sought refuge or wanted to escape from all of this by adopting certain methods of tasawwuf and zuhd. This was an escapist way out from facing our own responsibilities and telling our ownselves that illegitimate, unjust, oppressive and tyrannical rulers and governments have to go, and we have to contribute to that process.

Some people found in a peculiar type of zuhd or tasawwuf out of this. In this way, they relieved themselves of the responsibilities of mobilizing against illegitimate governments and authorities. Some other people joined a trend in Islamic society that gave legitimacy to the rulers.

This trend, at the time, was called the Murjiah. They simply said that it is Gods will that we are where we are and the rulers are where they are and we can't fight Gods will. This officially sponsored public trend or sentiment deflected criticism and analysis of what these rulers by force were doing. Another trend that developed especially in the aftermath of Karbala was a quietist trend. People were aware that the Bani Umayyah kings were illegitimate, but as far as revolt, struggle and active sacrifices goes, they were not going to do anything about it.

Then, and this is all societies, there are those types of people who begin to satisfy their worldly cravings, they lead a loose life, they go into the area of sin to relieve themselves from all of this pressure. This was basically the general attitude or sentiment among the Muslims in the months and the years that followed the sad event of Karbala.

One of the trends that is to be found in all of this is referred to as the Mu'tazilah or they are called by another name, Ahl Al-Adl wa At-Tauheed, the folks of Justice and Tawheed. This trend began in one of the Masaajid. If we can recall correctly, it was in Al-Basrah when they had halaqaat, study groups. Naturally and normally, you would find in the Masaajid study groups- a scholar would present his ideas and his scholarly work to those who felt comfortable with his way of thinking, and there were plenty of these scholars.

In one of these study groups, one of those students who was in the study group abandoned it- I'tazala- he said "I'm no longer going to fit into this study group", because he had taken some issues with the mentor in the group. From here on, a trend and a movement began that emphasized the rational approach to the Qur'an and the Prophet (sallahu aliahi wa sallam). This rational approach was to become a numerically significant movement in Islamic society. The person to whom this trend is attributed is called Waasal ibn Ata. He began this rational assimilation of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Previously, we said that the movement of Imam Zaid (radi Allahu anhu) was almost in conformity with this trend of I'tizaal. To further elaborate on that, remember- we're speaking of the years after Karbala and the official oppression by the state against its Islamic opponents, the founder of this movement, Waasal ibn Ata, went to Al-Medinah, and he has a meeting in the Masjid, again- this is how important and critical the Masaajid were, these were the hubs of the Muslim minds and sentiments.

In the Masjid, there were many supporters of the previous opposition trends who came to the Masjid. At that time, the opposition to the political opposition that occurred with the onset of Umawi rule was represented by what is known as Al-Khawaarij, and we touched on this; then there was the opposition that was represented by Ahl Al-Bayt, Husein and Zaid and others, and we touched on this; then there was this opposition of the Mu'tazilah, whom we are speaking about now. Their opposition was that even though the Muslims have suffered an emotional and tragic setback due to the consequences and results of Karbala, but active revolutionary opposition to the Umawis should continue, but not the way the Khawaarij were behaving. The Khawaarij were saying "that anyone who disagreed with them is a kaafir". Al-Mu'tazilah said "that is wrong". Al-Khawaarij said that "the Umawis and at least some of the Ahl-Bayt are kaafirs", Al-Mu'tazilah were saying "that is wrong… opposition has to be principled, organized."

In this meeting in the Masjid in Al-Medinah, there were many supporters of Ahl Al-Bayt, and in this meeting what happened was a split within the supporters of Ahl Al-Bayt. Some of them preferred to stay more or less passive in their opposition to the Umawi rulers, but as a consequence of this meeting, their were also people from within the ranks of Ahl Al-Bayt who were convinced that there should be revolutionary opposition to the Umawis.

In this conclave or meeting in the Masjid, we had people like Zaid, his relatives and extended family, and as a consequence of this meeting was there was an exchange of words between Waasal ibn Ata and Al-Imam Jaafar As-Sadiq (radi Allahu anhu), concerning whether opposition should go into a revolutionary mode as Waasal ibn Ata was saying or whether it should stay less than a revolutionary mode as Jaafar was saying. This was an obvious split that took place early on within the "cadre", if the word can be used, of Ahl Al-Bayt.

We covered the revolt of Zaid and how it ended. We mentioned how the rulers of the time used to parade the bodies of their victims- these Muslim, legitimate opponents of illegitimate governance. Zaids head was cut off and his body was put on a cross for years. We read about the horrors that are taking place in Iraq- this is nothing new, we can go back and re-visualize these horrors when they were taking place during that time. Then, the son of Zaid, Imam Yahya (radi Allahu anhu) also carried arms and fought against Al-Waleed ibn Yazid, the successor Umawi ruler to Hishaam ibn Abdul Malik; also, what happened was a military, material defeat of these Islamic free spirits with a revolutionary soul; and obviously you have a Muslim public, just like we have a Muslim opposition in todays world, and you can see how the Muslim public acts or interacts with these events.

In the midst of all of this, there was yet another personality who would emerge. This persons' name is Muhammed ibn Abdullah ibn Al-Hassan ibn Al-Husein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (radi Allahu anhu). He is known by a title in Islamic history, he is referred to as An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah.

An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah had participated in the revolt of Zaid, he was one of the young persons who attended that initial meeting in the Masjid, in Al-Medinah, where Waasal ibn Ata and Jaafar As-Sadique exchanged different opinions and he also participated in the revolts of Yahya, the son of Zaid and now what happened was that he was convinced that illegitimate authority had to be opposed by the use of arms. These were the final years of Umawi rule of Marwan ibn Muhammed in the year 132 of the hijrah, all the Islamic oppositional trends sensed that these were the last days of Bani Umayahs political deviation so everyone was preparing for who is going to rule or assume power after this horrible chapter of Islamic political history.

Also, there was a trend among the Muslims that said "the responsibility of ruling the Muslims has to return to the Hashemis." -meaning that strain of Quraish from which the Prophet of Allah, but they said that "those who should be ruling are the sons of Al-Abbas, the Prophets uncle- these are the legitimate rulers of the Muslims and they should be in charge of Islamic governance." There were two personalities or characters who were at the fore-front of this Abbasi/Ahl Al-Bayt trend. One of them goes by the title As-Saffah, the butcher, who died early on in life after the Abbasi political trend gained power and the other one is Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur, who used to be a student of Waasal ibn Ata.

This reminds us of today's world- we have individuals who used to be students in the Islamic movement but when they saw the opportunity to become rulers, they ran for that opportunity and abdicated their Islamic duties and responsibilities. To make a long story short, Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur assumed power and there was a new form of monarchy, but this time this monarchy had a propaganda leverage that it represents the Islamic opposition which was furthest from the truth, but they used that.

People and governments that are in power use whatever they can to justify whatever they wanted to do- this is what they were doing. History has to be presented as frankly as possible- Abu Jaafar Al-Masur and the Abbasi political trend assumed power because of a reaction to Arabian nationalism that was represented by the Umawis. This reaction in Islamic history is called Ash-Shu'ubiyyah, one nationalism, ie. Arabian nationalism, under the suzerainty of Bani Umayah inflicted upon the Muslims another nationalism that expressed itself in the areas east of the land of the two rivers which is generally referred to as Persia.

Muslims were in a reactionary mode, but one nationalism does not justify another nationalism. Here is where the reaction took place and this is how these persons with an Islamic background got involved in just a counter part of the Umawis- the Abbasis were a counter part to the Umawis.

This reminds us in our generation of Algeria- the Muslims did all the fighting, dying, sacrificing and struggling and then the nationalist came and reaped the results. This same thing happened with the Abbasis- the Islamic opposition did all the fighting, dying, they paid all the price, the sacrifice and the struggle and then some people with a nationalist agenda came along and reaped the results. Damascus was history and as the Abbasis were consolidating their power in Baghdad, they were aware of the Islamic opposition because they were close to this political opposition for the past generation or two and what happened during this time of transition from Umawi to Abbasi was that one of the well known Mu'tazilis by the name of Amr ibn Ubaiy goes to Al-Medinah and he tries to consolidate and bring together all the strains of the Islamic opposition in a Shura process to agree on a leader in these critical circumstances.

The majority of the Muslims of Al-Medinah, through a Shura process, as was supposed to be the case through the past 100 odd years, agreed that An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah qualifies to lead the Muslims in finishing the struggle of the past years and launching the Muslims into a new era of Adl, justice, equality and political participation that was lost in the previous years at that level. Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur knew what was going on. People who are in power have informers all over the place, there were mercenaries all over the place- he knew all this was going on and this new form of government, which is just the counterpart to the previous one established a department to keep an eye on all types of opposition, particularly this new type of opposition that began in Al-Medinah.

An-Nafs Az-Zakiya understood that he is a wanted man. He gained the bai'ah of the majority of the Muslims through a shura process and now he was wanted by the illegitimate ruler. Now, there were two rulers, one of them was the one who had power and he forced the Muslims to give him the bai'ah and the other one was An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah who didn't have power but whose bai'ah was volunteered by the Muslims in Al-Medinah and in all other places.

We should hasten to say that before all this took place, there were the military physical defeat of Yahya that followed that of Zaid and in the area of Khurasan, the government would not let the Muslim public express themselves and how they felt towards Zaid and Yahya. When that Umawi government was gone and the new government was on its way, the Muslims felt so strong about Zaid and his son Yahya, that for one full year in the area of Khurasan, every male that was born was given the name of either Zaid or Yahya, but these internal feelings of the Muslim public were not given freedom of expression.

If you say that today in the Muslim world there is not freedom of expression, we can extend the absence of freedom of expression all the way back to that time. The supporter that An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah had on the popular level was no doubt a popular/across the board support.


Oct 27 2007, 08:28 PM


What do the people who are ruling in Baghdad- the Abbasis, Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur- do now that they see that there is a popular Imam who has been given the popular bai'ah of the people and this is when Al-Imam Maalik, one of the renowned four fuqaha, came in and when he was forced to express his opinion, he said "Whoever is forced to give a bai'ah, that bai'ah doesn't count." -which means that Abu Jaafar Al-Mansurs bai'ah is illegitimate, and because of that he was tortured, jailed and persecuted. This is a little detail in history because they don't want us to develop the political positions of those who are considered fuqaha- well, this was the political position of Imam Malik that goes detached from the overall circumstances from which it came. Just like we have Islamic movements now, that function underground- we can also trace Islamic movements underground all the way back to that time.

An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah goes underground and he has to disguise himself and Abu JaafarAl-Masur tried to track or find him. He went to Najd, Hejaz, Adn, Bilad As-Sind, he came back to Al-Kufa and then he went back to Al-Medinah- all of this he did while he was wanted dead or alive by the monarchy in Baghdad- they were trailing him.

In one of his escape attempts in the Arabian Peninsula, he had his one year (or so) old baby with him. He was climbing the mountain and he lost control of the baby and the baby fell and died. This is just a small detail from the lives of underground Islamic opponents to illegitimate authority. Finally, when he came back to Al-Medinah, this was about the year 145 after the hijrah, almost 10 years after the Abbasi consolidation of their form of deviant political governance. The people in Al-Medinah rushed to him and guaranteed him their support.

Brothers and sisters- once again we encounter the public when they tell a legitimate leader that they are behind him and supportive of him- this is what he had- the numbers were… in Al-Medinah and Hejaz, there was around 100,000 who were behind An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah. A side comment- look at these rulers, there geography condemns them, because if they were Islamically ruling, what are they doing in Baghdad? The same way with the Umawis, what were they doing in Damascus? If there was an Islamic grain in them, they would be in Makkah or Al-Medinah, but they knew who they were.

Anyway, Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur sends or dispatches thousands of warriors to Al-Medinah and they lay siege to Al-Medinah- in today's language, they imposed sanctions of Al-Medinah. Some people from within this popular support that he had were trying to give him advice, they told An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah, once again- this is not the 1st time we encounter this type of advice, they said "We don't think the odds are on our side. The odds are against us. We advise you to leave Al-Medinah and go to Egypt because in Egypt you have much more support and Egypt can be an equivalent base where you stand a chance to defeat these usurpers of power in Baghdad."

The tyranny of Baghdad was so bad that people who were opposed to the Umawis were saying that "we wish the Umawis were back in power." This army that had come to Al-Medinah and laid siege to it left an escape route, they left just one area for those who didn't want to fight to escape from and get out of Al-Medinah.

When An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah began to realize what was going on among these tens of thousands of people in Al-Medinah who just a few months ago were willing to fight to the bitter end but now that they were under siege and suffering from sanctions, they began to express that they are not able to go through with all of this, because they saw that they had to fight. On the other hand, Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur was concerned with the movement of the Mu'tazilah, because the Mu'tazilah had the numbers all around. Towards the end of the Umawi state, they were about to take over in Damascus.

They were successful for some months in destabilizing the Umawi rulers, so Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur was concerned with the movement of the Mu'tazilah who probably were in the hundreds of thousands all around who would potentially come to the support of An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah because of the way he began initially, way back when Waasal ibn Ata came to Al-Medinah and was part of them. So, Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur went to Amr ibn Ubaiy who was concerned the head of Al-Mu'tazilah and he asked him "What would you do if An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah were to come under pressure and was threatened by military force?" He said "You know that I would not give you a straight answer to that."

Remember, Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur who is the ruler used to be a student of Waasal ibn Ata and Amr ibn Ubaiy- in other words, it's like saying in todays world, he used to belong to the Islamic movement or the Islamic revolution. Then Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur left and he had someone else go to him and try to pick his brain because he was concerned with theMu'tazili numbers. Finally, Amr ibn Ubaiy told this person that "If there were a number of individuals equivalent to and as committed as the number of Ahl Badr, it doesn't matter what type of opposition is out there, it is legitimate to fight against them (the rulers)."

At that time, Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur rest assured because he wasn't going to find 300 odd Muslims who are in the conviction, the level and the standards of Ahl Badr. So he said "we are sure that these Mu'tazilis are not going to be involved in this affair in Al-Medinah." Who was head of the military force that had laid siege to Al-Medinah? It was the great grandson of Abdullah ibn Abbas. We can recall who Abdullah ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhu) was in those years way back during the time of Uthman and Ali (radi Allahu anhuma). Imagine, his great grandson was to lead this army.

So, when we speak about families and great personalities, that doesn't mean that automatically you are going to have a virtuous familyand a virtuous offspring. Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur wanted to preempt the revolt of An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah, so what did he do? He brought An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah's brothers and cousins and immediate supporters- among them was the great grandson of Uthman ibn Affan- and he puts them in a dungeon or a hole next to the Furaat in which they could not know night from day and some of them began to die and their bodies decomposed in that dungeon.

The news was going out to An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah, who knew about his brothers, cousins and relatives who were treated like that by a person who used to belong to the Islamic opposition and who is now corrupted by power. He had to take a stand in Al-Medinah and he began to fight back.

The siege began the 1st day of Rajab 145 hijri year and then, on the 12th of Ramadaan, the two armies engaged. The fighting continued for a couple of days and An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah, once again, was an Islamic personality, leader and revolutionary who had to succumb to the insincerity of those who said they supported him and to those who committed treason to their principles and became the monarchs and the illegitimate rulers of the Muslims in Baghdad.

Once again, what happened was when the Muslims lose in Al-Medinah, this Abbasi authority takes the bodies of over 300 Muslims who were killed fighting against the 4,000 who laid siege on Al-Medinah and they crucified them- they put their bodies on crosses that extended from Thaniyat Al-Wada', remember when the Prophet arrived in Al-Medinah, (look how they pick places that will irritate) and what used to be the house of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (radi Allahu anhu), and the bodies remained there for days until the foul smell of these bodies caused the people of Al-Medinah to force these people to take these bodies down.

When they took these bodies down, they went up to a mountain and threw these bodies into a yahudi cemetery called Al-Mafrah. All of this history is almost buried- because if you go toAl-Medinah, are you going to see a place called Al-Mafrah? Would you know where Thaniyat Al-Wada' is? Or where Umar ibn Abdul Aziz used to live? Or where all of these events took place?

There are hands that not only are trying to destroy us mentally, but they are trying to destroy us physically. Just like they took the head of Zaid and began to display it in public, they did the same thing with the head of An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah. In other words, they beheaded An-Nafs Az-Zakiyah and took his head and displayed it in public. So, do we or do we not have Islamic political opponents of political deviation? We have them, their sacrifices, struggles and jihad and we disavow ourselves from that political deviation of the Umawis to the political deviation of the Saudis today and everything in between who usurped this power and are still getting away with it because what we are saying is not public information.

Brothers and Sisters, Committed Muslims…What we are expressing in these khutbahs is not irrelevant to what is happening in front of our eyes in our world today. You heard, in the past and you continue to hear that there's a possibility of a civil war in Iraq. We say to anyone who thinks- that there will be a civil war in Iraq and if something like that is going to happen, it will draw on our ignorance of who we are.

There is no reason for Muslims who think of themselves as Shi'is and Muslims who think of themselves as Sunnis to shed their blood because of a larger plan that wants to destroy the house of Islam due to nationalistic and sectarian residues. We know that we cannot speak to 1.7 or 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, but we can only express our mind and our conscience as best as they are made from understanding the Qur'an and the Prophet at this time every week. We only hope that there will be other Muslims who will wake up and begin to express these facts before it is too late.

There are (maybe)hundreds of thousands of jum'ahs in the world every week- imagine if the Ulema and the scholars were opening the minds of the hundreds of millions of Muslims who are attending the hundreds of thousands of jum'ahs every week concerning these types of issues where the record is set straight and there is no access made into our internal affairs by the trouble makers who are either ignorant to the point of fatalism or who are mercenaries to the tune of millions or dollars or who are outright enemies of Allah and His Prophet.

But, when you have Masaajid and so-called scholars who are silent on these issues, then they have us fall into the currents and the rapids of sectarianism and nationalism. Through these khutbahs, we are contributing as much as we can to make that impossible. What we say, we say for Allah and we stand by what we say and we will go down with what we say with honor or we will overcome with victory.

The number 191 and what's next...

A picture found after making a Google image search by typing the number "191"...


Last night while forcing myself to sleep, a thought occurs to mind - the minute I got my hands on the Net, I would do an article called "The number 191 and what it means to me".

You see, the day before when I looked at this blogspot at noon, the hit counter below shows that it has been visited 19,100+ times. The number 191 has a certain meaning for me.... It signifies the end of a particular episode in life and the beginning of a new one. Hopefully a better one...

For the record, I've written 3 novels in Malay, under the series "Berpetualang ke Aceh" (could literally be translated as the (adventurous trip to Aceh") and all have the page number 191 as the beginning of a chapter. In book one sub-titled "Mencari Diri dan Erti" ("Looking for self and meaning"), the chapter is called "Legenda Merah Silu: Kemunculan Sultan Malikus Salih ("The legend of Merah Silu: The appearance of Sultan Malikus Salih", the pious king). In book two "Membela Syiar yang Asal" ("Advocating the true faith), the page 191 simply starts a chapter called Bab 9 (the 9th chapter) while in book three "Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?" ("The prodigal son returns?"), it opens up the chapter called "Tok Pulau Manis dan beberapa warisan Aceh" ("Tok Pulau Manis and some heritage of Aceh").

The chapter in book one basically talks about how a central historical character of the series, the pious king Sultan Malikus Salih formerly known as Merah Silu came to being. For information, he founded the twin kingdoms of Samudera and Pasai (situated in modern Aceh) sometime in the middle of 13th Century AD and the making of Samudera was said to have been mentioned by no less than the Prophet Muhammad himself, some 600 years earlier!

The chapter in book two talks about how the hero of the story, a certain Muhammad Al-Aminul Rasyid was about to leave the island of Pulau Kampai south of Aceh when the old man with whom he was staying there for 3 days offered him his humble abode for him to continue staying. Then there's the chapter in book three talking about the famous 17th century Terengganu religious scholar Tok Pulau Manis and his relationship with Aceh among other things... A chapter relating him to his great-grandfather Sharif Muhammad Al-Baghdadi who could have been the mysterious figure called Nakhoda Khalifah who called at Aceh's port of Perlak. For the record, Sharif Muhammad could have been the celebrated figure known as Muhammad Nafs Az-Zakiyah. This grandson of Prophet Muhammad was a main player in the overthrow of the Umaiyad Chalipate in Baghdad...

Anyway, when the number of hits in this blogspot reached 19,100++ (that is 191 hundred and plus) I thought that it does mark the end of an episode and the start of a new one for the blogspot! You see, this blogspot is the first I started among 3. The others, the Malay-language CATATAN SI MERAH SILU and the bi-lingual SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) were started just a few days later, that is if I remember correctly. But as it turns out, CATATAN SI MERAH SILU has already garnered 90,000++ hits while SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) got almost 37,000! Whatever, it means the least popular of my blogspots have passed the 19,100 mark meaning it is the start of a new episode for all my blogspots in fact for my life in general too.

Thus the thought kept playing in my mind last night making me hope that the number 19,100+ still stands today so that the story I intend to do would be more relevant to the current situation. As it turns out, the hit counter was at 19,258 when I opened this blog after 1pm and so I have missed the boat. But since I still feel I must still talk about it, I went on making this post... The only difference being the title is "The number 191 and what next", otherwise it would have been "The number 191 and what it means to me"!

So what's next? Let's just recap a bit of history. This blogspot was started November 2006 to get me writing in English again after leaving my post as a journalist with the major Malaysian English daily The New Straits Times. It was also to be the tool for the English translation/adaptation of my Malay novel series "Berpetualang ke Aceh"... Hence the name of the blogspot which could also explain why it is not as popular as the other two... Because the Malay title could have initially attracted Malay readers only to turn them around because the contents is 100 per cent in English while English readers couldn't be bothered because they couldn't comprehend the title in the first place!

Anyway, I never got to do the translation/adaptation properly, at least no yet... But I managed to get my writings in English going especially on the travels made since then.

Nowadays, I feel like age is catching up. For the record I'm 38 but still walks about as if I'm still 18 despite my muscles and bones actually aching up! I want, in fact I have to slow down on my travellings. Instead, I would like to write more about old sessions of travelling (and perhaps streams of thoughts) which I haven't got around to relate properly in any of my blogspots.

About a month ago, I had a reunion with my old college chaps, England-bound students doing "A" Levels under PPP/ITM a prepatory college, the class of 1988 of Batch 7. It was the first time we met in a group after 20 years! Most of us have lost touch after graduating from England in the mid 90s... The ensuing conversation made me realise how much things I've forgotten... Maybe because I was so busy having my own head stuck up my own arse especially when I was with the girls instead of the guys! Then again, I could have been so self-centred or simply that most of my grey matters have withered away so soon...

God... It would have alright if I don't remember things I was not involved in. But my friends were relating some of the things which supposedly have happened right in front of my eyes including the tricks I used to play on some of the guys and I could only nod in agreement because I could not remember zit! So I've decided, my next project or series of writing for this blogspot would be my college days from the start... And once that's done, I'm going to move to my days at the University in London and some of the things that have happened then!

To my friends from those days. Watch out for what's coming next. I might not remember all that have happened but I would to try to relate it as best as I could recount, of course from my own eyes... But if my dear friends wish, you could have it from your eyes too even if it means I have to swallow my own shit! To fill in any gaps, feel free to comment and give suggestions in this blogspot... Or simply type and relate what happened from your own views and I would try to fit it in the coming stories. Please do help to make me remember again even if it means exposing my own failings! Cheers... :]


Thursday, June 12, 2008

Tribute to a dear "friend", my old and cheap digital camera!


This is a picture of my Grandvision pocket digital camera bought almost 2 years ago at RM299 with a free 512Mb card in tow. It actually takes 3 Megapixel pictures with option to go up to 6 Mexapixel using interlacing technic or so. It has a 3 x or 4 x (sorry I forgot) digital zoom and very sensitive to light and movement... Meaning it can't take proper pictures under poor lighting conditions and when I snap, I have to make sure that the camera remains static in position for at least a second for the picture to look stable.

Still for the record, 99 per cent of the pictures shown in my blogspots were taken using this camera, the cheapest digital camera available then. And some of the pictures turned out quite well that it is adopted in some other websites and in fact used in certain mainstream magazines!

A week ago, I came across another digital camera, much more sopistichated... One that could take pictures under all conditions of lighting and without fear of movement disturbing the result too... Along with such neat features like face recognition and shadow replacement or something. But what made me actually bought it was because it has 5x optical zoom with a fair price which I could currently afford. The optical zoom coupled with the digital zoom option churns out an effective up to 28x zoom making me rather proud of my new acquisition!

Whatever, I made this posting to give tribute and let go of a dear 'friend', just like that done in the posting titled The computers which have shaped my life! made almost a week ago. I've done a sizeable writing on the matter in my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU and thus I thought I could do one here too, although not as long as I'm already exhausted for the day.

So now that this is done, I could rest in peace tonight knowing I've done my tribute for this old digital camera which also marks the end of an episode and the beginning of a new one. So good night ya... I'll write something soon enough when I feel like it. Cheers! :]

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Journey to Negeri Sembilan... A night visit to the tomb of Raja Melewar before the journey is closed

OK... Continuing from Journey to Negeri Sembilan. On to Kuala Klawang and what's around... After we're done in Kuala Klawang, it's time to head for Seremban where our next destination lies...


In between Kuala Klawang and Seremban, we stopped at a small town called Pantai for a late lunch... A very late lunch. The time then was over 4pm and our stomach was really growling...

Right in front of the stall where we stopped at, there's this rather interesting mosque and so we decided to have a look. A few pictures of it were posted in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) , under the article Masjid (mosque of) Pantai, Negeri Sembilan...


The journey then continues... Upon entering the outskirts of Seremban, we saw these rather curious monuments pointing the way to a certain place. So we stopped and paid a visit. More pictures were posted in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU under the title Funfair ke alam barzakh? ...



Not far down the road, we saw this mosque. We stopped here to take a shower... Our bodies then felt very sticky from all the sweat accumulated from all the travel during the day. Besides we haven't done our daylight prayers...



Soon enough, we arrived at our intended destination in Seremban... That of the tomb of a venerable religious scholar said to be a saint known as Sheikh Muhammad Said al-Linggi. For the story, read the article Makam (tomb of) Sheikh Muhammad Said Linggi in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) ...


We left Seremban at around 6pm or so and rushed to our destination somewhere in Rembau. We thought we could reach it before dusk as the town of Rembau should be around 30km away from Seremban...

Then again, we forgot to factor in the traffic. Besides, although our destination do lie in the district of Rembau, it is still some 20km further away from the town of Rembau. So if the scene in the picture taken upon arriving at the town looked dark enough, imagine how it looks like when we finally got to the place!



Here it is, our next destination and the last for the day, in fact the last for this trip to Negeri Sembilan... At least we arrived there safely, that is at the tomb of Raja Melewar despite not knowing it's actually location, relying only on the sign-boards showing the way and asking the locals for direction...

So who is Raja Melewar? Do have a look at the relevant posting in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) , under the name Ziarah ke makam Raja Melewar waktu malam (Visit to the tomb of Raja Melewar at night!)



For the record, I've visited many tombs at night and alone too, whenever I feel like it. But this is the first time ever I decided to take pictures in the dark... In fact there's video clips on it, to be posted in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU soon after completing this article... Do have a look and relish visiting the tomb of an olden king in the darkness!



Somewhere not far from the tomb, we stopped at a mosque for the night prayers. Then off we went heading back to Kuala Lumpur... On the way we saw this signboard... Decided to snap a picture because of the funny way the word "Bongek" sounds. That's all ya... Cheers! :]


Friday, June 06, 2008

The computers which have shaped my life!

Greetings... I wish I could do a longer piece but as it is, I've spent nearly 6 hours at a Cyber-Cafe in Kajang staring at the computer screen as I made updates for my blogspots, mainly in CATATAN SI MERAH SILU and SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) . By the time I wrote this particular sentence, it's already 5.17 am... Anyway, I need to make a certain tribute here... So here goes whatever juice that's left! :]



This is a Sinclair ZX81 computer made in the United Kingdom in 1981. It is one of the earliest home computers in the world and has a processor speed of 3.5 MHz and a RAM memory of 1K with add-on 16 K...

Compare that with today's computers with an average speed of 2 GHz and onboard memory of 2 GB... Compare today's ease of using hard-drives and thumb-drive for keeping and moving data to that time then when one needs to use cassetes and cassete players (now practically extinct) for the same job and easily risk losing programmes and having the system crash in the process! Oh, for the monitor, one have to plug a connection into a regular television. So there!

An uncle of mine bought this old computer in the UK and brought it back to Malaysia in 1982. I was then 12 with no idea such a thing exist until then... Still, using the computer and the manuals along with computer magazines available, I taught myself how to programme in BASIC and a bit of machine languange... Without the help of an assembler program with plenty of risk having the programmes and machine crash due to the limitations imposed then.

A few nights ago, that is 25 years later, I found the old computer under a bed in a family home. This lead to some nostalgia making me take a photo of it alongside a bottle of Zam Zam hair oil, to give some idea how small the computer is (about 6 inches across!)...

This lead to the posting titled Komputer Sinclair ZX81... Satu kenangan lama 25 tahun lalu! made in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU a day ago. Might as well share some of the thoughts here too...



This is a TwinHead 12 D laptop with a 12.1 inch wide screen and processor speed of 1.73 GHz. A dear girlfriend bought it for me in 2004 or 2005 (can't remember exactly), after finding out that my earlier laptop went out of action due to a serious problem.

I've never done any programming on this computer... In fact I haven't done any programming on any computer for close to 20 years! On the other hand, I used it more for writing. The result, I managed to write, design and publish 3 novels on my own, my first ever books all under the "Berpetualang ke Aceh" (literally translated as "the adventurous travel to Aceh") series with sub-titles "Mencari Diri dan Erti" ("In search of self and meaning"), "Membela Syiar yang Asal" ("Advocating the true faith), and "Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?" (The prodigal son returns?).

The books were respectively publised in June 2006, May 2007 and November 2007. Glad to say, despite the Malaysian book scene favouring more commercial and light materials, the series which goes against the grain of popular culture while exposing some untold unofficial Malay history against the Western Orientalist version of things, coupled with real-life spiritually-tinged experiences managed to garner quite a following... In fact some say it has already achieved an underground cult following status of sorts!

Now this laptop have been having some problems and has so far cost me more than RM1000 to fix... Maybe due to all the punishment imposed on it as most of time for the last 3 years I took it along my travels all over Peninsular Malaysia including forays into jungles and climbing up mountains? Starting about a week ago, the monitor refused to show any visuals. So sad to say but perhaps timely, after buying a new model laptop a few days ago, I decided to officially put the TwinHead 12D into retirement yesterday.

A rather lengthy story about it was written earlier today in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU , under the title Komputer laptop TwinHead 12D hadiah daripada Nur. Mengenang jasa besarnya pada saya... . Same with the piece on the ZX81 above, I might as well share some the thoughts on the TwinHead here too, to cap a certain stage in my life... That's all! :]

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Video at the tomb of Moyang Salleh, testing...

This is a video taken at the tomb of Moyang Salleh on Sunday 18th May 2008, an important olden personality of the state of Negeri Sembilan, to be exact in the mid 18th Century AD. The same video was uploaded in the latest posting at my Malay language blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU 2 hours ago... But yet after almost one hour taken to load and process the 40 MB AVI format video, I found some problems including much delay in buffering for play when the posting have been published...

Perhaps it's a matter of time before the problem correct itself... Perhaps. But I'm not taking any chance... After all the trouble travelling and making the video, then having to change the format and then cutting it out of the original video (it used to be part of 92 MB AVI file which originated from a 920MB + DVD MPEG video!), I want it to appear right for the blogspot.

So I tried to make another upload... And thus another hour spent for the effort. First, I want to test it by publishing it here... If it fares better, than I'm going to slot this one in to replace the one I posted earlier in CATATAN SI MERAH SILU .

Whatever, it's good to have a video clip here too although in Malay. So apart from for testing, let it make a permanent posting in this blogspot. Here goes nothing... :]





p/s: Yes... I've posted it just about 5 minutes ago and tested the video. It works... Yes... Except there's a slight disalignment between the visuals and the audio, perhaps a result of the video clipping done last night to partition the original much larger video clip. Never mind, as long as it works... Cheers! :]