Gamification

Me : "Gamification!"

You: "Errr....what?...." 

Me: "Gamification! it means the use of game thinking and game mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems" (copy dari wiki lol)

You : " So?"

Me: "Believe it or not, Islam itself is a type of gamification process!..metaphorically speaking"

You : "No its not"

Ok intro agak over.

A simple word, but in a context which we actually can relate to this world. Gamification, to be more general, is a way of thinking derived from the way people play video games. Having a sense and desire of competition, achievement, self-expression, personal status, selflessness and closure.

In what way does that relate to life? 

Life itself is a competition, death is a closure, and all that comes in between it is a flunctuation of our everyday goals in life and the life hereafter. We struggle hard in this life, to develop those achievements, we express ourselves with any means possible, and we gain personal status just for the sake of improving to that closure. However nowadays we struggle too hard, just for the sake of our personal needs and greed that we forget- the biggest achievement towards this closure of life is by doing everything done for the sake of Allah سبحانه و تعالى..

So get your game face on now, n start moving

Life's a game?

What is the life of this world but amusment and play? but verily the Home in the Hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew

[29:64]

When life gives you lemons...

Note to self: Blogging was never my "hunch", n i dont really think it would ever be, but heck its nice to have your own "cushion of protection" n express your own thoughts whenever it feels right. :)

Life's no simple walk in the park. Nor its a dark path leading to somthing uncertain. Its a path of choices, some leading to slippery slopes, some so smooth and beautiful you never want it to end, and of course some too painful and unbearable even to look back at that harsh journey. Choices that no one but yourself can take.

However, whatever unseemingly road you take, make sure u take your time to stop and stare. How hard life can take you sometimes, there is always a time to just smile and give life what you have to offer

SO

When life gives you lemon....

“When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye.”

“When life gives you lemons, chunk it right back.” 

“When life gives you lemons, you don't make lemonade. You use the seeds to plant a whole orchard - an entire franchise! Or you could just stay on the Destiny Bus and drink lemonade someone else has made, from a can.” 

“when life gives you lemon, take it. don't waste food” 

“When life gives you lemons, do NOT make lemonade. Lemonade is for losers. Make orange juice instead.” 

OR are you

“When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your D*** lemons, what the h*** am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! ! Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!” 

When life gives you lemons..............what would u do??

Salat

As we know, the Salah is a consequent practice we as muslims do everyday, and is is stated in the Quran as one of the 5 pillars in Islam. (Fun facts: salah in arabic actually means bowing, worship,homage or just prayer). Despite our busy hours, these times are used in reminding us which is the outmost important out of all, and that life in this world is not as important as remembering Allah S.W.T as our creator.

I was born a muslim, but didnt really grow up like one, i started my daily prayers just, u know, out of shame when others were content of doing it. It was more like a routine then a religious act. Dont get me wrong, my parents were not to be blamed. They reminded me told me and even forced me to perform, i was just a lazy kid who thought bah? 5 times? 2-3 times ok kot?? then not doing anything at all. I had a free spirit, felt like when i get older, ill pray la. However as time flew by, the habit of not praying became a routine. Whenever someone asked me to pray- i was like "you go first, sakit perut la" then ill just do somthing else. Nakal, is what malays call it. Yup i was a brat. When i attended boarding school, everyone was told to pray on time, everyday, all prayers tip top. It was a good effort, and Alhamdulillah i learnt a lot. (TQ SMSSMJ) However when the holidays came. The brat in me revealed its horns. I was missing somthing inside of me that got me lost somewhere in the arms of syaitan. Astaghfirullah Hal'azim. May Allah guide me in the darkest of my days.

In Moscow, ive taken the tendency to join the ukhwah an participate in usrah. It has been an eyeopener so far. I sometimes feel so far from being a muslim, yet at times it feels so close. Iman sure has its ups and downs that sure make u wobbly. Why is this post about salah? Its just that since coming to Moscow, i was told that by understanding the meanings in your salah, you tend to feel closer and more tranced while performing prayer. I was like, heck ill give it a try, doubt itll work but i got nothing to lose. So i searched with easy google. Found what i was looking for, and took the time to read, and remember. I had no basics in Arab, so despite the language barrier, i tried not by word, but by verses. Alhamdulillah, it felt different- knowing every meaning of the verse made you realize- your actually talking to Allah- not some gibberish that u do everyday. You find it hard to read fast cause u realize that the praises and words of worship are to beautiful to skip. In every verse try to read in arabic, then translate in whatever language u feel best for u during salah. So basically during every verse, a contempt to think that back in the days before i understood, it sounded more of a mocking than a worshiping. Masha'Allah. Its better to try step by step if memorizing all in one time seems difficult. InsyaAllah, Allah is always watching us. To those who have always known the meaning and practices it everyday, I much envy you since Allah has given u the sight to see earlier. 

Its never to late :) Together lets live as a muslim and die as a syahid

Lessons of life

Hundreds of years ago, men have sought to undermine such things that we have achieved nowadays. You name it, Al-Khawarizmi, Ibn Battuta, Ahmed ibn Yusuf and much more have shared their knowledges with the world towards their secrets of success. These are just but some of such men that you think more people would listen to what they had to say. Never leave that till tomorrow, which you can do today. Im not sure why some people put these things off, but if i had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if your'e wrong? What if your'e making a mistake you cant undo? The early bird catches the worm. He who hesitates is lost. We cant pretend we hadnt been told. Weve heard them all, warning about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize todays present. We fear we don't have enough time to do anything. We have to learn our own lessons. We need to sweep todays possibility under tomorrows rug until theres none left, until we finally find what we are really searching for. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest of failures, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying. 

Boundaries

At some point in life, you have to make a decision. Boundaries don't keep other people out. They fence you in. Life is messy. That's how we're made. So, you can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines... that are way too dangerous to cross.

nice and simple :)

Mosque in Ground Zero?

Its been a while since another updated blog, i know, just getting pretty busy now. Not to mention the weather here in Russia is getting even chiller than ever. Ok back to the issue- bear in mind that ive never intended to discuss about political issues, n stuff that is far beyond my range of....power i guess, but this issues becoming a little bit disturbing- so ive been opening blogs, u-tube discussions, papers, lets just say ive been doing my homework ;).

So when i heard about the planning of building a mosque, i was thankful, and was hoping that at last muslims will be able to pray with more space and tranquility. However, sincerely, when i heard about its location (ground zero) i doubt that it was the right decision. I mean, lower Manhattan a.k.a Ground Zero was technically a memorial of the hundreds of deaths during 9/11. Unfortunately, that time, fingers were not pointing at terrorists, extremist, nor politicians- people pointed thier fingers to Islam. Terrorism was linked to a religion. During the raids of the mongolian horde, the killing spree of muslims in India, the attrocities of the Nazis to the Jews, all of these events- history has labeled them as groups of terrorists. Why? because they create terror- fear in the hearts of people.But they are never accused of thier acts with religion. So in such events such as the 9/11 why people are blinded by the fact that its not a war against islam, but a war against terrorism.

After reading through the facts- here is what i can say:

The site for this project, is whatsoever not located at the site of the former World Trade Center. It is located a few block away from this site and is located over a former Coat factory. Its range of site? Well this site is actually nowhere near the ground zero perimeter. Its 10 by 10 feet large is actually a mere spec in the area. Then why is it called Mosque of Ground Zero? Ask the media, the politicians and the speculators who always makes a fuss about things only for their own purpose. Talk about not wanting anything islamic in that area, there is actually a Halal restaurant in tha area of Ground Zero n no one is making a fuss about it. Isnt that Islamic too? 

The best part of it is that it is actually a community center- with a mosque. So the big picture is a Community center, u know basketball courts, playgrounds, but with a mosque. Imagine a community center with a small chapel- would you call it a church? But then you hear mosque- then you link it with terrorism, bombs, guns, killings, jihad, n all the nonsene. We are all discriminating a free n peaceful religion.

Perhaps the most strongest debate in this issue is that they are not breaking the law. Muslim Americans are still Americans. They have rights. Especially when talking about America when every person is able to give their thoughts, their commitment. So where is the free America, if we are not able to do something that is not against the law? Maybe Americans should read back their Federal Constitutions? I know mine.

Whats done is done, i respect the president Obamas decision in trying to create a decent tolerency towards interreligious understandings. I fear for the safety of my brothers, yet i appreciate his efforts towards this step in creating a world of diverse mutual religious understanding.

Isolation

No doubt, today muslims are seen as the minority. Rumor, that is basically supported by facts, has it that we are expanding in numbers. I dont really remember where i heard this, but it goes someting like this; "Every muslim killed today, a greater number of people accept Islam tomorrow." But why are we seen as a minority? Is it because we are weak?  Is it because of our technology? or is it just statistically seen in numbers? If so, then why the Jewish are seen as a powerful race when there is just only 13,421,000 jewish population compared to the muslims that are 1/4 of the people in this world?

There is no definite answer, and the answers to this question can go rambling on and on and on. So before going to the more deeper issues in which we, as humble people with no power, cannot do. We can see this in terms of simple reasons such as isolation.

Yes, the Westerns, the Europeans and of course the Jewish have not exactly opened the welcome wagon for us Muslims. The hijabs, the long beards, the Holy Quran and jihad are seen as a liability nowadays, eventhough none of it does contribute to terrorism, as how they mentioned it in the media and whatever. But have we muslims ever viewed on what we do actually does contribute to their isolation towards us? We keep on pointing fingers yet we never view back to what we do on behalf of their perspectives. I am a muslim, i love my religion, and i have faith that Islam is the religion of rightenous. But it doesnt neglect the fact that humans make mistakes, even muslims.

In a way, i believe it is us also that isolates ourselves from the world in one way or another. We claim we have interreligous understanding,yet we dont allow our childrens to play with non-muslims just because they eat pork. (which is haram(forbidden) in islam) We dont talk to non muslims coz we fear they will contaminate our beliefs and poison our minds with their lifestyle. We create a sense of doubt to our community to interact with these people and influence our children to be unsociable. We insulate ourselves with our islamic-islamic cmmunity by avoiding contact towards anyone but ourselves. During the Islamic reign, our scholars travelled to Rome, Greece and China just to share their knowledge, and translate it to Arabic for their educational purposes.Malaysia, is in good terms by sending students to foreign countries. Learning about their cultures, their knowledge and mind set is one best way to create interreligous and interracial understandings between them. As a result this may contribute to a better islamic view to foreigners and show the true teachings of islam.

 Unfortunately, even in our islamic-islamic communities- we argue over senseless topics like who wears the hijab more properly? who is more faithful than the other? while the enemy surrounds the borders of our lands with tanks and bombs, we keep on rambling on and on-pointing fingers again and again.

However, oppressions in Palestine and in Eastern Europe have also contributed to a sense of hate and unfriendly views from the muslim community. Our anger of the deaths of our brothers and sisters, have resorted to violence. An action described by the media as terroristic. Their cause are let down, and their presence are neglected. From that, hijacking planes, suicide bombings, killing sprees and many more occur from the mess the non muslims created- and cycles back to us as massive terrorism taught by islam. Scholars claim to read the Quran and without understanding its meaning create senseless accusations about Islam- covering their mess with our action. Making us puppets to their mascarade. Used silently. Our actions that were created by fear and anger resorted to our isolation. When we punch back, they shoot us- saying we punched them first..

We are a religion of peace. We are not terrorists.