Those who represent us

Something my Islamic Studies teacher taught me: Islam is perfect, Muslims are not.

That I love. You could put it to so many things, couldn't you? But obviously I'll stick to putting for my religion. I mean, don't you just cringe when someone is on TV, doing something horrible and has some kind of similar label to you? Like, I'm willing to bet a billion Muslims in the world were burying their heads in their pillows when September 11th happened - not to mention that was the same year when the Cronulla Riots happened. The Cronulla Riots - God, I wanna slap those guys. I never actually knew what it was about til Wednesday, when we had class - just Sr N, my sister and I. Female bonding ^^

So yeah, that came up, but it started from the case about that Muslim lady on the news lately. Ok, I can't find a decent article that covers everything, but basically the case is this: 

A burqa wearing woman was pulled over by a policeman for speeding or something. He politely asks her to remove the face covering so she can be ID'd, but she refuses and curses him big time. 

This is all caught on the camera in the police car.

It goes to court, and she puts in some racism complaint. They cannot prove it's her in the video because she doesn't remove the burqa. She gets off this charge, and a whole band of Muslims walk out of the court cheering 'Allahu akbar' in celebration for her.

Why is this scene all wrong? She lied. There's hardcore evidence, even if they can't put it down. Muslims are not liars. They're not supposed to be - it's a sin like any other.

Burqas or niqabs are allowed to be removed for identification purposes. It exists even under Shariah! They're not even compulsory in the first place. It was originally worn by all the Prophet's wives, and probably because they wanted to protect themselves from the desert sand, but who knows. Even when one goes on pilgrimage, you're not allowed to cover your face, so it's logical that it can't be compulsory. But most women want to emulate the wives, or just go that extra length, but this chick just blew it! She's so obnoxious! 

And to think all these Muslims are praising her! SHE DOES NOT DESERVE IT!

We learnt on Wednesday that in Islam, you cannot just cover up for a Muslim brother's/sister's crimes just because they're Muslim. If they stole something, and you know it, you cannot defend them.There was a hadith about a companion in the Prophet's time who stole something and planted it in a Jew's house. They were going to charge the Jew because they thought a Muslim couldn't possibly do such a thing, until Allah (SWT) sent down a verse that gave us this practice.

So why are these Muslims cheering on this burqa lady? She's not only given us a bad name - especially all other burqa-wearers, but she's going against our very own religious teachings! They should tell her off. It's disgusting.

Isn't it sad how it's the bad guys that predominantly make the news? Always the criminals and whatnot, and they end up representing us. I just know how good so many of the sisters in our class would be up on TV, but they don't even compromise. Apparently, Sr A was asked to go on, but they wanted her whole family, too. Her family didn't want to, so they dropped her. What is that?!?!

Ok, I'm not going to saying all the people on the news, all the Muslims, they're all horrible There are plenty of good people - I just don't think there's enough. That's why I want to write Muslim-y stories, and maybehopefully insha'allah get them published. I just want to show that positive side, you know? 'Cause while I can have the words, I would never have the guts to go on TV and say them. So putting it on paper is the best I can do.

So, if you haven't figured, class is so awesome. Except we do a lot on marriage now, and it makes me nervous when they start to play with matchmaking. Usually it's funny and ok 'cause it's about my older sister or something, but yesterday they picked on me *blushes madly* I'm 16!! I DON'T WANT POTENTIAL HUBBIES NOW!

Anyway, I finished my second season of Supernatural. [slowlycondensesallhyperventilation] Twas epic, but I'm just so nervous because S keeps saying Sam is going to end up evil - or not really, he just does evil things or something, and I don't want him to be evil! I like both Dean and Sam - but I like Sam better! NOT looks wise, I swear I'm not checking them out ... I don't even know why. I think maybe 'cause he's the one who has more faith? I only like him a little better, you know. But both of them are amazing - I don't think either would be good without the other.

And I haven't been doing much else all holidays. I am proud to say that I've kept up with homework - a subchapter a day for maths - so it's not piling up. I've got 2 subchapters to go, and then some note-taking in bio, and I'm done. Thank God I read Pride and Prejudice last holidays.

AND OMG, HP7P2 IS COMING OUT!!! :O

Reading: Boy & Going Solo. Roald Dahl. You know, it's RD. It's gotta be good. I think I have to read faster though, to get all my other holiday reading out of the way.

Writing: Chipped. Progress is amazing! No kidding, I'm over 6000, up to my fourth chapter - I just have to get to a certain point before I start posting.

Listening to: Faded. The Veronicas. Admittedly, I'm doing a lot of listening to old-favourites ^^

Feeling: Great.

I don't wanna be your little picture-perfect-pretty-girl
Who's got nothing to say
And I'm not gonna wait around for you
To run my whole life down
And let you watch me fade away

You try to fit
To fit me in your perfect box
You let me slip
Between the cracks

Peace in,

Laila

The Benefit of the Doubt

Long time, no... blog?

See, the stupid thing is, I've been spending the whole week going GOTTABLOGTHIS at random intervals of awesomeness, but then that thingstoblog list kinda got too long and I can't remember everything... or anything.

And I'm sure even if I did remember everything, it would make an uber long post that you would die of old age just scanning over it. So yeah.

How about the last week of school? Well, ohohohOH, I got 100% on my last bio SAC! EEP! You know why? It was a writing task. Give me a writing task, preferably opinionated but not mandatory, and I should ace it. I mean, it's like last year, when I did my assignment on evolution. You had to... write about it... and I kind of just went ahead and wrote why it wasn't right. And I got full marks, despite the fact my teacher, well... well, I think he believes in it himself o.o

And then there's those group projects. So... our Study Skill one.. I think that's done. At least we had a full presentation prepared. Things got a bit vague around the mention of actual speech, but oh well. The Transition one? Ha. Ha. Ha. So, me and PK finally got around to talking. It started off so awkward because we hadn't talked since grade 6, and back then we were actually really good friends. But we managed, he's back to being dorky annoying as usual, and life goes on. We actually got around to starting on ours on the very last day. Just me and him - I did most of the research and wording, he put it on a powerpoint. We figured, if we did that, handed it to the rest of the morons in our group, they have to present considering they didn't do anything. Mwahaha. Suckers.

So now it's the holidays. Class on Friday was just lovely as usual. Obviously a million and one things were discussed, but I like this one thing that got me.

Ok, I'm not going to say I'm absolutely perfect and I've never backstabbed someone before. I have. It happens. Most of the time, and I think this is for a lot of people, you don't even realise you're doing it. Sometimes it's just that you need to spill, you know? Someone has peed you off to the moon and back, and you just have to tell someone about it, right? Other times it's just... well, it's just a sort of commentary. And I can't find a way to justify it. 

But as of late, I think I'm doing well. It's not like I'm the type with the friends who come to school on Monday morning and gush 'so what's the latest goss, girlfriend?!' in the girls bathrooms. I'm in one of those semi-outcast... not really, I mean, I'm just not in the social scene where people check out everyone, discuss who's-dating-who and all that. But we have our own type of thing, and it's not any better.

But as I said - I guess I'm doing well. Usually, when it starts up and I'm in a sane mind, I butt in and say - 'ok, no backstabbing, sunshine', and once you actually hear the word 'backstabbing', it brings you back to Earth, right? Because I am in the group of 'nice girls', so when they hear it, the guilt sets in and everything stops.

Other times, and this is for when it's about the venting sessions, I tell whoever that they can say whatever they want, but don't mention names. That's where it all lies, after all. Once you start saying 'so-and-so was doing that the other day', you've stabbed them in the back. If you just said, 'so I know this person who did this the other day', you leave your conversation partner with 6 billion people to pick from. Mentioning names when you backstab is what demeans the person, le duh. 

And the thing is, sometimes you really have something important to say about them. Like, 'OMG, I heard Olivia was killing puppies! Do you think she is?!?!! Puppies!!!' But the fact is, unless you have hardcore evidence, you're just putting down poor Olivia's reputation, when in fact, she was just putting them down 'cause they were ill. Or maybe she hadn't killed them, she'd found them dead. Or she'd stopped her neighbour from killing them. Or she read a book about puppies getting killed. Or she had a nightmare about it. Or she saw a movie, or heard a song, and maybe it wasn't even puppies, for God's sake! Maybe it was a feral rat infestation!

And, so, now, I get to the point. In class, we were talking about stuff, and I learnt that in our religon, if you hear someone backstabbing someone else and making accusations, you have to defend that person 72 times. As in, make excuses for them, try to justify their actions, etc etc. And I just love that. And I just realised I say and a lot. Oh well.

So yes, back to that 72 time thingie. Isn't that nice? To have your back covered knowing that all your buddies, and non-buddies, in Islam, have to defend you? The best thing about that is, I already do it!

Ok, that sounds arrogant. But but... ok, let me say it like this. Some time ago, a friend of mine moved away. Faaaaar away. And where she moved to, the internet and phone lines weren't installed yet (and for that matter, still aren't). Keeping contact was (and still is) r-e-a-l-l-y hard. She could use her daddy's phone, on occasion, and she was blessed temporarily with a school that didn't block emailing sites and such. She still goes to the school, but in the senior part you don't get to use computers as much. If we wanted steady emails, she would have to go to the school library every lunchtime. 

So, she and I were in a trio, and this other friend of mine finds it uber frustrating that the moved-away friend contacts us so rarely. She always says 'friend has forgotten us', and 'she doesn't have time for us anymore', and 'why should I bother getting excited over one email that she sends when I know the next time she emails will be in who knows how many months?'

And me? Well, I kept making excuses. And all up till now, I've been feeling like one of those whiny little kids who just can't let go, you know? Can't accept the truth sort of thing, even though it wasn't the truth.

So after that class, I realised that what I do isn't about being a clingy freak, it's about thinking the best of people. Not judging when you don't know for sure. I mean, I know you can't do it for everyone, but when you can, just do. It makes you a nicer person if you train yourself to think that for every bad thing a person does, they meant well. Or they have a good reason. You'd be able to forgive people easier, or at least move on with your own life. You'd have less problems. Know what I mean?

See, here's an example. The other day, I was picking my little sister up from school, and I saw this guy who used to go to my taekwondo. Who goes to my school, for that matter, and his sister is in my year level. They're Muslim. And he's walking a dog.

And my thought was: "What?!!? They're Muslim! I thought they were good ones! They should know not to get a dog! How can they just go out and get a pet dog, for God's sake?!"

And so I was having disappointed thoughts about them, and I even told my mother 'cause she was there (backstab alert!!). Then, like three days later, I'm at taekwondo, and his younger brother is there, right? As Muslims, you're obligated to correct your brothers and sisters in Islam when you see them doing something haram (and believe me, it's really hard). So I asked him if they got a pet dog 'cause I saw his brother with one. Little sweetheart that he was, he said that they didn't, but they were minding it for some family friend or neighbour who went on holiday.

See? Most people have reasons as to why they do what they do. So you can't just judge them and spread your judgement like you're the commando or something. Just give 'em the benefit of the doubt ;)

That's the one of the best things about blogging, I guess. I can just spill about anyone on anything, I HAVE to give them the anonymity, and considering most people who read this don't know me in real life, they can't even play guessing games, you know?

Ok, so I've gone for too long, but - I JUST REMEMBERED THAT I DIDN'T MENTION I GOT A CAMERA!!! AIIII! IT'S SO AWESOME, LIKE, ONE OF THOSE CHUNKY BLACK WILDLIFE-PHOTOGRAPHER TYPES! AND LINCHY, THAT WAS WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO ADD ON YOUR BLOG THINGIE - IT'S MY BACKUP DREAM JOB TO BE A WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER TOOOOOO!

...

Reading: Boy & Going Solo. Roald Dahl. Usually, autobiographies don't appeal to me, but it's Roald Dahl, and Star told me it was awesome. I should have known :P

Writing: ... Chipped. Ok, let's call it that for now. But it's my new project and I'm soooo excited, right after this I'm gonna make character profiles :D

Listening to: Supplication. Sami Yusuf. If you didn't know, it was in The Kite Runner movie, and his little solo is just... tearjerking *sniff*

Feeling: Ostrobogulous.... ha..ha.. x)

O My Lord,
My sins are like the highest mountain;
My good deeds are very few
They’re like a small pebble.
I turn to You
My heart full of shame,
My eyes full of tears.
Bestow Your
Forgiveness and Mercy upon me

Ya Allah Send your peace and blessings
On the Final Prophet,
And his family, and companions,
And those who follow him.

Peace in,

Laila