Let's read the Quran

In this month of Ramadhan, all Muslims are decreed by God to observe fasting, as mentioned in the Quran in chapter 2, verse 183 to 185. What most, especially non-muslims don't realize is that in verse 184 of the same chapter, God has stated,

"...if one is ill or traveling, an equal number of other days may be substituted...".

Although in the same verse,

" ...If one volunteers (more righteous works), it is better. But fasting is the best for you, if you only knew."

Clearly, fasting is not meant to suffer, neither to burden the Muslim community, rather, it's a religious obligation only to benefit the Believers. In the verse 185 of the same chapter, God has mentioned,

"...GOD wishes for you convenience, not hardship, that you may fulfill your obligations, and to glorify GOD for guiding you, and to express your appreciation."

These are just excerpts from the Quran, which are concerning fasting. There are much more subjects of discussion including stories, reminders and warnings etc in this extraordinary superhuman book. Check it out. And do note, the Quran is not a mystery book only for the Muslims to read it. Anyone can read it, including you.

To be responsible

Only a few days ago, I've stumbled into a blog by a close friend-of-mine. It's enough to say that he/she started blogging not long ago, and almost all of his/her posts are long-winded narrations about his/her personal life, and the people around this particular friend-of-mine. Unfortunately for this particular friend-of-mine, maybe out of the ignorance that the internet, particularly the blogosphere is an open world, where everyone (provided you don't put restrictions like passwords, etc., otherwise) can easily access and more importantly google your blog, posted a quite controversial write-up about him/herself, entitled 'about me', mentioning my name and a few other friends of ours. Yes, I respect his/her views and values, and the 'quite controversial' write-up is nothing but a product of a retaliation and clash of his/her values and that of another particular friend-of-mine. But of course, to make it better, even my name was mentioned, somewhere between the lines. For this I don't mind. Perhaps what disturbed me the most was to imagine what if a few of my other friends, especially those whose names were mentioned, were to read this particular friend-of mine's blog. Only for a laugh, I posted a comment, saying I didn't mind, but I doubt the others would feel the same after reading that post. Being me, I sort of teased the person when I met him/her in person at a recent event in my house. The next morning, his/her blog was not found anymore (ie removed by author). The moral of this story is that we must be responsible for all of our actions, and ready to face the consequences, if not the reactions, in due time. Like when thousands of Malaysians marched on the streets of KL protesting for human rights, when other's (also human) rights, like the rights of the small businessmen, were denied by the protest. Now, the protesters are liable for a RM10 million suit. I wonder who’d pay for them. Their boss? Maybe not. After all, he’s got his own trial in the court to deal with first. Someday, we’ll be out of lawyers, when one trial, like his, needs up to 9 lawyers.