I've moved!

I've moved to a new blog site! its:

htpp://azad282.wordpress.com

Why? simply because the site looks more simple and professional.

Misconception of Da'wah

It is commonly mistaken that da'wah is JUST a tool for people to propagate extreme ideas of Islam, or a political means for someone to rise up in the ranks of the political world, or threatening someone to leave some inhumane act, or any other reasons that could possibly put you off when you hear that word.

Islam is a message. It is a message given by God to all of His prophets (that includes those before Prophet Muhammad) to be conveyed to humankind. The message is about getting to know God and His way of leading our lives.

This message have to be conveyed, trasmitted, explained, distributed, be known to everyone. That's when Da'wah takes place. We have the Da'ie (Deliver; You & Me!), the message (Islam) and the Mad'u (Receiver). Thus we need some tools to propagate the message efficiently to our Mad'u, hence the need of ACTION in delivering the message.

With Da'wah, comes consciousness.
With Da'wah, comes awareness.
With Da'wah, comes purified hearts and wanting to be obedient with God.
With Da'wah, comes eagerness to follow God's decree and avoiding His wrath.
With Da'wah, comes groups of people who love to expand the message to other nations.
With Da'wah, these groups proliferate immensely worldwide.

If there are someone who are unease with the work of other people in Da'wah, I urge them to join their discussion on THE MESSAGE rather than lamenting on the work that they are doing. Check, comment, argue and debate. I'm sure those in the field of Da'wah are open for discussions.

ISLAM IS THE FUTURE, mate!

AUKU 1971

*This is an edited version of the post.
---
I recently downloaded a copy of the University And College University Act 1971 (Akta Universiti Dan Kolej Universiti in Malay Language) and read only Section 15.

Without reading any other section hence unable to see the overview of the document, I would like to comment on Section 15 alone. I DO NOT believe in the idea of AUKU. There seemed to be some problems as to:

• What are the criteria of a permissible society?
• What are the criteria of a NON-permissible society?
• What if there are a mixture of both permissible and non-permissible society? What is the guideline of approving or rejecting societies' formation?
  
• If there is a committee under the supervision of universities VC's, who are its members?
• Who appoints them? What are the criteria for the committee members selection?
• What are the criteria of the appointee?
  

This is to ensure integrity and credibility of people handling the job are restored. We need some ammendments and detailed guidelines coupled together with the commentaries of the document. Improvement.

The solution for the problems is to replace it with a student-controlled national union of students establishment. Students rights are protected as well as religious and moral values so as long as it is within the boundary of the Constitution.

I believe that it's absolutely unfair for some to be allowed to join certain politically-inclined societies while others not. It is an unacceptable discrimination towards them who in fact do not , by principle, go against religious, moral and social values. Student activism in Malaysia should be allowed. The minds of Malaysian university students should be liberated.

We're so free here to do anything we want in our Students Unions. I guess my friends in Malaysia are missing a lot.

Dato' Mustapa Mohamad, the Higher Education Minister paid a visit to my house last Sunday but, unfortunately, I was not there! The British NUS structure is an excellent model, so Mr Minister, why don't you get your team here and study this model for a few (not more than 4 please) years and propose to implement it? May God grant wisdom to you.

NUS Extraordinary Conference, Leicester

I'll start off by explaining how I was elected to be one of the NUS Delegates for the Conference.

It was a very short notice. Early afternoon. I texted as many people as I can to come to the Student Council and listen to what the Union Executive has to say about the issue. On the other hand, I've indirectly set up an instant campaign for them to vote me as a Delegate for the Conference.

Here's the vote counts, copied from the Students' Union Council minutes dated 20th November 2007:

NUS Extraordinary Conference

Reported: 5 places for NUS Extraordinary Conference, where the NUS Constitutional changes would be decided upon. It will take place 4^th December 2007, 9am-5pm in Leicester. Each candidate introduced themselves and gave a short speech, questions to candidates followed. The candidates were.

Reported: The results were as follows:

Candidate A: Abdul-Azim Ahmed 30 votes

Candidate B: Alys Mumford 24 votes

Candidate C: Ghaith Nassar 27 votes

Candidate D: Frances House 17 votes

Candidate E: Michaela Neild 22 votes

Candidate F: Sam Knight 21 votes

Candidate G: Sally Wood 24 votes

Candidate H: Mia Hollsing 21 votes

Candidate I: Azad Azman 37 votes

Resolved: Azad Azman, Abdul-Azim Ahmed, Ghaith Nassar, Alys Mumford and Sally Wood are to go to the NUS Extraordinary Conference.

Unfortunately Abdul-Azim couldn't come today because he had to be at his sister's side whom is expecting a baby anytime today.

So there we were, 7 of us: Jonny (SU President), Alys (Women's Officer - elected), Sally Airey (Societies, PG & International Officer), Rowena (Vice President), Sally Wood (LGBT Officer - elected), Ghaith (elected) and me (elected).

I'm quite tired actually, so I cut it super short. I was against the Governance Review, which had been presented in the White Paper given earlier. Unfortunately, the motion went through with ease, and we (together with the people of te same way of thinking) lost terribly!

Tragedy at Piala Putera

Everything seemed to be ok since the night before....

..... until I broke my nose less than 3 minutes in the first game!

Seting Up a Stall; How-to For Activist!

A Masters student in Journalism from Nigeria showed interest in our activity

It was last Thursday that I had my first practical experience as an activist. It's not that bad, to be honest, and quite interesting! Here are some basic tips on how to set up a stall:

1. Do request for a permission from your Student Union. If they allow you to do so without notifying them, that's great!
2. Borrow a convertible table from your friends in some other active society. They might have them in their storage.
3. Choose an appropriate day and time. I reckon that you do it during lunch breaks. You'll get more traffic that way.
4. Have all the literatures and freebies ready the day before. Put them aside.
5. Find a simple tablecloth to cover, or even decorate, your table.
6. Do bring your radio or ipod for background music (entertainment purpose. also quite helpful when you're extremely bored).
7. Arrange your stuff in order. Always prepare a bag and a notebook to keep record on any sales made. Put the freebies on the other side to enable flexibility for people to wander around your stall.
8. Lastly, put up a smile and start promoting your stuff to them!

There were loads of interesting moments while I was distributing flyers on the Palestine issue. One of them was a pair of girls who came to us and snatched the literature rudely and spoke Hebrew between themselves!

Ghaith (President) and I posed before we packed up and go for lectures (aktivis aktivis jugak...study gua jaga!)

Will plan to put up a stall in town some other time before the winter holiday.

Seru kepada ma'ruf & cegah mungkar; Aplikasi konsep dalam kehidupan kita di UK - Penerangan dan Tazkirah

Sahabat-sahabat yang dirahmati, dicintai, dan diredhai Allah,
Assalamualaikum wbt.

Marilah kita bersama-sama mengucapkan rasa syukur kepada Allah SWT, Pencipta kita diatas kurniaNya yang tidak terhingga, serta kasih sayangNya, yang kadang-kadang kita terlupa, bukti kepada kelemahan diri kita yang hanyalah sebagai hambaNya di muka bumi ini.

Saya sekadar nak berkongsi tazkirah buat sahabat-sahabat pada kali ini.

Pertama sekali, saya ucapkan jazakumullahu khairan jazaak, terima kasih yang teramat bagi mereka yang menghadirkan diri ke Student Council malam semalam. Mudah-mudahan sahabat-sahabat sekalian beroleh suatu pengalaman baru dalam menempuhi kehidupan sebagai seorang pelajar di UK.

Isu utama yang dibincangkan sebelum pemilihan dibuat adalah berkenaan dengan 'Governance Review'. Tetapi sebelum saya meneruskan lebih lanjut berkenaan dengan isu tersebut, mungkin lebih molek kalau saya ceritakan dahulu apa itu NUS dan apa hubungkaitnya dengan Students Union universiti kita.

NUS (National Union of Students) adalah suatu organisasi yang menyelaras gerak kerja dan hal ehwal semasa pelajar-pelajar di UK. Para penggerak NUS terdiri daripada 2 kategori; Full-time (biasanya mereka mengambil GAP YEAR) & Part-time (belajar sambil berkhidmat). Setiap tahun, NUS akan mengadakan beberapa siri Student Parliment / NUS National Conference bagi membincangkan perkara-perkara yang dirasakan penting dalam kehidupan pelajar. Mereka yang menghadiri Student Parliment ini adalah perwakilan-perwakilan universiti (NUS Delegate).

Setiap universiti mempunyai kuota untuk menghantar beberapa orang perwakilan ke Student Parliment. Mereka yang dilantik akan membawa pandangan yang dirasakan sesuai mewakili universiti masing-masing. Tetapi ini tak bermakna semua perwakilan perlu mempunyai pandangan yang sama. Mereka mempunyai hak untuk berdiri dengan pandangan tersendiri, walaupun mewakili universiti mereka, kerana mereka dilantik secara demokratik oleh hadirin yang mengundi mereka.

Setiap perwakilan akan pergi diatas kapasiti individu. Walau bagaimanapun, menyedari bahawa setiap individu mempunyai pandangan-pandangan tertentu berdasarkan latar belakang, pengalaman, fahaman dan sebagainya, maka wujudlah badan-badan yang memperjuangkan fahaman-fahaman masing-masing. Antara badan-badan ini ialah:
1. Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats (mereka yang berjiwa politik mainstream UK)
2. Union of Jewish Studens, UJS (di universiti dikenali sebagai Jewish Society. Pro-Zionis. Pelajar Yahudi yang anti-Zionis akan didiskriminasi dalam badan ni)
3. Federation of Student Islamic Society, FOSIS (di universiti dikenali sebagai Islamic Society. memperjuangkan dan mempertahankan hak pelajar muslim)
4. Lesbian, Gay, Transexual & Bisexual, LGBT (di universiti - LGBT jugak. memperjuangkan hak mereka yang claim sebagai LGBT sejak lahir)
5. Palestinian Solidarity Group (di universiti - sama. memperjuangkan hak asasi manusia masyarakat Palestin)
dan macam-macam lagi.

Setiap badan merasa bertanggungjawab untuk meramaikan penggerak-penggerak badan masing-masing untuk memperjuangkan hak mereka. Lagi ramai lagi bagus, kalau sikit, hak mereka dipertikaikan, lantas pelajar-pelajar seluruh UK yang mempunyai fahaman yang sama tertindas (cth: Isu niqab di London)

Dalam konteks kita sebagai seorang warganegara Malaysia yang mengambil Islam sebagai cara hidup, saya tekad untuk bersama-sama memperjuangkan:
- isu-isu keadilan sejagat (demokrasi, hak belajar masyarakat palestin dll.)
- isu-isu hak pelajar Islam di UK.

Sesetengah masyarakat Muslim di sini (local) ada mengeluh:
"Kita masuk benda-benda ni buat apa, tak mendekatkan diri dengan Allah langsung dlm NUS"
"Bukannya ada kuliah-kuliah rohani yang menyucikan diri pun kalau jadi Delegate"

Pada pendapat saya, dan saya yakin anda juga berpendapat bahawa:
Kita cintakan Allah dan Rasul, dan agama Islam. Dan orang yang hebat adalah orang yang dekat hatinya kepada Allah. Pada saya, orang yang lebih hebat adalah orang yang mampu untuk mempertahankan hak masyarakat keseluruhannya untuk bersama-sama merapatkan diri kepada Allah.

Sebab itu Allah SWT ada berfirman dalam sepotong ayat yang bermaksud "dan hendaklah segolongan dikalangan kamu membawa kepada kebaikan, menyeru/menggalakkan kepada yang baik/ma'ruf dan mencegah/menentang perkara-perkara yang mungkar...(sampai akhir ayat)"

Selain daripada mengambil peluang untuk memaksimakan kehidupan kita sebagai pelajar di UK, marilah kita bersama-sama berdoa semoga kita diberikan taufiq dan hidayah untuk terus bersemangat menyucikan hati, menimba ilmu, mengajak kepada yang baik, mencegah perkara-perkara mungkar, memperjuang hak-hak kita.
Terima kasih dan syabas kerana berjaya membaca sehingga ke ayat ini! Terima kasih juga kerana mengundi, kerana undian anda adalah tanda anda prihatin kepada masalah ummah!

Moga kita meraih keredhaan dan cinta Allah SWT.
wassalam wbt.

Azad

Elected as NUS Delegate

I am now officially an NUS Delegate of Cardiff University for the NUS Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Leicester, Tuesday 4th December 2007.

The main issue for the EGM is on the NUS governance review. I won't talk much about this for now, will keep it later, God-willing.

It was my first time competing head-to-head with the other 8 candidates for only 5 vacancies. I have no experience in delivering political speech in public before, and I have no idea what I was actually doing just now!

But I was prepared, and I was well informed of the issue. I attended the 'Fight for Palestine Student Conference' on the 3rd and 4th of November, and joined the FOSIS National Conference the week after. I believe that the contents of these 2 events were sufficient for me.

...and they were!

I would like to thank those who came, those who voted me, and those whom had sent their prayers for me. (To be able to get the most vote in a Student Council is an honour, and I thank God and everyone for this).

I might not be able to do wonders in the EGM, but the least I could do is to represent your views. Feel free to contact me to discuss on the democracy of the NUS. I'll fight for the best interest of the Union, and I believe that it is of the best interest of the NUS to stay democratic. I'll be there to defend this stand.

FOSIS & Palestinian Solidarity work

2 friends from Dublin came last weekend to attend the FOSIS Conference and Workshop in Cardiff. I participated in the discussion as well, but only on Sunday. I will be offering some help to FOSIS, but not as intense as what I did in my first year here.

I took them to an event in which Bro Dawud Wharnsby and Idris Phillip performed. It was a simple, yet amazing performance!I will be distributing flyers on Free Palestine this Thursday, 11am - 12pm, in front of the Student Union. 3 of us from the society will be collecting signatures for a petition to urge responsible organisations to take some action and stop the bloody Israeli occupation in Palestine.

Life As An Activist (?!!)

It's been an exhausting experience so far. I'm terribly occupied almost everyday, with academic lectures in mornings and afternoons, and society meetings at nights. Here's how my weekly schedule looks like...

• Monday - Cardiff Labour Students
• Tuesday - Model United Nations of Cardiff University
• Wednesday - Arabic Language class
• Thursday - Palestinian Solidarity Society
• Friday - Weekly Halaqa for Malaysian Brothers

Weekends are for myself. Thus I might not be able to update this blog as often as before.

International rights group: Let Malaysians rally

Nov 9, 07 12:23pm Adjust font size:

An international human rights group has called on Malaysian police to allow a public rally organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) tomorrow. “The grounds for refusing the rally are nonsense,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch. “If Malaysia wants to count itself a democracy, it can begin by upholding constitutional guarantees of free speech and assembly. The way the system works now, only the ruling coalition can get its messages out.” Kuala Lumpur chief police officer Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin has yesterday warned the public that they risk arrest, fines and jail if they participate in the Bersih rally. Offenders would be facing the possibility of a fine of between RM2,000 and RM10,000 and up to a one-year jail term. Any public gathering of more than five persons without a police permit is considered illegal. It has been reported that the police plan to deploy some 4,000 officers and all buses and cars coming in from outside Kuala Lumpur will be checked. In addition, roadblocks will be in place at key entry points thus sealing off the rally venue, Dataran Merdeka. PM claimed to be a reformer “Organizers of the Bersih rally only want to create a level-playing field for all in the coming elections, yet they are being denied the basic right of expressing their concerns in a peaceful demonstration,” said Adams. He lamented that while Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has claimed to be a reformer, “but when it comes to holding onto power, he and his Umno party make one set of rules for themselves and another for everyone else”. Last year, the police made an unprecedented move by granting several permits, including groups that did not even apply for one, to hold demonstrations in conjunction with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit. Among the biggest demonstrations was one organised by Umno Youth and held near Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre where Rice was attending a function. Bersih - a coalition of 70 non-governmental organisations and opposition political parties - has asked the government to implement a series of reforms to address widespread election irregularities. On Wednesday, the police rejected Bersih’s application for a permit to assemble in Dataran Merdeka in downtown Kuala Lumpur to march to the national palace about two kilometres away to deliver a memorandum to the king. The grounds given for the denial include that Bersih was not a registered body, that City Hall had not approved use of the square, that there was to be another function at the venue, that the march would inconvenience drivers, and that the march could affect public order. Letter of appeal The organisers, in a letter of appeal sent to the police yesterday, have disputed each of these points. It said although Bersih was not a registered organisation, the participating groups were registered. The organisers have also argued that Dataran Merdeka would be cleared in time for the subsequent event, and said that they chose the long Deepavali holiday to inconvenience as few drivers as possible. To address public safety concerns, Bersih has asked participants to refrain from carrying anything that could compromise the organisers’ peaceful intent and have assured the police that 600 volunteers would be on hand to ensure a non-violent and safe event. “The government should not be afraid to allow Malaysians to raise very basic issues about the fundamental right to vote...,” said Adams. “What is a democracy without public rallies by all involved, including civil society and opposition parties?” Elections in Malaysia have been characterised by vote buying, the use of government resources by the ruling parties, and wholesale gerrymandering by an allegedly bias Election Commission. Bersih has, among others, asked that indelible ink be used to prevent voters from casting more than one vote, removal of alleged phantom voters from the electoral rolls, elimination of the widespread use of postal ballots, and access to state-controlled media by all political parties. To date, the Election Commission has only agreed to using indelible ink.

Downing Street

I was in the Cardiff Student Labour weekly group discussion a few hours back. We discussed mainly on our t-shirts & hoodies & upcoming events. Those which caught my attention were:

• Welsh Labour Student Assembly, Cardiff
  
• Visit to no.10 Downing Street (!!)

Excited and looking forward to attend those events!

Facebook; A Way Forward

It took ages to persuade me to open up a internet-based community portal. I had no Friendster, MySpace and what not. I couldn't be bothered and I don't buy "...I could meet my mates in primary school!" sort of argument.

But wait!!

After spending more than 2 years in Cardiff, with going back to Malaysia once in between, I came to realise that these websites are indeed useful for various reasons.

• Statesmen use these to convey their vision and ideas.
• Politicians use these to capture a new market of voters.
• Missionaries use these to understand the behaviour of their target community.
• Businessmen use these to enhance their promotion.
• Leaders of organisations use these to form coalition forces with their counterpart elsewhere.
• Young men use these to keep them up-to-date with the latest news and events.

... and many more!

And because of these reasons that I've chose to sign up. Click here to sneak at my Facebook account.