Cardiff Anti-War Rally

Cardiff, 30th December 08- I attended an anti-war rally against Israel's on-going offensive in Gaza today. I wasn't sure what to expect, with myself never attended such events prior.

It was meant to begin at 12 noon, and indeed it did start on time despite the rally crews were just roughly 10 people at the time. And with just a little bit of hesitation all 4 of us joined in the 10 odd people, kickstarting the rally.

Admittedly it was a bit awkward, but in the name of solidarity for our Palestinian brothers we joined in. And the fact that it was in Cardiff actually helped,"Not our home turf, no one's actually going to know us :p"

BBC News coverage of the event

And the lead "rallyist" consumated the rally, reiterating the reason for our peaceful gathering. He was indeed a full-blooded Welsh with no ties whatsoever to the Palestinians, quite unlikely a Muslim. But the way he spoke was as if his own brothers were suffering; fiery but not angry, he was as impressive as he was clear.

After a short speech, some of the crew members started singing songs which were of foreign entity to us. But we hang around the circle which slowly started to bulge quite a bit. By then there were probably 40 people, mostly Muslims; true to the tradition, late as always. Better late than never I suppose.

The rally carried on, with songs and speeches intertwined. The crowd was expanding even further, it was probably around 100 people after 20 minutes. The number was definitely encouragement enough for us to stay on. Anti-war mantra was chanted, "FREE FREE PALESTINE" etc... The spirit within the crowd was definitely palpable; slogans were shouted, flags were waved, sign boards were numerous; men and women, Muslim and non-Muslim, joined hand-in-hand (not literally) in support of Palestine. Media crews were busy snapping pics, interviewing participants of multi-ethnic origins; ultimately making the rally achieving its main purpose for the day - anti-war publicity.

This single rally was never going to stop any war. 2 rallies are still not enough to stop any war. 10? unlikely. 50? maybe big enough a number to apply some sort of pressure. And this small one is a building block to the 'number', whatever it is.

100 people may not sound that many, but it did look fairly crowded - good enough to attain some media attention (the freaking TV was there!).

On a more personal note, apart from showing solidarity in as many ways as I could/should, I just have to see to reiterate to myself that there are people out there; strangers/ajnabis, not people in my close-circle; who also care - be it in the name of Islam, or even humanity.

I was not disappointed :)

At the end of the day, 'Deeds are only by intention...'


P/S,
- qunut nazilah
- pics coming, unfortunately I'm in between cameras and my old-school Nokia phone does not have a camera function ~ a very close relative to the infamous 3310

Do something!

As this very sentence is being written, 280 Gazan lifes have been mercilessly snatched away. Hundreds more are injured to varying extent, some might even be fatal.

And yet we sit here doing nothing significant... we read the news to keep ourselves up to date, we gave the Israel Defense Force (IDF) a tongue lashing (that they couldn't even hear) and we prayed for the safety of our brothers in Palestine.

Here's something else, may or may not be so significant, but insya Allah within our (limited) powers.

Go figure!


"Abu Hurairah r.a. reported Allah's Messenger S.A.W as saying: 'Charity does not in any way decrease the wealth, and the servant who forgives, Allah adds to his respect, and the one who shows humility, Allah elevates him in the estimation (of the people)."

Muslim Vol. 4, Hadeeth 6264

Admittedly, this is unlikely to help in the short term.. Heck, even the UN is having problem helping out (humanitarian-wise) in the short term. But make use of the current sentiment, gain something from all the losses.

If you don't have one (sentiment), I feel sorry for you :(

Israel launched air-strike in "self-defense" again

As this piece is being written, more than 200 people have already been killed by another non-selective strike by the Zionist Israeli regime. More than 700 others were injured. F16 bombers were deployed all over Gaza, resulting in a devestating catastrophe.

It is said to be the "worst attack" since 1967, in term of numbers of casualties. (Yeah, we can probably omit the Shabra & Shatila Massacre, which resulted in deaths estimate ranging from 700 - 3,500).


Rally by Italians to commemorate the Shabra & Shatila Massacre in 2003. Why the heck didn't we have one in Malaysia? (Answer: cause people in general don't care, why? cause people don't know, why? up to yourselves to answer)

Hamas vowed an immediate retaliation, and fired Qassam rockets into Israel 'territories', resulting in a mere 1 death (not that his/her life is less valuable in any way).


Israel said it was an act of self-defense, a response to escalating number of rocket attacks from Gaza. Hmm..



Not that I didn't see that "self-defense" line coming...



Probably he has forgotten what happened in the first place. Who's attacking and who's acting in self-defense. The 'thing' that started in 1881 and 'completed' in 1948. Who took whose property in the first place. Who then wasn't satisfied with the first wave of colonisation that he chose to occupy some more. Who then imposed inhumane sanctions to deplete the Palestinians of everything, literally almost. Who ridiculed others for not adopting democracy only to then sanctioned a "democracy that favours himself". Who then stopped basic supplies coming into Gaza, causing immeasurable humanitarian crisis.



They have suffered all too long... Long enough that, dare I say it, the circle is almost complete...


People say history repeats itself... history comes in cycles.. it's probably nearing the time when the "top end of the wheel" goes down, for its place to be taken by the "bottom end of the wheel".

Pictures credit: cagle.com, wiki

Revision 10 hours later : 271 killed, and attack is still continuing... such retards...

"V"

Just quenched myself with an orgy of symbolisms and plethora of verbiage from "V for Vendetta." Great movie, can't remember how many times I've seen it now, but I just couldn't cease to be enchanted by V's first few lines... which goes as below:

(I can only hope that these are accurate)

"But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace soubriquet, to suggest the character of this dramatis persona.

"Voila! In view humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the “vox populi” now vacant, vanished.

"However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin, van guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.

"The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.

"Verily this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V."

Simply vvonderful, such elegance braided with charismatic sophistication, a symphony of sonata, a concerto of creed, an orchestration of revelation :)

Death: 2 Days & Counting

I just finished my first block for the year, Senior Surgery. Very enjoyable block, great teachers, great patients, great friends, sweet long hours on call, sweet A&E rota etc. Unfortunately I also faced my first fairly personal experience with a dying patient.

Young lady, mid-30s, came in quite late (i.e. with advanced disease) looking very unwell and properly dehydrated. She was well distended when she came in, with really obvious signs of generalized peritonism. She deteriorated very quickly, and an exploratory laparotomy had to be performed. It showed a macroscopically obvious widespread ischaemic/necrotic gut on the whole SMA distribution, most probably embolus/trombus related.

Nothing could be done, she was closed, and when she came around gain, she was told that she was unlikely to survive more than 2 days. She was inconsolably sad... like seriously teary. The team felt awful, choked with a sense of helplessness.

And I was told that her dying experience was not going to be too dreadful, and indeed I hope she didn't.

Then came the weekend, and when I came back on Monday, she was gone.

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The weekend gave me a chance to reflect on life, with a wierd expectation of not seeing her again the week after. It gave me a chance to ask myself, "What if I was told, nay, medically expected, to die in 2 days?"

Strangely enough (or not), I felt a twisted sense of 'happiness and joy' at such hypothetical situation. Nevertheless in reality, only Allah knows how I would felt should it ever happen. But indeed I felt it was a God-given chance, as a Muslim, to almost 'know', you are going to die in an almost 'fixed' time period. Don't get me wrong, Allah IS the holder of lifes and deaths, the ONE and ONLY. Not doctors, not even Izrail. But as a muslim, such a prediction should probably be seen as an opportunity, a 'written' and 'confirmed' warning from Allah that you are going to die soon enough. An opportunity to maximize my potential to do good deeds, make taubah, ask for forgiveness from family and friends alike, etc etc.

Verily this is just a hypothetical "best case scenario" situation. More often than not, it doesn't work that way, ironically for the greater good of mankind. Wallahua'lam.

Syahid di Medan Yarmuk

Hari ke4 Perang Yarmuk, "Hari Hilangnya Mata"
11 Rejab 0015H

Ilustrasi medan Yarmuk

Situasi kian genting di medan Yarmuk.

Komander tentera Islam, Khalid al-Walid r.a terpaksa menggerakkan batalion berkudanya yang digeruni (Mobile Guard, متحرك طليعة ) untuk membantu sayap kanan tentera Islam yang sedang teruk diasak batalion Slavik tentera Byzantine dengan bantuan batalion Armenia dan Nasrani Arab.

Bagi mengelakkan serangan besar-besaran tentera Byzantine tatkala Mobile Guard Khalid Al-Walid r.a sibuk membantu sayap kanan, komander Islam itu mengarahkan sayap kiri melancarkan serangan pre-emptive. Namun seperti yang dijangka, sayap kiri turut mengalami gasakan yang amat menekan. Hujan panah dari pasukan pemanah berkuda Byzantine bertindak ibarat tembok yang kukuh yang menghalang kemaraan sayap kiri. Ramai para sahabat dan tentera Islam yang lain terkorban, dan ramai juga buta akibat hujan panah itu. Antaranya Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, bekas pembesar Quraish yang telah kehilangan satu matanya dalam pertempuran di Taif tatkala zaman Nabi S.A.W.

Hujanan panah itu memaksa sayap kiri tentera Islam di bawah pimpinan Abu Ubaidah al-Jarrah dan Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan berundur. Ikramah bin Abu Jahal, menyedari keadaan genting sayap kiri tentera Islam, mengumpulkan 400 orang tentera di bawah pimpinannya dan mengangkat sumpah ikrar untuk berjuang tanpa berundur sehingga gugur sebagai syuhada'. Bagi membolehkan tentera Islam mengatur semula kedudukan mereka, 400 pahlawan berani ini berjuang ibarat singa lapar menongkah arus panah, memerangi barisan depan tentera Byzantine dan mempertahankan kedudukan mereka meskipun jumlah mereka sedikit dibandingkan dengan puluhan ribu tentera Byzantine.

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Sebelum Ikramah pergi, Khalid al-Walid yang baru sahaja selesai menstabilkan sayap kanan tentera Islam berkata, "Jangan (pergi), Ikramah. Kematianmu akan melemahkan tentera Islam."

"Biarlah kami pergi wahai Khalid," jawab Ikramah tatkala semangatnya sedang marak membakar. "Kamu telah sempat bersama Rasulullah S.A.W sebelum ini. Aku dan bapaku, kami seteru utama baginda. Biarlah aku pergi mensucikan dosa-dosa lamaku. Aku pernah memerangi Rasulullah S.A.W banyak kali sebelum ini, dan kini aku patut lari dari tentera Byzantine? Masakan mungkin!"

Kemudian dia menjerit, "Siapa yang mahu berperang sehingga syahid?"

400 orang pahlawan menyambut seruannya.

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Hanya ada 2 penamat bagi 400 orang itu pada hari ke-4 perang Yarmuk, syahid atau cedera parah.

Setelah tamatnya pertempuran hari ke-4, tubuh 3 bersaudara yang cedera parah terdampar di medan Yarmuk. Ikramah bin Abu Jahal, Al-Harith ibn Hisyam dan 'Ayyash ibn Abi Rabiah (kedua-duanya bapa saudara Ikramah).

Al-Harith dihulurkan air. Al-Harith terpandang 'Ayyash yang layu tetapi bernyawa, lalu disuruh pembawa air menghulurkan air terlebih dahulu kepada 'Ayyash.

'Ayyash dihulurkan air. 'Ayyash terpandang Ikramah yang layu tetapi bernyawa, lalu disuruh pembawa air menghulurkan air terlebih dahulu kepada Ikramah.

Ikramah pula dihulurkan air. Ikramah terpandang Al-Harith yang layu tetapi bernyawa, lalu disuruh pembawa air menghulurkan air terlebih dahulu kepada Al-Harith.

Al-Harith dihulurkan air, namun dia sudah gugur syahid di medan Yarmuk. Pembawa air bergegas ke arah Ikramah; Ikramah juga sudah gugur syahid di medan Yarmuk. Pembawa air bergegas pula ke arah 'Ayyash; 'Ayyash juga telah gugur syahid di medan Yarmuk.

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Kata pepatah orang Caucus, "When the going gets tough, only the tough gets going." Waktu-waktu sukar sememangnya menduga iman dan tawakkal seseorang kepada Allah S.A.W. Tak kira medan perang, peperiksaan, mencari kerja, jodoh (cili=pedas :p), dan sebagainya. Memang agak tidak adil untuk membandingkan medan perang dan (sebagai contoh) peperiksaan, namun saat-saat inilah yang menguji kesabaran seseorang dalam berdoa dan keyakinan yang doa itu akan dimakbulkan oleh-Nya.

Lihat sahaja Hind, Abu Sufyan dan Ikramah, semuanya penentang keras Rasulullah S.A.W pasca pembukaan kota Mekah. Usianya baru sahaja mencecah 5 tahun, namun bukan 5 tahun manusia; tetapi 5 tahun kuda.

Al-Baqarah ayat 286 yang selalu dibaca, "Allah tidak membebani seseorang melainkan sesuai dengan kesanggupannya..."

Wallahua'lam