Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
PAS has misunderstood the meaning of Ramadan By Mariam Mokhtar
Friday, March 15, 2024
Malaysiakini : The third observation is the proliferation of expensive breaking-of-fast (iftar) meals
at leading hotels and restaurants. Many Muslims tend to forget, that
the breaking of fast, is not a time to gorge or to show off that one
could afford a lavish buffet.
On March 12, PASā ulama wing leader
Ahmad Yahaya criticised Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek for allowing
school canteens to remain open during Ramadan.
Ahmad (above)
disagreed with the move for canteens to continue operating as he felt
it was more important for the ministry to focus on educating Muslim
students about the importance of fasting and for non-Muslim students to
respect the practice.
The PAS leader, who is also the MP for Pokok
Sena, appears to be confused about the true meaning of Ramadan. Is he
doubting the Muslim students' intention to fast? What makes him think
that non-Muslim students do not respect those who fast?
Although he agreed that non-Muslim students could bring food and
drinks to school for their own consumption, he wanted them to eat in a
space specifically allocated for this purpose.
Purpose of canteens
So,
has Ahmad forgotten that the school canteen serves this specific
purpose? Where should students go to eat, drink and socialise in an
amiable manner?
In previous years, some non-Muslim students had been forced to eat in the school toilets because the canteens were shut. This action undermines the true spirit of Islam and is an insult to both Malay and non-Malays.
Non-Muslims
have not stopped Muslims from fasting nor have they shown disrespect
towards Muslims who fast; but why bar them from eating in the school
canteen? Isnāt that the purpose of canteens?
Ahmad accused
Fadhlina of disrespecting Ramadan because she said canteens could remain
open. He said this was an excessive move, a waste of time and had
created an unnecessary polemic.
However, he has forgotten that
Malaysia is a multicultural, multifaith nation and that the world does
not revolve around Muslims who fast.
Muslims fast to empathise
with the poor, who cannot afford three square meals a day. It is also to
curb our excesses, and sexual desires. In other words, it is about
self-control and discipline.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek
We are supposed to encourage clean thoughts and not be emotionally aggrieved or feel anger, which is what Ahmad has displayed.
Why does this PAS leader get worked up with a non-issue of the canteen being opened and non-Muslims eating during Ramadan?
Religion becomes stateās business
If
Ahmad feels a strong urge to inspire change during Ramadan then he
should urge Jakim and state religious bodies to try to catch Muslims
eating, and selling food.
Religion
should be a personal choice and its practice should be a private matter
between the individual and God, but in Malaysia, it has become the
state's business to ensure that a Muslim obeys the official doctrine.
Those who smoke in public will suffer the same punishment, of a fine and possible imprisonment, as those who eat in public.
The religious authorities are obsessed with controlling and manipulating people.
A
Muslim who practises his faith will do the right thing. So why do the
authorities feel the need to catch the Muslim eating? Why heap extra
humiliation on him, by ridiculing him and questioning him in public, as
has been done in previous years?
The level of mistrust against
Muslims is also extended to those whose features look Malay. These
non-Muslims have also found Ramadan to be a stressful time when
religious police officers would harass them in public by making them
prove they were not Malays, who should have been fasting.
Food waste
The onslaught of commercialism has ravaged Ramadan and the run-up to Hari Raya.
Look
around us during Ramadan and see that food is sold to excess. Hotels
and restaurants offer special breaking-of-fast meals at inflated prices.
The
cost is a few hundred ringgits per adult. Childrenās prices average
around RM150. One eveningās iftar for a family of two adults and three
children could feed a B40 family for a week.
Streets are congested by food stalls at the Ramadan bazaar,
approach roads experience traffic jams and food outlets mushroom from
nowhere and operate well into the early hours of the morning. There
appears to be no shortage of people, both Muslims and non-Muslims plying
these stalls.
The abundance of food and more importantly the corresponding food waste,
the artificial barriers we create with those who are not fasting, and
the act of harassing Muslims who do not fast, help to diminish the
significance of fasting.
