When your sin is better than your deen

" A sin which leads one to submit (to Allah) is more preferable in the sight of Allah than good deed which causes one to have pride"

(ibn al-Qayyim alfawaid p122)

photo courtesy of http://www.islamictreasure.com/1900-criticizing-the-sinner-who-has-repented/

Sometimes, it is better to remain silent than to speak out

"Don't criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances..."

We have to understand people' feeling and being respectful to everyone. We don't want to attack people. However, our action and words , sometimes,  hurting people without we realising it : or we only realised it when it is too late. We thought our good intention will bring positive result every time; no it is not. When you hurt people's feeling, do you think your action is right?

We don't want to be the reason why people move away from Allah... we don't want our spoken out become the reason for a fight or for a hurt..

We must workout an alternative how to speak this thing out in a better way, where it will make people think and realise the mistake without hurting their feeling.

Praying can prevent people from stealing

Click the above photo to read

Praying can prevent people from stealing..

That statement is absolutely true. Unfortunately, those 'unfortunate' people who  must be either not fulfilling the obligation set by Allah or their prayer is just a physical movement without/ lack of understanding on Islam. If we truly understand the acts of praying, we won't for sure not to do that; not even have intention to steal or do any other bad things.

This is a common behavior we see in people including myself. But common doesn't mean it is acceptable . We perform our prayers but at the same time we make mistakes. We either have realised the wrong doing beforehand and still doing it or because we still don't want to improve our knowledge to understand Islam as way of life.

We know ourselves better than others, so please do ask...

Mosque breakin- hints about failure in welfare in the country?

Assalamualaikum w.b.t and good day everyone,

Yesterday, the nation was shocked by a news that 12 mosques were break in within 10 days. (Media Permata reported 14 cases instead of 12). People  were commenting and discussing about this provoking criminal acts. Whats wrong with these people? Don't they fear of Allah for their act?

 12/14  mosques were break in within 10 days

Dream vs reality

Mosque is known as "The House of Allah", how could people do such non acceptable acts. Some were pointing that the crimes must be done by the foreigners. This shows how the people in this country don't have gut to accept if it was done by the local.

Today's Brunei Times newspaper reported three local men were captured after the mosque' security noticed them hiding in the mosque- after the mosque was closed and locked. The security man then informed the Iman which later led to involvement of policemen and gurkha. These 3 men were believed to be linked to the recent Mosque break-in reported.

This incident was openly discussed in one of the segments in  Nur Islam Radio Channel. The caller was asking  how could these people have no fear to Allah? have their Iman faded away?.

If they are fear of Allah- they won't never do this.

Some people are hoping that the Sharia Law (which Insha Allah will be offically run in April 2014) can be implemented now. They want to see these people to be hand chopped for this act. So it can bring fear, so people won't repeat this criminal acts in the future.

It is believed that, implementing Sharia Law will provide good  prospective  for this crimes not to happen again in the future, because people will be in fear. But we have to understand what is Sharia law actually.

Hudud for stealing  is not simply means just to cut hands of burglars. no, it is not!!. We have to understand what is the purpose of Hudud actually.  It is to make the guilt to repent for their acts, to bring fear to everyone. It is not simply to punish people according to our nafs (nafsu) or judgement.

If Sharia law is just simply to punish people- you are wrong. Sharia law was supposed to mean we want our country to have Islamic environment in all areas not just in handling crime activities. Sharia law need to be understand fully and need to be observed and digest in careful ways.

I remembered a story about Saiydina Omar (RA), he didn't punish a man who steal during a drought. This is because Saiyidina Omar (RA)  knows, the drought can led people to steal in order to survive from dying. So he made an exception in certain cases not to punish the guilt. 

We should learn this Saiyidina acts in corresponding to the break-in crime in this country. Although we don't have drought or any serious natural or any sort of disasters in the country, but they must be something that triggers these crimes.

We should make a study to knoe what are the reason for this crimes? Do these people currently working? Are they in excessive debts and receive no financial help from anyone/agency? Do these people have learned Islam properly?

It is not right if we want to punish these people if they were actually in serious trouble to survive in the country. These criminal acts should be study and to be understood in order to make improvement in the welfare of people in this country. The failure in providing necessary help (financially, motivations and etc) could led to this crimes.

To stop them is to study them

We always says, our country is peaceful, everyone live in harmony and the country is about to have a null digit in poverty. If this is true, Alhamduliah.

But problems in economy, rising unemployment, low salary and wages could become reason or to trigger these criminal activities to happen. I am not making a statement but just pointing out the possibilities.

Stealing - unacceptable norms

But the acts of stealing is still unacceptable norms anywhere at any circumstances. If we have strong emaan, caring society, strong heart and love to work yourself harder to get something (through legal ways) - we will see acts of stealing is shameful, destructive to family and society. We won't do it and not even think to do it, It is not impossible acts of stealing can led to further violation crimes such as killing.

Last not least, May all of us receive Hidaya from Allah,  so we can understand what are the purpose of us in this world- not verbally understanding but through acts. Ameen.. Insha Allah

Regards,

He will always be there for you

"Kalau tiada bahu untuk bersandar, sentiasa ada lantai untuk bersujud"

(Khairul Nizam)

Menyesal sahaja tiada guna

"Perkara yang paling aku menyesal ialah apabila matahari itu terbenam, usiaku bertambah tetapi amalanku tidak bertambah..."

(Ibnu Masud)

Shale gas- criticized source but we still want to own one

WHILE shale hydrocarbons continue to be a hot topic around the world, success achieved in the United States might be hard to replicate elsewhere, an oil and gas expert said yesterday.

Emmanuel Liberelle, Total E & P Borneo geosciences manager, said that a number of factors contributed to the revolution of shale in the United States.

Oil Shale- the unconventional oi supply. (photo at energy digital)

Liberelle delivered a talk on shale gas and oil in the US at the Radisson Hotel.

The event was organised by the French Bruneian Business Association and attended by a number of local companies as well as government agencies, including Petroleum Brunei.

“First, in the United States, the owner of the land is the proprietor of the sub-surface,” he said, adding that this gives incentive for land owners to allow oil and gas companies to operate.

In other countries, however, the sub-surface of a land is owned by the state, making it complicated for the landowner, company and the state to negotiate terms for the mining of the energy resource, he added.

He also said that workforce was a factor, with the US having industrial logistic facilities already on location. Liberelle also noted that the terrain in the US is favourable for shale production, as its development requires large, wide and flat surface area as well as road access for logistics.

In many Asian countries, hilly terrain and jungles make it financially unfeasible for shale hydrocarbon production, noting that compared to conventional oil and gas production, shale production uses a significantly greater area, he added.

Public acceptance is also an issue, he said, without elaborating.

Shale has been criticised as an energy resource because it is extracted using the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Fracking entails drilling and injecting fluids at high pressure to fracture shale rocks to extract the hydrocarbons. Critics of the process maintain that it deals damage on the environment. Among others, fracking is believed to contaminate groundwater.

Liberelle noted that in the United States, shale production is accepted and is believed to be a sustainable industry in the country for the foreseeable future.

“It is quite important, and has big potential,” he said.

The talk came on the heels of the announcement that Petroleum Brunei would buy a three per cent stake in Malaysia’s Petronas’ shale gas assets in Canada.

A number of agreements were signed following the 17th Annual Brunei-Malaysia Leaders’ Consultation held in Bandar Seri Begawan, according to a statement from Petronas yesterday.

“Petronas and its Canadian subsidiaries Progress Energy Canada Ltd and Pacific NorthWest LNG Ltd have also signed an agreement with Petroleum Brunei for the latter to acquire a three per cent equity in Progress Energy Canada’s natural gas assets and in the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG’s export facility. As part of the proposed transaction, Petroleum Brunei has agreed to buy a three per cent share of the LNG facility’s production for a minimum of 20 years,” the statement read

The Brunei Times

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My comment:

I still wonder why Petroleum Brunei is really into Shale gas contract in Canada when this supply is unconventional. We have plenty of quality and conventional oil and gas field in Brunei both onshore and offshore. So why invest in unconventional one? :]