Halal and Haram

This was an old post (published last year, 30th June 2008). With the swine flu outbreak, I wanted to share why there are certain things that we Muslim are forbidden to eat.

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[republished entry]
I snipped this comic strip from "Queensland Muslim Times periodical".



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And below, is an article that a friend of mine forwarded in the facebook just recently, though the source is unclear, but all the fact is there.

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A lot of people misconstrue Islam's forbiddance of pork consumption as mere obsolete historical belief but it's actually based on real medical facts as illustrated below.The following was discovered many centuries ago upon the dawn of Islam but no logical explanation was ever offered on the rule...until now.

If you pour Coke (yes, the soda) on a slab of pork, and wait a little while, you will SEE Worms crawl out of it.

A message from the Health Corporation of Singapore about the Bad effects of pork consumption:

Pig's bodies contain MANY TOXINS, WORMS and LATENT DISEASES. Although some of these infestations are harbored in other animals, modern veterinarians say that pigs are far MORE PREDISPOSED to these illnesses than other animals. This could be because PIGS like to SCAVENGE and will eat ANY kind of food, INCLUDING dead insects, worms, rotting carcasses, reta (including their own), garbage, and other pigs.

INFLUENZA (flu) is one of the MOST famous illnesses which pigs share with humans. This illness is harbored in the LUNGS of pigs during the summer months and tends to affect pigs and humans in the cooler months. Sausage contains bits of pigs' lungs, so THOSE who EAT pork sausage tend to SUFFER MORE during EPIDEMICS of INFLUENZA. Pig meat contains EXCESSIVE quantities of HISTAMINE and IMIDAZOLE compounds, which can lead to ITCHING and INFLAMMATION; GROWTH HORMONE which PROMOTES INFLAMMATION and growth; sulfur containing mesenchymal mucus which leads to SWELLING and deposits of MUCUS in tendons and cartilage, resulting in ATHRITIS, RHEUMATISM, etc. Sulfur helps cause FIRM human tendons and ligaments to be replaced by the pig's soft mesenchymal tissues, and degeneration of human cartilage.

Eating pork can also lead to GALLSTONES and OBESITY, probably due to its HIGH CHOLESTEROL and SATURATED FAT content. The pig is the MAIN CARRIER of the TAENIA SOLIUM WORM, which is found in its flesh. These tapeworms are found in human intestines with greater frequency in nations where pigs are eaten. This type of tape-worms can pass through the intestines and affect many other organs, and is incurable once it reaches beyond a certain stage. One in six people in the US and Canada has TRICHINOSIS from eating trichina worms, which are found in pork.

Many people have NO SYMPTOMS to warn them of this, and when they do, they resemble symptoms of many other illnesses. These worms are NOT noticed during meat inspections.

(NST, Singapore)

Approaching summer

pheww....after the raining episode in Brisbane, it is getting warmer nowadays . Bright and sunny, with average temperature 27 deg C, yup that is a sign that summer is approaching.

Besides the obvious change of the temperature, I can list 10 things that mark the pre-summer season:

1. The sun will rise as early as 5 am. 6 o'clock here is similar to 9 am in Malaysia.

2. Daytime is getting longer. Fajr starts at 4.40am and Maghrib is approaching 6.30pm today, during winter it was around 5.10pm.

3. All sort of insects are out, flies (big and small), roaches (I hate roaches), ants (yes, this is common sight during the hot weather).

4. I bathe twice a day now.

5. Some people who have sensitive skins will get itchy due to dry skin (masa winter kering dia lain, summer lain pulak). Now I know why there are a variety of moisturisers on the shelf. Must always apply lip balm, moisturiser, sun block before going out (and this applies to man too). But I only used Palmer's cocoa butter, it works for me. Oh yes, don't forget shades (sunglasses, hat, cap, etc.)

6. If you go to the market, you will see many types of berry, going cheap, eg. cherries, blue berry, strawberry...yummy.

7. People starts planning for holidays and BBQing.

8. The surrounding is getting quiet, campuses are on break (except for summer classes). You can see students carry their suitcases everywhere, looking for a temporary place to stay, or going somewhere for the holiday .

9. Holiday promotion/package advertisements everywhere.

10. Stores are promoting/selling air cooling goods/equipment/products.

OK that's what I can think of right now.

Weng-weng

Sibuk betul pagi nie. Lepas insiden pagi nie, atang minta datang ambil kereta kat Herston, dekat dengan taxi base tempat atang keje. Kat situ banjir teruk, jadi atang tak bleh parking kat tempat biasa, kena parking jauh sikit, parking bermeter. So, atang mintak sebelum parking meter tu beroperasi pukul 8 pagi, datang ambil kereta and bawak balik.

So, pergi la pagi tadi, @6.40am, dengan Zue, the-only-Malaysian-neighbour yang tinggal kat bawah nie (she also experiencing the same incident with us). Seriau jugak, I have never drive that far, risau bila nak drive balik ke rumah. Pergi Zue yang drive, the plan is to get the car and drive home. Sampai aje di lokasi kereta berada, masuk kereta, nak cepat balik sebab tak nak terperangkap dalam kesesakan orang nak ke tempat keje. Tapi last minute tukar plan, atang suh bawak kereta ke base, kalau banjir dah reda, and tinggalkan kereta kat tempat biasa. Nanti tak payah la any of us gi jemput. Ok gak, so hantar kereta ke sana, lepas tu balik. Sampai umah kul 7 lebih nak kul 8 camtu, terus capai cereal. Lapar giler. Tak pernah kuar rumah tak breakfast, kali nie memang betul-betul tak sempat sebab asalnya nak gerak kul 7 pagi. Tapi takut jem sebab banyak jalan tutup, kami keluar awal.

Sampai rumah menggigil kelaparan. Ngantuk gilosh pun ye... sebab been up since 2.20...lepas subh tido2 ayam takut terlambat bangun. Dalam keadaan nie, I will write better in Malay. I sound stupid if I write in English...gegegegegge

Cerita Ceriti : Gelagat 4 The Morning Rush

I am currently futhering my study at QUT. The university has 3 campuses, the main campus, where I am attach to, is called Garden Point (GP) campus. It is called GP because, it is situated nearby Brisbane Botanical Garden. It is a beautiful campus, but the campus is small due to limited space. In addition to that, it is located right in the city. Although I am attach to the GP campus, due to limited spaces, my office is located 2 blocks away from the GP, at a commercial building, rented by QUT. And that is where most of the research students are located too.

Getting to the office is not a problem. You can live at any suburb you like, and just take a bus to the city. I mainly take the bus to the office. I can also take a ferry, called CityCat (there was an entry about this along time ago) but since I have no more classes to attend at GP, I now take the bus to the office. Cab is possible, but here, it is way too expensive.

Rush hour is between 7.30 to 8.30. The distance between my house to the city is just 10 minutes driving. But during rush hour, it will take about 20 minutes to arrive at the city. FYI my office is a number of block away from the Queens St Mall, the shopping heaven/hang out for local and tourist. My bus will stop nearby that "longest mall" in Brisbane and I will pass by the mall, to get to the office. So every morning I observed many kind of characters during that wee hour.

Queenslands government offices are also situated, or rather scattered around the city. So during the morning hours, I called it "The Morning Rush", you can see men and women clad in dark suits, walking towards their offices. Some even join their friends at cafe, having their brekkie (that's OZ for breakfast). Some just have a quick stop to get a cuppa, and walk to their offices. Coffee shops, or cafes are just everywhere. At every block, every street, on both sides of street, or sometimes just two shops away from each other. Yes, Brissie are addicted to coffee, or should I say caffein. If they dont have coffee, they will have soft drinks instead.

You can also see a few people, jogging around the city. Not with dark suits though, but a complete jogging attire. I don't know whether they come early to the office everyday, and have a quick run before starting their day. But I assume some may do. Even my supervisor cycle almost every morning before he goes to work. Yes they are health conscious people. Futhermore, with the sun up as early as 6 am now, ones can have a quick jog, if they want too (but not for me :D).

I just need about 5 minutes walk (if I don't day dreaming while walking) or 8 upmost to reach the office. I walk about 2 minutes from home to the bus stop, so total walking distance is about 10 minutes (can somebody convert that to metres...hahahah). It helps burning some of the calorie everyday. So enough work-out for me. ;)

Cerita ceriti : Gelagat 3 Oz accent

Hi mate... this is how the ozzie greats you.... the first few months we came here, it was quite difficult for me to understand their accent/slang. Ozzies cakap macam ada sengau sikit....plus they will pronounce 2 3 words like 1 word... so i kept saying "come again.." many time in order to get it clear.... thankfully my sifoo is a canadian.... so it is much easier talking to him than other ozzie academic staff.... however the slang is not too bad, comparing to british slang.... welsh even worst...super tabik to kengkawan at the northern hemisphere who face them (british/welsh)everyday yaaa...huhu

Right...this entry is about ozzies slang...if you Google for australian slang, am positively sure you will find loads of links that will provide you with a list of ozzies slang. But what I am listing here is my first hand experience (hearing it and using it) of the word... what can I list so far....

Hi mate!! - they will always use this to great you... face to face, email, phone call etc... Mate means buddy
No worries - aka no problem (no problemo), forget about it... often use this at the end of conversation, usually they will reply you with this after you say thank you or sorry
Haiyour - it is actually 'how are you'... this is one example of pronouncing 2 3 words at once
G'day - good day aka hello... ozzies use this to great people as well
Bubba - aka baby... they refer baby as bubs, bubba....isnt it cute
Bloke - refer to a man, male, guy, i think this origin from british
Mozzie - aka mosquito, often come out during summer
Bloody *** - expressing extreme...definitely from british
Flat-out - aka very busy
Down under - am sure everyone know this
Lollies - aka sweets, candy (yaya fav word..hahahah.."mama, can i have lollies?" "NO")
Mackers - aka McD's ...huhu...

ohhhh just one quick info.... do you know that here, Burger King is known as Hungry Jacks?...hah...now you know!!...

Manchester - aka bedspread, linen, duvet cover, etc...nope Manchester United ...duhh
Piece of piss - aka very easy...kacang laaa.. in malaysia we usually use 'piece of cake'
Pokies - aka poker machine, slot machine .... you can see this signage everywhere, every nook, every corner in Brisbane
Onya - it is actually "good on you"....aka well done
Rego - aka automobile registration.... kira roadtaz x laaa...
Ripper - aka superb, fantastic..."it was a ripper event"
Salvos - aka salvation army
Ute - aka pickup truck, small truck like proton arena
See ya - aka bye, see you later

Everytime, at the end of the day, end of conversation, ozzie will say this, "have a nice day", "have a wonderful/great weekend" without fail...we in reply will say..."you too"....they practice this everywhere, especially the service sector (eg. cashier) and not just 'thank you'....

will update this list when i come across new word ya.... "see ya and have a nice day"

Fund raising luncheon at Orleigh Park

And on Sunday, we went to Orleigh Park for PPMQ fund raising luncheon. The spread of food though was not as many as we always had in this makan-makan gathering thingy (the food was prepared by the community, gotong-royong masak, no pot luck this time), but was luscious and am positively sure there were not many leftovers. Congratulations to the committee for organising a successful fund raising lunch for all of us. HOORAYY!!

Didnt take much pictures though, was busily borak-borak with friends and posse. Managed to snap these...

Yaya with her buddy, Aina (Kak Zali eldest). Thirah was in the stroller. Sarah, Aina baby sister was in another stroller. These two elder sisters were at first, each took in-charge looking after the baby sisters....but not for long.....lepas tu LESAP.....



So I have to take thirah out of the stroller...


I love this picture....sooo alive.... that is Brisbane river.... on the other side of the river is St Lucia...

Cerita ceriti : Gelagat 2 periuk belanga pun melayang

Ok... nie cerita pasal gaduh-gaduh mat salih nie... my neighbour nie bujang. dulu ada gf, tinggal bersama (bukan benda pelik la kat sini kan), plus he has a son from his previous relationship (pun bukan benda yang pelik kat sini). One day, I think around noon, we heard a loud shouting outside our door. Terkejut betul masa tu. Lepas tu dengar pung pang klang klang... bunyi benda besi jatuh macam tu. Takut pulak nak jenguk ke luar pintu tu. Tengah bergaduh rupanya mereka nie...siap jerit-jerit tu. Lepas tu ada aksi kejar mengejar...geli hati betul. Yang si gf tu bleh siap cakap "I will call the police..." hahahah....

alkisahnya, mereka nie dah lame bergaduh. Patut la dah lama tak nampak muka gf tu kat rumah dia. So one day, the gf came, using the spare keys that were given to her, she unlocked the door, thought that the bf was not at home. Tujuan dia satu aje...nak ambil periuk dia. hahah...tu yng bunyi pung pang klang klang tu. Bila bf dia nampak si gf nie ambil periuk tu...dicampaknye keluar la.... kahkahkahkah...

mat salih pun gaduh sampai terbang periuk belanga gak ye....

Cerita ceriti : Gelagat 1 pasal halal dan solat

Ok I want to start a series of episodes about gelagat orang-orang kat sini.

Ada sorang kawan nie tanya, kenapa saya solat setiap kali mengadap arah yang sama. Saya pun bagitau la, itu arah yang kena muslim ikut. Tak citer panjang pun, sebab nanti dia pun pening nak paham. Rupanya dia dok perhati aje kita solat. Dulu-dulu ada bilik spare, boleh solat secara privacy. Tapi semenjak kemudahan tu ditarik balik, nak menapak ke surau kampus, yang jauhnye 2 blocks away (bukan 2 blok bangunan tau), terasa la penat dan rugi masa (lately nie masa itu emas). Last year I used to walk to the campus to perform the solah. Tapi semenjak ada bilik spare tu, solat aje la kat ofis. Tapi lepas ditarik balik, saya pun solat kat workstation aje. Tapi kat sini diorang tak kisah pun kita nak solat ke apa. Cuma diaorang curious aje laa...

Kat Brisbane nie aje ada 15 masjid. haaa...jangan tak caya... mmg ramai muslim kat sini. I remember during the first few months we arrived here. Rasa tak selesa sungguh bila tak dengar laungan azan. Yela, rumah my parents betul-betul belakang surau, sentiasa dengar azan. Lepas tu rumah sendiri, betul-betul di atas surau (duduk apartment laa). So bila sampai sini, aduhhh rindu betul dengan suara azan, dengan masjid. So ada suatu hari tu, we all singgal masjid kat Darra. Nampak aje kelibat masjid tu, terus rasa syahdu di hati. Adeh...tangkap leleh betul masa tu. Anyway... nak citer pasal masjid-masjid kat sini. Setakat nie baru dapat lawat masjid darra, west end, gold coast aje. Ada sorang kawan nie pulak ingat, nak solat aje kena gi masjid. Saya bagitau laa...tak kisah mana-mana, asalkan tempat tu bersih, dan mengadap arah yang betul (kiblat la tu).

Ok, part makan-makan pulak. Dulu tiap kali monthly meeting the research group, selalu la dapat lunch free. So everytime they would ask about our special diet. So dulu ada la jugak bagitau halal food, but they do not have any idea what is halal means. So nak senang bagitau aje la vegetarian. Jadi setiap kali meeting tu, mesti ada la vege sandwich kaa...vege pizza ke...sampai naik tensen ok. So one day, ada makan-makan thing, saya n Ida masak la bihun goreng. So ada la ayam n udang dlm mee tu. Baru la diorang tau kita nie makan gak daging. Tapi puas jugak la explain halal meat tu macam mana. Ada satu hari tu pulak, belanja la kengkawan gi makan pizza halal kat albert street tu. Haa.. ingat kitaorang tak makan pepperoni ke... janji halal maaa.... ingat kitaorang nie vegetarian ke.... Ida siap la cerita daging halal tu kena sembelih cara Islam laa... haiwan jenis apa bleh makan laaa.. pening jugak tengok muka kengkawan tu...ternganga2 nak paham..hahahahhaha

But it is very interesting being asked questions like this. We could convey and help others to understand Islam better. Yang penting kat sini memang jarang la diskriminasi berlaku, tak cakap takda, ada juga berlaku, but very little. Ala tengok mat salih kat sini pun ramai free thinker agaknya. Selalu tengok gereja kosong je ari ahad. Gereja2 pulak bukan main besar. My neighbour nie pun every sunday samada dia gi keje atau dia bawak anak dia main kat playground depan rumah nie...hehehe....