Qur'an 20120805

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

23. O you who believe! Take not for protectors your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above Faith. If any of you do so, they do wrong.

24. Say, "If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, your kindred, the wealth you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, or the dwellings in which you delight are dearer to you than Allah and God's messenger, or the striving in God's cause, then wait until Allah brings about God's Decision. And Allah guides not the rebellious."

The Repentance 9:23-24
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If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, your kindred, the wealth you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, or the dwellings in which you delight are dearer to you than Allah and God's messenger, or the striving in God's cause, then wait until Allah brings about God's Decision. And Allah guides not the rebellious.

Letter to Julia 20110804

YOOOOOOLIIIIIEEEEE!!!!

Hello there, my beloved precious beauty. How are you feeling today? I assume you are staying busy, as you should. I am quite busy too, it could be that I'm busy loafing... Far from it! I'm up most of the night, so I sleep all morning. Sounds like a rock anthem, huh? I spend a lot of time in the garden. Hey, life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around sometimes, you might miss something! I suppose I've been having one extra long "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". Is Ferris Bueller a German? It sounds like a German surname. My situation feels eerie. It feels like I will go from having all this time to having no time at all. Well, I guess that could be true for anybody.

Anyway, I love looking at the many levels of flowers in the garden. Sure, we all notice the big flashy blossoms, but since I have the time, I pick through the many species of grass to expose the many types of flower vines growing underneath. Tiny little flowers growing on vines, blue, white, pink and yellow, all just about 1mm to 3mm. I have started to cut away the big, chunky grass to allow the little flowers to breathe and multiply. Oh my God, I just increased my workload! I also came across some clover vines, which I plan to transplant. It's like looking through a microscope at a miniature universe. So now when I ponder upon my garden, I see all this unsightly and ugly grass I have to clear out, plus all that crap at the back and on the roof of the house. It's kind of like listening to my own music.

Not having my laptop sucks. I have to admit that playing GTA San Andreas is a guilty pleasure of mine. I like to type in the MROEMZH cheat, and everybody turns into a gang member: it's like having a shootout at a political rally! But I mostly use my laptop to write music with. I know my work is important, so I will have to get my laptop repaired eventually, insyaAllah. Or find some other way to produce music. But others (besides Allah) don't see my work as important enough to help me get the technology I need to work with, or even survive and have a home, but that's fine. Seriously, it's fine. Allah is the Only One I really trust, anyway. But it's not always that people disbelieve that I strive to please Allah with music. The proof of that is my electric guitar, which happens to be a gift from a mosque, which is otherwise unheard of. I suppose one could call my work a "jihad". Most idiots assume that a "jihad" is to slaughter innocent people in the name of Allah. It's not entirely their fault that they think so: it is also due to the conditioning of the enemies of Allah. A "jihad" is a striving and self-sacrifice for the purpose of justice and compassion for the sake of Allah, and that happens to be my work: not just from theory, but from what has happened to me. No I'm not Gandhi, I'm a Muslim! My Boss is Allah, and my leader is prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). I also work towards you, my Julia. What a magnificent looking woman you are, my love. Allah is the One Who will bring us together, insyaAllah.

Letter to Julia 20110801

How are you, my beloved Julia? Ah, you sexy thing. You certainly are at your loveliest when you smile. Some people look their best when they are serious, but you are just absolutely endearing to me when you smile. No, not one of those "I don't feel like smiling" smiles, but a sincere expression of happiness. I guess I want to make you sincerely happy.

Oh no! We're stuck in the real world right now, and it's far from perfect! There's no denying that I need some solid wealth to marry you properly. I certainly wouldn't want to give you the life of poverty of this musician, and to keep you out of touch with your beloved buddies. But Allah is certainly the Miracle Maker. Ya Allah, please grant me the means to give Julia and I a happy life and marriage together.

It's the beginning of the fasting month for us Muslims. I have grown to enjoy the fasting month, for some reason it suits me. I wouldn't want to be fasting all the time, I just like the fasting month. I seem to have time under my control right now, and that makes me feel like the wealthiest human on earth. Alhamdulillah. So, for the fasting month, I spend most of the night awake. I would like to be working, but my laptop is down and out right now, and this ancient computer I'm using is only good for writing love letters, and for watching Shadowplay TV. That puts "Woo Hoo" on hold for the time being, but I need to slow it down anyway. For this month, I eat a full meal before dawn, and eat lightly for breakfast at sunset. There is extra prayer activity at night, which is very social, but it only takes up about 1 1/2 hours of time, tops. My greatest challenge in my routine is to be able to tend the yard when it's not blistering hot, because I plan to spend most of the morning asleep. Oh, you! Busybody! How would YOU fit all this Islam into your routine? Well, that's what makes you a supermodel, huh? Just do the best you can with what Allah gives you, and do it in the way which makes you feel no resentment. Allah does not place a burden on any soul greater than it can bear.

Obviously, the Pagans are bolder and more obnoxious where you are. I'm sure you've come across blatant witchcraft, Satanism and vampirism, and they practise so under the guise of "civilization". It's their money, right? Here, there is a Muslim majority, and we are not allowed to do the Pagans any harm without just cause. The world is a tightrope nontheless, with all these humans. But Allah doesn't like the Pagans, and has planned punishment and isolation for them, regardless of what you and I try to do.

Letter to Julia 20110730

So, you like my jeans? Actually, they are too long for me: they would fit you, but the waist might be too big. Not that I could ever fit in your clothes: you're just too dainty, even though you're so tall. Sigh. I've become too bulky in my old age. I don't get much of a thrill from gender-bending anymore, for the simple reason that I don't pass. My hobby now is tending the yard, and watching the plants grow.

Fasting month should start on Monday. Are you excited? Are you psyched? Are you ready to rock? Well, I'm getting ready to fast. My cooler is actually full for a change. I found a great deal on mackerel, so I bought 3 kilos. 3 kilos! Have you ever filleted 3 kilos of mackerel? Now, that's tedious. But all that fish fits so much easier in my ice box, including the bones for calcium, fish heads for Chee Cheah, and the liver and roe for flavor and as a delicacy. This is also the season for fruits called durians, which you may have heard of but I don't eat, and cempedaks. The flesh of the 2 fruits are similar, except that the durian smells like a bomb and has a higher fat content, while the seeds of the cempedak are edible. I really don't like either all that much: I dislike fruits with a high sugar content. The cempedak has so much sugar in it, that it turns from light green to black when overripe! Can you imagine that happening to your limbs or something? Ew! But it so happens that on my mother's property grow some cempedak trees, and I happen to have one fruit which I removed the flesh, and kept in my cooler. I don't know what to do with it yet. Sweet and sour? Maybe I could use it to caramelize beef? I certainly can't eat it fresh, for all that sugar will make me sick. The flavor is so strong, though, and I have so much of it... And that's just from one cempedak!

It sure must be nice to be you in New York. You're so pretty, with a smorgasbord of food to select from. Of course you don't eat it all, otherwise you would be a blimp-sized model. I do miss a lot of the food of the USA. Strawberries, Dreyer's and Breyer's, Polkska Keilbasa (the Jewish and Middle eastern one, of course), and the wide variety of cheeses. I even miss the Middle Eastern food there, like gyros, which I used to eat daily. I would buy a whole wheel of gyro meat and keep it in my cooler. The grease is not edible or usable (expect maybe to lubricate pistons and bicycle chains), but the meat is so versatile. I believe The Boss commanded me to stand my ground in the USA, but I was unable to do so, as I was forced out of my home & studio. Not that I would have been able to stop the financial meltdown or anything like that, but who knows what would have happened? Perhaps I would have died a martyr on the streets as a sidewalk musician, and became the catalyst for a global thermonuclear war? Instead, I fled back to my mommy like a coward in exile, to a similar situation here. Well, at least the house belongs to my mother, so there's little chance I would get evicted.

Due to your connection with me, you will find people seeking your aid in religion. Yes, I know that you are barely a Muslim, but it is your duty to help them, except against a people with whom you have a treaty of mutual alliance.

Letter to Julia 20110728

I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the rejected one.

How are you feeling, my dearest, ravishing Julia? Are you hanging in there, my beloved? I apologize again for not writing as often as I used to. But I must talk to my love Julia, because I want to marry Julia. I must tell Julia to be patient and persevere, because Allah is with those who patiently persevere. I really don't have much other desire to travel into town from the kampung (village), other than work. Ah loooooove the kampung. I could just root here like a tree and spend eternity in the garden, and grow to be quite ancient, insyaAllah. But there seems to be more people, more traffic here in the village, and increasing, even though I only returned here less than 3 years ago. So many strangers. I get the feeling that I have much more traveling to do, in spite of my current poverty.

By the way, lentils don't work too well as chili. They break up very quickly, even at low temperatures. I suppose I have to splurge on red beans again. I did get a rather good lentil soup though, which matched quite well with the tortillas I made. The tomato sauce gave the soup a dark orange hue, but that's OK. It's a very addictive soup. I think I'll start another batch, but this time I'll make a base of chopped up shrimp heads and garlic, with some curry powder, for a super warm feeling lentil soup.

Julia, please be patient and persevering. Don't be like those who walk out their front door merely to be seen, and hinder others from the path of Allah. Some (like the hypocrites) say that our religion has misled us. But I put my trust in Allah, and so should you. Allah will never change the grace which God has bestowed on a people until they change what is in their souls. The worst of beasts are those who reject Allah: they simply will not believe. They are the type with whom you did make an agreement, but they break their word every time. If you gain mastery over them then disperse them, and if you fear treachery from them then be on equal terms with them. They are the enemy, so don't let the enemy think that they can get the better of you. Prepare your utmost against them, do whatever it takes to be most powerful against them, in all mental, spiritual, and material. Whatever you spend for the sake of Allah shall be repaid unto you, and you will not be treated unjustly. If the enemy wants peace, then make peace, and put your trust in Allah. If they intend to deceive, then know that Allah is enough for us.

Letter to Julia 20110725

I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the rejected one.

While it has become obvious that there is exclusion and oppression in matters, many feel that it is normal. But Julia, we must fight oppression because it affects the innocent. They say that their money is their right and might, so they spend it to hinder from justice, and diverge others from the path of Allah, and these unbelievers will continue to do so. Their form of prayer is the whistling and clapping of applause. Then they say, "Why doesn't Allah punish us?" But Allah was not going to send them a penalty while there are righteous people among them, nor was God going to send it while they could ask for pardon. In order that Allah may separate the impure from the pure, and put the impure all together into hell.

If they desist, then Allah will forgive their past, but if they persist, then the punishment of those before them is already out there. So we oppose them until there is no more oppression, and there prevails justice, and faith in Allah. Allah is our protector, the Best to protect, and the Best to help.

What else other than oppression and evil separates husband from wife?

Letter to Julia 20110723

Oh yes, and please make sure you maintain your prayers! It's important that you maintain your prayers, and it makes you stand out from all the other stars out there.

I'm really not much of a talkative person, Julia. I gab away to you in these letters because you're my Julia, and I want to marry you, and I can't neglect you because you're important to me. A few sweet words! My beauty, these love letters are as close to an autobiography the public is going to get, other than the music. Then, when you're at my side, I plan to whisper in your ear (and stop publishing open letters) of my love and appreciation of your friendship. Otherwise, I will be silently sorting out the files in my head, and arranging and rearranging what I have learned from Allah to make some music, while I trim the grass and rake up the leaves in the garden. Please know that I'm no angel, just a musician who was once a wild youngster. Oh dear Julia, it's far from over... are you ready to be the wife of this lowly rockstar?

Ahem! As I was collecting kindle for the bonfire, I came across a full page ad for Chanel in a local newspaper, with the face of some unknown blonde. Trying to tempt me? It didn't work! I want my Julia! Then, I found another full facial shot, this one of Lady Gaga, for some unknown cosmetics company. She didn't try to look her usual unsexy self, she seemed to sport a more demure look. Nah, still unsexy. Why do they advertise in a secondary Malaysian rag which people use to wrap salted fish in anyhow? Don't they have expensive French rags to declare their chic in? Drat! The trash didn't burn, only the newspapers did. It rained last night, so I guess the leaves were wet. I'll have to try again tomorrow.