Letter to Julia 20120209

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

How are you, my most cherished, beloved young wife? Well, someday soon, insyaAllah. God doesn't like it when I babble, but I am only human, and my creativity certainly doesn't match the creativity of Allah. But I have to speak to you to nurture our love, even though I am not the talkative type. I pray you are taking good care of yourself, and maintaining your prayers. Allah does not place a burden on a soul greater than it can bear. So when you work, please do good and charitable work, and make sure that God and only God is Who you worship. There are plenty of the wealthy ones who decline to do righteous deeds even though the winds of change blow strongly, and in arrogance they talk nonsense about the Qur'an. They never really took the Bible or the Torah seriously either. The Qur'an is the Truth. But most people hate the truth: the only things that matter to them are their desires. But if the Truth had been in accord to their desires, then everything would have been in corruption and confusion!

Please give charity without asking for it, be foremost in righteous deeds. and Allah will take good care of us with justice. InsyaAllah. Ya Allah, thank You for all You have given me. Please forgive me as I will never be able to thank You adequately. And thank you for your love, my beautiful Julia.

Qur'an 20120209

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

78. It is God who has created for you hearing, sight, feeling, and understanding. Little thanks it is you give!

79. And God has multiplied you through the earth, and to God shall you be gathered back.

80. It is God Who gives life and death, and to God the alternation of night and day. Will you not then understand?

81. On the contrary, they say things similar to what the ancients said.

82. They say, "What! When we become dust and bones, could we really be raised up again?"

83. "Such things have been promised to us and our fathers before! They are nothing but tales of the ancients!"

84. Say, "To whom belong the earth and all things therein? If you know!"

85. They will say, "To Allah!" Say, "Yet, will you not receive admonition?"

86. Say, "Who is the Lord of the seven heavens, and the Lord of the Throne Supreme?"

87. They will say, "To Allah." Say, "Will you not then be filled with awe?"

88. Say, "Who is it in whose hands is the governance of all things, Who protects, but is not protected, if you know?"

89. They will say, "To Allah." Say, "Then how are you deluded?"

90. We have sent them the Truth, but indeed they practise falsehood!

91. No son did Allah beget, nor is there any god along with God. Behold! Each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have lorded it over others! Glory to Allah, from the things they attribute to God!

92. God knows what is hidden, and what is open. Too high is God for the partners they attribute to God!

93. Say, "O my Lord! If You will show me that which they are warned against,"

94. "Then O my Lord! Put me not among the people who do wrong!"

95. And We are certainly able to show you that against which they are warned.

96. Repel evil with that which is best. We are well acquainted with the things they say.

97. And say, "O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from the suggestions of the evil ones."


The Believers 23:78-97
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To whom belong the earth and all things therein? If you know!

Yet, will you not receive admonition?

Who is the Lord of the seven heavens, and the Lord of the Throne Supreme?

Will you not then be filled with awe?

Who is it in whose hands is the governance of all things, Who protects, but is not protected, if you know?

Then how are you deluded?

O my Lord! If You will show me that which they are warned against, then O my Lord! Put me not among the people who do wrong!

O my Lord! I seek refuge with You from the suggestions of the evil ones.

Letter to Julia 20120206

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

Hello there, my love. Yes, I do love you and long for you, but here I am, patiently waiting for Allah to allow us to be together. It has been a rather sleepy weekend for me. For some reason, I feel so drowsy all the time, like I'm sleepwalking. I haven't been doing anything special, just the usual. Helping my parents keep house, voice training, doing yard work... oh, I've been cleaning up Shadowplay TV. Shadowplay TV is definitely low definition, very dithered. It's basically only for me, so I don't have to swallow other people's programming. I like to observe how the randomizer chooses the show and how it corresponds to reality. Hey, life is like Shadowplay TV. My daily Qur'an reading is more accurate, though.

Sure, I would love to have some nice toys, and my girl to snuggle and make babies with. But I am grateful with whatever Allah has given me. I really don't desire the riches and children that some of the wealthy have. Especially when Allah's plan is to punish them with these things in this life.

May Allah forgive me for my idle chatter, but I must speak some with my Julia, only if to water the flowers in my garden. If you had not noticed, this is my ark, which I built many years ago, and you are my mate. Praise be to Allah, Who has saved us from the people who do wrong. O my Lord! Enable me to disembark with Your blessing, for You are the Best to enable to disembark.

Letter to Julia 20120204

Hi there, my gorgeous rock and roll babe! How would you like to buy a vacation package? To an exotic tropical getaway at the north of Malaysia, where the air is sweet and the rice fields shine with gold and green. As you disembark from your flight, you leave the stinking and sweaty city to ride on an electric train, zipping along smoothly through the hills, valleys, plantations and jungles. This is an experience you will never forget, as you sit in the lounge sipping chrysanthemum tea and watching the countryside blur by. Oh, you are one of those blessed ones who happen to spot a huge, black, monkey-eating eagle! I saw one once. May your monkey get eaten. But you have a purpose, because you heard somewhere on the internet that the ghost of Billie Holiday has appeared somewhere in the wilderness of North Malaysia, where the echo of her voice bounces from hill to hill amidst the chirping of wild songbirds. As you seek a retreat from the rat race, you add the beautiful white sands of the Langkawi islands to your itinerary as a stopover before you make a scenic land journey of adventure through Thailand. How about it, dahlink?

Wait a minute... you will already be here, because we will be married and raising our children! InsyaAllah.

Meanwhile, check out the little guy with the monster guitar!

Letter to Julia 20120202

Alhamdulillah. I managed to make time to attend to my garden today. I absolutely had to tend to the flowers in my garden, oh my beloved Flower of my Garden. I had been putting around in my grandfather's lot and grave lately, that I had less time for my own yard. My little pepper patch is gaining strength, even though I planted it in wild soil. I'm trying to cultivate bamboo to make drumsticks, but the shoots keep on breaking, as if somebody is intentionally breaking them. But no matter- I harvested the bamboo growing by the ditch in front of my Mom's house. I have one acceptable stick so far, I need to chop down more bamboo. I don't like those straight average bla drumsticks. I like sticks that curve and bounce. Oh, I just love bamboo.

Oh, and what about that liver and eggplant sauce? Well, it turned out quite well, thank God, except that I made too much of it and ate it all. I should have saved some for future dinners. You take some liver, some eggplant, a little bit of this and a little bit of that, turn the fire and heat up some grease, tweak this and plop some of that, wet it down a little, and voila! Hey, this stuff would make a great salad dressing! Hah! I'm not going to teach you the secret sauce recipe until you make mad monkey love to me. Hopefully, I won't forget what I did because I was only flying by the seat of my pants.

Now you maintain your prayers in due sincerity, for it not only shows your Islam. Be sincere to Allah, for Allah has chosen Islam with all its riches and wonders for you, and is most Lenient with you, and has imposed no difficulties for you. And if you need help, then get your help from God, for Allah is the best to help you. Please be patient and wait for me my beloved Julia, as I strive towards our marriage, as it is part of my service to Allah.

Letter to Julia 20120201

Hi there, my most precious Julia. Aw, you are soooo pretty. It's been a busy day for me here. Everyday I wake up at about 3:30am to do an hour's worth of worship. Then I wait until I perform the dawn prayer before I go back to sleep. Needless to say, I don't like mornings. So I wake up everyday at about 10:00am. I as quickly as possible put on some clothes and ride my motorcycle to the day market to buy some fish. Yes, I have an addiction to grilled fish. I also bought some beef, eggplant, cilantro, and chicken liver. Hey, I found some Roma tomatoes today! I haven't seen any of those in years! They were really ripe though, but they would be perfect for my liver and eggplant sauce tomorrow. When I got back home to put the food away, I had to take my Dad's old motorcycle to change the tube. It was a good thing my Dad got me some flat noodles, so that was the breakfast I ate while I was waiting for the dude to fix the motorcycle. After that, I took a shower and went downtown to have a chat with the boss of the music school. When I returned home from that, I gutted the fish and portioned out the meat for easy storage in the cooler. It's a habit I picked up from the food service: instead of defrosting a big chunk then cutting off a portion, I just take take out a pre-cut portion from the freezer to thaw whenever I wanted to eat. It's faster to defrost, too! By the time I got done with that, it was time for the mid-day prayer, after which I have to do my voice training. All I had for lunch were a couple of cookies and coffee. I have to sing for 1 1/2 hours everyday to maintain my voice. After which, I had to help my Mom rearrange her kitchen because the floor in her dining room is moving. By the time I got done with that, it was time for the Asr (late afternoon) prayer, after which I finally had time to grill my fish. And that's what I had for dinner: just fish, no rice. No time for yard work today! I had to take another shower before I joined the group prayer at sunset. Then I had to write a love letter to my sweetie, which I'm doing right now!

Hi sweetie! I love you! Girl, I am tired. I need to slow down even more. This routine may seem all that mundane, but it can get frenetic and weird, and other people can get livid and violent over my routine. What I strive for is sincerity in my worship to Allah. Come and be my wife, my dearest Julia, and join me in Islam.

Qur'an 20120201

67. To every people have We appointed rites and ceremonies which they must follow: let them not then dispute with you on the matter, but do you invite to your Lord, for you are assuredly on the Right Way.

68. If they do wrangle with you, say: "Allah knows best what it is you are doing."

69. "Allah will judge between you on the Day of Judgement concerning the matters in which you differ."

70. Know you not that Allah knows what is in the heavens and on earth? Indeed it is all in a record, and that is easy for Allah.

71. Yet they worship, besides Allah, things for which no authority has been sent down to them, and of which they have no knowledge: for those that do wrong there is no helper.

72. When Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, you will notice a denial on the face of the unbelievers! They nearly attack with violence those who rehearse our signs to them. Say, "Shall I tell you of something worse than these Signs? It is the Fire! Allah has promised it to the unbelievers! And evil is that destination!"

73. O humans! Here is a parable set forth! Listen to it! Those on whom, besides Allah, you call cannot create a fly, if they all met together for the purpose! And if the fly should snatch anything away from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. Feeble are those who petition and those on whom they petition!

74. No just estimate have they made of Allah: for Allah is God that is Strong and Able to carry out God's Will.

The Pilgrimage 21:67-74
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Allah knows best what it is you are doing.

Allah will judge between you on the Day of Judgement concerning the matters in which you differ.

Shall I tell you of something worse than these Signs? It is the Fire! Allah has promised it to the unbelievers! And evil is that destination!