I have to let the evil out

I try not to get pissed off. It's not healthy. For the people around me. I tried ignoring. Doesn't work. It ferments and poisons everything. I need to unleash the venom. For a while it used to be blogging. People read it, they are thankful they are not me and then move on. For me I am happy it is out there. Poison cyber space instead of my social circles.

This week I very eloquently called someone a cock sucker and the fact that it got them meant I had responded appropriately to their rubbish ways. To quote Fight Club: "Even babies don't sleep this peacefully."

I don't buy that whole being nice for the sake of being nice because it isn't always about people do to you but the way they behave overall. It bothers me that some people choose to behave recklessly. Speaking whatever they feel like, to whomever they feel like. Woe is me, hear me whimper. Fishing for sympathy at every opportunity. Those people need to be cut down to size. Calling someone a cock sucker in the most eloquent of ways left me feeling a particular satisfaction. The person in question knows I will not respond to tantrums in the manner expected. I will lash out if I feel you have crossed the boundaries of appropriate behaviour.

I should go to bed now.

Karma Police

Here is the big problem I have with Indian people who also happen to be Muslim. The great majority of them seem to worship at the alter of themselves and seem hell bent on manipulating the hell out of every situation until they prevail. Something must be wrong with our culture where parents investigate their children's partners and failing finding anything significant just make shit up.

That makes me angry. It makes me angry because people think this is perfectly acceptable behaviour. Just for the record it is not. There is no respect and now I refuse to be the one to abide by these traditional values of respect. I say rip it all down until we come to some arrangement where people learn to respect each other and not create drama for the sake of it or because you just want to feel special.

I need to vent because if I don't I will rip someone's head off and it probably wont be the person that deserves it. I am just tired of people running their mouths, making calls and behaving like sucktards and the whole world seems to accept it as par for the course.

Vent break.

The Infidel

This is one of the funniest movies and definitely struck chord with me. It is odd that there are these similarities between what we experience over here as well as in a place like the UK. There seems to be this innate prejudice within the Muslim community steeped in pride and our apparent willingness to worship at the alter of people deemed "pious".

But everyone has a skeleton or two and yet people seek to ostracise and alienate Muslims based on some invisible Islamo-metre. Can you piety be measured? Sounds more like network marketing to me.

If you have an open mind do yourself a favour and watch this movie.  Its about normal Muslim people.

Anonymous – we need them

The irony of the rise of the group #Anonymous is that now more than every we as the public, as the proletariat need to speak up and out against the increasing attempts by government to regulate society. As the US pushes for the spread of democracy, more statutes are passed by paranoid bureaucrats aimed at monitoring, controlling our actions as a society.

Anonymous have leaked documents, secrets as a show of what is possible when you mix a little anarchy into the controlled and acceptable mix that has come to symbolise society. Lines between globo-corps and government are becoming increasingly blurred. People sent to jail for commercial “crimes” like piracy, men in uniforms sent to their deaths or to carry out the deaths of others are commended as freedom blankets economic greed by a few men and women who believe everyone else is here to fulfil a role. To make a few people rich.

I have read #Anonymouse described as agents of chaos. Yes they are. Maybe chaos is what we need. We don’t care anymore. The kleptocracy is so vast, so deep, who has the energy for dealing with robots who insist they’re just following the rules. Are these rules even just?

George W. sent men and women into war in Iraq based on the fact that he had proof that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction. When no weapons were found, and he was shown to have lied, was he held to account? Not only for the deaths of the Iraqis but also US servicemen who were sent there by him? And for what? So that a few conglomerates could get US contracts to rebuild Iraq? So they bribe their way into war only so they can get it back in rebuilding contracts.

This is the level of immorality that we have come to live with as acceptable. If this is order then a strong dose of chaos is in order to restore our humanity. We have to get to the point where government is afraid of its electorate again. Not the other way around. A government which would seek to control the actions of its people through draconian laws is a government not serving the interests of its people. Unfortunately, there is not a government in the world which can be said to serve its people in their best interests.

Hopefully #Anonymous serves as a reminder of the power of the people. That Government is our servant and should fear us. That taxation is not a source of enrichment for a select few and an election is not an elevation to immunity.

Do your bit to support Anonymous. 

Why would you want to be Muslim

At my core I still think like a Muslim. I know that much to be true. But I can also say that over the last few weeks it has become increasingly harder to say that my faith was strong. On Saturday I saw it shatter and I couldn't be bothered to pick up the pieces.

For most people it was just a dog dying. I accept that the dog would die. But from a bone breaking in her spine to the pools of blood she ended up throwing as I tried to hold her up. We couldn't put her down because we couldn't pick her up. She had never bitten anyone but she bit me on Friday when I tried lifting her. She went through 8 agonising hours as we waited. She slowly began losing consciousness and then she eventually died after spewing up the last bit of blood. I prayed for 2 days. My mother prayed for two days. We had come to accept her death, a part of our family. I have had sick dogs before but this was painful to go through. My prayers remained unanswered and I can't explain how my dog went from broken bone in her spine to throwing up blood. She was healthy. And I can't explain why I feel betrayed by the Good Lord. Maybe because I watched every minute of it, maybe because I prayed and got no answer and no explanation helps. For now I have come to the conclusion, I have to believe I am on my own. No matter what happens, God doesn't care.
But that's me being sensitive and personal.

The MJC and the halaal saga

Let's call a spade a spade. The MJC's alleged checks and balances are about as accurate as those of Limpopo province's financial management. Gaping holes, poor administration, God's representatives are hopefully the exception when it comes to one day adding up our Good deeds and no one is met with a "computer error" when they get their books in their hands. But what is shocking is the attack they have received from other Muslims. I still maintain, a Muslim likes nothing better than knocking another Muslim. Yes I have first hand experience with this. That fat buffalo headed moron from Klerksdorp and the Gnome named Moose. But instead of trying to get this process on track we're making excuses (MJC) or we're taking pot shots (The rest of us) because somehow attacking them is one way of ensuring Muslims have halaal meat. Na, fuck 'em, we're all just cooler calling all those God knowledgeable but management incompetent fellow Muslims names. If only Israel had certified Orion's meat. We need to grow up and do something or else don't but shut the fuck up because too many enjoy just shouting but none of us seem prepared to roll up our sleeves.

Jadu

Call it what you want, superstitions, evil eye, black magic, if I meet another Muslim who has "moulana" than can make a Taweez for whatever their whim is, I swear I will stab them. Now you need to be watching what you eat and where you go. Everyone has a powder, a piece of paper, an oil to dab, something to help them get what they want. Now either you believe in it or you don't. But it is very hard not to know that this exists because now being a Muslim means you also have to contend with supposedly God fearing types dabbling in things we shouldn't be. Maybe it's all those flyers promising anything the heart desires. Maybe people are just generally selfish and faithless. I don't know and I don't care.

And no, I am not jealous of Liam Neeson getting all this attention for considering Islam., Islam is an incredibly beautiful way of life. But like all theories, in practice stupid, pathetic human beings mess it all up.
Put aside my own fight with God for ignoring me when I needed Him, I can't proudly call myself a Muslim because I don't know what it stands for anymore. That is not an indictment on other Muslims. Those people are incredible at maintaining their faith. I am not. I am weak and can't find sense in it any more.

The OH

If you don't like animals

You can honestly go and fuck yourself with a broken bottle. Some people get pets, some people don't. Some people can't understand why people look after their animals. I can't understand how they can permit unlicenced breeding especially when you consider what a piece dumb doos shit some folks are.

OK so I am a little pissed off. Mainly because animals can't speak for themselves, and because animals/our pets committed some grave sin they have been stuck with us, Humans to speak for them. Sure pet owners go a little "tilt" over their precious members of the family, but what I found is that pet owners are honest, we have been taught by our pets to understand what unconditional love is, that it's not always necessary to open your mouth to express yourself and that life's simplicities are undervalued.

This week the vet said that my dog should be put down. She lived a good life but her legs are damaged. German Shepherds are known for suffering with hind leg problems as they get older. What is odd is that although she is not as active as she once was, she didn't have a problem until late last week. She is otherwise healthy so why on earth don't vets offer a solution other than the needle of death. I've had to put dogs down before. One had cancer and it broke me. He was one of those gentleman dogs. Never cried, never moaned. He was an adopted pet after his owners had decided to get rid of him because he was too old. Even as they took him his away he maintained this air about him.

Hearing that my dog was a hopeless case broke me in half. If you can't understand how an animal can have more value in your life than a relative then don't ask. Luckily for me I have a decent memory and remembered a former client who works with animals. It might not be much, but it's hope. That's all we can ask for. Besides my dog is strong, healthy and if her legs are the problem then we can sure as hell find a way to get her better.

Dogs have taught me that you can't trust someone who doesn't respect life. People who go around beating up animals and shooting them and abusing them because they think that makes them tough stuff are one step away from karma's steel cap boot.

So can I ask that you please say a prayer for my dog and that she pulls through. I don't usually ask for this sort of thing but this is out of my hands now.

H

Alles is uitge-halaal

Halaal certification is a necessity in a country where there is such a diversity and where Muslims do not form the majority of the political and cultural will. There are no laws to oblige meat packers to only serve halaal meat. However, with a community as small as the Muslim Community in South Africa, and for a country as geographically small as South Africa, it is hard to argue that Halaal certification is anything but a commercial venture.

And that is indicative of the divided community here. Granted no community is always united. But there is this perception that one Halaal certification body is better than the other. Here are my questions:

1.       If Halaal certification is not about making money out of peddling fear to the local Muslim community, why do we need 4 bodies to certify that what we consume is halaal?

2.       If the integrity of any organisation is in question should there no be a process where evidence can publicly presented so that these organisation are removed from certifying halaal?

3.       Does one certification carry more authority than the other?

4.       Why does milk have to be certified?

5.       Is there a movement to have everything certified, including products where there would be question. For example – sugar?

6.       Is there a target quota for businesses to be certified?

7.       Is there a Turf war between SANHA (Crips), MJC (Bloods), NIHT (Kings), ICSA (North Side Boys) where if a venue or product is certified by an organisation other than one’s own gang, the product or venue is considered doubtful?

8.       Do any of the halaal certification bodies care about the members of the Muslim community?

Frankly, the whole thing stinks of people who are in the know manipulating the masses by using collective guilt, erroneous religious injunctions (READ: when it suits them). How do we justify the certifying of water? This is a service performed and billed for which leads me to the conclusion that halaal certification is purely a money making operation which benefits from the strict requirements regarding what food and drink maybe consumed. It is that simple but has seen Muslim engaging in long winded scientific debates around the insects used in the glazing of whatever. Really?

The real problem is that for a long time many Muslims have lost patience with many of our certification bodies because of their internal petty politics. Remember the Rainbow Chickens debacle. Chickens were declared non-halaal but only because certain key people were having a tiff. Now how in the hell is that keeping within the spirit of the religion when you create doubt based purely on your need to put pressure on someone else.

Let me continue. There are some Muslim people who will not  eat anything unless it has the specific halaal stamp. So for example a friend at University would not eat anything with an MJC stamp because he considered their certification dubious. I question where that doubt originated from as if he only saw SANHA then why the doubt? Brand loyalty? Loyalty card points? Who knows.

Further information dissemination has further led to doubts in the minds of the greater community over the credibility of these organisations. Mail messaging claiming to represent these bodies would often be forwarded at rapid speeds: “Don’t drink Coke, it is the blood of Palestinians, Coke is Haraam because it contains alcohol, it contains cocaine, don’t support X because they support Israel.” These are good causes but, it should be a matter of choice and conscience and not be slipped into the same stream of halaal/haram consumption. As MJ pointed out many moons ago on his blog, Coca Cola South Africa employs a significant number of people directly and indirectly and boycotting them here would directly result in hardship for local people. Further, it is sugar water and it tastes like it should, not that crack sweat people serve at weddings. (Koo-ee. WTF?)

We need halaal certification in South Africa but a single body and not multiple entities all screaming H-Unit!!! (Like G-Unit but with an H). We need consistency and we need to restore integrity into Halaal certification and trust into Muslim consumers.

The OH