The disappearance of religiosity

Not very long ago people used to be religious. They used to hold on to religion and make it their life rope. Their lives revolved around religion. Constitutions of countries were based on articles of faith. Not many people denied God nor questioned whether God exists or not, because for them, the answer was obvious. In fact, I just saw a video of Magic Johnson when he gave a speech on behalf of the US basketball dream team, and the first thing that he mentioned was God. Similar to Hakeem Olajuwon when he was admitted into the NBA hall of fame, where the first thing he said was “I thank God.” I believe that we wouldn’t hear that kind of opening from this generation of NBA players.

Look at how degraded we have become. The quality of our religiosity and the religiosity of the society has dropped so far that it has come to the point where many don’t even want to admit/believe in God. Nowadays, by rejecting God, people feel as if they’re cool, smart, and liberated. Feeling a false sense of superiority, believing that they’re modern thinkers, thinking ahead of others. Of course we are free to think what we want to think. But feeling superior because of not believing in God is absurd.

The root of the drop in religiosity is perhaps ignorance (which leads to concluding things with inadequate amount of knowledge), greed, and arrogance (which results in rejecting the truth even if he has inclination towards it).

Nevertheless, God is Merciful and opens some doors of guidance to us from time to time. He gives us opportunities to “snap out of it” at certain periods. These opportunities might come through spiritual experiences, interaction with pious people, or maybe through shock therapies that He gives us.

One story about this is eloquently told in the Qur’an. Although I am paraphrasing, I hope that I don't distort it.

There were people that owned a productive and beautiful garden. They benefited from the garden very much and had overwhelming confidence in their skills. They eventually shifted their mindset from attributing their success to God, to attributing their success to themselves and their garden. This mistaken way of thinking is a result of ignorance and arrogance blended together. Forgetting the true nature of things (that God is the one who gives success) and feeling self-sufficient, not needing God. They also developed a selfish attitude, wanting to have all the harvest to themselves without giving any portion to charity. They had a drop in their religiosity.

But then God, being merciful as He is, reminded them through shock therapy. Just as they were about to harvest their crops, they found their garden burnt to ashes. Through this, they “snapped out of it” and realized their mistake in being ignorant, arrogant, and selfish (greedy).

The disappearance of religiosity is most probably attributed to the mentioned traits. We are indoctrinated that success is the fruit of our effort only and that we are entitled to enjoy it alone without sharing it with others.

When we wake up, prepare for work, how many times do we direct our intentions for serving God? When we look at our career and our successes, how many times do we thank God and see it as a blessing that He has blessed upon us? When we receive our monthly payroll, how often do we think about giving a portion of it to charity? If the answer is in the negative, we should try to get back on track and not make the same mistakes of the people of the garden, lest lose our religiosity and share the same destiny.

Exhalting science

Science is fascinating. No doubt about it. I have always loved science. New findings and inventions have always interested me. Whether it’s new findings in physics, biology, archaeology, or whatever, I always spare some time to read them.

The most recent breakthrough is the discovery of the “god particle” (or the Higgs Boson particle), which gives us a whole different dimension in understanding existence of the universe. It’s said that this particle is the particle that gives us mass, and thus scientists say that it could help us understand how the galaxy was formed. Of course, since I am ignorant of this subject, I might have not properly described it.

But anyway, through science, we find new things everyday, about the world around us and about ourselves. Through science we also find ways to develop new technology that can help us in our interaction with the world, and alter the way we live our lives.

However, there are times when people become too obsessed with science, and think that it is the only option for humanity to understand the world and our existence. So much so that they disregard other ways that can be used to explain the difficult questions that we ask about (life, death, and other matters of the unseen).

Many people would argue that just because something cannot be proven scientifically right now, it doesn’t mean it can’t be proven in the future. But realistically, there are things that can just never be explained by science, forever. But then again, some people won’t be able to accept that notion. Some people have made science absolute; they have made it their god.

For Muslims, religion and spirituality answers many questions of the unseen. Regarding life, death, the soul, what comes after and before life, etc. For Muslims, science actually goes along with spirituality. They do not contradict at all. The Muslims reached the epitome of science in their civilization when spiritualism was also at its peak. Science and spiritualism complete each other. By getting better understanding of God’s creations, it will only increase the awe towards the perfectness of what He created. Whether we study about the laws of physics, biological processes in nature, astronomy, etc.

In truth, science is just one tool of many that can be used to understand things. On top of that, there are still so many things that science cannot explain properly, even things that happen everyday within ourselves such as yawning, adolescence, and blushing. And of course about other things: our soul, life, death, moral truth, etc. So wouldn't it be wise to at least take a look at what religion has to offer before judging it illogical and absurd?

First impressions on my new Macbook air 11.6 inch 2012

As I have said in one of my previous posts I am in the process of migrating from a windows PC to a mac computer. Although the ride isn’t as smooth as I want in to be, the overall experience has been a good one. Here I am going to list some of the things that I like (and don’t like) from my macbook air experience. I’m no techie by any means, so I’m probably going to give somewhat naïve insights, which I still hope can be beneficial nonetheless.

the 11 inch macbook air

Quick delivery

I bought the 11 inch macbook air from the online apple store here in Japan. I customized it to the 2.0 GHz intel i7 processor and 8GB of RAM. While the base models are available immediately, the customized ones need 3 to 4 business days for delivery. It turns out that my customized macbook was shipped from China, and it took exactly 4 days for the macbook to reach me. So the delivery was on time. Although being on time is not extra ordinary here in Japan (because it is the norm of the society, and one thing that I love about Japanese), having to deliver it from China, and still got it on time was good work from apple.

Design and looks

After unboxing it, the first thing that pleased me with the mac was obviously the weight; build quality, and the design of the computer (even the package was good looking). I think nobody can deny that apple makes beautiful gadgets, and the macbook air is among the best that they have designed. Another thing that I immediately noticed after short use was how nice the screen was. I am coming from a 15.4-inch ASUS laptop (K53T). And frankly, the ASUS’ screen could not compete against the macbook air’s. The quality difference is that obvious, well for me anyway. The macbook air’s screen, even though smaller, is brighter, and has more contrast and clarity.

The iLife bundle

I had some videos that I have wanted to edit for a long time. But the only software I had was windows moviemaker, which I didn’t like that much. In addition of only having Japanese interface (because I have a Japanese OS), there weren’t that many options, and the menu was mediocre at best, and thus the procrastination. After spending some time with iMovie, I have to admit that the iLife bundle is one of the good selling points of mac computer. The software was pleasant to use, intuitive, and I got results in no time.

Mac OS and the track pad

Mac OS is a wonder to use. Of course I can get everything done even with my windows PC. But using the Mac OS is really refreshing. I have been using windows for over one decade, had a couple of stints with PClinuxOS and openSUSE in the past, and I have to say that the looks and feel of Lion betters them all. I especially like how it utilizes the track pad. Scrolling, moving between programs, moving between desktops, have never been as nice. On Lion, I surprisingly prefer the track pad to my USB mouse.

Another plus is the ease of changing the language interface. While on windows we need to get the most expensive version (ultimate) to get this feature, on the mac, it’s readily available. This is especially useful for people who are staying abroad. In Japan, all new computers are installed with the Japanese version of the OS, and to get a non Japanese OS usually comes with a premium. The universality of Mac OS solves this problem, as you can change the interface into many languages (of course this goes the same with Linux).

Built for speed

Well, maybe all reviewers say this, but I have just got to say it again. The macbook air is blazing fast. From powering it up to being able to use the OS takes below 15 seconds. It’s a nice change from having to wait 1 minute for my windows 7 to boot up on my ASUS laptop. Reviewers say that this is due to the flash storage. The i7 processor and 8 gigabytes of RAM probably also play a role. With this setup, even though I run windows 7 32 bits through parallels, I barely get any hiccups.

There are perhaps other things that I like about the macbook air, but the above are the only ones that I can think of for the time being. However, despite the positives, I also experienced some negatives, which I will share next.

Expensive

Let’s face it, macs are expensive. This is one of the main reasons why I’ve been holding back in buying one up until now. And I’m sure that there are many people who have the same argument for not jumping on the apple bandwagon. I have to admit, it was a tough decision for me in the beginning. I first got my hands on a macbook air when I got to toy around with my dad’s. I liked it so much, but was turned off by the price.

Then came apple’s WWDC in the beginning of this month, which introduced a strong line up of new macbooks. When I saw that the 11 inch got an update with a stronger CPU and more memory, with narrow price margins with last years version, I began to think about buying it. But one thing that really helped me with my decision was apple’s commitment to the environment and social responsibility, as you can see here, which is contrary to their biggest rival, Microsoft. Well, it might as well be a marketing tactic, but at least they are doing something. That really gave me the courage to go the apple way.

Connectivity problems

There were some problems when I tried to use connectivity features of the macbook. The first problem I encountered was when I wanted to use my PC’s disc drive to install windows on my macbook via remote drive (through the network). I followed everything according to the instructions, but wasn’t able to get it to work. I finally found a way around the problem, which was to download an ISO image of my version of windows from the Internet, and use it for installation in parallels (a virtualization software to run other operating systems on a mac). So some things “just didn’t work” for me, contrary to the advertisements.

Another connectivity issue that I encountered was when I wanted to share files with my windows PC. Again, I followed all the instructions, but couldn’t get it to work at that time. I finally was able to get it working when I used another network that I set up. So perhaps, there was a problem with the network. And maybe if I had used the working network when I tried using remote drive, I would not have experienced any trouble. But nevertheless, for my case anyway, it didn’t just work, and I had to work it out to get things running.

Available freeware

I mentioned that I installed windows 7 in my Mac OS through virtualization. This is because I wasn’t able to find the equivalent freeware that I use on my PC. I often use programs called bioedit and paint.net, which are important for my work. There are other alternatives for paint.net, but there are no alternatives whatsoever for bioedit. I also need a program that can draw chemical structures, which are also not available as freeware on the Mac. I got iLife for free, but lost access to the many freeware that are available only on windows. Installing windows on the Mac partially solved the problem.

Not a lot in the box

Another thing that disappointed me was the lack of accessories that apple included in the box. For something this expensive, I was hoping that apple would put in more. The macbook air has only USB ports and a thunderbolt port. It would’ve been nice if apple provided HDMI and VGA adapters to connect to an external monitor. Or perhaps throw in a small protective bag (maybe this is asking too much). But anyway, the lack of accessories in the box is somewhat a disappointment when I got my macbook.

Ultra small texts for the toolbar menus

Another thing that I disliked but am beginning to get used to is the size of the fonts in the toolbar. Because of the high resolution and small screen, the texts are ultra small and difficult to read at first. Thank God, my eyes can still adjust, but it would have been nice if the OS had the option to change the size of the fonts in the interface (like the option available in windows). The only way to change the size of the fonts is to change the resolution, which I would prefer not to do.

Mediocre battery life

Battery life is mediocre at best. I probably could only get around 3 hours with maximum screen brightness, Bluetooth and wifi on, surfing the web reading articles and watching youtube videos. Perhaps if I turn off Bluetooth, tune down the screen brightness, I could get better battery life, but the battery is definitely left to be desired. My 15-inch ASUS laptop can go up to 4 hours without any fuss, which is a big thing for a 15-inch laptop. I hope that the battery life can be improved with the mountain lion update coming soon.

Keyboard not springy enough

One of the reasons that I bought the macbook air is because at first, I loved the feel I got when typing on my father’s macbook air. A friend told me that he didn’t like the keyboard on the macbook air, an opinion that I shrugged off. But now that I’m using it extensively, I’m beginning to feel the same. I really miss my ASUS’ springy large keyboards. With the macbook air, I get a feeling that if I strike the keys too hard; they might not go back up again. But this is a minor complaint, because despite it being not springy, I can type fairly quickly on the macbook air’s keyboard.

So I guess that wraps up my first impressions (which turned out to be quite long) on my new macbook air. I hope I didn’t bore you with my rants, and thanks for reading. Peace!

UPDATE 2012/06/24
The CPU seems to run a bit warmer than my liking. When running windows 7 in parallels, it reached 90 degrees C at one point. At first I was a bit worried, but it turns out that it is normal for the CPU to reach that temperature (macforum), as long as it doesn't go above 105 degrees. Even if it gets to critical heat, the CPU will automatically throttle down or shut itself down as a safety mechanism.

To mac or not to mac

I’ve been a windows user for almost all of my life (well, maybe not all of it, as will be mentioned next). My dad had a commodore 64 back in the 80s, and then we had a 386, 486, up to the Pentiums that ran on a variety of Windows versions (ranging from 3.1, 95, 98, and XP). In the last 6 years I had a Dell XPS M1210 which ran on windows vista ultimate (which died after 5 years of hard work), and now I am typing on an ASUS K53T running on windows 7 home edition which I bought at the end of 2011.

So after extensive use of windows, obviously I am familiar with it, at least for the things I need it for. But to tell the truth, I have some gripes with my current windows machine, and would like to exchange it to something that suits me better. I have no problems with the operating system itself, as I previously said, I am familiar with windows and it does what I need it to do. But nevertheless, the little things that I dislike about my current machine makes me want to try and experience something completely different. Like getting a macbook perhaps?  

The first thing that I dislike most about my current machine is the size and spacing of the keys on the keyboard. I don’t know why, but they encourage mistypes more often than what I experienced with my Dell XPS, making the typing experience less enjoyable. The second problem is the location and the sensitivity of the track pad. The track pad is located at such a position that it is easy to accidentally tap it when typing. The extreme sensitivity makes the problem even worse. And typing is my number one activity on my laptops.

The third thing that I dislike about it is the quality of the monitor screen. The colors it produce are rather washed out and lacking contrast. Changing my sitting position often leads to the necessity of changing the screen position.

Other minuses include it being rather heavy and do not look as good as other computers aesthetically.

Thus, I am in the middle of contemplating to sell my machine and get another one instead, a machine that can address my problems and give even more. In come the macbooks. As many of you know, Apple has just released their new line of macbooks, including updates for the macbook air and the macbook pro lines. In addition, my father recently came for a visit and I got a chance to try out his 2011 11 inch macbook air. I have to say that it’s one beautiful piece of machinery. I also tried typing on it a bit, and I found the experience to be gratifying.

However, I needed to list factors to try to make up my mind. And so I have tried to list the pros and cons that I will face by making the change.

The pros are:

1.    The comfortable keyboard keys. As I have mentioned previously, one thing that made me really want the macbook air is the nice keyboard key feel and arrangement. It was so comfortable to write with, my PC doesn’t stand a chance.

2.    The machine looks gorgeous, especially the screen. I don’t know what they do to their screens, but in my opinion, the macbooks screens are among the best looking notebook screens around. As I spend long hours in front of the computer screen, it would definitely be a nice upgrade from my current notebook screen (albeit the macbook air is smaller, they both have the same resolution).

3.    Fast booting up. While I’d have to wait for several minutes to get my PC up and running, the macbook air turns on instantaneously, a real bonus to encourage myself to pick it up and write something.

4.    Lack of games. Well, I’m stating this as a pro because I like video games very much, and I know that they are a waste of time. It’s a sickness that I have had for quite some time. Thus, getting the macbook air would possibly prevent me from playing games and I can use my time for better things.

5.    I’m supporting a company that at least shows that it has commitment towards “green” economy. They try to use recyclable material, reduce the environmental damage that can be caused from production and use of their products, and be energy efficient among other things. In fact, according to a website called better world shopper, who have categorized companies based on their business practices, apple has a respectable rank compared to Microsoft.

6.    Mobility. Obviously it’s uncomfortable to log around a 15inch, 2.5kg laptop around (to tell the truth, back in my undergraduate days, I used to carry an even heavier laptop). The battery life is decent though. For normal use (no gaming and videos), the battery can last for around 3 to 4 hours, but the weight is definitely a downer. The macbook air 11 inch on the other hand is extremely light, weighing at around 1kg with a battery life of 5 hours.

7.    Better integration with my ipad and iphone. Although I have quite an old iphone (an old 3G), I am planning to upgrade it in the future. I also have a new ipad which runs on iOS 5.1 which supports icloud. Although icloud is also available for PCs, the integration with macs seems much more natural.

So those were the benefits that I could think of at the time being. But of course there are also some cons that I need to pay attention to.

Cons:

1.    Expensive. Well this might be a subjective judgment, and may differ among others. But for me, the macbooks are expensive gadgets. So I need to contemplate about whether the premium is worth it for me or not. Of course some people might say that macs last longer, but computers will get obsolete after 4 or 5 years, and my dell lasted for that time span, so to me it’s not a valid argument.

2.    Need to start relearning the OS from the beginning. I have never owned a mac in my entire life, and being used to windows, this worries me a bit. I have used my laboratory’s mac mini for simple chores, but I have never used a mac for extensive usage. But even if OS X doesn’t suite me, I also have the option to install windows 7 on the machine (which thankfully I have).

3.    The 11 inch screen might be too small. Well, my previous dell was 12.1 inches, and I coped just fine. It worries me a bit about the macbook air being too small, but I guess that’s the trade off for being portable, and I’ll be willing to compromise for it.

I can’t think of other cons for the time being. But right now these are the things that I might need to think about before I make my decision. I like to write, even though I am not good in it by any means, a new gadget to encourage me to do more writing would be nice. Nevertheless, I hope I can decide well, not make this extravagance, and benefit from my decision. 

Thanks for reading!

Amusing ourselves to death

I have just finished reading another book from the late Neil Postman. And again, I’d have to say that it was a real eye opener for me. The title is “Amusing ourselves to death: public discourse in the age of show business”. Although the book was written in the mid 80’s, it’s still very much relevant even for today. Perhaps that is why the book is being re-published over and over again.

He tells us that we are living in times where everything is trying to be made as a form of entertainment. And by saying everything, he really meant everything. Even education, politics and religious matters have been transformed into a form of entertainment. So much so, it is planted in our mind that in order for an idea to be successful, they must be packaged in an entertaining way. The main agent that created such an environment is none else but the television set. The TV changed dramatically our way of life and our way of viewing things.

In the case of education, in the US at least, “edutainment” was pioneered by Sesame Street of the children’s television workshop. I had my childhood in the 80’s, and I remembered vividly the “education” (or entertainment) from that show. From what I understand from Postman’s book is that this kind of “education” is unnatural and in many ways destructive for the children who watch it. It makes the children think less and entertained more. And to tell the truth, I feel that it’s exactly the case. Of course there is no doubt that children can still benefit from the show, but the long term loss outweighs it by far.

In the case of politics, one example is in presidential elections. It’s no longer a secret that the candidates who win the elections are the ones who spend more time on air, and can manage to make a good impression on the viewers. They don’t need to be intellectually superior or have a better track record. What they need to do is look good on TV. And this is indeed the case in many countries. In the TV culture, the image that the candidates build on TV outweighs their other virtues.

The book also mentions about how people treat religiosity in this age of entertainment. Normally, nowadays, people tend too steer away from religious matters. However, things could change if they are packaged with elements of entertainment.The preachers who will be listened to are those who are able to commoditize what they say in an entertaining way, regardless of what they say. Perhaps through songs, through their style of speech, and gimmicks, among many things.

So for many people living in this age, life is nothing but a continuous cycle of jumping from one entertainment to another. As mentioned in the book, we live in an almost realized Huxleyan reality. In which we are being imprisoned, out of our own free will, and enjoy the imprisonment that we are in. This holds us back from transcendence in becoming the amazing creatures that we were created to become.

"The Day of Resurrection draws near, None besides God can avert it.  Do you then wonder at this Quran?  And you laugh at it and weep not, wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements.  So fall you down in prostration to God, and worship Him (Alone)"

(Qur'an - An-Najm 53:57-62)

A better way to repel Lady Gaga and co

We are living in bizarre times for sure. It becomes so difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood and good from evil, among other things. With all the attacks that we face, little by little we lose our humanity and the natural state we should have been in. These are times where Prophetic guidance has become more important than ever. Because it distinguishes clearly between truth and falsehood, good and evil, and in turn gives us back the humanity that we have lost.

Lately, there has been a buzz on the banning of Lady Gaga from holding a concert in Indonesia. Spearheaded by a group who call themselves “the Islamic Protector Front” (FPI) who threatened the concert if it was to be held, the organizers succumbed and canceled the SOLD OUT concert. The New York Post said that in total there were 52000 tickets, and all of them were SOLD OUT. So obviously there were a lot of people who wanted to go to the concert, and they have the right to do so. I’m not saying that it’s right… But if you want to have your opinions respected, you have to respect the opinions of others too. If you want to have a debate, have a good and healthy one too.

It breaks my heart to see something like this happen at a country in which Muslims are a majority. It shows the lack of quality that the Muslims have (me included) in understanding the religion properly. And with this, I mean from both sides (the supporters and the opposite).

If only we were decent Muslims that have a teensy weensy bit of knowledge on the religion, this whole Lady Gaga incident would never have happened. First of all, (even non Muslims see this) the singer is clearly not in the best state of mind. She does things that boggle the normal mind constantly (in a negative way unfortunately). And secondly, it is so obvious that many of her lyrics (which I have only heard a little by the way) insinuate towards adultery, and we are strictly told to stay away from such acts. And as a result, the tickets wouldn’t be SOLD OUT like it was.

On the other hand, if only we were decent Muslims, we would be able to react towards these situations in a better way. Not once was it reported that The Prophet (PBUH) shouted towards other people, not even in war! Yet we shout and condemn people to go to hell while we don’t even know what God’s decree is. It’s frustrating to see these so called “protectors of Islam” raising such banners. Many of the Prophets best companions were once opposing the Prophet, fought him (PBUH) in war, yet the Prophet had the patience to invite them to Islam and educate them. If only he (PBUH) was harsh and uncompassionate, they would have turned away from him. But out of God’s mercy, he (PBUH) was patient towards them.

Summing it up, with this whole “Lady gaga” banning saga, we can see that we are a sick nation (ummah). We’re sick enough to empty our purses to go to a music concert rather than feed the millions of poor people in our country, and we’re sick enough to let our akhlaq (good character) be compromised to reach a certain goal (which in this case is to ban a mere singer to perform).

There is no victory in this banning.

What’s the point in banning Lady gaga when we have a TV at home that plays the same kind of music and performances all day long? How are we going to tell our children to not go to such concerts when we ourselves are disconnected with them and don’t have a meaningful relationship with them? How do we expect to know what is good or bad for us if we have no (and are not interested in learning about) prophetic knowledge on the TRUTH of things?

So for Muslims, all of us need to rethink what we believe, get better education on our religion, and make a deeper take on the things that we face. In the ideal condition, even if Lady Gaga and co came to do a concert, nobody would even bother coming because of the obvious lack of benefit that they will get. People would have much better and more beneficial things to do instead.

May God make us people of essence and be able to see beyond the mere spectacles that are offered to us each and every day

Living with corrupt leaders

The string of revolts in the Arab world against their respective leaders is one of the hot commodities in the media nowadays. This is indication that there is a serious crisis of leadership in these countries. Most of them are corrupt and succeeded in establishing a dictatorship that oppresses the rights of the people for their private benefits.

No doubt that these corrupt leaders play a big role in creating the social problems in the society, such as the increase of unemployment, hunger, etc. However, we as citizens may also have a part in creating this condition, and should try our best to do what we can to make things better, and have patience for the sake of getting God’s reward. Of course there are without doubt times when the leaders are overwhelmingly unjust, and there are guidelines to deal with such leaders in Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh). However, there are also times when we put the blame too easy on whoever has authority in the land.

As said in the Qur’an, God will not change the condition of a nation until they change what is inside of themselves. It means that the best way to achieve positive change is by collective internal revolution. The results may not come overnight, but by God’s will, it will come. Even the Prophet (Peace be upon him) needed 20 odd years to build the perfect community. So to achieve positive change in a society, the emphasis should be on one’s self before anybody else. By doing so, God willing, divine help will make its way. Just as He put corrupt leaders on top of us, without doubt He can put just ones too.

Furthermore, we should also remember that everything that we experience in life is merely a test from God, including the power that people are granted with. Those corrupt leaders were tested through power, and failed. And we rest their case with God. There is no guarantee that we would do better in the same condition, and we should be grateful that God is protecting us from the tribulation of having power. As the historian, Lord Acton said, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." Of course there are exceptions on this, with the greatest example our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), who albeit had power, always remained humble and just. On the other hand, we too are tested through these corrupt leaders. And we will get reward accordingly with our response.

May God have mercy on all of us and help those who are oppressed in His lands. May He guide our leaders to become just leaders that love the people. May He make all the tribulations that happen to us means to purify us from our sins, for the sake of our true victory, which is to be put in His gardens.

And God knows best