Sunday 24 August 2008

The non-swearing act

In about 2 days time, our nation will again come to a crossroad. If you are a Malaysian but doesn’t know what is happening in the next 2 days, go look for a toilet and plunge your head into the toilet bowl.

Anyway, much has been said about the Permatang Pauh by-election. I do not need to talk about what exactly is going on. I am sure you all probably know what exactly is going on, with details and all. Again, if you don’t, go plunge your head into the toilet bowl and while you’re at it, get a few gulps in.

I was talking with
myop101 the other day about our so-called political-cum-economy-messiah. Amidst our conversation about our views on who will win and whether we can trust this self-proclaimed messiah, myop101 pointed out a very interesting point --- regarding the whole swearing issue.

Both of us are Christians and according to our religion, swearing is not accepted in the eyes of God. According MalaysianToday, swearing is also not part of Islam. Any Muslim friends out there care to confirm this?

The guy with the most talked about asshole in town has sworn by the Quran that Anwar has indeed sodomised his backdoor. Anwar on the other hand, refused to do the same, leading to “many quarters” citing his refusal a clear indication that he is guilty of the allegation. This has caused a serious dent in his campaign. Many also said that if he were to swear by the Quran, he will definitely win.

Now… IF… If swearing is indeed not permitted in Islam (I said if because I am not sure whether swearing is permitted in Islam), then this is a clear indication that Anwar is a God-fearing man. He would rather be answerable to God, than to be answerable to the people and to me and myop101, it is a remarkable act.

It is even more remarkable that swearing will almost guarantee victory, this means Anwar is not prepared to do what his religion prohibits, simply just to gain political mileage.

I don’t know about you but someone who prioritises his religion ahead of his political career is definitely one who deserves respect and trust compared to people who would do anything just to stay in power. That, to myop101 and myself is a mark of a respectable leader.

That is on the basis that swearing is indeed not recognised in Islam. Otherwise…

37 comments:

Angie Tan said...

I think the 1990's pop song "I Swear" is making a comeback.. LOL...

Anyway, remember the 3rd commandment - "Thou shalt not use the name of thy God in vain.." and the 9th commandment - "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour"...

Hmmmm...

Anonymous said...

Anwar is far smarter and credible than these swearing-fanatics. It seems like a trend with BN politicians nowadays to swear and use God's name to prove a point. In a way, this demonstrates to us that they too do not trust in our legal system...

Anonymous said...

Go go Anwar! He will win permatang pauh on Tues :)Let's celebrate the victory first coz i know is just the matter of time :)

Anonymous said...

I was told by a Muslim fren of my dad who is really religious an teaches the Quran. That if you wish to swear in Islam, U actually place the Quran on top of your head and raise your right hand. Then clearing say swearing. So its not like wat Saiful did.

This in fact is a serious act coz if you do swear a lie then there will be a curse on u and your descendants. This is wat I'm told.

Anonymous said...

I meant 'clearly say the swearing'. Sorry... Typo error.

Btw I heard that Tues is public holiday for Penang. WooHoo!!! Yeah!

Observer said...

Guess the critical link is who does the asshole represent? Or if there's a mastermind behind

Anonymous said...

My arse hole got poke, I want to swear!

I did not poke that mongolian arse hole, I also want to swear!

I did not screw that 2 perak exco backsides, I also want to swear...

What a bunch of swearing A88HOLES!!!

***CRACKODOLLAH

Falcon said...

you can say what you want but only god knows the truth...

Sunshine said...

i checked with my fiance, its very serious to swear upon the quran.

if its a lie, you will be cursed.. something bad would happen to the person or the family...

Anonymous said...

yes...the Bible said no swearing over anything. just Yes or No.

Matthew 5:33-37 said it all.

it's Malaysia Culture after all

Zahar said...

Hello,

Yes there is such a thing as swearing in the name of God in Islam.

There is however, no strict methodology for the act to be acceptable, and this has been the main crux of the attacks by various parties on what the alleged victim had performed. Some truly laughable examples I have read include putting the Qur'an on one's head and other similarly unique physical contortions which may or may not defy the laws of gravity.

The thing about this particular swearing is it is a challenge oath. Meaning one of the parties in the dilemma has called upon his God as the avenue of last resort, and calling for punishment either on himself if he were lying or on the other party, if they were the ones who were lying. This is not swearing to profess innocence, although there are some people who should know better are deliberately misleading the public that it is.

Guilt or innocence will be determined by the appointed courts of law of the land.

In the "normal" course of events, both the person initiating the oath (challenger) and the recipient (challengee) of the oath should accept each other's oaths, and each perform the swearing. Then they wait for a decision from God.

If, and that's a strong IF, both parties believe in God in the same way.

However, it has been amply and explicitly demonstrated that Anwar does NOT believe in the same way as Saiful as regards to the solemnity or veracity of the oath taking, and instead has sought to go to the Mahkamah Syariah instead. He has asked the Syariah Court to determine that Saiful is lying, or qazaf, which is normally used in the context of married partners.

He has also gone on record as saying during his ceramah, that even if Saiful were to take fifty such oaths, he couldn't be bothered.

To non-Muslims it is perhaps difficult to understand why or how any Muslim would resort to something like this. As has been noted by the blogger, there is no such thing in Christianity. I welcome that comment, and would like to add there is no such thing as communion or sins absolution via a priest in Islam either, but that doesn't mean that just because such a practice / tenet of faith doesn't exist in Islam, then it shouldn't or couldn't in Christianity. There is an ayah in the Qur'an which goes in meaning something like this: "to you your religion, to me mine." You are free to choose and believe what you will, as long as we all believe there is only One God.

This is an action of "last resort." No person in less than dire circumstances would invoke the curse of God on himself or his relations, unless there is no other avenue open to him.

He has made police reports, he has gone to medical practitioners, he has done everything according to the laws of Man, and yet in every case, he is a laughing stock, a moron who couldn't even defend his chastity against a 60-year old man.

After doing all the above and people still don't believe him, and his alleged sodomizer is still at large belittling him and convincing people that Saiful is a stooge or conspirator, what can this young man do? He is no politician, he doesn't have the reach to go to every kampung to every newspaper, every blog and state his case.

He does the only thing he can do, the only thing left for him. He reaches out to his God, and pleads from God to resolve this as he, alone, is unable to and can never compete with Anwar and his connections to state his side of the story.

Irrespective of whether he has done something extraordinary, illegal, stupid, or just plain vexatious, there is still the element of challenge in what he did.

For someone who has many times professed himself to be brave, clean, upright as well as a good Muslim, it is becoming stranger by the day why Anwar won't accept that challenge if he was truly in the right.

There is a saying in Malay, BERANI KERANA BENAR, TAKUT KERANA SALAH. Say what you will, but Saiful has done a very brave thing here.

fie the elf said...

That Saiful guy is amusing. Ohhh I'm putting my hand on a book..ohhh how brave of me! Will I get struck down by lighting now?

Religion should not be confused with law.

myop101 said...

yup, let your yes be yes, your no be no...:)

Purple~MushRooM said...

Why need to swear? Use our brains to think la!

Anwar so old.. everytime has backache here & there. Where has strength to hold and rape a young man? That young man is much stronger, he probably raped Anwar than the other way round.

Nichol Brooklyn said...

msian news really can never fail to amuse me. lolx

if anwar prioritises his religion ahead of his political career, i totally respect that!

Jorji said...

saiful=loser gilasss!

frostee said...

Agreed... and one wonders what would happen next if DSAI does swear. So both are telling the truth? So what then?

Cut the crap la BN.

Anonymous said...

I swear the gomen owe me ONE BILLION!

I swear the gomen owe me 10000 acre of land..

I swear

can ah?

The Pisces Man said...

Zewt, baca nih...The truth about the whole swearing ceremony is out. It's politically motivated and not sincere:

http://www.harakahdaily.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=016615&Itemid=85

Although swearing in the name of Allah is allowed in Islam, it's not something that should be taken lightly and easily. In fact, our parents would scold and forbid us kids when using such words that imply swearing.

It IS a serious matter.. It's like saying if the person who swore or the opponent is lying, that particular person will be far from 'receiving' guidance from God. In fact, God will punish us the most heinous way for thosee lies.

For us Muslims, that's not something we want, coz we Muslims always strive to receive 'petunjuk dan hidayah' from Him, and not the other way round.

Mcmercedez said...

In chinese we all used to say, "if you did not do anything wrong, what are you afraid of".. Swearing in my point of view in your topic is that, that "backdoor kena screw" fler is just want to show to the public that indeed he have been screwed.. So he went and swear by the God.. But what if its the other wise? It means that what if he did not get screwed and all these are just political stuff and just to frame Anwar??

So imagine now he have sworn by the God, then when he ended up in hell is he going to swear again that he did that just because someone ask him to??

To me, its a total nonsense.. This include the recent swearing from a person by the name of Najis..

iamthewitch said...

Oh dear, can't wait for this to be over soon! No holidays for MNC in Penang though *sob*

zewt said...

Angie Tan - hahha... someone is using that song as a parody u know.

pablopabla - that's right.i prefer anwar simply becos he is a very intelligent man. no harm having a smart leader.

aoki - that's called faith! :)

pinknpurplelizard - well, those who are not voting should go show moral support hehe.... thanks for the enlightenment. but the new saga about swearing has emerged!

freethinker - gotta trace from the asshole all the way to the top.... not a very pleasant path i must say :)

anon @ 24/8 11.51pm - hahaha... that seems like the current trend in town.

Falcon - hey there, welcome to AZAIG. now... that's a very good point.

zewt said...

sunshine - wow... i am now thinking again...

BossCat - bro zahar below said we should not talk about Christianity and Islam on the same page. which is true actually.

Zahar - hello there... thanks for your enlightenment. reading your piece gave me some perspective. but i am again bring to another version of swearing, one that involves a girl from another nation... i wonder if that is true too. oh well... ohly God knows. and yes... based on what u said, saiful has done a really brave act.

fie the elf - not in this nation though.

myop101 - no maybe :)

purple mushroom - that is not what everyone think, particularly to those who do not have internet connection and those who arent able to link the facts.

nikz - yup... me too.

zewt said...

j or ji - we shall see who is gila tomm! :)

frostee - after reading what zahar said... i guess he has a point.

Edi - hahahaha... and i swear i can rule the world.

the pieces man - yup... read that already, and also other new developments. very interesting indeed. again.... ppl who would do anything just to be in power... nothing surprises me anymore.

mcmercedez - for all intents and purposes, it has to do with the support needed in the by-election... the timing is crucial. the other swearing hahaha... that one... did u read MT?

iamthewitch - why ah? double standard ah... blardy modern slavery masters!

Anonymous said...

hate it so much when they keep using God to defend themselves.. why can't they separate God from politics? God has nothing to do with this stupid political game they are playing.. arghhh..

Anonymous said...

People have to swear in a court of law as well...but then who knows how true it actually is! Only God knows...and whatever wrong doing we do in this world, we'll have to answer to Him in the next...and that includes breaking marriage vows where the couple promise=swear that for better or for worse, till death do they part!

Tekkaus said...

Well...Saiful's swearing is valid and it is NOT against Islam. I've checked with my muslim friends. Whether Anwar is one pious man or he simply fear the consequences of Sumpah Laknat has yet to be known. And it was PAS leader who suggested the sumpah laknat in the 1st place. I don't know...I just don't want to see Anwar become Malaysian PM. IMHO, he just want to be the PM at all cost. Why can't Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng or even Hadi Awang lead PKR?

Terra Shield said...

"go look for a toilet and plunge your head into the toilet bowl." I thought that was funny.

Anyway, I can't say much about swearing. People these days don't give a damn about anything. So if anybody swears (even on a holy book) I don't think I'd believe them.

Well, I need to ask you something... I have written a post about the incident of you being plagiarised and I thought I'd ask you if you're ok with me mentioning you and your blog in my post. Just checking...

Anonymous said...

All the swearing swearing shit is getting out of hands now.

That is a fantastic way of putting it. Yes, he's indeed a God fearing man.. and yes, I believe he's innocent.. and he would be a much better leader compared to all the goons put together.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

very interesting view..this swearing thing has got abit out of hand..

every1 seems to think if they swear, they will be able to save their lil ass..

Anonymous said...

Even the one who witnessed Saiful swearing said he was instructed by "superior" to do that, if you understand what I am trying to say.

Tsu Lin + + said...

Wei, don't make me dunk my head in the toilet bowl la. I seldom follow the M'sian politics...

Ninja said...

I'm sorry but i don't know why the media and the politicians are making such a big deal about this whole swearing thingy. I much prefer in looking at objective evidence cos let's face it, no matter how honest and God-fearing you are, i think a lot of peole would lie their asses off if it meant not going to jail.

william wang said...

The result was out as I write this, DSAI won by more than 15K votes. Is it significant enough? What if the BN were to lose so badly that it lost the deposit? That would be the day when MPs can shift camp with a very good excuse. I am rather disappointed, let's see how DSAI play this out from here.

Huei said...

really..swearing will automatically makes one trustable, make ones statement true?

damn keng chou wei!!!

all the lawyers can throw their law books away liao..no nid for court! just get that ultimate book!

Azlan Zed said...

it's not the way of Islam to swear on the holy book... Ulama confirmed this... :)

Politics... they even used religion for their own benefits... sad eh..?

:(

zewt said...

drumsticks - but Jesus did rebuke the authorities u know.

suituapui - but in this day and age, that doesn seem to bother ppl.

tekkaus - have to admit the fact we will have a Malay as a PM for the time being. for me, i dont bother much as long as he does his job well.

terra shield - sure... go ahead :)

gina - God fearing is always preferred to other goons, that's for sure.

constant craver joe - ppl swear during marriage, still divorce la.

jam - asshole for sale mah.

tsu lin - ok ok, you're exempted :P

sabrina - not RPK though... he even refused bail!

william wang - yeah, it will be an interesting project 169.

huei - hahaha... true... no need law.. just swear and u can get away with thigns... sigh.

alan zed - that's the way things go it seems.. very sad.