missing BUTE PARK, CARDIFF

It has been about a year since I left Cardiff and the one thing I miss the most is BUTE PARK, Cardiff.

It is located at the heart of Cardiff, surrounded by the city centre and Cardiff University's buildings.

Here are some pictures of the park for you to enjoy.


A few meters from the main gate, you will see a group of stones that we like to call 'mini-stonehenge'

Racial Discrimination / Racism - Part 3

In this entry, I would like t bring to you what Islam says about racial discrimination/racism.

Islamic scholars have been asked and questioned on this matter. One of the answer can be found here.

Racist against other religions?

These are the verses in the Qur'an regarding other religions.

"Say: We believe
In God, and in what
Has been revealed to us
And what was revealed
To Abraham, Isma'il(Ishmael);
Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes,
And in (the Books)
Given to Moses, Jesus,
And the Prophets,
From their Lord:
We make no distinction
Between one and another
Among them and to God do we
Bow our will( in Islam)."
Holy Quran 3:84

"Let there be no compulsion in matters of Religion"
Holy Quran 2:256

"Verily, those who believe (in the Quran)
And those who follow the Jewish( scriptures)
And the Christians and the Sabians,
Any who believe in God
And the Last Day,
And work righteousness
Shall have their reward
With their Lord; on them
Shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve."
Holy Quran 2:62

Racism towards other races?

The following on the other hand are Qur'anic verses and Prophet Muhammad's sayings on the matter of races.

"Allah is to be praised and thanked for ridding us of the vices and pride
of the days of ignorance. O People! Note that all men( the noun includes
women as well) are divided in two categories only: the pious and
God-fearing who are esteemable in Allah's reckoning, and the transgressors
and hard-hearted, who are lowly and contemptible in the eye of Allah."
Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him.

"O Mankind!
Most certainly, it is
We( God almighty) who have
Created you all from a single (pair)
Of a male and a female,
And it is we who
Have made you into
Nations and tribes,
That ye may recognise each other
(Not that ye may despise each other).
Verily, the noblest of you
In the sight of Allah
Is (he who is) the most
Righteous of you."
Holy Quran 49:13

"And mankind is naught but a single nation."
Holy Quran 2:213

"And among His Signs
Is the creation of the heavens
And the earth, and the variations
In your languages
And your colours; verily
In that are Signs
For those who know."
Holy Quran 30:22

"All men(includes women) are equal in Islam, the Arab has no superiority
over the non-Arab, nor does the non-Arab have superiority over the Arab,
save in the fear of God."
Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him.


As I was searching for these facts, the following sayings was included as well. They are, certainly worth pondering on.

"(The Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca) was an exhilarating experience to see
people belonging to different colours, races and nationalities, kings,
heads of states and ordinary men from very poor countries all clad in two
simple white sheets praying to God without any sense of either pride or
inferiority. It was a practical manifestation of the concept of equally in
Islam."
Cassius Clay, now Muhammed Ali.

"The Europeans in South Africa dread the advent of Islam, as they( Muslims)
claim equality with the white races. They may well dread it. If brotherhood
is a sin, if it is equality of the coloured races that they dread, then
their dread is well-founded."
Mohandas K. Ghandi

"I have been struck over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that
makes a man instinctively a brother. When you meet an Egyptian, an
Algerian, an Indian and a Turk in London, what matters is that Egypt is the
motherland of one and India is the motherland of another."
Sarojini Naidu

"Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming
spirit of true brotherhood as is practised by people of all colours and
races here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammed, and
all the other prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have
been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed
all around me by people of all colours."
Malcolm X

"The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the
outstanding achievements of Islam, and in the contemporary world there is,
as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue."
Professor A.J. Toynbee in New York 1948

"I hope the time is not far off when I shall be able to unite all the wise
and educated men of all the countries and establish a uniform regime based
on the principles of the Quran which alone are true and which alone can
lead men to happiness."
Napoleon Bonaparte

In a nutshell, Islam is not a racist religion, nor does it preach racism. The peoples of
other faiths have always enjoyed religious toleration under Islam; when the
Jews were being persecuted in the rest of Europe, they found freedom and
sanctity in Muslim Spain. Their historians regard that as one of their
Golden Eras. In the Muslim countries today, Christians are permitted to
practise their faith as freely as any country; the Churches in my home town
of Abu Dhabi are large in number, and one of my closest family friends, an
Anglican priest. Inter-cultural marriages are common in Islam; I am the
composite of five different cultures.

NEXT and NISE

For most students in the UK, these two terms is well understood and something to look forward to.

NEXT is short for Nasheed Extravanganza, an event held and organized every year by Sheffield University, without fail. This year (5th year), Akbar Azmi was invited to make a special performance. This is a concluding video of NEXT09.

NISE on the other hand stands for Nisa' Nasheed Extravaganza, held at Leeds University. Last year I was part of the Cardiff University Nasheed team, calling ourselves HANA HUMAIRA. We sang a malay song and a Japanese song called 'HERO' by ARASHI (this was of course my idea). To our suprise we won first place! The report can be found here. Now they are back for the second year, but the Cardiff team didn't win. That's OK because what's important is we try to give our best.


NEXT have not only successfully established a platform for the nasheed enthusiast but has also promoted Malaysia's name in UK and Ireland. The London nasheed group called Soutus Salam was interviewed by the Islam Channel and another nasheed group from Ireland, who call themselves Atap Hijau was asked to perform at Cork City Council.

Here is the video of Soutus Salam being interviewed

Sautus Salam in Islam Channel
by mrabn

and here is Atap Hijau performing at Cork City Council, Ireland.

I am really proud of them. Enjoy watching!

Racial Discrimination / Racism - Part 2

Today, I want to share with you a few episodes/part of an episode from the Tyra Banks talk show.

We all know Tyra Banks as the host and creator of the show America's Next Top Model. She also has a talk show of her own. Though it is not as big as the Oprah Show or Racheal Ray's show, I do enjoy watching the show. The reason that the show is never shown in our country is I think because Tyra likes to touch on controvetial and sometimes provocative topics that may not be suitable for our society.

Regardless of all that these are some episodes that I find very beneficial to us.

These next videos is from an episode and the order of the videos may not be right but it is very interesting. I like the approach of trying out and be another race/religion to actually understand it.

Racial Discrimination / Racism - Part 1

The term Racist/Racism/Racial Discrimination has been around for a long time and has been an issue debated far and wide. Due to recent events and happenings I am called to write a little on this very matter.

This piece of writing is not for the purpose of finding out what/who is right/wrong but rather for us to think about it and judge for oursleves.

In wikipedia, Racism is defined as:

Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

Then the piece goes on with the UN definition on Racism:

The UN does not define "racism", however it does define "racial discrimination":

according to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the term "racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life. '

This definition does not make any difference between prosecutions based on ethnicity and race, in part because the distinction between the two remains debatable among anthropologists.[3] According to British law, racial group means "any group of people who are defined by reference to their race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origin".

So, let us digest this definition for a while and I'm going leave you with a video that one might or might not agree with, but it sure is worth to ponder on.

Great Friends...alway reminds us.

I just want to share an email I got today from my friend, I'm soo touched and grateful to have a great friend like her.

Picture taken at Nasheed Extravaganza, Sheffield University

Assalamualaikum Kak Faizah,

Just nak share satu pengalaman...Semalam saya pegi graduation adik saya dekat politek Port Dickson...Best la jugak...dpt rasa mcm mana org kat sini grad...cuma yang x best nyer...hanya student jer yg dok dalam dewan, parents n keluarga lain duduk luar..

So, paham2 ajer la...dah la PD tuh panas...jawab nyer berebus la dari pagi sampai ke tengah hari...panas, panas jugak tapi tetap meriah...

Malam tuh lepas sampai umah, adik saya bagi tau, kawan dier meninggal dunia dalam perjalanan balik ke rumah dari graduation tuh...Adik saya kater, dier terbayang lagi kelibat kawan dier masa naik pentas amik sijil...

Budak tuh drive balik rumah sendiri...dier mengantuk...accident kereta petang, mlm dalam kol 8.30 di sahkan meninggal..

Sedih dan insaf dengar pasal budak tuh...hari tu adalah hari gembira dia dan keluarga tp ternyata Allah lebih sayangkan dia..

Bila fikir balik, betapa lalainya saya dalam mengingati mati...padahal maut datang tak kira masa...tak kisah la kita sempat bertaubat atau tak...

Pagi tadi plak masa dalam komuter ke KL, saya kagum dgn sorg pemuda nih...nampak segak dan berjawatan tinggi. Tgk pada gaya, nampak berkarisma.

Nak jadi cerita, Seat dalam komuter penuh...so terpaksa la dier berdiri depan saya, saya duduk seat hujung dekat dgn dinding...time tuh baru kol 7 pagi...saya pon mamai-mamai plus mengantuk n letih yang tak habis lagi...

Masa tgh mamai2 tuh dengar mcm ada org mengaji...saya ckp kt diri sndri...dasat gak mimpi saya ni...siap blh mimpi org mengaji lagi...bila saya gosok2 mata, tengok depan, rupanya bukan mimpi...mmg that guy tgh mengaji dgn suara perlahan...dia ada pegang kitab kat tangan dia....penuh khusyuk...suara pun sedap...

Apa yang saya dapat, mungkin Allah nak tunjuk selama ni, berapa banyak masa yang terbazir mcm tuh ajer tanpa kita mengingatiNya... Semalam, dalam saya dan keluarga gembira coz Afiq graduate, mlm tuh dapat berita kawan Afiq meninggal lepas attend graduation...Paginya, Allah tunjukkan seorg pemuda yg masih lagi tawadhuk mengingatiNya walaupun dalam kesesakan org ramai...

Betapa kasihNya Allah pada hambaNya...walau selalu lalai, leka dan derhaka kepadaNya, dia masih sudi menitipkan nasihat dan pengajaran sbg peringatan kpd para hambaNya... Hanya Allah yang maha mengetahi segla sesuatu yang tersirat dan tersurat...

p/s : hari ni mood bercampur baur, sedih + gembira + terharu + tgh hujan kat luar dari tadi tak henti2... Ok kak Faizah...itu ajer perkongsian dari saya buat masa nih...Akak kat sana apa cerita?

Love, Ash