Boycott !!!

Take pride in how far you have come
Have faith in how far you can go

I did'nt plan for this entry. But something or someone forcefully urged me to pen down some thoughts I kept in mind long to be exploded. It's about time I spit it out my mouth.

Okey, what I am about to write may be not be pleasing and pleasant to hear. Not even close. I would not recommend this post to be read by anyone who has potentially unstable state of emotions or minds. This is a warning sign.

Bismillahirrahmanir rahim. May Allah help me try my very best to make me rational and wise through out this whole entry. So here goes.


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"We all baru gi makan KFC. KFC sekarang boleh makanlah. KFCkan bawah JCorp Sdn. Bhd. JCorpkan orang Melayu punya."

"Bukan nak sangat beli Nokia, tapi murah."

"I sangat suka vanilla shake McD. Sangat2 sedap. Irresistible! "

"Banyak-banyak benda, I memang tak boleh boikot Kotex. Memang tak boleh pakai yang lain. Tak selesa."

"Awak ni kenapa? Biarlah dia nak makan apa pon. Duit dia. Hak dia."

"Ala kita bayar pekerja dia, bukan bagi duit kat Yahudi."

"RM 1 = 1 peluru. Harapnya ini peluru yang tak kena rakyat Palestine."

"U ni strict sangat lah. Suma tak boleh! Kalau kita kaji betul-betul semua benda datang dari Amerika, Yahudi. Habis? Nak boikot suma? Kebulurlah nanti."

I have been boycotting the Israelis' and Americans' products since the time immemorial. And I was once, condemned by friends for my firm principle.

Not only had they criticized me for my unshakable faith, they gave me thousands of justifications to satisfy their desire to turn a blind eye to the clearly stated fatwa made by many big scholars throughout the globe, including Syeikh Yusuf Qardhawi.

When it comes to shopping or savoring good foods, my friends would normally resort to shops or fast food restaurants supporting the Americans' and Israelis' simply because it's cheap and tasty, and I was always the odd one out. As usual, certain lame excuses and annoying words not so nice to be heard would come out from their mouth to persuade me or insult me. As if I was the person guilty for holding my faith tightly (thus made me an alien). Yet I stood firmly strong to my principle.

Now that the Palestinians are being attacked (as if it has just happened 18 days ago), once again they shout out loud "BOYCOTT the Israelis and Americans product" quoting the fatwa given by the scholars long long ago. Then comes the tagging game ... things I have boycotted, things I will boycott, things I find hard to boycott..

I don't get it. Is it so DIFFICULT to boycott? Susah sangat ke nak tinggalkan sedikit kelazatan dunia sedangkan adik beradik kita di Palestine menderita? Matikah kita dengan memboikot semua itu? Andai kata mati sekali pon, tidakkah rasa berbangga kerana mati memperjuangkan deenul haq?

"Oh, tapi saya doa tiap-tiap hari tuk Palestine. Saya pergi demonstrasi. Saya pakai baju dan tayangkan badge 'Free Palestine'. Saya pakai mafla."

Owh iye ke? So what? You think you have materialized your faith towards the freedom of Al-Aqsa? You think you have done enough to help them when you are also with or without noticing funding your enemies?

This campaign has been going on for ages. Ever since I was in secondary school. Yet not many knew nor took it seriously. It frustrates me a lot knowing that despite acknowledging the on going war, they can still simply allow to indulge themselves too frequently and too freely in the boycotted items and companies. Compromising their principles to make their lives good and comfortable. Ingat main-main ke? Ini antara hidup dan mati rakyat Palestin. How many more lives would you let them slaughter until you really understand and act? How many more unjustifiable excuses would you want to make to satisfy your cravings and please your egos? Through out these years that we should have been boycotting but you haven't, how much money have you been giving the enemies? Shame! You may have learned your lesson, but the price is too expensive to pay. Yes, the price of losing so many innocent lives in Palestine.

On an optimistic view, probably this is a wake up call for the Muslims around the world to start boycotting the Israelis' and Americans' products. For those who were ignorant, will begin to boycott. For those who had forgotten, InsyaAllah will resume to boycott again.

Hopefully this plea and efforts to boycott will not be seasoned and lapse as the time flies. Hopefully this lively spirit will not perish nor deteriorate from our faiths and believes as the time changes. Hopefully it will remain still and strong in our hearts and the people of our younger generations.

May my hopes and prayers be answered by Allah.

Ameen.




A great thank you to my family who had enlightened me with the awareness and inspirited my boldness to hold strong and firm to this principle, guided and supported the boycott campaign through out time. If not for them, I may not be strong as I should and am today.

Adha
Cranfield


*Some of the points and words in this letter have been edited and canceled out by the moderator.