Alhamdulillah. Segala puji bagi Allah yang telah memudahkan segala urusan.

Blog ABQORI ini, yang dahulunya hanya sekadar tempat mengumpulkan tulisan-tulisan saya, akhirnya telah dibukukan.

Sebenarnya, buku ABQORI ini telah sempurna dicetak di Mesir pada 3hb September yang lepas. Namun kerana menguruskan penghantarannya, saya tidak sempat untuk mempromosikannya di sini. Apatah lagi ruangan blog ini telah sangat jarang saya buka, selepas terlindung oleh kuatnya kesan kuasa Facebook.

Yang jelas, sebahagian daripada buku-buku ini telah berada di Malaysia.

Alkisahnya, buku ini terbit di tengah-tengah kekalutan krisis politik di Mesir.

Saat ia berada dalam proses pencetakan, Perdana Menteri Malaysia telah mengumumkan Evakuasi Sukarela, atau dikenali juga sebagai OPS PIRAMID 2.

Berbondong-bondong rakyat Malaysia meninggalkan Mesir waktu itu. Dan saya adalah antara 5 peratus yang tidak turut berevakuasi sekali di atas faktor menunggu selesainya urusan pencetakan buku ABQORI ini.

Kesan dari itu, saya kini masih di Mesir, ditinggalkan keseorangan dalam keadaan menanti kembali pulangnya pelajar-pelajar Malaysia ke sini, yang entah bila secara tepatnya akan kembali.

Seterusnya, mengenai buku ABOQRI, ia sebagaimana yang dimaklumi, mengumpulkan tulisan-tulisan di blog ini. Namun bukanlah semua yang di dalam blog ini saya himpunkan di dalamnya. Ada juga yang saya tinggalkan.

Mana-mana tulisan yang saya masukkan, saya kemaskini semula dengan memperbaiki kelemahan struktur ayatnya dan membersihkan wacana idea di dalamnya supaya ia tidak kelihatan terlalu geeky.

Yang istimewanya, di dalam buku ABQORI ini terdapat 6 tulisan yang tidak pernah saya terbitkan di sini. Ia adalah tulisan-tulisan tersimpan, meskipun ia ditulis sezaman dengan aktifnya blog ini.

Begitulah serba sedikit tentang buku ini.

Akhirnya, buat mereka yang mahu mendapatkannya, kalian boleh menempah menggunakan borang online ini. 

Cuma eloklah saya ingatkan bahawa buku ini adalah bercetak dengan cetakan Mesir. Dari itu kualiti cetakannya tidak setinggi kualiti cetakan di Malaysia. Namun, tetap saya ingin mengatakan ia sebuah buku yang berbaloi untuk dimiliki, samada buat simpanan peribadi atau untuk dijadikan sebagai hadiah untuk keluarga juga kenalan.

Untuk sinopsis ABQORI, anda boleh membacanya pada gambar di bawah ini.


Anda juga boleh melihat sinopsisnya pada gambar di Facebook saya ini. Tambah saya sebagai kawan anda di sana, dan jika saya lambat menerima tambahan kawan anda itu, mesej lah kepada saya kembali.

Berikut adalah beberapa keping lagi gambar buku ABQORI.

ABQORI sedang disusun dan dibungkus untuk dihantar ke Malaysia menggunakan kargo kapal laut. Penghantaran ini memakan masa tiga bulan.

Salah satu daripada bungkusan POSLAJU ABQORI ini dihantar kepada A. SAMAD SAID, Sasterawan Negara untuk dikritik. ABQORI juga dihantar kepada PROF ABDULLAH, suami kepada PUAN AINON, Pemilik Syarikat PTS, juga demi mendapatkan kritikan.

5 buah buku ABQORI telah berada di Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia sebagai memenuhi syarat permohonan nombor ISBN-nya dahulu. Kata seorang kawan, ini sebagai satu pernyataan bahawa ABQORI adalah Khazanah Tamadun Melayu Moden.

Gambar yang dihantar oleh seorang pembeli ABQORI melalui POSLAJU.

Gambar tambahan.

Dapatkan buku ABQORI ini segera dan bantulah saya di dalam menyebarkannya.

Pembelian, pembacaan, dan penyebaran anda, sangat saya hargai dan saya menganggapnya sebagai sokongan, dorongan dan dokongan anda kepada saya untuk terus lebih berkarya lagi.

Syukur atas nikmat yang dikurniakan Ilahi ini.

Syukran jazilan semua, walhamdulillah!

O Obama!

I know that you have had a very great time last Thursday here in Egypt. You have visited the pyramids and The Masjid of The Sultan Hasan and surely you have made many magazines put your smiley face on their covers because of it. But, please don't think that when you are happy, other people are feeling the same too. Now, let me show you some of those who are not happy like you do.

I was just departing from Old Damietta City by an express bus to Cairo when you were starting giving your speech at the Cairo University. I sat beside a man which was holding a small son. Both live near to Ra'sul Bar in Damietta. He told me that his son’s name is Muslim. And if I was not mistaken Muslim is only one year old, but that is not important because what I really want to mention here is that I will call his father in this writing by Abu Muslim, after his name. And not to forget, Muslim is so adorable.


O Obama!

I told Abu Muslim that we might reach Cairo a big late because there would be heavy traffic due to your visit. He rectified what i've said. He also told me that he had phoned his family in Cairo and they told him the current situation of the city by saying,

“Al-balad kullaha fadiyyah.”

Ops, I've forgotten that you don't understand Arabic! But it's ok because I will translate it for you for free, but if you want another version of translation, you could use some help from Google Translate. It is also for free. But I don't suggest you to use it often, because even though they are saying that they are presenting better translations, I do not fully believe in them because they still do not give any translation service from English to Malay, my mother tongue language. That is why I only use it when I got desperate.

Abu Muslim said that his family told him,

“The Town is fully empty from people.”^[1]

His saying really made me started to feel bad about it, but fortunately seeing many ships crossing the Suez Canal along the highway has soothed me. Its tranquility draws me to sleep so easily.


O Obama!

In my sleep, I heard a voice that keep talking and talking and talking. After I woke up I realised that the voice came from the bus driver telling us something that seemingly so important, but I couldn’t really catch what he said because I just woke up. Abu Muslim turned to me and suddenly said,

“Kulluha ashan Obama.”

Ops, I've once again forgotten that you don't understand Arabic. He said,

“All this is because of Obama.”

After hearing it, I straightly understand that while I was sleeping, the bus driver was telling the passengers, using the microphone, that some of entering roads to Cairo has been closed starting from Dimnawi. So those who want to go to Heliopolis, Abbasia, Ramses, Tahrir, they are not going to make it because the bus cannot enter the roads.

Abu Muslim was so sad about that. He tried to phone his family in Cairo once again but he could not reach them. He almost lost his temper and told me,

“Great! Now, there is no coverage. Just because of Obama, they have closed it.”

Oh, don't think that Abu Muslim is talking English now! It is just that I directly translate his words to English so that you can understand better. Indeed, I know that you can't understand Arabic.

I checked my handphone coverage to find out whether Abu Muslim was telling the truth or he just mistook the whole situation. My handphone showed a full coverage. Now I understand that Abu Muslim just put all the blame to you because he is so upset that he could not reach his family. I tell him that there is a full coverage. But he was still saying that some responsible people has decline any phone calls.

O Obama!

When we almost reached Cairo, the bus driver stopped the vehicle. Some passengers were panicked. He stood up and went to the center of the bus to discuss with us about what we should do. The road to Ramses, our last station, was closed. He suggest to send those who want to go to Ramses to Giza, so that from there they can take Metro, a subway train, because that is the only way to go to Ramses for now. Some of them agreed but not all of us want to go to Ramses. So those who were not heading to Ramses will get down at Salam, a station beside the Cairo airport.

I want to go to Ramses, because I want to go to Nasr City. It is better to go to Nasr City by taking a van from Ramses because the van from Ramses is the one and only van that will pass beside the Malaysian Complex. But because it was difficult to reach Ramses and because I want to avoid policemen and soldiers that might want to see my passport that day, I decided to get down at Salam like some passengers.

I would like to say goodbye to Abu Muslim. I shook his hand and told him, in order to cheer him back up,

“Send my regard to Obama if you see him.”

He smiled but I don't think that the smile will stay all day long because I know that he will face some circumstances when he reach Giza. This is because Cairo City seems not to be so familiar to Abu Muslim. And to add insult to injury, he is carrying Muslim, a small kid that might cry a lot because of the hotness of the summer. Maybe I should let them borrow my umbrella that time, but I forgot to offer it to them. Oh, poor them both!

O Obama!

After I reached the Malaysian Complex, I straightly headed to a Malaysian restaurant and ordered a glass of iced lemon syrup. I tuned the restaurant TV to Al-Jazeera channel to find out if there any replay of your speech but to my disappointment, there is no replay at that time except reviews from some Arab country leaders. The reporters and the reviews said that your speech was brilliant especially the part where the building of peaceful relationship between West and Islam was mentioned. The reviews really have made me felt so curious and eager to hear that speech. I made a promise to myself that I will anyhow listen to your speech in order to quench my curiosity.

But please don't think that I was doing that because I am interested in politics. I never like politics. For me politics is full with people who only think about his life in this short world yet ignoring their everlasting afterlife. Thank God, I've already found a hadith about politic that has been said by the Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him,

أولها ملامة ووسطها ندامة و وأخرها عذاب يوم القيامة

Meaning:

The first of it is a censure, and the center of it is a regret, and the last of it is the torment in the Day of Judgement.

But, sometimes I also learnt to know about it, especially when it disturbs my life like what was happening during your visit. Does that mean I have forgotten what the Prophet PBUH has said? No, I am not. I just learn to know it and am not participating in it.

O Obama!

After my class ended, I once again headed to the Malaysian restaurant and this time around many customers were in. Shamelessly, I took the remote and tune in the television to Al-Jazerra English channel, hogging the TV all for myself. Fortunately, Al-Jazerra English was showing your speech. I quickly sat down on a chair and started concentrating of every word that you were saying.

Your speech bedazzled me because your speech was so different from what I was thinking. Your arguments about building a peaceful relationship made me amazed and I couldn’t sleep all night long thinking about its truth and your sincerity.



But I am not that type of person who will believe you as easy as that. This is because I know you have your hidden agenda behind it. It is because you want Muslim world to always support you especially when America is facing a critical economic crisis right now.

Yes, a critical economic crisis.

Many people do not know about this crisis because America has shifted the world views from this crisis to Swine Flu so that people won't know about it. In fact, the Swine Flu does not deserved to be the world focus as it is nowadays. Thank God I always make Al-Jazeera channel as my favourite choice. Al-Jazerra has given me this enlightenment by also bringing together the evidence that this is not the first time America doing it. They also have changed the world view to Bird Flu when they were having a big military lost in Iraq.

You also can say that it's hard for me to trust you because I am still affected because of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, it's true. Besides, I do it this way because I still have brain and heart to think, not like any other Muslim leaders who have trusted you so easily. Do review their statements and you will know how much they have supported you.

For me, I like to follow what Sharkozy has said to the reporters when some of them critisized him about his first five months of ruling the cabinet that seemingly to be so awful. Sharkozy told them that don't judge his ruling ability by looking at the first five months, but judge it after he quitted his office because social reconstruction does need time.

So you also need to win our heart, Muslims hearts by using and spending a lot of time. We won't trust you so easily just by only one visit. And if you serious about it, you should do it more often.

O Obama!

You made me written an entry today and made me feel guilty to publicize it to the public because I don't know whether you deserve it or not. But after some thoughts, I believe that you do. You have made me walk from Bawwabah Talatah to Malaysian Complex while usually I don't have to if I take a van from Ramses. Also you have made me pay ticket twice time while usually I only pay it once if I get down at Ramses. Even though the ticket is only 1.75 Pound and you won't matter about it, I still think it is much better to give it to the beggars. So, I think this writing is fair enough for both of us. You have made me pay double and I got my issues to complain. It’s just that I don't know whether you will read this or not. Or maybe you are not even blogging.

O Obama!

Thank for you coming and don't forget to come again. You are always welcome here but please remember next time to come and bring together some presents. That time, Muslim might have grown up and he has knows how to think. I mean Muslim the small boy in the bus, not the world Muslim community -- because this Muslim community is not like Muslim when he is grown up --. This world Muslim community would never know how to think and are will always stay the same and never change. They can only change only after they have change what is inside them. Otherwise, they are still nothing.^[2]

Muslim! O Muslim!

Ops!

Obama! O Obama!

By the way, don't forget to tweet me if you come here again.

--------------------------------------

NOTE:

[1]^By saying The Town, he meant the Uptown, Tahrir, Ramses, and the area around the Cairo University. It is empty because the roads were closed and not any car or vehicle is allowed to enter.
[2]^These statements are the mafhum of a verse of The Holy Quran which said,

Meaning:

Allah does not change the state of life of their people until the people have changed the of their innrmost beings.

Surah Ar-Ra`d ; chapter 11

Waktu kecil-kecil dahulu saya tidak pernah menyangka bahawa Terusan Suez akan menjadi sebuah tempat yang sangat rapat dengan hidup saya. Kini Terusan Suez dikira sebagai kawasan tempat saya bermain pula. Sebuah terusan yang terpenting dalam dunia. Yang memisahkan antara dua benua. Afrika dan Asia, tempat asal saya.

“Kakak tinggal di sini ke?”

Saya bertanya kepada seorang wanita bermuka Asia tatkala beliau berhenti berbicara dengan tuan kedai yang menjual pakaian-pakaian sukan. Bahasa Arab Ammi wanita itu amat fasih. Hal yang sangat-sangat menarik minat saya kerana wajahnya yang sangat-sangat Melayu. Namun soalan saya itu dijawab dengan jawapan yang amat menghampakan.

“I don't understand.”

“So, where are you from?”

“I'm from Philippines. You are from Malaysia, right? Because I know that many Malaysians are studying here at Cairo and they are studying Al-Quran. Are you one of them?”

Saya menganggukkan kepala dan dalam masa yang sama mengatakan yang saya menetap di New Damietta City dan bukan di Cairo seperti yang disangkakan.

Wanita itu langsung menceritakan akan statusnya yang telah berumahtangga dengan seorang warganegara Mesir. Bersamanya ada dua orang anak. Salah seorangnya lelaki yang berusia dalam lingkungan lima belas tahun dan seorang lagi perempuan yang lebih muda sedikit. Walaupun berdarah kacukan, wajah kedua-dua anaknya tak ubah seperti orang Melayu yang tulen. Bahasa Arab anak lelakinya pula langsung tidak ada bau-bau pelat dan penuh keMesiran.

Sangkaan saya bahawa mereka adalah Melayu seperti saya meleset.

Mereka telah lama menetap di sini dan boleh jadi wanita itu telah mempunyai kerakyatan Mesir. Memilih untuk membeli-belah di bandar Terusan Suez yang dinamakan sebagai Port Said ini jelas menunjukkan yang beliau mengetahui selok-belok negara Mesir dengan baik sekali.

Ini kerana Terusan Suez menerima kemasukan kapal-kapal laut dari seluruh dunia. Dari benua Eropah hinggalah benua Amerika dan Australia. Walaupun Port Said bukanlah sebuah kawasan bebas cukai lagi, ia tetap menjadi kawasan beli-belah tumpuan rakyat tempatan kerana barang-barangan dari luar negara mudah untuk ditemukan di sini dengan harga yang sangat berpatutan.


Port Said. Gambar ihsan Chris&Steve.
Mujurlah Statue Of Liberty yang berdiri tegak di Amerika itu telah dibatalkan pembinaannya di Port Said ini, kalau tidak pastilah lain ceritanya suasana Terusan Suez dinihari.

Berulang-alik dengan feri dari Port Said dan Port Fuad seolah-olah telah menjadi suatu kemestian setiap kali saya berkunjung ke Terusan Suez. Menghirup udara segar sambil merentasi Terusan Suez dan memerhatikan kapal-kapal laut gergasi yang berlabuh membuatkan saya melupakan segala masalah-masalah yang memenuhi dada.

Jika di musim sejuk pula seringkali feri yang kami naiki itu diiringi oleh burung-burung laut yang terbang rendah di atas kepala. Indah sekali.

“Kenapa pakcik menggunakan tasbih?”

Saya sekadar memulakan bicara. Di atas feri itu, seorang warga Mesir yang berpangkat pakcik duduk di depan saya sambil ........


[Dapatkan buku ABQORI untuk membaca kesudahan tulisan ini. Anda boleh menempahnya menggunakan borang online ini. Pembelian, pembacaan, dan penyebaran anda, sangat saya hargai dan saya menganggapnya sebagai sokongan, dorongan dan dokongan anda kepada saya untuk terus lebih berkarya lagi.]