16th Presentation-Iran

Jay: Salam...i'm back. For yesterday's class, there was one presentation entitled Iran. The presenter was Marziana a.k.a Julie. From my opinion, the national name for Iran is Republic of Iran. The type of government of Iran is Theocratic Republic and the current President is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Honestly, Iran is a wonderful country with its interesting places. Furthermore, previously Iran is known as Persia. Next, i will focus about the issues in Iran which are Iran-Iraq War, the earthquake and Iran Nuclear Program. Firstly, Iran-Iraq war is basically about fighting for territory. The cause of the issue is natural resources and power. But the cause is still in doubt. Secondly, in 1990, the major earthquake has killed 40,000 Iranian. it is so sad situation. lastly, the latest issue is Iran Nuclear Program which is Iran enrichment the nuclear program. Iran claimed that the program as peaceful event or purpose. This issue is still unresolved and remined until now.

Regarding the presenter, the presentation is interesting and entertaining but it should be professional. Her sound projection is clear and she has the confidence. However, there is also non word like "maybe". There is still a room for improvement such as establishing eye contact, follow the flow of the presentation and not to wait until to move to the next points...........

Book Review - Ibn Hazm

Salaam to all! Yaya here. I decided to do a book review on Ibn Hazm because I've heard of the name many times before but not know a single thing about the personality. So, below is a brief summary of the book I've chosen.

IBN HAZM OF CORDOVA AND HIS CONCEPTION OF THE SCIENCES
BY A.G. CHEJNE

Ibn Hazm (d. 1064) of Cordova was a humanist par excellence and one of the intellectual giants in Islam. He was born at the turn of the tenth century, in the
golden age of al-Andalus.

He was a poet, historian, theologian, jurist, philosopher and polemicist (see below for meaning) who is reported to have written four hundred volumes on various disciplines. As a prolific writer, he had a great deal to say about the sciences: religious sciences, grammar and lexicography, poetry, literary criticism, logic, astronomy, astrology, medicine, alchemy, music and others.

He recognized the interdependence of the sciences; he believed and promoted a broad liberal education combining the secular and the religious disciplines. Besides, he was a critic and an intellectual rebel who raised his voice on the major issues of his time attacking fearlessly the leniency and indifferences of religious scholars, jurists and rulers towards the socioreligious problems facing eleventh-century al-Andalus and the whole Muslim world.

He was a rationalist and devout religious man, who combined a rigorous scientific method with religious criteria clamoring for change and corrective measures in the approach to religious matters and insisting on individual inquiry (ijtihad) instead of the over reliance on old authorities.

His fresh new approach did not endear him to the secular and religious authorities, which subjected him to ostracism and persecution, but he never relinquished his beliefs. In fact, the sale of his books was forbidden and many of them were burned. Despite these heavy restrictions many of his works survived and had a considerable impact on succeeding generations.

Ibn Hazm is a marvelous thinker and Islamic intellectual, but sadly his ideas were not accepted by the community in his time. His belief of combining both secular and religious education was not realized until now, in the modern time. He was simply living in the wrong place at the wrong time. His method of combining scientific method with religious criteria, in the approach to religious matters, is an interesting way and most probably acceptable in this time.

The book contains 340 pages not including front page, content page, preface and acknowledgement. About 90 pages comprise of bibliographies, notes and appendixes. 45 pages were the Arabic version of one of his famous book, Maratib al-‘ulum. The rest is about Ibn Hazm himself and his thoughts on the sciences.

- polemicist: a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology

BooK ReVieW- Abdullah Yusuf Ali

JAY : For our Book Review assignment, we have to study about the biography of the Muslim Personality. As for me, I choose Abdullah Yusuf Ali because he is the most famous in the English-speaking Muslim world for a major work of twentieth century Islamic scholarship-“The Holy Qur’an” Text, Translation and Commentary, published in 1934. The book that I refer to is “Searching for Solace: The Commentator of the Holy Qur’an”.



Abdullah Yusuf Ali was born on 4 April 1872 in Surat, a textile town in Gujrat, Western India. He belonged to a trade community known as the Bohras. Yusuf Ali died in 1953. His early education was at the Anjuman-e-Islam and then a missionary school named after its Scots founder, John Wilson. Yusuf Ali was one of those children who are born as adults.

Educational institutions were to be his real home from a very early age. Yusuf Ali had a brilliant academic record at Wilson School, matriculating top of his year for Bombay at the age of fourteen. He proceeded to obtain a first-class Bombay University in January 1891, possibly in Classics because he won a Latin prize and was appointed to the Dakshna Fellowship in Greek history at his old college.

Yusuf Ali was awarded a Bombay Government scholarship for further studies in England under a scheme instituted in 1868. During his adult life, Yusuf Ali twice married in England and with many British friends show the personal ties with accompanied a quest for a harmonious world order and he was a prominent supporter of a variety of organizations.

Searching for Solace is an open and sympathetic study that draws on Yusuf Ali’s vast literary production as well as unpublished sources. His public acclaim contrasted with a troubled marital life and a sense of despair. He turned to the Qur’an for peace and mind and found healing. He then wrote as a man inspired, developing his literary skills as a professional for the bright of enlightenment and spiritual upliftment he had experienced. His job as a college principal of Islamia College, Lahore and his political strong loyalty also shaped his Qur’anic scholarship and these inter-relationships are explored in the biography of the book that I have studied.

BOOK REVIEW: Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj

Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj is the Father of independence for Malaysian society. This is because of his contributions and sacrifices in bringing the country from colonialism to independence. He became the first prime minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1957 to 1963, and of Malaysia from 1963 to 1970. He was born at February 8, 1903 at Istana Pelamin in Alor Setar, Kedah. Tunku received his early education at Debsurin School in Bangkok and Penang Free School.

In his teenage age, he went to study at St. Catherine College, Cambridge University under the Kedah Government Scholarship. He finally received his Bachelor of Arts in Laws and History in 1925. He desired to make his homeland as an independent state, which is free from British colonialism. Realizing the Malay students there were not represented by any organization, he established the Kesatuan Melayu Great Britain (Malay Association of Great Britain).

After returning home, Tunku joined Kedah Civil Service as cadet in the Legal Advisor’s Officer, and then as a district officer in several Kedah districts. At that time, he is popular because of his outspokenness and tendency to introduce reforms in improving the living standard of people.

He had been appointed to be chairman of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). On August 26, 1951, Tunku became the UMNO President succeeding Dato’ Onn Jaafar. In his office, he often promotes unity. During his time, the Alliance Party was emerged and won the country’s first general election in July 1955.

In 1956, he led a mission to London for a discussion with the British government concerning the independence for Malaya. The meeting resulted in the signing of the Independent Treaty at Lancaster House in London on February 8, 1956 and consequently, the independence of Malaya in August 31, 1957. 1957, the Tunku became its prime minister.


POSTED BY: EYLLIA ERYANI HELMILHUSAINI

14th Presentation-Sierra Leone

JAY: Salam…., last class, we had a presentation entitled Sierra Leone. The presenter was Hatice, a lady from Turkey.
Sierra Leone is another African country. The major population is the Muslims with the percentage of 46%. The government in Sierra Leone is a democratic system and the human rights are guaranteed. Furthermore, it is known that Sierra Leone is a rich country with its sources. Sierra Leone, like the other countries, also faces environmental issues and fight in the government. The result of the mortality infant’s rate is high due to the inadequate medical aid. Another issue is Sierra Leone used to be the port for the western to take them as slaves.
Regarding Hatice’s presentation, she has the confidence, well-prepared, good eye contact and sometimes shows her facial expression. But, there is also a thing that she can improve on. For example, speak slowly, do not read the slides too much and the music is slightly distract the audience’s attention. That’s the end of my comment, wish all of you work smart for the documentary CD.

yaya: salaam everyone! first of all, i want to thank Hatice for presenting and introducing us to Sierra Leone.

about the topic: not much to add from Jay's comments but what i want to highlight is that even though the country's practising democracy and human rights, but still the people are not really given their rights to basic necessities like cleaner environment to live in, education, job opportunities, medical aids, etc. even though some part of the country is developed for commercial purposes and economic development, the government shouldn't neglect the peoples' needs.

about the presenter: just want to add that Hatice could speak a little louder because her voice is so soft. that's all and a job well done.

Landmark Speech - John F. Kennedy

SPEECH STYLE
In my opinion, JFK's speech is different from others. This is because his inaugural speech style is friendly to the citizen. Firstly, in terms of language. He used simple sentences and easy words to help people to understand what he was talking about. With this, people may absorb easily the theme of the speech. He also used a bunch of word so that his speech can stick in people's mind. For instance, 'Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country'. Secondly, the content of the speech. The content is very informative. He asked people to join together with him to go against the war and poverty. This will make people feel more closer to their leader as seems that they all together include the president will work together as a team to fight against the issues.


OPINION OF THE BACKGROUND OF THE SPEECH
This speech is a good kick start from JFK as a new 35th president of USA. He makes his speech as a motivational, persuasive and inspirational speech for others. This makes people inspired by his speech and also his charisma while he is in his office.


OPINION OF THE BACKGROUND ON THE PARTICULAR PERSONALITY
JFK was born on May 29, 1917. He was a student from Harvard University in Science Faculty. From this, we can conclude that JFK was a knowledgeable person. From his education, he can inspired a lots of people to be like him. In my opinion, he had a very big ambition for his country. He was an ambitious man i guess. He wanted to go against the poverty issue and the war issue. So that, people in USA can live equally among others and had the tranquility during their life. No suppression and so on. JFK had encountered many problems during his office, however, he managed to solve the problems with the patience and strength that he had.


OPINION ON GROUP PRESENTATION
This task is given to Amalina's group. They did a great job on this speech. Congratulations for them! :) They role play as the actual speech is given, with the president, the vice president, the chief justice and so on. At the end of the speech, they show the death of JFK, which he had been shut right after his speech.

posted by: Eyllia Eryani Helmilhusaini :)

Landmark Speech - Hugo Chavez’s UN speech

Salaam to all! Yaya here. it's been a long time since i've updated, huh? well midterms are a killer not to mention the innumerable assignments that we have to do have made this blog lost in my path of life. hehe.

anyway after all groups did the landmark speech ages ago, now's the time to write down what others thought of those speeches. for this blog, i've been assigned to comment on Hugo Chavez's UN speech.

1) speech style: the speech was presented in segments but easily grasp and understood. the funny part was Sis Umi's when she re-enact the significant part of the speech but since it was in a loud voice, it made a great impact on me.

2) opinion on the background of the speech: the background of the speech was very brief but easily understandable. now I know who the person behind the stunning and brave speech.

3) opinion on the particular personality: i have to say that the Hugo Chavez is a very brave man to be comparing the US president with a devil. his metaphors of abhorrence towards the US president is so deep and vivid that it clearly shows his dislike towards that man. to be honest, i've never heard of Hugo Chavez before but now i've been enlightened by the landmark speech performance by Sis Umi's group. May Hugo Chavez achieve his goals and success in his time to come.

i've found a videoclip titled chavez vs bush. you all should watch it. here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI0_VzFxTzs

a job well done. i realize i have to search more on this person when i have the time. i'm interested to know more. until then, ciao!

LaNdMaRK SPeEcH-MaRtiN LuRtHeR KiNG

JAY: First of all, I would like to express my happiness because our class for landmark speeches was held near the lake in IIUM. It was full of enjoyment with the wind blew and the weather was fine. Thanks to everyone for the delicious and yummy refreshment that we had after the presentations.
For the Martin Lurther King Speech’s “I Have a Dream”, the second group presents with a short acting about the scenario of the discrimination of black and white people. The students with black dress represent the black people and vice versa. Then, they started the presentation like the typical presentation in class.

Basically, the Martin Lurther King Speech style is an informative and persuasive speech. This is because he focuses on the integrity between the black and the white. He gives information in details and sometimes uses metaphors to make the speech sounds beautiful and meaningful.

Regarding the background of the speech, in my opinion, the speech is an attempt to persuade Congress to pass Kennedy’s proposed legislation, King and other civil rights leaders organized the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The information was passed on to white politicians in the Deep South who feared that a successful march on Washington would persuade President Lyndon B. Johnson to sponsor a proposed new civil rights act. Strom Thurmond led the campaign against Rustin making several speeches where he described him as a “communist, draft dodger and homosexual”. Furthermore, the background is to make the people realize that the black and the white people are the same, therefore the treatments and rights should be equal, no discrimination and everyone gets the freedom of voices and jobs.

About the opinion of the person which is Martin Lurther King, he was born in Atlanta, Georgia on 15th January, 1929. Both his father and grandfather were Baptist preachers who had been actively involved in the civil rights movement. King graduated from Morehouse College in 1948. After considering careers in medicine and law, he entered the ministry. While studying at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, King heard a lecture on Mahatma Gandhi and the nonviolent civil disobedience campaign that he used successfully against British rule in India. One of his contributions is Stride Toward Freedom (1958). The book described what happened at Montgomery and explained King’s view on non-violence and direct action. Stride Toward Freedom was to have a considerable influence on the civil rights movement. Martin Lurther King is a nice person because his persona is contradicted with the current prime minister of U.S.A. His aim is to bring the development of the country and integrity among citizens instead of approaching war and trying to be the peacekeeper.

12th presentation - Bangladesh

Eyllia: Hye! Salam to all...I am glad that i am the first one that give comments on today's presentation (4th FEB. 08). The presenter of this 12th topic is NISRIN NILA and she has briefly give general ideas about THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH. Bangladesh is located at south asia and the capital city is Dhaka. The muslim are reported as 83%, Hindus 16% while others are 1%. Its government type is parliamentary republic and it gained the independence on March, 26 1971. Generally, bangladesh is among the most densely populated countries in the world and has a high poverty level. Bangladesh also has a predominantly rural population, which many of bangladeshi engaged in agricultural. Moreover, it is the largest producer of jute as well.

There are some conflicts that happen in Bangladesh. The major conflict is Bangladesh-Pakistan conflict. This conflict begins from Liberation War. India allied itself to help Bangladesh, while Nixon US sent military supplies to Pakistan. The other major conflict is India-Bangladesh conflict. This happen when the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers are being dispute. Moreover, the internal conflict also give impact to this country. They are political conflict and the rise of islamic military.

Regarding to NISRIN's presentation, she might be not well prepared. This is because she often look at her slides rather than give eye-contact to her audiences. Her voice is monotonous. However, she has good attempt on the intro part...it shows that she has effort to make the presentation become friendly...congratulations to her! anyway, GOOD LUCK in another presentation Nisrin! :) Keep on improving!



JAY: Salam, for last week’s class, there was only one presentation because we had the Chinese New Year holiday. The title for the presentation was Bangladesh and presented by a lady from Thailand, Nisrin Nila. From my understanding, Bangladesh is located at the South Asia and the capital city is Dhaka. The president of Bangladesh is Iajuddin Ahmed and the Independence was on March 26, 1971. The people of Bangladesh are basically democratic minded, non-communal and value good neighborly relation. Bangladesh is among the most heavily populated countries in the world and has a high poverty level, however, Bangladesh is the world’s largest producer of jute. About the conflicts in Bangladesh, there are major and internal conflicts. The examples of major conflicts are Bangladesh-Pakistan conflict and India-Bangladesh conflict. For the internal conflicts there are conflicts of politics and the rise of Islamic militancy.
Regarding the presenter, she has the flow of presenting it but she should make sure that she is well prepared and increase her tone of voice.

11th presentation - Somalia

Eyllia: Salam to all...for this 11th topic, the country is SOMALIA. The person who is presented the topic is my team mate, JANNAH or JAY. According to her presentation, Somalia has several conflicts such as the Somali Civil War, Clan Warfare in Somalia and the Ethiopia-Somalia War. The capital city of Somalia is Mogadishu and its official languages are somali, arabic, italian and english of course. there is 99% muslim in this country. Somalia gained its independence on June,26 and July,1 1960 from Italy. In Somalia, the central government is not effective since president Said Barre was overthrown in 1991. 2 years after that, there is a war against Aideed in an attempt to build a nation from a fragmented society. The major conflict came between two sub clans of the Hawiye clan--Aideeds Habar Gidir sub clans and Ali Mahdi's Abgall. This is the factor of emerging the Somali Civil War in 1993. The clan warfare is still in conflict until now. This begins in June and July 1993 when UN speakers and Somali citizens were killed. On March 1994, most US and European Union are forces to left Somalia while Aideed and Mahdi continued to occupy Mogadishu. At the end, Aideed died on August,1 1996 from a battle wound. The final war is the Ethiopia-Somali war which happen in 2006. this conflict emerged because to prevent Islamist forces from gaining full control of Somalia. This war is still happen until present.

In terms of JAY's presentation, the weaknesses that she can improve on is the eye-contat. She has to face her audiences not on her text only. Too much depending on text may get the audiences bored. She also can improve on her voice projection which is monotonous. however, besides weakness she has the strength as well. She has the confidence actually and has the flow in her presentation..Whatever it is, you have done a good job!!! WELL DONE! :)