My top 20 of the decade 2000 - 2009

Assalammualaikum...

The first decade of the 21st century is about to end... If you surf the net, you can see a lot of rankings about stuff done about "the best ....... of this decade", like the best movie, the best games, the best music etc... bla bla bla...

When I went back for a short one night stay at Kuantan, I saw this whole pile of comic books in the study room that my family have bought since I was small... It sure brings back memories of the little me buying and collecting all those comics... Some of those I read just for pure fun, but a lot of them have influenced my life in a certain aspect...

So, my top 20 for this decade is... my top 20 manga list from 2000 - 2009... from my primary schools years until now... here goes!!

Oh yeah... the ranking is purely based on my own PERSONAL JUDGEMENT... I guess about 3/4 or even 90% of the manga in here are those that many have never heard off... but it is still great!!

#20 - Dragon Ball - Akira Toriyama

Genre: Shounen, Action, Adventure.

Yeah, I probably safe to say this is the most popular manga in Malaysia... almost everyone knows it... Its also one of the earliest manga I've read, from the start to the finish... and bought all the volumes~ Dragonball is all about action and fighting its influence is still significant to manga authors nowadays even though the series have ended years ago... especially on One Piece whom Oda-sensei himself admit that Dragon Ball elements highly influence One Piece

Extra note: Dragonball prided itself the most the highest selling shounen manga of all time in Japan for years... until this year where One Piece overtook it.. :)

#19 Sengoku Youko - Mizukami Satoshi

Genre: Shounen, Action, Adventure

This story is about the adventure of a demon, half-demon and a human... well, quite typical manga actually. The art is pretty good. However, the storyline is really2 interesting~The character development is well done and certainly keep me wanting for more after each chapter... too bad the translation is very slow...

#18 Mr Fullswing - Suzuki Shinya

Genre: Shounen, Sports, Comedy

Ahhh... and here comes the craziest sports manga ever... its here on this list is not because of the art nor the storyline... but 100% based on its comedy value!! The jokes are very crazy that most of them arent even related to the storyline and came out of nowhere~ Even the first chapter got me laughing like crazy... pure comedy gold manga!! Oh, this manga is about school baseball~

Extra note: It is damn funny!!

#17 Shikeisyu 042 - Kotegawa Yua

Genre: Seinen, psychological, spice of life, tragedy

English translation: Prisoner 042

A story about a life sentence inmate being given a second chance to freedom. He will have to undergo a government experiment where a chip is implanted in his brain and be put under 24/7 surveillance. The chip will explode, killing him if he ever loses its temper. He then worked as a janitor in a highschool. Can he survive being in the highschool without ever losing his temper. A very touching story about the value of life in the prespective of a prisoner.

#16 Kiseijuu - Iwaaki Hitoshi

Genre: Seinen, horror, psychological, tragedy

Out of nowhere, an unknown breed of species invaded living host of this planet (humans, animals) creating a new being with superhuman powers and abilities to alter their body shape and also feed on other human. The protagonist however only have one of his hand invaded by this species, thus retaining his consciousness but having another being that can talk and attack others in his right hand. At first this story is just about fighting this invading parasites, but then a lot of philosophical questions being raised in this manga especially how humans treat the environment and the survivality of this new species making this one of the best seinen manga I've read. Probably the best storyline in terms of the genre of aliens invading earth and living with humans.

Extra note: this manga contains a very sadh scene... when **SPOILER WARNING HIGHLIGHT to view the SPOILER** te parasite invaded the main character's mother, thus the main character have to kill or be killed by his own mother, an epic touching scene...

# 15 - Doraemon - Fujiko F. Fujio

Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi.

Here it is, everyone fauvarite blue robot with his 22nd century gadgets~ I'm sure most of my generations have read this manga when they were small. The idea in this manga is very simple yet it left a huge impact in the manga industry. Doraemon has became an idol, a symbol known throughout the world that has popularized Japan. Looking back, this manga influenced me to be interested in the fields of science and environment as those were the main message. Doraemon has been expanded into other series such as:

Doraemon long stories, The Doraemons (Doraemon 7 sekawan), Dorabase (baseball manga).

Sadly, Fujiko F. Fujio died in 1996, leaving a blank hole of what is the conclusion of the doraemon series, did doraemon stay with nobita until he grew up? Did Nobita future changed? What will Nobita and his friend be in the future...??

However, I found one fan-made ending of the doraemon series which can be found on the internet... very well done... a great ending too~ the art is almost similiar to Fujio F. Fujiko's. In the end is the great opening song that we all love... ang ang ang... tatemo daisuki... doraemonnn~


Extra note: From wikipidea.. some of Doraemon's significance in the industry not just in Japan:

On 22 April 2002, on the special issue of Asian Hero in TIME Magazine, Doraemon was selected as one of the 22 Asian Heroes. Being the only cartoon character selected, Doraemon was described as "The Cuddliest Hero in Asia".

In 2005, the Japan Society of New York selected Doraemon as a culturally significant work of Japanese otaku pop-culture in its exhibit Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture, curated by renowned artist Takashi Murakami. In Murakami's analysis, he states that Doraemon's formulaic plotlines typified the "wish fulfilment" mentality of 1970s Japan, where the electronics revolution glamorized the idea that one could solve their problems with machines and gadgets rather than hard work or individual intelligence.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed Doraemon as the first anime cultural ambassador[3][4].

Despite having no official appearance in the United States, Doraemon influenced a number of shows on the US-based TV network, Nickelodeon. Doraemon is the predecessor-of-sorts to Butch Hartman's animated TV series, The Fairly OddParents (which airs on the above-mentioned channel), and has the same plot and style of humor. Both series have also met with high popularity worldwide.

In many ways, Doraemon was the first of its kind. It has been considered to be a prototype of the modern slapstick cartoon series for children such as the above-mentioned Fairly OddParents, SpongeBob SquarePants (another US-made show made by Nickelodeon), and Fujiko Fujio's own Kiteretsu Daihyakka.

#14 Crayon Shin Chan - Yoshito Usui

Genre: Family, comedy

Another children manga back to back deserving to be on my list. This is also another children icon, with a cute + funny and not the least perverted image... haha. Shin Chan is on my list not just because of the comedy, but when I read it carefully, there's a lot of family value portrayed in the manga. Despite being a bit weird, the shinnosuke family (Nohara, Misae, Shin, Himawari and Shiro) is actually your normal typical everyday family. The father who works as a salarymen and a bit perverted, a housewive who controls the family and cares about her weight, Shin chan who is... shin chan... a cute little baby Himawari who causes mess around the house (that's what uncontrolled babies do..) and Shiro the dog who is the dog... It's just a story about a normal family with funny circumstances happening in normal life... but in a great and funny way.

Similiar with the author of doraemon, Yoshito Usui died this year in 2009... I'm so sad when I heard the news... Shin Chan's have ended... and also without a conclusion like Doraemon...

Extra note: My personal fauvarite chapter in shin chan is when Matsuzaka-sensei's boyfriend Dr. Tokuro died in Africa... it suddenly became a very touching manga but with Shin Chan still remained as Shin Chan... an epic chapter~

#13 - Pluto - Naoki Urasawa

Genre: Seinen, Sci-Fi, psychological, tragedy

One of Naoki Urasawa masterpiece, a story about the future where robots live side by side with humans. Robots now have their own families and job. There's even an "International Robots Rights" where all robots must be treated equally like human and other stuff. This manga could be very boring to those who like fast-paced action manga, but for a more matured audience who is willing to read in details and loves sci-fi themes, this is the manga for you. A solid storyline combined with cool characters ~

Pluto is based on Osamu Tezuka's The World Strongest Robot Tetsuwan Atom a.k.a. Astro Boy

Extra note: Pluto received an Excellence Prize for manga at the 2005 Japan Media Arts Festival. The series also received the 2005 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Grand Prize, which Urasawa also won for his work on Monster.

#12 Kimi No Iru Machi - Seo Kouji

Genre: Shounen, School life, Romance

English Translation: A Town Where You Live

The first jiwang manga in my list... ah, Seo Kouji's romance manga is just my type... personally, it is even better then love dramas on the televisyen.. the art, character development and storyline are great. The theme is quite typical, a city girl comes to a small village and live together with the main character, and the main character has a crush on this other girl at school. Your typical love triangle... but told in a great way and beautifully drawn by Seo Kouji.

Extra note: I just love the title... A Town Where you Lived.. Kimi no Iru Machi... :)

#11 Suzuka - Seo Kouji

Genre: Shounen, School life, Sports, Romance

And yet a back to back title by Seo Kouji on the list. Very similiar to Kimi, in fact Kimi is told in the same world as Suzuka, but for different characters and different timeline. Many who read both of them prefer Kimi over Suzuka, but I prefer Suzuka better because... the like the ending (which many hates)... the ending... how the series end... is quite... Islamic in a way... huhu

#10 Akumetsu

Genre: Seinen, Action, psychological

Be prepared for the bloodiest manga eva'!!! Presenting Akumetsu, a zealous individuals with the moto "One man, One kill" out to kill all the corrupt politicians in Japan to make a better Japan. Some say it is a terrorrist act, but others sees him as a hero or martyr. This manga is very realistic in the effects of each murder to Japanese Political system.

Extra note: Originally, Akumetsu is not even on my list of my fauvarite manga... but it all change when I read the volumes leading to the ending.. and the ending is AWESOME!! If I have to give an award of the BEST ENDING in all the manga I've read... it's gotta be Akumetsu!! The ending is so intense it will leave you speechless and breathless... haha. You can't help but fall in love with this "killer" after reading the ending.

#9 The Ravages of Time - Chan Mou

Genre - Manhua, Seinen, Historical, psychological, action

Ok, first of all this is not a manga... but a manhua (chinese manga)... but who cares?

Alright, who's a fan of Romance of the Three Kingdoms here? Me, me!! that's right... me!! I knew Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Ce since I was small... haha. This story is about Romance of Three Kingdom, a period of war in China's history. The art is this manhua is superb, the coolness of the character during its cool scene is beyond any coolness possible.. understand? haha... the strategy and philosophy is also discussed in great details... my fauvarite one is... should a hero defends his honor even though it costs his life OR should a hero defend his life to have another chance even though it costs his honor? hmmm....

Extra info: Be prepared for a story with the largest amount of character to memorize their names and faces for you to understand the storyline... even I got lost somewhere along the way...

#8 Bokurano - Mohiro Kitoh

Genre: Seinen, Mecha, psychological, tragedy

English translation: Ours

Ok, this is the third time this manga's in on my blog... third time in a row...Bokurano tells a story about 15 10 years olds given the obligation to ride a giant robot to fight off other robot invading earth. If they fail, the earth is destroyed. But, if they win, the pilot of the robot will die. Therefore, either way the pilot will die. This is the first manga I've read that from the beggining it showed me that all 15 main characters will die eventually... Definitely a great manga about the value of life~

Extra note: Like Kimi no Iru Machi, I love the title, so simple yet inspiring.. Bokurano... Ours~

#7 - Bakuman - Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi

Genre: Shounen, School, Romance

From the creator of Death Note, comes Bakuman, a manga about manga... yes, its about the process of the two protagonists in becoming a mangaka (manga artist), a writer and an artist. Initially, I read it just because I myself love to draw manga, and wanted to know the process of becoming a mangaka... however, the plot is really2 interesting and the suspense is also real. A simple theme.. but told in a beautiful way.

Extra note: Reading Bakuman makes me want to draw manga again after I left for a year... yearghhh!! If I can draw a manga that can appear in JUMP magazine... it would be a dream come true.

#6 Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA) - Hiromu Arakawa

Genre: Shounen, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi,

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange"

Two young boy, one lost his upper and lower limbs, another lost his whole body and only remained as a soul in a suit of armor after performing alchemy to revive their dead mother. They lost that, but gained nothing but sadness and regrets. And so, these two brother journey to find a way to get their bodies back. Along the way, they found of the ugly truth behind the truth. This shounen series have my respect because the momentum in the storyline have not fallen down even after a long run. The storyline just get better and better.

Extra note: In 2009 manga sells, FMA sells more then Naruto and Bleach per volume (but less then one piece), making it the second most sold manga per volume for a series after one piece (the 1st).

The manga won the Shogakukan Manga Awards in 2004

The anime won numerous awards... read for yourself in wikipidea. The recent anime, FMA:Brotherhood is the only anime I've seen so far that delivers the same kind of excitement as the manga, which many other "anime based on manga" have failed to do so.

#5 - Rookies - Masanori Morita

Genre: Shounen, Sports, School

A story about a teacher reforming a group of delinquent in an infamous school in Japan known for its violent history.The reforms are done through the baseball club. The story is like a combination of GTO and Slam Dunk, with its own original art. The character development in this manga is amazing, you cant help but fall in love with the delinquent baseball team as they violently make their way into the baseball tournament initially by scaring their opponents, but later by their own efforts and skills.

Extra note: Rookies is made into live action drama... although the drama won 5 out of 9 awards in Japan Televisyen Awards in 2008... including Best Drama.. I disliked the drama!! The baseball team are like so JAMBU and have all this "handsome" and "cute" guy... what??@!?!! Its a delinquent team..!! Find a more violent and scary actors!!

#4 Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) - Tohru Fujisawa

Genre: Shounen, School, Comedy

Oww man, I feel so embarrassed writing about GTO... because its... its.. its like you take Shin Chan, let him grow older and become a teacher... everything fine then.. but the "pervertness" doubled... wait... TRIPLED!!! and thus becomes Onizuka, Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO).

Yup, this manga is ecchi, pervert... I agree, I agree... However, when I read through it again with a more matured mind... ceh... I find it... still perverted... but the storyline is actually very inspiring.

Onizuka is himself a delinquent becoming a teacher and is assigned to this worse and most dangerous class in the school. The story revolves around how Onizuka touches the life of each and every student in the class, while surviving the plot of people trying to take down the school, class and himself. The character development in this manga is certainly one of the best and personally I found this manga very inspiring~ as a student and as a (temporary) teacher~ It made me want to be GTR one day... Great Teacher Riman... haha

Extra note: I love the ending qoutes of this series... so meaningful and nostalgic..

"This things that happened in this school, how will we look at it when we are adults"

#3 Slam Dunk - Takehiko Inoue

Genre: Shounen, Sports, School, Comedy

Its the top three. Actually its not fair to put this top three in a ranking bcoz all of it deserve to be my number one... but I have to make a decision since this is a ranking to number one...

Coming at number 3, is Slam Dunk my #1 Sports manga... also a famous manga in Malaysia... I have the whole collection of Slam Dunk!! An epic baseketball manga. The only downside of this manga... is that it have to end... and that the ending wasn't really a completely happy ending... wanted to see their dreams come true!! The power of Slam Dunk is that because of the manga alone, I knew the rules of basketball, and become very interested in basketball and wanting to play basketball during and after the Slam Dunk craze!! It really inspired me!!

Extra note: Slam Dunk is the #4 highest selling manga of ALL TIME passing the 100 000 000 mark... with the highest sale per volume on the list, beating dragon ball and even one piece~

In 1995, it received the 40th Shogakukan Manga Award.

#2 20th Century Boys - Naoki Urasawa

Genre: Seinen, Sci-Fi, psychological

Even though the 20th century has long gone... 20th century boys lived on!!! An epic story made in 8 years of Urasawa-sensei's life. Nicely arranged, wonderfully told and beautifully drawn. 20th century boys is the best sci-fi story I've read in my lifetime, even better then all those hollywood sci-fi blockbuster! The way the manga is arranged is one of a kind... it left you begging for more!! The hero in this story is so cool, despite having no superpowers... just his crappy song~ I have never felt so affected by a manga series like this, since I've read Slam Dunk and One Piece. Thank you Urasawa-sensei~

For people who never read Urasawa-sensei's work before (like me), reading 20th century boy will seem very very plain and pointless and childish at first..... but once you finally understand the situation... you're stuck in the world... its scary..

Extra note: In response to its epicness~ this story has been made into a movie trilogy, just like the Lord of the Ring trilogy, and is one of Japan's highest budget film.



This series has a sequel: 21st Century Boys, which is an excellent and epic sequel~

20th Century Boy, the title is taken from an old-school rock song by T-Rex entitled "20th Century Boys" . And the reason why this title is chosen is only fully understood (at least by me) in the final chapter of the 21st century boys... so long it took to understand the title



AND NOW THE NUMBER ONE MANGA OF THE DECADE for me.....


Before that here's the recap from number 20 to 2...

#20 - Dragon Ball
#19 - Sengoku Youko
#18 - Mr Fullswing
#17 - Shikeisyu 042
#16 - Parasyte
#15 - Doraemon
#14 - Crayon Shin Chan
#13 - Pluto
#12 - Kimi no iru Machi
#11 - Suzuka
#10 - Akumetsu
#9 - The Ravages of Time
#8 - Bokurano
#7 - Bakuman
#6 - Fullmetal Alchemist
#5 - Rookies
#4 - Great Teacher Onizuka
#3 - Slam Dunk
#2 - 20th Century Boys


and #1...

you guessed it....


It's not on the list yet...


It's....

What? Naruto?? Huhh.........???? Bleach?? Haaaaa........??????


Naaahhhhh....

#1 - ONE PIECE!! - Eiichiro Oda

Genre: Shounen, Action, Adventure, Awesomeness!!

Deserving of its title, ONE piece... landed on number ONE on my list~ despite some haters that say one piece is just purely entertainment and all other nonsense... no one can help but acknowledge the momentum of one piece in this decade!! Not being the #1 manga in online manga website?? Who cares... look at the momentum in its original country... in Japan... 2009 has been a total ownage year by one piece!!

Initially, my first impression of One Piece is like... boringggggggggggg~ what's this "Budak Getah"??? The artwork is weird... But, one day... in hostel, my friend brought a volume of this "Budak Getah", feeling bored... I read it... the volume is about this rubber guy Luffy fighting a lightning guy.. Enel... The lightning doesnt work on Rubber... Enel is shocked... well... I give it credit for being funny...

The next month, he brought the next volume... and this is where I fell in love with one piece... the epicness of this volume... The story of Kalgara and Norland... the story was so ROMANCE that it touches my heart... the man's romance spirit within me lifted and so I realize the awesomeness of One Piece.

Having reading through 569 chapters so far... the great thing about One Piece is that the momentum of the story keeps getting better and better and the secrets of the world of one piece unveiled one by one. After one arc finish, you'll say...this is the best arc, none can beat this... but Oda-sensei keeps coming back with a much more interesting arc that leave you wanting for more... Having its momentum constantly rising is one aspect of One Piece that is much better then the other big titles in this generation: Naruto and Bleach. Despite having a simliarly great start like One Piece, Naruto and Bleach's storyline is now falling down the hill for me... which is why both of them is not on the list.

Naruto's current storyline is so damn annoying... Naruto is annoying becoming this emo character, Sai is like... is it He or She... and what the hell is wrong with him?? Sai is the most annoying manga character I ever encountered, and then Sakura suddenly entering the scene crying and confessing and all... like... what??? why are you crying?? that's too damn emotional... The only cool character left on Naruto is the side characters, because they are not emo.

Bleach... well... I dont think there's a storyline anymore.... just fight and fight... and wasting chapters on telling a background story on characters I dont even care about... but at least the artwork of Bleach is as impressive as ever.

Alright, back to One Piece... sorry Naruto and Bleach fans.. :) Lets just roll it up by presenting the statistic of One Piece ownage of the year 2009, becoming my #1 manga of this decade...

Extra note: In 2009, One Piece owned the manga selling list with 14,721,241 copies, beating the 2nd place Naruto (6,836,494 copies) with more than twice the amount. Its like impossible for any other manga to catch up with one piece momentum this year.

Rank	Title	Author	Total Copies	Publisher	Cover
1	One Piece	Eiichiro Oda	14,721,241	Shueisha
2	Naruto	Masashi Kishimoto	6,836,494	Shueisha
3	Bleach	Kubotite	6,471,021	Shueisha
4	Fullmetal Alchemist	Hiromu Arakawa	5,810,522	Square Enix
5	Gintama	Hideaki Sorachi	4,733,511	Shueisha
6	Katekyo Hitman Reborn!	Akira Amano	3,694,323	Shueisha
7	Mei-chan no Shitsuji	Riko Miyagi	3,076,659	Shueisha
8	Fairy Tail	Hiro Mashima	2,886,942	Kodansha
9	20th Century Boys	Naoki Urasawa	2,655,379	Shogakukan
10	Saint Young Men (Saint O-nii-san)	Hikaru Nakamura	2,614,269	Kodansha

The ranking by volumes were also owned by One Piece, with claimed to top 4 spot.

Rank	Title	Author	Total Copies		Publisher	Cover
1	One Piece #53	Eiichiro Oda	2,057,528		Shueisha
2	One Piece #54	Eiichiro Oda	1,963,696		Shueisha
3	One Piece #52	Eiichiro Oda	1,952,551		Shueisha
4	One Piece #55	Eiichiro Oda	1,810,410		Shueisha
5	NANA #21	Ai Yazawa	1,505,575		Shueisha
6	Fullmetal Alchemist #23	Hiromu Arakawa	1,277,733		Square Enix
7	Fullmetal Alchemist #21	Hiromu Arakawa	1,271,340		Square Enix
8	Fullmetal Alchemist #22	Hiromu Arakawa	1,238,354		Square Enix
9	Naruto #45	Masashi Kishimoto	1,222,356		Shueisha
10	Naruto #47	Masashi Kishimoto	1,186,478		Shueisha

One Piece Movie 10: Strong World, broke the Japan's box office records, beating Harry Potter and Ponyo records... Harry Potter opened in 844 screens while One Piece only have 188 screens but it still owns!! Can you believe it?? Luffy beats Harry Potter?? haha.. take that you lame-wizard~



One Piece Film Strong World, the 10th One Piece anime film, opened with 1.038 billion yen (about US$11.7 million) this past weekend. By comparison, Ponyo took in 1.025 billion yen (US$11.55 million) during its opening weekend last year. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opened on 844 screens in Japan this past July with 990 million yen (US$11.2 million). One Piece Film Strong World opened on 188 screens throughout Japan. 103 of those screens had sold-out showings throughout the weekend. The film's per-screen average was 5.52 million yen (US$62,200) — the record for a nationwide release in Japan.

And to wrap it all off.... This year, ONE PIECE officially became the highest selling shounen manga of ALL TIME, surpassing dragon ball~!! Kanpaii!!

All the sources in this whole list are taken from:

1) www.wikipidea.com
2) www.animenewsnetwork.com

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the pictures used in this post

And so the decade ends tonight, it sure took a long time to make this list.. but that's what happen when you're in my shoes... Nothing to do on the eve of new year~!!

And so you have it, based on unpopular demand, my top 20 manga of the decade!!

The power of the pen....

Assalammualaikum wbt

It's been so long since I opened this blog..... arghhhhhhhhhhh~

It's not that I do not have anything to write...

I'm just..


Just...


To lazy~

But now I'm inspired again~

Yaeghhhhh~!!

Inspired by the power of the pen... or ink...

I really enjoy reading seinen manga... seinen is a genre for older matured reader which has really deep and complex storyline and philosophical message... Some of the best seinen manga I've read;

Parasyte

When parasites possesed human creating a new breed of species. Explore into the role of human in this universe especially in terms of nature. Have great action plus interesting storyline

Shikeisyu 042

About Prisoner number 042 who undergo a trial program for inmates. He is released into the society works as a janitor in a school. He has a chip implanted that will kill him if he ever lose his temper. This story is very moving about the value of life in the perspective of a prisoner.

Bokurano

The most depressing manga I've read so far. The main theme is about death, death and death.... but certainly has a deep message about the value of life, family and sacrifice.

Akumetsu

The most bloodiest and gore manga. About people killing corrupted politicians. Have great action. Out of all the completed manga series I've read... this manga has the best ending ever, the ending is so cool and intense!!

So I decided to find some new seinen manga to read... clicked the genre seinen on onemanga to filter the search... one of the top one is... a manga that I would never have guessed...


Affected me so deeply...


Awaken or should I say inspired something that has been sleeping inside me...


It start with a number...



By Naoki Urasawa

20th Century Boys

The 20th Century Boys

I noticed this title a long time ago but never bother to read it... bcoz it seemed childish... but I noticed its seinen... so I gave it a try... The first few chapters was like... "WHAT??" what is this manga about? It's like.... weird.... But still I kept on reading.. knowing that a lot of great manga like One Piece, Bokurano and Parasyte require quite some time to get used to but once you get the feel of the manga... it suddenly became great...

It's really hard to describe the feeling of reading 20th century boys... What I can say is... I can't let go of the laptop once I started reading... Naoki Urasawa's style of manga just pulls you deeper and deeper into his world...

When I finishedd 20th Century Boys, I wasted no time and move on to its sequel.. 21st Century Boys...

Eiichiro Oda (the author of One Piece) is certainly my #1 shounen (boys, young adult) mangaka (manga artist)...

Oda-sensei (One Piece)

and now Naoki Urasawa perhaps is my #1 seinen mangaka!!! Brilliant talent in a different genre~ He's really2 good and produce epic masterpieces. He won many awards through three of his manga; 20th century boys, Pluto and Monster.

Urasawa-sensei (20th Century Boys, Pluto, Monster, Happy!)

Just recently I finished reading Pluto, a manga about robots based on Osamu Tezuka's The World Strongest Robot Tetsuwan Atom... a.k.a ASTRO BOY! And it was great as well~!! There's also a lighter story about Tennis entitled Happy!, it's also superb!! Urasawa-sensei is a genius

Naoki Urasawa's Pluto


Pluto based on Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy

I mentioned earlier that something awoken in me when I read 20th Century Boys...


And that is the desire to draw~


The dream of being able to move this world using my ability!!


Bcoz in 20th century boys, the protagonist Endo Kenji... with his simple song managed to inspire the world in times of peril, and there are also manga artists character in the story who works hard to produce manga that can change the world~ The scale of the dreams and conviction in the manga is on a very epic scale but it is told beautifully by Urasawa-sensei that it became so inspiring!!

Endo Kenji

Urasawa-sensei... thank you for a great masterpiece!! 20th Century Boys!!

Oh, and one of the characters... Endo Kanna... is probably the first female manga character that I fell in love with... she's just great.. a strong beautiful girl with such a lovable personality... if she was a real person, I'd go and marry her right away.. :) But beware... she has ESP.. huhu

Endo Kanna - my#1 female manga character :)

One day.... I'll draw a manga that can change the world!!!

"Friend" the main villian in 20th Century Boys

With this new conviction I started to draw again...











But I'm just too lazy..... down....


Oda-sensei and Urasawa-sensei... they're both great... they are my inspiration in the field of art~ I wish I had the artistic ability and creativity like them~ their hand using the pen... certainly has the power to move the world... to move millions of people~ just by making a comic strip called manga~

After reading the work by these two, it made hollywood stories seemed childish.. huhu, if you love a great story... grab a hold of their artwork (One Piece & 20th Century Boys)

The most depressing....

Assalammualaikum,

I wanted to do a book review...


A book themed about psychology


But it's not a medical book...


It's entitled...

- BOKURANO -
english translation: - OURS -

In japan... yeahh... I think now you know its a manga...


I actually accidentally came across this manga on onemanga while searching something about mecha manga... came across Bokurano... didn't know what that means back then... went on reading the first chapter..

The drawing... not too bad... nothing special really... at least its not shoujo type... hey, what genre is this actually... owh, it's seinen... (info; shounen = for boys, shoujo = for girls , seinen = for adult)

I love good seinen manga... the other seinen manga I read is The Ravages of Time (Amazing historical manga about China), Bokko (great historical manga too) and Shekeisyu 042 (Sad + Inspiring story about an inmate)

Seinen manga are good because the storyline is deep as well as the message portrayed, really fits adult's mind who wants a reading that challenge their intelectual and perspective of life.

Ok.. back to Bokurano.. its a seinen manga... but, on chapter one... its just a bunch of kids... 15 kids given the power to control a robot to fight another robot invading earth...

duhh, typical fighting manga... robot vs robot... fighting for the earth bla bla bla...

Somehow I stick on reading it until after the first battle...

Yeah... they won...

oppss..

[Spoiler warning; those who want to read the manga should read it first before continuing]


i warned you...


ok.. so the first kid won... and then he accidentaly fell from the robot (very high) and died... because one of the 15 kids accidentaly pushed him...

ok... what's that about? Why does the main character just die like that?

wait... a 13 year old kid (all 14 of them are 13 y.old with one 9 y old) just killed another 13 year old kid.. accidentaly of course...

Not just that... in the battle between the two huge robot... the innocent normal people actually died... (not like ultraman.. where buildings were destroyed.. but you dont see any civilians died)

Ok, so this is a realistic battle manga...

Then, after the second battle (the second kid became the pilot)


He died as well... not killed... but just died...


That's went the truth was revealed...


Whoever controls the robot will be forced to use his life force and ended up dead after the battle...

Well, all 15 of them has been contracted to ride the robot, so that means... all of them will eventually die...

Can they quit??

If they lose a battle, or run away... then the other robot wins, and the whole earth will be destroyed....

So the choice is up to them, this 15 (13 now... 2 died) 13 y.old, they hold the power to save the earth...

What's so bad? They get to be a hero.. cool!!

No no no... this is what so great about this manga... its captures people's emotion... in a realistic point of view... DO THEY WANT TO SACRIFICE THEMSELVE TO SAVE THE EARTH?

Throughout the manga the question will be asked...
IS IT WORTH IT FOR ME TO DIE AND LET OTHER PEOPLE LIVE....
i) when my life ****** !!!
ii) when no one has ever treated me nicely
iii) when this world has caused my mother to commit suicide... why should this world live then?
iv) when i dont really care what happen to this world
v) when my parents dont even see that I exists
vii) When I'm just a kid... I deserve to live longer and follow my dreams...
viii) When... WHY ME????
ix) and many other reason....

All this 15 kids portray the different aspect of society nowadays.. each with their own story to tell.. some are very surprising and extreme... but definitely true...

And you got to remember these are just kids... their not adult who can think rationally or adult who can say it is our duty to protect the earth or our loved ones... just kids who know little about the world, and the fate of the whole earth depends on them... and they no longer have a future... they will die one by one... imagine the psychological impact on these small little childrens...

What about adults? How will everyone else reacts when their planet's fate depend on this kids? Also during the battles, thousands people died being stromped over and all... will the adults allow this?

For me, the most sad is that..

How will their parents act? If they say do not die.. then everyone will still die if they dont fight, so its a question of wether everyone die, or only their son/daughter die... like it or not, they'll have to lost their son... imagine how would the parents feel...

The family values showed in the manga... will definitely touch your hearts... from the ugliest of parents to the most caring of families...


You will visit the two extremes of human's emotion when faced with death...


And so the lyrics of the ending of the anime of this series: "We clung to our life with all our strength...
we never stop to see how DISGUSTING it was"

Throughout the whole manga... the story show no comprimise and keeps on hitting you with depression and more depression of what happen to the kids... I warn you, do not wish for part to smile...:)

The story also has some extremely sad part... I was nearly (nearly??) moved to tears during Daichi's (the 3rd pilot) death... it was so... so... cruel... its not fair (you'll say this a lot)... this is just at chapter 8 of the manga, not long.. if you can read until at least chapter 8, I'm sure you'll be stuck because of the intensity of emotions in the manga...

I finished reading the manga quite long ago, but just finished the anime yesterday.. (why I'm writing this now..)

Anime vs Manga...

Definitely choose the manga for this story, the anime cuts too many part and the ending is not the same... the manga definitely dive deeper into human emotions, makes it more worthwhile...


So if you want to read something to stir up your emotions...

BOKURANO is the story for you.. find it at www.onemanga.com



Oh yeah... the chapter where they reveal why it is called BOKURANO (ours)... is so... so... meaningful, find it for yourself~ :) Why this sad, depressing manga has such a inspirational name... Bokurano... Ours...

The Holiday that was at UNSW...

Assalammualaikum wbt..

Tomorrow's gonna be class... arghhh... holiday's ended...

Didn't really move away from my house this holiday... just stuck at UNSW the whole week...

Why??

Bcoz of...

Islamic Awareness Week 2009!!


My first ever experience working with international muslims!! What an eye-opener!!


The aim of this week is to spread the message of Islam, especially in removing myths and falsehood about Islam. We set up stalls everyday from Monday to Friday in front of the library lawn, we OWNED that walkway for the whole week, yeah!! (*some even say we owned the Christ Week that was coincidentally on the same week as ours)

I came on Monday carrying my 24" lcd monitor that they want to use, arrived at Library Lawn... and... wow!! What a beautiful stall~ with the banners all around~ MasyaAllah...

Basically, the main thing is to entertain any questions people will have about Islam at our stall either from muslims, non-muslims or atheist. Different kind of people dropped by our stall, some really interested to learn... some just came to say Assalammualaikum... some came just to slam us and satisfy their ego (but we manage to defend ourselves..)

Not just people coming to our stall, some of the brothers (and sisters) even go to the Christ Week stalls and attacked them!! Not physically, but using words and evidences from Quran and rational thinking to compare Islam and Christianity~ and they did it well!!

In addition, some of the sisters actually went to the people hanging around the library lawn and giving them da'wah materials without even feeling shy about it (tak malu-malu kucing pon bak kate org melayu), MasyaAllah... they really have no fear in spreading the truth, despite having to do it places where the majority are non-muslims.

Me? Even in Malaysia where the majority are muslims, still am kinda of shy + afraid to spread the truth bravely to non-muslims (or muslims).

I didn't really get much "customer" the whole week, maybe 3 that I really have a chance to talk to.. most of the time, when I greet someone, another brother step in and snatch them away.. haha.. not that I mind though, I totally agree that the other brother are way more experienced and knowledgeable then me~ but I'm hoping to get some experience this year, Alhamdulillah I still get some.. especially on Friday~

All the lectures during the week were awesome!! The number of non-muslim attending the lectures slowly but steadily increases from Monday to Friday, especially during Sharia' Law and the debate.

We also had BBQ on Tuesday handled by brothers, and the atmosphere at that time was MasyaAllah very beautiful, I suddenly see a lot of muslims and non-muslims getting together eating happily around the BBQ area... wonderful~ Thanks to TJ for sponsoring us!!

On Wednesday we had Falafel Lunch handled by sisters, which is also a great success~ Food is always a major attraction for people~


The final Day:

On friday, the final event was the Great Debate: Does God Exist? by Brother Uthman Badar(muslims) versus Alan Zaino (atheist), the turnout by both muslims and non-muslims was Alhamdulillah very good!! We filled the whole lecture theater... The debate however...

On the Muslims side it was marvellous, brother did a very good job presenting his points especially since he used a rational thinking side to deal with atheist, not focusing much on the Quran (since they dont believe in the Quran)

The atheist side was however pretty dissapointing, he didn't really prepared well for his topic, and decided not to have a rebuttal session with brother Uthman... which really... sort of makes the debate strange...

However, during the Q&A session, questions were raining down on both side, and Alhamdulillah brother Uthman managed handled it well~ Ending it with something for the atheist to think about (if they are really open-minded as they claim they are)


The rainy night:

As I leave the lecture hall that night, it was raining... not really a depressing rain, but it gives off a really nice atmosphere to end our Islamic Awareness Week...

It got me thinking...

One of the most wonderful thing I witnessed this week (and during Ramadhan) is that how just because we are muslims... you can see another muslims came and helped out with all using 100% their capabilities even though we have never met each other before and they are not in the IAW committee... some of them are not even from UNSW, some came from McQuarie Uni, we never met them, but they are MasyaAllah such a great helper...

I saw... how the brotherhood in Islam is not restricted to any boundaries... strangers became best of friends in an instant~

Then, I reflected back on how...

I met a lot of new brothers from different backgrounds throughout this week...

I learned a lot from them on how to give Da'wah...

I now know more on how other people see religion and life...

I now am more confident to spread the truth of this beautiful way of life~

What's left is to improve myself to increase my iman and knowledge~!!!



The preparation for this week took months... its pointless to ask the question:

"was it all worth it?"


Alhamdulillah~

All the preparations... all for this week & nationalisme... one ummah?

Assalammualaikum wbt

This week... is a holiday for the faculty of medicine @ unsw... but I cant really go anywhere this whole week... why? bcoz there's....

Click here to find out more

I dont really know how I got involved in this, I was like sleeping in the UNSW musolla after Asar prayer... then Huzaifah came to me and asked me if I'm free... and suddenly I'm at the meeting... and Sabir (the president of ISOC - Islamic Society on Campus) told me; "get all the Malaysians that I see 8 out of 10 hours I'm at uni everyday to get involved.." and he put me on the food commitee..

Well, time passed by... we have meetings every week.. the one thing that we really have shortage is ironically manpower... ironic because... there's a lot of muslims on campus... there's like 500 from Saudi's and Malaysian I think easily surpasses 200++, not to mention from Pakistan, India, and other muslims countries...

Yeah, people's been busy with uni life and all...

But, there was this one meeting where one of the brother has test the hour after that, but he still went to the meeting... and participate well... even though he has test the next hour... MasyaAllah... even for me I've been making a lot of excuses to myself to avoid doing some jobs or stuffs... I'm really far left behind them in terms of jihad... and I thought I have it...

Trying to organize an event this big where trying to spread da'wah to especially to the non-muslims is very very hard... its really sad yet inspiring seeing the brothers and sisters really struggling hard to get this done... they have to skip classes, go all around uni to meet people, call up people, photocopying, pasting posters... and many more... at times I wonder... how can they still have the spirit to do this? If I were them... I'd probably given up...

It was because of this that I felt... its wrong for me to leave them alone... as a muslims whom Allah has opened my eyes to witness them.. how could I pretended nothing happened? And I'm just like one monkey's leg away from uni (sekangkang kera)... monkey? monkey d. luffy!!

Anyway, they sacrificed a lot of their time to do this... in fact 3 of the commitee members are doing medicine 3rd and 4th year!! There's law student, petroleum, business, econs... you name it man.. almost all faculty has a representatives...so if I say I'm too busy that I cannot help them?? yeah right... Alhamdulillah, most of the time Allah swt get rid of all the excuses and helped carry my lazy self from the bed to help them...

Ali, one of the brothers said to me "the best thing of getting involve in IAW, is you get to meet new friends..."

Well said brother...

All the brothers in the IAW commitee, if I weren't here, I would not even know them!! (even though one of the brothers is actually a 4th year med student). MasyaAllah, all of them are very good muslims, they are not afraid, nor care-free or even lazy to propagate Islam.

"Let's go to a CBS (Campus Bible Studies) meeting, and tell them to learn about Islam and come to IAW" , "yeah, I'll do it!" a brother said without any hesitation. if it was Me... going into a christian club and saying come to islamic event... ???

"let's put out a poster stating Jesus was (actually is..) a Muslim!" <-- and we really did print out this posters... if it were me, i wouldn't even dare...

These are some of the normal conversation you hear from them... showing how they are really serious to spread Islam... and how far behind I am...


someone told me...


"islam akan naik kembali dari Nusantara..."


hmmm.....



Anyway... I'm really really grateful that Allah swt fated for me to be involved in this... this is just another blessings from Him, for me to learn more about Islam from the international brothers... there's a lot I can learn from them~!! and hopefully someday I'll be able to become someone as inspiring as them...


Todays.. the last day of preparation, we went postering and chalking almost the whole uni so that on monday the people will only see UNSW... and today I was again impressed by the spirits of the brothers and sisters... totally totally impressed... I was at many time saying... "cmon man that's enough..." but they're like keep on going... I still have a lot to learn~


Anyway, it was really tiring for all of us... but what came to my mind is... it would definitely be easier if there were a lot of people helping... like I said earlier... we're really short on manpower... but Alhamdulillah, we've done our target after working from 10.00am to 4.00pm.. some of them even stayed longer since there's more work to do... Hopefully next year, we'll have more people helping out with the next IAW... and hopefully by then me myself will not be saying "owh I'm busy with assignments/projects/exams/other programs etc..." Bcoz there's brothers out there that's doing someting very good and is very near to us and really really hoping to get some help from us...


I overheard a brother's conversation..

"If we can't even get this done, forget about Palestine man..." <-- he's actually referring about the Friday's prayers problem at UNSW, but I just think its also relevant here, if I cant even help this brother who's so close to me, why am I even dreaming of helping Palestine?


And we wonder how come Palestine is still not free... bcoz no one will really helped them unless they're there in Palestine (generally speaking... no offense), some do.. yeah


So that's its for preparation, Alhamdulillah for all the stuffs that Allah's enabled us to do... and hopefully it will be a very successfull week, hopefully people will come to our events, hopefully we get to see some people converting to Islam.. InsyaAllah...

I myself been really lazy with the preparations, hopefully Allah will forgive me for that... and hopefully I gained a lot from this


I came home today feeling tired and all... well actually I played football after the preparations... and my ears heard...


"Best siot macam party bile dekat nak abeh..." humm...


"Islam akan naik dari Nusantara.......kah?"


***mode kecewa ngan diri sendiri***

do forgive me~

*sorry la post ne serabut sket, x brape pandai luahkan perasaan...

Ad-Duha.. A meaningful Khutbah, beautiful Iftar and wonderful Ramadhan

It was the last Friday of Ramadhan, the day starts off at Masjid Zetland, eating sahur there... and then went home and went to Anatomy prac~ (fell asleep 3/4 of it..)

So the Khutbah starts...
The 1st was about Syukur~ Sykur Illah.

I was so tired, so I kinda dozed off a little bit at the beginning of the Khutbah. I thought it was just a normal khutbah about syukur... until the khatib recited a verse;

وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ
(And proclaim the grace of your Lord)

I heard that verse before... hey... its surah Ad-Duha.. the final verse. This is one of my favorite verse, I liked it since I heard one of my friend reciting it very beautifully in prayers when I was in form 4. It's also one of the first surah I've memorized besides the common surah (well... I guess this can be considered common too...)

Anyway... the khatib explained how this Surah related to syukur. I first read about the tafsir of this Surah in form 5, alone in the night... and I cried because it is so beautiful...

*the following was reffered to Tafsir Ibn Khatir (www.qtafsir.com)

وَالضُّحَى - وَالَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى - مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى
1.By the forenoon.) (2. By the night when it darkens.) (3. Your Lord has neither forsaken you nor hates you.)

This surah was revealed to Muhammad saw after the revelation from Allah swt has "halted" for a quite long period of time, and Muhammad became sad since he hasn't heard anything from Allah swt. Then a woman came and said, `O Muhammad! I think that your devil has finally left you.' and the idolators said 'His Lord has abandoned him and hates him'. So Allah revealed this surah to Muhammad saw to tell him, Allah has neither forsaken you nor hates you.

Imagine how our beloved Muhammad saw felt when these verses came down to him... to calm him, to tell him that Allah swt is always there, and has never abandoned Muhammad saw. Same goes with us, no matter how hard or how cruel life can be, and we felt lonely or empty... know that; (3. Your Lord has neither forsaken you nor hates you)

That was the one part I understood in form 5 until the khutbah, I never really fully understood the later part of the surah. The khatib explained well to me that the later part is about Shukur.

أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيماً فَآوَى - وَوَجَدَكَ ضَآلاًّ فَهَدَى - وَوَجَدَكَ عَآئِلاً فَأَغْنَى

(6. Did He not find you an orphan and gave you a refuge) (7. And He found you unaware and guided you) (8. And He found you poor and made you rich)

These verses really relate a lot to me.. and I'm sure to most of us too. (6. Did He not find you an orphan and gave you refuge), in terms of Muhammad saw, he was an orphan as we all know, but Allah swt always gave Muhammad saw protection, eg. Abdul Mutalib after Aminah died, then followed by Abu Talib, then after he died, and kuffars started to attack the muslims, Allah swt will's it that Hijrah happen and gave Madinah as a refuge for Muhammad saw and the muslims.

Me, my dad passed away when I was 14 years old, and my family situations has been kinda rough since then, espacially financially... but, now that I look at this verse, I realized that despite losing a father, Allah swt gave me refuge without me noticing it, eg. he wills it for me to enter hostel in form 4, which really allows me to survive without having a lot of money, as well as a platform for me to strive during my days at SMART. So indeed... he found me an orphan, and gave me refuge. Alhamdulillah, thank you Allah.


(7. And He found you unaware and guided you), this verse relates to the fact that Allah swt sent down guidance to Muhammad saw throughout his phrophethood, which guided him and the rest of the human being towards the straight path. Me, I was once living in "dark ages", I was reallyastrayed from the right path, I didnt even perform the basic compulsary ibadah. I was really unaware of how "kufr" I was... Now as I look to the past, little by litte, starting from when I entered hostel, the guidance came from Allah swt... slowly guiding me back into the straight path... The most amazing fact is, I never actually prayed to be guided, but still, His guidance came for this lowly servants of His... not everyone is as lucky as I am to still be guided even though I was really bad... indeed, he found me unaware, and guided me. Alhamdulillah.

(8. And he found you poor and made you rich). this is not really related to money. Muhammad saw said;

"Wealth is not determined by abundance of possessions, but wealth is the richness of the soul" narrated from Abu Hurairah. Sahih.

According to Ibn Khatir, `you were poor having dependents', so Allah made you wealthy and independent of all others besides Allah swt. As I said before, financially Allah swt has really helped me and even now blessing me with this scholarship. But, most important of all, is that with Allah swt guidance, I can feel that my soul is richer then what it used to be, compared to when I didn't care about Islam. Alhamdulillah.

And so the khatib concluded this sura with the final verse;

وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ
(And proclaim the grace of your Lord.)

With all the blessings and bouties Allah swt has given us, we should spread it, we should tell others about it, share it with people. We should not keep it to ourselves. That is the sign of being Shukur according to this verse. However, spread it without being proud or riya'. Muhammad saw said that a proud man is those who belittles others and denied the truth. That's why in accordance with being Shukur for all the blessings in my life, I've decided to share this (to those who have a lot of free time to read this...). Wallahu'alam.

UNSW Big Iftar.

I went home after Khutbah at 2.00pm, and supposed to be back at UNSW by 3.00pm to help prepare the big iftar. Did some stuff at at 2.50pm decided to lie down for a while. Then, I blacked out because of the tiredness and woke up at 3.30pm.... aaaaa.........??? That time, I was so lazy and sleepy that I decided to just skip being helpers.... but, Alhamdulillah, Allah swt helped me against my lazyness, and I went to UNSW.

I was so glad that I went, the preparation was very tiring, handling the Iftar was extremely exhausiting... but when you see muslims from all races together, combined with good food, and wonderful environments, it was worth it. The night was filled with the beauty of brotherhood in Islam... MasyaAllah... this is one of the blessings of Allah swt to muslims.

Pictures of the iftar:
http://picasaweb.google.com/isocunswau/AnnualIftar2009#

By the end of the iftar, after tarawikh... it finally struck to me...

This is the last night of Ramadhan...

The prophet saw and his companions cried when Ramadhan almost left them...It's the 29th night, and my heart really feels heavy that time. I really wasted a lot of this Ramadhan by not making the most of it. And now the month of blessings will leave me... I pray I will not be among those who gained nothing from Ramadhan...

This is my first Ramadhan in Australia, and certainly was a very wonderful one. Many things happen when I review my Ramadhan that I'm grateful off. My assignments that I did last minute and I thought I really blew it up, turns up great~ My trip to newcastle during the holidays was really meaningful especially during their Iftar at masjid~ and also during this Ramadhan, I get to meet many new brothers not just from Malaysia, which really.. makes me feel great~

Despite the me that didn't pull off 100% efforts in Ramadhan, the blessings still come. Alhamdulillah

And now Ramadhan will end...


Many people are preparing for eid... feeling happy and all...

Its not bad to feel happy for eid, we are actually told by the phrophet to be happy on it, to celebrate it!! of course within the guidelines of Islam. (beware of getting close to maksiat my brothers & sisters, the temptations is very high high on eid)



But, I woke up this morning... the last day of Ramadhan... feeling really2 weird... will I be able to once again feel the blessings during Ramadhan next year?







What I'm feeling now...


Let's leave the joy of eid for tommorow...

Let's make the most of Ramadhan today~



Berkata Wathilah, Aku bertemu Rasulullah s.a.w pada hari raya dan aku katakan pada baginda "taqabballahu minna wa minka", baginda menjawab : Ya, taqabbalallahu minna wa minka"

May Allah swt accpets the deeds (in Ramadhan) of you and me.

Islamic Awareness Week

ISOC invites you to Islamic Awareness Week 2009. This year, IAW will take place in week 10 (28 September - 2 October 2009), and is set to be an exciting but intense week of dawah to primarily non-Muslims in a "get-to-know Islam and Muslims" campaign.



This year's theme is The Qur'an: A guidance for mankind, and aims to bring about awareness of the Holy Qur'an to non-Muslims around campus and explain to them it's importance, why we believe in it and what it has to offer them. We have a great line-up of talks and events that are set to engage non-Muslims and to raise awareness of Islam's teachings and principles. Further details will be released shortly.


Want to help out?



So far, a group of dedicated brothers and sisters have been working tirelessly to get the plans for this week to the final stages. However, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done and there's room for anyone who wants to be part of the most anticipated ISOC event for the year!



We will be having a meeting on this Thursday 10 September at 11am as a recap of what we have done so far, and also discuss the final stage of our preparations in the lead up to IAW. The meeting will start off with a discussion about what da'wah is from a panel of speakers, and following dhuhr salaah we will discuss the specific plans for IAW. Everyone who wishes to help with IAW is requested to attend - it's midsession break so we hope you should be free inshaAllah!



The least you can do



The aim of this week is to inform people about Islam, and particularly the Qur'an. If you are unable to help out, we request that you invite your friends to attend every single event - Muslim or non-Muslim!



We want the impact of this week to be felt all throughout the university, and as Muslims studying in all faculties, we have the ability to reach the whole of UNSW! We would love your help in the week, but if you are busy or unable, tell your friends to attend the events and find time to attend yourself.



If you are interested in helping out, please attend the meeting on Thursday 10 September from 11am. If you think you might be late or are unable to attend but want to help out, send us an email at iaw@isoc-unsw.org.au



We also ask that you make dua that the event is a success.



Wassalaam,
IAW Team