Sales of Alcohols at Neighbourhood Convenience Stores

Lately there have been several news about the sales of alcohols at neighbourhood convenience stores.  Many Muslims, for whom alcohols are forbidden, are against this practice.  Some of the reasons for this are:

1. There are already many places where people who want to drink alcohols can buy them  such as at dedicated alcohol shops, restaurants, bars, etc.
   
   
2. Sales of alcohols in convenience stores, especially 24-hour stores, will encourage non-drinkers (including Muslims and especially teenagers) to try drinking them as it is now becoming more convenient to buy them.
   
   
3. Many staff in the convenience stores are Muslims.  The sales of alcohols in their stores make Muslims come in contact with products which they are forbidden to have any dealings at all.  
   
   There is a Hadith on this prohibition which is self-explanatory. Al-Tirmidhi (1295) narrated that Anas ibn Maalik said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed ten with regard to alcohol: the one who squeezes (the grapes etc), the one for whom it is squeezed, the one who drinks it, the one who carries it, the one to whom it is carried, the one who pours it, the one who sells it and consumes its price, the one who buys it and the one for whom it is bought.”  Further explanation can be found at Islam Q&A 
   
   

While perhaps it is the rights of the convenience store owners to sell alcohols in their stores, there are many actions that we, the consumers who are Muslims or who are against sales of alcohols in convenience stores, can do. Among them are:

1. We can choose not to buy anything from these convenience stores.  We may have to suffer a little inconvenience for our cause especially in times of emergencies when other shops may be closed.
   
   
2. We can encourage other consumers who have similar belief as ours to also not buy anything from these convenience stores.  
   
   
3. We can advise Muslim staff of these stores of the Islamic prohibition on dealing with alcohols.  We can give them leaflets explaining this matter.  We can encourage them to find other suitable jobs. 
   
   

 WalLahu'alam.

The Quality of Our Parlimentarians

For quite sometimes now we have read in the newspapers and seen in the televisions how badly some of our elected representatives in the Parliment (Member of Parliment - MP) behave.  The words they use, the gestures they make and the lack of respect they show to their colleagues make one wonder what kind of people are these!!!  And these are the people we have elected and trusted to manage our country.

Perhaps I am not wrong to say that the quality of MPs have deteriorated over times - the MPs in the 1960s and 1970s were better.  I do not know if any effort has been made to improve the quality of MPs - if there are efforts made, then the result is not yet seen.

I am not sure about you, but I am surely getting more and more fed up with these MPs.  I would like to suggest the following actions be taken to improve the quality of MPs:

1. Qualification - Ensure all aspiring election candidates possess proper qualification to become MP.  It is not enough for an aspirant to have medical degree, law degree, masters or even PhD.  As we know, even if one have all these degrees, one still has to learn and pass the driving test in order to drive a car.  Similarly, to become a parlimentarian, an aspirant must qualify the parlimentarian tests.  
   
   For this purpose, a college for MPs should be established and all aspiring candidates must obtain qualification from this college.  The college must train all participants in all aspects of being MPs - I am sure there are many area to be covered but it should include proper interpersonal behaviour, public speaking, research method, conflict management, anger management, etc.  Their psychological conditions should also be determined.  The participants must pass all tests in order to get their qualification and be able to stand for election.
   
   It should be the responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure that a person must have a valid qualification from this college before the person is allowed to stand for election.
   
   
2. Enforcement.  Just as the traffic police will summon and penalise a driver who breaks the traffic laws, so must the Parliment have some system to penalise any MP who break the Parlimentary rules and laws.  At the moment, an MP who breaks such law can be suspended from the Parliment sitting for a few days.  I think this is not enough.  Perhaps the affected MP could even welcome such suspension, as he can then attend to other matters.  
   
   It would be better if these MPs be penalised monetarily, say RM1,000 for the first offence, RM5,000 for the second offence, RM10,000 for the third offence, etc. If they still continue to commit similar offences, then perhaps they should be disqualified from the Parliment forever and their seats be declared vacant. 

God know best.

Wassalam.