Is X lam-alef key OK?

[pflm52td at w6 dot dion dot ne dot jp]

Hi. I'm Japanese. I have a question about X Window lam-alef key.

You know, to configure X Window to use Arabic, you put:
   Option XkbLayout "ar"
right? 

The problem is, lam-alef, bound to key "b" is Unicode Arabic
representation form B, 0xfefb. Other alef with hamza or madda are
similar.
My question is: today is it usual to use this for Arabs?
Or avoid the raw X keyboard by using input methods, like scim or uim?

I don't know anything about these input methods. Neither have I tried
Gnome nor KDE ever. (I know I'm obsolete.)

I know the cause. Namely, in xkb it is only possible to bind a sole
symbol to a key, not a sequence of symbols.
Katoob is superb in handling Arabic, and digest it into ordinary separate
set of lam and alef, although it is an ad hoc hack.
On the other hand the firefox, the only software other than katoob
I have tested for use of Arabic, does not.


I recently opened a site "Arabic on linux", for non-Arabs:
http://www.k2.dion.ne.jp/~oibane/aonl/en/
which is written in English, and of course in Japanese.
First I just wanted to type wasla and dagger alif, and found it quite a task.
I thus thought it would be good to make the info available to everyone.

I'm intermediate-level linux user, and a beginner learner of Arabic.

Shukkran jaziilan.

"Oibane"
pflm52td at wsitta.dion.ne.jp
# sitta is 6