Reaching a Solution

My post on Aug 29 has raised some other issues that might harm our unity if it is not dealt with properly. Since this post has opened a room for discussion, let’s try to reach to some degree of solution.

As a Muslim who had noticed that other Muslims were making an obvious mistake, I felt the need to point it out with a verse from the Quran itself that clearly prohibited such actions. My main intention in writing the post was so that Muslims won’t repeat the same shameful act next time. I also thought that this verse could make the Hindus feel better.

As a sister I feel that I have to always support my 3 little brothers in whatever they do. If they did something wrong I’d first try to understand why they did it and then try to correct them wisely. The protesters, no matter how uncivilized their action was, are my brothers and sisters bonded in the name of Allah. Before pointing out their mistake, I had put myself in their shoes and I came to understand why they protested.

That’s why when Veno asked me (does it matter if the majority of the people there were Muslims?), I mentioned about my personal preference to live in a neighborhood far from places of worship of other faith. I was trying to rationalize their action with my personal opinion, based on what I really feel. I feel that this personal preference of mine can make my friends of other faith feel bad. Even I feel bad while writing the statement but isn’t that’s how faith works? Faith is something that is well blended with the soul. If there is something externally that is somehow against our faith, of course the soul will feel bad otherwise it means that the faith is not strong enough. It’s a good indicator that all of us are still holding tightly to our faith. Since we have different beliefs, we view the same issue differently. We disagree over things and most of the time there will be no solution that can satisfy everyone. Often, we end up with a constant struggle inside in an effort to be at peace with our Lord and with other humans and that’s the challenge of having a faith. We just have to keep on fighting for what we belief in.

Humans are very prone to making mistakes. But that’s how we learn things and become a better person, right? So let’s forgive others for making mistakes. I always feel that whenever a mistake is being done, the doer still deserves some credit for at least trying. It’s unfair for those who simply observe (not involved at all in the process of making the mistakes) to simply condemn others. We are all brothers and sisters at least on the basis of humanity. So if one of us makes a mistake, try to correct it in a nice way.

Actually I was hurt by some of the comments. It’s pretty funny actually. I was in a way backing up the Hindus with a verse from the Quran but then I was criticized. Forgive me for any mistake I made in my previous post and for those which I’ll be making in my future posts.

Try to understand the situation of the Muslims. We Muslims are just servants of our Lord who are so afraid of unintentionally admitting the existence of other Gods since Islam is very strict about the Oneness of Allah. We are also afraid of not being counted as the followers of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) if we are not sensitive enough about other Muslims, if we don’t feel what other Muslims are feeling.

Forgive the Malays for making mistakes. Not every Malay has a chance to mix well with the non Malays for various reasons. A friend admitted to me that she has problems dealing with other races at work because she has never been exposed to a multiracial environment. Even for me, this is the first time being in a batch in which there is almost equal distribution of the Malay, Chinese and Indian. I had a hard time adapting at first but I think I manage to adapt myself well and I seem to be enjoying it now. The bottom line is that I know myself and at the same time I respect and try to understand others. I’m very grateful to be in Batch 19 and to be in MMMC. I feel that it is the best miniature of Malaysia where we can unite in spite of our differences.

Lastly, I just want to say that for 1 Malaysia to be a reality, it starts from you and me, from our batch, our college and the subsequent levels of the society. For us to unite, let us focus on our common grounds rather than our differences. Making a big fuss over differences are the dirty tricks played by corrupt leaders. I’m sure we are much better than that. Let’s not bother about the things that we have no control over. We cannot change the history but we can create better future generations who are ‘color blind’ without affecting the purity of our faith.

Is it right to protest with a cow’s head?

This morning a friend in facebook posted a video with a heading 'morons in action'. Apparently a few men wearing ‘kopiah’ and ‘songkok’ among others were shouting some slogans (amidst a small group of malays in the background) and were seen later to join in a procession. I wondered what was it that they did which justified them to be labeled as ‘morons’. It was then that I found out that the protest occurred yesterday.

‘Some 50 residents enraged with the proposed relocation of a Hindu temple to their area staged a noisy protest with a severed cow's head this afternoon. The residents from Section 23 in Shah Alam who gathered after the Friday prayers, placed the head outside the gates of the state secretariat building for a short period before removing it’

After watching throughout the whole length of the video I also realised something else. The cow’s head was an unplanned part of the protest. A resident said that it was brought out by someone in anger.

I personally think the protest was appropriate in a way if almost 80% of Section 23 residents are Muslims (as claimed by a resident). However, this is an extremely sensitive issue and since Muslims should defend their rights, they must also keep in mind that their conduct should be as diplomatic as possible, and as peaceful as possible (considering the current condition of our country). I salute the residents’ effort in fighting for their rights. However the cow’s head part was wrong and such action should never take place anywhere ever again. I say it is wrong based on Surah Al- An’aam verse 108.

The following is taken from ‘TAFSIR IBNU KATSIR, JILID 3, PUSTAKA IMAM ASY-SYAFI’I, page 272-273’.

(6:108)Dan janganlah kamu memaki ilah-ilah mereka yang kamu ibadahi selain Allah, kerana mereka nanti akan memaki Allah dengan melampaui batas tanpa pengetahuan. Demikianlah Kami jadikan setiap ummat menganggap baik pekerjaan mereka. Kemudian kepada Rabb merekalah kembali mereka, lalu Allah memberitakan kepada mereka apa yang dahulu mereka kerjakan.

Allah s.w.t. melarang Rasul-Nya, Muhammad dan orang-orang yang beriman mencaci, ilah-ilah kaum musyrikin meskipun cacian itu mengandungi kemaslahatan, hal itu menimbulkan kerosakan yang lebih besar daripada kemaslahatan itu sendiri, yaitu balasan orang-orang musyrik dengan cacian terhadap Ilah orang-orang Mukmin, padahal Allah sw.t. adalah ‘Rabb, yang tiada Ilah (yang berhak diibadahi) selain Dia’.

Sebagaimana yang dikatakan oleh Ali Bin Abi Thalhah, dari Ibnu Abbas, mengenai ayat ini: Orang-orang musyrik itu berkata: ‘Hai Muhammad, engkau hentikan makianmu itu terhadap ilah-ilah kami, atau kami akan mencaci-maki Rabbmu.’ Lalu Allah melarang Rasulullah s.a.w. dan orang-orang Mukmin mencaci patung-patung mereka. “Kerana mereka nanti akan memaki Allah dengan melampaui batas tanpa pengetahuan”.

Abdurrazzaq mengatakan dari Ma’mar, dari Qatadah: “Dahulu kaum Muslimin mencaci berhala-berhala orang kafir, lalu orang-orang kafir mencaci-maki Allah Ta’ala secara berlebihan dan tanpa didasari dengan ilmu pengetahuan, lalu Allah menurunkan ayat : “Dan janganlah kamu memaki ilah-ilah mereka yang kamu ibadahi selain Allah, kerana mereka nanti akan memaki Allah dengan melampaui batas tanpa pengetahuan”

Hal ini menunjukkan bahawa meninggalkan kemaslahatan untuk menghindari kerosakan yang lebih parah adalah lebih diutamakan. Hal itu didasarkan pada hadith sahih bahawasanya Rasulullah bersabda:

“Dilaknat orang yang mencaci-maki orang tuanya.” Para sahabat bertanya: “Ya Rasulullah, bagaimana seseorang mencaci-maki orang tuanya?” Beliau menjawab: “Ia mencaci ayah seseorang, maka orang itu pun mencaci ayahnya. Ia mencaci ibu seseorang maka orang itu pun mencaci ibunya (atau sebagaimana yang dikatakan oleh Rasulullah s.a.w.

Firman Allah: “Demikianlah Kami jadikan setiap ummat menganggap baik pekerjaan mereka.” Maksudnya , sebagaimana Kami telah hiasi bagi orang-orang itu cinta kepada berhala-berhala mereka, fanatik terhadapnya, serta mendukungnya. Demikian pula kami hiasi setiap ummat-ummat yang sesat amal perbuatan mereka yang mereka kerjakan. Allah mempunyai hujah yang kuat dan hikmah yang sempurna atas semua yang dikehendaki dan dipilih-Nya.

“Kemudian kepada Rabb merekalah kembali mereka, lalu Allah memberitakan kepada mereka apa yang dahulu mereka kerjakan.” Maksudnya, mereka akan diberi balasan sesuai dengan amalan perbuatan tersebut, jika baik, kebaikan pula balasannya, jika buruk, keburukan pula balasanya.

In conclusion with the above information I hope it is clear that we cannot insult other religions under any circumstances. Cows are sacred to the Hindus so it is very wrong to resort to such an action. I think those involved with the protest should apologize to the Hindus and the authority should make an effort to find a better location for the temple to be built.

Finally I would like to remind myself and others that in effort to stand for Islam we have to base every single action on true knowledge otherwise we might end up causing embarrassment to Islam rather than actually fighting for it.

NEW YEAR DEVASTATION - A FRIEND ARRESTED IN A SEX AND NARCOTIC PARTY

On January 01, 2009, 26 people were arrested in a sex party at a hotel in KL. When nine were tested positive for ecstasy and ketamine, the case was handed over to the Narcotics Department the next day. One of them was my classmate back in primary school. I was sleeping when my mom called to break the dreadful news to me. I got extremely shocked and speechless. I just met her in September last year in a reunion. After hearing the news I couldn’t stop thinking how things could go up to that extent and what I can do in my position to fix the situation. Later, I found myself writing this.

In my opinion, this kind of immoral act is not something new. It has started since the time of Adam when the Satan made a promise to mislead the human race and is still continuing until today. This is stated in Surah Al-A’raf, 7:16-17.

Iblis said: “Because you have sent me astray, surely I will sit in wait against them (Human beings) on Your Straight Path. Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will not find most of them as thankful ones (i.e. they will not be dutiful to You).”

None of us is free from this reality. Therefore in whatever we do, we either in favor of the satan or against him.

People do not straight away go to sex parties. They start by involving in minor decadents first and progress from there. I feel that everyone contributes directly or indirectly to this matter as well as other social problems. Today, majority of people still oppose sex party and drug abuse. Yet majority of people also agree with a lot of things that can contribute to these acts. We may respond with anger and disgust towards free sex, consumption of drugs, out-of-wedlock pregnancy and subsequent abortion but we accept minor version of such acts like wearing sexy outfits, mingling around without boundaries between people of opposite sex, consuming alcohol and smoking. These contradictions in thoughts and actions have made all the efforts put forward to curb social crises fail terribly. It is just like treating the symptoms of a disease without treating its underlying cause, the disease is progressing still.

I belief what has happened is another wake up call for everyone to get back on the right track. The above contradictions and the resulting confusion have to end. We cannot draw the lines between the dos and don’ts ourselves according to our own thinking or the majority else we will go astray as stated in Surah Al-An’aam, 6:116.

“And if you obey most of those on earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah’s Path. They follow nothing but conjectures, and do nothing but lie.”

The dos and don’ts have been told clearly by the One that knows everything about us through Quran and Sunnah for us to follow. For that reason, we need to live our lives in accordance to these two completely without being picky about it.

Ignoring this issue is like waiting for the mounting social illnesses to get to us and the people we are close to. Usually, news like this comes from foreign countries or strangers from our own country but here my own friend is involved, a friend that used to struggle together with me and other friends to get good grades in order to achieve our dreams. This is indeed devastating. So let’s do what we should do before similar problems get to us and our beloved.