Sungguh apa yang kau katakan amat berbekas di hati orang, maka katakanlah perkara yang baik-baik.
Aku masih ingat lagi akan satu kejadian, di mana aku telah membuat seorang makcik yang sudah separuh umur, menangis kerana apa yang aku katakan. Berbekas di hatinya, namun lebih-lebih lagi terkesan di hatiku sendiri.
Hal ini terjadi lebih kurang semasa aku berada dalam tahun 2 atau 3 pengajian di universiti. Pada masa itu sahabat-sahabatku ramai yang sibuk dengan Festival Kelestarian Islam (FESKI), satu festival di mana para pelajar Muslim sibuk berkongsi dengan seluruh warga kampus mengenai Islam dalam berbagai bentuk. Ada yang mahir berlakon, maka disebarnya nilai-nilai murni Islam melalui persembahan teater yang menggoncang jiwa. Ada yang pandai berkata-kata maka dikongsikan bersama semua orang mengenai Islam dengan ceramah, forum dan sebagainya.
Namun yang paling dekat dengan hati aku adalah pameran yang dianjurkan oleh pihak FESKI. Aku juga suka bercerita dan berkata-kata, namun aku tiada keberanian untuk berdiri di hadapan khalayak ramai. Letak sahaja aku di hadapan podium, biar cuma ada 5-10 orang yang mendengar, aku tetap jadi kaku. Lucu. Jadi aku cuma mampu berkongsi serba sedikit ilmu yang aku ada melalui pameran-pameran sebegini.
Tema FESKI pada tahun tersebut adalah 'Misconceptions in Islam'. Pengarah FESKI pada tahun itu memilih tajuk tersebut kerana ingin memberi pencerahan kepada orang awam mengenai konsep-konsep asas Islam yang sering kali disalah fahami orang Islam sendiri, apatah lagi yang orang bukan Islam.
Sedang aku berdiri di satu bahagian pameran yang menceritakan mengenai pengharaman beberapa jenis binatang daripada dimakan, beberapa kenalan aku yang berbangsa Cina datang membaca maklumat yang ditempelkan di situ. Aku lihat beberapa AJK yang menguruskan bahagian tersebut sedang sibuk melayan tetamu yang lain, maka aku beranikan diri untuk mendekati mereka dan menawarkan diri untuk menerangkan kepada mereka, setakat yang aku mampu, sekiranya mereka ingin bertanya mengenai apa-apa saja.
Mereka mengajukan beberapa pertanyaan, dan tanpa aku sedar, ada seorang makcik bersama suaminya berdiri di sebelah kami. Walaupun matanya kelihatan tertampal di pameran tersebut, namun telinganya mendengar satu-satu perkataan yang aku sebut. Sebaik sahaja soalan-soalan sahabatku sudah terjawab, mereka meminta diri dan pergi ke bahagian lain pameran tersebut.
Makcik tadi datang menghampiri aku, "Terima kasih adik. Terima kasih banyak-banyak," katanya sambil mengalirkan air mata.
Aku yang kebingungan bertanya kepadanya, "Makcik, kenapa menangis? Apa yang saya buat sampai makcik mengucapkan terima kasih?"
"Makcik sebenarnya seorang Muallaf. Sudah lebih kurang 14 tahun makcik memeluk Islam, tapi mendengar kamu bercerita pada kawan-kawan kamu mengenai Islam, makcik jadi sebak. Terasa macam zaman makcik mula-mula terbuka hati masuk Islam dulu," jawab dia.
Aku kaget dan tak mampu berkata-kata. Makcik tersebut menyambung lagi, "Semoga Allah merahmati adik dan sahabat-sahabat. Makcik dah tengok pameran ni semuanya. Makcik suka sangat dengan apa yang dibentangkan. Makcik sebenarnya seorang cikgu. Makcik teringin nak menjemput adik buat pameran ni di sekolah makcik. Tak perlu ubah apa-apa isi. Bawa saja bahan-bahan yang sudah ada dan gunakan semula."
"Allahu. Terima kasih makcik. Saya kelu ni tak tahu nak kata apa. Alhamdulillah. Terima kasih dan semoga Allah juga merahmati makcik dan keluarga. Tapi saya minta maaflah makcik. Saya cuma secara kebetulan saja di sini, saya bukan AJK. Sebentar saya panggilkan ketuanya ke mari dan makcik panjangkanlah jemputan tadi kepada dia," balas aku. Aku terus memanggil ketua yang bertugas dan menyampaikan permintaan makcik tadi kepadanya. Dia terus meninggalkan kerjanya dan bergegas ke arah makcik tadi.
Semasa mereka sedang sibuk berbincang, aku meminta diri dan terus pulang ke bilik. Setiap kali ada saja perkataan buruk yang hampir-hampir terpacul keluar dari mulut aku, kisah inilah yang menahan aku daripada menyebutnya. Lagi pula, Allah juga mengingatkan kita dalam surah Al-Baqarah, ayat yang ke 83,
Author's note: Suggested BGM, Michl - Kill Our Way to Heaven. Why? Listen to the lyrics and you'll know why.
What's up guys? Hopefully you're all well and healthy. I know I am. n_n I haven't blogged for so long but honestly, I've always been wanting to do this. I kept on thinking about this day it was like, I'm a heavy smoker and I was deprived from smoking. Imagine that. It was that bad. Haha. My hands were itching unbearably to write something in here and Thank God, I now have a reason and also the time to update it. So, what is it about this time around?
How many of you actually know about Boonaa Mohammed? To be honest, last week was my first time hearing his name. He came to my campus a few days ago and a few days before that, I heard people talking about him. My friends kept talking about him, some random staffs from USM were talking about him, the announcement after almost every events were talking about him, it was like I went full blown crazy as if I could even hear cats purring about him. XD Okay, that's exaggerating. Haha. But yeap, he became a subject everyone talked about. They were saying he's a famous poet and stuffs so I took the chance to go and hear him speak. Trust me, now I know why people were so excited. The talk was definitely a fulfilling one and so, I'd love to share some of the knowledge I gained with all you. n_n
Actually, before the talk began, we watched a movie. A movie made by the speaker himself, Boonaa Mohammed. It was an hour long movie called Tug of War. Click here to watch the trailer if you're interested, but I don't know where you can actually watch the full movie though. So sorry about that. XD Lucky me, I got to watch it for free. Haha. It's actually about a Muslim man, Khalil who just came out of prison, turned over a new leaf and was trying to build his life back. Sadly, everyone shunned him including his parents. He lost everything but one friend, Anas. However Anas is not all good news. Long story short, these two turned into extremist Muslims due to the personal problems and were ready to fly to a place (I honestly forgot where it was) to join Muslim extremist militaries. However, something happened that they got separated. In the end, Khalil, the ex-convict went there alone, and died on the battlefield while Anas, learned more about Islam and became an advocate of Islam. The end. You could really see the blessings of our own life hidden in the scenes of this movie.
The movie was related to the topic of the speech, I guess, that was pretty much why he chose to let the audience watch it first. Probably. Or maybe, he was just being smart, saving his energy from speaking for too long. Hmmm. Slick. =w= Oh well, when we were done watching the movie, only then Brother Boonaa gave his speech for about another hour plus, together with Q&A session. So let's see what are the meats and potatoes of his speech. n_n
One, although there is no such thing as terrorists prototype, or a particular mould, there is one specific trait that these people have in common. Political grievance. They see what's happening to Muslims all over the world, many are killed everyday and this makes their blood boil. "That should be the case for all of us as well but that's not the issue. The issue is, what we view as the solutions to these problems," said Boonaa. We are fundamentally opposed to anyone who uses indiscriminate violence to harm others for their political goals, in the name of religion, in the name of Islam be it ISIS, Boko Haram etc or any other groups that may come in the future.
Their rhetorics are usually based on emotions. They try to emotionally blackmail you saying stuffs like, "They slaughtered our brothers and sisters in Palestine and you are sitting here doing nothing but drinks coffee and enjoying your life? Are you not ashamed?" Heard of something like that? Or perhaps, have someone said that to you? n_n These people use their emotions as their dalil, their evidence, as a permit for them to use violence against others. They would go against their Imams, the ulama' when their ideas are challenged. They start attacking people of knowledge saying, scholars for dollars, deviated and corrupted etc while in reality, they are the ignorant ones.
Secondly, Brother Boonaa says there is a huge lack of knowledge about Islam in this world by both the non-Muslims and the Muslims. These people would take the same ayat (sentence) in the Quran and use it out of context to support their own cause. Not just them, we, the current Muslims community are also doing the same. How many of us ask questions to Syeikh Google when we are in doubt about something? Uh uh, don't lie, we all did this. n_n We take our religion from Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and funny thing is, we think our knowledge are of the same level as our scholars who have spent years learning this Deen (Islam). Funny, but true isn't it? n_n
That is a big problem. Why? Because when we think we know about Islam while in truth, we are ignorant and have misunderstood it even, we are easily persuaded into things that are incorrect. The Muslims nowadays are lacking in what Boonaa call critical thinking. We never authenticate what we saw or heard. If someone were to post a photo, "Did you know, if you say Allah Allah Allah and spin around, anti-clockwise for 40 times, you'll enter Jannah (heaven)? Signed, Muslims Fact," some of us may believe in it blindly. That's how sad we've become.
Nowadays, we take our religion in a very weird way. Some examples, we say MasyaAllah brother, look at how long his beard is, he must be right. Or, see his turban and his robes? He must be an ulama', if you don't trust him, you'll go to hell man. Or, look at her, she's wearing purdah, wife-material bro *pervy laughs*. That's not Islam. We cannot believe everything people tell us just based on how they look. We have to take it upon ourselves to understand why we believe what we believe. It's not good enough that our parents tell us, he tells us, she tells us. We should investigate and learn about the matters on our own. Be critical in our thinking and don't just believe in what somebody tells you because that is the key factor in misguidance.
Next thing is, the lacking of safe spaces. What does this mean? Brother Boonaa says, in Canada, many people are curious about Jihad however the Muslims over there are scared to even say that word. Some would not even speak about it with their kids. They are paranoid, scared that someone is listening to them and what is the effect of this? The curious people, their curious childrens now only have one options to learn about Jihad, that is through the internet. Boom. No wonder there are so many misunderstandings about the word Jihad. Therefore, to create safe spaces where people can talk freely without being scared is of utmost importance. But in Malaysia, honestly that's not much of a problem I think. Thank God. n_n
Finally, the conclusion. Fuuuh. That was long. Let's finish this last bit. Have you ever asked yourself, "Do I care about Muslims all over the world? If I do, what have I done for their cause?" If you can answer it, Alhamdulillah. But if you can't, like me, Brother Boonaa's story may change that. A few weeks before the election in Canada last year, he made a Youtube video and openly criticised the ex-Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. The video went viral and the atmosphere was a mixture of emotions. Some Muslims were scared, some were very accepting. Then again, many people thanked him for saying all the things they were too afraid to say. Thing is, everyone keep waiting for someone to make a change but they never try to be the one who lead the change. So, what have we done to help our Ummah? The answer should never be nothing because everyone can put something to the table. And if you're questioning as to why should you help them, thinking you're also suffering in many other ways they don't, try counting the blessings you've gained in your life. n_n
This has been a pleasure. As I thought, I love blogging so much and I hope I'll be able to share things here for many years more. n_n Hopefully, the post has been worth the long read. I'm sorry if it gets draggy sometimes but as long as you reach this point feeling satisfied, I am more than happy. One last thing, I'll be facing my Professional Examination 2 this mid-May. What that means is, I have to pass it in order to get into my fourth year of my degree. Please, do pray for me and my friends and may one day, we will become doctors who are trustworthy and responsible enough to serve the communities. Ameen. Thank you for the kind prayers everyone. n_n
Here's a video of the whole speech. Thanks to FESKI for bringing such a fantastic speaker.
Semalam saya sempat berbual-bual di Fb dengan beberapa orang Kristian dan juga atheis mengenai Hari Raya Korban umat Islam. Ada yang mempersoalkan dan tak kurang juga yang mengutuk sambutan tersebut.
"Selamat membunuh binatang wahai sahabat Islam. Ritual yang tidak disenangi oleh kaum lain tapi menjadi kebanggaan oleh Jihadist. Tuhan mereka sentiasa kehausan darah sebab itu mereka (Islam) suka bunuh membunuh." -Murtads in Malaysia and Singapore
Marah? Eloklah kalau anda like page tu dan pergi jelaskan pada orang-orang di situ dengan sebaiknya. :) That page needs more tolerant and knowledgeable Muslims to explain things to them. Mereka akan guna sains, politik, falsafah dan macam-macam lagi untuk merendahkan Islam. Kalau ada yang pakar dalam bidang-bidang ni, bagus juga kalau boleh bantu saudara-saudari seagama kita yang sedang berusaha membetulkan persepsi buruk terhadap Islam. Bersatu teguh, bercerai roboh. Ye idok? XD
Here are a few logical reasons I can think of which hopefully will open the eyes of anyone who thinks korban is nothing but violations of animal rights.
Binatang yang bakal dikorbankan akan dijaga sebaik mungkin. Diberi makan dan minum yang cukup juga dipastikan sihat dan tidak cacat.
Binatang tersebut perlu mencapai had umur yang ditetapkan. Tidak boleh terlampau muda atau tua. Contoh bagi lembu dan kambing, umurnya telah sampai dua ke tiga tahun.
Binatang tersebut perlu disembelih dengan pisau yang tajam supaya dapat mempercepatkan kematiannya.
Setiap hasil daripada binatang korban tersebut, kulit, daging, organ dalaman, tulang dan lain-lain digunakan sepenuhnya tanpa pembaziran. Tidak seperti korban dalam ritual-ritual lain dimana binatang tersebut dibakar atau lain-lain tanpa memberi hasil kepada sesiapa. i.e. Holocaust.
Daging-daging tersebut akan dibahagikan mengikut tuan dan akan disedekahkan kepada orang-orang miskin, dibuat jamuan untuk orang ramai dan juga untuk makanan sendiri. Bukankah itu satu kebaikan?
Bilangan binatang yang dikorbankan hanya mengikut bilangan orang yang ingin berkorban dan mampu melakukan serta membayarnya. Bermakna tidak ada binatang yang disembelih sia-sia tanpa ada yang menginginkannya.
Lagipun, saya rasa kalau nak berlebihan mengutuk Islam dalam bab ni, bukankah setiap hari juga memang banyak binatang yang disembelih untuk memenuhi pasaran daging di seluruh dunia? Kalau tak, mana nak dapat bacon, ham dan macam-macam lagi? Eh lupa. Kerbau pendek tak ada leher kira sembelih juga ke? Hehe. XD
Korban dalam Islam ini bukanlah persembahan seperti ini:
Situasi 1: "Allah, inilah korbanku. Harap kau suka dan tidak menurunkan bala kepada aku."
Atau,
Situasi 2: "Allah, ini korban kami. Hapuskan musuh-musuh kami."
It is actually more of,
Situasi 3: "Allah, terima kasih kerana memberi rezeki yang banyak kepadaku maka dengannya aku mampu berkorban (baca:bersedekah) pada tahun ini sebagai tanda bersyukur terhadapmu."
Hari Raya Korban dalam Islam sebenarnya lebih kepada untuk mengajar umatnya supaya tidak berlebihan dalam menyayangi harta mereka dan cinta kepada Allah yakni Tuhan Yang Satu itu lebih utama. Dengan berkorban sedikit daripada harta mereka diharapkan dapat memberi rahmat kepada diri sendiri dan juga orang lain. Well, shortly, that's it. Nak pergi beraya pula ni. Hehe. Take care brothers and sisters dan selamat berhari raya. Makan tu jangan sampai tak ingat dunia. XD
Hello and peace be upon you dear readers. It's been a few months since I last wrote anything on this blog and now I feel kind of rusty. Anyway, I hope you're in good health and happy wherever you are. As for me, I'm back in hostel and trust me, the only thing I miss about this place is it's fast Wi-fi connection. Haha. But still, I'm thankful for I can finally update my blog. n_n
I've been studying away from home for quite a number of years, more or less about 6 years now and staying home during holidays were never boring for me. Among all things I do during my holidays, there is one thing that I never missed in any of it. Reading. People asked me how can you keep doing that after all these years (it's not that long, LOL). Well, my answer is simple. Reading is inspiring. And I'm going to share with you one of the inspirations I got during my recent holiday.
Have you ever heard of the book Have A Little Faith by Mitch Albom? It's a very nice book talking about the lives of two Men of God and how they, leading a simple life but managed to create a great community (and it's a true story). Being a Muslim, all the books I've ever read of this kind or genre are stories of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), about his friends, about famous Muslim scholars etc. I am ashamed for being so narrow-minded. This book certainly changes the way I think about Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions therefore leading me to rethink about the concept of afterlife and of heaven and hell.
Back in the year 2000, I remember being taught that Muslims go to heaven no matter how bad they are as long as they have even as much as a tiny speck of iman (faith) and all the non-Muslims will go to hell no matter how much good they do because they don't have iman. Of course there are other things such as purgatory etc but that can wait. At that time, I questioned nothing and I accepted it blindly. Just as my friends did, just as many other Muslims of my age did.
However, reaching the age where I can think rationally, how can I accept that? It feels so unfair. I was questioning myself how can Allah (God) be so cruel? How can He do that to His own creations? I understand it if He punishes the wrong-doer but why punish the good non-Muslims too? But please be reminded, even though I have this kind of questions, not even once have I doubted Him or my religion. It's just that these questions lingered in my mind for a few years, unanswerable until fairly recently.
I got interested in religious books (not limited to Muslim books only). I listen to tazkirah (preaches) more often. I listen to non-Muslims debates and preaches too. And I talked to everyone, Muslims and non-Muslims about my beliefs and their beliefs. After some time, I know a bit more about different religions. The questions I had were answered by many of those books, people, videos etc and the answer is actually pretty simple. Allah (God) is the Judge and we, the creations, cannot judge as He does. We cannot say this guy's bad, he will definitely go to hell, this guy's good, no worries for him, he'll definitely reach heaven. Simply said, let Allah (God) do His job, we do ours', that is to please Him by doing good to everyone and avoid doing anything He forbids.
" '...Our sages tell us to repent exactly one day before we die.'
But ho do you know it's the day before you die? I asked.
He raised his eyebrows.
'Exactly.' "
As far as my limited knowledge allows, I don't think there is anyone who walks on this Earth and judge every single person he meets. "Hell, heaven, hell, hell, heaven..." If there is, I think the first one he should judge is himself. Remember, don't judge a person by his past or his present for he might change for the better in the near future and you might turn for the worst. Who knows.
To conclude, do not worry about questioning your own religion because that is how you learn and I believe it strengthens your faith too. Learn to tolerate with others and help everyone no matter who they are. And here is a video for my friends who might be wondering what Islam has to say about this matter. Enjoy. That's all for tonight.Thanks for reading. Ciao.
Peace be upon you. Yo! n_n What's up man? *bump fists* Sorry. Terpengaruh dengan sorang kawan dari Amerika. Hehe. You see, a few weeks ago, or maybe a month ago, a girl requested me for this article. Specifically she said to write about, "why Allah is the real God and not Jesus." I guess I'm just too scared to write it, it took me so long to finish it. However, I sincerely believe that I need to take care writing this sensitive issue. Tak nak menyakitkan hati kawan-kawan Kristian. They have their rights in their believe, therefore I changed the title a bit just as you can see above. Oh by the way, this post may sound a bit weird to Muslims. This is simply because I originally wrote this for a Christian friend. Layan je la eh. Hehe.
As the title says, I would focus more on Muslims believe as I don’t want to be seen as trying to attack Christianity *I really am not trying to*. I’ll be using more Quranic verses more than I use the Bible verses simply because Quran is something very near to me and Bible is not something I should be using lightly because I never studied Bible from a Christian so I may misinterpret. I am quite sure you've never read the Quran and most probably, you don't even believe in it, but since this is a Muslim's point of view, I think it's only right to use the Islamic Holy Scripture. Harap pembaca yang beragama Kristian tak kisah. n_n
Let me start with an introduction of Jesus Christ in Muslims’ eyes. Some Christians made mistakes by claiming Muslims hate Jesus. I can assure you that this is definitely not true. As a matter of fact, a Muslim is not a true believer until he believes in the prophethood of Jesus and his miracles. That’s where Muslims and Christians normally can’t see eye to eye. In Islam, Jesus is a prophet of God, but in Christianity, he is God himself. Kepada yang Muslim, anda perlu tahu bahawa Jesus termasuk dalam Trinity dan Trinity bukan bermaksud kepercayaan kepada tiga Tuhan tetapi satu Tuhan. You may want to read more on Athanasian Creed.
Dear readers, I’m sure you are familiar with the name Isa, son of Maryam (Mary) *not the same person as Isaiah*. That’s the name of Jesus in Al-Quran. For your information, Jesus is one of the great prophets of God, called the Ulul Azmi together with Abraham, Moses, Noah and Muhammad. These five prophets are specials because they are very patient in everything that God tested them with and they are very patient in spreading Islamic teachings.
Yup. That’s what I said. Islamic teachings. In Islam, we Muslims believe that every prophets such as Adam, John the Baptist, David, Noah, etc, including Jesus, they all taught the same thing which is, there is only one God and He is Allah the Almighty. Praise Him and worship Him alone.
“Your God is one God; there is no one worthy of worship except Him, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” Al-Baqarah, 2;163
“Indeed! Unbelievers are those who say: ‘Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary.’ But the Messiah himself said: ‘O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord…” Al-Maidah, 5;72
Here is what Jesus said in the Bible,
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” Mark: 12;29
The same thing is said in Deuteronomy: 6;4, which I believe, to show that it is very significant. If you are being true to yourself my Christian friends, you should know and understand that these messages are the same. So basically, both Islam and Christianity is a monotheistic religion.
Another thing is, you need to know that Muslims have no trouble believing in Jesus miraculous birth, he speaks while he is still a baby, he can rise up the dead, heal the lepers, cure the blinds etc but still, ultimately we believe all of that is possible only through the will of Allah. If Allah does not permits it, Jesus, Muhammad and all the other prophets will be unable to perform all the miracles. All in all, for Muslims, Jesus is a great prophet, we love him, but no matter what, we understand that he is only a mortal man who serves Allah. Nothing more, nothing less.
“(Remember) when Allah said: O Jesus, son of Mary, remember the favour I have bestowed on you and your mother: how I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit (Gabriel), so that you spoke to people while (yet a child) in the cradle, and in the prime of manhood; how I gave you instruction in reading and writing (the Scripture), and in wisdom, including the Taurat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel); and (remember) how by My leave you fashioned from clay, as it were, the shape of a bird and then you breathed into it so that, by My leave, it became a living bird; and (remember) how by My leave, you healed the blind man and the leper; and (remember) by My leave you restored the dead to life; and (remember) how I prevented the Children of Israel from killing you when you brought them clear signs (miracles); and those of them who disbelieved said: ‘This is nothing but clear magic.’” Al-Maidah, 5;110
Extras:
1. There is a chapter by the name Mary, dedicated to mother of Jesus in Al-Quran. In this chapter, you can read the stories of Zechariah and birth of his son John the Baptist, story about Mary and miraculous birth of Jesus, and many more. I seriously suggest you to read it.
“Those who say: ‘The Compassionate (God) has begotten a son’, certainly preach such a monstrous falsehood, that the very heavens might crack, the earth might cleave asunder and the mountains might crumble to pieces at their ascribing a son to the Compassionate (God). It is not befitting to the Compassionate (God) that He should beget a son.” Mary, 19;88-92
2. The story of crucifixion of Jesus. Muslims believe that Jews hate him and tried to crucify him but Allah saved him from the evil Sadducees and Pharisess and took him to the heaven.
“They even say: ‘We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the prophet of Allah.’ Whereas in fact, neither did they kill him nor did they crucify him but they thought they did because the matter was made dubious for them. Those who differ therein are only in doubt. They have no real knowledge, they follow nothing but merely a conjecture, certainly they did not kill him (Jesus). Nay! The fact is Allah took him up to Himself. Allah is Mighty, Wise.” An-Nisa, 4;157-158
Untuk menjawab secara ringkas soalan sahabat saya tersebut mengenai 'why Allah is the real God and not Jesus', kami orang Islam percaya yang Tuhan cuma satu. He begets not nor is He begotten. Dan tiada siapa yang menyerupai-Nya. Jesus telah dilahirkan oleh Mary dan dia juga menyerupai manusia biasa, makan, minum, tidur dan lain-lain maka, kami mengatakan dia bukanlah Tuhan kerana sebab-sebab tersebut. This is the end of my post but let me summarise the important points again.
1. Muslims do not hate Jesus, they love him.
2. A Muslim is not a true Muslim until he or she believes in the miracles of Jesus.
3. In Islam, Jesus is a prophet of God, a mortal man.
4. All prophets including Jesus taught one thing, there is only one God and He is Allah the Almighty. Praise Him and worship Him alone. 5. There are stories of Jesus in Al-Quran and Muslims favour these over the stories in the Bible. 6. Muslims believe that Jesus did not die on the cross as Allah saved him from the Jews. 7. Jesus menyerupai manusia makanya dia bukan Tuhan menurut Islam.
Peace be upon you. Hi guys. A very beautiful Friday isn't it? Friday is always enjoyable for me since it's the start of my weekend. Not for most of you though. Too bad. Haha. Anyway, enjoy everyday and live it to the fullest since none of it will rewind for you if you missed something. Kalau game, bolehlah replay save data bila terlepas apa-apa event.Real life... Takdecan. XD A friend asked me to write a 'jiwang' post. I said I can't and maybe, this is a good enough replacement? Haha. I hope so. So why do I choose to write about this?
Let's see... Rasanya idea ni mula-mula datang masa cuti seminggu yang lepas. My mom was driving and I sat quietly beside her when she suddenly said, "Fulan si kawan abang tu dah gatal nak kawen abang tau? Pening kepala mak dia. Macam mana nak bagitahu bagi habis belajar dulu." I did my eyyy??? face and wanted to reply, "Mak, dia pun dah tua. Kasi jelah dia kawen. Perempuan umur 25 nak kahwin abang rasa, abang rasalah, dah betul dan sesuai sangatlah tu." Akan tetapi, disebabkan hamba ini segan sikit nak sembang pasal kahwin ni dengan mrs. mommy, hamba cuma reply, "Oh, dengan boifren dia la tu." Huhuhu. Oh by the way, I must tell you that I'm thinking here using a Muslim's point of view. I know many of my non-muslim friends who are quite against early marriage, even some Muslims do. Well, for them 25 is early, not for me. Haha. However I must tell you this, for Muslims, couple-relationship is not something to be taken lightly. Simply said to make non-muslim understand, it's something not allowed in many situations. I repeat, many situations but not all. For you, a man and a woman hanging out together, eating together etcetera-ing together is something normal but, in Islam, it's not allowed except if a family member is also there and he or she must be old enough to think what's good and bad. So, to avoid this, Islam encourages marriage. n_n
The situation at this moment, I see my friends, younger, older, peers, many of them are thinking of getting married and quite a number of them have this so called 'calon terbaik untuk aku'. Haha. It's very funny because this is the exact 'noun' I've been hearing since I was 14. Kapel kapel dengan 'calon terbaik untuk aku' tu, last-last breakjugak. LOL. *jahat sungguh gelakkan kawan* Sorry. XD Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is, if you're still young, just don't pay so much attention on this kind of things. Bukan apa. Benda diluar kawalan orang kata. When you grow older, you'll see more of that 'calon terbaik untuk aku' and with so many choices, how can you say they're the best? n_n Senang sangat kita melayan perasaan yang dok bertukar-tukar. Sekejap dia tu, sekejap dia ni. LOL. Mainan perasaan semua tu. Just stay single and wait for the right time. How to know it's the right time? I think I kind of know how, so keep reading. XD *LOL-ing for the same mistakes I made. muehehe*
You see, the younger people nowadays tend to think early marriage is a good thing and in contrast to that, the older generations think early marriage is mostly a disaster. Bukan semualah, tapi ini yang Jaw nampak. The younger ones, in a way, I can say that they're religiously conscious but in another way, they're lacking in experience. I'm not saying the older generations are not religious though. They're just more experienced with life that they include in their frame of thinking not only religious values but also their life experiences. Kita yang muda ni fikir mudah je. Kena kahwin cepat, tak baik kapel lama-lama.Kena kahwin cepat, berdosa kapelni. Kena kahwin cepat, aku nak anak 3 sebelum umur 30. Haha. Express baq hang. Yang berumur ni diorang tak macam tu, diorang fikir jauh sikit. Nak kahwin muda, hidup sendiri pun tak stabil lagi. Nak kahwin muda, duduk pun rumah parents lagi. Nak kahwin muda, asyik tengok televisyen lagi. Lagi teruk, layan kartun lagi. *akulah tu* Haha. Macam manalah ibu bapa korang ada rasa nak bagi korang kahwin kalau dah macam tu perangainya. XD If you do want to get married early, show them you're responsible, reliable and it's way better if you have some sort of income. Kalau tak ada, bukan tak boleh, tapi kena buat perancangan kewangan dan tunjuk dekat keluarga. Diorang masa tu gerenti bangga, "Pfft. Anak aku dah matang." Haha. I've heard some say, "Sebelum kahwin, yang lelaki kena pastikan ada 3 kunci yakni kunci kereta, kunci pejabat, dan kunci rumah." Being a man sucks la like this. Suck it up brothers. We can do this. Haha.
Baru-baru ni Jaw ada terbaca satu quote. It says 'When nikah(marriage) becomes expensive, zina(fornication) becomes cheap, so keep weddings as SIMPLE and AFFORDABLE as possible.' I agree with it 100%. Buat orang Islam, cuba fikir mengenai hadis-hadis ni:
"Carilah untuk dijadikan mas kahwin walaupun sebentuk cincin yang diperbuat daripada besi."(Riwayat Bukhari )
"Sesungguhnya wanita-wanita yang paling diberkati dan menjadi keutamaan adalah yang paling rendah mas kahwinnya." ( Riwayat Ibn Hibban)
Both of this hadiths showed us one thing. That is cheap mahar is not a problem and in fact, it's a good thing. I'm not saying you cannot ask for fifty thousand of dowry, and I'm not saying that's expensive either. Dah kalau kau kahwin dengan jutawan, itu kira murahlah bagi dia. Mana aci mintak murah-murah ngan dia. Kenalah mahal sikit. Haha. Gurau je. It's up to you to ask for how much as long as that guy can afford it without so much trouble, insyaAllah, that will be okay. Tapi kalau sampai nak bagi mas kahwin pun kena berhutang, abang-abangku, tak payahlah. Cari lain je. Muahaha.
Finally, how to know it's the right time. I have a simple view in this matter. Once you have the candidate, get to know them better. Bukan mesti dengan berkapel. Cuba tanya kawan dia, tanya kawan kita yang kenal dia, tanya cikgu-cikgu dia, tanyalah siapa-siapa yang patut. Kalau betul yakin, part onesettle. Part two,check yourselves. Are you ready to become a husband or wife? Are you ready to share everything with your spouse? House, money, cars, foods, bed, shampoo and maybe, Gundam*ehh tersesat* etc. Are you ready to become a father or mother? Are you ready to forgive and forget the mistakes of each other? Are you ready to support a family in the making? Money is the least in the list. Responsibility, trust, hard work etc comes first. There are many more but to put it simply in a single sentence, are you ready for something new, bad and good? If your answer is yes for all the questions, then I must say, the right time has come. *cakap macam dah kahwin ooo. haha*
Moh ler kiter tamatkan post ni. The points I want you to get from this are:
1. Islam encourages marriage.
2. 'Calon terbaik untuk aku' mungkin bukan calon terbaik untuk anda. Trust me. Haha.
3. Jangan marah mak dan ayah anda kalau mereka larang anda berkahwin awal. Mereka hanya risaukan masa depan anda. Masih nak kahwin awal? Buktikan kepada mereka segala positif -ble anda. Able, reliable, dependable, responsible dan segala -ble-ble yang ada.
4. Bagi lelaki, pastikan anda ada 3 kunci sebelum berkahwin iaitu kunci kereta, pejabat dan rumah. Paling lekeh pun bang, kunci pejabat kenalah ada. n_n
5. Bagi wanita, mas kahwin murah-murah pun cukuplah. Nak jadi wanita yang diberkati tak? *senyum nakal. XD*
6. Bagi lelaki lagi, kalau dah mas kahwin perempuan tu mahal sangat, move on bro. Nampak gaya macam tak nak kahwin dengan kau je. *unless she tries to help you in any way to ease the burden, just move on*
7. If you're ready for the world, you're ready for marriage. n_n
This is so untrue. Refer to the Qur'an, Chapter 60 (Al-Mumtahanah), verses 8-9
Peace be upon you dear readers. n_n Hi !!! How are you guys? I'm sorry it took me a while to write a new post. I do have a few ideas and subjects to write about but I barely have enough time for my studies, let alone updating my blog frequently. Haha. However, this means you should look forward to more interesting updates from me. n_n My sincere apologies too, to some of my readers who requested me to write on certain things because I cannot do it now, but if God wills it, I will write it as soon as I find the time. n_n By the way, please pray for me and also my friends because in about one week, we'll be having our first exam in 2nd year. Scary. ε=ε=(っ*´□`)っ We need all the lucks we can get, thank you. n_n
The story began last Friday, right after the Friday prayer, the Imam of the masjid where I prayed invited the men to perform another optional or voluntary prayer to wish to Allah for the safety of a Muslim Malaysian couple detained in Sweden for allegedly hitting their son. There are rumors saying that they never hit their son, just reminding. Only Allah and the family know the truth. It's said that the couple will be charged tomorrow. I can't help but wonder why is it taking so long for the trial to begin though. Hmm. However, I do hope that their case will be resolved without much difficulty. May Allah bless them. My intention in writing this post is to clear some misunderstandings related to this case, to the best of my knowledge, of both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Some of the misunderstandings I want to address are, Islam is a violent religion that teaches its followers to beat their wives and kids, which is often misunderstood by non-Muslims, then about some Muslims who said that there's no such thing as beating your kids when they don't want to pray in Islam and finally, should Muslims obey the laws of non-Muslim country when they're living there.
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Islam is a violent religion that teaches its followers to beat their wives and kids. Is it true?
Dear readers, Islam is a religion of peace sent by Allah through his messengers. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as the final prophet, completed his task by leaving two things for the whole world to read, follow and make a habit out of them, the Al-Qur'an and Hadith. These things, if followed, will prevent us from going astray. My cherished non-Muslim readers, I strongly suggest you to get a copy of Al-Qur'an and read it for yourself. You will see that not even a sentence tells the Muslims to be violent. If you find anything like that, go ahead and find a Muslim to attack him. If Allah wills it, I'm sure he or she will give you an answer or answers to justify it.
Friendly reminders to my Muslim brothers and sisters, do not answer if you are unsure or don't know the answer. Tell the inquirer that you need some time to check with more knowledgeable people and you will get back to it once you have the answer. To say you don't know is more noble than giving incorrect answers for me. n_n Please let me share with you one verse of the Qur'an that may have been the cause behind this misunderstanding.
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend from their means. Therefore, the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in the husband’s absence what Allah orders them to guard. As to those women on whose part you see ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (then) refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them; but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means. Surely, Allah is Ever Most High, Most Great.” [An-Nisa' ; 34]
Even though this verse showed a lot of positive things but still, many non-Muslims and also some Muslims often mistook it as a violent teaching partly because of the word 'beat them'. Dr. Ahmad Shafaat explained this verse in very much details especially the beating part. Summary of his long explanation:
1. Beating is to be done after due admonition and suspension of sexual relations and therefore by husbands who have some moral standards and have sufficient control over their sexual passions. Moreover, this beating is not to go on and on but is to be tried as a last step to save the marriage. Once it is clear that it is not working it is to be abandoned in favor of some other steps involving relatives of the husband and the wife mentioned in the next verse (4:35).
2. The beating should not cause injury, bruise or serious hurt. Some scholars said that the beating should be largely symbolic and should be administered with a folded scarf, miswak (a teeth cleaning twig / kayu sugi) or some such things.
3. The wife has no religious obligation to take the beating and she can always ask for and get divorce any time.
4. If the husband exceeds the limits set down by Qur'an and Hadiths, the wife can take him to court and if ruled in favor, she can apply the law of retaliation and beat the husband as she was beaten.
5. Some Muslim jurists said that beating is permissible but not always advisable because Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) intensely disliked the action.
So, to my Muslim brothers, do not use this verse to justify yourself for wife battering. To my non-Muslim friends, please take note that, Qur'an doesn't simply tell its followers to beat people. It's only done as a last resort and not to mention all the rules and requirements which need to be fulfilled before beating them. I'd say it's most likely not done at all in a devout Muslim family. Plus, if the wife return to obedience, no further actions should be taken against them and no excuses should be made to punish them.
Beat your children if they don't want to pray. Is there such a thing in Islam?
Yes there is.
"Narrated by 'Amru Bin Syu'aib, from his father, from his grandfather he said, the Prophet (pbuh) said, "Command (teach) your children to pray when they are seven years old and beat (cane) them if they do not pray at the age of 10 and (at that age), separate their beds." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Isnad Hasan)
It's not a surprising thing for some Muslims to have not heard of this hadith since the education system nowadays is not focused on Islamic teaching anymore. However, please take note, this hadith exist therefore you cannot go and attack other Muslims saying they're kufr for creating something new in Islam.
In a paperwork by Y.B.S.S Dato' Haji Murtadza, Mufti of Negeri Sembilan, available in Web Rasmi Jabatan Mufti Kerajaan Negeri Sembilan, he wrote about 'Pendidikan Anak Dengan Solat'(Education Of Children Using Solat). He said this hadith explained about three things parents should do in the early education of their children namely *again, I'm summarizing it* :
1. Command to perform the prayers when they're seven years old
He said this command is directed to the parents where they should tell their children to pray after teaching them the requirements and rukun of solat. Islam encourages Muslims to teach their children the basics when they are still young and before they are preoccupied with works.
2. Beat them if they do not pray when they're at the age of ten
It's basically a concept of punishment for being careless. For information of non-Muslim readers, the five daily prayers are one of the most important commandments by Allah for the Muslims and to abandon the prayers is a very sinful act. That's the wisdom behind teaching the kids to pray when they are young so that they don't feel burdened by it when they're older. However, please remember that parents should not directly punish their kids when they don't perfom the prayers. Parents should try giving advices, tell stories of the Companions, and other things to their children. In fact, Islam encourages parents to be gentle (according to other hadiths and Qur'anic verses) and try to avoid from beating their kids in any way so that their children's psychological health are not disturbed. Beating the kids should come as a last resort and just like with the wives, it should not cause injury, bruise and serious hurt.
3. Separate their beds
Chilren who are ten years of age must (wajib) be given different beds especially between brothers and sisters. This aims to give them early exposure about social manners and aurah (intimate parts of human body).
Should Muslims obey the laws of non-Muslim country when they're living there?
Again, the answer is yes. Syeikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah wrote in Muslims Living In Non -Muslim Lands,
"It is absolutely essential that you respect the laws of the land that you are living in... You are living in a land in which the people are very serious about their laws, and if you break the laws, this can result in you being tried as a criminal and being sent to prison and being completely humiliated as a Muslim where non-Muslims are putting you in a cage and preventing you from your own human dignity of freedom and other things. So, it is essential that we remember that."
Sheikh Salman al-Oadah said,
"The Muslims living a non-Muslim country, even if they originally entered that country by means of forged documents, are considered to be living in their adopted country under a covenant. They must, therefore, comply with the laws of their country of residence without, at the same time, disobeying Islamic Law."
Both of these Muslim scholars said more or less the same thing. So in the case of Malaysian couple being detained in Sweden, I'd say *simply my own thought* they should just follow the laws in Sweden. My reason is, it's a sunnah and not wajib. A person will not be punished for not doing things which are sunnah and in this case, if you do it, you'll get punished. All the more reasons not to do it. Avoiding harms is also a sunnah right? However, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying we shouldn't follow sunnah and I'm not saying the couple is wrong *come on guys. it's an allegation, a claim made without proof* and I sincerely hope the trials will go on well for them. May Allah bless them.
Law abiding? Haha
Well, with all these explanations, are you still going to say Islam teaches domestic violence to its followers? I hope not and I pray that at least this post make the readers *and me* more interested to study about Islam. I am really sad when people say Islam is a violent religion. I hope after this, my dear Muslim brothers and sisters, we will improve ourselves, do good deeds and show good examples to the non-Muslims out there so that they're attracted to Islam. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) attracted all the Arabs in his time with his beautiful personality and we should follow him as close as we can. Please forgive me if I aggrieved any of you. Wallahua'alam. Allah knows the right.
Peace be upon you. Hi dear readers. Happy New Hijri Year to my muslim friends. How's life? Good I hope. I've been wanting to write this post earlier but what to do, time constraints. n_n
Anyway, let's go back to the topic. On 25th October, I went to an Enrichment Class for muslims and sadly, this post is only relatable to muslims. However, anyone is free to read it if you're interested. n_n
Poster promoting the class
The speaker is a friend of mine and she's a great speaker. But to be honest, just by reading the title, I really don't know what she's going to speak about. I am simply interested to know more and as I was free at that time, I went there to hear it. Alhamdulillah, I'm glad I went there. It was a sharing on why and how to spread da'wah (=spreading the love) as this is what Allah asked us to do and by doing what He ordered us to do, we will get nearer to paradise (=stairways to paradise) insyaAllah. I was a bit late to the class though so please forgive me for missing some informations. However, I will share most of what I got from the class here. n_n
The speaker asked all of us, why do we have to spread da'wah even though Allah will not be affected and will not be weak even if the number of Muslims is only a little. Do what Allah says, stay away from what Allah has forbidden. This is the main reason, Allah orders us to spread da'wah. By the way, this time, I'm using The Holy Qur'an English Translation by 'Abdullah Yusuf 'Ali.
"Say thou: 'This is my way: I do invite unto God,-on evidence clear as the seeing with one's eyes,-I and whoever follows me. Glory to God! and never will I join gods with God." [Yusuf : 108]
This verse shows us the definition of da'wah as a whole, which is, calling man to the way of Allah with evidences for the sake of Allah and not for anything else. They do not hope for Earthly rewards from the people but only hope for rewards from Allah. Da'wah is the best job and the most honorable speech from a muslim.
"Who is better in speech than one who calls (men) to God, works righteousness, and says, 'I am of those who bow in Islam?' " [Fussilat : 33]
Such is the Decree of Allah. There are more daleel about da'wah other than these two verses, therefore you might want to do extra reading on that. Plus, let's use our logical thinking. I'm sure all of us have non-muslims friends who are very good, in fact, some of them might be better than certain people who call themselves muslims. Shouldn't we sympathise with them? What will we do if later in the akhirah, they blame us for not telling them about the truth of Islam? Think about it brothers and sisters.
So, how do we spread da'wah?
"Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance." [An-Nahl : 125]
Da'wah is not about to preach hard, but to reach the hearts. It's not about winning arguments and in the end causing people to shy away from Islam. The principles concerning da'wah are knowledge, calling to it, acting upon it and being patient.
"By (the Token of) Time (through the Ages), Verily Man is in loss, Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy." [Al 'Asr : 1-3]
We were told a story about an Imam who is really good in preaching. One day, he was approached by some slaves and they asked him to preach about freeing slaves. He agreed. Those slaves waited for about a year and still the Imam didn't give any preachings as they asked. They all went to meet him and asked him whether he has forgotten about it. The Imam actually just finished collecting money to buy a slave and he wants to free the slave. He said he won't preach on something he never did himself. Beautiful story isn't it? Even we all know, it's easy to say but it's not always easy to do.
Then, what are the approaches of spreading da'wah? They are akhlak (bil hal), charity (bil mal), books/pamphlets (bil kitab), and speech (bil lisan). It's not important on which approaches you take. As long as there are efforts to spread da'wah, insyaAllah, the rewards are there from Allah. I think this post is already a bit too long therefore, I'll stop here for today. I'm sorry but I have to leave out the excuses people normally give when they are asked why don't they spread da'wah. To make it simple, please don't give any excuses to stop yourself from spreading da'wah because it is an obligation of a muslim. Thanks for reading. n_n
