TZ - Once reviled, now complimented

 "Saya bila di Parlimen, bila Tengku Zafrul..saya malas nak tanya banyak-banyak. Ya, kerana saya tidak fikir jawapan dia itu jawapan yang sepatutnya disampaikan oleh mana-mana Menteri Kewangan yang bertanggungjawab."

"Bila kita bercakap soal bank, rakyat susah, peniaga-peniaga kecil susah nak kena bayar. Dia jawab mempertahankan bank bukan mempertahankan peminjam, orang dibawah. Tu pon ada orang bila dia datang, Yang Berhormat! Yang Berhormat!...chup! chup! muah! muah! (cium tangan). Menyampah aku tengok!!!"

Cuba teka .. siapa yang mengeluarkan kata-kata ini?  

 

Credit : Hansiya Abdul Hamid 

18082023 @ 1133 AM - Alhamdulillahillazi bini'matihi tatimmussolihat.. puji pujian bagi allah dgn nikmatnya sempurnalah segala kebaikan..

 

timbul lagi isu dress code... sigh...

 Credit to "Sarawak Tolak DAP"

I'ts been a while..

 today's the beginning of a new gregorian year. is there klingon year btw? :D

𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐫'𝐚𝐮𝐧 𝟏𝟓 𝐤𝐦? 𝐁𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐧 "𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐦 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛" .

 Credit : Su Han Wen Shu

 

Terlalu banyak asatizah yang sering menceritakan kisah-kisah yang tidak dipastikan kesahihannya, atau yang mana kesahihan kisah tersebut amat diragui.

Dalam kes terbaru ini, Ustaz Wadi Annuar mendakwa kononnya Fir'aun membina menara setinggi 15 km, dikatakan rujukannya adalah Kitab Tarikh Al-Umam Wal Muluk karangan Ibn Jarir At-Tabari.

Sebahagian asatizah akan marah apabila kita mempertikaikan kesahihan kisah tersebut; mereka berpendapat bahawa jika kisah ini tidak sahih, mengapa para ulama silam mencatitkannya dalam kitab mereka?

Sebenarnya salah pemikiran sebegini.

Tugas para ulama silam yang menulis Kitab Tarikh dan Kitab Sirah, seperti Ibn Jarir At-Tabari, Ibn Hisham dan Ma'mar bin Rashid, hanyalah mengumpulkan kisah-kisah dan riwayat-riwayat yang wujud pada zaman mereka. Mereka membiarkan pembaca untuk menilai kesahihan kisah-kisah yang mereka kumpulkan.

Antara buktinya adalah kata-kata penafian (atau "disclaimer") daripada Ibn Jarir At-Tabari (wafat pada tahun 310 Hijrah) di dalam Kitabnya, Tarikh At-Tabari :

"Jika aku menukilkan riwayat-riwayat mengenai tokoh-tokoh silam di dalam Kitab ini, yang mana pembaca akan membantah atau menolaknya kerana tiada kebenaran padanya, ketahuilah bahawa ia bukan dinisbahkan kepada kami, tetapi ia berasal daripada mereka yang meriwayatkan kepada kami dan kami hanya meriwayatkannya sebagaimana ia diriwayatkan kepada kami". [1]

Daripada kata-kata Ibn Jarir At-Tabari ini, kita sudah boleh tahu bahawa bukan semua kisah yang dihimpunkannya adalah sahih.

Perlu diingat, kaedah ulama ketika itu adalah jika seseorang meletakkan hadis atau riwayat yang lengkap dengan sanadnya, maka dia telah dikira menunaikan tanggungjawabnya, kerana dia telah memberi ruang kepada para ulama terkemudian untuk menilai riwayat itu sama ada ia sahih atau tidak dengan meletakkan sanad penuh berserta riwayat itu dalam kitab tulisan mereka.

Kaedah ini dikenali sebagai:

أن من أسند فقد برئ. وهذه قاعدة عند المحدثين

"Sesiapa yang meletakkan sanad, maka dia terlepas (daripada tuduhan berdusta). Ini merupakan kaedah di sisi ahli hadis". [2]

Ini adalah kaedah para ulama sirah dan hadis sejak zaman berzaman.

Mungkin ada yang akan bertanya, mengapa tiada para ulama silam yang menapis riwayat-riwayat ini agar ia hanya memuatkan riwayat dan kisah yang sahih sahaja, agar orang awam boleh menelaahnya?

Untuk menjawab soalan ini, kita kena ingat, kaedah penulisan Kitab zaman dahulu amat berbeza dengan kaedah penulisan Kitab zaman sekarang:

1. Kita kena ingat, zaman dahulukala, tiada mesin cetak (printing press). Kitab Al-Quran, Kitab hadis dan mana-mana Kitab Muktabar disalin dengan tangan dari generasi ke generasi.

Kecuali Kitab Al-Quran, bukan semua orang pada zaman dahulu mampu nak beli atau simpan Kitab-Kitab hadis kat rumah; kecuali para Ulama dan Thalibul Ilm. Merekalah yang bersusah-payah tahqiq makhtutat (manuskrip) Kitab-Kitab Muktabar dan sampaikan kepada kita hari ini.

Para ulama muktabar ini sendiri pun tahu bahawa wujudnya riwayat-riwayat tidak sahih, bahkan palsu dalam Kitab Muktabar ini, seperti kenyataan Ibn Jarir At-Tabari yang aku tunjukkan sebelumnya.

Cumasanya, sebelum para ulama merujuk kepada Kitab-Kitab ini untuk mengeluarkan hukum atau fatwa, perlu diingat bahawa kebanyakan dari mereka mempunyai keupayaan untuk menilai dan membezakan antara hadis dan riwayat yang sahih dengan yang batil. Ibn Jarir At-Tabari contohnya, adalah seorang faqih yang mempunyai mazhabnya sendiri, di samping seorang muhadis (Ulama Hadis) dan mufassir (Ulama Tafsir) yang terulung pada zamannya; maka tidak ada masalah bagi beliau untuk menilai dan membezakan antara kisah yang sahih dan palsu.

Jadi tidak ada masalah jika ada riwayat-riwayat batil dalam Kitab-Kitab Muktabar, kerana mereka mampu membezakan antara yang dhaif dan yang sahih.

2. Di samping itu, setiap kitab hadis yang ada pada zaman itu dikumpulkan mengikut niat penulis kitab yang berbeza-beza. Contohnya:

i.) Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal menulis Musnad Ahmad dengan tujuan untuk mengumpulkan hadis-hadis yang masyhur di zamannya. Maka ada hadis sahih, hadis dha'if, dan hadis mungkar yang terkumpul dalam Musnad Ahmad.

ii.) Kitab-Kitab Hadis yang bertajuk "Sunan" kebanyakannya adalah Kitab-Kitab hadis yang bertujuan untuk mengumpulkan hadis-hadis yang dijadikan sandaran hukum oleh para fuqaha zaman itu, tanpa mengira sama ada hadis itu sahih, dhaif atau mungkar.

3. Kemudian datangnya zaman kewujudan mesin cetak (printing press), maka makin banyaklah Kitab Muktabar dan Kitab Hadis yang selama ini hanya berlegar-legar di kalangan para ulama dan Thalibul Ilm, kini mampu dimiliki oleh orang-orang awam.

Ini ada kesan baik dan buruk. Kesan baiknya ialah orang awam dapat "berkenalan" dengan karya-karya ulama silam yang lepas.

Kesan buruknya adalah orang awam tiada kemampuan untuk menilai hadis dan riwayat dalam Kitab-Kitab ini.

Maka banyaklah berlegar-legar amalan dan kisah-kisah yang tidak thabit dan tidak pernah diamalkan oleh para ulama silam dari kalangan orang awam Muslim di hari ini. Ramai yang menggunakan hujjah "kisah/amalan ini ada dalam Kitab" untuk menghalalkan amalan atau perbuatan mereka menyebarkan kisah-kisah yang tidak sahih tersebut.

4. Maka muncul lah para ulama yang menyambung tradisi menilai hadis dan riwayat dalam Kitab-Kitab Muktabar yang tersebar luas ini.

Kebanyakan mereka dituduh "biadap" dan "kurang ajar" terhadap para ulama silam yang menulis Kitab-Kitab ini; walhal mereka hanyalah meneruskan amalan para ulama silam sentiasa mengkaji kesahihan hadis dan riwayat yang ada dalam Kitab-Kitab ini sebelum ia boleh diamalkan dan disebarkan kepada orang awam.

Merekalah para ulama yang amanah dengan ilmu mereka dengan menapis hadis dan riwayat yang ada dalam Kitab-Kitab Muktabar sebelum ia boleh diamalkan dan disebarkan kepada orang awam.

Cumasanya orang awam menganggap perbuatan mereka sebagai "biadap", kerana mereka tidak biasa dengan kancah ilmu yang di mana para alim akan sentiasa mengkaji atau membantah sesuatu pendapat mengikut hasil kajian dan ijtihad mereka.

5. Sheikh Ahmad Syakir, Sheikh Shuaib Al-Arnout dan Sheikh Safi Ar-Rahman Al-Mubarakfuri adalah antara ulama hadis yang faham dengan waqi' (realiti) ini; mereka tahu penyebaran Kitab-Kitab Muktabar dan Kitab-Kitab hadis di kalangan orang awam tidak boleh dihentikan lagi sejak wujudnya zaman mesin cetak ini.

Maka, mereka banyak membuat Takhrij dan Tahqiq dari Kitab-Kitab Muktabar untuk memuatkan hadis dan riwayat yang sahih dalam Kitab-Kitab ini.

Contohnya:

Imam Adz-Dzahabi yang banyak menilai semula penilaian hadis yang dibuat oleh Imam Al-Hakim An-Naisaburi di dalam Kitab Al-Mustadrak ala Al-Sahihayn; di dalam Kitab karangan Imam Adz-Dzahabi, yakni Kitab At-Talkhis Al-Mustadrak, Imam Adz-Dzahabi banyak menilai semula hadis-hadis yang dinilai oleh Imam Al-Hakim An-Naisaburi.

Imam Az-Zailaei di dalam kitabnya, Nasb Al-Rayah, banyak menilai hadis-hadis yang wujud di dalam Kitab Al-Hidayah, Kitab fiqh Mazhab Hanafi;

Sheikh Shuaib Al-Arnout tahqiq Kitab Musnad Ahmad karangan Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal; beliau juga meletakkan penilaian hadis dalam Musnad Ahmad, contohnya, beliau menilai riwayat Saidatina Aisyah meratapi kewafatan Rasulullah S.A.W dengan cara memukul muka dan dada sebagai riwayat yang sangat dhaif dan tidak boleh dijadikan hujjah.

Sheikh Ahmad Syakir Tahqiq Kitab Ar-Risalah karangan Imam Syafi'i dan Kitab Sunan At-Tirmidzi karangan Imam At-Tirmidzi.

Manakala Sheikh Safi Ar-Rahman Al-Mubarakfuri pula menulis Kitab Ar-Rahiq Al-Maktum, yang memuatkan kisah-kisah yang sahih dari sirah Nabi S.A.W.

Karya-karya mereka ini banyak memudahkan orang-orang awam untuk terlepas dari ancaman berdusta atas nama Rasulullah S.A.W., apabila mereka hanya menukilkan dan menyebarkan kisah-kisah yang telah terbukti kesahihannya.

Perlu diingat, jika kisah dan riwayat ini tidak ditapis sebelum disebarkan kepada orang awam, banyak kisah-kisah yang dusta tentang sirah Nabi dan para sahabat akan tersebar;

Contohnya, menurut Sirah Rasulullah S.A.W karangan Ibn Ishaq, Kinana Al-Rabi, seorang tokoh Yahudi, telah diseksa oleh Rasulullah S.A.W agar mendedahkan harta yang disembunyikannya selepas Perang Khaybar [3].

Adakah wajar bagi seorang Nabi, yang terkenal dengan sifat pemaaf dan rahmat, untuk menyeksa seorang tahanan semata-mata ingin merampas hartanya? Sudah tentu perbuatan itu tidak sesuai bagi seorang Nabi yang kita kenali yang mempunyai akhlak yang tinggi.

Menurut ulama hadis dan sirah yang mengkaji kisah ini, kisah ini tidak sahih; kerana Ibn Ishaq tidak menyatakan sumber periwayatan beliau tentang kisah ini;

Faktanya adalah, Kinana Al-Rabi telah dibunuh oleh Muhammad ibn Maslamah atas hukuman Qisas, kerana Kinana Al-Rabi telah membunuh saudara lelaki Muhammad ibn Maslamah, yakni Mahmud ibn Maslamah.[4]

Antara kisah lain yang tidak sahih adalah kisah kononnya Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh menambah ayat-ayat Al-Quran ketika beliau menjadi penulis wahyu Rasulullah S.A.W, dan Rasulullah S.A.W membenarkan perbuatan beliau itu; maka ini menyebabkan Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh mendakwa Rasulullah S.A.W menipu wahyu dan menyebabkan Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh murtad dan kembali ke Makkah.[5]

Hakikatnya, tidak ada satu pun kisah sebab murtadnya Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh yang sahih; bahkan wujud juga riwayat (yang juga tidak sahih) yang menyatakan bahawa Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh pernah murtad dan kemudian kembali kepada Islam sebelum penaklukan Makkah.

Fakta yang diketahui adalah Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh pernah murtad, kemudian kembali kepada Islam selepas peristiwa penaklukan Makkah. Tidak diketahui sebab beliau murtad; namun ini bukanlah kejadian terpencil pada zaman itu, kerana ketika itu pimpinan Rasulullah S.A.W di Madinah masih dalam keadaan yang lemah jika dibandingkan dengan Quraisy di Makkah, maka wujudnya sebahagian Sahabat Rasulullah S.A.W, seperti Hatib ibn Abi Baltha'ah, yang menghantar surat dan menjadi mata-mata bagi Kaum Quraisy yang melaporkan keadaan Kaum Muslimin di Madinah kepada Musyrikin Makkah. Beliau terpaksa melakukan perbuatan ini kerana beliau mahukan kabilah Quraisy melindungi keluarga dan tanggungannya yang berada di Makkah ketika itu.[6]

Jika kita menerima apa sahaja yang ada dalam Kitab, mahukah kita mendakwa bahawa Rasulullah S.A.W menipu wahyu (Nauzubillah) , seperti dakwaan Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh?

Maka kami harapkan dengan contoh dan penjelasan ini, pembaca semua akan lebih teliti dan berhati-hati sebelum menukilkan kisah-kisah yang ada dalam kitab; perbetulkan mentaliti "asal ada dalam Kitab", dan sekurang-kurangnya rujuklah penilaian para ulama hadis tentang sesuatu kisah itu sebelum ia disebarkan secara meluas.

Wallahualam.

Nota kaki :

[1] Ibn Jarir At-Tabari, Tarikh Al-Umam Wal Muluk, Jilid 1, m/s 13, Darul Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, cetakan tahun 1997

[2] Syarah Kitab al-Tadlis oleh Muhd Hasan Abd al-Ghaffar, (1/13)

[3] Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasulullah S.A.W, m/s 515

[4] Shibli Numani, Sirat Un-Nabi, Jilid II, m/s 173 - 174

[5] Ibn Al-Athir, Usul Ulghabah Fi Ma'rifat Is-Sahabah, 1995, Dar Al-Fikr, Beirut (Lebanon), jilid 3, m/s 154.

[6] Sahih Bukhari, Kitab Al-Tafsir, Hadis 410.

Latin...

 Courtesy of Amine Mechaal

 

Palestine..

 Courtesy of Dr Norman Finkelstein..

PAS and the alcohol ban

 Credit to the 'Nutgraph'

By Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria | August 6, 2009

PAS‘s move to implement a blanket ban on the sale of alcohol in all Muslim-majority areas in Selangor has now given us an opportunity to draw up guidelines on alcohol sale. While their call for a ban might seem drastic, it must not be viewed from a moralistic or from only an Islamic perspective. This call for a ban is an opportunity for us to recognise the problems associated with alcohol abuse, which is acknowledged by all the world’s major religions.

There are major social and health-related problems associated with alcohol abuse among the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, among the Orang Asli and sections of the Indian Malaysian community in Peninsular Malaysia. There are so many silent sufferers, especially women and children, who are victims of alcoholics and other behavioural problems arising from alcohol consumption.

The Consumers Association of Penang has undertaken many studies on this matter and proven that there is a social-impact dimension involved as well. Hence, while PAS was speaking for the Muslim community, many of the social issues and abuses are among non-Muslim communities.

Society has already accepted that certain types of human behaviour can affect oneself and others. In the case of smoking, the Health Ministry and other authorities have undertaken many measures to restrict where one can smoke in public places, and on cigarette company sponsorship and advertisement. These initiatives are done in the interest of the common good.

A total ban of alcohol has not been effective in the past. Nonetheless, there is still an urgent need for Malaysian society to discuss further the issues arising from the negative and abusive aspects of unrestricted sale and availability of alcohol.

Currently there are already some forms of restrictions on alcohol. For example, one cannot drink and drive; alcohol can only be sold in licensed shops; alcohol cannot be sold to underaged individuals; and there are restricted hours for places which sell and serve alcohol. There are laws to curtail the production and sale of illegal and unlicensed alcoholic products as well.

The problems we face have often been associated with weak enforcement by the local authorities. There must be some public outcry on this matter because of the negative impact of alcohol abuse.

Some restrictions on the places and locations where alcohol is sold are necessary. For example, not permitting the sale of alcohol in or near residential areas and schools might be necessary. This will include all kinds of residential areas.

Designated places where the sale and consumption of alcohol can take place should also be regulated by the local authority. For example, it might be healthy not consuming alcohol in a public park or even during a football game.

While this proposal is being advocated by PAS, my interest is as a sociologist from a social work background. I am a Christian by conviction and belief. Therefore, let us not discuss social issues and concerns from a perspective that divides us. Let’s find alliances and collaborations across religions.

Public education

Alcohol producers, promoters and retailers have not embarked on public education on the potential of alcohol addiction. The government has not done enough to address the resultant abusive behaviour and health-related problems. Currently, there are no counselling programmes and if there are any, they would be inadequate. There are also no rehabilitation services like for drug addiction.

I strongly advocate that alcohol producers and the related industry pay a levy from their annual sales for public education on alcohol abuse and addiction. They should also take greater responsibility for the rehabilitation of alcoholics. Some systematic intervention programmes are necessary to assist women and children who face abuse and violence. Federal and state agencies must address these concerns.

Maybe the Selangor government could take the lead in providing the guidelines necessary for healthy living and ensure that all responsible will put human lives before profits.

---

Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria is principle research fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Views expressed in this article are his own.

Why the West craves materialism & why the East sticks to religion

 Credit to 'Arab News' 

Author:
By Imran Khan
Publication Date:
Mon, 2002-01-14 03:00

My generation grew up at a time when colonial hang up was at its peak. Our older generation had been slaves and had a huge inferiority complex of the British. The school I went to was similar to all elite schools in Pakistan. Despite gaining independent, they were, and still are, producing replicas of public schoolboys rather than Pakistanis.

I read Shakespeare, which was fine, but no Allama Iqbal — the national poet of Pakistan. The class on Islamic studies was not taken seriously, and when I left school I was considered among the elite of the country because I could speak English and wore Western clothes.

Despite periodically shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ in school functions, I considered my own culture backward and religion outdated. Among our group if any one talked about religion, prayed or kept a beard he was immediately branded a Mullah.

Because of the power of the Western media, our heroes were Western movie stars or pop stars. When I went to Oxford already burdened with this hang up, things didn’t get any easier. At Oxford, not just Islam, but all religions were considered anachronism.

Science had replaced religion and if something couldn’t be logically proved it did not exist. All supernatural stuff was confined to the movies. Philosophers like Darwin, who with his half-baked theory of evolution had supposedly disproved the creation of men and hence religion, were read and revered.

Moreover, European history reflected its awful experience with religion. The horrors committed by the Christian clergy during the Inquisition era had left a powerful impact on the Western mind.

To understand why the West is so keen on secularism, one should go to places like Cordoba in Spain and see the torture apparatus used during the Spanish Inquisition. Also the persecution of scientists as heretics by the clergy had convinced the Europeans that all religions are regressive.

However, the biggest factor that drove people like me away from religion was the selective Islam practiced by most of its preachers. In short, there was a huge difference between what they practiced and what they preached. Also, rather than explaining the philosophy behind the religion, there was an overemphasis on rituals.

I feel that humans are different to animals. While, the latter can be drilled, humans need to be intellectually convinced. That is why the Qur’an constantly appeals to reason. The worst, of course, was the exploitation of Islam for political gains by various individuals or groups.

Hence, it was a miracle I did not become an atheist. The only reason why I did not was the powerful religious influence my mother wielded on me since my childhood. It was not so much out of conviction but love for her that I stayed a Muslim.

However, my Islam was selective. I accepted only parts of the religion that suited me. Prayers were restricted to Eid days and occasionally on Fridays, when my father insisted on taking me to the mosque with him.

All in all I was smoothly moving to becoming a Pukka Brown Sahib. After all I had the right credentials in terms of school, university and, above all, acceptability in the English aristocracy, something that our brown sahibs would give their lives for. So what led me to do a ‘lota’ on the Brown Sahib culture and instead become a ‘desi’?

Well it did not just happen overnight.

Firstly, the inferiority complex that my generation had inherited gradually went as I developed into a world-class athlete. Secondly, I was in the unique position of living between two cultures. I began to see the advantages and the disadvantages of both societies.

In Western societies, institutions were strong while they were collapsing in our country. However, there was an area where we were and still are superior, and that is our family life. I began to realize that this was the Western society’s biggest loss. In trying to free itself from the oppression of the clergy, they had removed both God and religion from their lives.

While science, no matter how much it progresses, can answer a lot of questions — two questions it will never be able to answer: One, what is the purpose of our existence and two, what happens to us when we die?

It is this vacuum that I felt created the materialistic and the hedonistic culture. If this is the only life then one must make hay while the sun shines — and in order to do so one needs money. Such a culture is bound to cause psychological problems in a human being, as there was going to be an imbalance between the body and the soul.

Consequently, in the US, which has shown the greatest materialistic progress while giving its citizens numerous rights, almost 60 percent of the population consult psychiatrists. Yet, amazingly in modern psychology, there is no study of the human soul. Sweden and Switzerland, who provide the most welfare to their citizens, also have the highest suicide rates. Hence, man is not necessarily content with material well being and needs something more.

Since all morality has it roots in religion, once religion was removed, immorality has progressively grown since the 70s. Its direct impact has been on family life. In the UK, the divorce rate is 60 percent, while it is estimated that there are over 35 percent single mothers. The crime rate is rising in almost all Western societies, but the most disturbing fact is the alarming increase in racism. While science always tries to prove the inequality of man (recent survey showing the American Black to be genetically less intelligent than whites) it is only religion that preaches the equality of man.

Between 1991 and 1997, it was estimated that total immigration into Europe was around 520,000, and there were racially motivated attacks all over, especially in Britain, France and Germany. In Pakistan during the Afghan war, we had over four million refugees, and despite the people being so much poorer, there was no racial tension.

There was a sequence of events in the 80s that moved me toward God as the Qur’an says: "There are signs for people of understanding." One of them was cricket. As I was a student of the game, the more I understood the game, the more I began to realize that what I considered to be chance was, in fact, the will of Allah. A pattern which became clearer with time. But it was not until Salman Rushdie’s "Satanic Verses" that my understanding of Islam began to develop.

People like me who were living in the Western world bore the brunt of anti-Islam prejudice that followed the Muslim reaction to the book. We were left with two choices: fight or flight. Since I felt strongly that the attacks on Islam were unfair, I decided to fight. It was then I realized that I was not equipped to do so as my knowledge of Islam was inadequate. Hence I started my research and for me a period of my greatest enlightenment. I read scholars like Ali Shariati, Muhammad Asad, Iqbal, Gai Eaton, plus of course, a study of Qur’an.

I will try to explain as concisely as is possible, what "discovering the truth" meant for me. When the believers are addressed in the Qur’an, it always says, "Those who believe and do good deeds." In other words, a Muslim has dual function, one toward God and the other toward fellow human beings.

The greatest impact of believing in God for me, meant that I lost all fear of human beings. The Qur’an liberates man from man when it says that life and death and respect and humiliation are God’s jurisdiction, so we do not have to bow before other human beings.

Moreover, since this is a transitory world where we prepare for the eternal one, I broke out of the self-imposed prisons, such as growing old (such a curse in the Western world, as a result of which, plastic surgeons are having a field day), materialism, ego, what people say and so on. It is important to note that one does not eliminate earthly desires. But instead of being controlled by them, one controls them.

By following the second part of believing in Islam, I have become a better human being. Rather than being self-centered and living for the self, I feel that because the Almighty gave so much to me, in turn I must use that blessing to help the less privileged. This I did by following the fundamentals of Islam rather than becoming a Kalashnikov-wielding fanatic.

I have become a tolerant and a giving human being who feels compassion for the underprivileged. Instead of attributing success to myself, I know it is because of God’s will, hence I learned humility instead of arrogance.

Also, instead of the snobbish Brown Sahib attitude toward our masses, I believe in egalitarianism and strongly feel against the injustice done to the weak in our society. According to the Qur’an, "Oppression is worse than killing." In fact only now do I understand the true meaning of Islam, if you submit to the will of Allah, you have inner peace.

Through my faith, I have discovered strength within me that I never knew existed and that has released my potential in life. I feel that in Pakistan we have selective Islam. Just believing in God and going through the rituals is not enough. One also has to be a good human being. I feel there are certain Western countries with far more Islamic traits than us in Pakistan, especially in the way they protect the rights of their citizens, or for that matter their justice system. In fact some of the finest individuals I know live there.

What I dislike about them is their double standards in the way they protect the rights of their citizens but consider citizens of other countries as being somehow inferior to them as human being, e.g. dumping toxic waste in the Third World, advertising cigarettes that are not allowed in the West and selling drugs that are banned in the West.

One of the problems facing Pakistan is the polarization of two reactionary groups. On the one side is the Westernized group that looks upon Islam through Western eyes and has inadequate knowledge about the subject. It reacts strongly to anyone trying to impose Islam in society and wants only a selective part of the religion. On the other extreme is the group that reacts to this Westernized elite and in trying to become a defender of the faith, takes up such intolerant and self-righteous attitudes that are repugnant to the spirit of Islam.

What needs to be done is to somehow start a dialogue between the two extreme. In order for this to happen, the group on whom the greatest proportion of our educational resources are spent in this country must study Islam properly.

Whether they become practicing Muslims or believe in God is entirely a personal choice. As the Qur’an tells us there is "no compulsion in religion." However, they must arm themselves with knowledge as a weapon to fight extremism. Just by turning up their noses at extremism the problem is not going to be solved.

The Qur’an calls Muslims "the middle nation", not of extremes. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was told to simply give the message and not worry whether people converted or not, therefore, there is no question in Islam of forcing your opinions on anyone else.

Moreover, we are told to respect other religions, their places of worship and their prophets. It should be noted that no Muslim missionaries or armies ever went to Malaysia or Indonesia. The people converted to Islam due to the high principles and impeccable character of the Muslim traders. At the moment, the worst advertisements for Islam are the countries with their selective Islam, especially where religion is used to deprive people of their rights. In fact, a society that obeys fundamentals of Islam has to be a liberal one.

If Pakistan’s Westernized class starts to study Islam, not only will it be able to help society fight sectarianism and extremism, but it will also make them realize what a progressive religion Islam is. They will also be able to help the Western world by articulating Islamic concepts. Recently, Prince Charles accepted that the Western world can learn from Islam. But how can this happen if the group that is in the best position to project Islam gets its attitudes from the West and considers Islam backward? Islam is a universal religion and that is why our Prophet (peace be upon him) was called a Mercy for all mankind. (Internews)

chee meng - expiry 2022-11-15

credit jakim apps

memoir Seorang Atok

19022021 Englais 123

 Credit to 'English World Wide'

*The Mysteries of Anatomy*

Where can a man buy a cap for his knee,

Or the key to a lock of his hair?

Can his eyes be called an academy?

Because there are pupils there?

In the crown of your head can jewels be found?

Who crosses the bridge of your nose?

If you wanted to shingle the roof of your mouth,

Would you use the nails on your toes?

Can you sit in the shade of the palm of your hand,

Or beat on the drum of your ear?

Can the calf in your leg eat the corn off your toe?

Then why not grow corn on the ear?

Can the crook in your elbow be sent to jail?

If so, just what did he do?

How can you sharpen your shoulder blades?

I'll be darned if I know.

Do you?