It's Ramadan again, folks. I hope your fasts have been going well. Mine has been OK. This year I am getting into the habit of waking up for sahur consistently and finding that I enjoy the quiet of the early morning hours. And my neighbourhood mosque has a bilal with a wondrous voice so I enjoy listening to the azan for the subuh prayers too.
I always think that Ramadan is the time when things should calm down. It is after all the time for reflection, restraint and perhaps renewal of one's faith through the acts of fasting and prayer. It is also a time for charity and kindness. Unfortunately not everyone thinks so. For some reason some people have deemed it necessary to create much anxiety and chaos during this month. They practically froth at the mouth 'defending Islam', while at the same time giving more reasons why Islam is perceived as being oppressive.
My friend Art Harun has written a brilliant rebuke to one of the frothing mouths. There are others that also need to be rebuked. But it is difficult to rebuke people this month and yet still stay true to the ideals of Ramadan. Suffice to say that the so-called Defenders of Islam are not converting anyone to the religion.
Al-Quran 16:90 BEHOLD, God enjoins justice, and the doing of good, and generosity towards [one's] fellow-men; and He forbids all that is shameful and all that runs counter to reason, as well as envy; [and] He exhorts you [repeatedly] so that you might bear [all this] in mind.
Al-Quran 35:10 He who desires might and glory [ought to know that] all might and glory belong to God [alone]. Unto Him ascend all good words, and the righteous deed does He exalt. But as for those who cunningly devise evil deeds - suffering severe awaits them; and all their devising is bound to come to nought.
Speaking of which, I hear of abominable crimes being committed against the Muslims who were at the dinner at the DUMC which was raided by JAIS. Before they can be proven guilty of anything, their names and details have been spread all over the Internet. By Muslims no less. What kind of behaviour is this?
Do they not know this verse?
Al-Quran 24:19 Verily, as for those who like [to hear] foul slander spread against [any of] those who have attained to faith [20] grievous suffering awaits them in this world [21] and in the life to come: for God knows [the full truth], whereas you know [it] not.
May we all fulfill our obligations during Ramadan to the best that we can. InsyaAllah.
Muslims like you Marina, always makes me proud. You are true face of a muslim.
ReplyDeleteNow, if all muslims can be like you, the world would be a much better place.
Well done.
A Christian
Dear Marina,
ReplyDeleteYou don't behave like muslims generally do.Instead you are a decent human being which I must add is a rare commodity.
This is what I said in a different blog. it's worth repeating it here:
ReplyDeleteQuote:
In Malaysia, any muslim individual, and any muslim outfit, can do, say, condemn, criticise, etc. any religion as he/she pleases. Muslims that make condemn other religions with with strong language, are called 'better muslims', than the ones' that are silent muslims.
The ones' that don't say a word against other religions, but practice the faith faithfully are not, according to these loud mouthed muslims, good muslims.
In other words, the stronger the condemnation of a muslim, against all other religions, the better muslim he/she is. Sedition is not a word that they have to be afraid of. The muslims that are not afraid to curse and condemn other religions, are feted, praised, called true muslims. The ones' that prefer to live in harmony with the non muslims, as the Koran wants them to, and even those that question muslims that condemn the non muslims, like Marina Mahathir, are ignored.
Now, if a muslim kills others', in the name and defence of islam, like 'suicide bombers'', even if the victims are muslims themselves, are promised 72 virgins in the afterlife. why virgins, one is not sure.
In Malaysia, it would seem, there are no laws to punish muslims that condemn non muslims. If there is a law, then it is not applicable or applied to/on them. indeed, the law is secondary to them, well, in fact, they are the law.
If a muslim can defend islam in Malaysia, he should be able to do it anywhere in the world. However, a Malaysian muslim or a muslim Malaysian, can and will only defend islam, in Malaysia.
I bet that muslims like Ibrahim Ali, Redzwan Tee, Ezam, etc. will only defend islam, on Malaysian soil.
I would like to see them go to countries like France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, even Singapore, etc. and make the same speeches in those countries. Then one can call them the true defenders' of islam.
They need more muslim warriors in those countries, than in Malaysia, where islam is the official religion and is well insulated.
However, I bet Ibrahim Ali, Redzwan Tee, Ezam, etc. will not go to those countries, and be defenders' of islam.
Now, I am left to wonder why.
Again, I want to explain, that I am not condemning muslims, or anyone. I just want to understand. I am sure that it is not seditious, neither should it be offensive to muslims.
Unquote
Marina,
ReplyDeleteWhen people of peace read a religious book, it is like cooling waters, isn't it. Unfortunately, the contrary also applies.
Happy Ramadan.
Happy Fasting & Please Please Get The Hair Done For Raya! Hahahaha!
ReplyDeleteI must commend the comments here aimed at preserving peace and harmony. However it's comes as a disappointment to me to know that some generalize the whole lot of Muslim (save for Marina here) as villains. Perhaps they speak for the minority? I hope as much
ReplyDeleteModeration is always the key in approaching almost all matters, especially ones that require delicate thoughts and sensitivity. While some Muslims may not radiate in that sense, be assured that many more do.
well said.
ReplyDeletehappy fasting
I like this post, but when I read the 1st few comments, I was immediately insulted.
ReplyDeleteWhether Marina is a good Muslim or not or a true face of Muslim or not, that is not for any human being to judge. That's between her and God. But to say if all muslims can be like her, the world would be a much better place- that's an insult to all Muslims, good or bad, that do not represent the same views as Marina (which does not automatically make them zealots or the like)
What Guy said was even worse, he practically said that except for Marina, Muslims generally are indecent human beings!!
Wow! Don Himanix, a Christian, and Guy does seem to have a very shallow perception of us Muslims, don't they?
By the way, well said zhariff!
Zhariff and Umayrah,
ReplyDeleteWe are not God, I accept that. However, we tend to judge people, on the views that they hold, they way they conduct themselves, the choice of their words and action, the way they represent themselves and their religious views, etc. etc. etc.
Marina Mahathir, because of her excellent social work, is a public personality too.
Malaysia, well islam, has had the likes of Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli Nordin, Ezam, Redzwan Tee, etc. misleading and misrepresenting the face of the religion, and not only that, they always have been divisive in actions and words.
And when we non muslims, have a person like Marina Mahathir, who we think, represents the true face of islam, whose words and actions are not divisive or hurtful, etc. we are naturally drawn towards such a person, if not the religion. Thus we associate her with goodness, kindness, and all that positive attributes that islam is also known for.
We all like, well admire her, for what she does.
I wish Marina would publicise more of what she does, here speeches overseas, her work in Malaysia, etc., then, perhaps you would understand why some regards her as, not only a wonderful human being, but as a good muslim too.
I wish Marina Mahathir would brag more, because I think at least she has something to brag about, most people have nothing to brag about at all, yet make so much noise.
Now, Zhariff and Umayrah, on judgement day, if God wishes to think otherwise and has a different view of Marina, gosh, He is God, who is going to disagree with Him? That's later, with God, this is now, with us, mere mortals.
A majority of non muslims would think, I am sure, that if all muslims are like Marina Mahathir, we will have peace and understanding in this wonderful country of ours', that I am sure we all love very much.
Zhariff and Umayrah, do read what has been written and engage them constructively, on what they have written. Do not pass a general statement and "run away".
What worries me is this, if you have issues with how we consider muslims like Marina Mahathir, I really hate to think what you both are like, frightening thought that.
Umayrah, I do sincerely hope that you are going to advise Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli Nordin, Ezam, Redzwan Tee, etc. to defend islam overseas.
I also hope you both understand that simple explaination. I am afraid I can't make any simpler than that.
however, i m puzzled....
ReplyDeletethe month of Ramadan is an excuse for being unproductive, early-off from work, and gluttony....
Don Himanix
ReplyDeletewith all due respect, it was you who passed a general statement on us Muslims. Do read carefully what was written for it appears to me that you completely missed the point and turned around to judge zhariff & I for simply pointing out how judgmental YOU have been to Muslims generally.
If you didn't get this, pls be assured that I did not in anyway judged Marina nor her deeds. Neither was I saying she is undeserving of the kind words heaped upon her. I did not have an issue with that at all. Boy, how u've twisted this!
What I said was simply that she is NOT the only kind of Muslim that is also a wonderful human being. There are other kinds who may not share the same views on religion as Marina does, but do not in any way condone acts done by the fanatics and by the likes of Ezam or Ibrahim, and who treats everyone equally regardless of faith etc etc . And you have insulted them all.
I, too cannot make it any simpler than that.
There is no utter need to run away, as you have implied Mr Don. The reason, or simply to come up with such an idea alone is very much unfathomable.
ReplyDeleteHow you may perceive Marina is nothing of my concern, with that being a confusion on your part I have to say. Given Marina's impressive stature, one shouldn't question much on her character. Why bring God's view into discussion, when it is certainly not necessary when we all concur on His superiority?
I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion and be responsible for what they speak. While Umayrah here may appear offended by the various comments and let emotion got the best of her, I chose to see those comments as rationales that can be regarded simply as honest insights and prejudgment of what our dear Christian friends have towards Muslims.
Generalization, my friend, is something of a great concern. When kept to yourself, it's deemed all too alright, but when hurled at those affected, is may poise itself as a plague. Judge is all we can, when we limit ourselves to the very basic of human interaction and understanding in this multiracial society. It is easy to see where you come from with all those comments, when all there is to see around are rowdy Muslims. It's also seemingly easier to see where Umayrah's comments are coming from, when all there is to witness are hatred hurled to majority Muslims.
However, if you do have the luxury of knowing other loving Muslim and mingle with them, I believe a greater sense of understanding and acceptance may surface. One Muslim and one Christian may not have to be public figures themselves to respect each other, nor do they have to brag around for that purpose alone. It's the little things you do on your part that counts.
aiyoh... all these bickering about who's good muslims or bad....
ReplyDeletehere's my 2 sens worth.... good muslims should speak out when they see wrong done by others espcially fellow muslims.
Staying silent will only encourage the perpetrators to continue doing evil with impunity.
Letting the likes of Ezam, Ib Ali and Zul Noordin stoke the flames of hatred without protest from good muslims will only further tarnish the good name of Islam.
So.... good muslims out there... come out from the woodwork and fight back to regain the good name of Islam from the evil ones that tarnish it.
Umayrah,
ReplyDeleteThen you shouldn't have taken issue when I called Marina a good muslim. you should have agreed with me.
I said, "If all muslims were like Marina, then the world would be a better place". If that, to you, is an insult to all muslims, then all I can say is, that, you feel guilty about something, that only you know, and I don't wish to speculate.
I did not say that all those that have different views, compared to Marina are zealots, those are those words, not mine.
I tend to think that you can't accept that a christian can have a view of muslims, again that is your problem, not mine.
You have the guilt complex, that most muslims have, in that you see things that are not there, and thus you take issue with everything that you hear, and read.
Learn to accept that others' have views too,and though it may not coincide with yours' or you may not understand the gist of the arguments, ans as a result of your lack of understanding, you blabber on about something else.
Again, I spoke only of muslims like Zulkifli Nordin, Ezam, Ibrahim Ali, Redzwan Tee, and the likes of them, not ALL muslims.
This might be little too difficult for you to grasp, get someone to explain it to you.
again, you've misunderstood me. I did not make an issue of you calling her a good Muslim.. (neither am I emotional, zhariff)
ReplyDeletei had an issue with you modelling 'a good muslim' after marina ALONE. there are others who do not share her views on religion but share her understanding and acceptance of others. These too, are good muslims and human beings. Unfortunately they are completely dismissed by you when you said "if all muslims can be like you, the world would be a much better place".
it's not about what you think of her, it's about what you implied about the others.
and it's also amazing that you ended your comments with a personal insult to me... tsk tsk tsk
i'll comment no more on this.
This is what happens when you make generalization hahahaha!
ReplyDeleteWord veri: wiesick (???)
U damn right we are sick!!
Oh my my...can we please not get into a debate as to whether I'm the standard by which all Muslims should be judged? I'm obviously not, nor for that matter is any other Muslim.
ReplyDeleteThere are good and bad Muslims, and good and bad everyone else. Such is humanity. What's important is how we treat one another, no?
And that's the message of MatLuthfi in my next post "Kalau Tak Smile, Disqualified."
Umayrah,
ReplyDeleteIt all boils down to this:
If I say, "Aminah, you are beautiful, I wish everyone would look as beautiful as you", you take it to mean, that everyone else, except Aminah, is not beautiful.
I say, only those that do not like Aminah being beautiful, would make an issue of that.
Go figure what that means.
Marina, beautifully written as always.
ReplyDeleteYour post does raise an interesting question for me - what exactly is the month of Ramadhan meant to be about?
Thanks to the wonders of Facebook and Twitter, I am now privy to the thoughts that most people who have previously kept in the privacy of their own head.
Instead of hearing of good works people are doing, or the reflections/revelations they may be experiencing as a result of the prayer and fasting in this holy month, I hear:
- people planning massive buka puasa feasts and commenting on the abundance of food they plan on consuming each night;
- people judging others for not fasting or behaving as they think they should (for example, an acquintance expressed her anger at a Muslim restaurant that is open during fasting hours (presumably to provide sustenance to its non-fasting/non-Muslim patrons) - apparently, non-Muslims should only eat at non-Muslim outlets and this restaurant is clearly not run by good Muslims;
- people burning (or threatening to burn) down snakes/papers/online news portals (I didn't know you could burn a webpage!) and waging war;
- people making unfounded claims (with no supporting evidence) of bad behaviour; and the list goes on.
And I wonder, how do they reconcile the above with the prayers they make in this month (and every month)?
I thought that's what preachers do? They try to attract you to their religion? When I was studying overseas, in the dorms the Christian groups would always ask me to join them in their weekly bible study. Of course, I kindly declined. But why are people so surprised that there are preachers out there preaching?
ReplyDeleteIf you hold true to your religion you shouldn't be scared of listening to other people's faith.
The only gripe I would have is if the Christian group denied trying to preach to the Muslims. Or if they used deceit in trying to attract them. There are however, Muslims out there who don't believe that they should be preached at at all.
Just my 2 cents. Take it with a grain of salt.
Adam
All religions exhorts humankind to live a well-balanced and healthy life. And, the core of this is LOVE for all beings. When religion become a brand, a mercenary for some selfish interest, a mean to superimpose others' ideas and a field to sow hatred...humanity wanes, anarchy reigns within us. Each religion wears a different costume, but the aim is only one, for the betterment of humankind. I pray extremism and dogmatic beliefs (in all religions)doomed to hell soon. God bless.
ReplyDeleteYou can raid anywhere , anytime and with all the excuses as you like without a warrant ( no law?) and still be a muslim because you have faith in God.
ReplyDeleteThe contrary point is that you cannot join any other religion gathering/function because you are assumed to have no faith in God as a muslim . Our PM encourage such 1 Malaysia concept and had perform such activities himself and he is still a muslim and performing much activities to promote unity/harmony... among us Malaysians.
I am proud to be Malaysian because
1. I have much choices when come to "what to eat".
2. I have much public holidays to look forward to.
3..... I can continue on to list all the positive reason but without critical thinking with constructive comment like what Ms. Humble MM is doing our eyes are sealed and we will do nothing to improve/rectify/insaf to save our beloved Malaysia.
keep it up if your dare MM on your fruitful comment because its look like negative reaction/storm is coming ...Peace be with you.
I Thanks God for MM existence.
Being a good religion follower or not, he or she answer none other than to the Almighty.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment, unscrupulous politicians is attacking Marina for being "used" by the opposition and is calling for her to "self exam" and not to shame Tun Mahathir.
Since this is a Holy month, let us gather our strength to support Marina to be patience and forgiving .. till at least end of Ramadan month.
We know what those senile folks at Pekasa is trying to do..Our conscience is clear.
Let them be...
Perkosa is running short of issues hence they found MM a convenient scape goat. They have no right to interfere between father and daughter relationship and went on further to question her riches. I am sure any riches many by her was by her own sweat and hardwork.
ReplyDeleteDatin Paduka, it's time you alert your lawyers on the possibility of taking legal action against these bigots! They have damaged race relations in the country, they have attacked Ambiga and branded her with Lina Joy not knowing that Ambiga wasn't Lina Joy's Lawyer. Now they are coming for You! And these people know no limits!
Mr Don..Moral of the story.... do not make general statements bcoz u never know who u may offend. More than 1 person was offended, so that means something. U were d one being hurtful, making judgements, and throwing insults... In short, u were like ezam, inrahim & zul.. d very people u were criticising. U just didn't realise it bcoz u think only muslims do that...
ReplyDeleteOne can be anything, a Muslim, or a Christian or a Hindu or Buddhist or a Zoroastrian or a Baha'i etc. But, if one have no respect for another person's dignity and try to rip off his/her face in the public to demean him/her, to make him/her object of utter contempt and ridicule, then one's claim to be such and such, will remain a mere claim. True way of religion is by harnessing the principles of tolerance, acceptance and love on one to one basis and gradually expand it to societal level. Narrow interpretation of religion (I refer to every established religion) make many people fear the concept of following a religion to attain/reach/worship God. Religion is meant to help human beings to evolve towards better beings. In another word, religion is meant to nurture and correct the people, not to punish. And, the way to correct them is by understanding the psyche of the people, so that the core values such as faith, love, tolerance, acceptance, mutual respect, truth, charity, peace etc can find place in them.
ReplyDeleteWhen a person is void of LOVE and TOLERANCE but filled only with damnation, then it defeats the purpose of religion.
jonkerteh,
ReplyDeleteIf you care to read again, and if necessary, read it again and again, what I commented is very specific and I named names. I would say, "if the hat fits, do wear it".
It it pleases you, do tell me which part, in your own opinion, of my "generalisations" are not true. Is it not true that muslims that have hurt the feelings of non muslims are treated by heroes by the muslims? Is it not true that the Govt. tolerates such hardliners? Is it not true that the Govt. has taken action on the non muslims, just for making an observation about the muslims? Indeed the muslims are ever ready to declare 'jihad'on these non muslims. Is it not true that the muslims can outright insult and offend the non muslims, and get away scott free? Just look at the amount of teachers that have hurled serious insults at the non muslims students, and these muslim teachers are removed from teaching positions, that they don't like anyway, and sent to the State Education Depts. and given jobs that are easy, for the same pay, and which is what they want. Indeed, some see it as a promotion. And the DPM's response is, "he is powerless to act". He is also the Education Minister. I wonder if he would be powerless to act, had the teacher been a non muslim.
These are not generalisations, these are specific cases.
Over to you then.
Hi Auntie, after having returned from my summer holidays, its been sad to see all that has been happening in our country recently.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, these so-called 'Defenders-of-Islam' are doing the exact opposite of what they were called to do, by portraying Islam as a religion of intolerance and extremism (which in real fact, they are absolutely not).
I guess the only thing we can do now, is to pray and hope that God changes their minds and opens their hearts. Selamat Hari Raya to you and your family.
God bless,
Brian
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin to all Muslims
ReplyDeleteSelamat Hari Raya Datin Paduka & Family. It was rather touching seeing PM Najib holding your mum's hand in the NST. There's this Persona about her, She Steals The Show! Hahahahahha!
ReplyDeleteOne fine day, the royal family and government should just declare that fasting is something personal between Allah and you. Nobody will monitor if you fast or don't fast and nobody will judge you for fasting sincerely or for making a faked fast. When one meets the Creator, one will know just how good his fasting has been. What is the use if fasting causes one to make more mistakes ? Should he be punished for his mistakes ? Should he be freed because he fast ?
ReplyDelete