‘Aku di risik?’ oleh Adawiyah @ The Veiled Mujahidah


http://summerjoyforever.blogspot.com/2009/06/aku-dirisik-bahagian-1.html

Aku Dirisik? [Bahagian 1]

Abi (Ayah) tidak banyak bercakap ketika makan malam kali ini. Namun wajahnya tenang. Biasanya Abi tidak banyak bercakap hanya apabila dirinya dalam keadaan marah. Aku sedikit hairan dengan sikap Abi yang kurang bercakap pada malam ini. Setelah selesai makan, Abi memandang Ummi (Mak) seketika dengan pandangan yang bermakna. Namun, aku tidak mengerti maksud di sebalik pandangan itu. Ummi pula memandangku dengan wajah yang penuh dengan kasih sayang.

“Adawiyah… Abi dan Ummi nak bagitahu Adawiyah sesuatu…” Ummi mula bersuara setelah selesai makan malam. Kami bertiga bersantai pada sofa di ruang tamu.

“Ya, Ummi. Ummi dan Abi nak bagitahu apa ya?” Aku bertanya kepada Ummi.

“Macam ni, anakku,” Abi pula bersuara. “Adawiyah dah besar. Sudah bekerja dan berkerjaya sebagai jurutera…”

“Kenapa, Abi?” Aku bertanya lagi. Hatiku kurang senang tiba-tiba. Apakah…?

“Sudah tiba masanya untuk Adawiyah berfikir untuk memulakan ‘karier’ sebagai seorang zaujah (isteri) dan ummi (mak) kepada bakal ulama’-ulama’ (anak-anak),” kata Ummi tanpa melindungi apa yang ingin disampaikannya.

Aku terdiam. Lidahku kelu. Tak mampu nak kata apa-apa.

“Baru-baru ini, seorang pemuda selalu call Abi. Katanya dia ingin menyunting Adawiyah. Dia sangat berkenan untuk jadikan Adawiyah sebagai teman hidupnya di dunia dan akhirat,” jelas Abi.

Dahiku berkerut. Siapakah gerangan lelaki itu yang berkenan terhadapku? Aku tertanya-tanya namun aku cukup segan dan malu untuk bertanya berkenaan lelaki itu.

“Lelaki itu kata dia kenal Adawiyah dan Adawiyah pun kenal dia,” sambung Ummi pula.

“Abi fikir dia sangat sesuai dipadankan dengan Adawiyah,” kata Abi memberikan lampu hijau. Nampaknya Abi sangat suka akan perwatakan lelaki tersebut. Hebat sangatkah lelaki itu? Siapakah lelaki itu? Rakan sekolej dulu ke? Atau rakan di tempat kerja?

Ketika menuntut di kolej dulu, aku mempunyai banyak rakan lelaki kerana aku seorang sahaja perempuan di dalam kursusku. Namun, aku tidak rapat dengan mereka. Aku lebih suka melepak dengan kawan-kawan perempuanku yang se-persatuan dengan aku. Aku juga aktif di sebuah forum online di mana aku suka bertukar-tukar pendapat dan berdebat dengan semua orang tidak kira perempuan mahupun lelaki. Di tempat kerja sekarang, aku juga merupakan seorang sahaja perempuan di Bahagian Sistem Mekanikal. Boleh dikatakan aku banyak bergaul dengan lelaki kerana urusan kerja.

Beberapa rakan lelaki di kolejku pernah menghulurkan cinta mereka kepadaku sewaktu kolej dahulu namun aku menolak cinta mereka dengan menyatakan bahawa aku sudah mempunyai pilihan hati. Aku terpaksa berhelah kerana aku tidak percaya kepada percintaan sebelum perkahwinan.

Di forum online pula, ada juga beberapa lelaki yang ingin mengenaliku dengan lebih dekat. Kata mereka, mereka kagum dengan aku. Namun aku selalu menukar topik supaya perbincangan kami tidak menjadi lagha (leka). Kadang-kala aku pelik. Apakah yang ada pada diriku? Aku ni hanyalah orang biasa. Tiada apa yang menarik pada diriku ini.

Di tempat kerja pula, walaupun aku banyak bergaul dengan lelaki atas urusan kerja, namun tidak pernah lagi ada lelaki yang cuba mendekatiku. Mungkin kerana kebanyakan mereka sudah mempunyai teman wanita. Ada juga yang telah berkahwin. Atau mungkin kerana aku berniqab di tempat kerja. Alhamdulillah, majikanku menghormati keputusanku untuk memakai niqab di tempat kerja. Kata majikanku, mereka tidak kisah akan penampilanku asalkan diriku kemas dan diriku melakukan tugas dengan baik.

“Ummi dan Abi dah berjumpa dengan pemuda tu serta keluarga dia tempoh hari. Alhamdulillah dia dan keluarganya baik-baik. Keluarganya pun merestui Adawiyah sebagai bakal zaujah pemuda itu.” Kata-kata Ummi memeranjatkanku.

“Apa?” Dahiku berkerut lagi. “Ummi dan Abi dah jumpa lelaki tu dan keluarganya?”

“Ya sayang,” kata Ummi dengan lemah-lembut. “Kami pun merestui pemuda itu sebagai bakal zauj (suami) Adawiyah.”

“Huh?” Aku tersedak. “Tapi… Tapi Adawiyah tak bersedia lagi. Adawiyah nak fokus pada kerjaya Adawiyah dulu…” Aku cuba memberikan alasan kepada Ummi dan Abi. Aku masih muda lagi. Takkan muda-muda aku dah kena jadi isteri orang. Lagipun umurku baru sahaja mencapai 26 tahun. Aku tiba-tiba teringat akan sebuah hadis…

“Wahai generasi muda! Bila di antaramu sudah mampu menikah hendaklah ia nikah, kerana mata akan lebih terjaga, kemaluan akan lebih terpelihara.” (HR. Bukhari dan Muslim dari Ibnu Mas’ud)

.

Sebenarnya memang tak dinafikan yang aku dah mampu menikah. Gaji aku pun alhamdulillah. Kesihatan aku pun alhamdulillah. Cuma aku yang tak bersedia. Atau adakah aku akan bersedia secara automatik selepas berkahwin? Wallahua’lam…

Aku tak boleh bayangkan diriku melayan karenah anak-anak. Rasa geli menggamit diriku apabila terfikir bagaimana membasuh anak-anak yang membuang air besar serta menukar lampin. Ya, berkahwin ini bukan sahaja mengenai cinta dua insan tetapi membawa banyak tanggungjawab dan amanah. Adakah aku bersedia memikul amanah dan tanggungjawab ini? Adakah aku akan menjadi isteri yang baik terhadap suamiku? Adakah aku akan mendidik anak-anak aku dengan sebaik-baiknya? Adakah suami aku akan membahagiakan diriku dan anak-anak? Banyak persoalan bergenang di dalam mindaku ini.

“Adawiyah… Adawiyah…” Kedengaran suara Ummi.

“Uhh… Ya Ummi?” Aku baru sahaja tersedar yang Ummi masih lagi bercakap dengan diriku.

“Amboi… Termenung nampak?” Abi sempat lagi mengejekku. “Berfikir pasal si dia ke?”

“Erm… Tak.”

“Esok kan Sabtu,” kata Ummi. “Adawiyah takde tugas-tugas tambahan esok kan?” Alhamdulillah, Ummi nampaknya sudah menukar topik.

“Ya, Adawiyah takde kerja esok.” Sebuah senyuman terukir di bibirku. Ummi pula mengusap-usap rambutku. Terasa macam kanak-kanak yang dimanjakan ibunya pula.

“Esok ada makan-makan kat rumah kawan Abi. Dia jemput Abi sekeluarga. Adawiyah pun datang sekali ya?” kata Abi kepadaku.

Aku memang suka bila mendengar pasal bab-bab makan ini jadi aku pun mengangguk kepalaku tanda bersetuju.

13 Comments:

~ aman shah ~ said…
InsyAllah…
dah sampai seru tu….

habis laaa…
kalau adah terima…
ramai laa laki2 luar sana yang frust menonggeng..
hahaa…

semoga segalanya berjalan baik dan dipermudahkan Nya…

Shauqatul Asrar said…
haha..nak sokong gak apa aman komen tu..

kalau bukan cerita betul pun, nak ucap tahniah gak kat adah..semoga ia cepat2 jadi kenyataan..leh makan nasi minyak sementara puteri kat shah alam..haha

Adawiyah said…
Ini cerita fiksyen. Takde kena mengena dengan saya pun (kecuali nama).

Saje je tulis cerpen ni sebab dah bosan sangat tadi. Tak sangka ramai yang ingat ni citer betul. Huhuhu~

MuNsYi^SaMa said…
salam. bagus. ada bakat. teruskan menyambung. tp rasanya macam dah boleh agak apa jadi lepas ni. :)

imtiaz sofea said…
waaa..ada bakat terpendam rupanya..^-^

teruskan menulis..

following u my dear

Anonymous said…
Y Allah cik adawiyah oiibuat saspen jeeeeeeeee

Adawiyah said…
Siapa Anonymous ni? Hurm…

Ila Insyirah said…
Adah,

Ila pun tak suka user anonymous. Kempen Anti-Anonymous Sedunia! Haha. Tu kes malas nak log in la tu, dah tu tak tau nak bagitau nama plak. Nak kena lempang betul.

Semoga cepat-cepat kawin la Adah oi..

Nanti kenduri buat nasi minyak, jangan letak jagung dalam nasi minyak tu, Ila tak suka, lepas tu, suruh catering buat masak merah ayam, hui sedap, sekali dengan masak daging Palembang, & desert aiskrim coklat dengan wafer. Eh jangan lupa sayur kangkung goreng belacan, favourite Ila tu.

Huahahaha.

Dr. Amirul said…
Assalamaualikum..
mejar nie, takut terkeliru lagi..

mahu jadi apa pun kamu nnti..
pilihlah jalan Allah dengan hati yg bebas..
syeikhuna Tuan Guru penah berkata, kita makan,minum dan tidur semuanya kerana Allah,
menulis pun biar kerana Allah..

jaga diri jaga iman..
Assalamaualaikum

Anonymous said…
Assalamu’alikum cik ila insyirah oii..Ya Allah..punya la x suka anonymous sampai nak dilempangnya org tu..cantik betul awak punya bhs.Satahu sy bhs ni blh dikatakan melambangkan peribadi seseorang..emm.. xtahu la, mgkin betul, mgkin tak…tepuk dada, tanya Iman..insyaAllah,adawiyah..sblm ni sy komen dgn blog sy, cma kali ni je gna anonymous..lgpun sy bukannya nk berniat jahat dkt awak pn.Ana Asif jiddan.
-mr. anonymous-

Ila Insyirah said…
Mr.Anonymous,

Please don’t exaggerate my words. I said that in ‘kidding mode’.

If I do hurt you, I’m sorry. I meant no offence when I said that.

ahong said…
Salam,

Ingatkan betul. Huhuhuhu.

AhmadNizamuddin said…
Assalamu’alaikum….

tengok tajuk macam betoi2….

tengok cerita, macam xbetoi…

ahakss…

permulaan yang baik…

tapi permulaan cerita nih seakan-akan sama dengan satu cerita yang oden pernah baca dulu…

well…good job…

gambate!!

Aku Dirisik? [Bahagian 2]

Pada esok paginya, seperti kebiasaannya, kami satu keluarga melakukan solat Subuh secara berjemaah. Abi menjadi imam. Abang aku pula tiada di rumah kerana dia berkhuruj selama 40 hari di Pahang. Abang aku berjanji dia akan belikan jubah dan niqab untukku bila balik nanti.

Selepas itu, kami mengaji Al-Quran bersama-sama. Apabila Ummi atau aku tersilap makhraj mahupun tajwid, Abi akan membetulkan kami dengan penuh berhemah, lemah-lembut dan kesabaran. Aku sangat bersyukur Allah SWT telah mengurniakan dua insan hebat ini kepadaku. Aku berdoa dalam hati supaya mereka berdua dan abang aku sentiasa berada di bawah lindungan dan rahmatNya. Amiin.

Setelah selesai mengaji Al-Quran dan membuat usrah di mana Abi menjadi naqib (ketua), aku pun menolong Ummi memasak di dapur manakala Abi keluar seketika untuk membeli surat khabar.

Di dapur, aku menolong Ummi memasak French Toast dan sosej bakar. Memang sedap bila dimakan dengan sos cili. Sedap walaupun ringkas.

Apabila bersarapan, Abi berkata bahawa rumah kawannya di sekitar Tanjung Malim jadi kami kena terus gerak selepas bersarapan. Abi juga menyuruh kami memakai pakaian yang kemas dan cantik kerana ada majlis makan-makan di rumah kawannya itu.

Selepas bersarapan, aku mandi sekejap dan memakai jubah berwarna coklat, pashmina coklat gelap dan niqab hitam. Ringkas tapi kemas dan sopan. Sesungguhnya Allah itu cantik dan menyukai yang cantik (bukan sahaja luaran tapi juga dalaman).

Aku bergegas ke kereta Honda Civic milik Abi setelah sudah bersiap. Rupanya, Ummi dan Abi sudah menunggu aku. Abi kelihatan segak dengan jubah dan serban putihnya manakala Ummi kelihatan anggun dengan tudung labuh bulat biru cair, jubah biru gelap dan niqab hitam. Aku suka sangat melihat Ummi berniqab kerana beliaulah yang banyak memberikan inspirasi kepadaku untuk berniqab demi taqarrub (mendekatkan) diri yang lemah ini kepada Allah SWT.

“Amboi, lamanya bersiap ya sayang,” perli Ummi.

“Nak berjumpa dengan siapa tu?” sindir Abi. Janggutnya bergerak-gerak kecil apabila dia tersenyum.

Di dalam kereta, Abi memasang radio pada saluran IKIM.fm. Subhanallah, sedap lagu-lagu di saluran radio ini serta sarat dengan tarbiyyah-tarbiyyah (pengajaran) juga. Kemudian, lagu Kembali dari Kumpulan Far East pula bermain di radio. Sedapnya lagu tu……..

ZzzzzzzzzzzzZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZzzzzzzzzz…

“Adawiyah… Bangun Adawiyah…” sebuah suara yang halus memanggilku.

“Uhh… Saya di mana ni?” aku menjawab dalam keadaan mamai. “Saya tak nak bangun. Nak tiduuur…..”

Piak. Kakiku dipukul dengan lembut dan halus. Aku membuka mataku. Rupanya Ummi yang mengejutkanku dari tidurku.

“Kami dah sampai dah, Adawiyah,” kata Ummi. Abi pula kelihatan sedang mengambil udara di luar kereta.

“Dah sampai? Ya Allah, dah berapa jam Adawiyah tidur ni?” aku tertanya diriku dengan agak kuat.

“5 jam,” jawab Ummi dengan bersahaja. “Itulah. Online lagi malam-malam kat Facebook mengomen gambar-gambar orang.” Sempat lagi Ummi menyindirku.

Aku membetulkan pashmina dan niqabku sebelum melangkah keluar dari kereta. Terasa dahaga pula setelah tidur selama 5 jam dalam kereta. Aku melihat sekelilingku. Banyak pokok-pokok dan tanaman. Ada juga beberapa ayam melintas jalan sambil berkokok kecil.

Hmm… Rumah kawan Abi ni taklah besar sangat tapi keadaan kat sini sangatlah nyaman dan aman. Comel saja ayam-ayam ni. Mesti sedap kalau digoreng. Perutku terasa sedikit kosong dan tekakku pula kering. Biasalah kalau tidur lama-lama dalam kereta ketika dalam perjalanan menuju ke mana-mana destinasi yang jauh. Aku semakin tidak sabar untuk menikmati juadah yang bakal disediakan di rumah kawan Abi ini.

Tapi aku terperasan sesuatu. Kata Abi, ada makan-makan di rumah kawannya ini tapi kenapa rumah ini macam tiada orang sahaja? Bukan ke rumah yang ada makan-makan ni biasanya penuh dengan orang yang datang menziarahi? Agak pelik di sini ya. Hmm…

“Adawiyah,” kata Abi sambil datang menghampiriku. “Sebenarnya Abi bawa Adawiyah ke sini bukan untuk makan-makan…”

“Huh?” Aku pelik seketika. “Tapi Adawiyah lapar dan dahaga ni Abi…”

“Bukan itu maksud Abi. Abi bawa Adawiyah datang sini untuk bertaaruf dengan bakal tunang Adawiyah.”

Aku tertelan air liurku. Tanganku kananku terus menggenggam pergelangan tangan kiri Ummi yang berdiri di sebelah kananku.

“Sabar Adawiyah sayang,” kata Ummi dengan lembut. Matanya bersinar lembut. Niqabnya lembut dibuai-buai angin yang meniup sepoi-sepoi bahasa. Aku dapat mengagak bahawa Ummi sedang tersenyum walaupun wajahnya terlindung di balik niqab hitamnya. “Ummi dan Abi dah kenal sangat sikap Adawiyah ni. Kalau kami tak berhelah semalam, sudah tentu Adawiyah takkan ikut kami bertaaruf dengan pemuda ini. Adawiyah… Yakinlah dengan pilihan kami kerana kami memilih pemuda ini berdasarkan agamanya,” jelas Ummi dengan lembut kepadaku.

Ketika ini, aku melihat Abi sedang bersalaman dengan seorang lelaki yang lebih kurang umur Abi juga. Kemungkinan ini adalah bakal mentuaku. Ya Allah… siapakah pemuda yang ditulis di dalam Loh Mahfuz bahawa dialah jodoh dunia dan akhiratku? Ya Allah… Engkaulah yang Maha Mengetahui sedangkan aku yang lemah ini tidak mengetahui.

Ummi menarik tanganku dengan lembut. “Mari sayang. Kita masuk ke dalam rumah ini ya.”

Aku sudah tidak mampu berbuat apa-apa. Nampaknya aku terpaksa menurut kehendak Abi dan Ummi jadi aku pun mengikut mereka melangkah ke dalam rumah ini.

“Assalamu’alaikum ya Adawiyah…” Aku disapa lembut oleh lelaki yang bersalaman dengan Abi tadi dan seorang wanita yang pada sangkaanku adalah isteri kepada lelaki tersebut.

“Wa’alaikumussalam warahmatullah…” Aku menjawab salam pakcik dan makcik itu yang mungkin bakal menjadi bakal abi dan ummi mentuaku. Suaraku terketar-ketar. Ya Allah, hanya Engkau yang memahami perasaanku sekarang.

Walaupun aku tidak mengenali dua insan yang sedang berdiri di hadapanku ini, namun memandang wajah mereka memberikan sedikit ketenangan kepadaku. Seakan-akan terdapat nur (cahaya) di wajah bersih mereka yang sudah sedikit berkedut dimakan usia. Pakcik itu berbaju Melayu hijau dan bersongkok hitam. Nampak segak dan kemas. Makcik itu pula bertudung labuh dan berbaju kurung hijau. Nampak anggun dan sopan. Sejuk hati aku memandang dua insan ini yang mungkin bakal menjadi sebahagian daripada hidupku nanti.

Mereka berdua pun menjemputku dan Ummi serta Abi duduk di sebuah sofa yang empuk. Teh panas dan kuih-muih sudah sedia terhidang di atas meja kecil di hadapan kami. Pakcik dan Makcik itu pula mengambil tempat duduk berlawanan dengan tempat duduk kami sekeluarga. Hatiku kian berdebar. Tekakku pula semakin kering akibat rasa gementar tapi aku pula merasa segan untuk meminum teh panas yang sedia terhidang itu.

“Alhamdulillah dapat juga kami berjumpa dengan Adawiyah hari ni,” kata Pakcik itu memulakan bicara. “Nama pakcik Ahmad Jaris. Nama isteri pakcik pula Nur Rumaisa.”

“Eh… Jemputlah minum dulu awak semua. Nanti dah sejuk tak sedap pula,” kata Makcik Rumaisa sambil tersenyum. Matanya bersinar. Kelihatan dia sangat gembira. Tetapi… Di manakah pemuda itu yang nak bertaaruf denganku? Sudah kecut dan larikan diri ke?

Aku mengambil secawan teh panas dan menghulurkannya kepada Ummi. Setelah itu, aku menghulurkan secawan teh kepada Abi pula. Sebelum aku mengambil secawan teh untuk diriku, aku bertanya dahulu kepada Pakcik Jaris dan Makcik Rumaisa, “Pakcik dan Makcik tak minum ke?”

“Ahh… Kami dah minum tadi ya Adawiyah,” balas Makcik Rumaisa dengan lembut.

“Owh okey,” aku hanya mampu berkata. Aku tidak tahu hendak membuka cerita mengenai apa. Malu dan segan menggamit diri ini.

“Adawiyah tahu kan kenapa Adawiyah ada di sini hari ni?” tanya Pakcik Jaris tiba-tiba.

Muka aku tiba-tiba terasa panas. Kepanasan itu merebak ke leher dan seluruh badanku. Sekali lagi, malu dan segan menguasai diriku. Aku ingin menjawab soalan Pakcik Jaris itu tapi mulutku seolah-olah terkunci. Lidahku terkelu. Tekakku kering. Aku cepat-cepat menghirup sedikit teh panas untuk melembapkan tekakku.

“Takpa… Pakcik tahu yang Adawiyah ni mesti malu-malu kan?” kata Pakcik Jaris lagi.

“Erm…” Itu sahaja yang mampu aku ucapkan ketika itu. Mataku hanya tertumpu kepada cawan yang berisi teh panas yang sedang aku pegang. “Hmm… Adawiyah akan bertaaruf dengan - dengan…” Aku tidak tahu bagaimana mengakhiri ayatku itu lalu aku membiarkan ayatku itu tergantung begitu sahaja.

Kerana malu dan segan, aku hanya menurunkan pandanganku ke lantai.

“Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullah,” sebuah suara garau yang asing memberikan salam.

Kami semua menjawab salam lelaki tersebut. Aku mengangkat pandanganku dan mataku terpana seketika. Aku melihatnya dan dia melihatku. Dia terus menjatuhkan pandangannya. Namun aku terus memandang wajahnya. Adakah ini betul? Tak sangka… Aku betul-betul tak sangka…

“Assalamu’alaikum Adawiyah,” kata lelaki itu dengan suara yang lembut. Hati aku berdebar-debar mendengar suaranya walaupun pernah mendengar suaranya suatu ketika dahulu. Lelaki itu lalu mengambil tempat duduk di sebelah Pakcik Jaris dan Makcik Rumaisa.

“Wa’alaikumussalam warahmatullah…” Aku menjawab salamnya tetapi tidak menyebut nama kerana malu.

“Nama saya Muhammad Muhaimin,” dia memperkenalkan dirinya walaupun diri ini sudah mengenali dirinya. “Awak masih ingat saya?”

Masakan aku tidak mengingatinya. Kami berdua berkenalan di laman maya dan kebetulan juga kami berdua ahli Kumpulan Latihan Kelanasiswa Malaysia (KLKM). Namun kami berdua menuntut di universiti yang berlainan. Dia mengambil jurusan Pendidikan Multimedia di Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) manakala aku pula mengambil jurusan Kejuruteraan Mekanikal di Kolej Universiti Infrastruktur Kuala Lumpur (KLIUC).

Aku tidak tahu dari mana Muhammad Muhaimin mendapat ID Yahoo Messenger (YM) aku tapi kalau kami berdua online pada masa yang sama, dia akan memberikan salam dan berbincang mengenai KLKM dan Islam. Dia amat gemar berbincang mengenai Islam dan ilmu agamanya memang banyak kalau nak dibandingkan dengan aku yang jahil ini. Kerap kali aku terasa malu dengannya apabila berbincang mengenai Islam dengannya. Dia mempunyai banyak pengalaman dan ilmu untuk dikongsi dengan aku namun aku tidak mempunyai apa-apa untuk bertukar pendapat dan ilmu dengannya.

Aku juga pernah berjumpa dengannya sewaktu beberapa Kem Ekspedisi Kelanasiswa. Kebetulan pula tapak kem KLKM UPSI pula sebelah KLKM KLIUC setiap kali ada Kem Ekspedisi Kelanasiswa. Walaupun aku selalu ternampaknya sewaktu kem tetapi aku tidak pernah menegur dia dan dia pun tak pernah menegur aku. Hanya sekali ada seorang kawan perempuan memperkenalkan kami berdua namun aku cuma mengangguk dan kemudian terus meminta diri.

Walaupun Muhammad Muhaimin aktif dalam KLKM berbanding aku, dia masih tidak melupakan tanggungjawabnya kepada Allah. Setiap kali ada peluang, dia akan menyertai program-program dakwah, majlis-majlis ilmu dan macam-macam lagi. Dia turut menyebarkan dakwah bersama-sama kawan-kawannya di universiti dan di luar universiti. Malah, dia juga cemerlang dalam pelajarannya meskipun aktif dalam bidang KLKM dan dakwah. Namun, dia merupakan seorang yang sangat rendah diri. Keikhlasannya dan penghayatan agamanya benar-benar membuatku mengaguminya namun tidak pernah pula terlintas di fikiranku untuk mencintainya mahupun memilikinya. Hatinya milik Allah!

Setiap kali mengingatinya, aku hanya mampu membaca Al-Quran, beristighfar, berzikir dan berselawat untuk membersihkan hatiku ini. Menjumpai seorang pemuda sepertinya memang membuatku tercabar untuk menandinginya kerana ilmu agamaku dan pelajaranku tidaklah seberapa kalau nak dibandingkan dengannya. Aku juga selalu memperbaharui niatku kerana aku tersedar bahawa setiap perbuatanku adalah untuk mencari keredhaan Allah dan bukan untuk menandingi Muhammad Muhaimin. Astaghfirullah hal’azim…

Namun, setelah masing-masing mula bekerja, dia dan aku sudah tidak lagi bersua di laman maya dan kesibukan aku di pejabat tidak memberikanku peluang untuk mengingatinya langsung. Hampir-hampir sahaja aku melupakan kewujudan seorang insan yang bernama Muhammad Muhaimin namun di sini pula dia berada di hadapanku dengan sebuah harapan untuk memiliki hatiku.

“Erm… Adawiyah, awak masih ingat saya?” Muhammad Muhaimin bertanya sekali lagi lantas mematikan lamunanku.

Lidahku masih terkelu. Aku hanya mampu menganggukkan kepalaku yang tiba-tiba terasa berat.

“Adawiyah janganlah terkejut. Saya dah lama menyimpan hasrat terhadap awak cuma saya tak bersedia dulu. Alhamdulillah saya kini dah bekerja dan gaji saya pun okey. InsyaAllah saya mampu menikahi awak cuma nak tak nak Adawiyah saja untuk menerima lamaran saya ni,” kata Muhammad Muhaimin.

Aku menundukkan kepalaku. Malu. Segan.

“Saya tahu banyak juga orang yang telah melamar Adawiyah. Banyak kali saya takut saya akan terlepas Adawiyah tapi daripada bercinta sebelum berkahwin, saya lebih rela menyerahkan soal jodoh kepada Allah kerana saya percaya Allah akan menolong sesiapa yang bersabar dan bermujahadah melawan nafsunya. Lagipun, Allah telah menjanjikan bahawa lelaki-lelaki yang baik adalah untuk perempuan-perempuan yang baik dan sebaliknya,” terang Muhammad Muhaimin lagi.

“Siapalah saya kalau nak dibandingkan dengan awak?” Akhirnya aku menemui suaraku. “Saya tidak sehebat awak dan saya khuatir kalau saya tak dapat memikul tanggungjawab dan amanah ni sebagai seorang isteri.”

“Saya ni seorang yang lemah ya Adawiyah. Namun, bukankah tugas seorang suami itu membimbing dan memimpin isterinya? Kita semua mempunyai kelemahan diri tapi bukankah sepasang suami isteri itu akan sama-sama memperbaiki diri mereka dan menutup kelemahan masing-masing untuk menjadi lebih baik demi mencari keredhaan Allah?” Muhammad Muhaimin berhujah.

Aku terdiam. Kata-katanya betul. Ya Allah, sekiranya dia adalah baik untukku, agamaku, duniaku dan akhiratku, tambahkanlah keyakinanku terhadapnya supaya aku dapat membuat keputusan yang betul dalam mencari keredhaanMu.

Ummi meletakkan tangannya di atas bahuku seolah-olah ingin memberikanku semangat lalu berkata kepadaku, “Adawiyah, bukalah niqab Adawiyah tu. Bakal suami Adawiyah mempunyai hak untuk melihat wajah Adawiyah.”

Biasanya bila aku makan di tempat umum, aku akan menarik niqabku ke bawah untuk memudahkanku makan dan minum. Tidak pernah pula aku risau kalau ada seseorang akan melihat wajahku kerana aku sedang sibuk makan dan orang lain juga sibuk makan. Tapi pada hari ini, aku akan mempertontonkan wajahku kepada bakal suamiku. Dia akan meneliti wajahku dari dahiku ke daguku. Patutkah aku senyum apabila membuka niqabku? Ekspresi muka apakah yang patut aku buat untuk bakal suamiku ini?

Aku membaca basmalah dalam hati lantas menarik niqabku ke bawah. Aku malu untuk memberikan senyuman jadi aku hanya membuat muka yang manis untuk bakal suamiku. Pandangan mataku menemui pandangan matanya. Aku melihat ekspresi mukanya yang kelihatan terpegun.

“Subhanallah…” Aku terdengar suara Muhammad Muhaimin bertasbih. Sedang dia meneliti wajahku, aku turut meneliti wajahnya. Kulitnya sawo matang dan wajahnya bersih seperti kedua-dua mak ayahnya. Keningnya tebal dan matanya cantik. Sekali pandang, mukanya ada juga iras-iras orang Arab. Namun harus juga aku akui bahawa wajahnya terutama mata dan bentuk mukanya iras-iras dengan wajahku.

Muhammad Muhaimin menurunkan pandangannya setelah melihat mukaku. Aku menarik niqabku untuk menutup mukaku. Sesi taaruf diteruskan diikuti dengan makan dan minum. Setelah itu, Ummi dan Abi membawaku pulang ke rumah. Kata Muhammad Muhaimin sekeluarga, mereka tidak memaksaku dalam pilihanku dan memberikanku kebebasan untuk memberikan jawapanku pada bila-bila masa sahaja.

Seperti biasa, aku bangun malam untuk melakukan solat tahajjud. Cuma kali ini, aku turut melakukan solat istikharah. Aku tidak mendapat apa-apa mimpi mahupun petunjuk. Aku tekun melakukan solat istikharah selama beberapa hari setelah solat tahajjud dan dhuha. Aku berserah dan bertawakkal kepadaNya. Keyakinanku semakin bertambah hari demi hari dan untuk tiga malam berturut-turut, aku bermimpi yang baik-baik mengenai Muhammad Muhaimin. Ini menambahkan lagi keyakinanku untuk menerima lamarannya.

Aku akhirnya menerima lamaran Muhammad Muhaimin setelah hampir sebulan berlalu dan kami terus bertunang selepas itu. Selepas sebulan bertunang, kedua-dua pihak keluarga kami bersetuju untuk menikahkan kami berdua. Alhamdulillah, semuanya berjalan lancar pada hari pernikahan kami. Kehadiran kawan-kawan dan kerabat keluarga masing-masing telah meriahkan lagi hari pernikahan Muhammad Muhaimin dan saya.

* * * * * * *

Kami berdua duduk di hujung katil kami. Kami masing-masing malu. Kemudian aku mengambil keputusan untuk bersuara, “Abang, sebenarnya sayang sudah menyimpan perasaan kat seseorang…”

Suamiku melihat wajahku dengan tenang. Namun kedua-dua kening matanya terangkat sedikit. “Siapakah orang itu ya sayang? Bertuahnya orang itu kerana berjaya mencuri hati sayang…”

“Abanglah orangnya.”

Muhammad Muhaimin yang kini bergelar suamiku melihat wajahku dengan penuh kasih sayang. Dia meletakkan kedua-dua tapak tangannya di atas pipiku lalu mencium dahiku. Aku berasa sangat disayangi dan dicintai. Cinta kami ini adalah kerana Allah dan bukan nafsu berahi semata-mata. Semoga cinta kami akan menambahkan lagi cinta kami terhadap Allah demi meraih keredhaanNya.

* * * * * * *

Piak.

Aduh, sakitnya terjatuh dari katil. Aku terbangun sambil mengurut-urut pinggulku. Suamiku tidak ada di katil. Di manakah dia? Adakah…? Tapi ini tidak mungkin! Kami baru sahaja menikah semalam!

Eh… Aku tersedar sesuatu. Katilku turut tidak sama seperti semalam. Ya Allah, aku bermimpi rupanya. Astaghfirullah hal’azim… Rupa-rupanya aku terlupa mengambil wudhu sebelum tidur. Tapi siapakah Muhammad Muhaimin? Aku tidak mempunyai kenalan yang mempunyai nama tersebut. Bermacam-macam helah rupanya syaitan ada untuk mengacau orang sewaktu tidur untuk membuatkan seseorang mengharapkan kepada sesuatu yang tidak ada.

Astaghfirullah hal’azim… Ya Allah, Kau lindungilah aku daripada gangguan syaitan, iblis dan jin.

Amiin.

12 Comments:

Anonymous said…
hahah…lawak2…

ending yg sungguh sedih…

persoalannya..siapa risik siapa?

_kidalisme_

Ya Habibi said…
assalamu’alaikum..

jap2..! nak ketawa dulu..

hahahhahaha!
hahahahaha…
hahahahah

adakah patut, cerita dah romantis2 sebegini rupa, rupanya hanya mimpi belaka..

ahahaha.. kelakar..
lawak betul laa adawiyah nie..

haih~

siapakah Muhammad Muhaimin??
saya ada kawan nama Muhammad Muhaimin..
ngehehehe~

tok kidal..
betul tu..
siapa yang risik siapa sbenarnya?
ke ummi dan abi adawiyah yang risik si muhaimin tu??

hee~

ending yang sungguh mendebarkan dan takleh blah langsung..!

hahaha~

Anonymous said…
adah angau semacam jek,

dah sampai seru ke?

hehe…

papepon, adah mmg berbakat….

_kidalisme_

AhmadNizamuddin said…
Assalamu’alaikum…

ahakss…

pulak daa…

nasib baik jatuh katil…

meme suspension betol la adawiyah nih…

ish33….

ahaksss….

apo2 pon, corpen yang bagus…

betoi la tuh Anonymous…

si adawiyah nih angau dah kot…

hehe…. (jangan marah maa.. guro2..)

wokeh…

teruskan dengan bakat terpendam tuh…

wallahu a’lam….

Adawiyah said…
Amboi. Bukan main korang menyakat saya di sini ya. Mak ayah Adah takde merisik siapa-siapa la. Kan ni citer fiksyen.

Angau? Entah la. Adah pun tak temui jodoh lagi. Erm… Mungkin dah bertemu tapi masing-masing tak tahu kot. Hahaha. Takleh blah betul.

=p

MuNsYi^SaMa said…
Aduh. Ending kalau tukar kan best. dpt anak2 soleh solehah ke. hehe. ape2 pon, good job. :P

ibnusulaiman said…
dasyat la adik ku sorang ni…bila nak kuar buku

Adawiyah said…
Modal takde. Hahaha.

Ibn Ishak said…
best!!…

kamil @ kay mist klkm upsi said…
hahaha..adah2..sempat lg menyelitkan klkm upsi ek:P..

MAHAGURU58 said…
Assalamualaikum.

Tahniah. Ini ada bakat menulis sehebat Cikgu Aliya!

Mamu yang jarang membaca kisah kisah novel sebegini turut terpukau sekejap!

Hehehehehe…hebat! Hebat!

Semoga dapat mengarang menyedarkan para remaja Islam dari terhanyut dipukul gelombang hedonisma semasa.

Mamu ucap syabas dan selamat bertemu jodoh!

Tak kisah lah Muhammad Muhaimin ke atau siapa saja ; asalkan ia lelaki Mukmin gred A yang boleh membimbing Adawiyah ke Syorga Dunia dan Akhirat nanti, Insya Allah.

Wassalamualaikum.

‘Can converts to Islam revert back to their born beliefs?’ by MAHAGURU58


Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
In the name of Allah, (God), Most Merciful, Most Compassionate.

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
(May) Peace be upon you with the Mercy of Allah and (His) Blessings!

Dear brothers and sisters.

The subject that I would like to broach on today is the question whether Islam allows those who were formerly Kaffirs and have embraced it officially to revert back to their Kufr beliefs?

This is a constant problem that crops up when those who are Kaffirs convert to Islam purely for the reason of marrying someone whom they love who happens to be a Muslim (male or female).

Such a conversion which is done not based on one’s faith in Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala but more inclined towards legalizing one’s union with his or her Muslim lover almost always ends in both a legal and religious wrangle when things go sour between them.

I choose to write about this matter concerning those of us Malaysians who come from many faiths and ethnicities and often hear of such cases cropping up now and then amongst our population.

Even as I start this topic, there is a raging thread of discussions in an online group of which I am subscribed to as a member.

This issue is being hotly discussed in the forum but the answers and views which are being submitted by those who are Non Muslims reflect a serious lack of understanding about what Islam has to say about such matters and many of the statements by the concerned ones smacks of gross misunderstanding and misinformation?

Now, let me start by emphasizing that there is no compulsion upon any Kaffir to embrace Islam!

The Holy Al Qur’an Al Karim which is The Last (Final) and Complete Testament of Allah (God Almighty) for all mankind has this to say about the matter :

256. La ikraha fee alddeeni qad tabayyana alrrushdu mina alghayyi faman yakfur bialttaghooti wayu/min biAllahi faqadi istamsaka bialAAurwati alwuthqa la infisama laha waAllahu sameeAAun AAaleemun

256. Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And God heareth and knoweth all things.

This is in Surah Al Baqarah ( The Heifer), Chapter 2 Verse 256.

In the verse above, Allah the Almighty stresses to us not to compel anyone into Islam. This is referring to those who are not born into Islam. Those who are born as Muslims shoulder the responsibility to study about their birthright and learn from authentic sources of the Knowledge of Islam in order to understand their obligations as a Muslim.

The next verse after the above warns mankind of the consequences that they will face in the Hereafter when they reject faith and refuse to submit to Him out of their choice.

257. Allahu waliyyu allatheena amanoo yukhrijuhum mina alththulumati ila alnnoori waallatheena kafaroo awliyaohumu alttaghootu yukhrijoonahum mina alnnoori ila alththulumati ola-ika as-habu alnnari hum feeha khalidoona

257. God is the Protector of those who have faith: from the depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of those who reject faith the patrons are the evil ones: from light they will lead them forth into the depths of darkness. They will be companions of the fire, to dwell therein (For ever).

Allah makes it very clear to mankind of the consequences of our choices. Those of us who submit to Allah are promised salvation and those who choose to reject Him will face retribution. Plain and simple.

Those who choose to embrace Islam for whatever reasons must understand the reality that becoming a Muslim is a choice between Haqq and Batil. Right or wrong. Light or Darkness. Heaven or Hell. Between becoming a Believer or remaining as a Kaffir.

Becoming a Muslim is not something that you do at the spur of the moment. Just because you fall in love with someone who is a Muslim, doesn’t warrant that you embrace Islam and utter the Kalimah Shahadah just like the pledge to be a Boy Scout or Girl Guide?

This is something that you do not take as an idle club membership or belonging into a college or university campus fraternity!

Uttering the Kalima Shahadah requires you to believe in Allah the Almighty God and Creator in the truest of sense, belief, faith, understanding and total submission of your entire being to be a true Servant of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala!!!

There is no turning back into Kufr after one chooses out of his or her own volition to become a Muslim @ Believer in Almighty Allah!

You do not have the right to rescind your submission to Him, the Almighty God and Supreme Master of all that there is!

This is the reality of becoming a Muslim.

Islam is submitting to Allah. Period.

It is not a club membership. Or is it a cult or whatever else that ignorants choose to spout or spew forth from their misguidance.

Becoming a Muslim is the birthright of each and every human being here on Earth.

Yet Islam does not compel any Kaffir to submit out of their own hidden agenda of just wanting to be with a Muslim or Muslimah for the sake of legalizing their union of marriage based not on one’s true faith in Islam but more of a legal convenience.

Such a union of marriage is doomed to end up in disaster for the foundation of such a relationship was built on false pretenses.

Not really a true believer but more of being an insincere useless pretender.

Putting up an act of being a Muslim in order to dupe his or her spouse that they did so sincerely out of faith in Allah and accepting Islam for all that it is.

Thus, Islam discourages such a false conversion into it in the first place.

I do not wish to dwell upon other nation’s legalities, practices and regulations concerning such conversions for it is not within my understanding of their foreign norms and cultures.

I speak based upon the situation here in our land, the Kingdom of Malaysia.

There are many cases of Malaysian Indians and Chinese embracing Islam just because they want to get married to the Malays, Indian Muslims, Chinese Muslims, etc.

Quite a number of them embrace Islam just for show.

They dishonestly utter their Kalima Shahadah out of the need to fulfill the religious and official regulations here in Malaysia and put up a great act of becoming a Muslim just to get that Certificate of Conversion into Islam to marry their chosen Muslim partner.

Remember the case of Siti Fatima Tan binti Abdullah and her Iranian husband?

That’s a classic example of such false pretenses of one embracing Islam for one’s practical needs.

Depending on the Aqeedah ( Bedrock of Faith) of their Muslim partner, chances are that if the Muslim spouse him or herself aren’t really a true practitioner of Islam, the couple will live just a life devoid of Iman and Amals.

Iman being Faith @ Belief and Amals which are the Deeds @ Practices of Islam.

Failure to live according to the tenets and principles of Islam leads to a life prone to straying away of the couple’s promise to be true to one another and almost often leads to a souring of their feelings towards each other.

Once the ‘honeymoon is over’ and the relationship is tested times and times again based upon the false beliefs upon which that union was made, the tendency to call it a day will rear its ugly head and the one who pretended to be a Muslim will just come up and say;

Hey! It’s been great knowing you but I guess it’s time for me to wish you well and say goodbye!

No hard feelings but I think you know it as well that we aren’t exactly made for each other till Kingdom come or Death do us part, so what do you say we call it quits, eh?

You know that I became a Muslim just because I loved you but now that we are no longer comfortable being together and I really don’t subscribe to all this staying away from all that I used to enjoy is really becoming sort of a major headache for me, I’d really like to stop all these and go back to what I was before?

You know for sure that I have really not believed in all this and that I became a Muslim just to qualify marrying you!

So what do you say, huh?”

That my dear brothers and sisters is the likely conversation that usually takes place between these couples where one of them embraced Islam not out of faith in Allah but more to enable them to get married according to our Malaysian Islamic Authorities regulations and stipulations.

A marriage of convenience and a conversion based upon deceit and a hidden agenda of the one who is a great pretender.

My advice to those of you who are not really amongst those who truly believe in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala is to spare all of us the misery and heartaches.

Please do not embrace Islam just because you have the hots for someone who is a Muslim.

Please! The nation does not need this kind of theatrics.

If we want to go watch a damn good kick ass play or what, we will head on over to Istana Budaya and enjoy that play well and not have to suffer further scandals and unnecessary legal mumbo jumbo from those who just so love to create and dwell on such controversies spiced with religious fervor and official tug of wars between those of us who champion and defend Islam and those who make a killing in legal fees whilst enjoy being mainstream media darlings!

Spare us the heartaches. I beg you.

~@~~@~~@~~@~~@~

If on the other hand, you really truly believe in Allah and Al Islam, know that it is your Fitrah @ Birthright to be one of us who are Muslims!

Then by all means, come and be with us in the Ikhwanul Muslimin na wal Muslimat.

Islam is your right as well as ours.

No one can stop you from becoming a Muslim except your own self.

Not wishing to stray away from the subject matter, I wish to remind those who are not sincere in wanting to be a Muslim and just want to put up a class act of being one, is to please stop the nonsense and please be as you really, truly are?

It’s not a kind thing to do to someone whom you love or desire. To pretend loving them, giving them false hopes and once you have had your satisfaction of having them for a while, choose to turn your back on them and desert them for greener pastures or fresher ‘meat’.

Treachery of such kind will come back to haunt you. This I promise.

For Life is just like a boomerang. It will come back to kick you in your ass or in your life. Just like a knife. It will cut you when you are careless.

You who leaves a bleeding heart behind will not be spared from suffering the same yourself.

What goes around comes around. This has been proven in so many cases since Time immemorial and Almighty God Who created us knows very well what is in our hearts and minds?

Do have a heart and stop creating unnecessary and needless problems for our fragile nation.

We do not need pretenders amongst us, believe me. We already have a fair share in the ummah.

Islam is for Believers ; not Deceivers!

You want to pretend?

Please go and join a theater.

Remain as you are if you lack the faith and spare all those who have come to trust and believe in you if you really are not up to it in living life as a true Muslim or Muslimah.

Those who have embraced Islam, be reminded that it is a solemn declaration of faith towards Almighty Allah and believe me you do not want to mess with Him.

He can be the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful if He so wants but if you incur His Wrath, then my friend, who is there that can spare you from what you deserve and coming to you?

Be a Muslim or remain as a Kaffir!

It’s best that you decide well and be truthful about it.

There is no in between the two.

You either choose to live in Faith or Disbelief.

The choice is yours.

Have a blessed Jumaat O Muslims and to those who aren’t, ‘ May Allah bless you with His Guidance!’

Ameen.

Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah.

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatulillahi Ta’ala Wabarakatuh.

Abdillah.

Zainol Abideen @ Mahaguru58,
Bandar Tun Razak,
56000, Kuala Lumpur.

* Read this article as well. Cikgu Nur Aliya Yeoh is a Chinese Muslim schoolteacher. She writes from her heart and is a dedicated member of The Muslim Bloggers Alliance. May Allah bless her.
Ameen.

AND HE SAID,”I CAN’T BE A MUSLIM ANYMORE” by Cikgu Aliya


Thursday, May 21st, 2009.

And he said,’ Sorry, I don’t think I can be a Muslim.. ”

She stared at him, her heart crushed.

” What do you mean?” her voice quivered.

” I can’t live as a Muslim..”

She took a deep breath and released her pent-up frustrations.

“I can accept if you say that you have another woman, in fact I can bear it if you say that you’re leaving me but this..! You can’t live as a Muslim? You’re implying that you’ve reverted to Islam just to marry me? That our marriage in all these years is just a sham.. that you’ve never really intended to be a real Muslim in the first place!? What about our marriage vows? Were you a believer when you recited the akad nikah?!?” she almost shouted at him.

She had no more tears to cry. She had tried everything within her power to bring him back to Islam, done her best to work on her marriage with him, always trying to believe that things will eventually work out for the best.

She had prayed to Allah s.w.t night after night, seeking His help and His mercy. She had decided to wear the hijab, after years of procrastination, and had felt closer to Allah despite the turmoil and difficulties in her own marriage.

She had accompanied her husband to learn about Islam and had repeatedly reminded him about his religious obligations. During the first few years of their marriage, he did follow but soon began to lose interest. In desperation, she had even prayed in front of him in the hope that he would be moved to join her but he never did. And she had kept on trying, praying and hoping.

She had been ridiculed, scolded and emotionally abused by her non Muslim in-laws whenever she visited them with her husband. They blamed her for influencing their son to revert to Islam. They looked down on her and her own race, citing that the Malays were all hypocrites and that her religion was evil. Yet she remained patient and tried to be a good daughter-in-law and a solehah wife.

Until this final day when he told her that he didn’t want to be a Muslim any longer.
And she realized that for many years, he had never been one.

Her husband, whom she had loved and served faithfully during all the long years of their married life, had become murtad or an infidel.

And he wanted her to join him in his nonMuslim parents’ home.
She said NO.
She had had enough.
She made up her mind.
She charted her own destiny, away from him.
She planned her escape.
She’d rather lose him than her own faith.

She loves Allah swt more than she loves him.
And she’s waiting to be a free woman again.

“I consider everything that had happened as a journey and life’s lessons, Aliya. I’m a much stronger woman today, thanks to what I’ve gone through. I’m alone but I still have my family who loves me and cares about me.

I lost a husband but now I’m happier as a single woman again. And Allah swt has rewarded me with more rezeki than ever so that I can stand on my own feet. Alhamdulillah for His blessings.”

“Yes… Allah will never test anyone more than he or she can bear..” I replied.

We looked at each other’s eyes and smiled in understanding.

Yes, we’re stronger through our own trials. And we’re much stronger now when we learn to rely on Allah swt, and to trust Him to continuously guide and protect us.

Surah al-Isra 17: 15. Who receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit: who goeth astray doth so to his own loss: No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another: nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent an messenger (to give warning).

2 comments:

Ummu Auni Afif said…
Masya Allah! an inspiring story indeed. thanks aliya.

MAHAGURU58 said…
Assalamualaikum dear Aliya.

What a coincidence. I just published an article dealing with the subject and here you are writing excellently on the same matter as always.

As they say, birds of a feather flock together but in our case Bloggers for Al Islam have the same wavelengths, I suppose?

You are worth your weight in gold my dear and your hubby is a gifted man. May you both be blessed always by Ar Rahman for your efforts to help enlighten the ummah.

Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah.

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

‘I SAID IT THEN, I’M SAYING IT NOW!’ by Musings of a Mualaf


Sunday, March 1

I SAID IT THEN, I’M SAYING IT NOW

http://pukullima.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-said-it-then-im-saying-it-now.html

Wrote in December 2007 in this blog:
“So, how many Muslim Malays actually realized that the Catholic newsletter ‘The Herald’ publication permit will be withheld unless it stops its Malay section? The Malay section has used “Allah” to refer to God, I mean to be more specific, Christian god and father of Jesus Christ, while the English section still uses the term ‘God’. Two different terms for God in one edition. When the Malaysian government has decided to stop this practice from continuing, with a Minister stating that the term “Allah”, “solat” and “Baitullah” are reserved for Islam religion, so as not to confuse Muslims in this country, the Catholics protest.
Hmmm…I’m really amused. There they are, the Christians, the politicians, and the ‘human rights’ activists all hopping mad about this issue and putting the blame on the government-led politicians, while the rest of us go about our daily lives peacefully. And what’s the issue?

Christians claim that they have the right to use ‘Allah taala’ in their Malay-language Bible, and in other publications for East Malaysian Christians. They also claim that ‘Allah’ is a Arabic terminology for God in the Arab nations, so all Arabs, whether they’re Muslims, Christians or Jews, call their gods ‘Allah’. And yes, some Malaysians agree with this view; that it’s all right for Christians to use this term ‘Allah’ in their sermon, and in their missionary work among Malaysians.

I disagree. The Arabic word for God is NOT Allah; it is ‘Ilah’. Even the writing is different between ‘Ilah’ and ‘Allah’. But then I suppose Malaysian Christian don’t read Arabic. La ilaha illallah means There is no god but Allah.

Funny really. All my life till recently, I had always believed that Christians, Buddhists and Hindus in Malaysia steer away from using the term “Allah” as a reference to God. Ask any Chinese ‘AhPek’ or Indian ‘Ayahmah’ on the street who “Allah” is and they’d tell you it’s the Malay’s god. Non-Muslims won’t even stop by nor touch anything which has the Arabic writing of ‘Allah’ or ‘Muhammad’ at the stores. If a beer-drinking pork-eating non-Muslim Malaysian man suddenly cries out, “Ya Allah! Masya-Allah! Allah Akbar..!!” his friends will be so horrified they’d probably think he’s possessed by the devil. They won’t calmly sit beside him and say, “Oh, he’s talking about the God of us all, our Creator.”
I went to Christians services in many churches in West Malaysia – Methodists, Baptists, AOG, Catholics – and I had never heard the word “Allah” mentioned by the pastor or priest. ‘Alamak’ doesn’t count, ok.

So why do Catholics now insist on the terminology which has been used by Muslim Malays in Malaysia for centuries to refer to the God in Islam? Oh sure, Arab Christians use that term before Islam arrives in our land but heck, we are not in Saudi Arabia. All Arabs use this term to refer to God because it’s their only language. We’re in Malaysia and the documented Malay translation for God is Tuhan, not Allah. That’s why we have our Rukunegara as ‘Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan.’ to refer to all gods. Well, if some people seems to demand for the use of ‘Allah’ to refer to everybody’s gods, then perhaps we should change our Rukunegara into ‘Kepercayaan kepada Allah’ to keep everybody happy :P

Why can’t Catholic Christians use the term ‘Tuhan’ in their Malay Bible, etc to refer to their Christian god? I’ve checked but I can’t find the exact Iban word for God. However, I’m very sure that the Iban word for god is not Allah taala. It is just so that ever since the missionaries converted the Ibans (who had believed in animism) to Christianity, the term Allah taala has been used. They can get their message of God across by other terms such as God or Tuhan; why insist on using the term ‘Allah’ which Malaysians know is sacredly used by Muslims in this country to refer to God in Islam? Isn’t that trying to be mischievous and stirring up confusion among the public?And that makes me wonder why the double standard; in West Malaysia, they use God in English sermons, but in East Malaysia where the majority are Malay speakers, they have chosen to use Allah taala instead to refer to the same god. Christian speakers dare not use the term ‘Allah taala’ before non-Iban congregation in West Malaysia because they know that Mandarin-speaking, Hindu-speaking and English-speaking Christians generally associate that word ‘Allah’ with Islam. Hah, the double standards. They can’t even agree on which term to call their own God, so why so hell-bent on using ‘Allah’ for the Malay-speaking Christians?So why must Christians now insist on using ‘Allah’ for the Herald Malay section when they know very clearly that it is the name used by Muslims in this region for centuries before the first arrival of the Portuguese Christians in the 14th century? Some say they’re fighting for human rights? Yeah, go ahead and bark. If they are sincere, they’d change the term from ‘Allah’ into ‘Tuhan’ to get their massage and propaganda across. They don’t have to import Bibles from Indonesia with the term ‘Allah’; After 50 years of independence, most Sarawakian and Sabahan Christians are literate in Bahasa Malaysia; they can publish their own Bahasa Malaysia Bibles. Unless of course, there is something else in their mind besides giving Bibles to Catholic Ibans?

As far as I know, Christians have no specific name for God. Some Christians think that it is Yahweh but then they are not sure themselves. Ask any Christian, or better still, a Roman Catholic, what the name of his or her god is, and I doubt he or she will say, “Allah”. The word that refers to God in Malaysian churches differs based on the languages of the Christian worshippers. A Chinese-based church may have a different terminology for God compared to an Indian-based church. I bet a Chinese pastor will not tell his Mandarin-speaking congregation to “pray to Allah, father of our Yesoh(Jesus)’ else he might find the church empty the following week.But go ask any true Muslims the same question. We, Muslims are told that our God has 99 names, and the greatest name is Allah. It is written in the al-Quran itself. So all Muslims, throughout the world use “Allah” to refer to the God in Islam, the God of Prophet Muhammad and all prophets before him.

Even in translated versions of al-Quran, in Chinese, English etc, the name “Allah” is intact and not translated. That is the essence of Islam, for there is never a dispute about what the name of the Muslim God is. I don’t agree with those people who claim that we all pray to one god, therefore we have rights to call our gods in any way we want. Perhaps they can do that to their own gods but not the god I worship. My God “Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala” is not the same as the god Christians pray to. Allah s.w.t that I bow to does not have a human son. Allah who created me does not allow drinking of liquor and eating of pork. That is why I support the ban on the Malay section of the Herald for their use of “Allah” in their publications.Until the day all churches in West and East Malaysia use the term “Allah’ to refer to Christian god, I think that Christians have no base to claim the use of ‘Allah’ in their publications, here in Malaysia.

Also the Christians in America and British would most probably freak out if they are told that they have to call their God ‘Allah’ for haven’t they associated all things Islam to terrorism? And today, after all the bombings at Arab nations, the persecutions and mistreatments of Muslims in the West, some ‘enlightened’ Christian priests actually suggest the use of “Allah’ for God in the Western churches in order to bring Christians and Muslims together? How ironic.

Some Muslim Malays even say that since we are all Allah’s creatures, just allow the Christians to use it. We should be proud that Malaysian Christians want to use the word in publications,Bible and churches. Why all the fuss over one word? True enough, we are all Allah’s creations. However, if they are using His holy name for unIslamic purposes, should we as Muslims just stand by and allow that to happen?

March 2009
My opinion has not changed. In Islam Allah is the one and only God. He is the Eternal and Absolute. He begets not nor is He begotten. And there is none like Him.
Allah certainly has no son called Jesus Christ. Allah certainly does not exist in a concept of trinity.
This is Malaysia. Islam is here way before the arrival of Christianity. The name of Allah as the supreme God worshipped by Muslims has been used since the time Islam is spread to this region centuries ago.
When you go to a new home, you ask the host for permission to enter. If he says “Take off your shoes, this is Malaysia,” as a respectful guest, you’d take off your shoes. You wouldn’t impose your own cultural beliefs by rudely saying,”Oh,in my country, we wear shoes in our homes,” and proceed to step into the host’s living room with dirty shoeprints, would you?
Remember each country has its own laws and history. Here Allah has been widely accepted as the name of the Muslim God, Kaabah as the Muslim holy place and solat as the Muslim way of praying. Let’s keep it that way.

22 comments:

أزلان أحمد said…
Assalamualaikum

agreed with you kak Aliya. i can their ‘mala fide’. they are not really sincere to find the truth. rather they want convey their religion towards Muslims especially malays.

poor misguided people. in the west they begin abandoned christianity. only two places christianity seems gain acceptence - asia and africa. place where backward minded people roosting like a chicken. not all are backward, but most of them.

ahong said…
Assalamualaikum.wrt.wbt.

I actually do not mind if the Christians use the word Allah.

Simply because Allah is the only God, our God. Christians already lost in their goal to confuse the muslims to accept their idea of trinity and Christianity, which a any sane mind will know its wrong and man made. If there are any Christians out there who thinks otherwise, I suggest you read your bible. I read the bible a few times and still see the flaw and error of human mistake even though the new publications tried to cover it up.

Reminds me of the dialogue of Muhammad (may peace be upon him) and the Christians. Our beloved Muhammad (mpbuh)even invited the Christians into the mosque and they (Christians) even prayed inside the mosque.

Nabi Muhammad (pbuh) starts the dialogue with….(tranlation)

Do you know OUR God, ALLAH …….
Do you know OUR God, ALLAH …….
Do you know OUR God, ALLAH …….
(I hope my translation is correct)

Yes there is only one God that is Allah. Not Gods. Only one God. Allah S.W.T. The Christians will try to use Allah’s name to spread their religion. Along the way i am sure many will come to realize the truth of Islam when they try to understand the word ‘Allah’. They will learn that Jesus is not Allah. Even the Jewish knows that.

For example if I ask where is this word ‘Allah’ in your bible, then they will show you a malay bible.

They ask them do they know that the malay bible is just translation. They they will say they dont know. Then tell them The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek. AND THERE IS NO SUCH WORD AS ALLAH IN THE REAL ORIGINAL BIBLE.

AND JESUS SPEAKS ARAMAIC NOT HEBREW OR GREEK!

I can only see doors of opportunity to do da’wah to the Christians in Malaysia. We need to do our part to tell the confuse Christians who Allah really is.

And yes. Allah is the one and only God. He is the Eternal and Absolute. He begets not nor is He begotten. And there is none like Him.

(the above is my personal opinion and I strongly believe if all Muslims do their very best, one day all the Christians will even stop using the word Allah because when they know the truth and lies, they will not want to be Christians)

KakChik said…
I do agree with you Kak Aliya. This part,

“They can get their message of God across by other terms such as God or Tuhan; why insist on using the term ‘Allah’ which Malaysians know is sacredly used by Muslims in this country to refer to God in Islam? Isn’t that trying to be mischievous and stirring up confusion among the public?And that makes me wonder why the double standard; in West Malaysia, they use God in English sermons, but in East Malaysia where the majority are Malay speakers, they have chosen to use Allah taala instead to refer to the same god.”

sounds like they have ‘udang sebalik batu’ by using the word Allah Taala. I believe it is part of their mission in converting more people to Christianity and now their target is Malay Muslims.

~imm~ said…
salam kak Aliya.

i think the reason is clear. they merely want to confuse the mind of some simple minded Malays, by telling them that their version and understanding of Allah is the same as Muslim, so there is nothing wrong to follow the Christian teachings since both use Allah.

It is not about the fact that Allah is the ONLY God. We Muslims know that very well, but the danger of how the use of Allah in the Christian publications and the effect on the understanding of the concept is the issue here. The same issue would apply if a Buddhist decides to name his berhala as Allah, then should we allow that, since Allah is the ONLY God, and we shouldnt object to his using of the name Allah for his idol, if we follow the Christian publication way.

Before anyone use Allah to refer to his or her God, he or she should first accept and recite the syahadah, confirming Islam as his or her religion. The usage of Allah simply to refer to any form of God in the name of any religion is absolutely wrong and unacceptable, in any condition and by any reason.

SAKINAH said…
assalamualaikum..

dulu saya christian catholic..

dari kecil saya p church, kat church “kami” nyanyi guna buku (in malay version)
buku itu tak diubah sampai sekarang kecuali tambah lagu baru
dan sebenarnya dalam buku yang saya kenal dari kecil itu banyak pun guna nama Allah dlm lagu untuk merujuk kepada Tuhan..

~imm~ said…
salam sakinah..

kenapa ya mereka gunakan Allah? y not jesus ataupun yesus seperti di indonesia?

hurm.. teringat beberapa bulan sudah, dapat tawaran untuk translate missionary notes orang kristian ke bahasa melayu. bila saya persoalkan kenapa perlu bahasa melayu, kenapa minta orang melayu yang terjemah, dan tanya siapa sasaran nota2 ini, terus nama saya diblacklist. haha. takpelah, lagi sanggup begitu dari bersubahat memudahkan urusan mengelirukan umat Islam.

ahong said…
‘ASYADUALLAH ILLAHHAILLALLAH
WAASYADUANNA MUHAMMADUR RASULULLLAH’

Any Christians will agree with the first phase but non will agree with the latter. They agree there is no God but Allah S.W.T. (even though Christians believe in trinity which actually the opposite) but they will not agree that Muhammad(pbuh) is Allah’s messenger.

No Buddhist will use the word Allah because there is no God in Buddhism. Anyway for Hindu they have their idol names. The only religion that will or might use it is the Christians and maybe Sikhs. We know how the Christians is actually the devil work of Saul and the teaching by Prophet Isa is not like what the Christians practice nor the current bible is the book mentioned in our Holy Koran.

For me, if you understand that if one say only muslims are allowed to use the word Allah, then you are also acknowledging there are OTHER GODS? Muslim God, Christian God, Hindu God?

Who dares to say that only muslim is entitled to use the word Allah. Anyone who says that his God is Allah is better than saying his God is another thing. This people is easier to Da’wah.

If our beloved prophet says OUR GOD to a Christians, so will I.

TQ.
I try to get the source from IIS later.

SAKINAH said…
Assalamualaikum..

to imm..

kalau tak keberatan boleh cari dalam blog saya entri (2 entri berbeza) dec 2008 - 1) Tuhan itu esa - bible dan 2) kalimah Allah dalam kristian..

sori tak dapat bagi link sini.. internet slow..

SAKINAH said…
salam, oh ya.. kalau bible in malay version, biasanya terbitan dari indonesia.

bukan kes baru kan isu ni.. bible saya tak pasti terbitan tahun bila tapi ayah saya belikan tahun 1996, keluaran indonesia. Buku lagu rohani di church kampung saya pun dah agak lama dan dah ada sebut2 Allah

Ayah saya ada bible yang dah agak lama sebab ayah saya bekas katekis (pemimpin gereja), balik nanti saya cuba tengok.

Kalau bahasa kami pula, “tuhan” itu disebut lain lagi.. tuhan dalam bahasa kami maksud lain iaitu runtuhan

******************
Astaghfirullah

Maha suci Allah

أزلان أحمد said…
Assalamualaikum

i try to clarify something. what really happened in indonesia now and then is being applied in malaysia right now. i write about this issue briefly in my blog.

what we have in indonesia is actually the work of dutch orientalist named christiaan snouck hurgronje. he was employed by dutch east indies (VOC) to infiltrated Muslim opposition especially in acheh. acheh in that time was like kelantan. its their ’serambi Mekah’, where for decades Muslims fighting wars against colonial dutch.

eventually they tried other method to forced achenese into submission. one of the method they used is what we have nere today, using word ‘Allah’ when refering to christian god.

while in some part i agreed with ahong, (some part only), we argue the doctrin of ‘god’ in christianity itself. and rather that doctrin is fit into what Islam has teach us in Al Quran and As Sunnah about Allah The Allmighty, which in my opinion, is not. in Al Quran Allah said ‘He begets not nor is He begotten’. this clearly answered what the christian claim fo holy trinity and the oknum, what-so-ever it is.

as in Usul Al Fiqh, there is Qaidah of Sadd Al Zari’ah of Zara’ik. its means in simple term as blocking the means. in practice its better to close the door which can lead to destruction even before the disasters itself occur.

in this case like i said earlier there is ‘mala fide’ or evil intention involved in this issue. we can see before this the catholic claim they have right to use word Allah refering god. if you all remember hindu sangam has claim injunction to intervene in this case, as they also claim right to use word Allah when refering hindu deity. and also we can see they gain support not only from same religious faith, but from other faith such as buddhist, sikh etc. its in reality is an assult toward Islam and Muslims in malaysia.

Wasalam

ahong said…
This post has been removed by the author.
ahong said…
Interesting article on your blog brother. Lets think of it in a reverse way. People in this region always have the fear of Christianity. And it is because of this mind set that most will actually not learn other religion other than their own. Without clear understanding of Christianity the people will know the truth of this religion. If one know Christianity well, he/she wont be trapped by the Christian missionaries.

Ok going back to looking back at reverse, if we look at the western world, more and more people are reverting to Islam. The question is why? The best answer to fit that is because the of the da’wah done by our brothers and sisters in the western world. This people came to a conclusion that there is corruption in their religion (Christianity) and then find the truth of Islam. How do we share Islam to people who tries to find God/Allah? Do we say something like’ you know YOUR GOD is false?’
or ‘ YOUR GOD IS NOT GOD ?’. I would say ‘you know OUR GOD is….’

Its easy to reason out that Jesus is not Allah. Even the Coptic Christians knows that. A sane mind will.

In the Malaysian case, I will only blame myself of not doing enough da’wah. Malaysia have so many muslims but how many tried to reach out to the non-muslims? I have talked to some Asli people and most will tell you that muslim here will help in their reversion but eventually they will stop visit and it ends there. While the Christian missionaries will come over from time to time and they will bring money and gift in every visit.

As for the conversion of Malay muslims to Christians, I can tell you that its not because they were confused of Christianity but its because they are confused by the Islam practiced in Malaysia.
‘Christian easy ma, Islam so hard’
I heard this words before.

We have so many muslims and we cant fight a bunch of Christian missionaries? Anyone can see how strong the Malaysian muslim’s faith is. After so many years of independance, how many of us spread the truth and share Islam to the non-muslim. Maybe thats the reason the late Ahmad Deedat call us Malaysian muslim spineless ‘obor-obor’.

Bad intention only can only appear because of there is a ‘chance’. That chance or weakness is from us. Anyway the Hindu sangam will not succeed because even if they do, will they call all their deity Allah? Same name? Hahahaha… ‘membuka pekung di dada’

I look on the positive side of the name ‘Allah’ to be used by the Christians. They will not succeed to convert the literate people, they will look for the people who are illiterate and do not have knowledge in Islam. They will look for the people who are abandoned by the muslims in Malaysia.

I am sorry if I offended anyone with my ideas. Maybe I just look at the situation in another angle.

Wsalam

mal887 said…
Salam Semua;

Pandangan saya begini. Tujuan mereka sebenarnya bukan untuk kegunaan mereka sahaja tetapi mempunyai serampang dua mata. Kalau kerajaan luluskan penggunaan Kalimah Allah itu, maka mereka akan menjalankan Propaganda untuk mempengaruhi orang Islam yang tipis Islamnya dan remaja2 Islam yang kononnya ingin hidup bebas bahawa ‘TUHAN KITA SAMA = ALLAH’ cuma yang membezakan ALLAH ISLAM banyak larangan TETAPI ‘ALLAH’ mereka memberikan KEBEBASAN hidup bebas, minum arak dsbnya… fikir2kanlah… DAKYAH MEREKA MEMPUNYAI NIAT DISEBALIKNYA…. awasi anak-anak kita..

jr said…
Salam,
I’m getting into both opinions here. While we should take advantage of the use of Allah by Christians we should also on the other hand be very careful with any hidden agenda. While more literate muslims look forward to da’wah with the non-muslims it will take a great effort to ensure that the less literate one (quite a number) will not hooked up to the opposite beliefs. About the use of Allah in Indonesia, I’ve stumbled upon them through reading their novels back at secondary school. I recalled reading ‘Karmilla’ where the author frequently uses ‘tuhan’, ‘bunda maria’ and Allah at the same time. It was quite confusing at first until the part when the main character visits a church then only I realize she is a christian. Even the term ‘naudzubillah’ was used when the main charater refer to bad occurences.

aliya said…
Waalaikumussalam azlan,ahong,
There’ve been many cases of born Malays becoming murtad, of Muslim reverts among orang asli who turned to Christianity, and one of the reasons is the use of literature in Malay. When words used are similar, people can easily become confused, especially among the less-educated and not-so-strong Muslims.
ahong, the issue here is not about trying to turn Christians into Muslims by using His Holy name. The real issue is whether we agree to let the Roman Catholics to spread their Christian teachings among Malaysians using the terms “Allah”, solat, Kaabah etc, which all this while has been gazetted as words relating to Islam. Should we allow Roman Catholics to tell people to pray to Allah - in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit? Would allah be pleased with us, the Muslims in Malaysia if we allow that to take place?

aliya said…
Waalaikumussalam KakChik, imm,azlan,ahong, mal887, jr,
KakChik & imm, Yes, well said..
Have you ever wondered why this issue of wanting to publish newsletter using the terminology is brought up only now, and not decades ago? Wonder why only in these few years we hear about born Muslims becoming Christians etc?
ahong, Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar. We have been given the hidayah, we think hard but not everyone will have these gifts. That’s why we need to do dakwah to others, and at the same time esure that our own Muslim brothers and sisters are not swayed by the Christian propaganda.
mal887, agree with you.
If you are already confused by those terminology, imagine a young Muslim teenager who is just learning about Islam and have close friends passing the literature about a Christian Allah to him/her.

aliya said…
Waalaikumussalam Sakinah,
Yes, I do understand that the natives in Sarawak have been given Christian literature in B.Indonesia. We are not protesting the use of B.Indonesia bibles for Sarawakian Catholics but the use of the name ‘Allah’ to refer to God as worshipped by Roman Catholic Christians in the Malay version of the Herald newsletter.
I quote you “Kalau bahasa kami pula, “tuhan” itu disebut lain lagi”, so why still insist on the term ‘Allah’ when other words could be used?
Indonesia may be the most populated Muslim nation but the laws of that country is different from what we practise here.I for one, do not wish to see what’s happening to the general Muslim population in Indonesia to occur here in Malaysia.

أزلان أحمد said…
Assalamualaikum

i stand by your opinion kak Aliya.

Wasalam

~imm~ said…
Salam kak Aliya.

True. The issue here, as i said earlier, is how the usage of Allah in the christian publication would be used to confuse the simple minded muslims. Yes, maybe we are quite fortunate to be able to differentiate Allah in Islam and in the christian minds, but then again, not everyone is capable of having our way of thinking.

While the effort to take advantage of the christian deviation is good, we should first see the adverse effect that might be the outcome of this usage in the future. It is always better to prevent than to cure.

ahong said…
Assalamualaikum sis,

I find some interesting material and I would like to share and its regarding this topic as well. Thanks

http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam/AskAboutIslamE/AskAboutIslamE&cid=1123996015812

aliya said…
Waalaikumussalam ahong,
Yes, thanks for the information. Readingislam.com is a large website and it takes a long time to read every article. So alhamdulillah for ahong’s latest comment.

I quote from http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam/AskAboutIslamE/AskAboutIslamE&cid=1123996015812
” Let us now look at the Arabic word Allah - we can immediately recognize the English word “all”, indeed we have herein one of the best characteristics of Allah’s attributes; The All-Knowing, All-Seeing, All-Hearing, All-Merciful etc. Every baby born anywhere in the world has, as his first utterance the short “a” sound. No new born ever cried out with an “s” or a “t” or a “d” or a “b” sound! All exclaim the “a” as an expression of the oneness of humanity, in relation to its Creator.
Also, all final deathbed gasps exhale the “h”, the last letter of the name of Allah. This is because He is the First and the Last! When we scream in pain or cry out in fear, or grunt and groan during strenuous exercise or disgust, or exclaim in joy or surprise, it is the very same… “ahhh”, and not the “g” of the word God that we all emit. This reality is intrinsic in our innermost selves, something out of our control!!
Why is this so, you may ask. It is because the word Allah refers to the concept of that which all turn to for refuge and repose. Without finding this state of rest and security, we are in a constant state of frustration and irritability. Our souls all yearn to reach the place of contentment, which can only be found by knowing Allah as He has revealed Himself to us, in the Qur’an.
Another interesting facet of the two related languages is the relation of the words “man” and “woman”. The word “man” (mim, nun) in Arabic is the personal pronoun for the human being, as in the English word “man”. Both languages use the term also in the sense of “who”. Therefore, the usage of the term “man” is nearly identical in both languages!
The word “wa” in Arabic means “and”. In English the word “woman” could be seen to be derived from the concept of a partner to the man. Therefore, the woman or “waman” as it might be more correctly rendered, can be construed as meaning “and-man” or “together with man”, the couple which forms the very essence of the human race… ”
Well.. that’s something we can add to our dakwah to non-Muslims :)

Rayhana said…
Assalaamu’alaykum sis aliya,

Inshaa Allaah you are well. Haven’t been to your blog in a while, very enlightening articles mashaa Allaah!

About this issue.. perhaps it is solely political, what do you think..?
Perhaps some non-Muslims in this country are trying to ‘push their luck’ and see how far they can go when it comes to dabbling in issues that involve Muslims..

It really isn’t about “We want to use Allaah” but more of “Let’s see how much they will bow down to our demands in Islamic matters..”

Just food for thought.

We don’t go dabbling in their religion, but they are happily doing much damage to ours, and sadly, the politicians have no knowledge or sense, and have allowed it all because of political standing.

May we all fear Allaah and not His creation, ameen..

‘257,411 anak zina - hadiah dari sistem sekular untuk rakyat Malaysia’ oleh Flaming Firestonez


Assalamualaikum semua.

Artikel pilihan Jumaat ini adalah dari Blogger Flaming Firestonez.

http://firestonez.blogspot.com/2009/02/257411-anak-zina-hadiah-dari-sistem.html19 Februari, 2009

Sumber

Mengikut laporan yang disiarkan harakahdaily, jumlah anak luar nikah (anak zina) di Malaysia mencecah 257,411 orang sekarang, sama hebat dengan ancaman penyakit selesema burung atau aedes, kata Senator Muntaz Mohd Nawi.

Statistik di atas menunjukkan dengan jelas bahawa inilah ‘hadiah’ dari sebuah kebebasan (freedom) yang diperjuangkan, didakyahkan dan diterapkan di Malaysia oleh pemerintah sekular. Kebebasan yang berasal dari Barat memandang setiap individu perlu diberikan kebebasan untuk melakukan apa jua tindakan termasuklah perzinaan.

Amalan zina tidak lagi menjadi satu perkara besar dalam masyarakat sekular di Malaysia. Kita telah mendengar ada pemimpin terpaksa meletak jawatan kerana aktiviti zinanya dirakam oleh musuh politiknya. Kita juga pernah mendengar ada pihak yang menggunakan perzinaan untuk menangkap perasuah (semoga laknat Allah terkena kepada mereka) yang menjadi musuh politik mereka. Bahkan kita pernah mendengar ada ahli politik mengatakan pemberian perempuan untuk dizinainya sebagai sedekah. Beginilah parahnya kes yang terjadi dan cara berfikir mereka.

Dengan angka zina mencecah ratusan ribu, ironinya pemimpin-pemimpin sekular pada hari ini hanya melihat statistik ini dengan sebelah mata, dan mungkin ada yang langsung tidak melihatnya. Daripada melihat angka zina, mereka lebih berminat melihat kepada pertumbuhan ekonomi, iaitu KNK negara. Mereka lebih berminat untuk membincangkan kenaikan dan kejatuhan indeks di BSKL. Mereka langsung tidak berminat untuk campurtangan dan menyelesaikan masalah selain dari masalah perut mereka. Inilah pemikiran Kapitalis sejati.

Sesungguhnya dosa zina amat berat di dalam Islam dan Rasululllah SAW amat memandang berat perkara ini dan meletakkan isu ini di antara isu-isu yang penting dalam masyarakat. Perzinaan individu dalam sebuah komuniti sebenarnya menjadi unsur pemusnah komuniti ini. Rasulullah SAW bersabda,

“Apabila zina dizahirkan dalam sebuah negeri, sesungguhnya mereka telah menghalalkan bagi diri mereka (penduduk negeri itu) dengan azab Allah.” [HR at-Tabrani].

Kes perzinaan ini semakin lama semakin menjadi perkara biasa dalam kehidupan masyarakat. Kita sering terserempak dengan pemandangan keji di mana lelaki dan perempuan berdua-duaan, malah terlalu banyak kita melihat sekumpulan remaja lelaki dan perempuan duduk bersama-sama bercampur gaul tanpa batas. Di samping kekejian yang mereka lakukan, nampaknya pihak ibubapa juga tidak mempedulikan lagi tentang pergaulan bebas anak lelaki atau anak perempuan mereka. Mereka tidak lagi bertindak sebagai ‘wali’ (penaung/penjaga) kepada anak-anak perempuan mereka, bahkan mereka banyak memberikan turut memberikan sumbangan kepada kemaksiatan anak-anak mereka, membenarkan anak lelaki atau perempuan mereka menjalinkan hubungan cinta sebelum nikah. Keluar rumah dengan tidak menutup aurat telah dianggap perkara biasa. Terlalu sedikit kita mendengar ibubapa yang menyuruh anak perempuan mereka keluar berjubah dan bertudung sebagaimana yang dikehendaki oleh syarak.

Apa pun, aspek penerapan hukum oleh pemerintah menjadi punca utama kepada segala kemaksiatan ini. Hukum Allah tidak diterapkan, namun hukum kufur sekularlah yang menjadi pilihan pemerintah untuk diterapkan. Pemerintah bekerja siang dan malam untuk mengekalkan jawatan mereka bagi meneruskan undang-undang sekular yang sebenarnya bakal membawa azab kepada mereka sendiri di hari kiamat nanti.

Kita melihat bagaimana pemerintah yang tamakkan kuasa berusaha mengekalkan kuasa masing-masing. Jika tidak berjaya melalui pilihan raya demokrasi, mereka akan menggunakan institusi raja-raja, pokoknya mereka tetap mahu berkuasa. Mereka langsung tidak mahu berfikir masalah sosial anak luar nikah yang begitu parah ini. Dalam cara hidup Kapitalis yang mereka amalkan, amalan zina, arak, judi, rasuah dan sebagainya bukanlah masalah besar negara.

Malah mereka sendiri tidak pernah menghalang isteri mereka bersosial mengikut kehendak kebebasan isteri mereka. Jadilah isteri-isteri mereka orang-orang yang rambutnya menggerbang macam puntianak pun tidak mengapa bagi mereka, malah mungkin mereka menganggap dan menjadikan isteri mereka sebagai orang yang memperagakan ‘fesyen Islam’. Jadi, tidak hairanlah kalau di kalangan pemimpin negara sekular hari ini yang kononnya memperjuangkan Islam, tetapi isteri mereka bisa sahaja berpeluk-pelukan dengan aktor Bollywood. Juga, tidak hairan kalau pemimpin Negara Islam Hadhari bisa sahaja memegang bahu seorang aktres Hong Kong kelahiran negeri Perak.

Dari aspek perundangan, kita juga sudah jijik melihat hakim Syarie yang kononnya bekerja untuk Islam, berhukum dengan hukum Kufur, undang-undang Hudud telah ditukar dengan undang-undang bikinan manusia, iaitu 365 (bilangan hari setahun) iaitu maksima 3 tahun penjara, 6 sebatan maksima dan RM5000 denda. Inilah hukuman maksimum yang boleh dikenakan ke atas pelaku maksiat di dalam negara Islam Hadhari!

Pemimpin yang ada memang tidak pernah merasa berdosa bila menggantikan hukuman Allah ini dengan hukuman thaghut ini, malah hakim syarie pula menyokong melaksanakan undang-undang taghut ini! Bahkan bila hukuman hudud cuba diketengahkan oleh pihak-pihak tertentu untuk dilaksanakan, merekalah orang yang pertama akan menentang hukuman ini, kemudian barulah diikuti oleh Karpal Singh dan Lim Kit Siang.

Sesungguhnya permasalahan anak luar nikah ini hanyalah simptom daripada penerapan sistem kapitalis yang menjadikan kebebasan sebagai asas akidah mereka. Inilah hadiah Barat kepada Islam yang diambil oleh kelompok-kelompok sekular yang cintakan neraka.

Jadi untuk membuang simptom ini kita perlu melakukan rombakan secara menyeluruh, bukannya mengubati simptom itu sahaja. Sistem pemerintahan demokrasi kufur yang ada ini wajib diganti dengan sistem pemerintah Khilafah. Hanya dengan menggantikan sistem yang rosak ini dengan sistem yang datangnya dari Rabbul Alamin, barulah segala masalah yang timbul darinya akan dapat diselesaikan

Flaming Firestonez: Antara sebab Allah Taala turunkan bala’ adalah lahirnya anak-anak zina. Wallahu Wa Rasuluhu A’lam.

1 ulasan:

ghimau berkata…
Hmm… andainya mereka tahu betapa hampirnya hari besar itu, hari di mana segala taubat tidak akan direima, hari di mana sang mentari terbit dari barat… mungkinkah akan berubah yang jelek kepada yang indah ?

Health Benefits of Saying “Alhamdulillah” and other Zikr by Dr.Rizal Abu Bakar.


Assalamualaikum dear MBA members and readers,

Today’s featured article is by Dr.Rizal Abu Bakar, one of our distinguished members of the Muslim Bloggers Alliance.

I invite you to add to your knowledge by digesting this very enlightening article by Dr.Rizal.

http://abrizal.blogspot.com/2008/12/health-benefits-of-saying-alhamdulillah.html

There are many examples in the Qur’an and Hadith of the virtues of a positive mental attitude, perseverance and optimism in the face of adversity. However, did you know that patience and a positive outlook on life are two of the greatest healing tools that you can use?

The Qur’an (2:155) says, “Give glad tidings to those who exercise patience when struck with adversity and say, ‘Indeed, we belong to God and to Him is our return.’ Such ones receive [the] blessings and mercy of their Lord, and such are the guided ones.” According to the findings of modern science, it appears that this mercy may often come in the form of improved health.

Bernard Jensen says, in his book The Science and Practice of Iridology, “The doctor of the new day will recognize that a man’s most important workshop is not the physical body, but the mind that controls it.” Dr. Ted M. Morter confirms this in his book, Your Health… Your Choice, when he says that “negative thoughts are the number one acid producer in the body (and high body acidity levels are a major cause of disease)… because your body reacts to negative mental and emotional stress brought about by thought the same way it reacts to ‘real’ threats of physical harm.”

In fact, hospital studies show that, of all the patients who consult outpatient clinical facilities in the United States, an astounding seventy percent are found to have no organic basis for their complaint. That figure is amazingly high. However, although medically these patients are not found to have an obvious organic source for their complaints, there actually is a physical basis for this phenomenon. Since Freud popularized the idea of psychoanalysis, people have often focused exclusively on the mental realm to solve certain problems, forgetting that we cannot separate the physical and mental realms. The mind is in the brain, and the brain is an organ. Like all other organs, it feeds from the same pool of nutrients that other body organs feed from and is susceptible to all of the same problems. Ultimately, the brain is just a part of our body like all of the other parts and is completely dependent on the body. It requires sugar to develop energy unlike other tissues that can develop it from potassium and fats. Consequently, it is the first organ to suffer from low blood sugar and it reacts most severely. Freud himself said that psychoanalysis was not suitable for treating diseases such as schizophrenia, and he postulated that their causes eventually would be found to be biochemical.

If we keep in mind that the brain is an organ and that it works in harmony with the other organs and feeds from the same bloodstream, we can understand how various mental events can affect us physically. For example, simply using our brains to think and study burns up nutrients in our system, particularly phosphorus. Heavily exercising the brain can cause us to suffer from a phosphorus deficiency. And we find that the reverse is also true in this relationship. People who have high intellectual capacity usually have high levels of phosphorus in their system.

There is much wisdom in the Prophet’s (SAW) statement (narrated by Abu Huraira), “The strong [person] is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the strong [person] is the one who controls himself while in anger.” In fact, staying patient and calm is key to physical strength.

Phosphorus is not the only nutrient that can be depleted by mental stress and a lack of spiritual calm. If the thyroid gland, the primary organ to handle our emotions, works overtime, we can suffer from a deficiency in iodine. Stress from a demanding job, a divorce or relocating can cause a loss of potassium and sodium in the body because it effects the adrenal glands creating more of a need for these minerals.

Even hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can be caused by excitement. The prophet (SAW) recommended our taking the more moderate path in life; however, we often engage in or expose ourselves to intense excitement by yelling, excessively watching television, and going to the mall, movies, parties, amusement parks, etc. When we see something exciting, our adrenal cortex is stimulated and there is an increase in our blood sugar. This, in turn, stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin into the blood to lower the sugar level, causing us to then feel tired or weak.

It produces calm and health to practice saying, “Alhamdulillah” for what we have and for what we are faced with. We should try to keep our home and work environments peaceful and as free from stress as possible. One way we can counteract the effects of stress are to simply be aware of the stress we are encountering, and to consume sufficient nutrients and supplements such as herbs.

For instance, if a person is up late praying or reading Qur’an during Ramadan, they can eat phosphorus rich foods and those that will help them maintain their phosphorus intake. If a person is moving, traveling or making Hajj or Umra, they may want to increase their intake of foods high in potassium and sodium as well as vitamin B complex.

If we completely ignore the relationship between mental and physical health, we are missing an important detail in the picture of personal health. And, as in most health problems, practicing prevention is superior to finding a cure. Therefore, the best manner to avoid having negative attitudes and emotions control our bodies is simply to practice the wisdoms that we have been given throughout the Qur’an and Hadith. We should say, “Alhamdullilah” for what we have; “Insha’Allah” for what we intend; and, “Subhana’ Allah” when we see something exciting or amazing. We should remember to say, Astaghfir’Allah” when we lose our tempers or become weak, and most importantly, “Allahu Akbar” when we are faced with the challenges of life. These five phrases, said regularly, are like taking a multi-vitamin for holistic health.
By Karima Burns

2 comments:

peaceonearth said…
salam…very interesting blog,kamek just found it! now I kind of knowing what you’re doing, hehehe, have been personally interested in this kind of thing and happy you have almost everything relevant in your blog of which I intend to finish reading soon.Keep it up bro! ehh….Dr.Rizal, insyaAllah, soon…bila ramai sebut, lama2, jadi kenyataan, betul sik?

mama_sal said…
interesting blog..keep it up!

‘WHAT IS THE NAME OF YOUR GOD?’ By Musings of a Mualaf.


http://pukullima.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-is-name-of-your-god.html

So, how many Muslim Malays actually realized that the Catholic newsletter ‘The Herald’ publication permit will be withheld unless it stops its Malay section?

The Malay section has used “Allah” to refer to God, I mean to be more specific, Christian god and father of Jesus Christ, while the English section still uses the term ‘God’. Two different terms for God in one edition. When the Malaysian government has decided to stop this practice from continuing, with a Minister stating that the term “Allah”, “solat” and “Baitullah” are reserved for Islam religion, so as not to confuse Muslims in this country, the Catholics protest. Hmmm…

I’m really amused. There they are, the Christians, the DAP politicians, and the ‘human rights’ activists all hopping mad about this issue an putting the blame on the government-led politicians, while the rest of us go about our daily lives peacefully. Even the PAS politicians haven’t issued a formal statement about this issue.

And what’s the issue? Christians claim that they have the right to use ‘Allah taala’ in their Malay-language Bible, and in other publications for East Malaysian Christians. They also claim that ‘Allah’ is a Arabic terminology for God in the Arab nations, so all Arabs, whether they’re Muslims, Christians or Jews, call their gods ‘Allah’. And yes, some Malaysians agree with this view; that it’s all right for Christians to use this term ‘Allah’ in their sermon, and in their missionary work among Malaysians. I disagree. The Arabic word for God is NOT Allah; it is ‘Ilah’. Even the writing is different between ‘Ilah’ and ‘Allah’. But then I suppose Malaysian Christian don’t read Arabic.

La ilaha illallah means There is no god but Allah.

Funny really. All my life till recently, I had always believed that Christians, Buddhists and Hindus in Malaysia steer away from using the term “Allah” as a reference to God. Ask any Chinese ‘AhPek’ or Indian ‘Ayahmah’ on the street who “Allah” is and they’d tell you it’s the Malay’s god. Non-Muslims won’t even stop by nor touch anything which has the Arabic writing of ‘Allah’ or ‘Muhammad’ at the stores. If a beer-drinking pork-eating non-Muslim Malaysian man suddenly cries out, “Ya Allah! Masya-Allah! Allah Akbar..!!” his friends will be so horrified they’d probably think he’s possessed by the devil. They won’t calmly sit beside him and say, “Oh, he’s talking about the God of us all, our Creator.”

I went to Christians services in many churches in West Malaysia – Methodists, Baptists, AOG, Catholics – and I had never heard the word “Allah” mentioned by the pastor or priest. ‘Alamak’ doesn’t count, ok. So why do Catholics now insist on the terminology which has been used by Muslim Malays in Malaysia for centuries to refer to the God in Islam? Oh sure, Arab Christians use that term before Islam arrives in our land but heck, we are not in Saudi Arabia. All Arabs use this term to refer to God because it’s their only language. We’re in Malaysia and the documented Malay translation for God is Tuhan, not Allah. That’s why we have our Rukunegara as ‘Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan.’ to refer to all gods. Well, if some people seems to demand for the use of ‘Allah’ to refer to everybody’s gods, then perhaps we should change our Rukunegara into ‘Kepercayaan kepada Allah’ to keep everybody happy. :P

Why can’t Catholic Christians use the term ‘Tuhan’ in their Malay Bible, etc to refer to their Christian god? I’ve checked but I can’t find the exact Iban word for God. However, I’m very sure that the Iban word for god is not Allah taala. It is just so that ever since the missionaries converted the Ibans (who had believed in animism) to Christianity, the term Allah taala has been used. They can get their message of God across by other terms such as God or Tuhan; why insist on using the term ‘Allah’ which Malaysians know is sacredly used by Muslims in this country to refer to God in Islam? Isn’t that trying to be mischievous and stirring up confusion among the public?

And that makes me wonder why the double standard; in West Malaysia, they use God in English sermons, but in East Malaysia where the majority are Malay speakers, they have chosen to use Allah taala instead to refer to the same god. Christian speakers dare not use the term ‘Allah taala’ before non-Iban congregation in West Malaysia because they know that Mandarin-speaking, Hindu-speaking and English-speaking Christians generally associate that word ‘Allah’ with Islam. Hah, the double standards. They can’t even agree on which term to call their own God, so why so hell-bent on using ‘Allah’ for the Malay-speaking Christians?

So why must Christians now insist on using ‘Allah’ for the Herald Malay section when they know very clearly that it is the name used by Muslims in this region for centuries before the first arrival of the Portuguese Christians in the 14th century? Some say they’re fighting for human rights? Yeah, go ahead and bark. If they are sincere, they’d change the term from ‘Allah’ into ‘Tuhan’ to get their massage and propaganda across. They don’t have to import Bibles from Indonesia with the term ‘Allah’; Christians are mostly literate in Bahasa Malaysia, they can publish their own Bahasa Malaysia Bibles. Unless of course, there is something else in their mind besides giving Bibles to Catholic Ibans.

As far as I know, Christians have no specific name for God. Some Christians think that it is Yahweh but then they are not sure themselves. Ask any Christian, or better still, a Roman Catholic, what the name of his or her god is, and I doubt he or she will say, “Allah”. The word to refer to God in Malaysian churches differs based on the languages of the Christian worshippers. A Chinese-based church may have a different terminology for God compared to an Indian-based church. I bet a Chinese pastor will not tell his Mandarin-speaking congregation to “pray to Allah, father of our Yesoh(Jesus)’ else he might find the church empty the following week.

But go ask any true Muslims the same question. We, Muslims are told that our God has 99 names, and the greatest name is Allah. It is written in the al-Quran itself. So all Muslims, throughout the world use “Allah” to refer to the God in Islam, the God of Prophet Muhammad and all prophets before him. Even in translated versions of al-Quran, in Chinese, English etc, the name “Allah” is intact and not translated. That is the essence of Islam, for there is never a dispute about what the name of the Muslim God is.

I don’t agree with those people who claim that we all pray to one god, therefore we have rights to call our gods in any way we want. Perhaps they can do that to their own gods but not the god I worship. My God “Allah s.w.t” is not the same as the god Christians pray to. Allah s.w.t that I bow to does not have a human son. Allah who created me does not allow drinking of liquor and eating of pork. That is why I support the ban on the Malay section of the Herald for their use of “Allah” in their publications.

Until the day all churches in West and East Malaysia use the term “Allah’ to refer to Christian god, I think that Christians have no base to claim the use of ‘Allah’ in their publications, here in Malaysia. Also the Christians in America and British would most probably freak out if they are told that they have to call their God ‘Allah’ for haven’t they associated all things Islam to terrorism? And today, after all the bombings at Arab nations, the persecutions and mistreatments of Muslims in the West, some ‘enlightened’ Christian priests actually suggest the use of “Allah’ for God in the Western churches in order to bring Christians and Muslims together. How ironic.

Some Muslim Malays even say that since we are all Allah’s creatures, just allow the Christians to use it. We should be proud that Malaysian Christians want to use the word in pblications,Bible and churches. Why all the fuss over one word? True enough, we are all Allah’s creations. However, if they are using His holy name for unIslamic purposes, should we as Muslims just stand by and allow that to happen?

updated 31.12.2007 (from http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/508/37/)
MALAYSIA authorities are to allow a Catholic paper to continue to print, after earlier threatening to revoke its licence in a row over the word ‘Allah’, a church leader said on Sunday.
Augustine Julian, secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, told AFP a new licence had been granted to the weekly, which would continue to use the term.
‘The letter to allow The Herald to be printed was hand delivered by internal security officials Sunday,’ he said.
‘They have allowed us to publish the weekly as usual. All four sections - in English, Malay, Tamil and Chinese - will be published. I suppose if they give us the printing permit we can continue to use the word Allah,’ he added.
Mr Julian said no reasons were given for the extension but suggested the government would not want to alienate Malaysia’s two million Christians ahead of general elections.


well folks, that’s Malaysian politics :P

6 comments:

khany said…
assalamou alaikum sister,

there is little doubt in my mind, as in anybody’s mind, that this is a missionary attempt to woo a muslim audience.

however, i humbly disagree with your conclusion. i believe it is quite clear in the quran that muslims worship the god of the prophets abraham, noah, moses, jesus and mohammad (peace be upon them). if you ask the jews or the christian whether they pray to the god of abraham they will definitely answer in the affirmative.
therefore, i believe it is closer to the truth to say that we disagree with jews and christian about the attributes of god. but in deed we worship the same god.

it is specially ironic since i am part of a muslim minority in a ‘christian’ canada. muslim scholars struggle hard to project this truth that we all worship the same god.

allah is the word for the one true god. i am sure you know that it was not a word ‘invented’ by the prophet and even the pagan arabs acknowledge the presence of the god of abraham whom they referred to as allah.

finally, the quran too uses the word allah for the ‘christian god’ but contradicts their claim that god has a son. i pray we can reconcile this difference. while it is pathetic that the missionaries are resorting to this tactic, i hope that we do not let our disgust for them lead us to injustice.

Nur Aliya Yeoh said…
Waalaikumussalam,
Dear brother khany,
I agree that Allah is the name of one true god. However, we differs in the concept and attributes of God. We may claim we worship the same God, but doesn’t the Quran itself sys that the Christians and Jews have steered from the true path? I am not an Islamic scholar but I know that Islam Allah and prophet Isa(Jesus) as revealed in the Quran do not die on the cross. That is why I suggest the publcation choose another term.
How would you like if the publication writes that “Allah and His son, Jesus Christ who dies for us on the cross… therefore we should accept Jesus as our Lord…” Will you like it? Won’t it strike you as strange when all dictionaries in the world publicly defines Allah as the Muslim god?
There is no question of injustice here. It is just that the Herald still stubbornly insists on using the term ‘Allah’ for all its publication whereas they could easily use the accepted Malay term ‘Tuhan’ for God. They should also respect that Malaysian Muslims have for centuries connected Allah to the Muslim god and so has the general public in thi multiracial multi-religious country.

khany said…
assalamou alaikum sister nur aliya,

following your suggestion i looked up several online dictionaries for the definition of allah.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=define%3Aallah&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

in fact, no dictionary defines ‘allah’ as the name of the muslim god. allah is the arabic word for god, the only god.

will i like it? i will like it no worse than if they claim that
‘god and his son, jesus christ who dies for us on the cross….’

because there is only one god. both statements to me are synonymous.

in any event, i can see we disagree on this issue. allahu alim. allah knows best.

Nur Aliya Yeoh said…
waalaikumussalam warahmatullah,
It’s all right. To me, it’s fine to disagree.
Let me quote from 3 renowned dictionaries mainly used by scholars in Malaysia (and I believe, the rest of the world) and you can check them online :

1. The Oxford Advanced dictianory
Allah / l / noun the name of God among Muslims
http://www.oup.com/oald-bin/web_getald7index1a.pl

2. Webster Dictionary
Main Entry:
Al•lah
Pronunciation:
\ˈä-lə, ˈa-lə, ˈä-ˌlä, ä-ˈlä\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Arabic allāh
Date:
1584
: GOD 1a —used in Islam
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Allah

3. Collins online dictionary
Allah
n (Islam) the Muslim name for God; the one Supreme Being
(C16: from Arabic, from al the + Ilah god; compare Hebrew eloah)
________________________________________
http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definitions/Allah

ainon mohd said…
Asalamualaikum, Puan Nur Aliya.

Saya setuju dengan pendapat Puan. Tidak ada nas dalam Quran dan Hadith yang melarang orang Kristian menggunakan “Allah”.

fairuz said…
The reason the Malaysian government disallow Christians from using the word Allah to refer to God in bible and their article is to avoid confusion among ill informed Muslims especially teenagers. They fear such article will mislead young Muslims. Islam and Christian have some similarities but are not the same. Though there are no verse in the Quran or hadith that prohibits non-muslim from using the word Allah to refer to God, but in Malaysia, where the understanding of Islam among most muslims are still low, the government is just being careful. After all, why cant Christians stick to Tuhan when referring to God in Malay-bible. I think it is a win-win situation for both sides. InsyaAllah…

‘NOT OUR RIGHT TO JUDGE’ by Musings of a Mualaf.


“Be careful, she’s crazy, don’t believe what she says,” the Malay lady whispered to me.

“She has been coming here frequently and once, I saw her singing alone loudly, she’s abnormal,” said another.

I looked at them but didn’t reply.

When a young ustazah said the same thing to me , I looked at her straight in the eyes and said,”I’ve been asked to come here to help someone understand Islam. I’ll do my best, the rest is up to Allah.”

I had decided to change plans.

Instead of asking her to come over to my area as we initially planned, I went over to meet her right after school hours today. Alhamdulillah the trip was smooth and I managed to solat zhohor in a friend’s room before meeting her.

Mei(not her real name) was friendly and looked younger than her actual age.

I found out that she is quite illiterate, having undergone formal education for less than a year. She can understand basic Malay language but can’t express herself fluently in that language. Therefore the Muslim Malays who had tried to revert her to Islam have failed to make her understand who Mohammad was and the teachings of Islam.

Alhamdulillah Allah swt arranged everything for us. I who was nervous and worried that alone I might not be able to explain well for Mei’s needs with my still limited knowledge of Islam, had prayed for an assistant.

Alhamdulillah a few minutes before my scheduled appointment with Mei, I met a kind Malay lady, Kak Nor who agreed to help me help Mei.

We took Mei to the washroom at her request and showed (and taught) her how to perform the ablution or wuduk.

I explained in Hokkien language to Mei about the need to wuduk and bless her, she was a good student, eagerly following everything we did. As Mei was very ignorant about Islam and can’t read Malay, Chinese nor English, I decided to explain everything in the simplest term.

I told Mei that as Allah swt is the greatest and only God, mightier than even the king (we always dress well to meet the king and other VIPs) we have to be clean when we pray to Him. She asked if we need to bathe each time we pray, so we told her that doing ablution is enough.

“Oh, I feel good,” she said after she had performed the wuduk.

We helped her to put on her telekong(she brought one) as she had asked to know how to pray to Allah. As it’s just Asar, Kak Nor suggested that Mei joined us in our solat. With Kak Nor as the imam, we performed the solat with Mei following our steps.

Mei was sobbing during the solat. I felt sorry for her. She had waited for many years for somebody to teach her how to solat?

In short, we performed solat asar, maghrib and isyak together in a small room.

Mei had many questions to ask. She had many strange dreams.

She felt Allah communicates to her. She confessed that despite praying to other gods, her own heart was not in peace.

She has been searching for the only and only God for many years but nobody could explain to her in her own language.

Alhamdulillah for Kak Nor, who with her deep knowledge of Islam and a commendable command of Mei’s language (she learnt Hokkien before) and with me as a translator and assistant, Mei finally began to understand the true teachings of Islam.

“She’s not crazy, Aliya. She’s just lost and unable to express herself well. She looked so beautiful in the white telekong that I can’t help feeling touched with her sincerity to learn Islam. Imagine what would have happened if we refused to help her?” said Kak Nor with tears in her eyes as we took our late dinner.

I looked at Mei who was busy entertaining Kak Nor’s children. The children took an instant liking to her and kept telling their mother what Mei told them. They knew that she’s harmless and sincere.

I realised just how illiterate Mei is when she mispronounced the name of the mamak restaurant she took us to for dinner (Kayu becomes Tajul).

She mispronounced many words in Malay but alhamdulillah as Kak Nor understands some Hokkien and I could confirm the meaning with her, we manage to help her understand the concept of Allah, kiamat, syurga, neraka and malaikat, using a lot of analogy and examples that Mei could relate to.

Alhamdulillah as I’ve taught little children before and as Kak Nor is also a mother, we managed to reach down to Mei’s level of understanding. Nothing Arabic, nothing too difficult.

Astaghfirullazim. I had been selfish.

I had planned to return home by 7pm for fear of driving alone in the dark of the night.

Allah swt decides otherwise. I spent 6 hours with Mei and Kak Nor, explaining explaining and explaining and arriving home at 12.30 am on Wednesday morning. Kak Nor too, sacrificed her time to help Mei understand Islam.

At midnight, I drove all the way across the Penang bridge under very heavy rain, relying only on Allah swt to protect me (Husband is away attending a course). And indeed He answers all prayers.

Thanks to Mei, I’ve learnt a great lesson today. Alhamdulillah for Allah swt has brought us together - 3 strangers who had never met one another before - in the name of Islam.

Kak Nor and I had decided not to listen to others who told us that there’s something wrong about Mei. We had refused to judge her. Instead for Kak Nor and I, Mei is a person who seeks Allah swt and we are determined to show her the right path.

“Kak, I didn’t want to say anything when ustazah told me to be careful about Mei. We should give her a chance. We should listen to her, really listen. They, the ones who call her crazy, are born Muslims who have never searched for the true God. What do they know?”

“Yes, it’s true. A crazy person would never have survived the long heavy task of performing solat with us.

Imagine, how many rakaat had she done? Asar, maghrib and isyak? And she was so eager to learn, she even taped my voice when I recited the verses during solat. She asked to see our legs to find out how we sat during tahiyyat, something I had forgotten to show her. I was speechless.”

“It’s bad to prejudge a person, especially someone like Mei who is actually searching for the true God.

And spreading such “talks” to convince others to think bad about her, I think, is really sinful. We have no proof that she’s mentally disturbed.

Of course she does certain things unpredictably but perhaps that’s because she’s actually ignorant. Her Chinese culture is different from Muslim’s, the way she thinks is different.

It’s up to Allah swt to give hidayah to whomever He wants. We should help people like Mei, not push her away or ignore her because we are tired of her “weird behaviour or persistent questionings.”

For all we know, that’s how Allah swt test us, by sending someone like Mei to us, to test whether we are honest in our work for Allah or not.”

“It’s true, Aliya. When we judge others wrongly, we commit sin. Allah may have forgiven that person’s sins but our own sin against the person we slander may not be forgotten by Allah swt unless we go and apologise to him or her.

Imagine if we had ignored Mei just now, we’d be pushing away a potential Muslim.”

Kak Nor and I asked Mei a few times if she wanted to be a Muslim?

We taught her to recite the 2-kalimah syahadah, Kak Nor explained in Malay and I translated in Hokkien.

Mei had repeated after us. Only Allah swt knows what’s in her heart when she recited it. As it was almost midnight, I had to return home.

As I left the carpark, I saw a happy Mei eagerly taping Kak Nor’s recitation of Allahuakhbar. She wants to listen at home and repeat everything.

I’m happy today.

I’ve found a new friend and sister in the person of Kak Nor. Mei has many of her questions about Islam answered. We had asked Mei to return to see us so that we could explain more and to arrange for more witnesses to Mei’s recitation of the 2-kalimah syahadah one day in future.

It’d take time. How long will Mei need before she’s ready to live as a Muslim? Only Allah swt knows.

Please pray for Mei. InsyaAllah our prayers will help Mei to cross over faster. She’s halfway through for now she truly believes in the one and only God, Allah swt.

Mei has been misjudged by many Muslims who have rejected her, just because she’s different. Not many can understand her statements and her dreams are treated like belonging to a mentally disturbed person.

I dare not call her “crazy”. She’s illiterate. Learned scholars learn Islam by reading the al-Quran and having discussions with Muslims but what can an illiterate person who can’t communicate in the language used of many Muslims, do?

My work in this world is to explain Islam to those who seek Islam. I dare not pass judgement.

Only Allah swt can judge a person. And I have found a good ally in kind and patient Kak Nor who confessed to me that she had prayed that she’d be given a chance to bring someone to revert to Islam(insyaAllah), for she felt in her life she had not done much for Islam.

Remember? Rasullullah s.a.w himself was once accused by the Jahilliyahs as being crazy, and we know that he was not.

There’re many people like Mei who eagerly seeks the true God, but is frustrated because they can’t get the answers they need to help convince them that they’re making the right choice.

Talks by other non-Muslim about being unable to change back to original religion adds more confusion and fear. And they’re misjudged, rejected, looked down on, and ignored by those people who are supposed to help them.

And yet we wonder why there’re less Muslim reverts in Malaysia than the total number of people in drug rehabilitation centres, despite more than 50 years of independence ?

Alhamdulliah I’m glad I had agreed to meet Mei. I’m thankful I met Kak Nor. She’s not an appointed ustazah but she’s wonderful. Our paths crossed on this fateful day because He, the best of all planner has decided it’d be so.

It’s been a long day but my heart is light.

May Allah swt bless Mei.She has told us that if she is a Muslim, she wants to bring the unfortunate ones to join her in Islam.

Kak Nor and I had advised her to take care of herself first, by reciting the 2-kalimah syahadah. Let’s pray for her deliverance.

7 comments:

akujahil said…
tears flow while i’m reading ….. subhanallah

Nazri Awang said…
Sangat mengharukan…hidayah itu milik Allah….dan sesiapa sahaja mungkin dipilih-NYA…..

anjut said…
subhanallah..fi hafizillah…

hampir menitis air mata. saya melihat seorang wanita yg tersesat, tercari2 jalan yg benar…mujur ada dua orang muslimah yang sudi membantu…

dia telah dipilih Tuhan, berbahagia la penghuni langit dan bumi…

ermm, sebenarnya kita yang gila, ada akal tapi tak digunakan utk menolong org yg memerlukan…

apa guna reti membaca jika perkataan semudah ’simpati’ dan ’saudara seislam’ pun kita tak faham…

besar nyer pahala kak Aliya.cemburu pula saya…bila la Dia akan izinkan saya buat apa yg kak Aliya buat…

the malacca princess said…
Very inspirational. I’m reading it in the office and it’s 8am now. This is fresh thoughts of yours, Sis. I can imagine you writing this entry in the small hours of 25th Feb, almost immediately after you got home.

Things stopped for awhile while I was reading this post just now. I got a temporary sudden headache cos I was really concentrating.

anumz sarah said…
This post has been removed by the author.
anumz sarah said…
Salam Kak Aliya,
Beautiful. a very beautiful thing you did there. To tell the truth sometimes even Muslim by family like me lost due to the challenge of surrounding.

People nowadays are not proud practising Islam as ad-deen. I’ve got an experience where there were small laughter when we actually recite doa and our friends cut their birthday cakes. And these people are born in Muslim’s family!

I believe soulfully that it is not our duty to judge. As for Mei I really hope she could survive and become the best Muslim ever.

Pray to Allah when Islam is fully understood and practised. Ameen.

Madam Markonah said…
Alhamdulillah…

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Malaysia’s Creeping Fascism by Azril Mohd. Amin


Malaysia’s Creeping Fascism

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/opinion/breaking-views/136-breaking-views/17203-malaysias-creeping-fascism–azril-mohd-amin

A. Kugan is not the point. His race is not the point. His criminality is not the point. What is the point, is a bedrock fundamental of democratic process, the total and inviolable SEPARATION of enforcement, judgment, and punishment.

When police become judges and executionists, you have de facto fascism. It does not matter whom you elect into leadership. If that leadership cannot absolutely guarantee that those whom you turn to for protection will not attack and harm or kill you instead, the said leadership must either resign or be voted out of office. No other issues even matter, if alleged criminals start dying in prison.

The “fascism” crept further in when a former Malaysian police official beat someone up (it doesn’t matter who), until that person had to go all the way to Germany to obtain surgical relief from his severe back pains.

This “creeping fascism” was further welcomed into Malaysian national life when the aforementioned police official was given a three-month “suspended sentence”, i.e., he did not even go to jail!

This is why no enforcement authority can ever be trusted to “self-regulate”. Someone must always monitor enforcement actions from outside. Always. What is Putrajaya’s hesitation to form a truly independent police commission?

If you say that this is “the Malay way”, then the Malays may be said to favor fascism over democracy, as many other Muslims in this world also do, by tolerating or at least failing to resist the neo-fascist dictators who rule in so much of the Muslim world.

Asking some friends which Muslim countries had a claim to true democratization, the answer was clear — Indonesia first, Iran second, and Malaysia maybe one fourth of the way toward being the third.

No others. Either elections do not provide any REAL CHOICE of leaders, or else they may not be trusted. Nobody wins ninety-plus percent of any election in any real democracy.

Or, sad to say, if fair and true elections do choose devout Muslim leaders, this world’s OTHER “democratic” powers exercise THEIR creeping fascism by coming in and destroying those elected governments, such as in Algeria and Gaza.

“Fascism” is not an ideology as such. “Fascism” is rather the name for any governmental system in which power increases as you rise to the top of the governing hierarchy, until the top man has most or all of the available power over anybody.

Such “creeping fascists” may then enter any citizen’s life and ruin it without any permission or moral authority to do so. Beating up un-sentenced criminals in jail is only one example of how this “power-from-the-top” really works.

All this uproar about changing political parties here in Malaysia is an early symptom of the same misunderstanding. People may always change political parties, if they feel morally compelled to do so. “Disloyalty” is some sort of misplaced accusation deriving from “off-with-your-head” monarchical systems.

Both “disloyalty” and “sedition” are absurdly distorted allegations against many acts of freedom that people may espouse. Why, for example, should the South Thai be forced to live under Bangkok Buddhism when they have absolutely NOTHING in common with those Bangkok Thai?

Who ever asked the South Thai, who are mostly Melayu Muslim, what THEY wanted? Longing to be free to practice their own culture and faith cannot possibly be labeled “seditious”, except by egomaniacs in the Thai government.

And so it goes. World Wars one and two were both fought at horrendous cost to the human community, to defeat fascists and their ilk in all parts of the world. And yet the battle goes on. Any fascist dictator who calls himself “Muslim” is no less fascist, no less criminal, for doing so.

Azril Mohd Amin is an advocate and solicitor and also vice-president of the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM). This is his personal opinion.

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