beautiful reminiscence
8 Comments Published by carinasuyin | Wednesday, February 08, 2006 | 1:58 AM.
I remember...
Doing homework at Saidatul's house while her grandmother taught kelas mengaji for the neighbourhood kids in the living room with a slim rotan on her lap.
Sitting in during Jawi or Agama classes when there were too few students in the whole school to have a Pendidikan Moral class and as a result, being able to recite alif ba ta etc, write my name in Jawi, sing a few nasyid songs and recite the daily morning doa.
Having my primary classmates gather around and buzz excitedly to the ustazah when I recited the kalimah syahadat with ease; they were interested to know if that meant that I had converted.
The melodious strains of takbir that signaled the arrival of Syawal and Marlina's mellifluous voice reciting the Quran in the afternoons before we turn the street into a badminton court for the evening.
Scoring full marks for History essays whenever the topic was on Tamadun Islam.
How hearing azan in Singapore was like a call to home.
I remember all this with great warmth and how it collectively form my opinion of Muslims and Islam. I remember arguing in tears with Christian friends that non-Christians do not automatically go to hell. I did not remember that being kafir meant that I would be treated as anything less than equal.
Today, I find myself remembering and asking ever so often...
Islam, where is thy beauty that I so fondly grew up with?
Doing homework at Saidatul's house while her grandmother taught kelas mengaji for the neighbourhood kids in the living room with a slim rotan on her lap.
Sitting in during Jawi or Agama classes when there were too few students in the whole school to have a Pendidikan Moral class and as a result, being able to recite alif ba ta etc, write my name in Jawi, sing a few nasyid songs and recite the daily morning doa.
Having my primary classmates gather around and buzz excitedly to the ustazah when I recited the kalimah syahadat with ease; they were interested to know if that meant that I had converted.
The melodious strains of takbir that signaled the arrival of Syawal and Marlina's mellifluous voice reciting the Quran in the afternoons before we turn the street into a badminton court for the evening.
Scoring full marks for History essays whenever the topic was on Tamadun Islam.
How hearing azan in Singapore was like a call to home.
I remember all this with great warmth and how it collectively form my opinion of Muslims and Islam. I remember arguing in tears with Christian friends that non-Christians do not automatically go to hell. I did not remember that being kafir meant that I would be treated as anything less than equal.
Today, I find myself remembering and asking ever so often...
Islam, where is thy beauty that I so fondly grew up with?
The problem with religion,
all religion actually does say explicitly that non-believers will go to their version of hell. islam, christianity of all forms, judaism, they all say the same thing. Ask any imam, church leader, priest, rabbi, etc. They might choose their words carefully, but they’ll say that eventually. I think this is based on their fundamental faith that being in their religion means eternal life in the afterlife, paradise. You have to be in their religion to quality for their paradise. And if you’re not, then you’re not qualified and so where do you go? Hell…
this is my problem with religion as a whole. its too self-rightous. we're right, yuo're not. etc.
your idea that muslims don't see you as a kafir (infidel) non-offensive is quite naive. If they treat you as equals, then why have a word to describe you in the first place? If your fellow Christians already think that non-christians will go to hell, then, don’t you think that muslims in general will also think the same?
Of course there are a moderate few like you who would prefer to think that all people are good. But I think religion also blinds us to the inherent goodness in common people because they categorise good people as ‘all in my religion’ and bad people as ‘non-believers’.
I thank god that more and more people are faithless. If you think about it, it means its one less thing to fight about. Come all ye atheists!
The problem is not with beliefs, religion, faith or God (or the absence/lack/denial of one)... it is inherently with Man. Peace :)
The piece almost move me to tears. Thank you for reminding me the beauty of Islam. Ironic that I need a non-muslim to remind me that.
I agree with you, 'it's inherently with man' yes, that's what it was all about.
i didn't know you're so well versed in islam. again i'm impressed.
i'd say that no matter what one believes, what religion one practices and what philosophies and values one holds, it's utterly important to respect, harmonize and dialogue in peace with each other. to be able to do so is beauty itself too :)
I'm back.
To say that "the problem with religion is inherently with man" is like saying, the problem with pollution, animal testing, war, (insert virtually any problem here) is inherently with man. Man isn't the problem.
All religion is rubbish because no religion says "non believers, you will be in heaven with my people" because this is against the most basic belief of any religion!
THAT IS WHY RELIGION IS THE PROBLEM and not 'man'.
Anonymous: Religion is man-made, no?
If you say religion is man made, then surely you must imply god is man made as well.
Since religion is a man made concept. Therefore, god must be a man made concept. So, god can't be real! Religion is again, pointless!
Wahhh your reasoning by penaakulan mantik astounds me. I rest my case.