on having good thoughts brother

on taking the first step

'1st times' are memorable. The first time tasting the most scrumdiddlyumptious nasi briyani at Restoran Insaf in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. The first time failing a JPJ test (the words of the JPJ officer still ring loudly in my ears: awak ni dah teruk sangat dah ni (you are awful)).

But there's one 'first time' that trumps all the rest: FIRST TIME DOING D&T.

Everyone has his or her own unique story. I am telling mine, and you can then do one of three things:
1) gain some insights into how you might start this awesome journey.
2) read, be amused, and move on to another blog on another tab.
3) feel disgusted ("ishh, why do you have to sibuk-sibuk in other people's affairs?!!"). in that case, i wish you all the best in this earthly life.

Question #1: what made me decide to pursue D&T?

it's simple, really. It's what we were made for.

It's the reason Allah sent down prophets and messengers.

رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
"Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own, who shall recite unto them Your Verses and instruct them in the Book (this Qur'ân) and Al-Hikmah, and sanctify them. Verily! You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise." (Al Baqarah:129)

وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا مِمَّنْ دَعَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
And who is better in speech than he who invites (men) to Allâh, and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims." (41:33)



and when people neglect D&T, it's the reason Allah sends down punishments upon them.

كَانُوا لَا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنْكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَThey used not to forbid one another from the Munkar (wrong, evil­doing, sins, polytheism, disbelief, etc.) which they committed. Vile indeed was what they used to do. (Al Maidah:79)

I could go on and on, spouting verses upon verses. It is, i believe, clear. And when this realisation dawned upon me,  it was like carrying a 60kg bag. it is a heavy responsibility, trying to save people from Hell. And one of my friends said

 

"We are now carrying a heavy bag. How do we make it lighter? By taking out the load and sharing it with others."

 

So i decided to do exactly that. Now i've shared the load with you. Now you can regret the fact that you read this blog. Teehee. Anyways, that was why i chose to do D&T.

 

 

Yes, yes. we're getting to that. Be patient brader.

 

Question #2: who do we go to first?

 

This is a baffling question. We're all fired up to spread the truth, but then can't think of anyone to talk to.

 

 



Do what our prophet did. He went to members of his household first, and then among his companions, he chose the one closest to him: Abu Bakr ra. Its pure logic. We know what our close friends like, we know what they hate, we know the best way to touch their hearts.

So i went to two of my closest friends. It's kinda funny really. Before this, i used to go to their place because they often cook, so dinner was taken care of. But because the first step in D&T is to

WIN THE HEART

This time i brought along a tub of ice-cream. Ben & Jerry's, nothing less.

Which brings us to Question #3:

"I don't know much. I am not an ustaz. What am i supposed to talk about???"

What did the earliest companions know? That time, the Qur'an was not yet complete. The verses that came down were short and sweet, and the message was simple: There is only one God, and Muhammad is His messenger. Leave other things that you worship besides Allah. (in those days, they worshipped stone and wood idols. These days, people worship money, women, themselves, etc).

At that time, we just went through a book called "Shahadatul Haq" (Witness to the truth). That was all i knew, so that was all i delivered to them.

And it turned out..well, it felt really awkward at first, but hey, the least we can do is try. Allah rewards us for effort, regardless whether people accept our message or not.

on being propa innit (translation:proper, isn't it)

Quote of the day: We (malaysians) are very ritualistic.

We emphasize too much form over substance.

Everything must be proper. If we go to the masjid, we must wear kopiah and kain pelekat. No jeans.

If we pray, in must be in a proper prayer room, on a prayer mat. No praying outside.

Even when we've known someone and had a relationship for years and years, we still perform the formality of merisik (going to the house to meet and know the person and their family, i.e before marriage)
Note: i am not advocating relationships before marriage. This is just a description of our society today.


Showing outward propriety, while losing inward piety. We do these things without knowing and contemplating the actual meaning of them. I once asked a friend of mine,

Similarly, you could ask the same question to a lot of muslims nowadays;

This happens in literally every aspect of life, but take the prayer for a simple example. Allah says;

اتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ
Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book (the Qur'ân), and perform As-Salât. Verily, As-Salât prevents from Al-Fahshâ' (i.e. great sins of every kind) and Al-Munkar. And remembrance of Allâh is greater indeed . And Allâh knows what you do. (Al Ankabut :45)

The prayer prevents from al Fahsha' and al-Munkar. We have been taught to pray since primary school, 

In primary school...

If we started praying at the age of 7, we would have been praying for more than 10 years now. THEORETICALLY, that would mean that we would have turned into very good people, not doing any fahsha' or munkar. Imagine if you did dishes for 10 years. You would be a pro, able to spot every microscopic bit if dirt on a plate. 

But that hasn't happened for our worship. If you did dishes for 10 years and you're still not a pro, maybe you weren't really whole-hearted in doing the dishes. Same here. Maybe we weren't whole-hearted in doing our worship.

We forgot that the prayer is a direct connection between a servant and his Lord, where the servant asks for protection and guidance.

We forgot that the prayer is to remind us of being aware that our deeds are always being recorded.

If we remembered this, surely we wouldn't do fahsha' and munkar.

But we don't learn the lessons. What we care about most and give priority to is proper clothing, proper ways of sitting, proper movements.

We forgot to have a proper heart.

on how to talk about protests and flags while trying to maintain neutrality

Its been a week since i last wrote. Those bubblemen are starting to protest.

Protests, protests. Its becoming the Cool Word of 2011/2012. 

"You were one of the protesters at Tahrir Square?? would you like an interview?"

"I was one of the 99% who protested at Wall Street." 

"i'm protesting in Syria tomorrow. If anything happens, you can have my laptop."

And although the action is happening at the centre of the world, even countries on the peripheries (like Malaysia truly Asia have not been spared). Witness the recent fiasco over "the flag that shook a nation".

And some of the things i frequently hear is 

"Why are you protesting? you have a comfortable life. Okaylah tu, bersyukur."

"they're throwing away their future, protesting like that."

"protesting is not good at all. Look at the Arab countries. They rebelled. Are they more peaceful now? look at their country, its still in chaos."

Of course it would be daft to expect change in one night. Rome was not built in one day. Even the Prophet took 23 years to establish islam all over arabia, in the meanwhile encountering resistance and chaos.

I have no comments on the methods used by the protesters. Biasalah, darah muda (young blood). But the objects of their grievances are real. 

And i don't agree with the view of "why all the fuss, we have a stable and secure life". 

Sure, we have a stable and secure life. We have no external wars, no civil wars. That only means that there is no physical violence.

But violence occurs every day, right under our noses. We go to sleep full, whilst others in our neighbourhood don't have enough to eat. That is violence.

We are free. But our brothers are shackled, enslaved by the burden of debt and interest that they have to pay to the banks. That is violence.

Our fathers work hard and pay taxes. But some have the nerve to squander that money. That is violence.

This is what sociologists call "symbolic violence", the hidden modes of domination/oppression happening every day.

And as a famous man once said, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".

And an even more famous book says,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
Verily, Allâh enjoins Al-Adl (justice) and Al-Ihsân, and giving (help) to kith and kin and forbids Al-Fahshâ' (i.e all evil deeds) and Al-Munkar (i.e all that is prohibited by Islâmic law) and Al-Baghy(i.e. all kinds of oppression), He admonishes you, that you may take heed. (An Nahl:90)

The Prophet was undertaking a form of protest. He was trying to change the oppressive system of the Quraisy and the Arabs, changing them into a people who are just and kind and submit to Allah.

Corruption. Moral decay. Crime. etc.

A playwright once said,

"by continuing to play the roles assigned to them, “individuals confirm the system, fulfill the system, make the system, are the system.”

If we do nothing to change the oppression, we are part of the oppression.

And how does change start? By protesting against our inner self.

on the backbone of society

Yesterday i had the chance to meet the director of our local masjid.

We asked about the youth in the area. And he goes on to talk about the activities that are happening in the masjid:

"alhamdulilllah, this mosque is quite busy.."

"we have karate classes for the youth.."

"and football sessions.."

"and tajweed classes for around 200 people.."

"quran classes for kids up to 16.."

"classes for teachers, to teach them how to be better teachers.."

"and this evening, the businessmen in the area are having a meeting in the hall downstairs.."

Businessmen having their meetings in the mosque?? COOLNESS.

I am impressed at how they utilise the masjid. They really use it as a centre for building the community, to get them attached to the masjid and islam. And this is in a 'muslim minority' country. We need a lot more work in our 'islamic home sweet home'.

LOTS more work. And under-utilised mosques are only part of the problem. In our country, mosques are only for 'ibadah (prayers, talks, etc). And that's taking a narrow view on 'ibadah. It should be more than that. Mosques should be the backbone of our society.

This is how it is in our country. We should encourage people to come to the mosque. Clothing is not a barrier, as long as it covers our 'aurah and not vulgar etc.

It should be a place to educate the youth, where discussions happen, where problems within the community are solved. Why are people not attached to the mosque? because our hearts are dead. A lyric goes,

"our mosques are empty, our refridgerators stocked."

Reviving the hearts of this ummah. We've got a huge task ahead.