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.