It is very sad to know that in country like Malaysia where the majority of the people are Muslims, people still associate Islam as only to refer to the Malays..I don’t know why this thing still prevails up to this day. The saddest part is, such erroneous understanding exists in the minds of both the so called educated one and the less educated one be it from the elite group or from among the laymen. I always have this feeling that why is it so difficult for people to comprehend that Islam is not restricted for any particular race or group..Why???is it because that it happened to be that you were born as a Muslim and thus only because of that, it makes you become exclusive and you put into conclusion that Islam is only for the Malays???..Is it because that in your country’s constitution, it says that Malay is equal to Muslim and Muslim is equal to Malays and hence other races are not entitled to embrace Islam???..MasyaAllah, May Allah forgive us.. Think about it again my fellow friends..Truly, Islam is ‘colour blind’ ...I know, it may sound a bit quaint to use such term…Nonetheless, the main point is, Islam is not exclusive as some of the bewildered people see it, rather it is inclusive which is how it is ought to be. If Islam is exclusive, then we are no different than Judaism whereby the people of this faith believe that they are very exclusive and chosen by God…Allah the Exalted never said that Islam is only for the Arabs, Malays nor it was meant for any particular race or tribe. In contrast, Allah has made it clear that Islam and the message of prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is meant for all mankind(Rahmatan Lil’alamin).It never look at people whether they are white, black, yellow, brown or others, rather what is the most honored in the eyes of Allah is only Taqwa (piety). The inclusivity of Islam is so inherent even during the prophet Muhammad’s time whereby he was surrounded by great companions from other races such as Salman al Farisy(from Persia), Bilal Bin Rabah(from Habshah i.e. modern day Ethiopia) and Shuhaib(from Rome).InsyaAllah, if possible I beg all of you to educate our society be it Muslim or Non Muslims so that they may have a clear picture of what is the true nature of Islam and thus fix this very confusion in their mind. As it is said in the hadith of Rasulullah,
“When any one of you notices anything that is disapproved (of by Allah), let him change it with his hand, or if that is not possible, then with his tongue, or if that is not possible, then with his heart, though that is the weakest (kind of) faith..Allahu A’lam(God knows best)…
1 year ago
6 comments:
i link this entry!
thanks Aishah Humairah..May Allah bless you =)
Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
Usually it's very unlikely for me to be reading archived posts, however I just had to read this one. :)
One valid point you stated was the constitution. Like really, just because a person is Malay doesn't necessarily mean the person is a Muslim. The same goes for Arabs; how people have this pre-misconceived idea that Arabs = Muslims when this is really not the facts of life.
I suppose people should allow their minds to explore beyond the conventional understanding. Islam doesn't differentiate a person base on race, creed, culture etc. and it's kind of disparaging when Muslims are divided and taught to segregate themselves at a young age. On the other hand, it's good to know that more and more people are 'getting' it and are trying their hardest to educate the society. :)
Wa'alaikumussalam wa Rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
I'm glad u bumped into this post ^_^
Yes, sis Hajar. it is so true. I still remember when a Christian friend of mine asked me about what is the real problem that Muslims in Malaysia have. I told him- confusion between what is culture and what is Islam . true isn't it? For example, you cannot pray unless you wear baju melayu or telekung so on and so forth.
even among my family members, I try my level best to expose them about Muslims from other cultures by inviting my friends to my house.last time, we had a nice 'eid with my Chinese Muslims friends, Turkish and also my friend from Uzbekistan. I think by doing that, it would make it possible to break the wall in their minds saying that Islam is only meant for a particular race only. =)
Assalamualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,
Very true. Back-to-back misconceptions are terribly infused in our society. When I was a child, I kept questioning why must we rush back home just to perform the Zuhr prayers? Why can't we pray in the musolla? Why can't we pray without our telekung? I didn't get my answers until much later, and by then my mum was worried I was converting to Christianity...
Yeah. We should do our little parts in rectifying the situation. The whole "masuk-Islam = masuk-melayu" syndrome doesn't do anyone justice.
Wa'alaikumussalam ya ukht,
yes. you are right.the syndrome brings so much confusion defnitly. even recently one of my family members asked me whether it is ok for her to eat with chopstck.I'm glad she askd that. at least, it shows how curious she is.
we've got lots of things to do to educate our society ^_^
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