Tag: Islam

Malaysian Muslims Seem To Have Very Weak Faith

I have been fasting in full every Ramadan for many years now and I admit, I do feel hungry and thirsty during the day and it isn’t totally comfortable all of the time.

But of course, like anything you do, if you put your mind to it and persevere, it eventually stops being a problem.

You get used to fasting and it actually makes your body feel good. But I won’t be talking here about the benefits of fasting on your health and well being.

What I do want to talk about is the fact that there are so many weak Muslims in Malaysia who can’t take fasting. I’m usually not one to judge, but well, this time I am going to!

We have a teacher in a school who asks his non-Muslim students to go to the toilet to drink during Ramadan, just so Muslim students won’t see them drinking.

It is ridiculous how some school canteens are instructed to close during the fasting month because it would mean non-Muslim students eating in view of Muslim students.

This issue of non-Muslims having to go out of their way, in the name of being respectful to those who are fasting, crops up every time Ramadan comes around.

I don’t understand how this is respect. All I can conclude from this is that some Malaysian Muslims are just too weak, and when they see someone drink water, their will to fast disappears.

I have many non-Muslim friends and I accompany them for lunch or even just for a drink at the mamak, even when I’m fasting, just so we can hang out and have a chat.

I see them eat and drink but I don’t get tempted. Sometimes, they tease me too and pretend to order for me a glass of teh ais and we all have a good laugh. But I still fast. No problems.

This fasting month, although only a week has gone by, I’ve even been accompanying my wife for lunch at restaurants whenever we are out and about.

She is in the final trimester of her second pregnancy and she needs the food and nutrition. So she doesn’t fast. We sit and chat as she has her meal and I still fast. No problems.

I’m not trying to say that I’m a perfect Muslim here. No way. I am far from that. What I am trying to say is that some Malaysian Muslims need to take a step back and look at their faith.

Fasting is an‘ibadah’and it is suppose to be challenging (although not torture!). And aren’t challenges suppose to make your faith and fast count for even more?

So technically, Malaysian Muslims should welcome people to eat and drink in front of them, and then resist, so they can collect more‘pahala’, right? Funny, isn’t it?

But no. Malaysian Muslims are just too weak. They fast but they can’t take it when they catch a glimpse of someone eating or drinking. Their faith starts to waver.

They can’t even take it when when non-Muslims use the word ‘Allah’ because they start getting confused and all with their own faith. Malaysian Muslims. What a weak bunch they are.

Source: http://english.astroawani.com

June 27, 2015
Abang Maut Selepas Menegur Adik Yang Tak Puasa

KUALA LANGAT: Seorang lelaki maut akibat cedera parah di leher selepas dilibas dengan pisau oleh adik lelakinya dalam kejadian di Jalan Orkid, Batu 8 Sijangkang, Telok Panglima Garang di sini, petang Rabu.

Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Langat Superintendan Zailan Tasir berkata, dalam kejadian kira-kira 6 petang itu, mangsa yang berusia 32 tahun dikatakan bertengkar dengan suspek dalam rumah mereka.

“Kejadian bermula apabila mangsa bertengkar dengan adiknya yang berusia 26 tahun disebabkan suspek tidak berpuasa.

“Berikutan itu berlaku pergaduhan antara kedua mereka apabila mangsa bertindak agresif dengan mengambil besi panjang di bahagian dapur dan suspek turut ke dapur mengambil pisau,” katanya kepada pemberita di lokasi kejadian.

Zailan berkata, ketika pergaduhan, suspek menyerang abangnya dengan melibas pisau menyebabkan mangsa mengalami kecederaan parah di leher kiri.

“Suspek berhenti menyerang mangsa apabila melihat darah mengalir banyak di bahagian leher si mati.

“Akibat kecederaan itu, mangsa keluar dari rumah bersama seorang rakan lelaki menggunakan Proton Wira milik suspek ke Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR), Klang,” katanya.

Zailan berkata, mangsa, bagaimanapun disahkan meninggal dunia ketika dalam perjalanan ke hospital.

Berikutan kejadian itu, beliau berkata, polis menahan suspek untuk siasatan lanjut dan kes itu disiasat mengikut Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan.

Source: www.mstar.com.my

June 26, 2015
Chinese Embrace Islam But Fight To Keep Names

KUALA LUMPUR – Chinese Muslims converts are baulking at taking Malay or Arabic names upon embracing Islam, claiming the discriminatory practice forces them to abandon their culture and traditions.

Several Chinese Muslims in Malaysia are fighting for the right to keep their original names, in defiance of the convention of replacing their surname with ‘Abdullah’, in a bid to keep their culture alive.

“I will not change my ethnicity. I was born Chinese and I will die Chinese, I will not become Malay.

“I did not want to change my name to show that Islam is a universal religion for all nations, not just for the Arabs or Malays only,” the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (MACMA) Malacca official Lim Jooi Soon told the BBC in a recent interview.

Like Lim, several other Chinese Muslims view changing their names to include Arabic or Malay names to be unnecessary as they were adopting a new faith, not a new race.

“My name may change but my face remains the same. Here, Malaysians say that if someone converts to Islam it means they’re becoming Malay. If I did not change my name, then I remain Chinese,” Ting Swee Keong said, also having kept his Chinese name after converting to Islam.

Even the practice of celebrating Chinese festivals are at risk, Muslim convert Nur Caren Chung Yock Lan said, despite celebrations like Chinese New Year or Mooncake Festival not being rooted in faith.

“This cultural celebration does not go against Islamic law; the Mooncake Festival, the Dumpling Festival, the Chinese New Year celebrations, these are more cultural than religious.

“Judging from history when Saad Ibn Waqas preached in China, he easily accepted the culture since Islam did not kill the culture; the faith changed, not the culture,” she said.

Although the convention of changing an individual’s name when converting into Islam is not in Malaysian legislature, it is commonly practised by all Islamic authorities, the BBC reports.

Lim was the first Chinese Muslim in Malaysia allowed to keep his original name, a right he earned after battling Islamic authorities for five years.

“Five years to talk, debate and discussion, as well as showing strong evidence in favour of me keeping my Chinese name. After that, it made it easy for many people to embrace Islam,” he said.

“If he gets rid of his surname, it’s as if there is no contact with his family. My second name indicates which generation I belong to and my last name, which is my own, means headed for greatness,” he explained.

Although MACMA president Professor Dr Hj Taufiq Yap Yun Hin opted for a Muslim name while maintaining his surname and Chinese name upon entering Islam, he urged Islamic authorities to do away with this practice so that those choosing to embrace Islam can still keep their cultural identity.

“I have also asked the parties related to the registration of the religion that this practice be changed so that the ethnic Chinese are still able to maintain their personal name and their surname if they convert to Islam,” he said.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

June 26, 2015
Malaysian Bar Council Chief: Non-Muslims Do Not Have To Hide When They Eat During Ramadan

The Malaysian Bar Council has called on the education authorities to uphold and put in practice the principles of harmony and unity in schools when it came to issues like the rights of non-Muslim students during the fasting month.

Malaysian Bar Council president Steven Thiru said the recent statement by deputy Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching to avoid avoid eating or drinking in front of Muslim students does not inspire mutual respect and understanding among Malaysians.

He said it instead emboldens those who are misguided in their belief that only their rights matter and further result in resentment among those whose rights are ignored or marginalised.

“This is a recipe for disharmony and disunity that we can ill afford. The purpose of fasting is not to inconvenience others who are not fasting.

“Indeed, to impose any such inconvenience would appear to be contrary to the spirit of the fasting month and devalue the qualities that it seeks to honour,” he said in a press statement.

He said Yap’s statement was disturbing as it casts the everyday eating and drinking of those who are not fasting as acts of disrespect, and it encourages the curtailment of the rights of those who are not fasting.

“This is inimical to the principles of mutual respect and understanding that underline our constitution.”

He said there were often attempts to compel or impose respect and understanding in schools in a divisive manner.

“This serves to poison the minds of our children, and sows in them the seeds of prejudice, distrust and suspicion.

“Our future as a nation will be in jeopardy if this worrying trend is not arrested and reversed.”

Source: www.therakyatpost.com

June 25, 2015
4 Facts: Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia Vows To End Haram Sports

Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia (HTM) has applauded the person who started the snowball of criticism against champion gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi for wearing a leotard that showed off her “vagina shape” during the SEA Games, adding that such “haram” sports would be barred under a caliphate.

1. The Hardline Islamist Group Told Authorities To Punish Muslim Men And Women Who Do Not Cover Their “Aurat” In Sports

The local chapter of the international hardline Islamist group also told the authorities to punish Muslim men and women who do not cover their “aurat” in sports, even in events such as swimming, saying it was a religious obligation to do so. The group said in a post on its website yesterday:

Praises must be given to the servant of Allah who gave criticism on this issue, although obviously the one who gave the criticism was then criticised by Farah herself and her supporters.

This is not a question of judging, but the question of preventing wrongdoings because it is an obligation for every Muslim, and for the State it is obligatory to take action through punishments.

2. The Group Said Defenders Of Farah Ann Proved Some Muslims Have Been Poisoned By Ideas Of Freedom From The West

HTM said defenders of Farah Ann proved that some Muslims have been poisoned by ideas of freedom from the West, where winning gold medals and bringing pride to the country is considered more important than covering up.

The group, which wishes to establish an Islamic caliphate in Malaysia, claimed that sports with “haram”, or forbidden elements, will never be allowed in a caliphate, and their athletes will be punished if found to be participating in such sports. It added:

Muslims are known to participate in ‘sports’ such as archery, horseriding, swimming, swordplay and so on, all of them done within the frame of performing jihad in the path of Allah,” it said, using the Arabic word that means “holy struggle”.

[They are] not like the sports of these days which bring humans further away from Allah.

3. Several Facebook Users Slammed Farah On Facebook Last Week After TV3 Uploaded A Photo Of Her In The Gymnastics Outfit

Several Facebook users had last week slammed the 21-year-old Farah Ann on Buletin TV3’s Facebook page after it uploaded a photograph of her in the gymnastics outfit, along with a caption that announced her winning gold in floor exercise in artistic gymnastics.

The woman athlete has since received an outpouring of support, however, from Malaysians who pointed out that the athlete should be celebrated for her performance at the games, which not only saw her take home gold, but three bronze medals and a silver in other individual events.

4. Youth And Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Has Since Defended Her, Telling Detractors They Have No Right To Judge Her Attire

Khairy also said a guidelines for sportswear by the federal Islamic authorities is unnecessary.

Even former minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz weighed in on the issue, slamming Farah Ann’s critics for being obsessed with athletes’ body shapes and dressing instead of their performances.

Source: http://greatermalaysia.com

June 25, 2015