Rilek1Corner

Tag: Muslims

  • Myanmar Sends Troops Into Muslim-Majority Region After Deadly Attacks

    Myanmar Sends Troops Into Muslim-Majority Region After Deadly Attacks

    Myanmar has stepped up security in a Muslim-majority region near its border with Bangladesh, officials said on Monday (Oct 10), as authorities hunt for attackers who killed at least nine police officers.

    Officials believe that members of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority launched three separate attacks in the early hours of Sunday, in which dozens of weapons and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition were seized from border police.

    Nine policemen were killed, one was missing and five were wounded. Eight attackers were killed and two captured, police said.

    The Rohingya, who are mostly stateless and are subject to severe restrictions on their movements, make up the majority of the population in the northern part of Rakhine State.

    Authorities in the township of Maungdaw on Sunday announced the extension of an existing order banning gatherings of five or more people and imposing a 7pm to 6am curfew.

    State media said the military – known as the Tatmadaw – had moved troops into the area by helicopter. Photographs on social media showed trucks full of infantry purportedly being deployed in the area.

    No detailed information has been released about the operation in the area near a border guard office at Kyiganbyin village, where as many as 90 assailants seized weapons and fled into the hills.

    “The Tatmadaw, the police force and the Ministry of Border Affairs are working together to ensure security and restore law and order,” said Min Aung, a minister in the Rakhine State government, who declined to disclose the size of the force sent to the area.

    Human rights advocates raised concerns that civilians may be caught up in the sweep. Unverified reports posted online by advocates for the Rohingya suggested that a violent crackdown may be underway.

    Ye Htut, administrator for Maungdaw, said he was not aware of the situation around Kyiganbyin village, which is under the control of security forces.

    Muslim residents of Maungdaw town closed their shops amid the heightened security presence, he said.

    “All of the security forces are deployed in Maungdaw, so we are not worried about security. Everything is fine,” Ye Htut said.

    BANGLADESH DEPLOYS BORDER GUARDS

    Matthew Smith, founder of campaign group Fortify Rights, said restrictions on the Muslim population already in place made northern Rakhine State “a police state, an apartheid state”.

    “Human rights violations in the context of counterinsurgency in northern Rakhine State are not new,” Smith said.

    “The authorities routinely accuse average Rohingya of involvement with armed extremists.”

    Authorities routinely dismiss accusations of rights abuses.

    Sunday was the bloodiest day in the state since 2012, when more than 100 people were killed in clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. Some 125,000 people, the majority Rohingya, remain displaced.

    Myanmar’s state counsellor and foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi – who in August appointed former U.N. chief Kofi Annan to head an advisory commission into the situation in Rakhine State – discussed the attacks with security officials in an emergency meeting on Sunday, said foreign ministry official Kyaw Tin.

    “The state counsellor instructed us to handle this issue cautiously in accordance with the law,” Kyaw Tin told reporters.

    Officials in Bangladesh said Myanmar had closed the border after the attacks.

    Bangladesh deployed additional border guards, said Mohammad Tanvir Alam Khan, a Border Guard Bangladesh commander.

    Myanmar police chief Zaw Win has said his force was investigating possible links between the attackers and rebel groups.

    Zaw Win also mentioned big drugs busts by police in the area – some 6 million methamphetamine pills were seized in September – as a possible trigger for the attacks.

     

    Source: ChannelNewsAsia

  • A Chinese-Muslim Convert’s Experience With Ignorance In Singapore

    A Chinese-Muslim Convert’s Experience With Ignorance In Singapore

    I need to get this off my chest.

    I was seeing a new doctor yesterday (4th time this month, don’t ask) and she expressed surprise that my name sounded ‘Chinese’ when I’m wearing a hijab (and therefore look like a Muslim aka. Malay in Singapore). So I said I’m Chinese Muslim, yes, my family is Chinese, yes, I’m the only Muslim in my family, yes, I’m a convert to Islam, yes.

    Then she asked me why I converted. Usual question.
    Me: “I researched.” (Shortest answer, I’ve figured, that prevents unnecessary questions and only engages those who really want to know more, because, what bores people more than research?! hahaa)

    And then she says this.
    “Huh. You researched? Don’t research until become ISIS ah!”

    WELL.
    I’m not offended, no don’t get me wrong. I’ve had this said to me a few times before. But today I feel so strongly about it and am just appalled to know that it has come to the stage whereby learning and gaining knowledge in Islam can be viewed as a route to becoming ‘brainwashed to terrorism’.

    Ever since my reversion close to 3 years ago (I turn 3 in 10 days time, yay!), I’ve met countless Muslims and Muslim converts in Singapore week after week, class after class. Muslims who are so knowledgeable in their field of work, AND in Islamic knowledge. Scientists, mathematicians, historians- and what they all have in common is the knowledge in Islam which sets the strongest foundation in whatever they do. And I’m learning from an ustaz who has no professional certification to his name, yet embodies the humility and disposition of people who have spent years of their lives gaining more and more knowledge. Such people are overflowing with wisdom, but they don’t ever stop learning. As my ustaz would say, “The more you know, the more you realise you don’t know.”

    To all my friends out there, you’ve got nothing to be afraid of, because the epitome of a Muslim lies in gaining knowledge. And the more knowledge we gain, the less we ‘become ISIS’ (I cringe even writing this sentence). What they do/ claim to do in the name of Islam, they are no more than a bunch of terrorists. Got that? Just Terrorists. No “Islamic extremists” or “fundamentalists” or “Islamists”- just terms that the media has coined to make you believe that we Muslims have got anything to do with that bunch- when in fact we are as much related to them as you are.

    Now let me go back to my jihad of trying to be as patient as I can and not have a sarcastic comeback everytime someone tries to link me to ISIS. Ugh.

    —
    The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ- peace be upon him) said: “A servant of God will remain standing on the Day of Judgment until he is questioned about his time on earth and how he used it; about his knowledge and how he utilized it; about his wealth and from where he acquired it and in what activities he spent it; and about his body and how he used it.” (Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 148)

     

    Source: Maryem Chin

  • Mufti Ajak Umat Islam Sebar Rahmah Sesama Insan Dalam Tazkirah Awal Muharram

    Mufti Ajak Umat Islam Sebar Rahmah Sesama Insan Dalam Tazkirah Awal Muharram

    Mufti Negara, Dr Mohamed Fatris Bakaram mengajak umat Islam tempatan supaya meneruskan gagasan hijrah Nabi Muhammad dengan menjadi sebuah masyarakat yang menyebarkan rahmah sesama insan.

    Beliau berkata demikian di majlis Sambutan Awal Muharram 1438 Hijrah, di Masjid Al-Istighfar, malam tadi (1 Okt).

    Sejajar dengan tema sambutannya, Masyarakat Berjiwa Rahmah, Dr Fatris berkata peristiwa hijrah itu mengingatkan kita tentang keperluan anjakan paradigma dalam kehidupan insan, penyesuaian kepada perubahan serta mengorak langkah ke arah pembangunan dan kemajuan.

    Turut hadir di acara tersebut ialah Menteri Bertanggungjawab bagi Ehwal Masyarakat Islam, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Menteri Sekitaran dan Sumber Air Masagos Zulkifli serta beberapa pemimpin Melayu/Islam yang lain.

    PERLU KUKUHKAN KEHIDUPAN DALAM MASYARAKAT MAJMUK

    Dalam tazkirahnya yang disampaikan selepas solat Maghrib, Mufti menekankan bahawa orang-orang Islam yang baik adalah mereka yang memberi manfaat kepada orang lain.

    Beliau berkata sifat rahmah dapat disebarkan dengan mengukuhkan kehidupan dalam masyarakat majmuk di negara ini dengan sikap saling membantu sesama insan.

    Ini termasuk prihatin terhadap anggota masyarakat lain dan peka akan keperluan kehidupan beragama di sini.

    ETOS HIJRAH AJAK AMALKAN ISLAM DALAM KONTEKS SOSIO-BUDAYA

    Dr Fatris menambah bahawa etos penghijrahan mengajak kita supaya terus mengamalkan ajaran Islam dengan mengambil kira konteks sosio-budaya sesuatu tempat.

    Ini bermakna kita perlu mengambil kira keperluan serta realiti kehidupan – sesuatu yang sudah lama diamalkan para ulama bagi mencari huraian kepada kehidupan masyarakat.

    Ia juga sekaligus menyumbang kepada kefahaman Islam dengan lensa yang terbuka dan inklusif, sejajar dengan hakikat bahawa agama Islam itu tidak terhad kepada sesuatu zaman ataupun sepadan geografi.

    Malah, sejarah Islam sendiri menunjukkan sememangnya agama itu boleh bertapak dengan jayanya dalam masyarakat majmuk di mana umatnya merupakan golongan minoriti.

    Dr Fatris juga menekankan peri penting melihat pada konsep Siyasah Al-Syariah daripada teks-teks klasikal menerusi kaca mata hari ini.

    Menurutnya, memahami maksud dan konteks itu penting, bukan sahaja bagi memahami teks agama tetapi juga untuk mengenalpasti maksud dan tujuan sebenar di sebalik pendapat ulama tentang sesuatu perkara.

    Source: Berita MediaCorp

  • Amos Yee Gets 6 Weeks’ Jail For Wounding Religious Feelings

    Amos Yee Gets 6 Weeks’ Jail For Wounding Religious Feelings

    Teenage blogger Amos Yee was sentenced to six weeks’ jail on Thursday (Sep 29), after he pleaded guilty to six charges for wounding the religious feelings of Christians and Muslims.

    The 17-year-old was also ordered to pay a fine of S$2,000 for defying two notices to turn up at a police station to give his statement.

    “(Yee) is not lacking in his mental capacity to make rational choices in the way he conducts himself,” Principal District Judge Ong Hian Sun said, adding that he “deliberately elected to do harm by using offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims”.

    The blogger’s “contemptuous and irreverent remarks” undermines the religious harmony in Singapore, and his conduct “should not be condoned or tolerated”, the judge said.

    Judge Ong also said he hoped the punishment, while not overly harsh, would be enough to deter Yee from re-offending. “Hopefully we will not have (Yee) appearing again in this court for the same offence in the future,” the judge said, referring to Yee’s previous conviction.

    Yee was sentenced in July 2015 to four weeks’ jail for the same offence. In total, he spent more than a month – about 50 days – in prison, after repeatedly breaching bail conditions.

    For intending to wound religious feelings, Yee could have been jailed for up to three years, fined for each charge or both. For failing to show up at a police station, Yee could have been jailed for one month, fined up to S$1,500 per charge or both.

     

    Source: ChannelNewAsia

  • Mohd Khair: Cabaran-Cabaran Yang Dihadapi Masyarakat Melayu

    Mohd Khair: Cabaran-Cabaran Yang Dihadapi Masyarakat Melayu

    Cabaran-cabaran yang dihadapi masyarakat kita sekarang ini dan akan datang bukannya sedikit, berlambak-lambak…(senarai di bawah ini tidak menurut mana-mana keutamaan)

    1. Masalah anak-anak yang tidak mendapat pendidikan agama (jumlah peratusan yang tinggi)

    2. Generasi muda yang tiada atau longgar pegangan agama

    3. Generasi tua yang tidak kesah tentang agama

    4. Keluarga-keluarga yang tiada nilai atau kekontangan nilai

    5. Anak2 muda yang berzina secara selamba macam anjing kat stesen bas

    6. Anak-anak yang dilahirkan luar nikah

    7. Ketidak cukupan keluarga Muslim untuk mengambil anak-anak angkat Muslim (adoption)

    8. Ketidak cukupan keluarga Muslim untuk mengambil anak-anak Muslim sebagai anak titipan (fostering)

    9. Anak-anak yang tidak atau kurang mendapat bimbingan dari ibubapa dan kemudian melakukan pelbagai kesalahan

    10. Institusi keluarga dan struktur rumahtangga yang rapuh mudah roboh

    11. Isu perceraian yang orang kita sudah jadi champion semenjak berdekad lamanya

    12. Isu perceraian di kalangan para datuk dan nenek (ini maslaah baru dalam masyarakat)

    13. Suami atau isteri atau kedua-duanya selingkuh dan berzina sehingga ada isteri yang hamil anak orang lain

    14. Masalah penagihan dan pengedaran dadah yang masih lagi belum selesai

    15. Cabaran pendidikan untuk lebih ramai lagi anak-anak kita yang berjaya

    16. Cabaran untuk mencelikkan sebahagian para ibubapa yang masih lagi rabun akan masadepan anak-anak mereka

    17. Cabaran dayakerja (employability) para pekerja kita dalam zaman globalisasi yang begitu cepat berkembang dan berubah

    18. Cabaran terhadap persaingan dalam peluang-peluang pekerjaan dalam konteks pembanjiran para pekerja asing

    19. Cabaran risiko pembuangan kerja para pencari nafkah kita

    20. Cabaran bagi yang telah hilang pekerjaan

    21. Cabaran akan hilangnya istilah persaraan di masa depan apabila setiap warga perlu kerja sehingga ke liang lahat

    22. Masalah hutang & tailong di kalangan individu dan keluarga

    23. Masalah kesihatan dan pakej penyakit 3-in-1 atau 4-in-1

    24. Cabaran persaraan warga senja

    25. Cabaran muslimin dan muslimat yang masih membujang dan belum mendapat jodoh, terutama di peringkat usia melebihi 35 tahun

    26. Cabaran kos kehidupan yang semakin meningkat

    27. Cabaran membantu keluarga-keluarga dan individu-individu yang kurang upaya atau kehilangan upaya untuk berdikari

    28. Cabaran membantu muslimin dan muslimat yang kebingungan akan identiti jantina mereka (isu LGBT)

    29. Isu tudung (belum selesai lagi semenjak awal tahun 70an lagi)

    30. Isu Autisma dan lain-lain keperluan khas yang semakin meningkat di kalangan anak-anak dari keluarga Muslim .

    …dan banyak lagi cabaran dan masalah tidak tersenarai di sini

    Dan kita sering dipesongkan dan disibukkan dengan isu-isu yang langsung tidak akan membantu kita menyelesaikan cabaran-cabaran dan masalah-masalah yang tersenarai di sini (dan yang lain-lain lagi setentunya).

    Tidak ada orang lain melainkan kita yang boleh selesaikan masalah dan cabaran ini semua.

    Kalau kita hilang fokus, maka hilanglah kita.

    الله المستعان

     

    Source: Mohd Khair