Rilek1Corner

Tag: Zulfikar Shariff

  • WEAR WHITE ON TAUBAHCALL DAY: 1st Day of Ramadhan – 28 June 2014

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    Ustaz Noor Deros

    Assalamualaikum wr wb,

    Bismillah, walhamdulillah, the blessed month of Ramadan is just around the corner, if Allah wills, it will descend on the night of 28th of June around 7pm+.

    We ask Allah that He allow us to be among those who will be blessed with His pardon & mercy in that month of rahmah and maghfirah. Amin.

    Yet, it seems that there is another group of people who are also looking forward to that day. That very same date and time (5pm-7pm) was chosen by the PINK DOT activists (Lesbian,Gay,Bisexuals & Transexual activists and symphatisers) to organise their biggest event ever. They will come together in thousands to make a call to the Singaporean society to accept LGBT individuals (of course together with their lifestyle) without any kind of discrimination, intolerance nor judgement.

    It is important to note here that it is through such nuanced events that the idea, philosophy and lifestyle of LGBT is subtly promoted and normalised, most of the time through the call to accept the VEHICLE (the LGBT individuals).

    Oh Muslims! The gates of heavens and mercy will be opened in Ramadan, we do not want It to be blocked by our sins and our inaction towards munkar.

    Muslims and straight-minded human beings must stand up and state our stand clearly.

    No, not even as a response to this or that party, what more a reaction, but as an education first and foremost to our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters out there who still think that the LGBT lifestyle is a personal right and that the Quranic and Prophetic guidance on the LGBT issue is boundlessly flexible and ever-open to “progressive” interpretations.

    For the sake of our collective spiritual, mental, emotional, social & physical health we have to MAKE CLEAR WHAT IS EVIL AND PROHIBIT IT. Be it through a small one time event or mega ones, collectively or group based. Whats important is that it must be continuous and ever present.

    This is of course not a new call nor a unique one, this is just another of that small yet continuous calls. We have to keep them coming.

    PERGAS have stated our stand, may Allah reward them for that, and I believe that MUIS already have something wise and farsighted in mind, many of us are waiting for that something with good opinion, but waiting is just another excuse to avoid commitment and responsibility, no, waiting is not enough, we, the people on the ground have the right and responsibility to do and say something.

    ———————

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    SUGGESTIONS :

    In my discussions with many muslims about this issue I managed to gather some good suggestions, these are some of them :

    – Organise an easy, simple, yet clear and easily viral event such as WEAR WHITE DAY ON THE FIRST OF RAMADAN.

    Together with this, all/some of the mosque in Singapore – on the first of ramadan especially – should deliver a clear call to taubah, explaining the concept of fitrah, freedom & sexuality in Islam.

    In my opinion, this is the most viable, I and my friends will take this on, you are invited to lend a hand. Please contact me if you are interested.

    – Veterans and experienced Mega Maulid/Islamic Events organisers especially the lead and crowdpulling asatizahs should come together and organise a mega program on the first of ramadan, maybe a mega terawih session in a stadium. FOR THE LOVE OF THE PROPHET S.A.W. We will give our support.

    – Short videos stating our stand on this issue as Muslims living in Singapore. (This is a must)

    – Continuous series of talks and seminars on Islam and the LGBT. (Such programs have started, but we need more of it)

    – Talks on Islamic Worldview/ Islamic View of Existence. (This is the most important)

    Oh Muslims! Our amal ma’ruf nahi munkar is never and should never be restricted to only Muslims. If your non-muslim neighbour tries to kill an innocent life in front of you what do you do? Harm should not be restricted to physical, for we muslims strongly believe in the reality of spiritual harm.

    Oh Muslims! We have been fighting about petty issues for too long, Isn’t it high time for us to come together for something that is common between us?

    Come come! Let us all together make taubah!

    Scholars should make taubah of their muteness and inaction!

    Those who have fallen into the pit of LGBT lifestyle should make taubah of their transgression!

    Those of us who think that we are clean and are guarenteed salvation because we are religious, should make the most istighfar! For that is the worse kind of delusion!

    Welcome! Welcome oh ye month of Maghfirah!

    Zulfikar Shariff Walid J. Abdullah Syed Danial Khairul AR Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied Mohamed Saiddhin Gene Sha Muhammad Azry Azmi Abdul Samad

    Source: Ustaz Noor Deros

    wear white taubah call day

    EDITOR’S NOTE 

    In full honesty, Rilek1Corner has to applaud these Singapore Muslims who have come together to educate the public. This is perhaps the first time in a long time that the Muslim community have witnessed how a small group of dynamic individuals are able to move a community. Hopefully, there will be more of such efforts so that both our Malay and Muslim can also move forward in tandem with rest.

    Yet another history in the making.

     

     

     

    letters to R1C

     

     

     

  • Constructive Dialogue and Constructing Legitimacy

    The government’s continued policy to ban the hijab should not come as a surprise.

    Yaacob Ibrahim said in his note that he wants us to continue constructive dialogue with him. According to Yaacob, he and the Malay MPs will then raise it with PM and the Cabinet.

    Constructive dialogue is a nebulous term. The best definition is an event where two or more parties speak and listen to each other to help everyone improve. A dialogue requires speaking and listening. The parties should have relatively equal power.

    But that is not how it works with the Singapore government.

    There are several key components to constructive dialogue Singapore style:

    1. Citizens provide feedback to the government.

    2. This feedback should be held in proper respect and decorum.

    3. Government representative listens to the feedback.

    4. Representative explain their position.

    5. Representative assures citizens their views will be taken under advicement.

    This is not a dialogue. It is a claim for legitimacy.

    But let us assume there is a constructive element to dialogue. Is being constructive evenly applied? Or is there greater expectation on one party than another?

    If the engagement is based on citizen disagreement with government policies, then the constructive nature applies to how the citizen engages the government.How does the engagement take place? What are their relative powers?

    The power differential is large. The government is the sole decision maker. Because it is held under the banner of being constructive, the manner, not just the message is important.

    Criticism would be considered negative. Instead, feedback should be given with proper deference.But what is also important is not the actual meeting. Both parties know how the other would react. Take yesterday’s meeting between the government and Muslim leaders for example. What was the meeting about?

    The optimists had hoped the government would make concessions. They attended the meeting with the belief that a decision had been made and the government would shift their policy. In this scenario, they expected the government to accede to their request prior to the meeting. The meeting itself was not to construct a new position. It was to listen to an announcement. That cannot be seen as being constructive.

    The pessimists (who were proven right this time), had expected the government to announce the policy would remain as is. Once again, there is nothing constructive. The only constructive argument made is that feedback is given so that the government may modify the policy in future. But this is not a new issue.

    There had been numerous discussions over 41 years. Where is the constructive agenda in the process?The pessimist’ assessment is however flawed on one significant point. They believed that the government met with Muslim leaders to inform them of the rejection prior to announcing it to the public.

    It is supposed to break the news a little easier. The argument follows that since the government took time to meet and announce it to them, it shows that the government takes the issue seriously.

    But that is not why they were invited to meet. Because what followed was more important than what was said during the meeting.

    When the government announced their rejection, they referred to the meeting to claim the decision’s legitimacy. Various media reports referred to the government’s meeting with Muslim leaders. They further indicated that the leaders understood the government’s decision.

    Halimah Yacob posted her FB page saying:

    “We had a very good discussion with representatives of PERGAS and the Malay Muslim organizations at Mendaki just now on the hijab issue. The leaders appreciated that the Malay Muslim MPs were doing our best on this issue…”

    The meeting was not simply to inform Muslim leaders of the decision. It was to grant moral authority to the rejection of the hijab. The government claimed that Muslim leaders understood the ban. That should mollify the community. If our leaders accept and appreciate the decision, then so should we.

    Constructive dialogue then was not a mere exercise to find a better process. It has always been a process to grant legitimacy to unpopular decisions.

    Zulfikar M Shariff