...radical middle way..
bismillahirrahmanirrahim...
this is probably more sentimental and melancholic than intelligent and logical, but after some time reading forums and stuff, it is rather sad to see how people have turned out to be...
the thing that is happening is the damning of so many a sinner in society by the so-called Islamist..
since i am also one of the moderators of the website www.iluvislam.com, and i am in charge of the forums, a few things always stands out as being apparent in the new generation who apparently wants Islam to be glorious once more on the face of the planet...
thing is, we are too oftenly judgemental of people. we tend to judge people by whatever they do. i have more than once read posts in many forums of how people saying that society is really2 bad, that the youth is being carried away by the many wonders that is life etc.
thing is, we are not doing anything to help them by saying that, are we?
i mean, taking points from of my previous posts, not many of us actually bother to engage these people, understand how they think, what their problems are, etc. we never bothered to understand them, yet we almost instantly judge them...
it is rather sad.
one might argue that one is searching for a solution to the problem, but let me ask you something, is the theoretical solution that is envisioned by people who never understood a problem is viable in reality?
i know that there are lots and lots of arguments against this, but i am a firm believer in engaging society, in understanding, before deciding in anything.
this is especially true about the 'couple' phenomena that is happening. people often hurl strong words against couples who are dating. what is interesting is that we don't see married adults doing that too much; they always come from the youth. married people tend to be more mature and try to deal with it by giving a sort of escape, rather than simply say this can't be done and stuff.
then the question is, why are youths who never experienced the wonder of love be so strict about this?
is it fair to criticize too much when we have never been at that sort of situation?
yes, we can criticize by saying that they should not do this, but that doesn't solve the problem, does it?
we constantly talk about hukums in Islam, whether or not this or that can be done, how is this compliant to the syariah law. but we spent so little time to think about the Creator of all, to think about what really matters in life. in my view, people slip because they sometimes forget about what matters in life, that is, the afterlife.
and we should treat them with love. we should care for them, think about what we can do, not what they should do, because we can't change people, only ALLAH can. but we can change ourselves, and our efforts to change the world. once that is done, we leave it to ALLAH; we have done our best...
wallahua'lam
this is probably more sentimental and melancholic than intelligent and logical, but after some time reading forums and stuff, it is rather sad to see how people have turned out to be...
the thing that is happening is the damning of so many a sinner in society by the so-called Islamist..
since i am also one of the moderators of the website www.iluvislam.com, and i am in charge of the forums, a few things always stands out as being apparent in the new generation who apparently wants Islam to be glorious once more on the face of the planet...
thing is, we are too oftenly judgemental of people. we tend to judge people by whatever they do. i have more than once read posts in many forums of how people saying that society is really2 bad, that the youth is being carried away by the many wonders that is life etc.
thing is, we are not doing anything to help them by saying that, are we?
i mean, taking points from of my previous posts, not many of us actually bother to engage these people, understand how they think, what their problems are, etc. we never bothered to understand them, yet we almost instantly judge them...
it is rather sad.
one might argue that one is searching for a solution to the problem, but let me ask you something, is the theoretical solution that is envisioned by people who never understood a problem is viable in reality?
i know that there are lots and lots of arguments against this, but i am a firm believer in engaging society, in understanding, before deciding in anything.
this is especially true about the 'couple' phenomena that is happening. people often hurl strong words against couples who are dating. what is interesting is that we don't see married adults doing that too much; they always come from the youth. married people tend to be more mature and try to deal with it by giving a sort of escape, rather than simply say this can't be done and stuff.
then the question is, why are youths who never experienced the wonder of love be so strict about this?
is it fair to criticize too much when we have never been at that sort of situation?
yes, we can criticize by saying that they should not do this, but that doesn't solve the problem, does it?
we constantly talk about hukums in Islam, whether or not this or that can be done, how is this compliant to the syariah law. but we spent so little time to think about the Creator of all, to think about what really matters in life. in my view, people slip because they sometimes forget about what matters in life, that is, the afterlife.
and we should treat them with love. we should care for them, think about what we can do, not what they should do, because we can't change people, only ALLAH can. but we can change ourselves, and our efforts to change the world. once that is done, we leave it to ALLAH; we have done our best...
wallahua'lam
in my opinion la kan, sebenarnya mereka sendiri masih tercari2...masih cuba memahami. and as they learn, they might face some trouble in trying to see things from both points of view. yg mereka nmpak yg mana hitam, yg mana putih. mereka takut nak cover the grey areas maybe kerana masih risau that they might not be strong enough to keep neutral.
niat mereka baik sebenarnya :) execution je salah.
That being said, it worries me when I read some of the posts on the forums. Posts like "I walked around with a non-muslim and people were looking at me funny" and "can I vote for a non-muslim" and similar posts - I'd go to the forum and look up some examples, but I think you get what I mean. This concerns me, frankly. Already in schools we see subtle forms of discrimination among students - you see malays hanging out with only malays, chinese with chinese, indians with indians. Whereas one of the most fond memories I had of my schooldays were of hanging out with everyone. I had friends, and that's it. We never labeled ourselves Malays, Chinese, or Indians - we were just friends. We'd go over to each others' houses and eat - non-malay friends always make sure the food is halal; malay friends always make sure that there's no beef on the table in case indian friends come over. It wasn't something explicit, it became normal. If one of us had to pray we'd always give the person a clean room and quieten down a bit to show respect, we'd wear each others' cultural clothes, we'd show up together for Deepavali or Raya or Chinese New Year!
In a way, I feel that we're moving from a more liberal point of view on religion - from the 80s up to now - and entering a very conservative phase. It's not helping that those fools in politics - UMNO especially - play the race card every opportunity they get, Malaysian society these days is just getting too segregated along racial lines. Sure we interact in the marketplace, but when we're at home, when we're at school, we're exclusively Malay, our friends are exclusively Malay, our social life, everything about us is. And I feel sorry for people who really are like that - from all races. They're missing out on so much because of this.
Anyway, just felt like ranting. I really like your post on chapels, by the way. That's the kind of thinking that we need, that - dare I say - any religion needs.
By Farish A. Noor
The recent declaration made at the OIC summit that calls for Muslim nation-states to act in a concerted manner and to take legal action against any country, group or individual who deliberately attacks Islam is noteworthy for the seriousness of its intent; but falls short of providing us with a real solution to the problem of racism and prejudice disguised behind the banner of Islam-bashing.
For a start, one wonders if the arena of international law even allows states to take legal action against other actors and agents on such grounds; and one wonders what the modalities of such an action might be. But above all, we need to take a calm and rational distance from the problem itself and consider methods that will work and reject those that certainly won’t.
The problem, however, is this: How can Muslims react rationally and coolly to acts of provocation at a time when even the utterance of the mutest words of protest are deemed by some as the irrational outpourings of misguided pious grief instead? The worry that some of us share at the moment is how the Muslims of the world will react to the release of the film produced by Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party. Wilders is known in Holland as a maverick politician on the make, an ambitious demagogue whose tactics are as loud as they are crude. His decision to make a film on the life of the Prophet Muhammad was calculated to raise the political temperature in Europe at a time when Muslim-non-Muslim relations have hit an all time low. Unlike the murdered film director Theo van Gogh who was a left-leaning activist and long-time supporter of minority concerns (and who, incidentally, also defended the rights of Muslim migrants in Holland), Wilders is a far-right politician who is clearly appealing to the baser parochial and exclusive sentiments of white Dutch society.
It would be hypocritical, to say the least, that Wilders’ film which presents Islam as a religious system akin to Facism and which compares the Prophet Muhammad to Hitler was meant to bring the communities of Holland closer together.
But in reacting to the film the Muslim community worldwide would have to take into account some cautionary points:
For a start, Geert Wilders happens to be a single individual who happens to lead a relatively small (though growing) political movement. In no way can we say that his is the voice of mainstream Dutch society which has historically been critical of racist demagogues and hate-mongers in its midst. Furthermore it should be remembered that thousands of Dutch citizens have also been active supporters and defenders of the rights of Muslims elsewhere, and that there are hundreds of Dutch NGOs and citizens groups that have been actively campaigning for the political rights of the Palestinians and the people of Iraq during the recent Gulf War. In condemning Wilders for his racist rant, it is absolutely imperative that the Muslim communities of the world restrain from condemning Dutch society in toto, and Westerners in general.
Secondly it should be noted that any mode of protest has to be measured and has to reflect the true nature of the insult that is perceived. The concern of many Muslim intellectuals and leaders today is that as the protests against Wilders’ film grow across the planet, we will see yet another round of violent demonstrations accompanied by the now-familiar rhetoric of death threats and hate speeches. When will Muslims realise that reacting to racism and bigotry can only be effective when it is done from a higher moral ground, and not by responding to hate with hate?
To this end, we need to emphasise that Muslims will never occupy the higher moral ground as long as they do not learn to co-operate with other faith communities and realise that our lot is a common one, shared with the rest of humanity. It is therefore vital that any steps taken to respond to the film by Geert Wilders be inclusive and accommodating in character, and that Muslim leaders, intellectuals and activists reach out for support from other faith communities including Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and all those who are against all forms of racism and bigotry. Only then will Muslims give the impression that we are not an isolated, marginalised and parochial community driven primarily by our own exclusive sectarian interests.
Lastly, while responding to Wilders’ outlandish and repugnant misrepresentation of Islam and Muslims, Muslims also need to be honest enough to recognise the faults and errors in ourselves. To condemn racist non-Muslims who deliberately abuse Islam is one thing, but Muslims also need to do some proper in-house cleaning and recognise that not all is well is the house of Islam: Racism, sexism, corruption, nepotism and abuse of power remain pressing realities in so many Muslim countries today. Likewise the hate-discourse of the likes of Wilders can also be compared to the hate-discourse of many radically violent Muslim demagogues, who do deserve to be called Muslim Facists too.
Can this dilemma be resolved in time before we witness yet another round of Muslim-West antagonism as we did in the wake of the Muhammad cartoon controversy of 2004-2005? One will only know the answer to that question when the controversy has passed and the dust has settled. But one thing is for certain at this juncture: No resolution to the perennial problem of Islamophobia and Muslim-bashing can be reached as long as we react to such slander and bigotry with slander and bigotry of our own. One does not fight hate with hate; and an intelligent, universal, inclusive reaction to the problem of Islamophobia is perhaps the first step to finding a solution. Let us hope that Muslims will keep their cool this time round.
Dr. Farish A. Noor is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore; and one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site.
saya bru join iluvislam n sadly (maybe wrong timing kot haha)ape yg sya slalu jmpe is forum mcm 'couple' tu haram ke x?mcm mana nk kapel dlm islam?boleh ke bercinta?
see,i'm not trying to be conservative here.but i read ur post and i believe u have d same opinion bout diz too.dh bnyk kali org jwb kapel to haram,why nk tnya bnyk2 kali jgk?x bleh terima kenyataan ke?(nada sinis).yes i know it's not wrong to seek explanation bout something yg kite waswas,but there's no need ntuk diskus bnyk2 kali psl bnde ni.dlm bnyk2 isu psl islam,isu kapel jgk yg jdik perbincangan hangat?ape bdk melayu islam ni xde bende laen ke nak pikir?
so i totally agree wit u.we shuld diskus more bout something yg betol2 beneficial.u said u'r the admin in charge of the forum,so can u do something to block this unnecessary (stupid,oops sory) forum?bkn psl kapel je,bnyk lg forum2 yg x membina lgsg.
n i also think there is no need to permit members to upload their photos kt iluvislam.this website is about nak share ilmu psl islam.bkn tmpat nk brkenalan.i think diz maybe sound alittlebit harsh,but really,if they want to use the lame excuse such as 'mengeratkn hubungan silaturrahim sesama islam',then juz go with friendster.hehe,isnt it funny?asyik bukak forum psl kapel haram,zina mata zina hati whatsoever,tpi upload gamba sindri,sume laki n pompuan bebas tgk,n then kalo ade gamba awek yg cun sket,ade la komen from a guy such as 'awak ni cun la.'yup diz really happened.heh.so much of 'kapel tu haram,kene elakkn zina mata zina hati.'sceptical,i know.tpi sya juz rase jengkel dgn sikap org yg ckp x srupa bikin.
n yeah i totally agree bout ur statement yg lebey krg cmni 'u dont even know bout the feeling of love,kenape nk berkeras ckp kapel tu haram' something like that.yup datz true.bagi sya,xperlu nk ckp kt forum mcm 'couple tu HARAM' dgn kerasnye.for me org yg ckp mcm ni mcm nk ubah org laen scara paksa.this person dont have to do that.coz i believe org bleh pk sindri ape yg diorg nk bwat or tanak bwat.
sory for the long (and sinis) comment,but juz nk ckp i totally agree wit u,arap lps ni iluvislam bleh jdi website yg membina,n i totally looking forward a forum yg btol2 bleh menjana pemikiran n bwat melayu jdi maju sket.eheh.keep up d gud work.wassalam.