Hurmmmm, quite bored yesterday. Everyday is a boring day here and I don't know what else to do or where else to go because I think I had walked around this island. However, we have to try to find what could make us feel at least our day would not be wasted. I think we need to make a list of what we wanted to do for a day as to make sure we know what we are supposed to do. I thought I had discussed this with Amir. I might need a paper to list down all things that I wanted to do the next day for everyday here.
I went to a free lecture delivered by brother Lim Jooi Soon from Hidayah Center and co-organized by Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia, Penang in USM. The lecture was delivered at DKA School of Social Science around 14:30-17:30. This one is the second part and I thought that it would be different from the first one which is Misconception About Islam I. But it seems like a kind of prolonged discussion from the previous one and the questions being posed are just the same.
I just put them into some points here about what are the misconception of non-Muslims regarding Islam:
1. When reverting to Islam, a person needs to change their parents name or surname. Say if a person is a Chinese, he or she would have to leave out his or her surname and Chinese name for another as according to the situation in Malaysia where the majority of Muslim are Malays and prefer Arabic style names.
2. Orientalism which was established during imperialism period. Those European academicians were judging Islam through their academic researches while good researches should be made on the base of neutrality and out of bias. Human-being could not free themselves from flaws and it includes in their own view. Their books and scholarly writings being spread widely in Western world and those who have no experience with Muslims but just listen from afar became paranoid of something which is not yet experienced by themselves. Websites by non-Muslim like answeringislam.com and others.
3. The muftis who prescribed the guidelines and fatawas are not well-versed in the issue and certain field of studies related to the issue. They did not make any researches regarding that. So, their fatawas bring misunderstanding about Islam.
4. Knowledgeable Muslims who are well-versed in Islamic sciences are not mingling with non-Muslims but just mingle around themselves.
5. Women and feminism issue where Islam is said as pressing women. Women could not divorce their husband while their husband could divorce their wife or marry four wives as they pleased. Man could beat women, hijab issue and etc.
6. Transnational actor in political science such as terrorism issue.
7. Questions about Science and Technology to answer Freethinkers kind of people.
My opinion
For point no.2 I don't know what is exactly the problem of those web administrators with Islam. They certainly are not Muslim because I know who is behind trashy webs like answeringislam.com. I don't even read it anymore because it is full of junks written by a person with something broken in his mind. I suppose that my little nephew of two years old could do better than that.
For point no. 4, I regret this so much because I think that I also found that most religious school students are not mingling closely with non-Muslims. Many of my Muslim relatives are also students of religious school or
meleley which refers to Islamic temple school or madrasah in our regional language. I myself was also a religious school students since I was a little child after a period where my parents was scolded by elders because registering my elder sisters into non-Muslim education system in this sense Mission schools and Chinese system. I was also
accursed with a non-Muslim transition period of life before returning
to Islam. If not because of this experience, perhaps I might not
understood non-Muslims way of thinking and keep living in my own shell like others. When these people are not
mingling with non-Muslims, those who are not knowledgeable mingle with
non-Muslims. Non-Muslims asking them questions but they could not give
satisfied questions to non-Muslims although they had tried and having
good intention. So, non-Muslim dwells in confusion. That's why I visited non-Muslim temples and churches just like other sufis though I am not a sufi. Know what brothers and sisters in Islam, I am also stamped by other fellow brothers and sisters as a person without religion when entering these places.
For point no.5. If wearing hijab is considered as a violation of human-rights, how do we know that the person who wears hijab feel tortured? The same thing like wearing short skirts, some people also feel not comfortable with it. I had tested my sisters and asking them to take off their hijab if they need to take it off during their working time but they refused to do so. I also tested my little sister to see whether she feels comfortable wearing short skirt or skimpy uniform when she gets a job offer to be an air-stewardess. She just reject the offer though I said I am willing to be tortured in hell for her happiness and livelihood. It is her life and her choice. Also in the matter of having boyfriends, I meet all of their boyfriends and I never object their choice though I might also don't like their choices of boyfriend. I don't think that Europeans are better than everyone else in treating women. I as a little brother also cooked food and washing dishes at home. My late grandpa also cook himself and making coffee for himself without having to ask my late grandma to do it. My grandpa was an imam in the village mosque. He never forced me to pray too while I live with him. I live with him as a silent Buddhist beginning my late 13 years old and in the same time pretending to be a Muslim. So, please do interviews with all-kind of samples when doing researches. There are methods of doing researches we don't simply draw conclusions on everything. If it is so easy like what had been done by early Orientalists, I would not have to feel tortured here trying to finish this Social Studies thesis. Don't just read a book and claim that we are all-knowledgeable as compared to the God if we claim ourselves as people of a faith in relation to point no.2.
Point no.6 could be looked in Political and Social Science light through International Relation and Global Political Economic studies. Also the system of administration and decision-making of countries in the world. Before we relate everything to Islam we should also know both about Islamic Shariah in which Shariah does not only means law but it is terminological like Dharmma and these secular political system. If not then, we would better take care about our own business while waiting for the Resurrection to come.
Point no.7, I don't think Freethinkers and Atheists need Revelation to explain everything. These people for me are bunch of arrogant people, bragger, and boastful. They don't need the God so why should these things being useful to them? As a believer and trying to be sincere to the God. I don't need Science stuffs to explain these things. I accept my difference from these people so I don't need to fit in within them. They could think as they wish since Guidance and Success is within His Power. Not within me and not within anyone.
Other than that they talked about True Gospel of Jesus, Bible stuffs, Yahudi-Nasara. I don't think I am interested in those stuffs so I silently went out of the lecture room before it ends. I wanted to perform 'Asar service in the masjid. These things were repeated over and over at my ears and I feel bored. I read stuffs from professor Abdul Malik Amrullah from Indonesia. I also read Ahmad Deedat's long before I enter to the university as an undergraduate. I found that it is not favorable to find faults in people's scriptures though we do not accept the authority of scriptures.
Brothers and sisters in faith please help me to perform prayers may I finish this thesis I am doing quickly. I feel so tortured with it because I am longing to learn about the God. I think I made mistakes when I accepted the offer to further into postgraduate. We human-being are so reckless, may Allah forgive our recklessness.
Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace, and love, amin!
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