A simply profound song; only surpassed by the captivating splendor of its message.
Death is a fact of life and the most truthfully inevitable of realities; yet seldom do we ever contemplate its arrival. This track truly captures the innate purpose of life that is embedded deep down our very consciences as human beings; all part of the 'test' that the system of life poses to us.
The ones that recognize that purpose and live life according to God's terms; are the true winners.
I find that this article below written by Ustaz Hazrizal will perhaps be an enlightening view for Muslims (esp. in Malaysia??) that kept arguing about the hukum on celebration of Christmas. Hope you guys will find it refreshing, as I did. :)
Di satu sudut masjid, Amir duduk bersimpuh tersenyum mendengar soalan saya.
Tengah hari itu cuaca di Belfast sungguh sejuk. Hanya tinggal beberapa hari lagi, Krismas tiba. Di sana sini lagu-lagu Krismas berkumandang. Teringat saya kepada suasana Aidilfitri di Malaysia, manusia bagai dipaksa-paksa untuk beremosi dengan lagu raya. Sama ada untuk melakukan barangan, menyuruh anak perantau pulang ke desa, atau dipasang sekadar menandakan musim raya sudah bermula.
Lisburn Road yang selalunya comot lagi suram dengan sentuhan cuaca Ireland Utara, indah berhias dengan pelbagai dekorasi, tidak mengalah dengan kemeriahan di sekitar pusat membeli belah Castle Court di tengah bandar.
“Tidak. Tiada rasa rindu. Tetapi rasa lebih berhubung” jawab Amir dengan tenang.
Amir adalah anak tempatan. Sudah lama memeluk Islam dan tiada gelaran ‘saudara baru’ untuknya lagi.
“Bagaimana pula lebih berhubung?” saya kurang jelas dengan maksudnya.
“Dulu-dulu, saya sekeluarga menyambut Krismas tanpa sebab yang jelas. Malah tanpa sedar, seperti ada kekeliruan antara Jesus dan Santa Claus” jelas pemuda itu.
Amir menggambarkan kepada saya betapa Krismas disambut lebih kepada sebuah adat yang sekular. Tiada intipati agama yang jelas. Hadir ke perhimpunan di gereja pun tidak dirasakan sebagai ritual agama.
“Di Belfast ini, hidup sebagai minoriti menjadikan Muslim lebih menghargai Aidilfitri. Tetapi di negara saya, Ramadan semakin disudahkan dengan perayaan yang semakin sekular. Hilang roh agamanya” saya berkongsi.
“Itulah perbezaan agama minoriti dan majoriti barangkali” Amir menyambung mesej saya tadi.
“Selepas memeluk Islam, awak masih menyambut Krismas?” saya ingin tahu.
“Ya dan tidak” jawabnya ringkas.
“Bagaimana begitu?” saya tidak pasti.
“Ya, saya masih menyambut Krismas dengan pulang menziarahi keluarga saya dan menyertai perhimpunan keluarga kami. Ada hidangan yang saya makan, ada yang tidak. Tetapi saya tidak lagi menyambut Krismas dengan jiwa yang sama seperti mereka kerana saya rasa saya lebih Kristian selepas memeluk Islam!” jelas Amir.
“Oh! Lebih Kristian selepas memeluk Islam? Unik tu!” saya terpinga-pinga.
“Tentu sahaja. Jika dahulu, status Jesus sukar untuk saya hadam ke dalam jiwa dan keyakinan. Tetapi kini segalanya jelas. Maryam dan Isa lebih indah dan suci di dalam Aqidah Islam” ujar pemuda Irish itu.
Amir membacakan kepada saya firman Allah di dalam al-Quran, surah Aal ‘Imraan:
“(Ingatlah) ketika malaikat berkata: “Wahai Maryam! Bahawasanya Allah memberikan khabar yang menggembirakanmu, dengan (mengurniakan seorang anak yang engkau akan kandungkan semata-mata dengan) kalimah daripada Allah, nama anak itu: Al-Masih, Isa Ibni Maryam, seorang yang terkemuka di Dunia dan di Akhirat, dan ia juga dari orang-orang yang didampingkan (diberi kemuliaan di sisi Allah). Dan ia akan berkata-kata kepada orang ramai semasa ia masih kecil dalam buaian, dan semasa ia dewasa, dan ia adalah daripada orang-orang yang soleh.” [Aal 'Imraan 3: 45-46]
“Versi Islam untuk Annunciation?” saya menyoal.
Amir tersenyum.
Dia memang tidak banyak berbicara.
“Eh, saya perlu beredar sekarang. Maafkan saya, Imam. Kita jumpa lagi Insya Allah” Amir tiba-tiba bangun. Teringatkan sesuatu barangkali.
“Baiklah. Merry Christmas?” saya memberi ucapan dalam nada menyoal.
“Islamic Christmas?” beliau juga menjawabnya dengan nada menyoal.
Kami ketawa.
KRISMAS DAN PELUANG DAKWAH
Saya teringat kepada pesanan Said Hawwa di dalam risalah Maulid beliau yang terhimpun di dalam kitab Kay Laa Namdhee Ba’eedan ‘an Ihtiyaajaat al-’Asr. Al-Marhum berpesan, biar pun Maulid tidak disambut di zaman Nabi sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam atas sebab yang makruf, ia tidak seharusnya menjadi alasan untuk tarikh yang difahami sebagai Maulid al-Rasul itu dibiarkan begitu sahaja. Ramai manusia yang secara otomatik tertanya-tanya apakah tiada sambutan, tiada ceramah, tiada kenduri. Kesediaan masyarakat untuk ‘diprogramkan’ itu mesti dimanfaatkan oleh pendakwah. Tolaklah ke tepi anasir-anasir yang bersalahan dengan Sunnah. Namun mengapa tidak diadakan majlis ilmu mengingati Rasul sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Mengapa tidak baginda dipuji dan dikenang bersama selawat dengan bahasa syair yang indah, selagi syair itu tidak mengungkapkan syirik dan bid’ah?
Demikian juga perihal Krismas.
Ketika sahabat handai malah mungkin ada yang sanak saudara dan ahli keluarga yang menyambut Krismas kerana agama mereka, mengapa tidak sentimen dan emosi yang wujud dimanfaatkan sebagai peluang dakwah?
Umat Islam harus sudah mampu keluar daripada berulang kali memperdebatkan persoalan hukum mengucap tahniah kepada non-Muslim.
Jadikan sahaja ia peluang dakwah, ungkapkan sesuatu yang lebih Islamik.
Hantarkan kad Krismas yang disertakan dengan petikan-petikan ayat al-Quran yang berbicara tentang Isa dan Maryam.
Beritahu rakan Kristian anda bahawa kita kaum Muslimin juga memuliakan Jesus dan Mary. Namun Risalah Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam datang memurnikan kepercayaan kami mengenainya. Hadiahkan buku-buku yang baik pada menjelaskan tentang Islam serta hubungkaitnya dengan Risalah Jesus. Buku yang sedap dibaca, buku yang tidak mencederakan kasih sayang mereka kepada Jesus dan Mary, tetapi menggunakan kasih sayang itu untuk mengajak mereka kepada Aqidah yang lebih memurnikan cinta seorang mukmin kepada sekalian Rasul, di samping Isa juga bondanya Maryam.
Seperti kata Amir, “saya terasa lebih Kristian selepas memeluk Islam. Lebih dekat dengan Jesus Christ”
Mungkin sudah agak terlambat, tetapi malam itu saya mengerjakan Photoshop untuk membuat kad Krismas berserta petikan al-Quran tentang Jesus dan Mary. Kad itu dikongsikan bersama Jamal, Presiden Belfast Islamic Centre untuk dihantar kepada beberapa klien yang biasa berurusan dengan kami daripada kalangan agensi tempatan.
“Dan peringatkanlah mereka dengan hari-hari Allah. “Sesungguhnya yang demikian itu, mengandungi tanda-tanda yang menunjukkan kekuasaan Allah bagi tiap-tiap seorang yang kuat bersabar, lagi kuat bersyukur” [Ibrahim 14: 5]
I cannot agree more with the character Amir, for when a non Muslim reverts, he/she seemed to be more aware of the truth and more careful about the things that they do in their life. Since they have the opportunity to be a non Muslim before, they can differentiate between religion and culture.
Like Amir, I find that Muslim reverts have the tendency to appreciate the practices in Islam because they understand that these do not fall into culture. They will try their best to steer away from the 'cultural' practices, because they know that the practices in Islam is always based on the truth; upon Quraan and Sunnah, and other practices are unnecessary, and they want to follow Islam to the best that they can, no matter how awkward it may seemed to be to 'some' taklid buta Muslims.
For example, there has been numerous misunderstanding on Islam, where 'culturally' in our country we insist for a revert to change their name, adding an Arab name, or even change their father's name. This does not potray the true teaching of Islam at all! Our Prophet never taught us to change the names as long as it has a good meaning. Changing names actually deviates far from the truth! Some Muslim may argue saying that it is harmless, but for some race it is a very sensitive issue when it comes to changing names. See how easily 'culture' can lead create confusion and misunderstanding on Islam?
Also, culturally, the term mualaf is often misused in our country; we always like to call a revert Mualaf (kononnya membawa maksud saudara baru) for his/her whole life time! Truth is, the Quran uses the term Al-Mu'allafati Quloobuhum to refer to people who have either recently accepted Islam or are in the process. The singular would be Mu'aalafun Qalbuh (man) or Mu'allafun Qalbuha (woman). The first part, Mu'allaf, by itself does not mean a revert, it means a compiled work.
So in the article above, Amir was never intimadated by other Muslims in Belfast since they do not blindly follow the culture of calling a revert 'mualaf' or saudara baru.
While there are certain culture that is permissible, one must always be aware of the practices that they do, because Islam is simple. It always have been. Obey Allah and obey His Messenger. Allah has commanded us to follow Islam the way that our Prophet Muhammad had taught us. Yes, there are numerous mischevious backstabbing Muslims (or Munafiqs) and non Muslims who will always try to create confusion among the Muslim ummah; but if we stick rightly to the path of Allah by following the Quraan and Sunnah one should be able to the feel peace and just of Islam in their hearts and in their mind.
It is without doubt that Christmas is not a religious celebration it is more cultural (that is already known), but if we Muslims show the beauty of Islam where we meet and greet and perhaps give some dakwah to our Christian brothers/sisters, by telling them that as a Muslim, we too, love Jesus and Mary, show them the surahs in Quraan, have a friendly discussion with them, clear the confusion between Jesus in the Quraan and in the Bible, then inshallah, one will never know if Allah open their hearts to accept Islam.
One beautiful example of a revert who I really look up upon is Brother Yusuf Estes (he's one of my favourite daiee!) ^_^ Here is a video (it's very entertaining, I promise!) on Why did Bro. Yusuf Estes embrace Islam. I hope this will be an eye opener to all of us, inshallah. May Allah lead us to the true path of Islam. :)
It doesn’t matter how many Quraans they are going to burn, being outraged to these laughable dim-witted people are not a cool solution. It doesn’t matter if these thick headed people wants to burn Quraan, what Muslims should do is to laugh at them (yes laugh!) and enquire them instead who would REALLY be in trouble if, we Muslims would burn all the Bible? Isn’t this a BIGGER problem for the Christians due to a really obvious reason? (Gotcha!)
Muslims doesn’t have to worry at all because hundreds and thousands of Muslims (we’re talking about a REALLY HUGE groups of Muslims around the globe here, people remember?) have already memorised the whole Quraan! Mashallah remember the huffaz, and hafiz? Don’t forget the mufassirs, muhaddiths too!
That's the beauty of Islam! The fact that we can validate and maintain the authenticity of all of our sources from the time of our Prophet til today makes us the only religion that does not have blind faith people! Lets be a cool and calm Muslim and laugh at those evident bunch of idiots. Think about it. Peace! :D
Allah is great, Allah is great, Allah is great, There is no god but Allah Allah is great, Allah is great, and praise is due to Him. Allah is great, Allah is great, Allah is great, There is no god but Allah
Allah is great, Allah is great, and praise is due to Him. Allah is the Greatest, and an abundance of praise is due to Him, And glory and praise be to him morning and evening.
There is no god but Allah, alone, He was true to His promise, And He granted victory to His worshipper, and He supported His group, And He conquered the parties (of evil) all by Himself.
There is no deity but Allah, and we worship no one but Him, And we will sincerely follow the religion for Him, Even against the wishes of the unbelievers.
May Allah pray upon our Muhammad, and upon his family, And upon his companions, and upon his supporters, And upon his wives, And upon his descendants, And grant an abundance of peace on him.
"the Jews will not be pleased with you, nor the Christians until you follow their religion. Say: Surely Allah's guidance, that is the (true) guidance. And if you follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, you shall have no guardian from Allah, nor any helper." Al-Baqarah :120 "You will follow the ways of the nations before you inch by inch and foot by foot to such degree that if they entered a lizard's hole, you would go in after them". When Prophet PBUH was asked by former nations he meant the Christians and the Jews, he replied, "Who else could it be?".[1]
Here are some of the video presentation on Freemasonry by Dr. Omar Zaid ( I went to his talk at IIS, Setiawangsa today and I seriously think he's a Muslim version of Dr. House, M.D. -for his cynical yet honest approach).
"Dr. Omar's the most un-politically correct scholar I know personally. His relentless pursuit of truth is unsparing. That's why we need him and more like him" - Prof. Hassan Nagar, PhD. Arabic and English Lit., ISTAC, UIA, KL, Malaysia
A brief biography of Dr. Omar Zaid. Dr. Omar Zaid is a retired Emergency Room Physician now Research Fellow at ISTAC (IIUM) since July 2007. Prior to his conversion to Islam in 2004, Dr. Zaid was an Evangelical Christian Missionary in Sarawak East Malaysia. In his search for truth Dr. Zaid explored occult metaphysics became intimate with Dr. Rudolph Steiners Anthroposophy, became a Freemason then a Born Again Christian before finally reverting to Islam in 2004 .
He currently does research on Church History, Gnosticism, Mystery Religions, Fertility Cults, the history of Hermetic Societies and Human Development and Sexuality. In addition to several essays and monographs, he has authored Trinity: The Metamorphosis of Myth; The Hands of Iblis: Summary Observations on the Hidden Hand of the New World Order. His next book, Cain’s Creed: The Cult of Rome, a Deconstruction and Revision of Church history, is scheduled for release this year.
"I am a former Catholic, Occultist, Freemason, Christian Evangelical Minister and Casualty Physician now become Muslim, author, critic and relatively qualified coroner for a deeply wounded ummah. The singular perspective I offer on this traumatized body is a kind of kalb ina kalb (heart to heart) reportage and examination that may help buffer some of the palavers I‘ve witnessed since becoming an Academic Fellow a few years ago. With this in mind, I beg leniency for any error presented and remain amenable to admonition and correction. All praise belongs to Allah." - The Rights of God: Islamization & Islamic Science in light of the New World Order: A Singular Perspective.
More interesting publications by Dr. Omar Zaid can be download HERE.
May Allah S.W.T. open up our hearts and minds to guide us to the true path and may Allah S.W.T. reward Dr. Omar for his effort in conveying the truth.
Reference: [1] - Ibn Al- Jawzee's The Devil's Deception: edited translation by Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
