Tuesday, June 23, 2015

There is no compulsion in Islam...


A post extracted from my FB...

"I don’t understand why some schools need to close their canteens to “respect” Muslims who are fasting. If it was my son who is doing the complaining, my answer would be “WTH are you doing in the canteen in the first place? Go hang out in the classroom/library/surau” 

When I was growing up, 80% of my “gang” comprises of non-Muslims, some are super polite who’ll hide under the table to have a sip of their drinks while the less considerate ones will openly drink ice milo right in front of my face. (Oh well, to their credit they did offer to buy me one if I want to break my fast earlier..haha). But past the age of 9, when I finally decided to sincerely fast on my own, nothing my friends can do or say will affect my fasting.

At the end of the day, If I (hypothetically of course *cough2*) drank the tap water while pretending to take my wudhu, was it really because I saw my friend drinking or was it because I had no willpower to stop myself from consuming unfiltered water? Just because my willpower sucks, that does not give me the license to impose my religious beliefs on others.

I walk in front of the cross every single day for 11 years when I was in MGS, read my friend’s baby bible when I was 10 and after I started driving even drop my friends at the church for their mass after our lepak session. Heck I even dated a Christian for 5 years at one point of my life. Did I ever felt the urge to change my faith at any point of these events? Alhamdullilah, it is a BIG FAT NO. You want to know why? Because I truly believe in my syahadah “There is no god other than Allah and Nabi Muhammad SAW is his messenger” All thanks to my parents, family and teachers guidance.

So to the paranoid Malays, maybe instead of pointing fingers as to how other people can ruin our Iman, maybe we can step back and look at our shortcomings and learn the way of Islam through Al Quran and Sunnah. Let’s lay the foundation of Islam in our children so deep that no matter what other people choose to say or do, nothing will easily waver their faith. And from this point onwards when we decide to force our beliefs onto others, maybe we can ask ourselves, is this how Nabi Muhammad will act? A real Muslim will know the answer…"

What brought this on? I'm just tired having to expain myself again and again due to the actions of some ignorant individuals. Salam Ramadhan everyone, forgive my wrongdoings (if any) and may all of us have a blessed and fulfilling month :)