Living like Cattles

It's Friday and I made it to the mosque this time and it was at the masjid Kampung Rawa not too far from my home. I got a ride there from my neighbor's kid to the mosque his father is a very close friend and someone I have had many religious discussions with over the fact that i am in need of a religious spring cleaning. He had once set me up to meet a friend of his believed to be able to turn my head around with his ideas and religious beliefs but in the end both his friend and I had a great time agreeing with each other over our individual perceptions and he was pointed out as one who betrayed a friend's confidence. This happeend in the good old days when my late friend the Cikgu Yusoff Ali was still around and hot religious discussions were being carried all through the nights at 'Pa'Pin's Coffee shop on the corner of Jalan Perak and Jalan P. Ramlee. It was quite an awakenning expereince for me then as i had just reentered the country, the culture and the religion after having left it all for the previous twenty four years. It was my indoctrination of sorts into Islam and being the odd ball in the group whose head had been twisted left and right while in the West, I was often the center of attention or attack whichever was the case maybe. My answers to the questions thrown at me were always given with a Zen Buddhist twist to it, like answering a question with a question sort of thing and this often irritated most of these die hard so called contemporary Muslim thinkers.
Today the Imam was spitting out brimstone and fire from the pulpit accusing the Penang State Government for trying to destroy the 'Akidah' of the Muslim youth of this 'our beloved Island' by holding yet another Dance festival tomorrow! He spat out accusations against just about every institutions and foundations for the downfall of our Muslim way of life and the corruption that infested Islam among the Penangites. Not once did he turn the finger around at himself or the Penang Muslims themselves for selling their religion and culture cheap when things were at the height of prosperity among them, like when the island was under the rule of the Alliance or Barisan Nasional, wher nothing was accomplished in terms of social or religious upgrading other than more mosque being build and more salaries being raised among the Ulama's. What was done as far as the common people and the youth welfare when they had the chance? What was said and done about the stench that is eminating from the river a few hundred yards from where from the mosque? Never in my years of Friday prayers have I heard an Imam went on rampage about the state of the polluted rivers in this 'beloved Island of ours.'
God created all and fair to all and he gave us brains of equal size and capability, how can we pass judgements upon those who do not profess to our own way of belief? As a nation we like to brag about being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, Multi-religious society and how we have lived side by side in harmony and tolerance, yet in our mosques and temples our churches and wats we grind our knives and poison our arrows in preparation for Armageddon and all in the name of God!
Lets not allow our children to be influenced by these dances and Yoga and the likes that corrupts their innocent minds! Great! let them play their video games on the computer or hang out at the Mall instead all day long and watch soccer games all through the night! The older folks ,Hey, they are contented with the reruns of old P.Ramlee movies, let them be. The men who are retired? let them hang out at the coffee shops thats the best hole for them why worry they cause not harm so long as the teh tarik and Necafe is right and the roti canai does not cost too much, let them be. If the spirit moves them the pious ones will hide in their corners and zikhr to Allah in attonement for the past sins and preperation for the next step in the afterlife, the fortunate, the awakened few. They will have nothing to do with the masses and their irreparable ways of modernism, for these are the few who have seen the light in Mecca and made their covenant to only seek Allah and give up this so called world of ours. May Allah bless them and keep them.
Life is peachy for most Malay Muslims here in Penang and if there is any complains it would mostly be about getting their SOCSO or KWSP at the end of the day for those who are salary earners and how to spend it. Talks about the business of the day will eventually lead on to how the use of Jins and shaitans were involved in every run of businesses from coffee shops to major corportations in order to cut off the copetitions head. Only Malays will declare to themselves how they all have PHDs, Ask these guys about Akidah and Syariah and they will tell you the answers all night long for so long as the coffee flows. Ask them where their children are and they will raise their cell phones and dial for their kids, no problem, everything is at the finger's tip.
There is no unniversal scheme to destroy Islam and if there is it would be the Muslims themselves that would deserve the credit. Oh yes there is always the boogey Jewish or so called Zionist regime that is always lurking around the corner to pounce at every unwary Muslim as he passes by and make him disappear from the face of the earth. This is a very popular believe and has won the hearts of millions of unwary Muslims so much so that they walked around corners in paranoia. When things dont go right at home or abroad blame it on the Jews or the Christians or the Hindus but the fact that islam is still in the grip of sectorial segregation and causing untold miseries in the lives of its followers is swept under the carpet. This is the Muslim contemporary scapegoat for the failures they have against righting the religion of Allah! The fingers seldom points at the one who is pointing but always at the devil out there. Corruption is out there! Ignorance and Greed is out there! It is in them no, not us for we are Muslims! For god's sake we are Muslims!
I was sipping coffee and chewing on some chicken Satay with my cousin and friend who owns a burger stand at the Taman Saadon Astaka or eating place till about 2am. We were discussing about the same issue as the one raised by the Imam at the mosque today. Yoga is sin the fatwa said, what Yoga? Raja Yoga? Hatha Yoga? Bakhti Yoga? What yoga? Kriya Yoga? I asked them. Do they know Yoga? Meditation should be made a sin too, if Yoga is depiction of Shivas posture or whatever it is that the religious wise men accuse it of that is anti Islam. The Buddha sit in meditation and most buddha statues depicts this position so there aught to be a fatwa against sitting meditation. Tai Chi as most people has pointed out should be banned too for it is very Chinese or Taoist in principle. In the end what is there left for us Muslims to work with to sharpen our mind and hone our understandings? The Holy prophet said for us to go all the way to China if need be to gather knowledge, He did not say destroy the Great Wall. Nor did God commanded Moses to get rid of the pyramids but just "take your people out of darkness."Perhaps this is the issue we are not suppose to have too much learning, it is not healthy for us, we aught to let our wise muslim leaders do the thinking for us why not? Life is kosher as it is, got your retirement or pension your KWSP, there's the coffee shop to hang out and your cronies to shoot the shit with.Your kids are wherever they are safe for so long as you got them a hand phone to keep tract of them, your wives are happy so long as P.Ramlee in black and white is wooing Saloma on TV, let the Ulam'as do the thinking when it comes to what is right or wrong concerning the religion, just as the politicians will take care of your political needs. No one ask for or need your opinion so keep it in your blog.
Islam is Perfect as it Is it is the Muslims who have to make perfections out of themselves by being knowledgeable, great collective thinkers, far sighted and intuitive in their approach when it comes to their understanding of the religion. To know God, know thyself first. He who knows himself knows God. One of the great Caliphs of Islam said this. How can one point a finger at anyone else without thoroughly investigating the finger that is pointing if it is pure and clean in the eys of the AlMighty. We are all His Creation, Muslims and Non Muslims alike! Even the Devil himself is His creation! He gave us one miracle and that is the Mind (the Intellect)to work with is this what we end up with? Blowing up innocent bystanders including fellow Muslims, killing each other simply because we cannot come to an agreement on whose sect or mazhab is correct or acceptable which is not? Is this all that we got to show for being what a Muslim is all about? Finger pointing, declaring fatwas on every thing our taste does not agree with or that threatened our status quo as Muslim leaders? Islam is not only becoming the dreaded terrorist religion of the world now it is also becoming the laughing stalk, a religion moving backwards in time.
"Then We have given the Book as an inheritance to those whom We have chosen among Our servants; So some of them are those who wrong themselves and some of them are those who take the middle course(Whose errors and good deeds are equal),and some of them are those who are foremest in deeds of goodness by Allah's will That is the greatest Grace."
(Sura Fatir ,32)
Hanya Allah yang Wujud!!
Hanya Allah Yang Wujud!!!
Dia -lah yang Maha Wujud!!!!
The rest is pure history...His--story.