I begin the writing with one simple reminder to all readers of this blog that all contents is at first to remind myself and then the others.I'm a lay person with little knowledge of Islam but to be born in Islam and growing up in a Muslim family doesn't stop me to explicate and analyze what Islam is all about.Alhamdulillah.
As we know,all Muslim believe in one God,ALLAH the Almighty.The concept of monotheism is our fundamental principle in Islam and repeatedly we say 'syahadah' everyday in our life especially in solah(prayer)admitting that ALLAH is the God for all universe and all mandkind,HE is the only one that we worship and prophet Muhammad SAW is the ordinary man that has been sent by HIM to convey Islam to all mankind(and not just the Arabs).Terminologically,Islam doesn't mean terrorism,which is the only thing that non-muslim understand about Islam and its followers.Islam means peace,submission to God(ALLAH),to obey,and etc.
Say: He is Allah the One and Only; (1) Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; (2) He begetteth, not nor is He begotten; (3) And there is none like unto Him. (4)
Muslims and the word 'Islam' itself are now so popular but the popularity is gained from negative assumptions .In every news we heard the same thing which is continuously announced by media via TV, internet,or newspapers especially regarding terrorism committed by muslim.Eventhough clearly everyone knows Israel has committed atrocities to our family,the palestinians,but they are not publicly exposed.Thanks to the media .
My personal views concerning this issue is most of the news stations do not have enough ideas(unless they expose muslim extremist-related news) to achieve what they really want -money and popularity..No doubt about that.The higher rating you got,the more prominent you are,the more money you get.Simple theory of business.Apart from that,there is still hidden vicious agenda behind it,to defame Islam.Our main discussion here is not about the media, it would expectedly be part of discussion but the topic concerns us not them.
Terrorism is one of the misconceptions.It is indispensable to discuss it but we would take days and nights to finish it and find the solutions.That would require a forum and a few scholars to take part as well in order to get a clear view.What is more essential to talk about is our understanding of Islam as a religion and as a way of life ,ad-deen. and how to improve the muslim.
Alhamdulillah.As you were born,'azan' was performed by your father.That was the first thing we heard when we came to this world.Azan itself contains sufficient details regarding who is our Lord and Who is the God's Messenger.Basic knowledge of Islam we already had since our birth.Unfortunately as we getting older,we become far away from the Creator of humankind.HE created us with reasons,and one of it is to worship HIM.
Surah Adh-Dhariyat 51:56
"And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone)"
"And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone)"
We were born in Islam and live in Islam.We know Islam as a religion and as a faith like a mother who knows her child well enough.ALLAH indeed has chosen us to be in Islam.Amazingly,just imagine the probability one of us likely to be born in a family with other religion.Who knows that you now might be living in the land of China and embrace Buddhism or maybe living in India with Hindus family.Someone might say come on!,it's our fate and destiny.Yes,no one will argue about that.Therefore,we should be appreciative of what have been determined and given by our Lord.The least you can do is by saying Alhamdulillah.Remind yourself beforehand with the questions:Who are we?What are we created for?What can we do to be a better muslim?rather than What else can we ask for(from ALLAH).
Sadly,we muslims are now competing each other in terms of wrongdoings,injust deeds,criminal act and etc.Somehow i admit alhamdulillah,there are many Muslims doing good deeds and also strive to avoid from doing sins.But what about the others who are drifted away from the right path.Some steal people's properties,become rapist,bank robbery,and the most unacceptable one is corrupted leaders and so on.That's a major criminal act which is done mostly by the mature.How about the future leaders,the teenagers?They get involved with skinheads,punk,or a few years back,the black-metal,drug addict,what else?We are so critical about the west and the non-muslims commit atrocities to our family members,im not opposed to that,we must do so.But the point here is similarly we should be critical on muslim as well not because we hate them but because we love them.If we play our role as auliya which means supporters,friends,protectors and helpers we can at least improve the situation and at the same time fullfil our duties to do da'wah.Dakwah is about preaching the people and remind them about the wrongdoings and the hereafter.Unfortunately,most of us only see and let the ulama' or ustaz or Islamic authorities to do the job,in fact it's supposed to be everyone who has said syahadah.Once you are muslim,you are entitled to do so.
Surah At-Taubah 9:71
"The believers, men and women, are Auliyâ’ (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another; they enjoin (on the people) Al-Ma‘rûf (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism and all that Islâm orders one to do), and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar (i.e. polytheism and disbelief of all kinds, and all that Islâm has forbidden); they perform As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât), and give the Zakât, and obey Allâh and His Messenger. Allâh will have His Mercy on them. Surely Allâh is All-Mighty, All-Wise."
How people(non-muslims) will define and understand Islam,if we act differently from what Islam has thought us?We read Qoran almost everyday,but i can assure you that most of us read without understand the meaning of each verse.Why it happens?one of the given reasons would be due to language barrier,because Qoran is in arabic texts.
Be reasonable.We live in a modern world,everything is ready-made.Quran is now translated in many languages. If you are not affordable to buy a translated one,you can read it online.Plus,too lazy to turn each pages ,you can even use PDA to read Quran and Hadith.Briefly,we should understand the meaning of each verse and more important is to appreciate each words of ALLAH.One of the miracles from ALLAH is in our house,on the bookshelf.Understanding comes with quest for knowledge and once you gain it,needless to say,you won't have to force yourself ,you will do good things naturally.
Surah Muhammad 47:24
"Do they not then earnestly seek to understand the Qur'an, or are their hearts locked up by them?"
"Do they not then earnestly seek to understand the Qur'an, or are their hearts locked up by them?"
Same thing happens to our prayer.We continuously pray days and nights,but we do not concentrate in the prayers and the non-arabians don't even understand the meaning of what they say in the prayer.What's the point of praying if we don't do it properly and also do not understand the meaning?Im not saying that my prayer is perfect,i have my own weaknesses too.I'm telling this because we can improve it together,mend the mistakes.Kusyu' or concentration is so important in Solah because during prayer we worship HIM like we are seeing ALLAH in front of us and if we can not see HIM, just remember that ALLAH is looking at what we are doing all the time.5 times of prayer a day can clear us from the small sins and prevent us from doing the same sins again.The non-muslim might ask us,why there are still some muslims commit wrongdoings as if they never did solah?To be fair,you can't say none of the muslim never did wrongs,we do have.How about the Christians?Buddhists?or Hindus?they also have bad followers and good one.The goodness of solah is very subtle.Naturally no one can run away from doing mistakes,we are normal humanbeing.But the consequences would be difference for one doing the solah compared to one who doesn't.If the muslim doesn't solah,perhaps the situation would get worse.Solah is a preventive measure in Islam and it's a gift from ALLAH.
Therefore,Reading the Qoran(and hadith) and prayers are two fundamental aspects that MUST be continuously practised in our daily life.
That's why HE reminded us in surah al-Ankaboot 29:45
"Recite what is sent of the Book by inspiration to thee, and establish Regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) that ye do."
wallahua'lam
ALLAH knows best
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