by Muhammad Chong Abdullah
Source : Al-Khaadem Buletin , www.al-khaadem.com.my
1st January 2000 ... while the whole world was so engrossed in the debate about the Y2K bugs, my while family ( all 5 of us ) decided out of our own free will and without fear of any living soul, to invest in our akhirat by reverting to ISLAM. The youngest among us , my daughter 19 and me, the oldest aged 51.
We did not convert , nor did we masuk Melayu. We just reverted to ISLAM after a total combination of 166 years of being sesat, not knowing who or what we have been praying to and all the time seeking help from the wrong sources !. We were just followers of what our parents did in their religious rites not knowing ur understanding anything. We followed our parents in their 'prayers' because we were told to and because of 'good' people believe in God. Did we 'pray' ? And to 'God' ? we thought we did, then. It is just that we were not born intoa Muslim family and so were not taught what is praying and who we should be praying to.
How lucky those of you who are born Muslims !. From day one you have the blessings of Allah SWT and are exposed to the words of Allah SWT and the teachings of His prophets. And to be able to learn and read the Quran. But people like us must go through years of being a kafir. And if we are blessed and guided , we will insyaAllah, revert to Islam. Otherwise we will be astray forever.
My whole family come to realize that all humans, regardless of race, color are born MSULIMS. We are all descended from Adam (a.s.) who were created by Allah SWT .It so happen that we were born into families that follow subul (other paths) i.e the paths of people who turn away from the straight path shown by Allah SWT. Some become Buddhishts while others become Christians, Hindus, etc. It all depends on which family you are born into and who you are exposed to. Now that my family and I have learned of the Siratul Mustaqim - the correct path, we have reverted. We became Muslims again, Alhamdullilah and are still bery Chinese.
The bliss of that auspicious day; 1-1-2000 ! Our friends rejoiced with us. And till today we are still glowing in the joy of it all. MashaAllah ! We can still remember different reactions from different people.
Our non-Muslim Chinese friends of course, expressed dismay at their inability to understand what motivated us. But the warmth and happiness expressed by our Muslims friends was just awesome. A total contrast.
There was a barrage of questions from out Chinese friends but the one paticular regret the expressed that will always stay in our mindsw and make us lough is " so now you cannot eat pork -lah" How fond some people are for the pig ? We have abandoned porl way beforewe said the Syahadah. pork is nothe only food aorund. We have not miss it at all !!... In fact, after learnign why pig is considered haram, we expressed our Alhamdullilah for having it deleted from our diet.
we really do not know why pork is associated with being Chinese. Our family is Chinese , but we stopped eating pork in favour of fish, beef and mutton many years ago. And we have not lost weight or suffered in health either. And now that we are Muslims, it id definitely haram. And we are still every bit a Chinese even though we do not eat pork and reverted to Islam. We look Chinese, speak Chinese and are still related to Chinese relatives !. We have not lost or disowned anybody Chinese after reverting.
Our smart business minded friends tell us " You are a Bumiputra now , can buy houses cheap and can get govement contracts !" . We are not Bumipuras after reverting neither did we revert to be one. And definitely not to seek any advantages in this world. We revert because of Allah SWT and for Allh SWT. We are still what we are and we do not demand to be anything else.All of us should take a step back in our materialistic world and appreciate what we have. After all, we are surviving comfotably , not going hungry not without a roof over our heads. We should not and must not expect to be 'paid' or 'reimbursed' for every action that we take. Learn to bersyukur for all that we have in this world and learn to say we have enough. Take little bit of time to think of investing in our akhirat so that when the day of judgement arrive , we will have a permanent home in heaven.We do not want 'cheap' houses on earth but we pray and do good to please Allah SWT so that we canhave a house with streams flowing beneath in akhirat ! That house is what my whole family seeks and wants. Nobody but Allah SWT can give us that. Houses and everything else that is on earth is only temporary. Akhirat is permanent.
My more cheeky friends tell me that horny smile painted all over their face "Now can marry four wives la Best ha". These are the people who do not undersntand the words of Allah SWT. What is best about four wives to these perverted minds must be sex. Nothing else. Not the responsibility. We are been never asked to marry four for own sake. There are conditions attached which are convieniently ignored. Nothing can beat one fantastic wife and happy family blessed by Allah SWT constantly.
"Why do you masuk Melayu ? Why put caps ? Why wear baju kurung and tudung ? " . If only they understand. We are proud to put on the kopiah or tarbuz ,baju kurung and tudung because Allah SWT commands us. And because of we are Muslims who submits to none other but Allah SWT. We now know what is our aurat . We are not imitating nor following orang Melayu or any living soul. Neither did we masuk Melayu . It just so happened that orang Melayu understands the requirements of the religion to cover their aurat. And we are just doing the same in obedience to Allah SWT . Now if we put on a Muslim Arabic styled dress, do we masuk Arab ? Definetly not.
We were even shooed away by some because they feel embarrased to be around us with our odd outfits.If only they know the sins of showing off aurat with those sexy and revealing clothings!. they do not want to be seen with us. Ya-Allah, id only they know and learn !. To us, is does not matter. We are proud to be Muslims, proud to dress the way we are. We do not shun or hide from anybody. If they do not want to see us, we will go and see them. Sometimes it is awkward but we just do not care because Muslims keep in touch with their friends / relatives no matter what.
" You should become a Christian. It is not so bad. " What is bad about Islam , which they really know nothing about ? People who do not understand and are ignorant and do not look for the religion of Allah SWT yet they try to advise us on the choise of religion. They know nothing about Islam nor do they understand Christianity. They 'adopt' a religion so as not to be assiciated with a certain race or is it because Christianity is the religion of Mat Salleh and so looks cool.
The problem with our people is that Islam is so closely associated with orang Melayu that they become interchangeable. And this is made worse by the example set by some of our Muslims and sisters. If only all Muslims could set a good example and follow the sunnah in their daily life ! When that happened anything associated with Islam , the Malays , the Mualafs and all reverts will be nothing but positive. Life would be beautiful and Islam will attract more followers and there will be no bad image perceived.
Lets us not despair. We must all make Doa and ask Allah SWT to show s the right path. We must start with our ownself, be a good Muslim. Learn what is haram and what is halal. Show the world, the positive side of being a Muslim. Show the world that after reverting to Islam we are better person. Do not do things that will embrassass yourself as well as the Muslim community. A Muslim can be a model citizen. Especially for us who have just reverted, there will be many people laughing behind our back because we have degenerated after reverting ! Being a Muslim now must mean being a better person, blessed by Allah SWT , the One true God of all mankind. And we must project a universal Islamic image by following the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad SAW.
We must attempt to learn and appreciate our newfound religion, our new guide on our life. We must appreciate what Islam is and what it teaches us. The Holy Quran , the hadith and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad SAW should be our guidance for everything . With good Iman, good intention (niat) and the blessings of Allah swt , Muslims can never go wrong.
Source : Al-Khaadem Buletin , www.al-khaadem.com.my
1st January 2000 ... while the whole world was so engrossed in the debate about the Y2K bugs, my while family ( all 5 of us ) decided out of our own free will and without fear of any living soul, to invest in our akhirat by reverting to ISLAM. The youngest among us , my daughter 19 and me, the oldest aged 51.
We did not convert , nor did we masuk Melayu. We just reverted to ISLAM after a total combination of 166 years of being sesat, not knowing who or what we have been praying to and all the time seeking help from the wrong sources !. We were just followers of what our parents did in their religious rites not knowing ur understanding anything. We followed our parents in their 'prayers' because we were told to and because of 'good' people believe in God. Did we 'pray' ? And to 'God' ? we thought we did, then. It is just that we were not born intoa Muslim family and so were not taught what is praying and who we should be praying to.
How lucky those of you who are born Muslims !. From day one you have the blessings of Allah SWT and are exposed to the words of Allah SWT and the teachings of His prophets. And to be able to learn and read the Quran. But people like us must go through years of being a kafir. And if we are blessed and guided , we will insyaAllah, revert to Islam. Otherwise we will be astray forever.
My whole family come to realize that all humans, regardless of race, color are born MSULIMS. We are all descended from Adam (a.s.) who were created by Allah SWT .It so happen that we were born into families that follow subul (other paths) i.e the paths of people who turn away from the straight path shown by Allah SWT. Some become Buddhishts while others become Christians, Hindus, etc. It all depends on which family you are born into and who you are exposed to. Now that my family and I have learned of the Siratul Mustaqim - the correct path, we have reverted. We became Muslims again, Alhamdullilah and are still bery Chinese.
The bliss of that auspicious day; 1-1-2000 ! Our friends rejoiced with us. And till today we are still glowing in the joy of it all. MashaAllah ! We can still remember different reactions from different people.
Our non-Muslim Chinese friends of course, expressed dismay at their inability to understand what motivated us. But the warmth and happiness expressed by our Muslims friends was just awesome. A total contrast.
There was a barrage of questions from out Chinese friends but the one paticular regret the expressed that will always stay in our mindsw and make us lough is " so now you cannot eat pork -lah" How fond some people are for the pig ? We have abandoned porl way beforewe said the Syahadah. pork is nothe only food aorund. We have not miss it at all !!... In fact, after learnign why pig is considered haram, we expressed our Alhamdullilah for having it deleted from our diet.
we really do not know why pork is associated with being Chinese. Our family is Chinese , but we stopped eating pork in favour of fish, beef and mutton many years ago. And we have not lost weight or suffered in health either. And now that we are Muslims, it id definitely haram. And we are still every bit a Chinese even though we do not eat pork and reverted to Islam. We look Chinese, speak Chinese and are still related to Chinese relatives !. We have not lost or disowned anybody Chinese after reverting.
Our smart business minded friends tell us " You are a Bumiputra now , can buy houses cheap and can get govement contracts !" . We are not Bumipuras after reverting neither did we revert to be one. And definitely not to seek any advantages in this world. We revert because of Allah SWT and for Allh SWT. We are still what we are and we do not demand to be anything else.All of us should take a step back in our materialistic world and appreciate what we have. After all, we are surviving comfotably , not going hungry not without a roof over our heads. We should not and must not expect to be 'paid' or 'reimbursed' for every action that we take. Learn to bersyukur for all that we have in this world and learn to say we have enough. Take little bit of time to think of investing in our akhirat so that when the day of judgement arrive , we will have a permanent home in heaven.We do not want 'cheap' houses on earth but we pray and do good to please Allah SWT so that we canhave a house with streams flowing beneath in akhirat ! That house is what my whole family seeks and wants. Nobody but Allah SWT can give us that. Houses and everything else that is on earth is only temporary. Akhirat is permanent.
My more cheeky friends tell me that horny smile painted all over their face "Now can marry four wives la Best ha". These are the people who do not undersntand the words of Allah SWT. What is best about four wives to these perverted minds must be sex. Nothing else. Not the responsibility. We are been never asked to marry four for own sake. There are conditions attached which are convieniently ignored. Nothing can beat one fantastic wife and happy family blessed by Allah SWT constantly.
"Why do you masuk Melayu ? Why put caps ? Why wear baju kurung and tudung ? " . If only they understand. We are proud to put on the kopiah or tarbuz ,baju kurung and tudung because Allah SWT commands us. And because of we are Muslims who submits to none other but Allah SWT. We now know what is our aurat . We are not imitating nor following orang Melayu or any living soul. Neither did we masuk Melayu . It just so happened that orang Melayu understands the requirements of the religion to cover their aurat. And we are just doing the same in obedience to Allah SWT . Now if we put on a Muslim Arabic styled dress, do we masuk Arab ? Definetly not.
We were even shooed away by some because they feel embarrased to be around us with our odd outfits.If only they know the sins of showing off aurat with those sexy and revealing clothings!. they do not want to be seen with us. Ya-Allah, id only they know and learn !. To us, is does not matter. We are proud to be Muslims, proud to dress the way we are. We do not shun or hide from anybody. If they do not want to see us, we will go and see them. Sometimes it is awkward but we just do not care because Muslims keep in touch with their friends / relatives no matter what.
" You should become a Christian. It is not so bad. " What is bad about Islam , which they really know nothing about ? People who do not understand and are ignorant and do not look for the religion of Allah SWT yet they try to advise us on the choise of religion. They know nothing about Islam nor do they understand Christianity. They 'adopt' a religion so as not to be assiciated with a certain race or is it because Christianity is the religion of Mat Salleh and so looks cool.
The problem with our people is that Islam is so closely associated with orang Melayu that they become interchangeable. And this is made worse by the example set by some of our Muslims and sisters. If only all Muslims could set a good example and follow the sunnah in their daily life ! When that happened anything associated with Islam , the Malays , the Mualafs and all reverts will be nothing but positive. Life would be beautiful and Islam will attract more followers and there will be no bad image perceived.
Lets us not despair. We must all make Doa and ask Allah SWT to show s the right path. We must start with our ownself, be a good Muslim. Learn what is haram and what is halal. Show the world, the positive side of being a Muslim. Show the world that after reverting to Islam we are better person. Do not do things that will embrassass yourself as well as the Muslim community. A Muslim can be a model citizen. Especially for us who have just reverted, there will be many people laughing behind our back because we have degenerated after reverting ! Being a Muslim now must mean being a better person, blessed by Allah SWT , the One true God of all mankind. And we must project a universal Islamic image by following the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad SAW.
We must attempt to learn and appreciate our newfound religion, our new guide on our life. We must appreciate what Islam is and what it teaches us. The Holy Quran , the hadith and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad SAW should be our guidance for everything . With good Iman, good intention (niat) and the blessings of Allah swt , Muslims can never go wrong.
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