JUST MY 2-RINGGIT THOUGHTS

She sent an email forward to her friends. Actually it's meant for only the non-Muslims' eyes but I suppose she forgot that now, I am one who bows in submission to Allah. And as Allah swt wills it, it reached me, hahaha.. and boy oh boy, did I gave them all a long talk via email about fatwa and respecting the religion of others :P

It's about a prediction by a so-called Muslim entitled 'Fatwa-fatwa yang akan datang'. He made fun of the Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan by predicting things which will soon be banned for Muslims. I laughed aloud. Amazing, the amount of time and energy spent by non-Muslims on things on of their concern, huhuhu. I won't show everything this chap said but something caught my eye toward the end of the email. Here's what he wrote:

"The rational-thinking muslims in this country are simply not doing anything. We let a very small minority of narrow-minded idiots to control our lives. We, especially the Malay muslims, are fast becoming a laughing stock worldwide. We are obsessed with the little little things. When there are so many important things remain to be done, why must the Fatwa folks spend their time on little things.. tomboys, yoga, etc, etc. Why don't we ever hear anything from the Fatwa folks for social justice, eradicating corruption and poverty, protecting single mothers, helping the poors, educating the ummah, protecting the environment or ensuring fairness in society. If you are a rationale, forward thinking muslim, please speak up. If you choose to remain silent, it only means that you agree with whatever is happening. And do not blame the non-muslims for all our troubles. We are asking for it."

What a shame! Shame on him, for calling the ulama and Islamic scholars as narrow-minded idiots. It's actually people like this chap who disgrace Islam by not only showing his own ignorance about what the Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan actually does and the limits of its power, but also by nodding his head in loud agreement with the other non-Muslims over the recently-announced fatwas. If there are no more alim ulama and learned Islamic scholars to guide and teach us about Islam, who else do we go to? If there're no more ulama and Islamic scholars, what will become to the state of Islam in this country?

Malaysian can be so gullible. We make too much noise over little things. We can go ga-ga about which artiste marries which artiste,over who divorces who and some know more about the private lives of those involved in the entertainment business than about the names of surah in the al-Quran. And we adopt the latest forms of exercises and fashion. We call all that as being modern, up-to-date and liberal. And when somebody points out the mistake, what happens? People who are not even involved or know exactly what Islam is, got all worked up and start making demands.

And I know for certain, that this issue about yoga, will die a slow death as it always is with Malaysians. People will forget. People won't bother anymore after a few more weeks. Go ask any Muslim in the small towns and kampung. Do they bother about this yoga fatwa? Nope, because they don't need yoga. They have always done their exercises by working out in the fields and by performing their prayers, perhaps even more than 5 times a day. We don't see the average Muslim protesting against this yoga or pengkid fatwa. Most Muslims here know and accept the fact that yoga if performed with mantra, is unsuitable for Muslims. It's not as if yoga is the one and only form of exercise for health available in the world. There are other alternatives such as pilates (which does not require mantra), qigong and taiqi (yes, practised by generations of Chinese Muslims in China).

Muslims have never interfered in how those of other religions practised their faith, so please respect ours. I choose to speak up by explaining to those ignoarnt what a fatwa is. I choose to speak up by advising those 'liberal-rational thinking Muslims' to think carefully before you speak against the fatwa. If you're unsure, find out more before you make a disgrace of yourselves and incur Allah's wrath. And we are rational-forward thinking Muslims, thank you very much.