LAST evening was one of those evenings that Karen and I see each other only in the evening. She left the house early whilst I was having my final snoring blast after a tiring night at GAB where I met up with Country Manager, Francis Yew, third-time NPC President Rocky and the other permanent nocturnal nightbirds of the National Press Club.
Mrs Zorro was watching TV and the evening call to prayers came on the telly. She got up and just said this: "This religion is so simple. They praise God all the time." She was of course referring to the Maghrib prayers. Karen and I are both converts to Catholicism, me when I was 10 and she when she was in College. To some of our relatives and friends we are not good Catholics because we allowed Patrina and Kevin to follow whatever religious inclinations they chose. Patrina is a devout Bahai elder and Kevin left the Church - both after they attained the age of 18. We brought them up with the necessary good values and both are great kids and we are proud of them. On the family altar, we have the Bible and the Quran (English version) side by side. Once in a while, we peek at each and find solace from these holy books.
After her remark I showed her what I had archived. This was to confirm for her that what she said was so right. This is what I showed her and I reproduce it here:
Fajr (pre-dawn): This prayer starts off the day with the remembrance of God; it is performed before sunrise.
Dhuhr (noon): After the day's work has begun, one breaks shortly after noon to again remember God and seek His guidance.
'Asr (afternoon): In the late afternoon, people are usually busy wrapping up the day's work, getting kids home from school, etc. It is an important time to take a few minutes to remember God and the greater meaning of our lives.
Maghrib (sunset): Just after the sun goes down, Muslims remember God again as the day begins to come to a close.
'Isha (evening): Before retiring for the night, Muslims again take time to remember God's presence, guidance, mercy, and forgiveness.
I then opened up a comment posted in Malaysia Unplugged over my friend, Marina Mahatir's column in the Star. She asked if I was going to publish it as a post. Yeah, why not, the pieces are falling together.....no better time than now. Here it is:
My name is Haji Muhammad bin Abdullah @ Tan Wah Guan and I have been a chinese muslim convert for the past 42 yrs. I must humbly admit I really wanted to become a muslim at the tender age of 17 but owing to the laws of the land, I wasn't allowed to so until the legal age of 18 yr.
I have been married for the past 38yrs to the same Malay lady my beautiful darling wife and we have been blessed with 6 beautiful children 5 girls ages between 35 and 23 and a boy age 19 We have 6 grandchildren as of now and god willing many more on the way in the coming future
The trials and tribulations that both me and my better half have to go in a mixed marriage until what we are today , I assure readers that it is akin to a fairy tale in a land shrouded with brute realities of race, culture, family and societal relations issues problems
I feel compelled to share my two cents worth regarding the controversy in Perak where K. Pathmanathan, 40, converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ridzuan Abdullah and also the issue of conversion of Islam of Prasana Diksa and the return of this said baby to her mother .
Not only am I appalled, I am saddened, disgusted and angered by the present state of affairs with how the present case is being politicised /exploited by so many parties concerned. For now I wud just like to confine my comments/observations on the actions/inactions of the convert himself K. Pathmanathan, 40 now Muhammad Ridzuan Abdullah.
Although I will not question his intentions of him becoming a muslim (having received the divine revelation) , I will still like to enquire his actions to convert his baby Prasana Diksa to Islam. Why are u doing this..? What is your true intention? Can you be honest enough to admit that you are capable and able to provide for her physical and mental needs ?
My sincere advice to you ….Become a Muslim first…Learn what is Islam all about …what it stands for…etc etc etc etc etc etc If actions speak louder than words what u r doing now is certainly contrary to what Islam stands for…justice..kindness sympathy etc etc etc etc. Even after having been in this religion of Islam for over 42 yrs..I assure you, I am still learning about it. Rash actions of yours now certainly isn’t what Islam stands for. A child’s needs are to be cared for by BOTH parents and by your forceful actions taking away from the natural mother is certainly not what the religion stands for The ultimate objective …Islamicize yourself first before islamicizing others..
The "Islamization of your children will only be thru what they see hear feel and eventually know what Islam is thru that medium…their biological parent/s…. YOU. If they ( any or all or your children) are to become muslims one day in the future ….not one soul in this whole wide world can stop them except the Almighty Himself.
In my personal opinion, the recent cabinet’s decision that the child stays in the original religion of the parents at time of marriage is certainly a welcome sign re this matter.
I stand to be corrected by any party out there…God bless
haji muhammad bin abdullah @ tan wah guan
+++++
From Wales, former Perlis Mufti
shares his INSIGHTS.
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ReplyDeletemaybe the father should be asked who is behind his rash decision to convert his daughter?
it looks like he is under the influence of some religious fanatics.
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ReplyDeleteoh yeah of course this is the fruition of the 52 years of bn adm. - indoctrinating the malay people with racism and religious bigotry especially the last 25 years.
dig deeper and you will find that there are inherent diabolic policies
- systematic and clandestine vilifying of other races etc etc.
- of perpetuating racial and religious bigotry
dig little deeper and you find BTN, NS etc ... legalized institution for that very purpose.
with these institutions still very much playing their big role now you know that the slogan ONE Malaysia is just a simple B.S.
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as parents the parties involved should be able to settle the issue themselves.the love for their child is undeniable be the father or mother.their responsibilies will continue till end of life,so best is be friends again and for the love of this of this child.afterall the child was born and bonded from love itself.
ReplyDeletePraying 5 times a day is definitely,
ReplyDeletevery commendable and God fearing. The bottom line is if one does not do what one practices, it will all come to nothing!
Is'nt walking a straight line in one's life is what religion is all about?!
I have asked this question elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteIf really conversion is such a wonderful thing to happen, why then, the cloak and dagger nature of this father's conversion as well as that of his kids?
The purpose of paying 5 times a day, among others, is to train ourselves to walk a staright line. Straying from the straight line means we have to pray deeper. Five times a day prayer is not the manisfestation that we are ok oredi, it simply means that we are struggling to be on the straight path, in the face of all distractions and necessities the world is throwing in our faces. So if we see a man who prays regularly, but his behaviour is not up to the mark yet, please pray for him too.
ReplyDeleteUncle Zorro, I am an ardent reader but never commented but this one post I am compelled to react. Tears clouded my eyes when I read your views on the 5 prayers in Islam, about remembering and acknowledging God in our lives. Needless to say Islam has been politicised a lot and I totally agree with the views of Hj Muhammad Abdullah that Muhammad Ridzuan should become a Muslim first before he converts his child and I hope his conversion is out of sincerity and because of the divine revelation.
ReplyDeleteThe point that most have missed in these conversion issues is that the number of such controversial cases that have arisen in the last 50 years probably do not exceed
ReplyDelete50, i.e. an average of 1 per year since 1957!
They have never posed a threat to Islam in any form. Yet Islamicists, the Syariah and that scurrilous Nordin have taken a sledgehammer to a fly stance.
As for Civil Law Judges who in cowardly fashion abdicate their legal obligations to all, keep passing the buck back to the Syariah Courts, what else can we say? Your honour, do your duty or plain FO, i.e. RESIGN!!
http://donplaypuks.blogspot.com
To burhalong
ReplyDeleteSo we should continue praying for the salvation all these corrupt and racisr politicians and do nothing else?
Perhaps, increase the frequency of our prayers to 10 or 20 times a day and that might work a major miracle.
Men and women should not use the fcaulty of their brains or the might of their sinews to effect change and create a better world.
God helps those who help themselves. Mere prayers will do Dick!!
http://donplaypuks.blogspot.com
Should not a child be blessed with the joys of BOTH/ALL religions of the parents?
ReplyDeleteShould not a child be surrounded with the love and goodness inherently taught in ALL religions?
What a sad introduction to religion for the child if he/she is subjected to the ugly painful tussle between parents becos of religion.
I hope the child does not grow up to hate religions or the parents.
Haji Muhammad - yours is the voice of reason and compassion so desperately needed in these trying times. SALUTE!
I believe this convert is desperate to get the custody of his child so he emotionally and hastily convert to Islam without any serious thinking.
ReplyDeleteBahasa Malaysia version of People can criticise Rulers, says AsriTQ
ReplyDeleteI would love the Majlis Ugama Islam in Malaysia be headed by a Muslim , not a Malay.Then only we can talk about Islam , rather than about Melayu.
ReplyDeleteIslam does not equate to Malay !!!!
AWANG KASSIM
"If they are to become muslims one day....not one soul in this whole wide world can stop them except theAlmighty Himself"
ReplyDeleteAnd we pray that if they are to become Christians one day not one soul should stop them except the Almighty Himself.....
Here is another perspective from another MUSLIM.
ReplyDeleteA MOTHER’S RIGHTS: No religious basis to convert baby
By : DR IBRAHIM ABU BAKAR, Bangi
I READ the case of Indira Gandhi and her struggle to secure her right to live with her three children -- Karan Dinish, 11, Tevi Darsiny, 12, and 1-year-old Prasana Diksa, who is still on breast milk.
The New Sunday Times reported that Indira, a kindergarten teacher, had been waiting for her baby girl in the compound of the Ipoh district police station, but her baby was not returned to her by her estranged husband, who has converted to Islam.
As a lecturer of Islamic theology and philosophy, I am of the view that K. Patmanathan, who is now known as Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah, should return Prasana Diksa to her mother. The Hindu mother has every right to look after the baby.
Islamic theology does not impose any religious duty on the father to take away the baby girl from her Hindu mother.
This baby should not be prohibited by her father from being breastfed by her mother. If he does, he is wrong and evil in Islamic theological view because Islam does not impose any religious duty on any baby regardless whether she was born to a Hindu or Muslim mother. Islam imposes Islamic religious duties upon mature men and women, not upon babies and children. Please let this baby girl be breastfed by her mother.
Some Muslims hold the view that when a husband or wife converts to Islam, he or she has the right in Islamic law to take the children with him or her and then convert the children to Islam. Islamic law does not say so.
The "Islamness" of the children is not taken into account in Islamic theology. Islamic theology will count on the "Islamness" of human beings who are mature.
The Islamic terms for mature, sensible and responsible human beings are "aqil" and "baligh". Patmanathan has been supported by some ignorant Muslims on the pretext of protecting the purity of Islam and his three children. These Muslims are wrong.
There is no Islamic legal basis for Muslims to help someone take away a baby from her mother and then convert that baby to Islam. Islam does not count on the converted babies and Islam does not reward those who have converted the babies to Islam.
The babies have no Islamic religious duties and, therefore, they are neither rewarded nor punished for such actions.
Therefore, I support the decision by the prime minister and his cabinet that the civil marriage has to be settled by the civil court and the religion of their children be the religion at the time their parents were married in civil law. With this decision, the baby should be returned to Indira as she needs to be breastfed and cared for.
I think the police should arrest Patmanathan if he is reluctant to deliver Prasana Diksa back to Indira after the court decided to give her interim custody of her three children.
Patmanathan is a bad Muslim if he does not hand back Prasana Diksa to her mother and does not pay compensation to Indira for looking after the baby and for breastfeeding her for two years. Being breastfed by a Hindu mother does not make the baby an infidel. She is still eligible to convert to Islam after she grows up and becomes an adult.
Patmanathan himself drank the breast milk from his Hindu mother and consumed food and drinks, probably prohibited by Islamic law, until he reached the age of 40 before he suddenly decided to convert to Islam.
He should not impose his Islam-ness on his children. Let them be what they want to be like he did. He grew up as a Hindu boy, a Hindu youth and then a Hindu adult before he changed his Hinduism to Islam after he had probably encountered problems in his marriage.
I do not support non-Muslims who convert to Islam just because they want to run away from their responsibilities as husbands or wives or because they want to marry Muslim women or Muslim men.
donplaypuks,
ReplyDeleteYour language shows that you've been praying a lot. Did I say "do nothing?"
You are angry at the corrupt politicians. They are but merely a reflection of your own self. You deserve the leaders that you have. Your language are not that different from theirs too.
Praying is not merely passive supplications to Dewata Agung. Praying done properly will unleash active actions guided by wisdom and clarity. Didnt Muhammad prayed for salvation of his then erstwhile enemies including Omar, while enjoining him to believe in the Supreme Being?
Our leaders are corrupt because we are corrupt too.
Br Bernie,
ReplyDeletethx for sharing with the others on the net what I have written / wrote In Malaysia Unplugged.
I assure U br Bernie...it is certainly heartwarming to know that there r a lot out there who still share some common ideals life offers us like family, respect, love, fairness etc etc rather than expounding the politics of hate and divisiveness within mankind..
Do pls feel free to use the article in any way seem fit to propagate what the Almighty has bestowed on ALL of us..the spirit of COMPASSION in humankind
regards
haji muhammad bin abdullah @ tan wah guan
Br Bernie
Tuan Haji, that is the least decent thing I can do, as a senior citizen to promote goodwill, unity and change, in this beautiful country.
ReplyDeleteSALAM, Tuan Haji.
religion = man-made problems = the TRUE & mighty living GOD sees/knows who is who & NOT what is what = AWAS
ReplyDeleteyou may/can 'pray' 100 times a day
ReplyDeletebut HE knows what you are = atone & repent !!
Out of curiosity, has PAS made any public statements about their stand on this issue? What do they think about the cabinet's decission?
ReplyDelete