Open house? Blasphemy!
Before starting, I’d just like to say that some of my views in this post may be considered controversial. If you do wish to read, please do so with an open mind.
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Read this.
So now open houses are considered un-Islamic.
Let’s get the first basic fact out of the way: We live in a multi-cultural society. Berbilang bangsa, berbilang kaum, berbilang agama. This means that although Islam is the official religion of the state, there are countless others that follow a different faith. Indeed, the make up of the country is as such that Muslims only account for perhaps 60% of the population (based on the 55-45 percentage of Malays - non-Malays in the nation). It is this diversity that we supposedly cherish, this unique complexion of different cultures and religions subscribing to a single nationality. And while most of the time we choose to divide ourselves along lines of race and religion, it is during religo-cultural celebrations that we put our differences aside and embrace our muhibbah spirit.
And the uniquely Malaysian phenomenon called ‘open house’ is a fundamental cornerstone of this tenant. Open houses are a way for friends and neighbours, and even sometimes family members to visit each other, all in the spirit of friendship and unity. Greetings are exchanged, cuisines are sampled and inter-racial and inter-religious ties are strengthened. I daresay that open houses are fundamentally important to our well being as a nation.
Let’s now move on to the second basic fact: There is nothing religious about open houses. It is a secular activity. Yes, some of the reasons for holding an open house may be due to a religious celebration, but that is as far as it goes. People come, people chat, people eat, people perhaps exchange gifts, people eat some more and people leave. No hymns, no prayers, no mantras, nothing remotely religious. And I’m not talking out of my depth here, I’ve been to many different open houses in my short lifetime.
And guess what? I’m still a Muslim. My faith has never been shaken by attending any single open house of a friend from another religion. And if my faith is never ever threatened by open houses, then surely others who consider themselves spiritually stronger than me would face no risk at all. So what, pray tell, is the problem?
Let’s stop chasing shadows in the dark, people. Yes, our nation is crawling with vices nowadays, yes, crime is on the rise, and yes, some youths have turned their back on their religion. But let’s not point fingers at every single facet of our life. Let’s sit down and brainstorm the reasons for our problems, the real reasons, not some superficial scapegoat.
I could quote a few lines from a sura, or a few hadiths, but I won’t. Why? Because I know that my knowledge is religious matters is shallow at best. I am humble enough to know this, and modest enough to admit it. And I am certainly not proud of it, in fact I am ashamed of relative lack of knowledge in my religion. But yet my faith in my religion is un-wavering and I believe that my heart is guided by the Almighty. And having searched my heart I am firm in my belief. My heart tells me that my faith will never be compromised by attending open houses. My religion never forbade, and in fact encourages, tolerance and respect amongst fellow humans. And indeed, there is no greater example of humanity than those found in the practice of open houses.
Please don’t take this the wrong way. I have utmost respect and reverence for our religious leaders. Yet they are also human, they can and will make mistakes. And they should be open to criticisms. And if I am wrong in this, I hope that only the Almighty will judge me. Not my fellow humans, no matter how superior they feel that their spirituality is compared to me.
June 17th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
pendapat dan kefahaman aku tentang hal ini.. (dari pertanyaan dengan ustaz bertauliah.. hehe)
dari perspektif agama, islam tidak membenarkan umat nye merayakan perayaan agama lain jika perayaan itu berlandaskan keagamaan.. contoh, krismas bertujuan merayakan hari kelahiran jesus dan ini melibatkan konsep ketuhanan mereka.. maka kita ditegah dari terlibat dari kesemua segi kerana secara tidak langsung kita seperti ‘menyokong’ (can’t find the right word actually’ kepercayaan mereka.. bukan kah itu satu bentuk sokongan tanpa sedar? tetapi, terdapat kelonggarran jika perayaan itu tidak bersifatkan ketuhanan seperti kenduri kawin org ke open house sesaje ke.. bday celebration ke.. as long as bebas dari sebarang unsur keagamaan mereka.
pendapat tentang keimanan merupakan sesuatu yang subjektif.. seperti mendewa2 kan artis, adakah kita kena bawak colok, bawak gambar sambil sembahyang atau yang seangkatan dengannya baru kita dipanggil mendewa2kan artis? tidak.. begitu jugak dengan kes ini.. untuk tambah lagi, sebenarnya, mengucapkan selamat (greetings) pada perayaan mereka juga merupakan satu dosa.. kalo tak caya, leh rujuk ustaz2 berdekatan.. =).. sejauh mana sebenarnye kite letakkan kepentingan kita tentang agama? pernah terfikir contribution kita pada islam dalam hayat kita bergelar muslim? (and that goes for me too..)
tentang KEIMANAN, kita tidak boleh melibatkan kewarasan akal.. sumenye dah ditetapkan oleh ALLAH S.W.T.. jika syariah islam itu dilandaskan dengan kelogikan akal fikiran, islam itu tidak lebih dari satu fahaman.. seperti fahaman komunis yang relevan satu masa dahulu.. tetapi dari segi WASATIAH atau hal2 kehidupan seharian, kita bebas melakukan apa sahaja selagi tidak melanggar hukum2 syarak..
this is my point of view in this particular matter..
June 18th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
Maaf kerana membalas dalam bahasa Inggeris, lebih senang untuk saya mengemukakan hujah saya apabila bertutur dalam bahasa itu. Bukan mengagungkan bahasa asing, cuma setelah lima tahun diajar dalam bahasa ini saya lebih yakin apabila memberi pendapat menggunakan bahasa Inggeris.
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It’s true, Islam is more than just an ideology, it’s in fact a way of life. It transcends everything that we as Muslims do in our life, it is the basis of which we conduct our every day being. Yet have we ever wondered why we as Muslims believe in Islam so strongly, that it is indeed the true faith? Well, in my humble opinion, it is because every single tenet (pegangan) contained in our faith is underlined by reasons. Why can’t we consume alcohol? Because it it intoxicating, because it makes us lose ourselves. Why can’t we gamble? Because gambling is addictive, it wastes money and sometimes leads to destruction. Why can’t we fornicate (berzina)? Because it may lead to illegitimate children being born, children who may be left to suffer by their biological parents.
What I’m getting at is that the Almighty, in His infinite wisdom, has brought down all these tenets that we supposed to hold ultimately for our benefits. Of course, we can’t possibly, being mere humans comprehend every single of His reasons, but we need not look far from the obvious ones. I believe that we need to hold to these tenets not just because it would be a sin to depart from them, but also because ultimately, it is for our own benefit, to live our life in the best way possible.
And I also believe that by finding these reasons, by looking at these everyday proofs of His wisdom, it makes our belief in our faith stronger. For example, let’s take the Muslim A and Muslim B. Muslim A believes that he should follow the ad-Din because he would sin in he did not. Muslim B believes this as well, but he also believes that there is a practical, everyday reason of why he should follow the ad-Din.
Now let’s say they are both faced with the temptation of committing sin; say the temptation of drinking alcohol. Now Muslim A might think that ‘oh what the heck, it’s just a sip or two, I will sin but I can make it up, it’s just one sin’. Why does he think so? Because his reasons for following the Almighty’s will is so that he won’t commit sin. A underlying basis of belief that is tenuous at best.
Now Muslim B believes the same as Muslim A, with one added element; he knows that if he drinks alcohol, he will lose himself. His integrity will be compromised. He may say or do things that he will regret later. Also, he knows that alcohol if consumed will hurt his liver. So Muslim B’s reason for following the ad-Din is more than just to avoid committing sin, for him, he knows that the Almighty laid down these tenets so that he is able to live his life in the best way possible. Thus, it is more likely that he won’t depart from the tenets of Islam.
I’m not saying we should question our beliefs. Far from it. What I’m saying is that I believe that we should look to our hearts, which again I believe, is guided by the Almighty, for ways of solidifying our beliefs. To go further than just following them, to try and find the reasons WHY we should follow them. Especially living in today’s world, when we are bombarded with temptations to sin left, right and centre.
Search deep in our hearts for the answer when we are unsure. I again re-iterate that I believe that our hearts are guided by Him, that’s why our hearts ache when we turn away from Him. That’s why I after searching deep inside me I put forth my views on the matter contained in my post.
My knowledge in the matters of other religions in the Islamic view is very, very shallow. If indeed that my views are wrong, then may the Almighty help me. But you put forth the example of idolising artists, that you don’t have to actually have to pray to them or erect a shrine to them for you to idolise them. But it is subjective, as you said. Everyday situations are not black and white. Is listening to the artist’s songs often considered idolising them? I don’t know, and truth be told only the Almighty know.
And as for glorifying other faiths apart from Islam, isn’t it indeed a subjective issue as well? Can’t someone argue that allowing non-Muslims to erect places of worships glorifying their faiths? What about allowing them to celebrate their holy days, aren’t we ‘menyokong’ their faith by acknowledging it? And you also said that attending ceremonies such as weddings may be allowed. But aren’t weddings a ceremony to sanctify the union of two people? And isn’t this sanctification would involve obtaining blessings from a god?
All I’m saying is that attending an open house of a non-Muslim should not erode our faiths as Muslims. In my opinion, if all we want to do is to visit our friends, to improve racial/religious relations, there should not be anything wrong for doing so. As long as we keep to our ad-Din, as long as we don’t start praying with them, as long as we don’t start drinking, then there should not be any risks to our faiths.
I appreciate your reply, and I appreciate the debate that we are having. Again, I’d like to say because my knowledge in the finer aspects of Islam is so shallow, I may be completely terpesong in my views. If so that is indeed the case, may Allah SWT help me.
Indeed, may Allah SWT guide us all.
June 21st, 2006 at 1:49 am
I’ve always wondered why it is never quite easy to come up with straightforward reasons on our religion. Could it be because of lack of understanding? But correct me if im wrong but i do think our ulama’s spend their lifetime learning the religion. Could it be because of lack of faith? But i do think that Islam is the fastest growing religion. So what could it really be? My views here are my own and in no way do i claim to be highly knowledgeable in the ways of my beloved religion. But this is the beauty of the religion i perceive, the beauty that we have since lost and our trying our very best to resist in reclaiming nowadays. The beauty to reason.
During the time of the glorious Islamic empire, we muslims were the intellectuals of the world. Baghdad was the center of world knowledge attracting scholars no matter their spiritual ideology. We made breakthroughs in astronomy, medicine, mathematics, law, economy basically everything. Why? In my personal opinion it is because we had the ability to reason with our religion. Most of us agree that Islam is not a religion rather it is a way of life, so tell me how do we live without reason? I remember our school days where we were subjected to swallow our ustazahs words as final as mere disagreement could end as you being labelled as kafir. Why? Is it wrong for a follower to know a reason for a doing? As Syah pointed out the reason we have such strong fundamental beleives is that we are offered rational beleives to guide our actions. But as the older i grow and the more ppl i meet, we seem to be afraid to ask questions of this nature; on the foundation that our faith will be shaken. I do not beleive in this idea. I beleive Islam is truth and the asnwer. So let us ask any question we so wish. I honestly beleive our lack of ability to question has eroded our intellectual capacity to better ourselves and be the leading force in the world. Once our ideas were so highly prized that is is a known fact that the knowledge of the Islamic Empire was the one of the main reason that the European Renessaince took place. Let us also not forget that at that time we Muslim’s translated the knowledge of the Greeks to help us better. Nowadays for us Muslims to even celebrate with a fellow non muslims is a seen as a sin, whatmore embracing one of their ideas eh?
I am sure the ppl who gave such a verdict on the open hse are learned men in their own rights. But pls allow me to tell you how i feel about this, not just as a Muslim but as a Muslim with inter-religious background. My family is Muslim whereas my fathers family are Christians. Yet we live side by side and we celebrate each other’s festival. I go over for Christmas and they come over for Raya. Now here is my question: does our religion place such a sin on us celebrating with non muslims to the extant of us breaking our family ties? Is my faith as a muslim shaken if i sit in a church to mourn my grandfathers passing or to celebrate my uncles wedding? No it is not. In fact it is strengthened. Why? Because even my christian family find it hard to enter mosques. So tell me who is the stronger?
I note an interesting observation that faith has nothing to do with reasoning. If this is the case then the likes of Islamic extremist are to be exalted surely because of their unnerving faith, so much faith in fact that killing the innocent in the name of faith can be excused (God Help Us). Perhaps without reason the great Salahaddin would also have massacred the non muslims (just like they did to muslims) when he retook Juresalem. Reason was surely the reason why the non muslims who managed to conquer the Islamic Empire themselves converted to Islam; they being able to see that Islam offers a much more solid reasons on why life should be lived in the way God seems it fit to be. I also have a personal example on why faith without reason is worthless. When I was younger my parents left me and my sister in my grandmother’s care (who is a Christian) during Ramadhan. She woke us up for sahur and ensured we buka puasa. Why did she do this? She’s not a Muslim yet she did. By faith why would she need to do so? But by reason you would know why. And not a religion in the world will condemn my grandmothers action as being against her religion. And are we muslims not blessed with the most perfected religion? Faith without reason is worthless. As the saying goes “ a slave is one who cannot reason and a fool is one who will not”.
I believe we need one reason to live as good Muslims in Malaysia and that is tolerance and really dont know when we forgot our tolerance. But i thought living in Malaysia we were somewhat immune to this syndrome. But it saddens me as a muslim, as a malaysian that i would sin if i celebrate with fellow non muslims. Imagine what would others think of our faith? Imagine what we ourselves would think of our faith? I am no ulama nor do i have anymore than basic religious skills but i do have an inter religious family to back me up. I do not beleive celebrating non muslim festivals is a sin. You are celebrating as a fellow countryman, as a fellow friend and as family. You are not beleiving in another God. You are just doing what a good person would do. Islam means ‘to surrender’. To me ’surrender’ and ‘enslave’ are two very different meaning. I may absolutely wrong (and may God help me then) but ill take the risk to reason. Thank You