THE MOST FAMOUS NUMBER IN MALAYSIA

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" Salam 1 Malaysia"

"1 consumer, 1 voice"

"1 Malaysia spirit"

Can you guess now, what is the most famous number in Malaysia?

I seldom get dissapointed with FORWARD,  a sister magazine of MILENIA MUSLIM, the 2 magazines that I subscribed monthly.
They wrote  more balanced reports and being an academician, the academic approach suits me just fine.
 
In the October issue, beside the main focus of the refugees' right to get medical treatment, the other issue that attracted me more was regarding 1MALAYSIA : reality check.

The three  well-written articles on the issues were very entertaining and informative at the same time.

Kurais Abdullah Karim, an expat from Mindanoa ( I always adore her writing and I got most info on Muslims in Mindanao from her writing in MM previously), spoke on how she sees this 1Malaysia thingy from an outsider point of view.She related her experiences on how to get used to the different socio-cultural enviroment in Malaysia.

Just to quote few lines from her writing :

What struck me as the most admirable of all Malaysian achevements is the ability of its people to appreciate each other.

 From what I observed, wherever I go, Malaysian's accept each other regardless of race

 She then talk about the gentleness of Malays which from her opinion was the main reason contributed to the inter-racial harmony in Malaysia, a statement which I agree.

But the main point of her opinion appeared at the last few paragraphs of her writing :

The 1Malaysia slogan that has been balring from radios and TVs is not really necessary.I think by highlighting the issue too much, the natural reaction is that people become more aware of the differences.

Sometimes, the jingles and the testimonies on TV lack the sincerity and what you get is a phony excuse for a unification campaign.

 
So readers, let your mind be on wheels and start thinking.

The politics and society column by Hariz Kamal, covered the topic of 1Malaysia, reality check was just informative and mind boggling too.
He started his articles by giving the readers few 'food-for thoughts' questions.

To build a nation, first build a school, is a famous saying by Tagore,wouldn't that make Malaysia a divided nation?Has Malaysia's nation-building failed on the basis of its divided schools?wouldn't divided schools mean a divided nation?...

 That questions was discussed by few well-known scholars , Prof Khoo Kay Kim, Dr Chandra Muzaffar and Dr Ismail Ibrahim.
Each of them have their own perspective on this 1Malaysia slogan and what happening in our country now.

But above all, I really amazed by a comment made by Prof Khoo Kay Kim :

Malaysian need to understand religions, My complaint is that Muslims are not doing enough to explain what Islam is, I dont know why but in this country,Muslim tend to think that Islam is just for the Muslim and not for non Muslim.

That's the wrong way for our Muslims to think.Whenever I get the chance to talk to Muslim, I remind them that every Muslim have the obligation of a mubaligh.You may not be going out to convert people, but you must explain Islam to the non-Muslim

That statement is just like a pail of water splashed onto my face, awaken me up from my deep sleep.

How very true that statement is.
Ironically, it came from a Non Muslim.

As usual, I started to think...


To talk about Islam to non-muslim, I must mingle with them first....am I doing my part (as Muslim) in intergrating?

And if I did (have few non muslim friends at workplace), am I doing my part explaining Islam to them, not to convert them but to do my role as a daie?

And as a Muslim mother, am I doing my part making sure that my children can appreciate the diversity in Allah's creations, particularly the mankind?

My heart already know the answer and I know I need to do A LOT more than what I am currently doing (or not doing, in a sense)

I remember one my Sudanese-Muslim  friend once mentioned to me..."we love our lecturers (FYI, all our lecturers at that time in that university were non Muslims), we dont want them to be in the hellfire in akhirat, so we must tell them about Islam"
I could not remember what my reactions were at that time.

But now , I know....I should not feel that Islam belongs only to Muslim.....

Because Islam is RAHMAH to all creations, everybody deserves a chance to know about it.

TOGETHER WE SPREAD THE BEAUTY OF ISLAM....

Eventhough number 1 is the most famous number in Malaysia nowadays, do not forget about ISLAM.
We are the ambassadors of ISLAM.

Allahu'alam


ummuzulfa
16 Okt 2009