Ust TM Fouzy delivered a very moving speech on the above subject, very enlightening and I would say impactful as well.
The world in my hands refer to our call of duty, that being our task of managing this world since we are the viceroy or khalifah of God on this earth. Meaning to say, we have resources entrusted upon us; wealth, family, trees, water and what have you. Our task is to manage them well, in accordance to His orders but never to have our hearts occupied by them.
Don’t get overly attached to the wealth of the world. This of course does not mean that a muslim has to shun away wealth. We need to work for our livelihood, that is halal. But don’t search for wealth at the expense of religion. A story to beautifully illustrate this is as such; a rich king, adorned with a crown splendid with jewelry, rings of varying colours of shiny gemstones, donning the finest clothing and riding on the most elegant white horse, whilst always escorted by a team of elite guards can be the shaykh and a simple, poor fisherman the student. Reason? Simple, the Shaykh does not feel sad even a tiny bit if all his wealth were to be stunted from him in an instant, neither does he feel any happiness when even more wealth is given to him. As for the student, the poor fisherman, he is pissed off whenever he catches a small fish instead of a big one. Zuhud is not to attach wealth to your heart, zuhud does not mean you have to be poor.
As a caution though, such things are always, always much easier said than done, many people can claim similar things but not many can say so with the truest meaning. That is why our Beloved Prophet SAW chose poverty as a lesson for his ummah, for verily one of the most trying things of the last ummah is wealth. Indeed the fear that many may not pass the test of wealth is very real.
some live for the bill, some kill for the bill...
As for God is in my heart, it entails the intense feeling of love for Him who has created us. How to achieve this? The only branch of islam dealing with love for God is tasawwuf and its practice is tariqah. It is a different experience to know only the external sciences of islam and neglecting tasawwuf, because the experience of love for God is not as strong. We only know as a cliché, that we ought to love Him and his Rasul. But that is not enough. Knowing and tasting is not the same. Tasawwuf leads to tasting (dhawq aka zouk). Personally, life as a muslim without this love is very dry.
God in my heart also does not mean that we neglect our loved ones, our spouse etc. it only means that we love them for the sake of God. This means we have to treat them superbly well,provide them the best upbringing, as exemplified by the Prophet saw. It of course does not deny us the right to enjoy our loved ones’ company. It means that we subdue our egos when dealing with them, meaning to say, control anger etc. that way, our love for our loved ones become strong due to the even stronger bond of the love for God and insyaAllah that relationship is showered blessings upon blessings; the recipe for a loving relationship is the mutual love for God.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Charity, the Biggest Protection
Nothing protects more than charity, even if you give five cents everyday, it can save you from ending up with a bad accident. Oh believers! Give charity daily! It will remove accidents from you. Keep a box near your door and when you leave put as much as possible inside. Charity uplifts the Kingdom of Allah and put down the kingdom of Satan. Every believer must give charity everyday.
- Adapted from Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani’s Princess Diana’s Death
Just off hand, the list of benefits charity brings:
- reward, material and spiritual, from God Himself ( it really works, just have ikhlas and don’t even bother about this reward, ironic isn’t it? Then why am I telling you?)
- Protection from bad mishaps
- Eases the burden of the community ( in our Singapore context, I guess it is much better to donate to organizations such as mosques than to stranger passers-by, because many people have cheated money by abusing people’s sympathy)
- Helps the community
- Lightens your mood, makes you feel good, not proud nor arrogant, and at ease, tranquility
- Instills in you the sense of wanting to help others in need
- Instills in you the sense of money management, savings etc ( it has been proven, in fact encouraged, to have little toddlers practise putting coins in piggy banks, that way they are more likely to be people with better sense of money management)
- Slowly washes away miserliness
- Barakah spills over to your close family and friends
- Your prayers get answered better and faster insyaAllah
- Sins are forgiven because of charity
- God is pleased with you
- AND MANY MANY MORE!
As to how much, it really doesn’t matter, what counts is the sincerity. Do with what is in your comfort. If you are a student surviving on allowance, then do away with a few cents! Nothing difficult at all!
Of course do not take advantage of this and donate only a few cents even when you are earning thousands! You yourself will know whether or not you are trying to manipulate things for your own personal gain.
Don’t trust what Satan says about being poor when you donate! Satan is our enemy and he lies through his forked tongue!
One thing about cheats who constantly take the easy way to just beg and not work even if they very well can afford to work and earn a living, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani gave a stupefying reply;
“Do you not feel ashamed of your hypocritical self? Do you not feel ashamed to beg from other than Allah when you are in the Presence of Allah AR-RAZZAQ!?”
In other words, beg only from God because He is the One Who Provides and if He tells you that your rezeki is already prepared and all you need to do is go get it, then jolly well go get it and work! Do not beg if you can work!
Yet another blow to the misconception that Sufis shun this world and survive in it solely by begging – from Sultanul Awliya, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani himself.
Even the Prophet pbuh careered as a merchant and trader…
- Adapted from Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani’s Princess Diana’s Death
Just off hand, the list of benefits charity brings:
- reward, material and spiritual, from God Himself ( it really works, just have ikhlas and don’t even bother about this reward, ironic isn’t it? Then why am I telling you?)
- Protection from bad mishaps
- Eases the burden of the community ( in our Singapore context, I guess it is much better to donate to organizations such as mosques than to stranger passers-by, because many people have cheated money by abusing people’s sympathy)
- Helps the community
- Lightens your mood, makes you feel good, not proud nor arrogant, and at ease, tranquility
- Instills in you the sense of wanting to help others in need
- Instills in you the sense of money management, savings etc ( it has been proven, in fact encouraged, to have little toddlers practise putting coins in piggy banks, that way they are more likely to be people with better sense of money management)
- Slowly washes away miserliness
- Barakah spills over to your close family and friends
- Your prayers get answered better and faster insyaAllah
- Sins are forgiven because of charity
- God is pleased with you
- AND MANY MANY MORE!
As to how much, it really doesn’t matter, what counts is the sincerity. Do with what is in your comfort. If you are a student surviving on allowance, then do away with a few cents! Nothing difficult at all!
Of course do not take advantage of this and donate only a few cents even when you are earning thousands! You yourself will know whether or not you are trying to manipulate things for your own personal gain.
Don’t trust what Satan says about being poor when you donate! Satan is our enemy and he lies through his forked tongue!
One thing about cheats who constantly take the easy way to just beg and not work even if they very well can afford to work and earn a living, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani gave a stupefying reply;
“Do you not feel ashamed of your hypocritical self? Do you not feel ashamed to beg from other than Allah when you are in the Presence of Allah AR-RAZZAQ!?”
In other words, beg only from God because He is the One Who Provides and if He tells you that your rezeki is already prepared and all you need to do is go get it, then jolly well go get it and work! Do not beg if you can work!
Yet another blow to the misconception that Sufis shun this world and survive in it solely by begging – from Sultanul Awliya, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani himself.
Even the Prophet pbuh careered as a merchant and trader…
Friday, February 8, 2008
2 Naqshbandi Engagements, VERY CUTE!
waaaah, i wanna get engaged also lah can!actually make that nikah as well hehe ;)
so cute lah the engagement, not to mention Shayhkh Hisyam with his classic humour.
when my munakahat going to finish????
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Awrad of the Most Distinguished Ahmadiyyah Idrisiyyah Sufi Order
For the Arabic and Malay Translation, refer to link Warisan Sidi Ahmad Bin Idris
Fatihatul Awrad
O God, I seek to approach Thee before each and every breath, look and glance which the people of the heavens and the people of the earth cast – everything which is in Thy knowledge, that which is and that which was. I approach Thee before all these.
Tahlil Khusus
There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God; in every glance and every breath, to the number that only God’s knowledge can comprehend.
Salawat Azhimiyyah
O God, I ask Thee by the light of the Face of God, the Great,
Which fills the pillars of the Throne of God, the Great,
And because of which exist the worlds of God, the Great,
To call down blessings upon our Mawlana Muhammad, whose majesty is Great,
And upon the kin of the Prophet of God, the Great,
In proportion to the sublimity of the Essence of God, the Great,
In every glance and in every breath inasmuch as they exist in the knowledge of God, the Great,
Being an everlasting prayer as God Himself is Everlasting and Great,
Being an exaltation of the truth of your message, Mawlana Muhammad, whose virtue is Great,
Likewise, grant peace to him and his kin.
Unite him with me, just as Thou unite the spirit with the soul, externally and internally, awake and asleep,
And make him, O God, a solace for my soul in all of life’s moments in this world and before the End,
O God the Great.
* Just as Ayat Al-Kursi is the greatest ayat in the Quran, so too is Salawat Azhimiyyah which like Ayat Al-Kursi, begins with the kalimah Allah and ends with the kalimah Azhim
Istighfar Al Kabir, Major Act of Contrition
I seek pardon of God, the Great; of whom there is no god save He, the Living, the Subsisting, the Forgiver of sins, the Sublime and the Revered.
I seek repentance from all acts of disobedience – all of them, from sins and guilt and from every sin I have committed willfully, by omission, openly and secretly, by word and by deed, in my every movement, my tarrying, my thoughts, my every breath, always and forever eternally; from the sin of which I know and from the sin of which I know not, inasmuch as His knowledge encompasses them and which the Book records and the Pen indites; inasmuch as the omnipotence (of God) searches them out and the will of the ink of the words of God disclose them.
Just as it behooves the sublimity, the beauty, the perfection of the Face of our Lord, just as our Lord enjoins and approves.
Nak beramal dengan Tariqah ni tak susah actually, just have to do the 4 short, basic awrad and slalu2 lah repeat2. the rest is just Qur'an and Sunnah. Sidi Ahmad Idris once said, "Tariqahku adalah Al-Quran dan Sunnah Baginda Rasul saw." Arguably, TAI is the youngest Tariqah as Sidi Ahmad was just 6 generations ago(18th century), unlike other sufis like Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani etc. The silsilah is short because Sidi Ahmad got the Tariqah direct from the Prophet in a vision of him whilst still awake, (yaqaza), something which Sidi Ahmad so fervently asked for in his Salawat Azhimiyyah. Wallahu 'alam
Fatihatul Awrad
O God, I seek to approach Thee before each and every breath, look and glance which the people of the heavens and the people of the earth cast – everything which is in Thy knowledge, that which is and that which was. I approach Thee before all these.
Tahlil Khusus
There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God; in every glance and every breath, to the number that only God’s knowledge can comprehend.
Salawat Azhimiyyah
O God, I ask Thee by the light of the Face of God, the Great,
Which fills the pillars of the Throne of God, the Great,
And because of which exist the worlds of God, the Great,
To call down blessings upon our Mawlana Muhammad, whose majesty is Great,
And upon the kin of the Prophet of God, the Great,
In proportion to the sublimity of the Essence of God, the Great,
In every glance and in every breath inasmuch as they exist in the knowledge of God, the Great,
Being an everlasting prayer as God Himself is Everlasting and Great,
Being an exaltation of the truth of your message, Mawlana Muhammad, whose virtue is Great,
Likewise, grant peace to him and his kin.
Unite him with me, just as Thou unite the spirit with the soul, externally and internally, awake and asleep,
And make him, O God, a solace for my soul in all of life’s moments in this world and before the End,
O God the Great.
* Just as Ayat Al-Kursi is the greatest ayat in the Quran, so too is Salawat Azhimiyyah which like Ayat Al-Kursi, begins with the kalimah Allah and ends with the kalimah Azhim
Istighfar Al Kabir, Major Act of Contrition
I seek pardon of God, the Great; of whom there is no god save He, the Living, the Subsisting, the Forgiver of sins, the Sublime and the Revered.
I seek repentance from all acts of disobedience – all of them, from sins and guilt and from every sin I have committed willfully, by omission, openly and secretly, by word and by deed, in my every movement, my tarrying, my thoughts, my every breath, always and forever eternally; from the sin of which I know and from the sin of which I know not, inasmuch as His knowledge encompasses them and which the Book records and the Pen indites; inasmuch as the omnipotence (of God) searches them out and the will of the ink of the words of God disclose them.
Just as it behooves the sublimity, the beauty, the perfection of the Face of our Lord, just as our Lord enjoins and approves.
Nak beramal dengan Tariqah ni tak susah actually, just have to do the 4 short, basic awrad and slalu2 lah repeat2. the rest is just Qur'an and Sunnah. Sidi Ahmad Idris once said, "Tariqahku adalah Al-Quran dan Sunnah Baginda Rasul saw." Arguably, TAI is the youngest Tariqah as Sidi Ahmad was just 6 generations ago(18th century), unlike other sufis like Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani etc. The silsilah is short because Sidi Ahmad got the Tariqah direct from the Prophet in a vision of him whilst still awake, (yaqaza), something which Sidi Ahmad so fervently asked for in his Salawat Azhimiyyah. Wallahu 'alam
The Special Properties of the Dhikr of Laa Ilaaha Illallaah
As for the special properties of the Dhikr of Laa Ilaaha Illallaah, they derive from His saying: "to Him do good words ascend." (Qur'an 35:10) The words meant here are Laa Ilaaha Illallaah, and it is they (the words) that may attain the Mighty Presence. They contain both negation and affirmation, and the disease of forgetfulness can be repulsed by the medicine of negation and affirmation. For forgetfulness is likewise composed of negation and affirmation—negation of the remembrance of God and affirmation of the remembrance of other than God. A potion mixed like oxymel out of the vinegar of negation and the sugar of affirmation is therefore needed to eliminate the bilious matter of forgetfulness. By Laa Ilaaha, other than God is negated, and by Illallaah, His majestic presence is affirmed. When one pursues this Dhikr and persists in it, the attachments of the spirit to other than God will be gradually severed by the scissors of Laa Ilaaha, and the beauty of the monarch of Illallaah will become manifest and emerge from the veil of might. In accordance with the promise of "make remembrance of Me, and I will make remembrance of you," (Qur'an 2:147) that beauty will cast off the garment of letter and sound; and in the manifestation of the light of the sublimity of divinity, the property of "all things shall perish but His face" (Qur'an 28:88) will become apparent. The Dhikr of the spirit, together with its own being, will perish in the ocean of remembrance of "make remembrance of Me," and "I will make remembrance of you" will begin making remembrance on behalf of the spirit. It is then that pure remembrance of God alone will be attained.
Then does He hear from Himself, not from me or thee:"To whom belongs kingship? To the One, the Invincible!" (Qur'an 40:16)
The true meaning of "God bears witness that there is no god but He" (Qur'an 3:18) will become apparent; and Yusof bin Hoseyn Razi's cryptic saying that "none says 'God' but God" will be understood. It will also become evident why Islam has been founded on precisely these words-- Laa Ilaaha Illallaah. For in just the same way that deliverance from the inward association of gods with God is to be had only through the inner meaning of these words, so too the outward association of gods with God can be abolished only by means of their outer form.
Point to note: Do try to recite Quran 3:18 for the first surah for isyak's first rakaat everyday.
Syahidallahu Annahuu LAAILAHA ILLA HUU, wal malaaikatu, wa ulul 'Ilm, qaaima bil qisti LAAILAHA ILLA HUWAL AZIZUL HAKIM, INNADDEENA 'indaAllahil ISLAM. (A very powerful ayat)
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Good Laugh
Was on my way to get some stuff from beach road and met a friend who said, “kau makin gelapnyer siswand!” hehe, what to do. This is the transformation. My bunk mates also told me, “first time I saw u ah, I thot u Indian one, now no need think alr confirm Indian!” Thanks ah guys hehe, some one else told me, “do you know how to use kiwi? Kiwi ur boots not your face!” and also “Siswand! Save money lah, no need buy black camo cream! Just leave that area of ur face untouched by green camo and it automatically becomes black camo!” waaah, pain pain, but nvr mind, I know they’re just joking. Even the mama at the mama coffee shop said "wah, awak sudah makin hitam ah, banyak SUNBATH ah?" I told him " Maan, kita sama naseeb maan, sama kulit."Hehe
All these on top of not considering the fact that my maternal granddad is a pure Bengali, it doesn’t help much does it?
Hehe, had a good laugh at all those comments they made, takpe lah, if MJ can turn from black to white, so can I! hehe
All these on top of not considering the fact that my maternal granddad is a pure Bengali, it doesn’t help much does it?
Hehe, had a good laugh at all those comments they made, takpe lah, if MJ can turn from black to white, so can I! hehe
One of the more meaningful conversations with my bunk mate
Quran : 16:125 Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance.
My friend was on his bed reading the bible, so I came to him and said “You are a devout Christian,” With eagerness he replied “YES!”
So I decided to initiate a conversation with him and I asked him what is it about Christianity that he can tell me. He started telling me about the tenets of the Christianity and all that and in return I shared with him the Muslim view of Jesus upon whom be peace. We managed to lay out similarities and the few major differences. I was really glad that we did this is the spirit of mutual understanding and respect. My friend was a nice guy, really, got to give that to him.
So our conversation went on and we somehow chatted about diet, I don’t know why but apparently one of the most interesting things about a muslim to a non-muslim is his diet.
My friend asked, why can’t muslims eat pork? I said it’s the law. And I told him in fact christians too ought to abstain from pork because there is a verse in the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus, 11:7-8 that says do not eat pork for it is unclean. I told him my answer to that question is in your own book.
He said “No, no, it’s not like that, Christians now can eat pork already, Peter had a vision in which he saw God showing him all the dirty food and told him he has no right to say the food as dirty, hence eat all you want.” I wondered why and I found out that Peter acquitted Christians from the prohibition of consuming pork. First of all, if you ask me, I seriously want to question the authenticity and the legitimacy of Peter’s authority to alter the religion founded by one of the greatest Prophets of all time. What gives him the authority to change the Law of Jesus? That aside, now assuming that Jesus truly allowed pork, in any case, you will have to agree with me that eating of pork is never obligatory in Christianity. So you have a choice, to eat or not to eat. What I suggest is that Christians ought to, out of respect and sharing vigil with other monotheists such as Jews and Muslims, abstain from pork. You don’t have to do it as an obligation in Christianity but rather as a voluntary act. Can you do that? Well if you cant, then maybe this piece of information can motivate you, Jesus never once ate pork, if you truly love him.
This clearly illustrates how the past authentic religions have been slowly altered by the hands of men.
Having said that, we went to discuss about modern muslim affairs and somehow we talked about the beard issue. Kind of sensitive perhaps but let’s be frank. I told him I don’t like it when Christians look with scorn at muslims who keep beard because doing so makes them one of two; either a hypocrite or a bigot biased against muslims. It has to be either of these two cases only, it cant possibly ignorance, because all the many available portraits of Jesus depict him with a long flowing beard. If a Christian is biased against a muslim just because of his beard, then I, as a muslim will want to question his standing as a Christian. Rest assured, I’m all for unity and understanding between the two greatest world religion.
Another issue is about sujud, some Christians say we pray like horses. Tell him to refer to this Matthew 26:39 which reads : “Going a little further, he(Jesus) fell with his face on the ground and prayed”
Finally, I complained to him about youths our age who are overzealous about being Christian. I have seen my JC friends, especially the girls, going to church in skimpy clothing, mixing amongst guys with minimal discretion, flaunting their well adorned crosses studded with rubies, sapphires and what have you, around their neck. It’s almost as if the symbol of Christianity has become a fashion scapegoat. I told him if this thing were to happen to muslims, there’ll be serious objections. I also told him why can’t modern Christians today have some dress code out of respect for places of worship? In contrast, I told him as well, Christians in the Holy Land are more like muslims! They dress like muslims, speak the same language, eat the same diet, look so alike to the extent that you can’t differentiate arab muslims from arab Christians.
NEW testament 1 Corinthians 11:6 reads “ for if a woman did not veil herself, she should cut off her hair.but if it is disgraceful to have her hair shaved, she should wear a veil.”
There are indeed many other things which Jesus commanded which are so much in line with the tenets of Islam. Technically speaking, Christians should be like us, dress properly, remove shoes in Churches, abstain from pork, wine, fornication, wear the veil etc. but are we seeing this? All these obligations upon the Christians seem to be removed by a person who came after Jesus. Bear in mind that Jesus indirectly foretold that someone was going to change the law of God.
Matthew 5:18-19 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
And here is the finishing blow
Quran 2:79 Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.
What I personally feel is that, most youths of today who are so proud about their Christian faith are just trying to copy the situation in the West. “oh, the west is Christian and America is Christian, oh so COOL to be a Christian!” why am I saying this? It’s because they know too little about their own religion and about how similar Christianity is to Islam and Judaism. Shameful you may say. Try asking them what is Jesus’s name in his own native language? Jesus is a name given to him by other people, not his real, birth name. I seriously find it shameful for Christians not to know who Yeshua or Isa is.
At the end of it, I was adamant about my stand as a muslim and I reiterated many times my veneration and respect for Christ the son of Mary and the Gospel and the religion he revealed. For I am not a muslim if I do not acknowledge all these. To end it off, my friend said, “ My Pastor told me Muslims are the hardest to convert, Chinese very easy, maybe because our religions very similar already,”
I smiled and in my heart I was saying “Ah, tau takpe”
My friend was on his bed reading the bible, so I came to him and said “You are a devout Christian,” With eagerness he replied “YES!”
So I decided to initiate a conversation with him and I asked him what is it about Christianity that he can tell me. He started telling me about the tenets of the Christianity and all that and in return I shared with him the Muslim view of Jesus upon whom be peace. We managed to lay out similarities and the few major differences. I was really glad that we did this is the spirit of mutual understanding and respect. My friend was a nice guy, really, got to give that to him.
So our conversation went on and we somehow chatted about diet, I don’t know why but apparently one of the most interesting things about a muslim to a non-muslim is his diet.
My friend asked, why can’t muslims eat pork? I said it’s the law. And I told him in fact christians too ought to abstain from pork because there is a verse in the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus, 11:7-8 that says do not eat pork for it is unclean. I told him my answer to that question is in your own book.
He said “No, no, it’s not like that, Christians now can eat pork already, Peter had a vision in which he saw God showing him all the dirty food and told him he has no right to say the food as dirty, hence eat all you want.” I wondered why and I found out that Peter acquitted Christians from the prohibition of consuming pork. First of all, if you ask me, I seriously want to question the authenticity and the legitimacy of Peter’s authority to alter the religion founded by one of the greatest Prophets of all time. What gives him the authority to change the Law of Jesus? That aside, now assuming that Jesus truly allowed pork, in any case, you will have to agree with me that eating of pork is never obligatory in Christianity. So you have a choice, to eat or not to eat. What I suggest is that Christians ought to, out of respect and sharing vigil with other monotheists such as Jews and Muslims, abstain from pork. You don’t have to do it as an obligation in Christianity but rather as a voluntary act. Can you do that? Well if you cant, then maybe this piece of information can motivate you, Jesus never once ate pork, if you truly love him.
This clearly illustrates how the past authentic religions have been slowly altered by the hands of men.
Having said that, we went to discuss about modern muslim affairs and somehow we talked about the beard issue. Kind of sensitive perhaps but let’s be frank. I told him I don’t like it when Christians look with scorn at muslims who keep beard because doing so makes them one of two; either a hypocrite or a bigot biased against muslims. It has to be either of these two cases only, it cant possibly ignorance, because all the many available portraits of Jesus depict him with a long flowing beard. If a Christian is biased against a muslim just because of his beard, then I, as a muslim will want to question his standing as a Christian. Rest assured, I’m all for unity and understanding between the two greatest world religion.
Another issue is about sujud, some Christians say we pray like horses. Tell him to refer to this Matthew 26:39 which reads : “Going a little further, he(Jesus) fell with his face on the ground and prayed”
Finally, I complained to him about youths our age who are overzealous about being Christian. I have seen my JC friends, especially the girls, going to church in skimpy clothing, mixing amongst guys with minimal discretion, flaunting their well adorned crosses studded with rubies, sapphires and what have you, around their neck. It’s almost as if the symbol of Christianity has become a fashion scapegoat. I told him if this thing were to happen to muslims, there’ll be serious objections. I also told him why can’t modern Christians today have some dress code out of respect for places of worship? In contrast, I told him as well, Christians in the Holy Land are more like muslims! They dress like muslims, speak the same language, eat the same diet, look so alike to the extent that you can’t differentiate arab muslims from arab Christians.
NEW testament 1 Corinthians 11:6 reads “ for if a woman did not veil herself, she should cut off her hair.but if it is disgraceful to have her hair shaved, she should wear a veil.”
There are indeed many other things which Jesus commanded which are so much in line with the tenets of Islam. Technically speaking, Christians should be like us, dress properly, remove shoes in Churches, abstain from pork, wine, fornication, wear the veil etc. but are we seeing this? All these obligations upon the Christians seem to be removed by a person who came after Jesus. Bear in mind that Jesus indirectly foretold that someone was going to change the law of God.
Matthew 5:18-19 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
And here is the finishing blow
Quran 2:79 Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.
What I personally feel is that, most youths of today who are so proud about their Christian faith are just trying to copy the situation in the West. “oh, the west is Christian and America is Christian, oh so COOL to be a Christian!” why am I saying this? It’s because they know too little about their own religion and about how similar Christianity is to Islam and Judaism. Shameful you may say. Try asking them what is Jesus’s name in his own native language? Jesus is a name given to him by other people, not his real, birth name. I seriously find it shameful for Christians not to know who Yeshua or Isa is.
At the end of it, I was adamant about my stand as a muslim and I reiterated many times my veneration and respect for Christ the son of Mary and the Gospel and the religion he revealed. For I am not a muslim if I do not acknowledge all these. To end it off, my friend said, “ My Pastor told me Muslims are the hardest to convert, Chinese very easy, maybe because our religions very similar already,”
I smiled and in my heart I was saying “Ah, tau takpe”
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