I hope that this can be done. Diplomatic discussions should begin immediately and there should be a two-state solution to this. Because, as I said, Muslims naturally are peaceful and forgivable ummah. They can consider forgetting the past misbehaviour of your grandparents, occupying their lands if you can fulfil your promises and let the Palestinians return to their lands.
Great grandparents of young Palestinians today had allowed ungrateful refugees from Europe to settle in their homeland 70 years ago, in return, they are now chased out from their homeland, by the refugees.
Then, now, the refugees self-proclaim themselves as owners of illegally possessed land and behave like they own the land. They keep trying hard to prove this illegitimacy by propagating their one-sided views via western controlled media and pressuring their proxies worldwide.
These amazingly shameful but very dominant and confident refugees, who don’t have any shame whatsoever, seizing Palestinian lands, rewarding the cowards and seeking “normalisation” agenda worldwide.
The so-called impartial united nations (UN) has been very supportive of their actions since day one, leaving the Arabs and those who are supporting the Palestinian with very limited choice, more often than not, only one choice; in the end, to give in to those tyrant self proclaim owners of illegally possessed lands of the Palestinians.
But there is one special land, owned, not by the Palestinians.
It is called, the Al Aqsa Mosque. This is a very sensitive land, passed down to our generation from our beloved Prophet Muhammad saw and his sahabah (companions), since more than 1400 years ago. It is a worship place, shared peacefully with others, when Muslims were in control over the lands around the Al Aqsa Mosque. This sacred land, is not owned by Palestinians alone, mind you. It is the holy land, owned by the Muslims worldwide, and its surrounding is blessed by Allah, only when it is still under the protection of the Muslim nations.
But, when the believers worship in the House of Allah, peacefully, and then attacked unceremoniously, by the self proclaim illegal and tyrant security forces, who not only occupied the land of Palestinians but wish and dream to also occupy the holy land of the Muslim Ummah.
Therefore, this is the sensitive line you see why this matter escalated to the way it is now.
The ignorant western journalists ask their readers and viewers, why the tensions escalate in the illegally occupied land of Palestine (I do not want to mention the name of an illegal nation or country)? My answer is simple, “please do not touch the land of all Muslims.” That is when even people in Gaza would retaliate. That is when, people in Indonesia would get upset, even if not all of them.
You see, when you kill the women and children or making them widows or orphans, that could already spark tensions, as it is already cruel on its own. But, to add fuel to your arrogant behaviours, you send mortars, gasses, bullets and stormed into the Al Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadhan, while limiting the Muslims from visiting the place most times! That is when you created a sensation at the wrong time and place, angering the Muslims worldwide.
You see, Muslims are peaceful people by nature. But, they are also sensitive, such as matters related to their faiths. If someone purposely targets these matters to invite conflicts and battles, what kind of a person you think he or she is? The same goes when Charlie Hebdo purposely frustrates Muslims by drawing cartoons of our beloved prophet, the same goes when you purposely attack worshippers in Al Aqsa Mosque during Ramadhan.
Not only you haven’t apologised, but you arrogantly continue attacking civilians and spread lies throughout mankind.
Remember, Allah swt said in Holy Quran verse Al Isra, ayah 4-7:
“And We warned the Children of Israel in the Scripture, “You will certainly cause corruption in the land twice, and you will become extremely arrogant.” (4)
“When the first of the two warnings would come to pass, We would send against you some of Our servants of great might, who would ravage your homes. This would be a warning fulfilled.” (5)
“Then after your repentance, We would give you the upper hand over them and aid you with wealth and offspring, causing you to outnumber them”. (6)
“If you act rightly, it is for your own good, but if you do wrong, it is to your own loss. And when the second warning would come to pass, your enemies would totally disgrace you and enter the Masjid (Al Aqsa) as they entered it the first time, and utterly destroy whatever would fall into their hands.” (7)
Allah has warned you not to be arrogant and do injustices on the land after He had helped you from the enemies like during the past wars. Now, when He had aided you with wealth and power because Allah loves to help the weak and needy, you became arrogant and do mischievous acts on earth.
Then, after you have done this for the second time, Allah has promised in the Holy Quran, that “your enemies” (doesn’t mean that they are bad people) will enter the mosque, like they have entered the last time, destroying what you have possessed before.
So, this is the last chance, as Allah said, if you want to peacefully co-exist with others, you have to do good. Return the lands and homes of the Palestinians, and let them continue to live there peacefully with you, and install a justice system immediately.
I hope that this can be done. Diplomatic discussions should begin immediately and there should be a two-state solution to this. Because, as I said, Muslims naturally are peaceful and forgivable ummah. They can consider forgetting the past misbehaviour of your grandparents, occupying their lands if you can fulfil your promises and let the Palestinians return to their lands.
But I guess, your dream is beyond taking over the land. It is far greater than just occupying Palestinian lands.
It is beyond the past cruelty of your predecessors and allies. It must have been thousands of years of hatred, which you have sown against the rest of Arab worlds and Muslims generally.
If this continues, we Muslims leave to Allah’s hand our fate.
Only from Him we came, and to Him alone, we shall return.
Thank you for reading my previous entry entitled Answering 10 Most Glaring Misconceptions About Islam. I was so surprised by the higher-than-usual traffic according to the WordPress’ statistical report. I hope that it answers most of the questions, especially for the non-Muslims who wish to learn more about Islam.
Today, I plan to answer some of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) posed by internet users in their quest to search for the truth about Islam.
As a start, we have to acknowledge that we are living in the era of the open world, or the borderless world. We can get any information about anything from the internet and social media. Youtube, for example, would suggest more videos according to our past activities and preferences. Therefore, we are more likely to receive suggestions for videos that suit our liking.
But, how about those who want to get more information about something that is related to “the truth about Islam“? Can they still get the right answers to their questions despite the geographical barriers and boundaries?
Here, I plan to pen down some explanations to the three most frequently asked questions by the “truth seekers” within the online social media platforms. We sometimes can get better answers from famous scholars on Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter, but I would like to provide alternative explanations for their inquisitiveness.
Al-Quran is the key to receiving guidance from Allah, our Creator. Without reading the Quran, you will never be able to get Guidance from Allah. Therefore, you must understand the meaning of the Quran, and not only reciting the Holy Book in its Arabic original form, but also understand the meaning and messages inside in your own mother tongue language.
Q1. If “hidayah” (or spiritual guidance) is from Allah, then why are the people who did not get the hidayah are sent to hellfire or being penalized, whereasit is not their fault for not getting the guidance?
First, we have to understand that humans are born together with the “tools to receive” the hidayah. Similar to utilizing a compass in a quest to get to the right destinations, our main tool to receive the hidayah is actually called “the brain“.
Let say if we had to find our teacher, and we are given a GPS or a Google Map app on our mobile phone, what should we do?
We, of course, must first and foremost have the desire “to seek for the truth” which in this case, the sense of urgency “to find a teacher.”
What do we need to do? Do we just sit back and do nothing though we know that we must find a teacher let say for the purpose of preparing for an examination?
If I were a guy who’s told to find a teacher but just simply goes around using the GPS and asks for help from the wrong people, like a madman or an unknown stranger, then I would probably be sent to a wrong place.
But if there was a guy who is clearly smart and can use his own “brain and thinking faculty” by asking the right people, in the end, he might be given an answer like the coordinate of his teacher’s place or a specific address.
Even, if it is possible, by asking the teacher himself, he might get the answer quickly and positively. On top of that, the teacher would feel very happy that the student is working so hard in searching for an answer.
It is also similar to our daily lives. We should use our ears to listen, our eyes to read, our hands to make use, our feet to walk or to move, our hearts to feel and our brain to think.
But, the real guidance is about using all the above “correctly“.
The best way to know about the truth is by asking our creator Himself on how to use this equipment. We can ask by just talking to him like, “Oh my creator, I know that you always listen. So please guide me to the truth, to you.”
Actually, the art of talking to God is very easy. You just simply talk, because He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing. That was what happened to the famous revert from the United States of America, Syeikh Yusuf Estes. He was a Christian priest, but then he asked God for an answer not long after he met an Egyptian Muslim who told him about Islam.
When you want to know the truth, you can straight away realize that you are on the right path or you aren’t. But if you are not looking for the truth, all you can see and think of are the excuses.
Take for an example you want to find a place at a foreign land. You don’t know whether the Google Map is showing you to the right place (or not). Because, based on your logic, the place should not be that far, but Google Map says it should take 4 hours to reach the destination. In that case, what should you do?
A right-minded person would immediately ask someone he can trust. If that someone says, “yeah it is the right place that Google is showing. Google wouldn’t lie!”
But your logic still says that it doesn’t make sense. The next best thing is by calling the person you want to meet or perhaps the people who live in that country because they should know better.
This is the simplest way we can understand the terminology of “seeking for the truth” in theology.
Asking the person you want to meet (or the destination) in a foreign land means similar to asking Allah for His guidance to the truth or to be with Him.
If you cannot do this for whatever reason, you can ask the people of that land or the natives, to show you how to get to the place. It is the same as you ask the Muslims about their religion. Because they are the natives of the Muslim world!
(Picture is just an example): In Malaysia, marriage is a very important institution that will create harmony in the society. Traditionally, Muslim Malays are very particular in selecting their future partner. They are not only selected after a very long understanding of each others’ personality but also understanding each other’s strengths in faith and Islamic obligations.
Q2: Why Muslims in the past allow a child or a very young girl to marry an adult man?
First of all, no man should marry newborn babies, young children or even to force them to marry someone. Marriage must be due to the willingness of both the bridegroom and bride to become a husband and wife. Their parents must also be willing to allow their adult children to get married and be consented to do so. If they do not have parents who are still alive, they should be represented by a matured and wise adult to give blessings for the arrangement of marriage. This is the norm in any civilization or culture.
Human beings, must also live their life naturally and not against nature. It means that they must marry the opposite sex and not the same sex. So, if someone marries the opposite sex, then that is normal. What we are facing in this world today is that marrying the opposite sex is considered lame and boring, but the same sex is something that we must accept. This is absurd! If this is already happening, why are these people are complaining about child marriage?! These Donald Ducks can be only called “the confused people” actually!
Secondly, in the past, not only the Arab culture promotes arranged marriage, but also other cultures and religion. Sometimes, the Malay tradition also allows parents to conclude future marriages or to engage their children at a tender age to their relatives, cousins, friends, and people with stature. This is now considered as “backwardness” but not in the past. In the past, the loving and caring relationships can be developed after the marriage has been concluded, or perhaps even after they have tied the knot.
As time goes by, when the information is already made opened and the new generations are more exposed to the “modern concept of love“, then Muslims parents nowadays allow their young adult children to get to know their future partners before they can decide whom to be their future son or daughter in law. In most cases, Muslim parents still control the decision making of their children by giving them some boundaries or principles such as the ability to provide the family with good and stable income, the level of education, the understanding of cultures and so on so forth.
Therefore, there is no problem with the marriage principles as this is truly dependent on the culture of one society. If one person does not like one culture, he or she cannot force other people to follow his or her preference. On the other hand, Muslims cannot force other people to accept the openness of marriage in Islam such as polygamy and arranged marriage.
The western media are promoting “unfaithful” acts of relationships as open and freedom of choice. They relate this act as human rights rather than moral rights. Ironically, they are opposing the concept of polygamy, but rather promoting “unfaithful acts of immoral activities”
Q3: Why Islam allows the men to marry more than one wife or polygamy?
In the Quran, it says that men should marry one, two, three or four, but if you cannot bring justice to the wives, then marry only one!
Well, this is, of course, the principle. But, if you conduct a survey, Muslim men are not the type of creatures who like to find trouble and get married more than once. The majority of them are a very polite, responsible and good father and husband.
However, my view is that this should not be used as the opportunity to put Islam in a bad light. In Islam, marriage is a sacred institution and a man cannot by any means treating women unjustly. They also must put women higher than men, such as the saying that “heavens are at the feet of your mothers!” and “wives are the source of strengths of the prophet.”
In Islam, we have acknowledged the importance of women. One of such exemplary woman is Sayyadatina Khadija r.a. who was the first wife of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. She was a leader in her community, a businesswoman and also the first one to embrace Islam. When she was alive, Prophet Muhammad s.a.w has never married to other women except her.
In this sense, we can understand the two example. As Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. is a Prophet who was sent down as a blessing and also example to the mankind, Allah s.w.t with all of His Wisdom, allowed Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. to have two phases of marriage lives. One when he was married to only one most beloved wife, Sayyadatina Khadijah r.a., and then the next is when he was allowed to marry more than one wives although this was not due to his own wants (but merely due to Allah’s decree and in most cases, the requests by his companions). It was also the culture of the nobles during the past golden era of human civilization like 1,400 years ago, where Kings and Chieftains were seen as of higher stature in the society if having more than one wives!
So, the conclusion is that Islam allows you to marry more than one, but it is up to you to decide whether you want to commit yourself into the trouble (of managing the emotions of many wives) or just be peacefully living your life with just one wife. Haha!
Conclusion:
If you ask me whether Islam is the truth? As a Muslim, of course, the answer is that Islam is the truth!
However, if you use a logical sense of your thinking faculty, you must be mad to ask the question about, “whether Islam is the truth or not?”
You should be asking, “why Islam exists in the first place?”
Also, you should ask, “why, after Judaism and Christianity existed more than 2,000 years ago, Islam is still the fastest growing religion? And it is probably the biggest religion in the world, which the majority of its followers are following the principles and the tenets of Islam?”
In my opinion, Islam is the final opportunity for mankind to accept the call from our creator whether we really want to be His servants or He can just simply replace us with other creations that can do what we cannot do. Ironically, compared to other religions, Islam is the only widespread religion that has now really reached the whole area of the world as Allah has promised in the Quran:
“And [thus, O Prophet,] We have sent thee as [evidence of Our] grace towards all the worlds.” (Quran 21:107) and “[Be patient:] for this is nought else but a reminder [from God] to all mankind.” (Quran 68:52).
Therefore, since it is already fulfilled (which was considered impossible in the past as the Quran was not heard in New Zealand or Iceland 1,400 years ago); but now with the internet and borderless world concept, anything is possible!
There you go! The truth is already here. It is up to you to decide whether you want to seek further the truth, or just ignore and put this aside.