OutSyed The Box |
- In Faith We Put Our Trust Or In Trust We Put Our Faith?
- Surat Pembaca : Arahan Sidungu Lawan Arahan Tuhan
- Secular Is Also Quranic. Quranic Is Islamic.
| In Faith We Put Our Trust Or In Trust We Put Our Faith? Posted: 12 Nov 2012 03:06 AM PST This is actually about the Virgin Mary sightings. Faith is a powerful thing. Everyone wants to have faith in something. Is there something that could be more powerful than faith? I believe so. The answer : to earn the trust of your fellow human being, to earn the trust of the human race. We shall put our faith in trust. The word 'amanah' means trust - both in Arabic and in Malay. For example we have the Amanah Saham Nasional or National Unit Trust. The word 'amanah' here is connected directly to 'trust'. Amanah is trust. In the Quran the word amana appears many times. From this root word 'amana' are derived other words like iman, amanu and mu'min. The root is 'trust'. Imagine waking up every morning and going out to earn the trust of your neighbours. That means a life of continuous engagement with your neighbours. Working with them, selling them products, buying things from them, employing them, working for them, living and playing with them and a million other things. All done with the aim of earning their trust. Surely earning people's trust to the best of our ability will also make us wealthy. It should. Why do we buy Apple's I Phone? Because it is reliable, it can be trusted. It is a good product. Apple has earned our trust. There has been some news about an apparition of the Virgin Mary that has appeared on a window panel in Subang Jaya. Here are some other pictures of the Virgin from all over the world namely from Africa, Japan, China, Peru and Korea.      In each of these pictures, Mary and baby Jesus are depicted as having features in common with the people of that country. I find the Korean Mary interesting. She does look very Korean, so does baby Jesus. However Jesus has blonde hair. People will put their faith in those things that they want to believe. This may lead them to see what they want to see. Hence "En el nombre de la Madre - in the name of the Mother'. Now to earn the trust of your fellow human being - amana - that is something else. Ya aiyyuhallazi na AMANU ! !  |
| Surat Pembaca : Arahan Sidungu Lawan Arahan Tuhan Posted: 11 Nov 2012 11:52 PM PST
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| Secular Is Also Quranic. Quranic Is Islamic. Posted: 11 Nov 2012 05:42 PM PST I received the following article from a friend. I dont know who wrote this or what is the source but it is short and interesting. Secular or non-secular? – What history tells us Lately there has been a public discourse on whether Malaysia is a secular country or otherwise. Let us take a break. And take a visit down memory lane. Perhaps history might shed some light on the issue. To begin with, article 3 (1) of our Federal Constitution provides as follows:- "Islam is the religion of the Federation; but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation." Initially, when the Reid Commission was set to draft our Constitution, the Alliance (UMNO, MIC and MCA) presented a 20 page memorandum to the Reid Commission. On Islam, the memo says: "The religion of Malaysia shall be Islam. The observance of this principle shall not impose any disability on non-Muslim nationals professing and practising their own religion, and shall not imply that the State is not a secular State." After 118 meetings, the Reid Commission wrote its report in Rome and published it in February 1957. On the position of Islam, it says: "We have considered the question whether there should be any statement in the Constitution to the effect that Islam should be the State religion. There was universal agreement that if any such provision were inserted it must be made clear that it would not in any way affect the civil rights of non-Muslims — 'the religion of Malaysia shall be Islam. The observance of this principle shall not impose any disability on non-Muslim nationals professing and practising their own religion and shall not imply that the State is not a secular State'. There is nothing in the draft Constitution to affect the continuance of the present position in the States with regard to recognition of Islam or to prevent the recognition of Islam in the Federation by legislation or otherwise in any respect which does not prejudice the civil rights of individual non-Muslims. The majority of us think that it is best to leave the matter on this basis, looking to the fact that Counsel for the Rulers said to us — 'It is Their Highnesses' considered view that it would not be desirable to insert some declaration such as has been suggested that the Muslim Faith or Islamic Faith be the established religion of the Federation. Their Highnesses are not in favour of such declaration being inserted and that is a matter of specific instruction in which I myself have played very little part."
In "The Making of the Malayan Constitution" by Joseph Fernando, the author states: "The UMNO leaders contended that provision for an official religion would have an important psychological impact on the Malays. But in deference to the objections of the Rulers and the concerns of non-Muslims, the Alliance agreed that the new article should include two provisos: first, that it would not affect the position of the Rulers as head of religion in their respective States; and second, that the practice and propagation of other religions in the Federation would be assured under the Constitution. The MCA and MIC representatives did not raise any objections to the new article, despite protests by many non-Muslim organizations, as they were given to understand by their UMNO colleagues that it was intended to have symbolic significance rather than practical effect, and that the civil rights of the non-Muslims would not be affected. " Shortly after the London Conference the British Government issued a White Paper in June 1957 containing the Constitutional Proposals for independent Malaya. Paragraph 57 deals with the Religion of the Federation and reads:- "There has been included in the Federal Constitution a declaration that Islam is the religion of the Federation. This will in no way affect the present position of the Federation as a secular State, and every person will have the right to profess and practice his own religion and the right to propagate his religion, though this last right is subject to any restrictions imposed by State law relating to the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the Muslim religion." The Constitutional Bill was then passed without amendment. In an effort to mollify them, the Colonial Secretary, Lennox Boyd, wrote to Lord Reid on 31st May 1957 offering tribute and gratitude to the "remarkable" work done by the Reid Commission and stated:- "The Rulers, as you know, changed their tune about Islam and they and the Government presented a united front in favour of making Islam a state religion even though Malaya is to be a secular state." It is interesting to note that Justice Abdul Hamid, the sole member of the Reid Commission who proposed article 3 (1) to be inserted had described the provision as "innocuous". What does that innocuous little provision mean then? Professor Sheridan, a well-known expert on Malaysian Constitution opines as follows :- "A Federation, as opposed to the people within its territory, having a religion is a difficult notion to grasp….. It has been suggested that the probable meaning of the first part of Article 3(1) is that, insofar as federal business (such as ceremonial business) involves religious matters, that business is to be regulated in accordance with the religion of Islam" - The Religion of the Federation", [1988] 2 MLJ xiii Considering recent events, that provision has however ceased from being innocuous. Hopefully, it would not be monstrous instead. - End. My comments : Well the country is 55 years old since Merdeka in 1957. Our Federal Constituion and almost all the Laws of the land are secular laws. Our legal system is based on the British legal system. Our governance follows the British Westminster model (democratic elections, Parliament, Senate, Prime Minister, Constitutional monarchy etc). Err..one slight point - the British insist that their Constitutional Monarch must be a member of the Anglican Church. (I think they extended this restriction to the mother of future Kings as well. Which is why Princess Diana didnt live too long - she was about to marry a Muslim). The question I want to ask is which part of our secular laws are un-Islamic or un-Quranic? We have traffic laws. The speed limit on the highways is 110 km/hr. We drive on the left side of the road. We stop at the red light. So which part of our traffic laws are not Islamic? If they have an "Islamic" system in the country, will they change the red light to blue lights? Will the speed limit be incresed to 150 km/hr ? What about the building codes in the country - the house or building that you are inside now can stand upright because our engineers, architects, builders and contractors must follow building codes that have been in place here for over a 100 years. Orang putih juga bikin mari. These building codes are also secular rules. So which part of our building codes are un-Islamic? And if we change it to an "Islamic" system, how will it affect our building codes? Will there be provisions for living in camel skin tents? The electricity and the water comes into our houses following rules and regulations as well. Our electricity is at 240 Volts (and 50 Hertz or cycles per second). In the US it is 120 Volts and 60 Hertz. There are scientific and technical reasons behind all these. Many of these secular laws and rules that make our lives easier to live follow natural laws as well. The building will not fall down if we respect the natural strength of stone, clay, wood, iron etc. More than anything else a secular system respects natural laws very closely. Science, technology and logic must obey natural laws. And natural laws must be Islamic because Allah is the source of natural laws. But if a so called "Islamic system" replaces a secular system, what will be the "new and improved" or the "newer and better" version? Will they be able to make that elusive underwear? The Muslims do not even manufacture their own underwear. We depend on the secular people for our very survival. So I hope the Muslims will just stop wasting their time and their lives arguing and discussing about secular versus non secular. A large part of secular beliefs and laws are found in the Quran as well.  |
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