Silly questions

As I am only a student of knowledge, I advice people to be critical of what has been written. Mistakes are unavoidable as we are human beings but I try my best not to mislead people. My writing is consistent with my view at the time of writing. People might change things, like Imam Shafie with his old and new rulings, and that is why we as reader need to question the validity of the writings, of the hadith used for example, or the sanity of the person who wrote the article. We cannot afford to be careless nowadays.

I noticed the quietness (inactiveness) of Malaysian (Malay especially) in asking question would probably stem from our culture. It is not a bad thing to be nice and thoughtful (in case the lecturer was in rush, or the question might be too difficult to answer), but it is not the way Islam taught us. Sometimes we wonder how could people believe in certain things which are obvious to us that they are wrong? Take Kahar, the Malay Prophet for example. Or Ayah Pin, Kerajaan Langit. The lack of questioning put us into belief that everything we heard about Islam must be right. Of course, the matter will be made worse if the teacher himself avoid answering the question by making up excuses like 'Siapa yang banyak bertanya lemahlah imanya.' or shouting 'Mangkuk' if the student persists in asking question. The story of Bani Israel in Surah Al-Baqarah was often quoted to show that too much question can be disastrous. While not denying the fact that there are questions that best left unanswered, other examples shown by the sahabat during Prophet time dictates the opposite.

Imagine asking Aishah, the mother of believers whether is it allowed for spouses to look at each other's private part. Aata r.a did this and he did not shy away from asking what we consider a sensitive question. Umm Sulaym was reported to have asked Rasulullah whether women need to take ghusl if they have wet dream, and she began her question by saying: 'Surely, Allah is not shy from the truth.'
Forwarding E-mails

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jika datang kepada kamu seorang fasik membawa sesuatu berita, maka selidikilah (untuk menentukan) kebenarannya, supaya kamu tidak menimpakan sesuatu kaum dengan perkara yang tidak diingini dengan sebab kejahilan kamu (mengenainya) sehingga menjadikan kamu menyesali apa yang kamu telah lakukan. (Al-Hujarat:6)

Rasullullah bersabda: Memadailah seseorang itu dibebani dosa jika ia menceritakan setiap apa yang dia dengar. (Sahih Muslim)

My own experience taught me not to take things for granted of questioning the validity of e-mail that we received. I was (and hopefully still am) a stern opponent of forwarding e-mails that promote slander and fitnah. It is amazing how easy to find whether something is true or not, just by searching in google. Until one day, Allah probably wanted to show me how people can still make mistake despite their belief in certain things (as Allah only belongs the perfection). I received a forwarded email after 9/11 about the converting the flight number into wingding font. Sound familiar? I quickly did that and obviously I was stunned by the result. Shocked at the result and the 'co-incidence', I straight away forwarded the email to my classmate. How blessed I was to have such friends when one of them pointed out to me that the flight number was wrong in the first place and that email was just insensitive to the calamity that happens. May Allah continue to make him the divider between good and evil. I realized that I am not invincible from doing something which we are against. We blame the politician for the corruption as if we will never be corrupted. We backbite the unmarried couple who date without offering any help or solution. Did we not hear the verse of Quran cautioning those who think they are mukmin without having to stand trials like the one before them?

I am thankful to Allah for being here in Ireland, being exposed especially to other Muslims coming from all over the world. Those experiences have changed the way I think and behave. 10 years ago, one thing that came to my mind was a question, why do Muslims do things differently? One thing led to another, and to another, and to another. No doubt these questions will continue to revolutionize the way I am now. May Allah show us guidance.

I am encouraging myself especially, to continue questioning and not to take things at their face value - following the examples of the companions of the prophet. Asking question does not mean that we are rude, if it was done in the manner dictated by Rasulullah. We are responsible for ourselves, others can only try to persuade us.

@Peace