From left) Nur Afifah, Asrul and Anisah Shurfa
SPECIAL REPORT: Living in an environment which encourages critical thinking and questioning of the Muslim faith has done more to strengthen some Muslims' belief in Islam, going against the “siege mentality” that is often being propagated in Malaysia.
In the second part of this special report, theantdaily spoke to three Malaysians on how their experiences of growing up and living abroad, away from the watchful eyes of any moral police, have shaped their faith in Islam.
Here are excerpts of their stories, told in their own words:
Anisah Shurfa
I spent eight years in Manchester, the United Kingdom, because my father was doing his Masters. We returned to Malaysia when I was nine years old.
Growing up as a minority in a non-Muslim country, there was no religious body to tell us what we could or could not do, or take action against us should we flout any religious rules.
Muslims could drink in pubs, eat pork at a restaurant, or even openly denouncing our faith, without anybody batting an eyelash.
But even with such freedom, we did not partake in any negative activities that smeared our religion. At least, not in my family.
We would sing Christmas carols and exchange gifts at school, scrounge for second-hand goods at the Church’s carboot sale, and even visited a synagogue for a class trip, where I was introduced to Jewish delicacies such as apple dipped in honey.
There were no Pendidikan Islam classes in school to counter the direct “Western influences” my family and I were being exposed to.
In fact, I even learnt the story of how Baby Jesus was born in a stable.
Yet, that didn't shake my faith nor “Christianise” me one bit and I didn't need any religious authority to protect my faith either, because faith is from one’s heart.
My parents would patiently explain to me the difference between the beliefs and practices of Muslims and non-Muslims, but not in a us-versus-them manner that seems so prevalent in the Malaysian society today.
Everything we do in Malaysia with regard to how we practise our religion is dictated and monitored with scrutiny.
It’s like they don’t trust us to think for ourselves and make our own decisions. Faith here is policed by all sorts of people, including the government.
Suddenly, something as private as what we believe in becomes a matter of state concern.
When we ask why, we are told “because God says so, so do it.”
When we provide other viewpoints to an issue, we are accused of being “liberal” or “deviant”. Here, it’s all about blind faith and obedience - the exact antithesis to Islam, ironically.
And it’s making us stupider, too.
Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
Growing up, I didn't have any specific ustaz or school where I learned Islam from.
We moved around a lot because of the nature of my father’s work and I had the luxury of learning Islam from different people and cultures.
Having the opportunity to visit and live in countries such as Hungary, India, the Philippines and Syria has taught me to better appreciate and respect Islam as well as, other religions. It has also showed me the destruction it can bring by ignorance of its followers.
Since returning to Malaysia, I have met with religious “scholars” telling me that one should never question Islam or its teachings, and there lies the downfall on how Islam is being taught or understood in this country.
I hold with me what I learned as a student at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), that one must be critical in our understanding of Islam and always try to see the larger context of things.
That is like an amalgamation of all the lecturers I met in IIUM.
Blind faith is not faith but ignorance.
Only through questioning one can understand and if Allah wants you to understand, He will.
Do not be apologetic because Allah does not need defending.
Dr Nur Afifah Lukman
I am very grateful to have experienced two different environments, growing up in Malaysia and studying in Australia, when it comes to learning about religion.
As a child in Subang Jaya, my parents enrolled me into Sekolah Agama and kelas mengaji which has helped shape me to be who I am today, while my experience as a medical student in Australia opened my eyes to a whole new perspective about Islam.
I think without a strong base I could have easily been swayed into doing things that go against the teachings of Islam, but instead, the differences that I encountered actually sparked my curiosity to learn more about my own religion.
I learnt to be more tolerant, accepting and to see actually how wonderful Islam is. I also felt like I just came out of a cocoon.
Islam is not just about following what people say. It’s about the way of life and learning the true and real meaning of the Islamic religion. I also found that people oftentimes get confused between religion and culture.
Regarding the freedom to think and question, I believe that there is not much difference.
To be honest, personally, I feel it all depends on the individual and how far they would want to pursue their questions, regardless of whether or not there are any official religious authorities.
Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had recently claimed that Malaysian Muslims have a legitimate fear of Islam being “attacked” through provocations allegedly by the Christians, over their insistence on using the word “Allah” in reference to the Christian God.
Renowned cleric Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, however, rubbished Mahathir’s claims and stressed that it is the Malaysian Muslims who are now more knowledgeable and critical of their own religion, signalling a need for local religious scholars to catch up with the times.
Source - FB
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