Malaysian Muslim do indeed need to grow up

Ministry not satisfied with The Star’s explanation

• Home Ministry not satisfied with the explanation from The Star over the picture of Erykah Badu.
• the newspaper was directed to submit to the ministry its recommendations for sterner action
• “The ministry wishes to advise The Star and all media organisations to take preventive', corrective' and informative' form of action to prevent the publication of content that may touch on the country's multi-racial and multi-religious sensitivities of the communities,” it said.
• The Star suspended two editors ..issued an apology
• ..managing editor, chief news editor and senior editor were called up by the ministry
• The Star ... said it deeply regretted any offence it caused to Muslims.

To all you Muslims out there, I think we really have to grow up. We simply have to stop behaving like children. If you go into the Internet, you can find people wearing all sorts of tattoos. You can see all sorts of graffiti, slogans, caricatures and lampooning about Islam, Christianity, the Pope, HIndus, Buddhists etc. Here is just one example of a funny picture of the Catholic Pope on the Internet.

Do the Catholics freak out and burn their buses when people make fun of the Pope? Do the Catholics run around burning their own buses and getting shot and killed by their own Policemen just because someone made a caricature of the Pope?

This is what happened in Afghanistan recently. More than 28 Afghans were killed in riots and shooting arising from the burning of a Quran in the burner by some Americans.

Let me ask a question. Can some Muslim please answer honestly. What do you do with your old Qurans in your house? You know the old, worn out and tattered Qurans that you read since you were a child. Do you keep them safely somewhere and pass them down from generation to generation? Or do you throw them away - discreetly or otherwise - with your other trash? Be honest ok. And didnt any of you, by chance or not, throw away your old Qurans into the fire at the back of your house in the kampong?

I dont know what has happened to the old Qurans and the 'buku jama' that I read when we were kids more than 40 years ago. I know for a fact that they are no more around. So what happened to them?

There is no law on how to dispose of old Qurans. If there is no Law, then how can there be any punishment? You still have to answer the question : what do you do if your old Quran is torn and tattered and worn out and falling apart? Do you bury it in the ground? Do you bury it at sea? Do you store it on a sacred mountain top? What do you do with it?

Can you recycle it? Will the Afghan people declare war on Malaysia if they found out that in Malaysia people recycle their Qurans? Can we have some common sense here?

As for the name "Allah" why doesn't anyone complain about the Saudi Arabian flag. They have written the word "Allah" on their flag. Here it is :

The flag with the word Allah flies in the rain, sun, wind and snow. Isnt that showing disrespect to the name Allah? Should our Wisma Putra telephone the Saudi Arabian Embassy and tell them to take down their flag flying at their embassy? You know out of respect for the word 'Allah'. Same logic lah, lebih kurang.

When their football team scores goals at football games, Saudis run around the stadium with the Saudi Arabian flag wrapped around their bare bodies, including their buntot of course. How do we deal with that? Dont believe me? Here are some pictures of Saudi football fans.

So is this an ok thing to do? How come? Because they are Saudi Arabians? And here is the Saudi Arabian flag (with the word "Allah") imprinted on a sexy woman's T shirt. I suppose this T shirt is available in Saudi Arabia. So apa macam? Letak kalimah 'Allah' pada T shirt yang 'poke your eye' perbuatan ok ke? Ya ayyuhal al-hypocrite?

And where do the Saudis store their flags with 'Allah' written on it? On another sacred mountain top? Or do they chuck it into their storage bins and storage compartments in their houses along with their boots, spare tyres, vacuum cleaners and other household things? Who is going to check? That is not insulting the name 'Allah'? Why not? Can someone explain?

Folks all these pictures and worse are found on the Internet. Just search Google Images. So should the Ministry of Home Affairs issue a show cause letter to Jaring? Jaring is the service provider that brings the Internet into Malaysia. Or shall the Ministry of Home Affairs take action against the MCMC (the Malaysian Multimedia Commission) for not blacking out all these pictures on the Internet. Someone inside Malaysia has to be held responsible for all these nasty insulting pictures on the Internet.

And when the Saudi Arabian flag becomes old, worn and tattered what do they do with it? Do they preserve all their flags in the museum? Or do they throw it out with the trash? Remember the word'Allah' is written on their flag.

In the very old days, in the kampongs, kids would draw a circle on the ground and say 'ini kepala bapak awak'. That is how kampong kids would start fights. It was a childish insult (children means childish ok) to draw a circle in the sand and say 'ini kepala bapak awak'. So they engaged in childish fights. That is why they are called children.

However when kampong kids grow up, you cannot taunt them or start a fight by drawing a circle in the sand and saying 'ini kepala bapak awak' anymore. Even kampong people will laugh at you. Those were childish games that were played by children. When you grow up, such things appear silly and they will not (or should not) bother you anymore.

Unfortunately however when it comes to tattoos, the word Allah, the Quran text and such the Muslims seem to be caught in this childish "drawing in the sand" trap forever.

Someone burns a Quran and 28 Afghans get killed. Some girl wears a tattoo and a music concert gets cancelled, editors get suspended and God knows what else. Someone draws a cartoon (a cartoon is nothing but a set of straight and circular lines) and the whole Muslim world gets into a frenzy. They start getting killed in their own countries and burn their own buses.

When the Muslims are so childish, it is easy to manipulate them. Just draw a cartoon, wear a tattoo, burn a Quran and the Muslims are ready to run amok. They are ready to go crazy.

What about the Quran (in multi colour Arabic script) in your I Pad, I phone, I pod, laptop, handheld etc? People carry their I Pads into the toilet. Certainly people carry I Phones into the toilets. How do we deal with them? Are they also not insulting Islam or insulting the Quran or the word Allah when they carry their I Pads and I phones into the toilet?

That is a very, very, very bad thing to do you know. So shouldnt the Ministry of Home Affairs set up a special task force to track down Muslims (or non Muslims) who do such things? Shall we arrest them?

I think it is an insult to the entire human race that the Muslims are so childish and get insulted so easily.

It is not Islam or Allah that can be insulted. Nothing can insult Islam or Allah. Both Allah and Islam are beyond insult. Do you seriously think that Allah is going to feel insulted just because the Saudis run around the football field with a piece of cloth wrapped around themselves with Arabic writing on it? Or wear sexy football T shirts with the word Allah on it? Or when a girl tattoos the word Allah on her shoulders? I dont think so.

It is only the childish folks who imagine all kinds of insults.

The Quran has some advice about how to deal with insults and annoying talk. Here it is :

[33:48] Do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites, disregard their insults, and put your trust in GOD; GOD suffices as an advocate.

33:48 Dan janganlah engkau menurut kehendak orang-orang kafir dan orang-orang munafik dan janganlah engkau hiraukan usikan dan celaan mereka, serta berserahlah kepada Allah; dan cukuplah Allah menjadi Pelindung

So just ignore their annoying talk and their insults. This is what good Muslims must do. So are you a good Muslim? Do you believe in the Quran? Then why dont you just ignore their insults - instead of running amok and making a fool of yourselves?

[3:111] They can never harm you, beyond insulting you. If they fight you, they will turn around and flee. They can never win.

3:111 Mereka tidak sekali-kali akan membahayakan kamu, kecuali menyakiti (perasaan kamu dengan ejekan). Dan jika mereka memerangi kamu, mereka akan berpaling lari membelakangkan kamu; sesudah itu mereka tidak akan mencapai kemenangan.

In brief - insults cannot harm anyone, doh!

[3:186] You will certainly be tested, through your money and your lives, and you will hear from those who received the scripture, and from the idol worshipers, a lot of insult. If you steadfastly persevere and lead a righteous life, this will prove the strength of your faith.

3:186 Demi sesungguhnya, kamu akan diuji pada harta benda dan diri kamu. Dan demi sesungguhnya, kamu akan mendengar dari orang-orang yang telah diberikan Kitab dahulu daripada kamu dan orang-orang yang musyrik: banyak (tuduhan-tuduhan dan cacian) yang menyakitkan hati. Dalam pada itu, jika kamu bersabar dan bertaqwa maka sesungguhnya yang demikian itu adalah dari perkara-perkara yang dikehendaki diambil berat.

Hearing insults and annoying talk is also a test. We must learn to rise above these insults. The Muslims should just lead their own righteous lives. Dont go around fighting with people for every little thing.

Sadly the Muslims do not know much about the Quran. For example the Taliban dunggus will run wild in the streets, and kill 28 of their own people in the process, to protest "insults" against the Quran. But they never open the Quran to read it and understand that the Quran is telling them to just ignore any insults. How stupid can they get? Do we want to be as stupid as them ?

I hope the Ministry of Home Affairs will set a better example by telling people to be more mature. The Ministry of Home Affairs should not be making the situation worse by continuing to harp on this issue. Enough is enough lah.

Whether you like it or not, whether you agree or not, we cannot tell the Saudis to lower their flag. Or let it rot in the sun and rain. It is up to them. One man's flag is another man's insult or it may not be so. The insult is in your imagination.

Please grow up.

A moderate Muslim would think in the same line as Outsyed the Box.  I too believe that many UMNO and PAS extremists have gone too far to teach others what they themselves do not know and understand.