The Independent Insight

Giving truth a voice

Viewing the History of Imam Said Nursi from Psychological Perspectives – Part 1

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By: Nurhafizah Ibrahim

Have you ever heard of Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi? Or Risalah An-Nur?

Or if you are Malaysian, most probably I guess you have heard of the inspiring story of the late Ahmad Ammar (1993 – 2013). Why does it matter, anyway? Because it is through him that many Malaysian youth are triggered to learn more about Islam, and Risalah An-Nur also became increasingly known since his demise. Personally, he is the reason why I choose to learn Risalah An-Nur, and do my internship at NRTC, an organization under Hayrat Foundation in collaboration with IIUM. To know more about the late Ahmad Ammar, here is a short interview with Ahmad Ammar’s parents by Sinar TV.

Back to the topic, briefly, Imam Said Nursi (1877 – 1960) was born at Nurs village, Bitlis, Turkey. At the age of 9, he received his early education from his elder brother, Mulla Abdullah. He also learnt from many respected scholars in Eastern Anatolia. Being able to memorized 90 volumes of Islamic texts (such as sarf, nahu, mantiq, tafsir Al-Quran and ‘ilm kalam) within 3 months had made him being entitled as “Bediuzzaman (The Unique of The Time)” by his teacher Mulla Fathullah.

Upon his meeting with Hasan Pasha (a governor) in Van, he realized that the Muslim ummah were in need of positive sciences. Then, he studied positive sciences such as mathematics, geography, history, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology and philosophy on his own within short time.

Imam Said Nursi stayed in Van for 15 years, teaching in the madrasah of Horhor. His biggest turning point was when the British Minister of Colonies, Sir William Ewart Gladstone was reported in the news, saying to the House of Commons that they have to remove the Qur’an from the central life of Muslim if they want to dominate the Muslim world. This had made Imam Said Nursi turned all his life into a mission of saving the ummah through the light of the Quran. So, Imam Said Nursi proposed to build a university in Eastern Anatolia which would combine the positive sciences and religious sciences, unite both hearts and minds to tear down the enemies’ plans. But surely, it was not an easy task. He was being tortured physically and mentally, and suffered until death, yet he never stop from the mission. Until today, we could see how Risalah an-Nur has affected thousands of lives.

So long as there is this book (Qur’an) existing in the hands of Muslims, there will be no peace in the world. We will never be able to dominate them. We should find a way to take this Qur’an from their hands and do as much as possible to remove the Qur’an from being central to the life of Muslims and alienate them to it.”


 Sir William Ewart Gladstone, the British Minister of Colonies

It is a long history that it would take several books to write the history in detail. However, I would just wrap up the history in 5 take-home lessons.

The reasoning ability

Imam Said Nursi was known for his unique method of combining the logical reasoning (‘ilm mantiq), sciences, and tafsir of Quran in his writing of Risalah An-Nur. This unique method is used to fight against secularism and materialism of the modern time.

This shows that it is important to encourage the youth to think and ask critical questions while learning religious sciences. Because developing the reasoning ability (with the guide of Qur’an & sunnah of course) is urgently needed at the current time when Muslims are being attacked intellectually and spiritually.

How to develop the reasoning ability? In simple way, we may start with a small study circle to debate and discuss a general issue. Encourage the members to ask questions, suggest ideas, and evaluate each other’s opinions. Be open while maintaining good manners.

Delayed gratification

Imam Said Nursi was willing to delay the immediate reward (living a leisure life while young) for a later reward (the true rest in Hereafter). Today’s youth are in need of this ability to control one’s impulse. Because in real world, great things do not come in one blink. To train oneself to be able to delay gratification, perhaps we can start with small things like fasting, maybe? Or any other suggestion?

To know more what is delayed gratification, click here.

I think these 2 points are enough for now. The other 3 points are quite lengthy. So, I will continue sharing the gems on my next post, insyaAllah.

This article was first published by Nurhafizah Ibrahim on her blog Tinta Tabib. She can be reach at inurhafizah93@gmail.com .

A Woman Surgeon with the Palestinians

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By: Dr. Ang Swee Chai

I grew up in Singapore. When I was 19, I attended a Billy Graham Crusade and made the decision to follow Jesus. At that time I did not know that meant discipleship.  I had not heard of his disciples like Nathanael, nor Andrew, nor Phillip, nor Simon and how with the exception of John, they were all martyred. My parents were Chinese speaking atheists. I also had no idea Jesus was a Jew!

Soon after that I was baptised in a Fundamentalist, Pro-Israel church. I taught Sunday school, including the conquest of Canaan, David and Goliath, and the victory of Elijah against the Philistines. For me, the Abrahamic Covenant only consisted of the Promised Land to God’s chosen people Israel. The creation of the State of Israel in 1948 transitioned neatly into a re-run of the Old Testament. We saw it as the fulfilment of God’s prophesied plan for his people Israel in the Old Testament. Later that year we all rejoiced when Israel won the Six Day War. We were filled with pride and triumphalism that Israel had defeated the Arabs decisively. 

I read the Old Testament and connected to the State of Israel without taking into consideration Jesus and the New Testament. I did not understand that the most important part of the Abrahamic Covenant was the promise of a Saviour through whom all nations will be blessed. I found out later that what Jesus spoke about to his followers in Matthew 5, was not inheriting the Land but inheriting the Earth and the Kingdom of Heaven.

Thank God, I married a human rights lawyer. Two weeks later he fled arrest by the security police. A month later I was arrested for questioning. That was the first time I was put in prison. (Some of you might know that I had been in prison a couple more times since! The latest being in 2018 when I was medic on board the Freedom Flotilla Awda loaded with antibiotics and dressings for Gaza. The boat was abducted in international waters. All on board were taken to prison in Ashdod and cargo and boat impounded to this day.) 

Upon release from Singapore prison, I found my husband in London and we both became political refugees. It was a great comedown. From being middle class professional Singaporeans we became homeless, jobless and stateless refugees. We struggled desperately to rebuild our lives.

In 1982, five years later, we were just about sorted out. I had become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and was working in St Thomas’ Hospital. My husband found work as a journalist. We had a permanent place to live in. 

But God was about to change things.

The television ran nightly news on a war in Lebanon. The country was relentlessly bombed. Its capital Beirut was held siege. Food, medicine, water and electricity were blockaded. Although portrayed as a war against the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organisation, it was clear that the bomb targets were civilians – hospitals, schools, homes, factories, shops – and not terrorists. The headlines were 14,000 killed and tens of thousands made homeless a few weeks into the war. There were pictures of wounded victims, many children, some dying, in partially bombed hospitals. Charred bodies were pulled out of bombed out buildings, including bodies of small children.  

My heart was torn apart watching the suffering. It was made worse when I learnt that the offensive was by Israel. I became restless and anxious for the victims.

How could Israel do this? To compound matters, my Christian friends were celebrating the death and destruction citing Biblical verses, calling this the work of God’s hand! 

How should a Christian surgeon respond?  What would Jesus say? I needed wisdom and guidance, but my immediate circle provided none. Finally God spoke. In Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote about “seeing darkly as through a glass, but one day we will see face to face” and about how we “are children and thought and spoke as children, but when we grow up we will put aside childish things”. He went on “Faith, hope and love endure forever, but the greatest of these is love. “  I began to ask God “How?”

A week later an appeal came from Christian Aid for a volunteer orthopaedic surgeon to treat the wounded.  God had answered my prayers. I resigned from St Thomas’ Hospital, joined Christian Aid as a volunteer surgeon on their medical team and left for Beirut. For the first time that summer my heart was at peace.

We had to get to Beirut by sea since the airport was bombed. The ferry was not able to land as the war planes pounded this capital continuously for 36 hours. We got in when there was a gap in the bombing.

 The situation was hideous, blocks and blocks of high rise buildings reduced to heaps of rubble – just as on television – only this time life size and three dimensional. Homeless families were all over the pavements and road sides. Hundreds were buried under the rubble. There was no water and electricity. I started work in the converted basement carpark of the Near East Theological College treating horrendous war injuries – the young, the old, men, women and babies.

Meanwhile, Israel had threatened to flatten the whole of Lebanon to get the PLO.

Ten weeks after the war started, fourteen thousand members of the PLO agreed to leave Lebanon forever in exchange for a ceasefire. The USA had agreed that their families left behind would be protected by a multinational peacekeeping force.

With the evacuation, I was seconded to work for the Palestine Red Crescent Society, a member of both the International Red Cross and the PLO. Eight of their hospitals and 13 clinics were totally destroyed.  The only hospital standing was Gaza Hospital. I was to set up an orthopaedic trauma department for that hospital.

Gaza Hospital overlooked Sabra Shatilla, one of the fourteen Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. For someone who grew up seeing Palestinians as terrorists, I was shocked and outraged to learn of how the refugee camps came into existence.

 In 1948 half the population of Palestine – 750,000 persons – were driven out of their homes at gunpoint and the threat of being massacred. They fled into the neighbouring countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Their country Palestine became Israel and they were never allowed to return home. Over the years their tents gave way to buildings and the refugee camps became towns. Here children were born refugees, grew up refugees and died refugees. 

The world moved on and they were forgotten. They remained stateless since Palestine no longer existed

Every single home in the refugee camps was destroyed – either totally or partially. I watched women with young children and elderly relatives, many also wounded; carrying their belongings back to these ruins. They had lost loved ones through the evacuation, through the bombs, but they once again started to repair their damaged homes, clear the rubble, paint the walls, support each other and pick up their broken lives.

These people had suffered so much yet remained so human, generous, kind and dignified. I was overwhelmed by their generosity in the midst of their poverty. Their story was not in any history textbook, but every Palestinian child knew the name of their village in Palestine. Many of these villages had already been blown up after they left. Gaza Hospital was named after the Gaza Strip in Palestine.

I sat in their bombed out homes while they served me Arabic coffee and shared their meagre United Nation food rations with me. The women introduced me to their traditional Palestinian embroidery of stunning beauty. Patterns and motifs typical of their home villages they left behind in Palestine were sewn on black cloth with brilliantly coloured silk threads. Each stitch is a testimony of their history, heritage, culture and resilience.  

I fell in love with the Palestinians – but was still wondering at the back of my mind how come they were labelled terrorists.

Three weeks later the Multinational Peacekeeping Force protecting the Palestinian refugees abruptly withdrew and the land invasion by Israeli tanks took place. Hundreds of tanks over-ran West Beirut and some surrounded Sabra Shatilla. They sealed Sabra Shatilla so no one could escape and sent their allies, the right-wing Christian Phalanges into the camps. What followed was the infamous, savage Sabra Shatilla Massacre killing 3,500 Palestinians and Lebanese.

Our surgical team worked non-stop for 72 hours till we were forced out of Gaza Hospital at machinegun point. We had worked 72 hours non-stop in the basement operating theatre, for the most part without food and water, to save a few dozen lives – only to emerge to find out that people were killed by the thousands in the camp.  Many of them were tortured before death, and women were raped before being killed. 

Groups of camp people were held captive along the road we were forced to march along. From their terrified faces, they knew they were going to be killed.  A young mother tried to give me her little baby – hoping I could take it to safety. Both were killed.

The Massacre had exploded the myth that Palestinians are terrorists. The heaps of bodies in the camp alleys finally convinced the world that they were the victims of terror. Robbed of their homeland, driven to live in poverty and insecurity in the refugee camps, they were finally butchered on foreign soil. On each dead body was a refugee identity card stating their place of origin in Palestine. Most of the dead were refugees from Galilee. 

Up till then I had lived 33 years without knowing Palestinians existed. I bought into the lie that they were terrorists. I used to be that strident Zionist Christian teaching my Sunday school children that

Israel must annihilate the PLO terrorists.  I got blood on my hands. I felt crushed. I asked God to forgive me for my prejudice and bigotry against them. They are the children of God and my brothers and sisters.

Palestinians can only suffer and die daily because we fail to see them as human beings, and choose to walk the other way. I can no longer walk away. I asked God for forgiveness, I must also repent. Just crying and feeling sorry were not enough. Like Zacchaeus on that sycamore tree in Jericho, and Paul on the Damascus Road, my life had to change. “Lord – take my life and use it for these people whom we have collectively wronged. Please give me a second chance to serve them. Teach me to love them more and more”.

This is my thirty eighth year journeying with the Palestinians. They have accepted me as their family. 

That journey brought me to the Occupied Palestinian Territories where brutal abuses of human rights take place daily. 

In the West Bank daily arbitrary arrests and house demolitions are the norm. In 2019 alone five and a half thousand Palestinians were arbitrarily arrested, of which 889 were children and 128 were women. West Bank is imprisoned behind a seven hundred kilometre separation wall cutting through homes, schools and farms. 

Gaza has been blockaded for 12 years and bombarded by land, air and sea with several thousand killed and many more made homeless. Among the dead were more than a thousand children. Electricity is scarce and safe drinking water non-existent. Since March 2018, more than three hundred unarmed demonstrators asking for the right to return home were shot dead by snipers, with 36,000 wounded, a third of them children and women. More than 1,500 will never walk again due to high velocity sniper wounds to their legs.  

As we celebrate 2020, Gaza has become unliveable. My latest attempts to go and help Gaza resulted in being imprisoned and deported.

 I pray that God will give me courage to continue to be faithful to them in the face of persecution. I must have faith that after the crucifixion comes resurrection. I have often been asked by my Palestinian friends “Swee – as Palestinians we are born to suffer and have no choice. But why do you not walk away?”  I recall Jesus asking His disciples the same question “Will you also walk away?” Peter replied “Lord – to whom shall we go? You have the words of life.” How can I walk away and stay human?  

For me, being with the Palestinians is a great blessing from God. I identify with David when he was broken before God in deep gratitude saying: “Who am I Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you brought me this far?”  

As a surgeon, I mend wounds. But I am a human being.  I must speak up about how they were caused.  Since that time, I have a passion to speak out in obedience to God’s command “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend

 Some people are called to speak on behalf of the unborn because they cannot speak for themselves. Others are called to speak up for the environment. I am called to speak up for the Palestinians. 

Speaking up invites persecution. Each time before I speak in public I pray Second Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear, but of Power, and of Love and a Sound Mind”.

I still have with me my picture of destitute Palestinian children of Shatila camp standing amidst the ruin and rubble. They survived the massacre but lost their parents and homes. In the foreground of the picture were dead and decaying bodies; in the background their destroyed homes. The air was filled with the stench of decomposing bodies. But between death and destruction were the Palestinian children. As I focussed my camera, they raised their hands in the victory sign and said to me: “We are not afraid, let Israel come”. I have returned many times to the camps looking for them. I have never been able to find them again. They must have perished since. Their wish was for me to show their picture to all my friends, the picture of them standing courageously against this dark uncaring world. I have honoured that wish. 

They live forever in my heart. Whenever the situation becomes unbearable, I revisit this picture for strength. There will be no turning back from this journey towards humanity. And today I invite you to join us too.  

St Pauls, Cambridge, 12 January 2020. Dr Ang Swee Chai is the Founder Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Arul: The Poor Just Want a Decent Life

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By: S.Arutchelvan

Mahathir’s condemning of the poor at the monthly address at the Prime Minister’s Department Monday morning assembly on 6-1-2020 lacks humaneness and is humiliating to the millions of workers and people who work hard, day in, day out, just to survive. Only someone with a Trump mentality would be able to appreciate such a speech that degrades and undermines people.

Mahathir was quoted as saying, “Why are they poor? Because they are unproductive and do not contribute to society in a way where society would repay them.” He also said the poor should not feel envious of the wealthy because the wealthy pay high taxes and the Government uses this money to pay salaries and develop the country.

Who is Mahathir calling unproductive and not contributing to the society?

Is he talking about the fisher folk who go fishing before daybreak and risk their lives at sea? Or is he talking about the paddy farmers in his hometown in Kedah toiling in the paddy fields to grow rice for the nation? Is he talking about the factory workers, who are forced to work 12 hours to complement the totally inadequate minimum wage? Is he talking about the small farmers who work the land to ensure we get our supply of food? Or the nanny who takes care of our children in the absence of nurseries at the workplace? Or is he talking about the plantation workers, or the cleaners, or the thousands of people who cross the border in the wee hours to do 3D jobs in Singapore? Or the lorry drivers who park their vehicles on the roadside to catch up on sleep? Or is he talking about the civil servants whose pensions he plans to slash? Or is he talking about the miserably paid motorbike riders delivering food, or the grab drivers…..? Who is Mahathir calling unproductive, not contributing to the development of the country, and envious of the rich?

Productivity low?

According to International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking, in truth, Malaysia’s labour productivity grew 2.2% in 2018, surpassing some developed nations including China and Australia, and was ahead of selected Asian countries. Even Japan which Mahathir always looks up to had lower labour productivity.

Now looking at another study – Are Malaysian Workers Paid Fairly?: An Assessment of Productivity and Equity by Athreya Murugasu, Mohamad Ishaq Hakim and Yeam Shin Yau. Their study concludes that Malaysian workers receive lower compensations relative to their contribution to national income from productivity and equity perspectives. They argue that Malaysians are paid a lower wage compared to benchmark countries, even after taking into account productivity differences and secondly they conclude Malaysia has a lower labour share of income despite its labour-intensive nature. This suggests workers are not adequately compensated for their contributions.

Their study raises some serious issues which Mahathir and the rich don’t want us to know. The study questions – While employers(bosses) need to be fairly compensated for their respective factor inputs, the question remains, why is the share of compensation to employers (bosses) higher relatively to workers and why isn’t this reflected in Malaysia’s taxation and distributive policies?

Do the Wealthy pay high taxes?

Now let’s talk about Taxes. Mahathir glorifies the rich for paying taxes. Perhaps he did not hear what Lim Guan Eng said. In one of his post-budget forums, Guan Eng says that even by increasing taxes to 30 per cent, we will still be among the lowest compared with neighbouring countries and he added that the Government does not believe in harsh and abrupt measures in taxation. Perhaps harsh and abrupt measures are reserved for workers only by keeping minimum wages low.

Guan Eng has also said previously that there will be no new taxes on the wealthy so as to prevent shocks to the financial system. He said the government will not introduce capital gains tax on shares and other taxes on the wealthy in order to prevent “shock to the system”. These measures are to ensure there is no capital flight according to him.

So Mahathir’s wealthy will take a flight when taxes are increased. So much for Mahathir’s appreciation of the wealthy and their taxes: the minute taxes go up, they will abandon him, unlike the poor whom he enjoys attacking.

Anyway, how much do the rich people get taxed in Malaysia? Can Mahathir actually give a figure how much tax the richest ten people are paying in Malaysia? While their income has been made public yet their tax payment details come under the Official Secrets Act according to answers given in Parliament. And who can forget, the Government giving Lynas 12 years of tax exemption despite all the controversy over its handling of radioactive waste.

The Poor and The Balance 80%

Looking at purchasing power, Malaysia’s wages are one of the lowest in the region. Most of Malaysia’s poor earn monthly salaries that are two times less than the monthly entertainment allowance of RM2500 paid to MPs. Our MPs even get a fuel subsidy of RM 1500 a month – which is higher than the minimum wage set by the government.

According to an article by Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong, in an article published in Malaysiakini on Dec 31, 2019, said nearly 30% of Malaysians polled by Gallup in 2018 felt that they did not have enough money for food, while 23% reported not having sufficient money for shelter. 80% of them experience economic insecurity, such as low wages as well as high cost of housing and transport.

What is shocking about his revelation was that he said “The B20 poverty category, as defined by the UN, needs welfare, but in the Malaysian context, it appears that the subsequent 60% (M60) need better jobs, better pay, better business opportunities, better upward mobility for their children, better housing options and better transport alternatives.’

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Prof Philip Alston’s report suggested that Malaysia’s poverty rate is most likely between 16% and 20% and Chin Tong while agreeing to this, also said that beyond the B20 group, the rest of the population – perhaps excluding the top 20% – the middle 60% (B21-B40, M40) are about in the same boat.

What was laughable was when Mahathir said, “I hope everyone will focus on the nation instead of themselves.”Why then did Mahathir focus his attack on the poor, and not question the huge allowances paid to his cabinet? Or address the stashing away of wealth in the tax havens by corporate figures, or on the huge salaries drawn by GLC CEOs? His target was the poor man working day in day out trying to make ends meet!

S.Arutchelvan is the Deputy Chairperson for Parti Sosialis Malaysia.

Pengalaman Mendidik Anak-Anak Tagupi Laut di Sabah

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Perhimpunan pelajar pada pagi Isnin di Simuning, Sabah. / Sumber: FB Khidmat Bakti Sukarelawan Pendidikan – Sabah.

Oleh: Ainul Mardhiah

Saya merupakan ahli Projek Sukarelawan Pendidikan (SukaDidik) 2019. Dihantar ke Kg. Tagupi Laut, Lahad Datu, Sabah selama 3 bulan. Saya bersama dua orang lagi rakan iaitu Nabila dan Sofwa. Saya sangat berminat untuk menjadi salah seorang sukarelawan sebelum mendaftar diri untuk mengambil STAM di Ma’had Attarbiyah Al-Islamiyah, Perlis (MATRI) lagi. Tambahan pula setelah mendengar pengalaman-pengalaman sukarelawan yang lepas dan menyedari tanggungjawab menyampaikan ilmu kepada masyarakat yang tidak berpeluang mempelajari ilmu seperti kita.

Walaupun saya masih dalam praktikal. Tapi saya berazam untuk menjadi guru dan murabbi yang terbaik serta menunjukkan akhlak yang baik. Di sana perhimpunan pagi bermula pada jam 7 pagi. Bagi orang semenanjung pukul 7 waktu yang sangat awal. Akan tetapi untuk menjaga nama baik guru, maka saya akan bersiap awal untuk ke sekolah. Demikianlah hasil tunjuk ajar dari Ustaz Omar Salleh Mudir MATRI.

Saya banyak bertanya soalan dari guru-guru MATRI semasa berada di lapangan. Antaranya Cikgu Azmi, Ustaz Yazid, Sir Abduh, Ustazah Khalida, Alumni SukaDidik dan pak cik- pak cik di Sabah. Guru-guru banyak mengajar saya menerima kekurangan dan saling melengkapi dengan kelebihan yang Allah kurniakan. Pengalaman ini juga mengajar saya berorganisasi dan berkomunikasi dengan baik. Cikgu Lajuliadi juga berpesan kepada saya untuk selalu mendoakan anak-anak murid di Tagupi. Maka dengan itu mereka mendidik saya untuk lebih dekat dengan Allah di setiap langkah kehidupan. Allah menghadirkan anak-anak murid di sini untuk meningkatkan lagi hubungan kita dengan Allah dan memperbaiki kekurangan yang terdapat dalam diri kita. Antara nasihat yang paling memberi kesan kepada saya ialah pesanan dari Ustaz Yazid, beliau selalu berpesan untuk bersangka baik dan mempercayai kekuasaan Allah dan meyakini pertolonganNya dalam segala tindakan kita.

Aktivis SukaDidik menjalankan jualan amal bagi mengumpul dana misi mereka. / Sumber: FB Ainul Mardhiah.

Semasa berada di sana saya air mata saya tidak dapat ditahan, seringkali ia terbit membasahi pipi. Tetapi banyak juga dorongan yang diberikan dari keluarga terutama ummi abah. Ummi menasihati bahawa jika saya yang memilih jalan ini maka sebenarnya Allah tahu kemampuan saya dan saya kena teruskan. Abah pula hantar satu video dari Asy-Syahid Imam Hassan Al-Banna berkaitan nasihatnya kepada pemuda. Menjadi guru memerlukan jiwa yang kuat.

2 minggu sebelum penghantaran batch kami ke Sabah, Ustaz Yazid menghantar video wajah-wajah bakal sukarelawan yang berlagu Rindu dari kumpulan Hijjaz. Saya sangat tersentuh dengan lagu ini dan membawa segunung harapan ketika berkhidmat di Sabah. Akan tetapi saya mempelajari hakikat kehidupan bahawa proses perubahan memerlukan masa. الوقت جزء من العلاج. Maka ustaz berpesan jangan berharap pada tanah tapi berharaplah pada langit. Maka pesanan ini mengingatkan saya kepada Al-Khaliq dan Allah yang Maha Membolak-balikkan hati.

Rindu itu adalah
Anugerah dari Allah
Insan yang berhati nurani
Punyai rasa rindu
Rindu pada kedamaian
Rindu pada ketenangan
Rindukan kesejahteraan
Dan juga kebahagiaan
Para pencinta kebenaran
Rindukan suasana
Masyarakat yang terjalin
Aman dan sejahtera
Merindukan tertegaknya
Kalimah Allah di muka bumi
Dan dalam merindukan
Keampunan Tuhannya

Rindu pada kedamaian
Rindu pada ketenangan
Rindukan kesejahteraan
Dan juga kebahagiaan
Dan seluruh umat itu
Merindukan cahaya
Yang menyinari kehidupan
Rindu kepada Tuhan

Hijjaz – Rindu

Perjalanan kami dari Kota Kinabalu mengambil masa seharian untuk sampai ke Tagupi. Kami bertolak dari KK seawal 7 pagi dan bermalam di Lahad Datu. Lebuh raya di sana tidak sekata kerana faktor geografinya yang berbukit dan beralun. PPMI Tagupi terletak berhampiran dengan pantai. Untuk sampai ke sana kami harus melalui laluan tanah merah lembut dan berlopak selama 1 jam dikelilingi dengan hutan sawit.

Antara sebab saya ingin menyertai aktiviti ini adalah saya ingin merasai kesusahan orang lain dalam kehidupan terutama kesusahan mereka untuk mendapatkan ilmu.

Alhamdullillah saya rasai sendiri antara kesusahan masyarakat Tagupi. Walaupun tak sesusah yang dirasai oleh SukaDidik yang berada di kampung Simuning dan Lok Buani. Seperti tiada air paip. Pendidik di situ mengangkut air dari perigi ke rumah massing-masing untuk kegunaan makan, minum dan membasuh.

Saya ditempatkan bersama keluarga angkat yang juga keluarga pengetua di situ. Muallim Amin dengan isteri bersama ibu ayah dan 3 orang adiknya. Keadaan rumah kami agak senang berbanding rata-rata rumah di sekitar. Walaupun tiada lampu toilet ia tetap baik kerana masih ada lagi rumah-rumah yang tiada toilet.

Penduduk di sini ada yang setiap hari membawa tong-tong besar untuk mengisi air buat makan dan minum berbeza dengan kita hanya mengisi air di water filter.

Makanan di sini agak simple berbanding makanan di semenanjung.

Saya kagum dengan penduduk Asrama Desa kerana walaupun kehidupan daif tetapi mereka akan mengutip duit dari jiran-jiran jika ada lawatan dari luar untuk membuat sedikit jamuan. Antara menu wajib ialah air kelapa dan juga ikan bakar yang merupakan menu special di sini.

Selain itu juga saya sempat mengetahui makanan-makanan tradisional di sini. Antaranya. Sianglag, tiulaitum, piutu, kuih panggik-panggik. Saya juga suka dengan karya kraftangan kaum Suluk. Antaranya sairap, tambusak dan japang. Antara yang sedap juga ialah rumpai laut.

Anak-anak di sini sangat kreatif mempunyai tangan berseni. Ada yang dikurniakan suara yang merdu. Ada juga yang pandai melukis. Walaupun begitu, mereka tidak mendapat peluang seperti saya sebagai contoh mengambil SPM dalam subjek Pendidikan Seni Dan Visual. Yang pasti masyarakat di sini kuat-kuat kerana mereka banyak berjalan dan sudah terbiasa membuat aktiviti lasak seperti menombak sawit dan membuat kerja-kerja berat.

Bangunan sekolah pula tiada dinding, kipas mahupun lampu. Ya, open air. Kadang sambil mengajar dan perhimpunan kami ditemani kambing dan ayam.

Alhamdulillah, pengalaman ini membuatkan saya rasa lebih bersyukur dengan nikmat yang diberikan terutama nikmat iman dan Islam. Juga nikmat ibu, ayah, family, kawan-kawan yang sangat baik. Nikmat kecukupan.

Antara aktiviti yang saya lakukan sepanjang di sana ialah:
1. Mengajar di kelas subjek Bahasa Arab dan Sains.
2. Mengajarkan anak-anak mengaji di surau selepas maghrib dan kelas tahfiz.
3. Melakukan aktiviti luar seperti kem pemantapan sahsiah dan ibadah.
4. Menziarahi penduduk kampung yang berdekatan.

Walaupun masa pengajaran saya mengalahkan masa mengajar seorang lecturer sekalipun. Tetapi alhamdulillah saya bersyukur kerana Allah beri peluang berharga ini untuk mendidik diri saya menjadi lebih matang dalam kehidupan. Belajar dari mereka sangat berkesan. Walaupun dalam kesusahan tetapi masyarakat lebih kreatif dalam mengurus ekonomi rumah tangga terutama yang berkeluarga ramai.

Gambar aktivis SukaDidik di Sabah pada tahun 2019. / Sumber: FB Ainul Mardhiah

Kem-kem yang dijalankan setiap minggu membuatkan para pelajar dapat mengisi masa lapang dengan aktiviti yang berfaedah, mencabar minda serta menambah pengetahuan agama seperti sirah sahabiyah. Begitu juga ketika karnival Sukan Sekolah. Walaupun saya tidak mahir bersukan tetapi hasil kata-kata semangat yang dikongsikan mampu membuatkan ahli rumah sukan khandaq cemerlang dalam sukan terutama sekali bola tampar.

Antara isu penduduk di sini ialah kesukaran mereka untuk pergi ke sekolah dan belajar seperti kanak-kanak yang lain. Hal ini menyebabkan mereka banyak ketingggalan dari sudut ilmu dan agama. Malah ramai di antara mereka mengambil keputusan untuk tidak bersekolah dan bekerja untuk menyara pendapatan keluarga.

Antara perkara yang menyentuh hati saya sepanjang 3 bulan di sana ialah kanak-kanak begitu berhajat kepada ilmu. Setiap malam datang kelas mengaji dan berlumba-lumba untuk tasmie hatta yang berumur 7 tahun pun sanggup duduk di atas riba untuk mengaji.

Ramai orang boleh jadi sukarelawan untuk mendapat populariti tetapi tidak ramai yang sanggup untuk terjun sendiri merasai kesusahan kehidupan masyarakat di sini.

Setiap hari saya menerima pelukan dari anak-anak perempuan yang ternyata mereka tahu bahawa kami hanya berkesempatan sebentar cuma di sana. Ibu-ibu juga akan mencium saya setiap kali berjumpa kerana berterima kasih atas kedatangan kami mengajar anak-anak mereka mengaji. Mereka tidak menyesal menjadi miskin dan menjadi warganegara yang tidak berdokumen kerana di Pusat Pembangunan Minda Insan ini, anak-anak mereka berpeluang mempelajari ilmu Islam berbanding di tempat-tempat lain.

Selepas kelas mengaji pagi terdapat salah seorang anak murid saya datang memegang tangan sambil mengatakan:

Muallimah (cikgu) janganlah pergi, janganlah tinggalkanku di sini..

Beserta dengan raut wajahnya yang sayu. Saya hanya mampu tersenyum. Kata-katanya seperti dia tahu bahawa aku akan pulang ke tanah air. Kemudian dia mengulangi lagi.

Muallimah janganlah pergi, tinggallah di sini.

Saya hanya membalas.

In Sya’ Allah nanti muallimah datang lagi. Kamu doalah supaya ada lagi SukaDidik yang datang mengajar kamu tahun hadapan.

Saya harapkan kata-kata tadi sudah cukup membuatkan dia berhenti merayu dan saya seupayanya menahan sebak.

Muallimah ajaklah ibu ayah muallimah tinggal di sini. Tinggal dengan kami

Terus dia memelukku erat. Saya hanya mampu tersenyum. Air mata saya menitis akhirnya, tiada lagi daya untuk menahannya.

Di dalam kelas saya suka bersembang dengan para pelajar samada waktu pnp mahupun waktu rehat.

Apa tempat yang awak teringin nak pergi?

Ternyata ramai yang mahu pergi ke MATRI. Kerana mereka tahu erti ilmu dalam kehidupan.

Apa yang kamu rasa bila tiada IC?

Mereka fitrahnya sedih tetapi jiwa mereka telah dididik untuk redha dengan ketentuan dan ujian dari Allah.

Ndak apa Muallimah, nak masuk syurga tak perlu IC pun.

Antara perkara yang mengubah pemikiran saya ialah saya amat simpati dengan anak- anak mangsa cerai. Sebelum ini saya kurang ambil berat dengan perasaan anak-anak yatim. Tapi sejak berada di Tagupi saya tak sanggup meninggalkan mereka. Mereka tidak mendapat nikmat berayah dan beribu. Mereka bekerja untuk menyara kehidupan. Mereka lebih berdikari.

Ramai para pelajar tidak makan kerana tiada duit. Berbeza dengan kita yang setiap hari berbelanja sakan.

Saya pernah belanja seorang adik ABC. kemudian dia bersuara.

Muallimah tahu tak ini pertama kali saya makan ABC.

Saya percaya bahawa untuk membangun sesebuah masyarakat dan negara haruslah dimulai dengan pendidikan. Justeru itu, saya berharap agar aktiviti SukaDidik ini dapat diteruskan bagi membantu, menyantuni dan mendidik anak-anak yang keciciran ini. Terima kasih kepada penyumbang budiman. Semoga sumbangan dari anda menjadi saham terbesar di akhirat. Moga-moga Allah menerima segala amalan kita.

Coretan ini ditulis oleh Ainul Mardhiah sebelum masuk dewan peperiksaan di USIM pada 11:27 pagi dan diterbitkan di laman Facebook beliau pada 06 Januari 2020. Untuk lebih banyak informasi berkenaan dengan aktiviti pendidikan Sabah oleh SukaDidik boleh lawati laman Facebook mereka di Khidmat Bakti Sukarelawan Pendidikan – Sabah.

Akmal Sabri: Berfikir Tentang Pemikiran – Reviu Buku

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Oleh: Ahmad Akmal bin Sabri

Saya membaca buku “Berfikir tentang Pemikiran” sebanyak dua kali. Membaca kali kedua supaya dapat menulis ulasan buku ini dengan lebih baik. Pada pendapat saya, buku ini sangat sesuai dengan pemuda yang masih atau pernah terlibat dengan gerakan Islam, usrah dan ada semangat islah yakni membaiki masyarakat. Kalau tidak pernah terlibat, pembaca mungkin akan sedikit terkejut.

Buku ini juga sesuai untuk sesiapa sahaja yang berminat dengan isu politik negara dan luar negara dan bukan seorang yang penyokong “fanatik’’. Penulis neutral dalam isu politik dan mengkritik semua parti.

Saya rasa tema buku ini juga tema berfikir dan pandangan dari sudut pandang yang jauh. Penulis membawakan kisah Carl Sagan yang melihat gambar bumi dari jarak 6 billion kilometer yang diambil dari kamera Voyager-1 iaitu gambar bumi yang kelihatan sangat kecil. Pada pendapat saya, itu satu kisah pedoman yang baik untuk seorang pemikir. Kadang-kadang manusia perlu melihat dari skop yang lebih jauh, luas untuk apa-apa persoalan atau masalah. Lihatlah dunia luar, jangan melihat dalam kelompok sendiri sahaja. Di dalam buku ini penulis banyak memberi rujukan dan contoh-contoh dari pandangan luar dan besar dan saya akan petik beberapa dalam ulasan ini.

Ada pepatah Arab lebih kurang begini maksudnya tangan atau kuku sendiri lebih tahu di mana bahagian yang gatal untuk digaru. Hazrul Hazwan pernah cakap pepatah ini dalam program usrah di Moscow, saya cari di google tidak jumpa pula. Tapi pernah ternampak di dalam buku Hamka. Maksudnya manusia lain-lain rasanya dan lain juga apa yang membuatkan manusia tersentuh. Ulasan saya ini ulasan yang general dan sedikit pendapat peribadi untuk dikongsi dan akan menyentuh beberapa topik yang diutarakan oleh penulis yang bagi saya menarik untuk diamati.
Dalam buku ini saya ingin menyentuh beberapa topik yang ditulis oleh penulis.

Dakwah

Isu dakwah, tarbiyah dan pengerakan, penulis memberi mesej dan nasihat untuk pendakwah dan gerakan dakwah. Dakwah perlukan kefahaman, tidak cukup dengan semangat sahaja. Penulis menukilkan kisah dari seorang penulis bernama Naíma Robert dalam bukunya “From my sister’s lips”. Nai’ma menceritakan bahawa kebanyakan wanita barat memilih Islam adalah kerana kefahaman mereka setelah mengkaji, bertanya dan membaca mengenai Islam. Dakwah juga perlukan pengorbanan dan keikhlasan. Penulis memberi contoh kenalan-kenalan beliau yang beliau segani dan salah satu sebab beliau terus konsisten dalam jalan dakwah adalah kerana contoh-contoh yang baik dari murabbi-murabbi beliau.

Sebenarnya dengan berkorban membuatkan hati anak didikan kita lebih terpaut dan itulah juga cara Nabi. Ada pautan hati dalam berdakwah. Saya pernah membaca satu kisah sahabat nabi yang memberitahu, mereka rasa macam merekalah yang paling disayangi nabi dek kerana layan Baginda terhadap mereka. Isu ikhlas pula saya setuju dengan pandangan penulis bahawa tidak salah mengwar-warkan kebaikan kita supaya dapat dicontohi oleh masyarakat. Sekarang ini kisah-kisah tidak bermanfaat dan trend semasa seperti menari tepi kereta lebih dipublisitikan berbanding perkara yang baik. Dakwah juga perlukan konsitensi. Pembaca mesti terkejut kerana penulis membaca contoh ulasan Noam Chomsky tentang gerakan parti komunis. Gerakan tersebut kuat pada waktu itu kerana continuity dan kosistensi manusia-manusia yang terlibat.

Di dalam isu dakwah, saya sangat suka dengan hujung Bab 5 “Sisi-sisi yang tidak dapat ditinggalkan’’ dalam bahagian “siapa yang perlu berdakwah”. Bagi saya, semua umat Islam yang rasa selesa dalam kelompok sendiri harus membacanya. Penulis menceritakan pengalaman beliau di Saint Petersburg bergaul dengan orang-orang Uzbekistan. Untuk pengetahuan semua, Imam Bukhari yang terkenal dengan kitab Sohih Bukhari berasal dari sana. Bukhara adalah merupakan bandar di dalam Uzbekistan. Tetapi sedihnya kebanyakan orang Uzbekistan yang penulis bergaul sangat kurang kefahaman dan praktis mereka dalam Islam. Mereka tidak berpuasa dengan konsisten dan malah ada juga yang meminum arak. Pada pendapat penulis, mereka hanyalah mangsa sistem sekularisma yang mencengkam wilayah mereka yang diwarisi dari Kesatuan Soviet yang komunis dan ateis. Sekiranya mereka lahir di negara yang mengamalkan Islam, dalam keluarga yang mengamalkan Islam, dan dibesarkan dengan didikan Islam mungkin mereka tidak sebegitu. Pada pendapat saya, kita sepatutnya bersyukur dengan nikmat kefahaman tentang Islam. Kadang-kadang kita ini baik bukan sebab diri kita sendiri. Kita hanya beruntung, bernasib baik sahaja. Saya dahulu macam rasa marah dengan kenalan-kenalan yang tidak solat tetapi saya rasa mungkin isu itu berakar dari didikan zaman kecil lagi. Dari marah saya menjadi kasihan.

Di sebalik kisah sedih tadi, penulis berkongsi juga kisah yang baik tentang orang Uzbekistan, bernama Hamidullah. Beliau merantau mencari kerja, sementara itu beliau membuka kelas pengajian al-Quran percuma di masjid. Begitulah semangat Islam yang ada dalam diri beliau. Penulis juga disapa oleh orang tua di sana yang masih belajar iqra, mengenal huruf arab dan mengatakan kita sangat beruntung. Bagi saya kisah ini sepatutnya memberi semangat dan keinsafan tentang diri sendiri. Adanya insan-insan ikhlas seperti Hamidullah, Islam akan bersinar semula dan sama ada kita terlibat atau tidak, janji Allah pasti datang.

Untuk pengetahuan penulis, saya berkongsi kisah ini dengan seorang pemuda yang terlibat dengan tabligh. Saya jumpa pemuda itu di surau ketika saya berehat, menunggu isteri saya di klinik kesihatan. Ketika itu saya memang tengah membaca buku tuan penulis, dan saya gembira dapat berkongsi kisah orang Uzbekistan ini dengan pemuda tersebut.

Politik

Bagi saya bab 10 “Kritik terhadap politik tempatan dan antarabangsa” adalah bab paling panjang dalam buku ini. Saya paham apa yang penulis cuba sampaikan. Apakah itu demokrasi? Demokrasi ini sistem Islamkah? Jika Islam benarkan, acuan yang bagaimana yang boleh? Bagi saya , semua manusia perlu faham politik ini bukanlah isu 0 atau 1 semata-semata.

Kebanyakannya dalam ‘’grey area’’. Kalau seseorang terlalu jumud dalam isu politik, bagi saya dia tidak membaca. Isu politik juga sangat penting untuk kita terbuka. Di zaman sahabat, gerakan Syiah ini adalah lebih kepada gerakan politik, kini ia berubah kepada gerakan agama yang bagi saya sudah menyeleweng kefahaman mereka tentang Islam.

Dalam topik ini saya suka isu American Exceptionalism. Saya rasa ini skop besar seperti melihat bumi dari jauh jugak untuk kita memahami isu politik dan demokrasi dengan lebih luas. Bagi saya, isu exceptionalism dan rasa exclusive  ini pun terlibat dalam gologan kecil juga, seperti rasa kelompok sendiri lebih baik (keluarga, politik, bangsa) dari kelompok lain.

Antara topik dari sudut pandang yang jauh yang dibawa penulis adalah tentang autobiografi Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk to Freedom” dalam isu menangkap imiginasi rakyat biasa. Bagi saya semua rakyat perlu tahu tentang kisah ini supaya kita boleh bertanya pada diri sendiri. Betul ke ahli politik ini ambil kisah tentang kita seperti Nelson Mandela?

Isu kesatuan juga dibincangkan. Berpecah memang melemahkan sesuatu organisasi, tetapi memang menjadi lumrah manusia akan berbeza pendapat. Dalam bab kritikan tentang perpecahan pegerakan Islam dan parti politik, penulis ada memberi contoh bagaimana negara Eropah Bersatu membentuk European Union, dan berjaya membawa wilayah mereka menjadi satu kuasa kuat yang mampu menyaingi hegemoni Amerika walaupun sebenarnya mereka berbeza.

Topik politik ala Machiavellianisme juga suatu yang baru untuk saya. Quote “it is much safer to be feared that loved’’ itu sangat tepat. Penulis menerangkan hasil kajian Machiavelli tentang sejarah-sejarah politik dahulu, bagaimana kuasa pemerintahan boleh jatuh dan bagaimana ia boleh berkuasa dengan stabil. Point penting dari hasil kajian beliau adalah moral dan politik adalah sesuatu yang tiada kaitan.

Perjuangan

Semua manusia adalah pejuang, pentingkan hal diri sendiri juga adalah perjuangan. Tetapi kita perlu lebih dari itu. Penulis membawa kisah dari buku seorang penulis, Profesor Norman G. Finkelstein bertajuk “The Holocaust Industry” . Finkelstein mengkritik Israel dalam buku dan hasil kajiannya tentang Holocaust walaupun beliau adalah seorang Yahudi. Beliau aktivis yang aktif berjuang untuk hak rakyat Palestin. Begitulah contoh yang patut kita ambil. Seorang yang setelah mengetahui kebenaran, memeluk erat dengan pegangan itu. Fikelstein walaupun seorang Yahudi, beliau melawan bangsanya sendiri, memilih berjuang menjangkaui perjuangan peribadi. Ini pengajaran yang penting dalam tema perjuangan.

Berfikir, Berdebat, dan Memberi Pendapat

Isu berdebat ini quote ini sangat penting bagi saya.

“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him ‘’ – Leo Tolstoy .

Dalam beberapa hari lepas, saya berbeza pendapat, berdebat di Facebook dan terus saya teringat quote ini.

Pada pendapat saya kebanyakan manusia sudah ada pegangan masing-masing ketika berdebat. Susah untuk kita bersemuka, berdebat untuk menjadi pendengar dahulu, memahami buah fikiran lawan kita dan kemudian berubah. Saya pernah berborak dengan penulis sewaktu di dalam pengajian di Selatan Malaysia. Penulis berkongsi cerita tentang debat Sunnah-Syiah di Perak. Penulis ada nukil kisah ini di buku beliau. Di akhir debat tersebut, pendebat Syiah berkata beliau pun tidak mahu sesat, semua orang mencari kebenaran. Penulis dan saya setuju dengan kenyataan itu. Semua orang hendak berada di pihak benar dan siapa ingin di pihak yang salah (kecuali ada kepentingan dan isu ego seperti Arab Quraish).

Kadang- kadang kita perlu tahu sebab apa kebenaran bagi orang yang lain dari kita berbeza pula. Iya hidayah milik Tuhan. Penulis juga pernah memberitahu saya yang beliau membaca buku tentang atheist, di dalam buku ini beliau nyatakan juga tentang bacaan beliau dan mendengar perbincangan orang ateis seperti Richard Dawkins. Bagi saya itu tidak salah dan mencari kebenaran memerlukan kita berfikir, menganalisa. Mungkin tersalah dalam apa-apa pendapat itu lumrah.

Penulis membawa skop pandang jauh tentang isu mencari kebeneranan dan berani untuk berfikir dengan berkongsi kisah Aristotle. Aristotle membuat kesimpulan bumi berbentuk bulat , bukan mendatar dan bumi merupakan pusat alam. Matahari, bulan mengelilingi bumi. Di zaman itu semua orang menganggap bumi ini mendatar. Kemudian, setelah manusia semakin maju dalam bidang sains dan astronomi, ternyata pandangan bumi adalah bulat betul tetapi bumi adalah pusat alam adalah salah. Namun, Aristotle masih dikenang sebagai seorang pemikir yang hebat walaupun model bumi beliau tidak tepat sepenuhnya. Beliau adalah seorang pemikir yang berani.

Teringat saya tentang tulisan komen di facebook. Di dalam isu Syiah, seorang ustaz membawakan hasil kajian beliau dengan dalil-dalil dari sejarah dan juga bukti tentang salah faham Syiah, tentang agama, dan kenyataan-kenyataan dari pihak Syiah. Kemudian seorang memberi komen yang berbunyi begini:

“Takkanlah Tok Guru tak tahu tentang ini. Aku tak percaya kau. Aku lebih percaya Tok Guru aku”.

Begitu dangkalnya manusia sebegini. Tidak mengunakan anugerah akal dari Tuhan untuk berfikir, hanya mengikut sahaja. Saya sangat marah ketika membaca komen tersebut. Saya yakin saranan membaca dalam Islam juga bermaksud membaca, menganalisa dan berfikir. Itulah saranan yang pertama dalam Islam dan sangat cocok untuk zaman ini. Owh isu fictional reality juga menarik.

Ekonomi

Penulis memberi penerangan tentang Kapitalisme dan Komunisme. Ada istilah-istilah baru yang saya dapat belajar seperti kaum proletariat, borjuis dan nama-nama seperti Adam Smith dan Karl Marx. Walaupun pemikiran komunis, sosialis agak radikal kerana isu tidak percaya kepada kewujudan tuhan, tetapi idea komunis ada menyumbang juga dalam sistem sekarang. Sistem bekerja 8 jam sehari merupakah hasil perjuangan idea tersebut. Saya baru tahu tentang itu setelah diterangkan oleh penulis di dalam buku ini.

Antara topik yang menarik bagi saya adalah kajian dari buku bertajuk “Why Nation Fail”. Ia adalah kajian berkenaan faktor sesebuah negara maju dari segi ekonomi. Adakah faktor geografi, hasil bumi, atau faktor lain? Kesimpulan buku tersebut, faktor terbesar adalah dari polisi negara dan institusi politik negara tersebut. Polisi yang elok membuat rakyat kreatif. Saya ada kawan yang cemerlang dan ada idea yang bernas dalam bisnes. Sekarang beliau berjaya juga (bukan niaga kedai makan atau jual produk kecantikan).

Penambahbaikan

Saya tahu sebahagian dari kandungan buku adalah dari blog penulis. Ada sebahagian topik penulis mengunakan ganti nama diri aku, kebanyakan gunakan perkataan saya. Mungkin perlu selari?

Kemudian, saya rasa kalau disusun kembali sebahagian tajuk dalam tajuk besar lagi baik. Seperti tajuk dakwah dan kemudian subtopik pandangan penulis, tajuk politik, dan ada subtopic pendapat penulis. Tetapi saya faham konsep buku ini, seperti travelog. Buku Ustaz Hasrizal berbentuk begini juga. Ada satu perengan yang saya rasa kurang jelas. Muka surat 263, perengan ke-3.

Kesimpulan

Terakhir, saya berharap 10 atau 20 tahun akan datang penulis dapat mengkritik padangan penulis sendiri yang penulis rasa mungkin isu sekian-sekian sudah berubah atau tersalah. Haha review buku seperti sinopsis pula. – AAS.

Tulisan ini merupakan ulasan bagi buku “Berfikir Tentang Pemikiran” oleh Syed Ahmad Fathi, terbitan The Independent Insight pada tahun 2018. Ulasan oleh saudara Ahmad Akmal bin Sabri ini pertama kali disiarkan di laman Goodreads.com pada 16 Disember 2019.

Bantah1050 – Kaji semula gaji minima

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SIDANG MEDIA MENGUMUMKAN PENYAMPAIAN MEMORANDUM KEPADA YAB PERDANA MENTERI MALAYSIA 17 OKTOBER 2018 • DI PARLIMEN

KAJI SEMULA AMAUN GAJI MINIMA. KAMI BANTAH KENAIKAN CUMA RM50!

Pagi ini (Jumaat) 12 Oktober 2018 sidang media penting telah di adakan oleh MTUC bersama wakil kepimpinan Gabungan Bantah 1050 untuk mengumumkan maklumat penyampaian Memorandum seperti di atas.

Anda sedia maklum bahawa YAB Perdana Menteri telah mengumumkan Gaji Minima baru seragam RM1050 di Semenanjung dan Sabah dan Sarawak.

Bagi Semenanjung, kenaikan Gaji Minima hanya RM50. Amaun ini adalah satu penghinaan kepada kaum pekerja di Malaysia yang telah menyumbang produktiviti mereka untuk menjamin keuntungan para majikan dan pembangunan negara.

Lebih 30 organisasi terdiri dari Kesatuan Sekerja, Organisasi dan parti politik akan hadir untuk menyerahkan memorandum dan menuntut kajian semula kenaikan RM 50 kepada jumlah yang lebih tinggi – RM 1,800.

Masalah kalau bagi budak jadi menteri

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Oleh: Abdul Rahim Hilmi Zakariya

Lim Teong Kim merupakan Pengarah NFDP (Program Pembangunan Bola Sepak Kebangsaan). Dia bukan pengurus skuad B-16 negara sahaja. NFDP ini melatih akar umbi bermula dari skuad B-12 sehingga skuad B-17.

Jika hendak mengukur kejayaan LTK ini, kita perlu lihat kemajuan semua pasukan yang berada di bawah program NFDP.

Contohnya skuad B-13 yang menjadi juara Iber Costa di Portugal 3 tahun lepas. Mengalahkan skuad muda Sporting Lisbon 2-1. Sporting Lisbon ini kelab yang mengasah bakat Cristiano Ronaldo dan Luis Figo. Dan kita menang.

Terkini Jun tahun ini, skuad B-14 menang trofi Vogido di Belanda. Kejohanan ini bukan calang calang penyertaannya. Skuad B-14 China, FC Basel dan Bayer Leverkusen antara yang turut sama mencabar. Tetapi kita menang. Malahan pemain Malaysia Nabil Zainuddin dipilih pemain terbaik kejohanan dan Zulhilmi Sharani pula menerima anugerah penjaga gol terbaik.

Sebulan sebelum itu, skuad ini juga menang Whitsun U-14 Challenge di Dortmund, Jerman. Menjadi juara kumpulan dan menumbangkan kelab Denmark FC Midtjylland 4-0 pada perlawanan akhir. Pasukan senior kelab ini adalah Juara Liga Super Denmark musim lepas. Kelab ini juga adalah kelab pertama di Denmark yang mempunyai akademi bola sepak dan paling banyak melahirkan bakat muda untuk negara tersebut. Kelab ini dah ada 14 tahun program akademi muda yang tersusun, boleh kena buli dengan skuad negara yang baru 4 tahun buat program NFDP.

Sebab itu saya berani sebut menteri sukan kita ini terlalu mentah apabila menilai prestasi LTK hanya untuk satu skuad sahaja. Dan kebodohan paling utama adalah apabila beliau mempertikaikan gaji LTK sebanyak Rm175,000 sebulan. Seolah-olah beliau tidak tahu harga pasaran.

Gaji LTK itu hanyalah kira kira €8000 seminggu. Dan mengambil kira reputasinya selaku jurulatih skuad muda Bayern Munich dan pernah melahirkan pemain bernilai tinggi seperti Thomas Mueller, gaji itu sebenarnya munasabah.

Terutama apabila kita membandingkannya dengan gaji Jupp Heynckes, pengurus Bayern Munich pada 2013 (tahun akhir perkhidmatan LTK di Bayern) adalah kira kira € 100,000 seminggu.

Sepatutnya benda-benda ini cuma perlu buat post mortem dan cadangan penambahbaikan. Bukannya diumum seolah olah macam hendak mengatakan LTK ini makan duit rakyat tanpa buat kerja.

Kan kita persoal gaji dia sebagai MP, menteri dan elaun-elaun lain yang berpuluh ribu tapi tiada hasil signifikan tu macam mana pula?

Dan kalau betul-betul hendak di tutup NFDP kerana nak jimat duit, yang pergi isytihar nak buat pasukan MotoGP tu pakai belanja air liur kah?

Ini lah masalah kalau bagi budak jadi menteri.

Artikel ini merupakan pandangan penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pendirian The Independent Insight.

How Starbucks Saved My Life

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I discovered this book in the pantry of my office. The title was very appealing, although its sounds like an ads campaign for Starbucks. Most of the goodreads review is very negative on this book, some said that it just a boring piece which talked about different type of coffee. But after reading through the pages, I found that it was not that bad. In fact, for me personally, it was a genuinely amazing story.

The story start when Mike was ousted from his high paying job at a corporate advertising company. Mike who came from a privileged white upper-middle class family now jobless. He then have an affair with other women and divorced with his wife. To add more complication, he was then diagnosed with a small tumor behind his brain which caused a hearing problem to his left ear. So in his late sixties, he was broke, jobless, divorced and living with health problem. It was then, he met Crystal, a young African American manager who offer him a job at Starbucks.

In his new job he learn many values, and made many friends from different social classes. He learn that at Starbucks, respect is an uphold principle, not just a written word. He used to be a boss now realized that in his new job, no one order him to do anything. Instead all partner ( how Starbucks address colleagues), will ask politely “can you do me a favor?”. This practice struck Mike strongly, he find no such example in his previous high position.

In his journey to re-discover his life, Mike summon F. Scott Fitzgerald’s quote, “work was dignity”. He learned that he can be happy doing menial job, and that there is nothing wrong doing job cleaning a toilet. He might not afford living in huge mansion, but the job help him afford a small apartment, which is enough for him.

He also discover friendship with many other American in the lower class from where he is from, he learn how to respect them, he learn that they also done their part for the economy. These people were very far from him when he held a high corporate post, they were untouchable. Now they share the same work space with him, now they commute the same morning train to work everyday. Mike learn that his high social status now was useless, his former friends now distance themselves knowing he work at Starbucks as baristas.

Expectations tend to make life much more hard and un-happy. At 64 years old, he told himself to stop taking his life seriously. He should follow the flow, take whatever opportunity he had and survive. This is a very important thinking. We often live life to please expectations from people, from families, friends, society, and we fail, we feels like we are worthless and not up to standard. This should not be the case. There is no success or failure in life, life is not a game or competition. You should just live, survive, and be happy at what you’re doing. When he have less expectation, we will live a happier life.

The book was written by Michael Gill. Published by HarperCollins in 2008. You can get a copy from Amazon from below link. Photo credit to Westchester.

 

 

Reza Aslan is not a scholar in Islam

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Recently, Reza Aslan has come under spotlight as he appear in CNN’s program called ‘Believer’. In one of the series he went to meet one of Hindhu sect called Aghori. Aghori is a small cannibalistic sect which practices were rejected by mainstream hindhuism. There he ate a slice of part of human brain and drank alcohol from a human scull. This episode spark rage among Hindhu leader as it seems to show that Hindhuism is cannibalistic, which they are not. Other Muslim also fast to condemn Reza for this act.

In this article, I would like to argue one of the comment from an associate professor in USIM, Malaysia. She wrote:

“REZA ASLAN IS NOT A SCHOLAR IN ISLAM.”

Well, in some sense I agree with her. By most of the Muslim standard he might not be an ideal Muslim. He married to a Christian, drank alcohol, which is not acceptable in the Muslim’s tradition. But we might need to be extra careful in dismissing him entirely. Just because somebody done a sin, does not mean we have to reject him entirely. We are not God to judge.

Definition

Of course Islam is a very large religion, according to Pew its the second largest religion on earth with estimated 1.6 billion of Muslim. Islam have crossed the boundaries of geography, ethnicity, culture and time. There are a lot of interpretation which bring much of the diversity. The diversity, of course is a coin with double side. It has a good and bad side. The bad side is, its common to accuse somebody with different interpretation as heretic, apostates and dozen other labels. I found this exercise is counter productive, I rarely join such conversation. But, I think I can made one exception this time.

So lets take a rudimentary definition of scholar, one that is easiest for us to talk and argue. Merriam-webster define a scholar as a person who has studied a subject for a long time and knows a lot about it : an intelligent and well-educated person who knows a particular subject very well. Lets agree on this easy-to-understand-definition.

A typical mindset

Its very easy to see that among Muslims we tend to discuss subject such as this thing is haraam, that person is munafeeq, that person is not an actual Muslim. Actually its very easy to criticize something, you don’t even have to be an associate professor from Faculty of Medicine and Health Science. Everyone can do it, because talk is cheap. But to achieve something, to be at the top and get the criticism, is not a very easy thing to do, not everyone can do it.

When people ask her to slow down. She responded: “4 degrees define a scholar? Hmmmm.” . Which I found is not critical enough. You can’t past a VIVA with that kind of answer. From my perspective a professor who specialize in theology have more authority to talk about religion that an  associate professor from Faculty of Medicine and Health Science.

Publication

A scholar usually measured by the quantity and quality of its publication. Of course it is very hard to do a qualitative comparison, so lets limit our comparison with only quantitative comparison. If you search Reza Aslan in google scholar it will return 2720 results, and his publication is mainly on religion and theology. If you done your postgraduate studies, you will know how hard it is to get publish. Referring back to our definition, from my point of view Reza Aslan knows his subject very well, otherwise he will not get that much of publication. Guess how much result our associate professor has from google scholar? 52, mostly on biology and medicine. So who are more authoritative to talk about religion?

International front

Reza Aslan maybe will not qualify as a spiritual leader base on our standard definition. He is not, I can agree with that. But to dismiss him as not a scholar, is delusional. Maybe her standard of scholar is unique for herself and does not reflect the standard agreed by the international community.

One of Reza Aslan biggest contribution from my point of view, is how he help fight Islamophobia, bigotry and mis-information about Islam in the mainstream media. You can easily search his strong argument in Youtube, he supply his argument with fact not with Hmmmm. I specially like his counter argument against Bill Maher with commentaries by Cenk Uygur ( Cenk is an atheist).

Conclusion 

Reza Aslan is not an ayatollah. He is not one of the Shia 12 imam. He is not an Ulama by our standard. He is not an associate professor from Faculty of Medicine and Health Science.But he did study theology and religion seriously, and Islam is one of the religion which he studied.

I did not wrote all this in his defense because I am his fan. I only read one of his book ‘No God but God’, which I find interesting to read. But as I am a Muslim, so 90% of it were already known, but it surely an informative book for a non-Muslim.

I wrote it because of my conscience and my believe that we should be fair in our analysis. Fairness does not belong to only Muslim, all human have the right to be treated fairly regardless of his or her belief.

 

Notes:

  1. The story on Reza Aslan and Aghori sect can be found from Daily Mail.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4296404/CNN-presenter-Reza-Aslan-eats-HUMAN-BRAIN.html
  2. Islam as the 2nd largest religion can be found from Pew’s research http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/
  3. Merriam-webster’s definition on scholar. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scholar
  4. Reza Aslan against Bill Maher can be watched at The Young Turk’s channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ibKWVTFSak
  5. Photo taken from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3042323/tv-presenter-eats-human-brain-during-filming-of-documentary-before-angry-cannibal-throws-own-poo-at-him/

 

 

‘The Salesman’: A Violent Act Tests A Marriage, And One Actor’s Humanity

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In Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s impeccable A Separation, emotional devastation results from minor misunderstandings, caused largely by class divides and religious differences. The subtle contrivances of that 2011 film became more overt in its follow-up, The Past. Now Farhadi has made a drama that billboards its theatricality, opening on the vacant set for a Tehran production of Death of a Salesman. The parallels with that Arthur Miller play that arise over the course of the film’are one reason Farhadi titled it The Salesman.

Rehearsing to play Willie and Linda Loman are another married couple, Emad and Rana (Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidoosti, both exemplary). Emad teaches literature and film to high school boys, which allows Farhadi to include a bit of The Cow, the 1969 movie considered the first of the Iranian new wave.

As the play’s premiere looms, a certain amount of backstage uproar is to be expected. Censors may trim some of Miller’s text, and an actress complains about having to be fully covered while playing a scene in which her character says she’s half-dressed. But such disorder is insignificant compared to the chaos that rattles the lead actors’ offstage life.

Emad and Rana must suddenly flee their apartment after construction on a neighboring site threatens to collapse the building. Walls crack and windows break in a visceral scene that’s also a metaphor for an upcoming disruption of domestic tranquility.

A theater colleague finds the actors a replacement flat, but with it comes a different sort of discord. One room is full of the previous tenant’s belongings, which she can’t remove until she rents a new place. That’s difficult, for the same reason she was forced from her old one: She’s “a woman with a lot of acquaintances.”

Not all her clients know she’s moved. One regular arrives and while heading to the shower Rana buzzes him in, thinking it’s her husband. What happens next occurs off-camera, but is not insignificant. Rana ends up unconscious, her head bloodied. (From an Iranian filmmaker’s perspective, this is a boon: Rana’s bandage takes the place of the headscarf that film censors require, but that an Iranian woman wouldn’t necessarily wear at home.)

Since the incident could be interpreted as related to sex, Rana doesn’t want to inform the police. Emad understands, but feels compelled to avenge his wife and assuage his pride. (Perhaps playing an American onstage has made the actor see himself as something of a cowboy.) In his haste to escape, the interloper left behind some personal items. Emad finds the clues, and his career as an amateur detective is underway.

As in A Separation, a central motif is miscommunication. Mobile phones and an answering machine play roles, and Rana’s innocent response to an apparently benign (if illicit) visitor snowballs into catastrophe. The apartment’s former tenant, never seen or heard, is not presented as a monster. Neither, ultimately, is the shadowy man Emad pursues.

These nuanced characterizations are worthy of the director of A Separation, which painstakingly demonstrated that everyone has his or her reasons. Although The Salesman‘s plot is unbelievable, most of the movie occurs in a recognizably genuine world: dirty and battered, but bedeviled by compromise and self-interest, not pure evil. The links between Miller’s Pulitzer-winning melodramatics and Farhadi’s more naturalistic style are not overdone.

Until the last act, that is. The Salesman would be a much better movie if it ended a few minutes sooner. Instead, grudging reconciliation yields to sort of retribution, brutal if inadvertent. The curtain falls on everyday life, and the author’s hand becomes manifest.