Synopsis of UMMA's Forum Talk

Last Wednesday 04.02.09, UMMA organized a forum discussion talk that was part of the club's activities this semester. It was as a matter of fact, a big deal because our distinguished guest speaker, Mr. Al Mahdi B. Hussain was invited to give a talk about a topic which probably enlightened most of the attendees that day. The topic of discussion chosen by him was “The Misconception of Islam”. As it was picked out by Mr. Al, he figured that most people do not know much about Islam thus claiming it to be something it isn't, like a religious extremist organization for example due to the constant accusations and generalization that some make against Muslims who commit disastrous things. To refresh everyone's memory, Mr. Al was invited because of his thorough knowledge and experience on Islam, seeing it as an opportunity to invite him for our first ever forum talk, he was undoubtedly a good choice because as his credentials speak for themselves, he was a graduate in Syariah Law from University Malaya, and has a Masters in the same field and currently is pursuing another Masters in counseling.

The Discussion started at approximately 12.45pm as Mr. Al couldn't be contacted because unfortunately I couldn't contact him on his cell when I was waiting patiently for his arrival at the ground level of Wisma Help. Mr. Al introduced himself to the crowd of 12 even though most of us knew him after taking his Islamic Studies class. Mr. Al, praised the students for participating in the event and also encouraged us to organize more events such as this because most of the other colleges he has been to, he never thought HELP out of all of them would set up or establish our own Islamic society. As I was taking down notes right from the beginning of the forum, one statement that totally had me shaken and dismal, he said that what was appalling is that the Muslim followers throughout the world are great and vast in numbers and yet we do not have the capability to strive or in other words are weaker than the least amount of followers in any other religion. During his presentation, one of his slides was interestingly enough a reminder on how discriminating and heartless (if this really happened) some people can be. He showed us a news headline that came out in the papers in the States, its headline read, “Islamic extremist kills innocent American dog” even though that middle eastern man saved a girls life at the expense of the dog. The interesting part out of this was when the newspaper agency found out that the hero was a Muslim, but if they hadn't then the headline could be “Hero saved girls life”.

So what's up with Islam? asked Mr. Al. He mentioned that part of the reason why most Muslims do not participate in talks like this, is because they are either afraid or they coudn't care less about the idea of worshiping to our lord up there. Well, what they don't know is that, Islam is undeniably clearer than anything else, but it's the interpretation of human beings that tend to change the true meaning behind the divine scripts created by God. Moreover, people who are in-charge of teaching and educating others must be wise enough to think beyond the conventional way, for instance an orthodox uztaz might find a hard time preaching the Islamic teachings to modern-era pupils who have grown in accordance to other teachings which to their understanding fits them perfectly because they do not want to be instilled with backward thinking and no sense of style shown by the uztaz.

The thing is, a common misconception or misunderstanding amongst Muslims is that, most of them do not fully understand the true meaning of the Quran, and thus preventing them from relating to it, or be afraid of the Almightly who was bestowed upon us the “Holy Book” which is supposedly and is undoubtedly the book that will lead human beings to greatness. As quoted by an American dictionary “...Quran...touch upon all aspects of human existence, including matters of doctrine, social organization, and legislation. Which is why, some Muslims who really understand the Quranic verses of the suras can relate to it and often time, cry due to the strong message that was created and uttered by Allah S.W.T.

At times, people tend to fend off religion and their beliefs stating that they (the beliefs) do not have concrete evidence about the existence of God, alas resulting them to be atheist and non-believers. Actually, as Mr. Al argued we human beings cannot see nor hear our Lord but that does not mean he doesn't exist. People should look at the divine reality in the world, his creation, his signs, the prophet Muhammad’s struggle to lift Islam to the highest rank of all religions due to its divine scripture and so on.
Other misconceptions such as, why is our (Muslims) prophet is a womanizer during his journey in the middle east to spread Islam to everyone or why did he marry a women very much older than he was? These are all, negative accusations that people make without fully understanding what was the hikmah or reason behind this. Muhammad as everyone would know, the last prophet that was enlightened by the angel Gabriel set foot in his journey to influence people of all ages, sexes, origins and so on because he wanted to prove to them that Islam is a religion like no other due to its constant emphasis on equality between gender and origin. His marriage to several women does not entirely mean that he was seeking the pleasure of a women but is in essence, a stance that he took to invite or influence more people to join the rightful path which is Islam, free from the grasp our the Quraisy who is known to commit negative things in its community.

Another questionable act that is constantly thrown to the Islamic followers is the action of committing Jihad. This act of courage is not relatively known to many as Mr. Al reminded us that Jihad is actually a struggle done by Muslims who does not want to indulge or commit sin in whatever endeavors that they get themselves into. In other words, a struggle to maintain discipline, virtue, and maintain a respected character which is physically and mentally strong in order to halt themselves from committing negative things like adultery or drink liquor for example. Three ways that an individual can help himself and others too, which is through their tongues, hearts and also hands. Meaning, not talking bad or make rumor about people, do not hold grudges against other people and also not stealing etc.

Last but not least was the question and answer segment which gave some curious attendees the opportunity to ask questions. Mr. Al was delighted and answered the questioners wholeheartedly. One of the questions which was interesting was about the “woman's position” in some Muslim countries particularly in the middle east. Why are some of them underestimated? look down on, and are not respected? When in reality during Muhammad’s era, one of the divine differences that caught everyone's attention especially amongst the women and slaves, was that Islam strongly believes in equality. However, that is not what is practiced in some countries. This is no doubt due to the society's narrow mindset and culture which is obviously still in their blood as their ancestors once practiced it a long, long time ago.