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4
Steps to Change the Ummah Part 2 of
2
18 FEB 09
My
brothers and sisters in Islam, the first article I have covered
is on prayer, the next step to reform is… to read the Quran.
First of all I am not saying this because it’s a nice thing
to say. I know of non-praying Muslims giving advise about prayer
because its something nice to say. Let me elaborate about reading
the Quran.
Firstly, when I say
read the Quran, I don’t mean you try to read in the arabic
form fluently without mistakes and yet you don’t know the
meaning of the text. This is where our ummah falls short. Since
I was young, I went to 2 Muqaddam lessons and NOBODY bothered
to explain whats’s its for. And I found that all these Muqaddam
classes don’t really teach you how to actually read the
Arabic text but it’s just to teach you how to make sounds.
I bet there are some people out there who have completed the whole
Quran and are able to read it fluently in Arabic but are not aware
of the stories of the Prophets and the teachings that is written
in the holy book!
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heard an Imam from a sermon once said that learning to recite
the Quran in Arabic fluently is the icing on the cake, NOT the
cake! The cake is to read and apply its teaching! And it’s
so true. The urgent need for the ummah today is to read and I
mean literally READ the Quran in a language that we are comfortable
with. If you are strong in your Malay, buy a Quran with a Malay
translation. For me, I have mine in English. Of course you can
find the Quran in other languages too.
As
a guy who who is not used to reading thick books, it took me awhile
to adjust myself reading the translated Quran but you gotta have
patience. And soon you will realize that the Quran covers a wide
range of subjects. From stories of past civilizations and the
sins they indulge in, stories of Prophets (pbut) , encouraging
righteous good deeds to Judgement Day etc. And I love the language
that the Quran used because it explains in a very simple and clear
manner without using a lot of words. And one of the things I experience
when I flip the pages of this holy book is as if the verses are
implying to me directly. I remember when I did a sin, which I
always thought, was insignificant and when I continued where I
left off, the next verse was talking about the same exact sin
that I did. I did not picked up the Quran for around 3 days because
I felt guilty.
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So
buy a translated Quran and do read it. I am not telling you
to read a chapter a day. I’m asking you to read a page
a day. Choose a specific time (I try reading mine after Isha)
and read a page. Don’t tell me after hours of surfing
the net you have no time to read a page! Sometimes, you might
skip some days because you are want to sleep early or you forgot,
it’s alright but do make a habit to read it.
Let
me remind you that some people revert to Islam just by reading
the Quran alone so you gotta find out what’s written in
that book. I am not saying that you should ditch learning how
to read Arabic; all I’m saying is to get your priority
straight. Only after I read the Quran in English, prayed etc
did my iman (faith) elevate and I realized I have the strong
desire to learn Arabic.
Step
3 of 4
After you have started praying and reading the Quran, is it
enough? Unfortunately it’s not. The next step is to listen
to lectures by credible Islamic scholars. These are people who
dedicate their lives reading the Quran, finding interpretations
and studying hadiths. I know what you are thinking.
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No
they don’t have to be boring. I realize that not all religious
speakers are the same. To me, the common Ustaz I see on TV, who
sits behind stacks of books with a monotonous voice is best avoided.
That is an ineffective form of dakwah. I prefer the scholar that
speaks in a clear manner and give hadiths that I never heard of.
He can also interpret the Quran and fit it to the modern context
so we can actually use the wisdom in our everyday lives. Most
of my lectures I get are from listening to audio clips on the
internet or watching videos via YouTube.
I
have a short list of favorite scholars, in my opinion, are expert
speakers. Not only they have extensive Islamic knowledge, they
are able to interpret and explain the verses of the Quran and
why/how the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his companions did what
they did. So I encourage you to go to YouTube and search for
Islamic lecturers. One of my favorite Islamic scholar is below.
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Step
4 of 4
The last and final step is to be with like-minded Islamic people.
So you want to start praying and all I have written sounds very
good to you. You want to change but you realize its hard because
you are trapped in an environment that is unIslamic. I know it’s
hard when you want to do what’s right but everybody around
you is not with you. Your friends have no interest in Islam, you
are the only one in your family that prays etc. So the next step
is to make new friends who bends towards Islam and unfortunately,
this can be tough task. |
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myself have a shortage of Islamic leaning friends. However, one
of the things I realize about Happeepill is that I can easily meet
new people and this is exactly what I intend to do. If you are an
Islamic leaning brother lacking friends then we gotta get to know
each other. If you are committed to change and you worry about the
state of the ummah, then we gotta meet. Heck I don’t mind
if you are as young as 14 years old; if we click, then we can be
friends. I also don’t expect you to be a pious person; even
if you don’t pray now, as long as your heart softens to Islam,
that’s all that matters to me. We can play counterstrike,
we can play pool, we can talk about Islam and we can pray together.
I’m will not quiz you about Islam; instead, I’ll share
with you what I know and vice versa.
So don’t be shy
and email me if you are truthful in your intentions. Introduce
a short paragraph about yourself and how you came to Islam and
anything else you want to add. I may not meet you very soon but
when the time comes, I’ll call you up and we can have coffee
face to face, God Willing. Place in the subject :
“Salam Brother” so I can keep track of the
emails. At the moment, I have one brother I intend to meet. He
emailed me before and he gave me links to some Islamic sites.
Where are my brothers
at?
EB.
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