Assalamualaikum,
Dear Dr. Har,
You have always won my respect as a person whose life is fruitful. You thrived in your career; you are committed to your da’awah and tarbiyah as well as social and charitable activities; you have shown good example in observing proper upbringing of your family.
With the spirit of sisterhood in Islam, I would like to repudiate one of your Facebook’s Status Update as follows:
You posted your argument, “Bumi ini MILIK Allah SWT!”, disagreeing with the poster held by the sisters saying, “ Bumi ini bumi Melayu Islam”.
If you assume that the poster meant: The world (literally referring to “Bumi ini”) is purely for Muslim Malays and no other race deserve to live and have no basic rights here; you are right and I have to totally agree with you. This is a totally outrageous concept that must be scrapped by all Muslims.
However, if we studied the background of the picture, i.e. where it was taken and why such wordings are posted, and sparing some husnu dzon to your sisters portrayed in the picture, there is really no contradiction with the statement “Bumi ini (Malaysia) bumi Melayu Islam” and Islamic teachings.
ISLAM & NATIONALISM
Hassan Al Banna had concisely established the concept of nationalism that is inline to our creed. And we, in ISMA go by this definition of nationalism.
Nationalism and Affection towards the Muslim Homeland:
“If nationalism means the feeling of fondness towards their homeland (watan); would prepare to stand-in anytime for their homeland; as well as having deep affection towards it. These feelings are nature (fitrah) of any human being. And Islam encourages this.”
Nationalism and Pride & Freedom:
“If nationalism means the preparedness to free their homeland from imperialism; to instill sense of respect towards its Islamic heritage; and implanting freedom (in terms of not submitting self to any other ideologies other than Islam) in the hearts of the descendants of this land; hence we (Ikhwanul Muslimin) totally agree to this principle, and this is parallel to Islam.”
Islam and Ownership of Land:
The main difference in defining nationalism between us (the Islamist) and the fanatics (of certain race or certain land), is that, our boundaries of nationalism is determined by the Islamic creed (aqidah), while the fanatics understood that their boundaries of nationalism is determined by territorial and geographical borders. For every inch of land on this Earth, where there is a Muslim who recites the kalimah “laa ilaaha illaAllah” (There is no God but Allah), and that land will be OUR land. We are responsible to respect its sanctity and all-prepared to fight for it. ALL MUSLIMS in any geographical areas are our brothers and sisters. We should feel and think about each other’s importance.
I would suggest if you can restudy the whole concept of the nationalism as per outlined by Hassan Al Banna in the Majmu’at Rasail (Collection of Articles) in the chapter Dakwatuna (Our Call (Towards Islam)). I believe this book is one of the main references in IKRAM as well. I pick up this reference to highlight that if understood properly, we should have a lot of common understandings.
PALESTINE : AN ADDITIONAL STUDY
I would like to invite you to watch “Hamas Palestinian Vs Zionist Jew – Go back to Ger…” on YouTube – Hamas Palestinian Vs Zionist Jew – Go back to Ger…: http://youtu.be/2LytWbm6DiQ
I wonder whether you would put across the same remarks to our brothers and sisters in Palestine that “this land is Allah’s”, when they mention “this is my land”.
Some additional reading: http://www.ismaweb.net/2014/10/bumi-ini-milik-siapa-amar-ismat-mohd-nasir/
MALAYSIA AND ITS ISLAMIC ROOTS
The Malaysia we know today, was established on three main heritage, i.e. its Islamic roots, the Malay Rulers as guardians of the deen on this land, and the Malays as the original population of the land. Read further in my previous article in: http://www.ismaweb.net/2014/05/menghayati-sejarah-penghijrahan-melayu-antara-alat-dan-matlamat/
While some Malays accept the fact that British was a colonial entity in Malaya, it is absurd not to think that the immigrants brought into this land by the British as colonial identities too. Our ancestors have agreed to grant them with citizenship, and this citizenship came with an agreement to be abided, i.e. the social contract. If the descendants of the immigrants fail to observe the very reason why they are here in the land of Malaya, than yes, they are indeed colonials still.
Day by day recently, Islam as the federal religion, is purposely challenged and insulted. And this is done in an organized manner in order to impose a new identity to the nation, which is secular and liberal. The effort to deny the Malays, who hold the ownership of Malaysia, must be understood alongside with the effort to make Malaysia as a God-less state. Remember that, Malays are defined as Muslims in identity as per Constitution.
Understanding the role of daie (caller towards Allah), is not only to amar ma’aruf (invite towards what is endorsed by Allah), but also to nahi mungkar (repel anything that is disavowed by Allah). To uphold Islam, we cannot separate from taking into account history, anthropology, law and constitution, geography, economy, sociology, understanding ideologies that are against Islam and their modus operandi, and all other fields. If you may not have known, ISMA has placed all-out effort using our internal resources, as well as engaging external subject matter experts to table out the formula to revive the Muslim ummah (especially the Malays) in Malaysia. Should you have any doubt, we would like to offer a chit-chat session or even dialog to address any concerns and issues that exist on your side.
Yours sincerely,
Norhidayah Binti Ismail
ISMA’s Activist
