Well it's not really a debate actually but more of a sharing sessions if u like.
Salam wbt,
Have been abandoning this blog for ages. A very bad habit of mine. Ok lupakan.
Well, apparently today is an International Women's Day and the Women's Network, a society under Notts uni student union organised a little forum featuring women from different faiths namely Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Sikh.
The forum started with each panelists giving a brief overview on how their faiths affect them and their daily lives. The first panel is a Christian, and i like how she reverse the question to; How can it (her faith) not affect me. Which i really really agree. Her faith gives her confidence and the contentment in life. She went on saying that she couldn't understand how can some people work their head off just to be rich coz she knows there's more to life than just earning big money. There's a purpose of why we're all here. And in term of confidence, she expressed that as long as she believes that God loves her and wants her to be there (on earth) for a reason..she doesn't have to crack her head off browsing through her wardrobe finding the shortest minis possible to impress others etc. Similarly with the other two panelists from Sikh and Judaism. The Jewish lady covers part of her hair(signs that they're married), and the Sikh lady wears turban. And they promote modest wear as well. And that they don't mind being 'different' from others or not engage in 'clubbing' or the social events alike. It's hard for them as well to say no to their friends but as they said, "I know what I'm doing, coz it(clubbing) doesn't bring me close to God so why should i do it?"
In my head i thought..."WOW, that is soo Islamic.." Of course, there are differences, but why fight over the differences when you can share the common interest?
So, the impression i get from the forum is, all faiths promote good.
How can faith not affect us?Right?This is how i view it;
Purpose of life
As we already know, as Muslim, our purpose of life is for Allah to be pleased with us and bless us with the ultimate aim of Jannah i.e heaven. He will be pleased with us and bless us if we're close to Him by doing good, and prevent evil. Having all the blessings in life like good education, wealth, health, jobs and family are all part of the means to reach the ultimate aim. We do things coz Allah asked us to do so, and we don't do things coz He asked us to avoid them. And that everything in this whole universe comes from Him and is His. We know we go off the track when:
1. We do things to impress and please other people instead of Him.
2. We study solely to get good grades so we can get better jobs
3. We dress to impress rather than to cover ourselves as He asked us to do so.
4. We love our money, our partner and our family more than we love Him and His messenger SAW.
5. We're more worried of other people's perception than whether He's pleased with us or not.
6. We think we're so happy and blissful coz we've got everything in life when we don't know if He'll be pleased enough with us to give that happiness again in the hereafter.
7. We think that we have a high status in the society coz we're more educated and forgetting that we're just His little servant.
8. We're proud of our achievements when it's Him who gives us that.
The list goes on and on..but at least we get the picture and insyaAllah we can relate it to ourselves.
Way of life
Islam, is our Deen. Which means,it is our way of life. So since it's part of us and our way of life, how can we separate our day to day living with our faith. It's all interlinked and connected. We cannot pray 5 times a/day and go clubbing as well. It doesn't seem right, does it? Since we have that purpose of life, so the way we live our lives has got to be towards realising that aim as well, isn't it so?
Natural disposition
Having a faith is all part of our natural instinct or disposition i believe. This reminds me of a friend of mine who said that her friend who's an Atheist also believe in at least 'something' though not God. Coz as a human being, i believe at least somewhere deep down in our heart/at the back of our mind know that we're belong to something 'superior'. We want something/somewhere to turn to, to refer to or to look up for. And that's exactly how Islam nurture us. And i like the close relationships one can have with their creator without any barrier i.e we can directly communicate to Him. We want to cry when we're sad and we want to whine and complain when we're not satisfied. So cry in remembrance of Him and complain to Him as He is the best listener and understands better. If we're stuck between two roads, ask Him the guidance and He'll show us the right path. If we want something very badly, ask Him and He'll grant us our prayers. And not to forget when we're so happy we want to share it with someone, we turn to Him and say Alhamdulillah. =D
No Compulsion
I'm very much against forcing others to do things they don't want to. Because good deeds will only be valuable in the eyes of Allah if we do it sincerely i.e without being forced into it. However, it's not the same as educating others and give good example with the hope of influencing them to do good as well. (And educating is also not the same as 'imposing' yah). This is because to be sincere, one gotta know what and why they're doing certain things. So if we just force others to do things that are alien to them, it is just meaningless to them. However on the other hand, refusing doing good deeds jst coz we're asked to do so by others or coz it's a rule is also not very good i think. Coz sometime, we might not understand why we're doing it initially but as we develop the good habit of doing good deeds, not only the unintentional good deeds are rewarded, but as we grow maturer, hopefully we might pick up some knowledge and began to understand the reasons behind it. (if u get what i mean?) So, know why we do things and also know why we refuse to do things. May Allah guide us along the way insyaAllah.
i am very very very lacking in every way, above is just what i feel and believe.
Allahua'alam.
PS; macam mana agaknye nk elak comment2 random org nk laku-kan products/websites diorg frm terrorizing my space?heh.
