Happy Hari Raya Aidil Adha 1433H

Wishing Malaysian Muslim brothers and sisters a very happy and meaningful Hari Raya Aidil Adha!

At this moment , over two million Muslims are assembled in Arafah.

Between today and the end of the day on 10 Zulhijjah, its a very defining moment for Muslims for the submission to Allah S.W.T., especially those who are in Arafah to perform the Wuquf at this hour. It is a moment where every man is him or herself and everyone is equal, in the eyes of Al Mighty God Rab-ul-Jalil.

Islam means ‘Peace’. Amongst Muslims, they greet others with ‘Assalamualaikum’ which means ‘Peace be upon you’. Islam teaches Muslims to be tolerant and fair. If it is unjust, then it is not Islamic.

Muslims strive in their worship and submission to The One to earn their place of eternal sanctuary in the after life. In the same note, Islam requires the believers to strive in the quest to be the best in everything; educated, productive, prosper, trustworthy, reliable and honest. The first verse of God’s word which Arcangle Jibrail made Muhammad S.A.W. recite is “Read”. Reading is the key for Muslims to successful now on earth and later in the after life.

In short, Muslims are commanded to strike the balance between the quest for a success in their undertakings and getting the blessing from Allah S.W.T. It is a model of the insan which Muhammad S.A.W. keeps on reminding in his 23 years of teachings as the last of God’s prophet.

In that principle and philosophy of all that, Muslims should be defined as ‘Moderate’.

However, Muslims have been misunderstood and misrepresented, for all the wrong reasons. The West demands the Muslims to be ‘moderate’. Worse than that, the West themselves don’t apply the same definition of moderation to themselves.

Someone who is born in the West debated on this. To quote the latest The Mole columnist Iain Buchanan innaugral piece on the arguments on ‘Whose Moderate Muslim?’, “And yet it is mandatory, these days, for Muslims to define their “moderates” in terms of Western-derived conceptions of democracy and free elections, free speech, religious “tolerance”, sexual equality, children’s rights, and so on”.

It is time for Muslims and Non Muslims alike to be fair. Fair amongst themselves. Fair to each other. Fair to all. Fair to the environment. Fair to Mother Earth. Fair to be the moderate being that God created to be the mainstay of the ‘Third Rock From The Sun’.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha 1433H.

From:

Mohd. Kamal bin Abdullah, wife & family,
KOTA KINABALU, SABAH.