Stop insulting me and my faith

If you cannot withstand the sight of a cross, is the solution to strengthen your faith or censor a symbol?

COMMENT

By Fila Magnus

In all the years I have spent talking and writing about those who are continuously oppressed all over the world, not once had I realised the severity of the oppression that my own people face.

It is not the same sort of horridness and we are not close to killing each other.

But an injustice is an injustice, is an injustice.

Having perks for being Malay is one thing (let’s save that bit for a different day), but blatantly protesting the rights of our fellow brothers of not only the Abrahamic Faith but our nation, is truly beyond the bounds of comprehension.

This is evidently where the line between religion and race fades. And this, is where the problem begins.

How could one possibly fear an inanimate object? Do you think that that is how religion works?

I have kept my mouth shut. Tried so hard to stop myself from saying it. But I’ve had enough.

If the mere sight of a cross attached to a church would be able to pull ‘our’ (I’m using the term very loosely here) youth into Christianity, then whose fault is that?

Is it not our duty to strengthen the faith of our youth?

What is the point of teaching our kids about the religion for a whole 11 years in school, if that doesn’t mean that they will believe, understand and remain steadfast?

Should our Christian brothers and sisters be blamed – be ‘punished’, for something that WE have failed to build, teach, and instil in our younger generation?

Stop wasting time protesting on the streets, when you could be using that time to teach YOUR kids.

And, SERIOUSLY. WALLAHI. STOP INSULTING ‘ME’. AND MY FAITH.

The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) led a multi-faith community, much like ours. He, PBUH, was just, and treated each of his people with kindness, fairness and love, irrespective of religion.

How can you possibly do something in the name of your religion, when you’ve ignored the very basics of it?

Allah SWT created you and I, he, she and them.

And hey, guess what?

Going into a church, listening to a sermon, reading the Bible will not, in any way, make a person a Christian.

I’ve done all three, and oh look! I’m still me!

I believe that there is no God but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

Religion is about faith. It is about Imaan.

And it will take more than a cross, the usage of “Allah”, or mere words, to take me away from my Islam.

To my dear fellow countrymen of various faiths, it is with absolute sincerity that I apologise to you for the acts of these people.

Please know, that they do not represent all of us. And I promise to no longer be silent when injustice shows itself.

“For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.” – Holy Quran, 109:6

And I couldn’t possibly respect and cherish you more.

Fila Magnus is an FMT reader.