Tuesday, August 21, 2007
BRIDGING THE GAPI recently attended a public talk organised by Darul Arqam. Its guest, a renowned speaker, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf from New York. The mosque under his care, al Farah Mosque is only 12 blocks away from Ground Zero. Since Sept 11, he became actively involved in bridging the gap between the West and Islam. Born in Kuwait and educated in England, Egypt, Malaysia and America, he speaks very fluently in Arab, Malay and of course, English.
Muslims and non-Muslims attended the talk "Building a Stronger Muslim: A Global Perspective". Usually, I would see more ladies than men in religious talks, but that day was different :) He particularly put forth the point that there is a common ground between Islamic values and that of America's. He shared that there are better news than what is often covered in the media ("Good news, is no news at all," he said)
He told several stories
- 1st...of the many well-wishes, cards, flowers, they received from fellow Americans at the al-Farah mosque immediately after Sept 11.
- 2nd...of a mini-skirted blonde-haired lady, who visited a fully-hijab Muslim lady and offered to do her grocery shopping, cos she was too afraid to go out after Sept 11.
- 3rd...of a Jewish organisation which wanted to support a lady who intended to set up a Madrasah. But the organisation had to face media which doubt their sincerity.
He talked about the weaknesses in Muslims nowadays. One of it is "Some don't know what they do not know." He mentioned about how crucial continuous learning of religion is.
He highlighted on these 2 commandments throughout his talk:
1. To love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength
2. To love our neighbours as we love ourselves i.e. fellow human beings - regardless of race, religion, cultural background, etc
And most importantly, one thing that most forget is syariah - both muamalat (pertaining to daily affairs) and ibadah (religious rituals).
And he explained that to make real changes, one needs to be logically correct, politically correct, jurisdictionally correct and able to engage with people i.e. understanding their minds. It was one enlightening talk to hear from a an American citizen who needs to uphold his religion.
I bought his book entitled "What's right with Islam: A new vision for Muslims & the West". An insight into Imam Feisal's mind in finding the common ground between the two. He wrote a message in the book "To both of you, May Allah grant you the love of the Prophet with Khadijah." So sweet....AMIN!!
Know more about Imam Feisal here and check out his interview with PBS, a non-profit media in America.
naniz @ 11:43:00 PM