position paper no 2

"Of course religion is important.I am Malay first before I become a Muslim"

NUR IZZAH BINTI ZAHARI 0818444

First of all, what is actually religion and race? From wikipedia , a religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendent quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, God or gods, or ultimate truth. Whereby, the term race or racial group usually refers to the categorization of humans into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics. The most widely used human racial categories are based on salient visual traits (especially skin color, cranial or facial features and hair texture), and self-identification. In this country, normally Malays is a Muslim, India is a Hindu and Chinese is Buddhism. That was people mindset. Based on the statement that become a Malay first then a Muslim maybe nowadays it is a little bit true because people prefer to put aside the religion to suit their belief, feeling and thinking to this contemporary world. For example, many of the cultures and customs that Malay’s Muslim did was not in line with religion such as “persandingan”, “melenggang perut”, and others that not the commandment by Allah. Of course such customs did not mention in the Al-Quran but many of people did because that was the practice of our Malay’s ancestor long time ago and it is still be practice until today. That why we be a Malay first then become a Muslim.
As for me, being Muslim first is important than being a Malays. Malays does not guarantee to be a good Muslim. A good Muslim is someone who practices Islamic teaching. In surah Al-Imran verses 85 meaning that “if anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah, never will it be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who has lost all spiritual good). Islam was strongly emphasis on the religion that has stated in the Al-Quran but did not mention about specific races. Whatever races of people in this world, as long as they devoted to Islam as the way of their life, he or she will be rewarded by Allah in the Hereafter.
The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said that every child was born in the state of “Fitrah” (purity), so their parents are the most responsible in other to mould them either to be Yahudi, Majusi or Nasrani. By Fitrah, we are born as a Muslim not mentioned in the Al-Quran as Malays. Before we are born to this world we had already have an agreement with Allah to be the khalifah in this world. When we are born we already hear an azan by our parents and they choose a name which consists in the Al-Quran and has meaning.. So, it is the role as parents to guide children on how to pray, recites Al-Quran and be a good Muslim because all of these are fardhu ain whereby it is obligatory for human being to perform. Normally, when a child is exposed to bad nature of exposure, they will be exposing to the bad things. Consequences, we can see lots of people who are Muslim but they are not practice Islam as the way of their life. To other races such as Chinese and Indian, they consider Malays as a Muslim. Yes, they are Muslim but not all of them act like a Muslim. Some of them did not do what they should do and doing all the things that Islam prohibited. For example, drinking alcohol is a normal thing nowadays. During fasting months also, many Malay Muslim did not fast. They act like they are free to create changes that already stated in the Al-Quran.
The conclusion is as a Muslim, religion is important to shape our belief and submission to Allah. It is not important whether we are Malays, Chinese or Indian because other races can also be a good Muslim. But, it is how we act as a good khalifah in this world to acquire a good knowledge and experiences as the journey to the next world.