Gotcha Thinking

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

"little flower, can we be fwens?" kata baby-chunky-omaigod-nak-gigit.
linked

“Tidaklah seseorang berfikir dalam waktu yang lama 

kecuali dia akan memahami 

dan seseorang tidak memahami sesuatu sama sekali 

kecuali dia pasti mengamalkannya" 

-quoted-

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                                       Mr D  : so you have to kill the pig in a certain way then?

                                       Me     : oh, bacon is an absolute no-no.

                                       Mr D  : so you're saying you can't have any of these, at all?

                                                 (While he's gesturing at the food on his plate)

                                       Me     : nope.

                                       Mr D  : i didn't know bacon was a no-no.

                                                (and he patted me 'sympathetically' on the back)

                                       Me     : (aish.. =_=" i think i should be the one who's sympathizing)

                                                (the rest of the girls just laughed)

                                       Mr D  : but why?

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I was in my Gynaecology rotation, and we were in theatres the whole morning before the Consultant finally let us off for a break. Mr D, my partner in crime, was extra hungry so he bought himself his morning plate of bacons, and he paid for my bowl of fruits. And i guess because of the difference in the food that we're eating he suddenly brought up the topic of halal food;

"Is there such a thing as halal pudding?"

In which i rambled a bit about non alcoholic stuff, and things like gelatin, and one of the girls asked me about Ramadhan and i talk a bit about that, and then the above conversation took place. So what was my answer? And how would you have answered it?

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Being born into a Malay Muslim family and having spent most of my life growing up in a heavily-Muslim-populated country (i darenot say that it is a Muslim country just yet, huhu), one cannot deny that we all don't actually understand the faith that we say we believe in. We basically do whatever our parents, our teachers or the society tell us to do, and we would avoid doing whatever it is that is out of the norms. We all grew up accepting the fact that we have to pray 5 times a day, we have to fast during Ramadhan, we have to wear hijab (for the ladies), we have to do good, we can't touch dogs, we can't drink alcohol and we can't eat pigs. Heck, with what i've listed i may have just described what most of us back home defined Islam as. Astaghfirullah.

But the question remains, do we understand why?

And this is sadly the reality, where the source of all the jahilliyah are coming from; when most of us don't even understand the reasons behind our ibadah, our acts of faith. So how can we expect someone to pray 5 times a day, when they don't even know why they are praying? How can we expect some girl to wear her hijab after she finished her schooling days, when she doesn't even understand the reason behind the protection Allah wants to give women? How can we expect someone to not drink alcohol, when all their friends are, and they don't see what harms it brings? And how can we expect a girl to not sleep with her boyfriend, when all the shows on TV are showing that they're normal mistakes people do in that transition to adulthood? Astaghfirullah wa naudzubillah. May Allah protect us all. But what i'm getting to is that it all started at one crucial point;

When we became Muslims, 

just because others around us are Muslims.

Alhamdulillah for the opportunities that Allah has given me to be in a place where Muslims are scarce. Hence, the weird and wonderful questions are always coming my way. Why are you praying? What do you say in your prayers? Why do you wear the hijab? Why would you miss your lunch rather than skip your prayers? Why do you have to take your wudhu (ablution) before your prayers? Why can't you touch another men or women? Why can't you drink alcohol? Why can't you eat those chicken sandwiches? And the list goes on.

To be frank, they are all simple questions. They are just asking us things that we do on a daily basis. So isn't it weird, that we cannot really explain why we are doing the everyday things that we do?  And as simple as it is, it definitely got me thinking deep; especially when i find myself at a loss for words for why am i doing the things that i am doing, and why am i avoiding the things that i am avoiding. 

And i think none of us are exempted from making this mistake. Perhaps we're now so used to following what the society does, to do things rather blindly, that we don't even find the time to dwell a little bit deeper into our ad-Deen. And one might even say that Allah Knows better, and we just have to do whatever Allah wants us to do; i'd agree to that too definitely. but that is only the starting point. because for whatever that Muslims are obliged to do and avoid, we all have to believe that there will always be hikmah (reasons) behind them; and while keeping that in mind, it would definitely be better if we actually go a bit further and think a little bit deeper with what and why we are doing them. because then we'd be able to find all the more beautiful reasons behind our acts of faith, and why Islam is beautiful as our way of life, and insyaAllah it will make us more istiqamah (steadfast) in what we are doing. And isn't it one of the many paths to Jannah? 

So as much as his questions got me thinking a little bit deeper,

I hope it gotcha thinking too. 

Wallahua'lam.

Nota kaki:

my answer to Mr D? we all somewhat knew about how piggies eat their own poops and the so many different types of worms living in them, (i think i found an article or two about them and videos of coke and piggy meat..*shudders*) but i couldn't really spill all of that info to his face while he's enjoying them can i? So i opt for a simpler answer instead; 

"i think there are some scientific reasons out there which i dont really know much about. 

But to me it's just an act of faith, or a test of faith. 

How much are you willing to avoid the things that you are told to avoid, out of faith." 

Hehe, a bit of a philosophical answer and i'm not sure if they understood it. But oh well, it's what i believe in anyway.

Salam :)