[MRM Reply To FMT's Reader Comment]
Dear Mr. Ravinder Singh
I begin with the greetings of peace and Salam.
My name is Firdaus Wong and I am the person of whom you referred to in your article "Defying one's religious teachings to belittle another's".
First of all, as Muslims, we are taught in the Qur'an that, if we receive news from a person who errs, we should investigate and clarify it first, lest we may end up inadvertently harming others in our ignorance. (Refer to chapter 49:hujaraat, Verse 6). So it would have been a much more appropriate measure and a better conduct for us to have a decent conversation and clarified my point and Dr. Zakir Naik's, instead of posting a public article on Free Malaysia Today, immediately jumping to the erroneous conclusion and false accusation that I have defended an individual who defied his own religion.
In today's age of social media and email, we live in a world today that communication is easy and rather effortless, that it would have been much civilized and easier to contact me in person instead of releasing a such controversial and derogatory article.
Regardless, what's done is done, and moving forward, I write to you with the intent of correcting and clarifying the errors made in your writings; in full acknowledgement and respect that you write the article in sincere intent of clarifying the truth, and not a mere cheap attempt at riding on the bandwagon of Dr Zakir Naik's current popularity just to gain public attention and likes.
What you have said regarding the teachings of Islam, that there is no compulsion in religion, and that we should not belittle others, is exactly correct.
In the Quran chapter 2:Al-Baqarah Verse 256 Allah tells us "there is no compulsion in calling others to religion", and in chapter 49:Al-Hujaraat, chapter 11, Muslims are warned never to scoff and look down on others - "O you who believe! Let not a group scoff at another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former; nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former, nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How evil is it, to insult one's brother after having Faith [i.e. to call your Muslim brother (a faithful believer) as: "O sinner", or "O wicked", etc.]. And whosoever does not repent, then such are indeed those who have evil"
Having said that, Dr. Zakir Naik has never belittled or scorned other religions, and neither has he forced others to join the religion of islam. Your article itself has failed to provide any evidence to substantiate this claim.
In fact, if you have watched his videos, when people convert to islam in his public events, it is out of their own sincere willingness. Being a man of integrity, I am sure you have seen at least some of his videos on YouTube, and perhaps have some proof to substantiate your claims.
When Dr Zakir mentions that God does not have son, he quotes it directly from the Qur'an. So how can you say he defies the Qur'an by quoting directly from it?
Your own statement has defied and contradicted your own logic.
Unless, what you are actually trying to say is that, the Qur'an itself is taking negatively about other religions and that islam itself is a bad religion for preaching this negativity.
And where, in his quoting of these characteristics of God, does he speak of in a belittling, negative or derogatory manner of other religions?
What Dr. Zakir Naik does, as with the obligation of every Muslim, is simply promote the religion of Islam transparently as how God has Revealed in His Final, undistorted Revelation, the Holy Qur'an, and through the teachings of His Final Messenger, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. He does this in full respect of other religions, quoting from their own religious scriptures on what their true teachings are, not simply what their culture or tradition dictates. He never makes derogatory remarks on others, in the same way that, if we were to clarify our country's Laws to other countries which contradict what our country has legislated, we never did that with the intent of belittling or degrading their Law, simply stating our differences and an attempt to convince the other party that perhaps our point may be stronger and worthy of consideration to be implemented. But if you are not convinced and still feel your law is more worthy of implementation, and that you wish to remain in your ways, then by all means, I will not penalize or disrespect you - and hence what is meant by "there is no compulsion", and "to you, your religion, and to me mine".
But this does not negate our duty to propagate and promote the message of Islam.
As Muslims we propagate islam, because we are passionate about our religion and what we are convinced of as the Truth, because that gives us happiness and contentment in this life and a positive outlook on the life to come. And in knowing this beautiful way of life, it would be utterly selfish for us to reserve this message to ourselves, and hence we propagate the religion islam as we wish for others the same goodness that we have been blessed with, and that is why we are commanded by Allah not to be stingy of this faith :
"Invite mankind to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better." (Chapter 16:An-Nahl, Verse 125)
Your claims that "Zakir seems to have come on a political mission to get PAS and Umno to form a coalition" is completely baseless, speculative and provocative. You have no right to judge his intent as political, and this statement seems to be an unprofessional attempt of character assassination to instigate undeserved hatred against Dr Zakir.
When Dr Zakir makes the claim that it is better for them to form a coalition, this is not with political intent, rather reiterating the beautiful unity and harmony God asks the Muslims to achieve, to be United and cooperate on the terms of faith and not the terms of flags, borders, political parties or organizations.
"And hold tightly, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Quran, this religion), and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah's Favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together (through faith)" (Chapter 3:al imran, Verse 103)
A HOUSE NOT WELL KEPT?
Regarding your statement,
Shouldn’t the pious Muslim be more concerned over his brethren who are not following the teachings of the Quran and go on a jihad to bring them back to the right path instead of trying to get more people to convert to Islam?
Simple logic: If your house is not well kept, how are you going to make it well kept by bringing more “property” into it and strewing it all over the place?
Firstly it is quite apparent by your statement that you are not aware of the multitude Islamic initiatives and organizations currently in existence and in operation, both in the country and globally - all in the intent of continuously educating, correcting ourselves and helping each other towards righteousness. Thousands, millions of Muslims collaborate and benefit each other through these initiatives.
Having said that, This does not negate our obligation to propagate the religion and expand ourselves. Rather, both efforts come hand in hand.
Mr Ravinder, as an educated person I'm sure you know, an organization that does not expand itself, is doomed for failure. So should a company stop expanding just because it has a few troubled employees? Should a country stop scientific advancement and research because many of its citizens are lacking in scientific knowledge?
But the reality is, the Muslims, just like any other organization, no matter how excellent or perfect our self-improvement initiatives are, there will always be shortcomings in individuals, and it is the nature that God created us differently as a test to ourselves and to others.
"It does not matter if God has a son or not"
You speak of our religion as an outsider, without proof. On the contrary, referring to our Qur'an, it DOES matter; in the teachings of Islam, the trait of having a son is a sign of imperfection that is not befitting of the Majesty and Perfection of God.
"They say: God has begotten a son! Glory be to Him: He is the Self-sufficient: His is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth; you have no authority for this; do you say against Allah what you do not know? Say: Those who forge a lie against Allah shall never be successful." (Chapter 10:Yunus, Verse 68-69).
"Don’t ask others to partake of your religion by promising them the joys of heaven and threatening them with the fires of hell."
Well, Mr Ravinder, this is essentially the message of the Qur'an, not the personal whims of Dr Zakir Naik. Mr Ravinder, for the benefit of myself and the beloved Malaysian readers of FMT, please clarify : are you trying to tell Muslims to stop following the commandments of our own religion? Are you challenging the reference of the country's official religion? Are you hypocritically belittling the official religion of the soil which you live in?
"Nobody has gone to heaven or hell and come back to tell about these places. As such, all talk about heaven and hell is hearsay, and hearsay carries no weight."
Mr Ravinder, by your statement here you have demonstrated a lack of understanding in the purpose of revelation. What are books of revelation? Why do books of revelation exist?
Books of revelation are divine scriptures revealed from God Almighty to help give guidance to mankind; as the Creator, He Knows human beings more than they know themselves and hence Sends Revelation to guide mankind to the truth according to His Wisdom. Of all books of Revelation, the final and undistorted one is the Qur'an. Hence it is part of Muslim faith to take the Qur'an as undisputed truth from the Creator, affirmed by reason, rational thinking, and scientific research. And it is within this definite proof, that the existence of heaven and hell is substantiated and proven, by proof of testimony.
Hence the implications of your claim that these beliefs as "heresay" is in fact an attack on islam, that our beliefs are false and based on speculation without basis, which again as I mentioned earlier, is a blatant attack on the official national religion of our country.
I find it ironic that your article emphasizes on defiance and belittling of others, when your article actually implicated belittling Dr Zakir Naik, Muslims and the religion of Islam in general, and defies the customs of our national religion.
In conclusion, it is with these messages therefore, Mr Ravinder, that you should see that your article is false and only serves to stir controversy, provocation and an attack on Islam, and not just the individual person of Dr Zakir Naik. It is with this also I request this article to be deleted, and a public apology issued on behalf of your good self and another apology on behalf of FMT for releasing such provocative and derogatory articles.
When all is said and done however, I continue to respect you as a human being and humbly request we meet in person to discuss this as civilized men in seeking the truth.
Thank you for your time; and may God Guide us all the Truth and keep us steadfast and sincere on the Path of righteousness.
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