Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
May Peace and Guidance of Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala be upon us all. Ameen Ya Rabbal Alameen.
As a Malaysian Muslim Blogger, I have been writing here and sharing my thoughts about Islam my faith and also about things that concern myself, my fellow citizens and issues that affect my nation, Malaysia.
Whether I like it or not, I am bound to be judged by those who have yet to know me personally for this blog is published on the worldwideweb, exposing myself to the global assessment by people who at times come across as very opinionated, judgemental, biased, discriminatory, assume this and that about me and what I stand for and against.
This is part and parcel of life and I acknowledge that it is as the Malay parable of old says ‘ Kalau takut dilambong ombak ; jangan berumah ditepian pantai!‘ meaning ‘ If you are scared of being tossed by the waves ; don’t build your home by the seashore!’.
As such, a blogger like me has to be willing to take the comments and criticisms as they come according to the topics of the relevant subjects that I write upon.
It does not mean that I as a blogger have to approve and publish each and every comment as they come. To do so , I would be lying if I say that negative comments and accusations against me as a person do not affect my emotions ; do not hurt my feelings and makes a dent in my soul and my ego!
There are those who come in and hurl slander and libel against me as a person even though we do not know each other whatmore have personal differences or even are enemies in the real sense of the word!
I leave such slanderers to be judged and dealt with accordingly by Allah SWT! God Most High!
Why must people who do not know me in person have to resort to such vile actions?
What have I as a blogger ever done to those faultfinders? Who are they to make personal attacks against me as a person when I have never even known them?
Verily, these are those who only know how to criticise without knowing how to appreciate and if even my writings are contrary to their ideals or principles, do not realise that even I have my rights to speak as I feel or as I see fit!
Do I as a free citizen of Malaysia have to seek each and every person’s consent and approval before I publish my writings as I see fit?
Do I come across as a person who is a ‘narcissist’ just because I have the utmost self confidence when I write about how I as a Muslim love my faith so much that to me, I’d rather not exist today upon this Earth if I have not been born as a Muslim? Walillahi Ta’ala!
A reader by the name of Ahmad Kamal Abu Bakar, with whom I have never even had an exchange of comments or even have come to know this person left me a comment accusing me of being a person with traits of a ‘narcissist’!
Imagine, the audacity of this person to accuse me of being so without first according to me my rights as a fellow Muslim, that is a Salam and then followed by a spirit of goodwill @ in Malay, it is known as ‘berbaik sangka’ !
I just don’t know what has become of such Malays! Gone are the days where before engaging in a dialogue, discussion or debate with another, at least the Malays of yore used to introduce themselves to the other first, state their identities, their background, their intention to start a discussion or a debate based on whatever topic, subject or grievance against something that we have said or done that has affected them personally or their family, race and nation generally!
Are the people living today no longer interested to preserve our inherited values and our ‘adab’s in the matter as personal and as sensitive as engaging in a discussion, a dialogue or a debate with a stranger even in this cyberspace?
Do we not have in us, the fitrah of being a humanbeing, whom Allah SWT has created with the goodwill of knowing how to behave, how to live with all other beings, that the very first exchange that we establish with someone whom we have yet to know in person, realise who they really are in depth, is nothing but a slander?
The very first comment that we post to the person is nothing but an accusation!
The very first dialogue with the stranger is nothing but a fitnah, a libellous ‘ad homineum’ attack so vicious, so offensive, so hurtful against the person that it is just a natural act of self defense for any rational minded, normal ‘insan’ to react and delete that offensive comment straightaway and refuse the offender room in his or her blog to allow such filthy slander or libel to remain in the blog rightaway!
It will be an act of insanity for any righteous blogger to allow anyone to simply come in and attack them without due rhyme or reason and as per the norms of proper dialogue as per our traditional values since the advent of civilisation!
In the Quran, in Surah Al Hujarat Chapter 49 Verses 7 to 13, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala very eloquently advices us to not commit injustice against one another by uttering slander as we please!
Reflect on all the mentioned verses and realise that we are all the Children of the Prophet Adam Alaihis Salam and are each never free from sins or mistakes in our own individual lifes!
So, my dear brothers and sisters, please understand that if we do not know the person as to who they really are to refrain from jumping to any conclusions and go commit injustice against the other!
When I ‘asked’ whether Azhar Mansor is an apostate as being gossiped, rumoured and even published openly by the Sydney Anglican Church that he is so in their report online , I as a fellow Muslim naturally felt affected and wanted to know if it was true?
As someone who loves my fellow Muslims with the ‘husnul zahn’ @ good faith of an insan as asked of me by Allah SWT and His Messenger upon another, naturally I want to know the truth too!
I, who have sworn to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala to dedicate the rest of my life to share whatever I have come to learn and to know about Islam with my fellow Muslims and my fellow humanbeings from all other ethnicities and faiths, naturally want to know as to whether there is any truth to such claims by the Christians against Azhar Mansor?
I, as his brother in Islam, naturally want to know as to why he who is being accused of committing ‘murtad’ against faith in Allah SWT is still silent about the whole subject and as to why it is so hard for him to openly state his position as a Muslim or as an apostate?
This is not libel! This is not fitnah! This is my way of wanting to know the truth about him and to help him defend his good name and reputation by blogging about it here in my cyberspace!
Wallahu alam as to what my nawaitu really is! Far from wanting to cause him any harm, I am willing to go and defend his honor as a Muslim if he is a victim of vile slander by those seeking to dishonor him if he is true to his Shahadah as a fellow Mukmin Wa Lillahi Ta’ala! Allahu Akbar!
To those who come in without following the ‘adab’s , the norms and the traditional way of engaging with a stranger whether online or in real life, please do not expect me to be as you wish.
Please do not expect others who don’t even know you to open up his or her cyberspace and accept your barbs, your insults, and expressions that reflect your stupidity or your foolhardiness with open arms and allow themselves to be insulted , to be slandered and to be accused of whatever you have built up in your demented minds to publishing straightaway your vile comments!
I do not need your praises. I do not love being polished or being carried for no rhyme or reason for that is totally against my principles as a mureed.
My ego is already so swelled up with my ‘narcissistic’ tendencies as the reader Ahmad Kamal Abu Bakar, whom I think is from Negri Sembilan has claimed, to have you further adding to my nafs!
As a blogger I have come to meet only a select few of my fellow bloggers in person.
Amongst those who have come to meet me and know me as to who I am and what I stand for are Mohd Elfie Nieshaem Juferi @ MENJ, YM Raja Petra Kamarudin, Jeff Ooi,YB Lim Kit Siang,Lim Guan Eng, YB Teresa Kok, Shin Shin, Elizabeth Wong, Salinan Karbon, Nik Nazmi, Sharizal Shaarani, Ronnie Liu, Meriza Anna, etc.
Only by meeting someone in person will we have an idea as to who they really are! Only by exchanging words face to face and seeing the person’s mannerisms and the way they carry themselves in their conduct, speech and mannerisms, can we sort of make up our minds about them and even that is open to interpretations according to our ‘ilm and knowledge.
As Allah SWT is my witness, I ask that those who have yet to know me in person, to at least respect my rights as a fellow blogger who needs nothing but your understanding, who needs nothing but your greatness of mind to allow me my own space here and in time to live out my life as I wish and to accord to me nothing but a much needed common courtesy of being allowed to express my thoughts and my views accordingly!
All goodness is from Allah SWT. My writings here are my own and I leave it to Him to judge me accordingly.
To those who understand exactly what I am saying here and can let me be as I wish to, I express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciations. Jazakallah khairan kathiraw and Thank you!
May Almighty Allah SWT bless us and guide us all. Ameen.
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Was-salaamu ala man ittaba’a al-huda, these commenters will simply shoot without knowing the facts. Ignore these idiots.
Wassalam.
– MENJ
Wa’alaikumsalam ya Akhi!
Jazakallah khairan kathiraw for your wise words! Alhamdulillah!
As per your advice, I will do so, Insya Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala!
Wassalamualaikum wr wb. May Almighty Allah SWT bless you and those who think alike! Ameen Ya Rahman Ya Rabb!
Salam,
This is your blog, your writings and the freedom of cyberspace. You are free to express the thoughts as you like.
If people don’t like it, they can say their piece, but they should not expect your to accept it. That is your right.
This is just my opinion tho. Your postings are VERY LONG lah mahaguru. Kalau boley pendek sikit, short and sweet… nice!
I’ve said before in somebody’s blog (cannot recall), sometimes it’s not relevant whether we know a blogger in person or not. In fact, I sincerely believe, it is even better if you don’t because the issue would be more focused on the topic/posting and not the person.
Having said that, I of course do not condone personal attacks on the person. I believe differences of opinions and arguments should be directed at the issue.
The worst kind of reaction and killer of all discussion is “who are you to say so?”
THe truth is, it doesn’t matter who the person is or what is his/her credentials are. Meaningful discussion/arguments should address the issue brought up.
Cheers
Hehehehehe…Thank you dear Meriza!
Old people do tend to speak and speak and speak….don’t they?
Insya Allah, will take your suggestions into consideration!
You are right!
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullah ya sahibi.
You are right, I am from Negeri Sembilan. I wonder what gave me away, my lack of courtesy or simply that I had misspelled narcissistic. Negeri folks tend to be rude and bad spellers sometimes.
Wasn’t expecting one full entry on my account, but ya akhi, I’m flattered.
Not going to write long seeing that you won’t publish this and you’ll probably end up writing more about me. That would waste your time.
Like I said earlier, you have your war, I have mine. 🙂
Illal liqaq!
Wa’alaikumsalam ya akhi Ahmad Kamal.
As I said before in my post to blogger Pablo Pabla regarding our objections to homosexuality ; me from the Islamic angle and him from the Christian side, we can agree to most things that are permissible in both faiths but we don’t have to sing in chorus all the time.
Anyway, May Allah SWT guide us all and remove from our hearts, the raging egos that can be our downfall and cause for destruction!
Whatever it is, my advice to you is simply not to go post anything offensive for no reasons save for our differences in opinion as to whatever topics at hand.
As for me, I wish you nothing but peace and goodwill!
Wabillahi taufeek walhidayah.
Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Your brother in Islam,
Zainol Abideen @ Dust of this Earth
Mahaguru58 is just an id. Not a sign of me being a narcissist! TQ
Nee hao sister Helen?
Xie xie for your thoughts about this matter.
I am grateful to you for sharing with me such viewpoints.
Thank you once again. I will keep all these in mind as I shall keep on blogging as long as I am able to.
Take care and have a nice day.
You have proven that ‘Ipoh Mali ; Tak sombong’ is true ! @};-
Kam sia’ !
Commenters need not know you personally for them to be giving you comments. They are not commenting on your personality, they are commenting on your opinions based on what you write. You may be a nice, decent law abiding person, but people who come to your blog have the right to disagree with you over your ultra-conservative opinions, just as you have the right to opinionate on them.
If you are only looking after positive comments and praises, then perhaps you should explicitly state on your blog that only comments of compliments should be accepted. But then again, those who praise you might not know you personally either. I doubt you’d be offended by their comments though.
I’m not sure if you understand the concepts behind free speech and democracy. You have every right to state your views, even if I or others do not agree with you. Likewise, others have the right to disagree.
Perhaps you are used to the old ways of Asian/Malaysian way of things where dissent and difference of opinions were not encouraged, especially under the authoritarian rule of Mahathir. You are very critical of Abdullah Badawi. That’s your choice.
I personally think of him as a great, modern and liberal Malaysian leader, not least because he is able to accept criticisms without threatening to ban critical comments. It takes a great person to be able to allow criticisms, particularly when he has the power to suppress it.
Assalamualaikum Brother Akhdur,
I concur with your views and think you are right in your points.
Jazakallah for your advice. Will follow them, Insya Allah! 🙂
Wassalamualaikum wr wb.