When will the people in Malaysia finally have a fair and just government who´s not so dirty till its all over the media?
Article : Found guilty, indelible ink whistle-blower says "see you in Allah´s court"
![MESSAGE FROM THE SULTANAH OF JOHORE Highly educated, from Oxford University. Open minded and full of logic and compassion. Her understanding of Islam, and respecting Christianity and other religions is an eye opener for those politicians who played the religious and racial cards to divide and rule.
RAJA ZARITH IDRIS (Sultanah of Johore)
Season of goodwill
MIND MATTER by RAJA ZARITH IDRIS (Sultanah of Johore)
If Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Isa (Jesus), a prophet respected and revered in Islam, is it so wrong to wish a blessed day for those who celebrate it?
DURING the days before Christmas last year, I wished my friends who were celebrating it "Merry Christmas" in much the same way they would wish me "Selamat Hari Raya" or "Happy Eid".
I find it rather sad that such a simple greeting – one which I grew up with and which I have never regarded as something that would compromise or de-value my own faith – is now regarded as something so religiously incorrect for us Malaysian Muslims.
When I was at boarding school in England , I had to go to church every Sunday because it was part of the rules. My father advised me to consider it as part of my "education" and he had no doubt that the experience would strengthen rather than weaken my own faith.
I was able to see the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam. I learned more than the average Malaysian Muslim would about Christianity. I learnt that just as we Muslims categorise ourselves according to the four different schools of thoughts of the four Imams (Imam Malik, Imam Al Shafi, Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Ahmad Abn Hambal) and are either Sunnis or Shias, so Christians too are divided into different sects or churches.
Going to church did not make me less of a Muslim when I was a young girl, and neither does saying "Merry Christmas" make me less of a Muslim now. My faith has not been shaken just because I wished some friends a time of joy with their families. Neither will I suddenly suffer from amnesia and forget what my religion is.
What I do not wish to forget, however, is that there are good, kind people who are not of the same faith as me.
As Harun Yahya, the Turkish writer (he was selected last year as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Isla mic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan ) noted: "Islam is a religion of peace, love and tolerance".
Today, however, some circles have been presenting a false image of Islam, as if there were conflict between Islam and the adherents of the two other monotheistic religions. Yet Islam's view of Jews and Christians, who are named `the People of the Book' in the Quran, is very friendly and tolerant.
"This attitude towards the People of the Book developed during the years of the birth of Islam. At that time, Muslims were a minority, struggling to protect their faith and suffering oppression and torture from the pagans of the city of Mecca . Due to this persecution, some Muslims decided to flee Mecca and shelter in a safe country with a just ruler. The Prophet Muhammad told them to take refuge with King Negus, the Christian king of Ethiopia . The Muslims who followed this advice found a very fair administration that embraced them with love and respect when they went to Ethiopia . King Negus refused the demands of the pagan messengers who asked him to surrender the Muslims to them, and announced that Muslims could live freely in his country.
"Such attitudes of Christian people that are based on the concepts of compassion, mercy, modesty and justice, constitute a fact that God has pointed out in the Quran."
I do not wish to be a self-centred Muslim who expects friends of other faiths to wish me Selamat Hari Raya or, for those who are not Malaysians and therefore do not know about Hari Raya, a Happy Eid and yet do not return their goodwill when it is Christmas, Chinese New Year, Deepavali or Vesak Day.
Every year, friends who are Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs or those without any faith come to our home to celebrate Hari Raya with us. They do so with sincerity and as a mark of respect for one of the most important days in the Muslim calendar. Why should we not reciprocate their kindness, show them the same mark of respect for their religion and wish them the same joy on their holy days of celebration?
An Islamic scholar and lecturer also reminded me that as Muslims we must remember the importance of both the five Pillars of Islam and in the six Pillars of Iman (Faith), which are:Belief in Allah;
Belief in the angels;
Belief in the revealed Books (which include the Bible, the Torah and the Holy Quran);
Belief in the Prophets (May Peace be Upon Them);
Belief in the Resurrection and the events of Kiamah, the Day of Judgement; and
Belief in the predestination (Qada' and Qadar) by Allah in all things.
The prophets include not just Muhammad (May Peace Be Upon Him) as the last prophet and as the Messenger of Islam, but also in the 24 earlier ones who are mentioned in both the Bible and the Quran. Four of them are Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Daud (David), and Isa (Jesus).
So, if Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Isa (Jesus), a prophet respected and revered in Islam, is it so wrong to wish a blessed day for those who celebrate it?
We are now in the second decade of the 21st century. Surely, we should, now more than ever, be far more enlightened at a time when information of any sort and of all kinds are so readily available to us.
What is most important is that we regard one another as fellow citizens and treat each other with respect, regardless of our race or religion.
The writer is Royal Fellow, School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and holds a BA (Honours) degree in Chinese Studies, University of Oxford .
[The writer is also the current Sultanah of Johor]](https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s480x480/198363_10152304757600618_2109002946_n.jpg)
Is it smart to juggle work and family?
29 March 2010
You’ve talked about being a full-time mother versus having a full-time career. Give us your view of a woman handling both responsibilities simultaneously. Is it doable, and is it smart?
Some women are able to maintain a busy career and a bustling family at the same time, and they do it beautifully. I admire them for their discipline and dedication.
It has been my observation, however, that this dual responsibility is a formula for exhaustion and frustration for many others. It can be a never-ending struggle for survival. Why? Because there is only so much energy within the human body, and when it is invested in one place it is not available for use in another.
Consider what it is like to be a mother of young children who must rise early in the morning, get her kids dressed, fed and sent to the child-care centre or babysitter for the day, then drive to work, labour from 9am-5pm (or later), go by the grocery store and pick up some stuff for dinner, retrieve the kids from the child-care centre or the babysitter, and then drive home. She is dead tired by that point and needs to put up a feet for a few minutes. But she can’t rest. The kids are hungry and they’ve been waiting to see her all day.
This tired woman then begins another four to six hours of very demanding “mothering” and household chores that will extend into the evening. And even if she does have a domestic helper, she may still not get her rest if she wants to spend time catering to her children’s needs.
You might ask the married woman, “Where is your husband and father in all this exertion? Why isn’t he carrying his fair share?” Well, he may be working a 15-hour day at his own job. Getting started in a business or a profession often demands that kind of commitment. Or he may simply choose not to help his wife. That is a common complaint among working mothers.
“Not fair,” you say.
I agree, but that’s the way the system often works.
Admittedly I have painted a more stressful scenario than most families have to endure. But perhaps not by much. Overcommitted and frazzled families are commonplace in our culture. Husbands and wives may have little time for each other. Life may be nothing more than work, work, work.
The issue, then, is not whether a woman should choose a career and be a mother, too. Of course, she has that right, and it is nobody’s business but hers and her husband’s.
I would simply plead that you not allow your family to get sucked into the black hole of exhaustion. However you choose to divide your responsibilities of working and family management, reserve some time and energy for yourselves – and for each other. Your children deserve the best you can give them, too.
This article was written by Focus on the Family Malaysia (www.family.org.my) and the Questions and Answers are extracted from “Complete Family and Marriage Home Reference Guide” by Dr James Dobson with permission.
Some women are able to maintain a busy career and a bustling family at the same time, and they do it beautifully. I admire them for their discipline and dedication.
It has been my observation, however, that this dual responsibility is a formula for exhaustion and frustration for many others. It can be a never-ending struggle for survival. Why? Because there is only so much energy within the human body, and when it is invested in one place it is not available for use in another.
Consider what it is like to be a mother of young children who must rise early in the morning, get her kids dressed, fed and sent to the child-care centre or babysitter for the day, then drive to work, labour from 9am-5pm (or later), go by the grocery store and pick up some stuff for dinner, retrieve the kids from the child-care centre or the babysitter, and then drive home. She is dead tired by that point and needs to put up a feet for a few minutes. But she can’t rest. The kids are hungry and they’ve been waiting to see her all day.
This tired woman then begins another four to six hours of very demanding “mothering” and household chores that will extend into the evening. And even if she does have a domestic helper, she may still not get her rest if she wants to spend time catering to her children’s needs.
You might ask the married woman, “Where is your husband and father in all this exertion? Why isn’t he carrying his fair share?” Well, he may be working a 15-hour day at his own job. Getting started in a business or a profession often demands that kind of commitment. Or he may simply choose not to help his wife. That is a common complaint among working mothers.
“Not fair,” you say.
I agree, but that’s the way the system often works.
Admittedly I have painted a more stressful scenario than most families have to endure. But perhaps not by much. Overcommitted and frazzled families are commonplace in our culture. Husbands and wives may have little time for each other. Life may be nothing more than work, work, work.
The issue, then, is not whether a woman should choose a career and be a mother, too. Of course, she has that right, and it is nobody’s business but hers and her husband’s.
I would simply plead that you not allow your family to get sucked into the black hole of exhaustion. However you choose to divide your responsibilities of working and family management, reserve some time and energy for yourselves – and for each other. Your children deserve the best you can give them, too.
This article was written by Focus on the Family Malaysia (www.family.org.my) and the Questions and Answers are extracted from “Complete Family and Marriage Home Reference Guide” by Dr James Dobson with permission.
