do spare us (them) sometimes! ;)

salam folks, and may Allah's blessing is upon you! ;)

1. i knew i've been critical on "golongan berpakaian agama" recently; but, folks, let me clarify my stand here so that there'd be no confusion later on: i've no problems with these golongan agama! in fact, i've no rights to stop them from practicing what they believe - yet, my concern is they (with their traditions) could taint the image of Islam, and thus making Islam harder to be practiced for laymen like me! it's not that i'm trying to make Islam easier than what it actually is, but let's get back to the actual teaching of Islams! do i have any proofs to claim that Islam, by rights, is easy?

2. for today's discussion, i won't come up with proofs from the Koran & Sunnah to back-up my arguments. but, let us put our logical hat up! if Islam was too complicated to be understood, don't you think people like Bilal bin Rabah, and other servants could easily believe in Islam? they don't have any degree in Islamic studies, or whatsoever, but how could they understand Islam easily? if it's very hard to explain faith (i.e. very fundamental in Islam), don't you think Bilal bin Rabah could be among the early followers of Islam? 

3. okay enough for that discussion! i'd like to bring another important aspect in Islam, which most of us rarely discuss, that is repentance..based on my experience, many Muslim speakers didn't stress much on Allah's mercy - instead, they'd focus more on the punishment side (e.g. what punishments awaiting you if you disobeyed this and that, etc)

4. so, Islam may be understood as a very rigid religion that has no (or less) mercy on its followers. is that true? absolutely, and totally NO!

5. a great Muslim scholar, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, in his book, "The Invocation of God," describes the followings (i quote);

"The gnostic then journeys towards God on these two wings (i.e awareness of his own faults, and recognition of his Lord's grace).He cannot journey without them, and if he denied one, he would be like a bird that lost a wing"

6. how could a bird fly without a wing, right? definitely, it can't! 

7. according to Ibn Qayyim again, the concept of repentance is what one of the early believers (i.e. salaf) meant when he said, "A person may commit a sin by which he goes to heaven, and a good deed by which he goes to hell. 'How?' someone asked. He replied, 'Having committed the sin, he is ever watchful in fear, regretful, timorous, lamenting, shamed before his Lord, his head in his hands and his hearts rent."

8. but folks, don't get me wrong - it's not i'm encouraging you to make sins ;( 

9. it's that, whether we like it or not, we're humane by nature, which are subject to wrongdoings! 

10. but, let's not forget the Lord's Grace - and don't forget to seek refuge from Allah from Shaitans (i.e. refer Surah Al-Mukminun, verse 97-98)

11. and if u see someone is doing sins, don't insult him/her - in fact, remind him decently, and show him the Lord's grace! and of course, don't be judgmental! ;)