Selamat Datang dan Terima Kasih

Agak terkejut jua apabila mendengar berita mengenai perlantikan rektor baru UNISSA yg berkuatkuasa awal minggu ani. Tidak kurang perasaan hairan dan sedih atas pemergian mantan rektor Dr Haji Yusuf. Apa2pun diucapkan selamat datang kepada rektor baru ke UNISSA dan tidak lupa ucapan terima kasih yg tidak terhingga kepada Dr. Haji Yusuf yg selama ani mencurah bakti kepada UNISSA.

Rektor baru: harapan dan cabaran

kedatangan rektor baru diharapkan akan membawa UNISSA kearah mencapai matlamatnya. Juga diharap akan menanai hasrat KDYMM Sultan bagi melahirkan ulama dan cendikiawan Islam buatan Brunei. dan dengan rektor baru ani jua diharap akan menerajui UNISSA kearah menjadi satu pusat pendidikan tinggi Islam yg progresif dan dinamik dan menjadi universiti bertaraf antarabangsa. Diharapkan perubahan2 dalam struktur akedemik bagi pelajar2 akan datang akan lebih mantap bagi mencapai tujuan tersebut.

Namun ani adalah merupakan satu cabaran besar kepada rektor dan pemimpin2 UNISSA yg lainnya. Perubahan yang macamana kn dibuat? adakah mampu untuk membaiki keadaan UNISSA yg pada masa ani alum ada hasil mahsulnya? apa sukat2 kepada perubahan ani? dan yg paling mendukacitakan karang apabila tiga pengambilan terawal ani lebih baik dari yg akan datang. Siapa kn disasal dan dipersalahkn? adakah akan diganti lagi rektor lain? macam ani saja balum pun sampai lima tahun UNISSA sudah ada tiga org rektor. dan lagi pertukaran atu macam nada berasalan, balum pun sampat dibaiki kesilapan dan dibuat perubahan sudah ditukar. dan apa kriterianya pelantikan rektor baru ani? kenapa ia? kenapa nda urg lain? salahtah urg yg melantik rektor sebelum ani, siapa melantik dan atas titah perkenan siapa? ani beberapa persoalan yg bermain difikiranku selepas mendangar berita ani.

kemudian ada lagi mendangar bahawa kerana isu ani ada pertalagahan di kalangan tokoh2 agama dan beberapa pemimpin ketani. yg satu nda tepakai kan sorang ani, yg seorang nda betagur dgn yg lainnya kerana benda ani. dan siapa yg lebih rapat ke atas, ialah yg manang. adanya unsur2 kronisma dalam politik UNISSA. masing2 mau urgnya yg masuk ke UNISSA ani. agak terkilan jualah mendangar ada benda2 cemani di Brunei dan UNISSA. masalahnya bukan siapa yg lebih pandai atau kreatif, tapi siapa yg lebih pandai mengikut cakap org atasan. Brunei ani, dalam pengamatan peribadi ku, nada tempat untuk urg2 bijak pandai dalam membuat perubahan yg baik.. tapi siapa yg lebih pandai tunduk dan akur kepada kehendak diatas. nada tampat untuk berbeza pendapat dan ambilan, tapi tampat untuk mengikut dan taklid buta.

Satu perkara lagi yg dibimbangi adalah hal ehwal pelajar2 lama. takut krg kami ani di'anaktiri'kan kerana sibuk dengan pelajar2 baru dan membuat peraturan2 dan struktur akedemik yg baru. lebih2 lagi kami yg mengikuti kursus setahun diluar negeri ani. Semoga segalanya berjalan lancar selepas ani dan nda akan menjejaskan kami pelajar2 pengambilan awal.

Sekian dulu untuk kali ani, mungkin ada yg tertunggu2 untuk ku mempost isu ani..

Wassalam~

Allah’s name: is it Muslim exclusivity?

The recent issue regarding the court case in our neighbouring country in which the court has granted the right to the Christian church to use the name “Allah” to refer to their god in their prayer and publication. This has caused a lot of controversies and chaos in that nation. People protest here and there saying that ‘Allah’ is exclusive to the Muslim and by giving the right to the Christian to use it will bring trouble to the Muslim community. They condemned such act saying this is a deception and propaganda of the Christian in trying to spread their doctrine to the Muslim.

I’m not opposing nor do I agree the decision of the court in this issue. But I just want to share my view, not merely from the religious aspect but from the logical thinking and common sense. As far as I am concern, through my reading and observation, all the Semitic religion (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) have something in common, however there are points in which these three religions depart from each other. All the fundamental teaching of each of these religions is “the uniqueness/oneness of God the Almighty” or Tauhid. This can be found in the Quran, the bible and the Torah. The only thing we Muslim differ from the Christians is regarding the divinity of Jesus or Isa (peace be upon him). And with the Jews, they don’t accept Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the last messenger of Allah. In the Quran, Allah named the Jews and Christians as Ahlul Kitab (people of the book).

Muslims and Jews are closer to each other in the concept of God. We (muslims and jews) believe that the God is one and unique, He didn’t beget nor begotten, and we associates no partner with Him. The Christian however, have gone astray in which they believe that Jesus was the begotten son of God and they believe in the triune God or trinity concept of God or as they say 3-in-1. And they believe the crucifixion of Jesus is the only way to salvation. Although nowhere in the bible, be it the old or new testament, Jesus explicitly claim divinity. Neither he ever say "I am god or worship me"

So, the main point of departing of Christianity and Islam is not the name of God but rather the concept of God. The act of associating another being to God is the problem. The Arab-Christians for hundreds of years have called their God by the name of Allah and no Arab-Muslims scholars have ever refuted them in doing so. But why is it that when the Christians in the Malay world want to do so, many of us rebuke and disapprove such deeds?

One might say Allah is the name for Muslim’s god (Muslim in the sense those who follow Muhammad (peace be upon him)). Then what is the name for the God of Jesus, Moses, Abraham, David and the other Prophets? To whom they pray? Who sent them? to whom their followers bow and pray to? In various places in the Quran we were told that these Prophets preached the same commandment over and over again that is “worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord and dont associate unto Him anything!!”.

The other argument they raised is, the Christian is trying to deceit and indoctrinate the Muslims by confusing them with the word Allah. This is their dirty tactics to fool the Muslims. For me, this just shows how weak and vulnerable the Muslims are. How easy is it to convert a Muslim? Why is it always us the one who are deceived? Why is it us the one who are fooled? Ask any Muslim around the world, would they abandon their faith just for the name the Christians are using? No Muslims would do that regardless of practicing ones or not.

For me this is a blessing that they have accepted Allah as their God, and now is our chance to correct their misconception. As in the shahadah, we say “There is no God worthy of worship except Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”. The Christian is one step closer to us by saying Allah is god. It is the time for us to clarify to them their mistake of associating Allah with Jesus or whatever. And make them accept that Muhammad as well as Jesus (peace be upon them) are the Prophets of Allah.

The questions worth asking to ourselves are: What we as Muslims have contributed in propagating Islam? Why the Christians have been more successful in converting native people in the most remote place in the world than our Ustaz or Imam? Why is it we fight among us for matters such as where to put our hand in solat, wudhu and touching of non-mahram, moon sighting, sunnah bid’ah, mazhab and fanaticism, and so on while the Christians are working day and night to spread their religion? What is our role? The westerner is worried now, when after 911 many people have converted to Islam. The Islamic movement is so strong in the west compare to our region which majority of the people is Muslim.

So, before condemning this and that, ask ourselves, have we done our job for Islam?

[My previous post was not intended to provoke anyone. It was purely the heartfelt lament of me with regard to the issue. Alhamdulillah, I did receive some feedbacks and they were positive. The feeling was overwhelming when you know that there are someone out there was supporting you. This post is not specifically confined to UNISSA but Brunei as a whole.]

The “ripple effect”

The title, per se, is self-explained and understandable, which is the ripple like effect of water. The effect, in which, the initial impact would produce waves that spread out in a circle incrementally, and depending on the size of the water container and the initial impact the effect varies. And when the ripple has reached the end it will come back to where it begins. This theory is widely used in economics, sociology and other sciences and it is rather relevant in analyzing this particular issue. But what is the water, the object initially dropped into it, the ripple, as well as the boundary or container of the water?

The Titah of his Majesty was the initial impact whereby it has caused a ‘disturbance’ and has created an ‘impact’ on the calm surface of the water, UNISSA. The ripple is the finger-pointing and antagonizing that happen after that and the boundary is the religious aspect of Brunei. There are actually several points of the Titah which has caused a chaotic ‘ripple’ in the pool. One of them is the expectation of the purity of Islam in UNISSA’s education. And His Majesty provided us with the definition of ‘Islam Tulin’, i.e. Islam of the Prophet without any addition of elimination of any kind. Having established that notion, it is worth reflecting back to ourselves, our country and our religious practices in Brunei. How has our religious beliefs and practices differ from the Islam Tulin? Do all our ‘amal ibadat’, culture and traditions are compliant with the ‘Islam tulin’? If yes, prove it? If no, why? Why is UNISSA being forced into this Islam Tulin thingy, as in reality our country’s Islam is not that pure? Who to blame? Who is responsible? Why? The’ ripple’ keeps on going…

Secondly, about the quality of Quran recitation of UNISSA’s students… it was mentioned that it is a compulsory that all UNISSA’s students must be able to recite the Quran very well and it would be such a shame if the students of the Arabic School is better than UNISSA’s. Well, majority of UNISSA’s student were from the Arabic School and Tahfiz Institute so they are excluded. It was meant for those with non-religious background or the English medium courses (Islamic Finance, Law and Business management). But who are responsible that they are not able to read the Quran fluently? Is it UNISSA? Or their parents? Parents cannot be blamed as they have sent their children to the religious school when they were small, from ‘darjah 1 to darjah 6’? So is it the religious school, then? the ineffectiveness of the religious education system? Or is it the students themselves? The list continues… the ripple keeps going…

Thirdly, with regard to the ‘worthless investment’ if we are unable to produce ulama within 4 years of undergraduate study… is it really a useless investment, investing in knowledge? How about our investments all these years? Have we produced enough ulama in Brunei? Which figure in Brunei can be called ulama? Or they are just merely symbol? White and read head gears and long black graduation robe? Is it really a void investment building a university, giving chance to those who want to learn about their religion? The chance that they didn’t previously have? Which of our investments is the most successful, that has benefited us, which are shared equally among the people? None but the massive losses of our money here and there, now and then… the ripple keeps on…

The fourth point is the marketability of UNISSA undergraduates. His Majesty the Sultan (or someone giving him this idea) seems to disagree with the idea of enhancing the marketability of UNISSA graduates. He said that UNISSA does not have to worry about the job prospect of its undergrad as it will take away the focus of giving enough education in producing quality ulama/scholars. Let say we agree to this idea, and we take it as it is, and we implement it in our University what will happen? UNISSA has to eliminate its major stakeholder, i.e. the employer. Be it the government or the private sector. When this happen, UNISSA won’t receive any input and feedback from any of these employer because why should they bother? UNISSA is not interested in them and the employers are not consulted at the first place… Moreover, they are not interested in employing those with no market-based skills (which UNISSA has worked so hard for the students)… Then what will happen to the graduates of UNISSA? Who wants to feed them? Who can they blame for their bad market value? UNISSA? Are there any job opportunities for them? Given the fact that with average marketability there are more than 5000 unemployment in Brunei… how about none? the ripple doesn’t stop…

Earlier this year, His Majesty the Sultan, questioned the MOE regarding the SPN 21. Why religious studies are not made compulsory to the students, and why it stands with music and drama lesson… but I wonder why after such period of time only this matter was raised? Why not during the research and development of the system? Same thing with ‘sepadu’ previously? Why discontinued it before having any results from it? Now there is the differentiated curriculum being implemented? Why change the rules before finishing the game? Who to blame? What must be done to avoid this thing to happen in the future? The questions continue, alongside the ripple…

From late last year to the middle of this year, we were having though times in Brunei. Floods, swine flu, fire, and haze are some of the problems. Even the royal Birthday celebration has to be cancelled and postponed. And this was the time when his majesty questioned the Royal Birthday Committee on such a wasteful event. He asked why the sponsors sponsored, how merrier the event should be, how grand do they want it… but the question is… who de we blame for this matter? The committee, which I remembered saying we must “memeriahkan lagi sambutan ani sebagai tanda syukur kepada ALLAH”? The sponsors? The people? You tell me… the finger-pointing started, so does the ripple..

Zakat was a major phenomena in Brunei just a month ago.. his Majesty’s distributed the zakat fund to all the rightful recipients and declared Brunei as a poverty-free country. It was shocking to see such numerous ‘fakir n miskin’ as well as ‘gharimin’ are there in the Sultanate, a country that is known as wealthy, oil rich, small, and peace. So whose fault is this? The fakir, miskin and gharimin themselves? The able citizens of Brunei, for not helping one another? The employer for not giving local people jobs? Low wages and salaries? The banks, for offering loans? The unequal distribution of natural resources? On and on, the questioning will keep on going… like the ripple in the pool..

These are just some examples which I can think of. And like any ripple on a close container, after it reaches the wall, it will bounce back and eventually meet again at the exact point where it all begun. Then it will repeat again and again until all the energy and momentum fade away. And in our case, this will end only when those in-charges are more responsible and aware of what is actually happening here in Brunei.

this post is not meant to accuse, provoke, undermine anyone anywhere and in any kind, it is just a personal thought and opinion with regard to this matter. And please dont quote any of my words out of context. Any mistakes, inadequacy, fault, harshness in any of my posts are totally regretted and I beg an apology.]

It takes two to tango..

I can see some hits and view of my blog... Maybe, it is pertaining to my comments and reactions to His Majesty’s titah concerning UNISSA. At first I was so enthusiastic to give commentary on the subject, but after some time, I begin to think, who am I to give such a remark? Who am I to object Him? What is my significance in this? Can I change Brunei? Furthermore, I don’t feel that my points were correct because I don’t receive any feedbacks from the readers. What do they think? Do they agree with everything I say? If yes, why? If no, why not? And what the readers have in mind? Why are they being so passive? I just want some kind of appreciation or any kind of feedback; I don’t care whether it is negative or positive.

Mun nada respon dari urg lain, semacam ketani atu becakap sendiri2. Nda kana dgr dan hargai apa yg ketani cakapkan atu. Tambahan isu ani masih terbuka kepada pro dan con, for or against, betul atau salah.. mana urg2 UNISSA? Pensyarah, penuntut atau pentadbir.. Apa durg pikir dalam soal ani? Atau kali2 nda bepikir? Buntu pemikiran? mandul akal? Aku mencabar mana2 urg untuk membari pendapat mengenai ani.. urg UNISSA atau bukan.. sehaluan atau nda..

Aku masih ingat dulu masa pembukaan kursus kepimpinan MPP UNISSA, kami dibagi ceramah oleh Prof Munir Yaakob.. antara lain katanya, pelajar ani jgn Cuma menjadi pemerhati dalam pembangunan bangsa, be part of it.. be on the mainstream of the nation’s building… and I agreed to what he says, he was right. But in reality, students are deemed as the second class and immature citizens. We used to hear “apa kamu tau?”, "hmmp..belajar tah kamu dulu", “kamu siapa?”, “don’t be too loud”, “ketaguran krg”.. jadinya gelaran ‘Mahasiswa’ atau pun ‘golongan bijak pandai’ atu adalah label palsu, nada makna.. jgn cakap isu2 nasional lh, kan mengomplen elaun lambat pun kana marahi, kana ucap nda bersyukur.. bersyukur ani bukan dengan membisu, berdiam, dan syukur ani nda menjadikan urg buduh dan dungu..

Sebenarnya, ada beberapa post lagi yg kan ku buat pasal isu ani, cuma aku kan menunggu respon dari urg lain.. mudahanlah lapas ani, aku nda becakap sendiri2..