Last Sunday I managed to attend Dr Zakir Naik's talk at PWTC. Hemy registered for 4 person, myself, herself, Mas and a friend of Hemy's, Azrinie. Unfortunately, Mas could not join us so there was only the 3 of us.
Pic 'cilok'ed from Hemy's FB.
Dr Zakir Naik is an expert in comparative religions and has been giving talks around the world. He was in Malaysia for Malaysian tour. Before PWTC, he gave a talk in UiTM Shah Alam. Hemy and Mas went to that one. Since PWTC is nearer to my home, I decided not to miss this opportunity.
The topic of his talk was Islamic views on terrorism and jihad. Very interesting indeed. And his talk was open to the non-muslims as well. We arrived at PWTC after 6 pm and people were already arriving by the hundreds. I could not help admiring the jubahs the muslim women were wearing. Cantik-cantik...
The event started at about 8 pm. We managed to secure seats near the screen. Tak mendongak sangat, tak jauh sangat.
The crowd. Full house.
Tun Dr Mahathir was also present and gave the opening talk.
Then Dr Zakir gave his talk.
He spoke on how the words fundamentalist and jihad have been twisted to define Islamic extremist and holy war. He explained the true meaning of fundamentalist and jihad. Fundamentalist being a person who study/practice the fundamentals. Fundamentals can be anything be it fundamentals of the religion or even the fundamentals of science. As for me, I can be called a fundamentalist too kot? Fundamentalist of pharmacology :P
He spoke on how the words fundamentalist and jihad have been twisted to define Islamic extremist and holy war. He explained the true meaning of fundamentalist and jihad. Fundamentalist being a person who study/practice the fundamentals. Fundamentals can be anything be it fundamentals of the religion or even the fundamentals of science. As for me, I can be called a fundamentalist too kot? Fundamentalist of pharmacology :P
Jihad means to strive or to struggle. Jihad may change depends on situation. As a student, jihad to pass the exams. It may be jihad for the well being of own's family. And the most important and the most difficult jihad to do as an individual, jihad against nafs. Kena muhasabah diri ni...
He also spoke on the misconceptions of how non-believers think that Islam was spread by wars and coercion. He said no sword is held against people in any parts of the world, yet many has converted into Islam. He ended his talk by this quote: The non-believers are fearful of the weapons of Islam but in reality the bomb of peace has been dropped and spreading throughout the world. (lebih kurang la ayat dia mcm tu... can't remember word for word.) After all, Islam derived from Arabic word which means peace.
His talk was inspiring. And following his talk, there was a Q and A session. Priority was given to non-muslims. I was impressed by the way he answered the questions. He would quote the Quran, the Bible, Hindu scriptures complete with chapters and verses. Thus it was no wonder if people say the shahadah during this session.
The questions vary from who was actually the last prophet to reincarnation in Islam to what is love. The guy yang tanya pasal love tu memang kelakar.
This participant is not well-versed in English thus he has an interpreter to translate his question into English and the answers into Chinese.
One participant asked something about how the knowledge she got from the teachings of the church differ from what has been described by Dr Zakir. And to that, Dr Zakir stressed again and again, if you want to learn about Christians, read the Bible. Don't look upon the church. There are thousands of church in the world. Which church do you want to follow. Same as Islam, if you want to know more about Islam, read the Quran. Don't totally depend on the people.
I think that is a good point. Hmm... This is also true la kan: If you want to know more about a person, don't look at the car he/she is driving, sebab kereta tu beli secara hutang. Don't look at the handbag she is carrying, sebab handbag tu mungkin Petaling Street mari. Don't look at the jewelry she is wearing, sebab they may be fake. Instead look deeper into the heart. Peace.:)
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