Will mosques forever close their
doors to infidels?
Sunday September 6,
2015 Zurairi AR Malay Mail
Online
SEPTEMBER 6 — It was nice to hear about
heartwarming stories at the sidelines of the Bersih 4 mass rally in
Kuala Lumpur last weekend.
Three Catholic churches — St John’s Cathedral
in Bukit Nanas, St Anthony’s Church in Pudu, and the Church of Our
Lady of Fatima in Brickfields — offered refuge to rally-goers
should police clamp down hard on them.
Since that did not happen, St John’s offered
them free buns and water, with Buddhist group Ti Ratana Penchala
Community Centre parking its food truck there. It was a similar
scene at St Anthony’s.
At
Dataran Merdeka, dozens of Muslims performed their prayers on the
streets, with non-Muslims forming a ring around them to prevent any
disturbance. Many also informed their friends to refrain from
honking their maddening vuvuzelas during the prayers.
Of
course, not everybody was happy with these gestures of
kindness.
Pro-Umno portal MyKMU.net had said prior to
the rally that the Catholic churches were just provoking the police
by offering to shelter participants should the rally turn
ugly.
In
an article that carried no byline, the portal said the churches did
not offer such protection before, and were doing it only to play
the religious card in the run-up to the Sarawak state
elections.
Muslims who prayed on the streets were also
chided by some of their brethren for forfeiting comfort and peace
in nearby mosques. Some accused them of putting on a show of piety,
or trying to make questionable statements.
Muslims should be able to pray wherever it is
convenient for them. I saw a man praying at a quiet corner in a
shopping mall a few weeks ago, and I had to stop myself from
wondering why he had done so.
Those who were
lucky enough to have spent some time overseas would perhaps have
performed their prayers in a public area at least once. And people
would just let them be, knowing it is part of every Muslim’s
personal obligations.
Many forget that fact when they live in a
country that offers so many exclusive privileges for
Muslims.
Here, some Muslims complain that prayer rooms
in shopping malls are too small, too stuffy, too stinky. As if it
is an obligation for everyone to accommodate Muslims, simply
because well, they are Muslims.
Muslims may be the majority in this country,
but that should offer them no special treatment. They should
instead feel blessed that most places are thoughtful enough to
offer them a place for them to perform prayers every few hours
daily.
These people feel special when they see prayer
rooms provided in buildings overseas, not realising that prayer
rooms elsewhere are afforded not to just Muslims, but to all
faiths.
It
is common to see shared quiet rooms where Muslims can perform their
daily prayer, Christians can hold their mass, and for others to
meditate and contemplate on life — all in the same
place.
This willingness to share, however, is rarely
extended by Muslims here.
During Bersih 4, the nearby Masjid Jamek was
open, but was indifferent towards accommodating and welcoming
adherents.
Participants were blamed by some media for
“occupying” spaces for prayers by resting there and the sound of
the vuvuzelas outside were panned for “annoying” the focus of
Muslims who were trying to pray.
I
went on a holiday in Siem Reap last week, and it was a humbling
experience to witness Buddhist rituals under a giant Buddhist
statue in the Kulen Mountain National Park.
The ancient temples in the Angkor complex
themselves were definitely among the most sacred and holiest places
for local Hindus and Buddhists hundreds of years ago, and now
anybody can walk in and have their breath taken away by their
religious majesty.
I
have had the same experience at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, just
months before yet another fatal bombing. In Tokyo, I was free to
give my respects and try out the purification ritual at the
shrines. I am sure many of my readers have their own similar
experiences.
But non-Muslims would have little chance to do
so in our mosques. When it comes to prayer, some in the Muslim
community seem to close themselves off from the world, relieving
others the chance to observe and find out what it is that makes
Islam so attractive, if any.
Mosques used to be the centre of Malay
communities back in the day. It was a place for socialising, for
children to learn, some even had bazaars in their
compounds.
There has never been a time where mosques are
as many as they are right now. But instead, most are as lifeless as
ever.
Mosques are built huge and ornate, but
sometimes just a tool for politicians to win voters’ hearts.
Instead of making mosques attractive, religious authorities vilify
those who avoid them.
Worse still, there is some sort of a
possessiveness towards mosques and Muslim praying areas.
Who can forget when a Buddhist group decided
to borrow a surau, or prayer hall, in a Kota Tinggi resort for
meditation two years ago?
Instead of showing hospitality, many Muslims
went berserk. The owner of the resort was called in by the police.
The surau itself, was in the end torn down as it was deemed
“polluted” by the Buddhists.
That is how much some Muslims value their
places of worship.
The recent heartwarming stories we heard of
others accommodating Muslims should at least open the eyes of
Muslims.
It
would be a nice gesture if Muslims can also respect non-Muslims’s
acts and places of worship. Instead, we see protests against a
cross hung at a church. Christians cannot use the word “Allah.”
Their bibles are seized.
Non-Muslims have shown they can open their
doors to Muslims. Will we ever see Muslims
reciprocating?