Lebai Gurun

My family is either enjoying the cool breeze of Kundasang or busily gorging couterfeit-bonanza miscellaneous items in cheap Hatyai. I'm at home, where my heart is. I call this chapter of my life: Big Green Jealous Beast in Denial.
As I grabed an umbrella and took a stroll to the supermarket, painting Crocker hills on the grey sky and slightly tapping my feet to the rythm of the rain, I shook off my impression of Mary Poppins and remembered an interesting situation involving me, my father and a mosque.
We were on our way to Gurun for its infamous Bihun Soup Gurun; a contender of my father's Best in the World food list. We stopped by a mosque to perform our Asar Prayer.
The mosque was shady and smelled of clean underwear. Just after the Azan was sounded, a herd of Kopiah and Serban wearing kampung folks neared the parameter of the mosque in unison. Like penguins. Or old folks with gout. As they entered the mosque and began to chat about kampung politics, they stopped at their tracks when they saw me and my father.
"Ada apa-apa?" One of the men mumbled under his breath.
"Ada ape-ape ape?" I offered a salam, thinking 'lose the KL accent, this is Gurun.'
"Nak periksa masjid ka?"
"Tak tak, nak sembahyang."
"Owhhhh." The herd continued walking to the centre of the mosque. I deserved that, I thought. It was habitual of me to dressed up in my 'site visit' attire. I sat down and observed them ambiguously. One of them opened a typical exercise book and began preaching about the importance of pertaining one's Iman. I took interest and listened to the whole Usrah from the corner of the mosque, all the while scribbling some important points on my sketchbook.
After praying, I distant myself from the crowd and read my own doa. An elderly man with wrinkled serban approached me with a put-on smile and asked "Awat tak doa sekali?" I answered. "Saya tak faham la doa Imam, saya doa sendiri lagi afdhal." He nodded dissaprovingly. I didn't care less.
As we walked to exit the mosque, one of the elderly man who personafies as the leader of the group pat my back, signalling me to hault.
"Ya pakcik?"
"Awat hang tak doa sekali? Bapak hang tak ajaq ka?" His tone was condescending.
"Takda la pakcik, saya tak paham doa tu jadi saya doa sendiri."
"Hang reti sembahyang ka? Mana ada orang buat lagu tu!" My father sensed the commotion and exited the mosque. He knew that I am entitled of my own commotion. Haha.
"Takpala pakcik, nanti lain kali saya doa skali." I answered as calmly possible, playing my cards carefully.
"Aku tau, hang muallaf, baru masuk Islam tapi toksah nak berlagak lagu hang tau! Lain kali hang ikot saja kami, jangan soal-soal. Nanti masok neraka!"
I managed to say "Insya allah..." instead of the much desired "Fuck You man..."
God! I pulled myself out from the crowd and smiled a -I'm in a rush-I don't have time for this- smile. I got into the car and told my father everything. Bapak began his usual lecture.
"Lebai mentality. Let them be. They talk about religion and scare people away with their brand of autocratic Islam. Think about it this way, they pray and learned about things they'd learned before over and over again. We pray, learn new things and serve our country by becoming successful. I'm not trying to be judgemental but that's how things are."
Yep, that's how things are. Lebai = Religion inspired fraternity club.
As we drove by the mosque, a group of malay teenagers and kids were playing football, oblivious to the calling of the Azan earlier. With people like the Lebais in the Kampung, I can't really blame them for being ignorant (or scared) of their responsibities.
Yep, that's how things are.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

am trying to understand u. what actually is your problem? generalising respected people based on your personal experiences. your mockery is an embarrassment to your so called malaysian muslim. this is not the first time you post such.

i do admit there's many good posting here... and good barking and sneering.. but please; your ego has outdo your wit thus making you sound silly sometimes, legally you have the right to be silly.

sincerely yours.
m

jasmin said...

"The mosque was shady and smelled of clean underwear."???!
bro afiq.. cant you find a better way of saying and referring to such place ? its a mosque bro... you can say
"The mosque was dim and smelled fresh of clean linen"...

Anonymous said...

this fellow need to do some soul searching obviously. and you certainly dont represent your age group. obviously you have some inner conflict. your experience in life and your wit doesnt go hand in hand. slow down and take a deep breath.
anger lead to despair... you going to throw stone now huh.
Upyurs

lebai said...

the concept of going to mosque is "jemaah" you go figure bro.

you can have your own special 'doa'.. but in "jemaah" all muslims are brothers... you obviously forget to learn more about islam as a way of life, community as a whole. your dad didnt go and 'doa' on his own did he.

"I answered. "Saya tak faham la doa Imam, saya doa sendiri lagi afdhal." He nodded dissaprovingly. I didn't care less."
from now on.. stick to what you know. and learn if you dont.

xxeemm said...

I too sometimes feel like having to give my own 'doa' after congregational prayers. But my mum explained to me. After the Jemaah prayer, follow the Imam's prayer. And then, you can do the Sunah Prayer and offer your own 'doa' after that.

:)

Please people. If you find an error in others, there's no reason to be so hostile. Unless he opens fire.

Takpela Afiq ada ego. Ego makes a good architect.

Syazwina Saw said...

I think I get what Afiq is trying to say.

For starters, I am one of those 'born-again Muslims', to use another generalisation, so I get where Afq is coming from. I admire his ability to judge for himself. For instance, he had a pretty hostile post about hijab-ing some time ago. And then he amended his views by having another post on it, to explain his newer, more balanced views.

So you're still learning, bro. I get that.

And for another, despite being a pretty regular masjid-visitor (in Malaysia), I understand what Afiq calls the 'lebai mentality'. I would not personally put a label over such a mentality, but I admit that the older generation are prone to what we may call 'taqlid' -- where they prefer to follow rather than think, and in turn, expect others to do the same. What they do may not necessarily be right (not talking about the congregational du'a, of course), but because they have done it over and again, they think that it's alright. That it's the same.

Being in a jemaah is definitely important. But the vibe I got from Afiq's experience was not disgust at the spirit of jemaah, but the taqlid mentality. It is this 'do as I do without questions' mentality that has put many youth off Islam (speaking form personal experience). It makes them feel like Islam is outdated and stagnant, whereas it is something that is very much alive.

We need only look at the Muslim minorities in Europe and other Anglo countries to see that Islam is a dynamic force, which encourages active thought alongside spiritual guidance.

And I would like to say, as a closer, that in all my experience in Melbourne, no Muslim prayer congregation reads the du'a in jemaah as well (except for taraweeh and special occasions, like after lectures or talks), because to them it isn't sunnah (this is NOT a salafi thing) and it disrupts others who are still praying. And because each person has something different to ask of God.

But Afiq, maybe doing as they do would be best at times. Just to maintain peace. :) It's not adaption, but rather assimilation without loss of principle. Dr Jamal Badawi (from radicalmiddleway.org) taught me as such.

Wassalamu'alaik warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

afiq said...

Let me rephrase: I didn't care less.

I've no idea how this post became a personal bashing session but to tell you the truth, I am not at all surprised by your reactions (referring to first four comments)

First of all, you guys are obviously older adults because some of you used pretty lame expressions (my father uses those kind of expressions too). I sensed that you are adamant to the lebai situation and find comfort of the stature of such personification.

It's good to have old people barking now and then to new mosque goers.

But the problem is (was) the hostility between two generations. Older and younger.

The elderly should have a broader spectrum of Islam in order to educate the younger generation. SO Lebai is a term for old people who never cared to learn and explore the beauty of Islam outside their comfort zone. By doing so, they limited their line knowledge and preserve their communal opinions and views by enforcing them to children(or teenagers) in the most uncivilized ways. (Rotan and scolding are some of them)

YOu know why I didn't follow the Imam's prayer. Because I don't trust them like I don't trust my cats to do the laundry. I've prayed around Kedah and had found out from a fellow arabic student from Kedah (who studies in UIA) that most Imams in Kampungs renders their doa to be hate-inspired wishes towards non-muslims. So now u know why; Doa is pretty powerful aite and I don't want it to inflict my friends.

You know what, since I'm accused of being judgemental, aren't you being judgemental of of my age group? No offence but I think teenagers my age are better equipped with the symbiosis of knowledge and Islam.

afiq said...

ah yes Jasmin. The masjid DOES smelled like newly wash underwear. Not linen but underwear. A brothel smelled of lubricant. My house smelled of cats.

It is as it is.

Miss Aida said...

The mentality of some people.

Sometimes, on road trips with friends, we stop for prayer at the nearest mosques. Just because a couple of us don't wear the hijab, we often get the evil eye. I always find it quite amusing.

syedz said...

truth hurts ey afiq. btw, im 30... one day when i get old. and wrinkly and walkin in a herd of penguins alike to the mosque. my brain then maybe wont be that active and have much energy to argue much to the younger ones. so i will probably just say simple thing like.. "ikut sajalah" and i hope the younger ones will RESPECT me as how have RESPECT the older ppl now and HOPE THEY WILL learn along the way without being rude and post such unnecessary stuff for non muslims to judge.

one old man snobish tone doesnt mean a thing... old ppl are just like that. i work with many.

asalamualaikum.. may peace find you bro.

btw. i found ur blog tru mm blog.

azrael said...

asslmkm, UIA student here. "If you find an error in others, there's no reason to be so hostile. Unless he opens fire." but my brother... i didnt see anyone opening fire. it was just a few simple and honest comments. and its about time. this bloger need to be responsible of the things he post.

"By doing so, they limited their line knowledge and preserve their communal opinions and views by enforcing them to children(or teenagers) in the most uncivilized ways. (Rotan and scolding are some of them)" sunnah nabi to use rotan if necessary. and who are you to say such?

"YOu know why I didn't follow the Imam's prayer. Because I don't trust them like I don't trust my cats to do the laundry."
then why in the first place did you go jemaah.?

I've prayed around Kedah and had found out from a fellow arabic student from Kedah (who studies in UIA)"
so now u wana get all the UIA students to endorse yur comments huh! i totally reject ur opinion.

"that most Imams in Kampungs renders their doa to be hate-inspired wishes towards non-muslims. So now u know why; Doa is pretty powerful aite and I don't want it to inflict my friends."
and now u wana get ur non muslims frens to side you huh.. imams pray for bad stuf on them is it? cummon bro.. after prayer.. there's a general du'a. islam never teach and allow to pray for bad stuff. and by you saying such things have tainted the image of all the suraus and mosque in the kampungs.

"You know what, since I'm accused of being judgemental, aren't you being judgemental of of my age group? No offence but I think teenagers my age are better equipped with the symbiosis of knowledge and Islam."
final one.. u want to get all teenagers to side yo now huh.?
its pretty clear that you have no idea what kind of damage that you can do by just writing nonsense.

posting unchecked facts and yur personal opinions regarding serious matters according to your own fancy. opening unescesary negative view toward a peacefull religion. nextime be carefull of what you write. especially when you call for attention from public.

forgive me if i have offended you.
i mean no harm.

afiq said...

syedz,

when one gets older and had aquired a sea of knowledge, one tends to be wise.

Educating using forceful means = wise?

Aida,

Still lovin' the Pearl and Diamond entry, thanks.

Azrael,

We are entitled to our own opinions aren't we? So be it. I'm not offended, not a bit. I learn new things everyday and quite frankly, I cannot be happier to be exposed to new views and opinions.

you quote:

"opening unescesary negative view toward a peacefull religion. nextime be carefull of what you write. especially when you call for attention from public."

I am not against the religion, just the manner of acceptance and practice by some ppl.

"posting unchecked facts and yur personal opinions regarding serious matters according to your own fancy"

The fact of the matter is.... it happened.

Opinions are SUPPOSED to be personal. Duh-uh~ Where do you come from? North Korea?

Annoying isn't it, quoting ppl's comment. Just a taste of ur own medicine. I hope ur not offended. *sniggers*

Aish, can't we all learn from this instead of attempting to rewrite history?

Islam is never the problem, only the followers. That's why I told my non-muslim friends to only judge Islam once they read the Quran.

xxeemm said...

hostility to me is when people are giving warnings about you posting ur thoughts and opinions here. Rather than saying "opening unescesary negative view toward a peacefull religion. nextime be carefull of what you write. especially when you call for attention from public." why not tell him straight why freedom of submitting his personal opinion is prohibited?

... because I don't see any reason for him not to.

renegix_01 said...

my point of views

"Awat hang tak doa sekali? Bapak hang tak ajaq ka?" His tone was condescending.
"Takda la pakcik, saya tak paham doa tu jadi saya doa sendiri."
"Hang reti sembahyang ka? Mana ada orang buat lagu tu!"

1)..is it wrong to recite doa all by urself?...i didnt have deeper knowledge bout islam teachings..but..is there any fatwa's that said it is HARAM not to follow the crowd doa's n doa's all by urself?...

"Aku tau, hang muallaf, baru masuk Islam tapi toksah nak berlagak lagu hang tau! Lain kali hang ikot saja kami, jangan soal-soal. Nanti masok neraka!

jgn soal2?..herm...i know those lebai have more knowledges bout islam more than me..but even in the era of Rasulullah S.A.W,anyone can ask anythings bout islam..so Afiq or anyone out there,if you have any doubts bout it,u have the right to ask in order to get the right answers!..such as why some of us said that berzanji is haram?..if u want to get the asnwer..ask!

miss aida:- well,if i go to ur house without clothes..will u find it awkward?..come on lar..mosque is rumah Allah..respect it by obeying Allah law's!

Anonymous said...

yeah true.. there's dresscode for every place. no big deal. if we can go tru all the trouble dressing up to mall, so no one give you a distasteful look... so dress up if you know u goin to be near a mosque. no big deal.

Roti Kacang Merah said...

Afiq says as Afiq sees and experiences. It’s as it is, just that. Nothing more.

I may not agree with Afiq to generalize the bashings he gets through the initial comments as coming from adults, but at least he’s honest and true to what he personally experienced. That’s true journalism.

And what’s this about little small things like tak join the jemaah during doa is so a-big-a-deal? Whichever mosques I been to, be it in the UK, Europe, Makkah or Madinah, you don’t get stopped on your tracks just because you decided to ask Allah different things than the rest of the jemaah after the solah jemaah.

And to be stopped and questioned of your acts intimidatingly and condescendingly at that, too. Islam does not practice that!

What the tok lebai (in fact, most of the tok lebais) should do is to be open about what Afiq says, that it was more afdal to know what you’re doa-ing about rather than pandai-pandai menghukum Afiq to masuk Neraka if he doesn’t do what the rest of the jemaah were doing.

What Afiq'a dad said was all true, too. It's the mentality. It's also the “ikut sajalaaaah…” attitude. Dah jadi macam "agama keturunan" rather than a real belief system where you should keep learning and learning and learning.

Maybe in your (angry commentators’) own bashings that Afiq and his ego are not doing justice to Islam or Afiq being judgmental towards the so-called respected figure, perhaps you (the angry commentators) should go back and sit down and review the situation altogether, and ask, "Why?"

Coz kalau betul keadaannya, orang pasti tak mengata.

Allahu a’lam.

afiq said...

well...

We all must dress up appopriately when entering a mosque but... sometimes things don't go as planned. For example, one may forgot one's head covering or has no scarf in sight. In that situation, should the girl miss her prayer and wait it out?

Yes, we all have our own Lebai in us but who are we to judge~~?

RedPeanutBun,

We read our own do'a too in UIA. I don't speak arabic so when I hear the Imam reciting his Doa in arabic, I am hesitant to follow it blindly. I read my own doa. Doa is our sword and sheath and I want to equip myself with the sharpest of swords and the strongest of sheaths.

Yea man... I hate to be intimidated because:

1. There is a bit of angst in this old teenager.

2. Repeat no.1 twice or more.

afif said...

dispensable thoughts? haha... so dis is the page yg diiklan atas beskal tu eh?

:)

fizi said...

kenapa la nak diisukan doa ni.. salah ke if doa sendiri?

afiq, i understand ur views, and i understand the others. Its just the "masuk neraka" part which I found quite amusing..

Orang tua, pasti la terkejut dengan benda2 radikal.. maafkanlah dia.. my brother (al-azhar grad, and also an imam) never had any issues with us reciting doa individually..

Anonymous said...

salam..
not ur fault praying individually..
but..
try 2 understand da situation..
jamaah is better..
but..
allah decide everything..
not dat pakcik rite..
(^_~)
sincerely..
----ibnsina---

hamba allah said...

Tragic..

Good post anyhow.

Mie said...

salam bro afiq..
u dun mind me calling u bro rite?
im an IIUM student. here in the mosque, people sometimes dun read doa after prayer.. cuz some consider it a bid'ah.
i understand how u feel. but bro, i think next time, just follow the imam, but read ur own doa to avoid such incidents from happening again.. yes, dis is to care for a greater maslahah.. u dun wan ppl to insult ur father rite? some ppl they just dun understand.. too rigid, too narrow minded..

ANyway, nice blog, nice post though quite controversial.
May Allah bless us all..
salam