It's shocking article or is it?

My article titled Happy Maal Hijrah 1429 & Happy New Year 2008 posted in AS Journal, on 13the January 2008, (See below) found to be controversial by one blogger, a person whom I knew in the past but he knew least of me these days. His response to my article circulated among gmail subscribers. Let see what the rest can make out of the accusation level against me is fair, or constructively in Islamic way, if not in Malaysia Boleh way, my reply will come only later_ Amde

14 /01/2008, Subang Jaya

askasah@gmail.com> wrote:

Assalamualaikum wbt,

I was shocked to receive this e-mail from a learned person like Sdr Amde Sidik. As a professional, I have to be very frank that I beg to differ of his opinion about Islam. There is nothing wrong with the SMS he received from his friend which sounded like this: -

"Seribu empat ratus dua puluh sembilan tahun sudah berlalu… sejauhmana lagi perjalanan kita sebagai umat Islam…? Mempukah kita maju kehadapan seribu tahun lagi…? Selamat menyambut Awal Muharam & Salam Maal Hijrah 1429."

The SMS clearly mentioned "kita sebagai umat Islam" AND NOT Islam. Let me stress again NOT Islam. There is distinctive difference between UMAT ISLAM and ISLAM. The sender of the SMS was questioning the ability of the Islam ummah to survive in the next 1,000 year ahead. Islam is a religion and Islam Umah is its professors.

Islam as a religion had been guaranteed by Allah SWT through His firman,

"Truly, the religion with Allah is Islam" – Surah Ali Imran Ayat 19.

["Sesungguhnya agama di sisi Allah hanya Islam"] – Surah Ali Imran: Ayat 19

Firstly - When a question is asked "Has Islam changed over the period of 1429?" To me, we should be asking "What changes has Islam brought to my life in the past 50 years or so?"

There is no need to change Islam and Islam does not require any changes. Islam is a complete religion, a religion of "Deen-Al-Touhid" and "Deen-Al-Fitrah". "Deen-Al-Touhid means the religion of the belief in the Oneness of God, and "Deen-Al-Fitrah" means the religion of the nature or the religion which is in accordance with human nature.

Islam is called the religion of One God because its main theme is the unity of God. The doctrine of One God is the most emphasized and repeated principle in the Holy Qur'an.

Islam is called the religion of nature because its teaching is acceptable to the human mind when the human mind is freed from illogical thinking and superstition.

Secondly when Sdr Amde Sidik mentioned that "God does not change anything what He has given, an example and the proof is the Quran" The statement is totally ABSURD. Na'auzubillah.

I'm not sure what Sdr Amde meant by "God does not change anything what He has given", is it ISLAM as a Way of Life or is it our way of life which does not conform to the principles as set in the Quran and Sunnah Rasullullah SAW. If it is the later, yes I do agree 100% but NOT the former.

This is the dalil,

"Verily! Allah will not change the (good) condition of a people as long as they do not change their state (of goodness) themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allah)". Surah Al-Rad Ayat 11

["Sesungguhnya Allah tidak mengubah nasib sesuatu kaum sebelum kaum itu mengubah apa yang ada pada dirinya sendiri."] Surah Al-Rad Ayat 11.

Let me say this, Allah SWT, being Perfect, in His Wisdom and Knowledge, perfected a complete way of life for us. He has set His limitations and rules, all of which are beneficial to mankind, and therefore, Islam as way of life DO NOT NEED CHANGING.

The dalils,

"These are the limits (set) by Allah, so do not approach them"
(Surah al-Baqarah 2:187)

"These are the limits set by Allah, so do not transgress them"
(Surah al-Baqarah 2:229)

Let me emphasised that Islam encourages its Ummah to be creative, innovative and to acquire as much knowledge as possible as soon as we DO NOT GO BEYOND the limits set by Allah SWT and the Prophet Muhammad SAW. For example, Islam forbids its ummah to consume pork, so please do not conduct any research to prove that pork is HALAL. What you can do is to conduct research why pork is HARAM.

Thirdly – I do not understand the question asked by Sdr Amde "Do you think religion is fixed? Or do you think what have been written down in the Quran remains to be understood today as it was 1429 years?

Let me ask Sdr Amde, "What would you like Islam and al-Quran to be?" Do you want Islam and al-quran to be like our legislation where changes and amendments can be effected when and where we like to suit our requirements? Na'auzubillah.

"Truly, the religion with Allah is Islam" – Surah Ali Imran Ayat 19.

"And this Qur'an is not such as could ever be produced by other than Allah (Lord of the heavens and the earth), but it is a confirmation of (the revelation) which was before it [ i.e. the Taurat (Torah), and the Injeel (Gospel)], and a full explanation of the Book (i.e. laws decreed for mankind) - wherein there is no doubt from the the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinn,and all that exists)." Surah Yunus Ayat 37

We have to admit that we as humans lack perfect knowledge as well as perfect wisdom. No matter how hard we try, we will never attain the perfect way of life by our own thinking and interpretation. This is the reason why Allah SWT being the Most Wise, sent us the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad SAW to show us this practical and organised way of life.

Saya akhiri e-mail ini dengan Firman Allah SWT di dalam Surah Ali Imran Ayat 85 yang bermaksud,

"Sesiapa mencari agama selain daripada Islam, ia tidak akan diterima daripadanya, dan di akhirat dia adalah antara orang-orang yang rugi." – Surah Ali Imran Ayat 85

Wallahu'alam bisawab. Forgive me for being so blunt, I'm just executing my responsibility a Muslim.