Life of a Reverted Muslim

"O believers enter into Islam completely and do not follow the footsteps of Shaitan, surely he is your clear-cut enemy. If you falter after receiving the clear-cut message, then keep in mind that Allah is Mighty, Wise. Are they waiting for Allah to come down to them in the shadow of clouds, along with the angels, and make His decision known? Ultimately all matters will be presented to Allah for decision"
(Surah Al-Baqara, Ayah 208-210)


Saturday, December 17, 2011

You are not a Chinese because you have BEARD!!!


I met my friend few days ago and he was shocked when he saw I grew my beard. Well let me clarified this that I didn’t go to any hair grow centre to grow my beard or did I put any seed to grow it. Then how can I have beard if you didn’t grew it some might ask. I didn’t grew it because it came out by itself and what I do is that I didn’t cut it. (wink wink)

Here are the dialogue between me & my friend:

Friend : ‘Yo (with a surprise tone)… You want to become Pak Haji ah? Very Malay la you. I told you already before that you are not a Chinese anymore? Very ‘Yok Shuin’ (ugly) la your beard..!!’

Me : ‘Hahaha…. Firstly let me clarified that to become a Haji you do not have to grow your beard. You just have to go for Hajj and you will become Haji. Secondly, I am still a Chinese and more Chinese than you’

Friend : ‘How can you say you are more Chinese than me?’

Me : ‘What religion do you profess ah?’

Friend : ‘Me? I am Buddhist and I worship any God that I saw. You ah no more Chinese in you la… (with a very sarcastic tone)

Me : ‘Oic. So you also worship Tu Di Gong, Kuan Gong & during Chinese New Year you worship Cai Sen (God of Prosperity) also la ya’

Friend : ‘Ya la.. I worship them also if I saw or pass by it’

Me : ‘You look at those Gods that you worship, all of them also have beard and if you look back to China history you will found out that most of the Emperors, the High Ranking Officers and others also have beard. So who is less Chinese now? You or me?’

Friend : ‘But your one very ‘Yok Shuin’ (ugly) la… Theirs is nicer’

Me : ‘But they have beards right and where is your if you claim you are Chinese and must strictly follow Chinese culture and tradition? I am more Chinese now after becoming a Muslim than you leh’

After that he diverted the topic and asks me other question about Islam. Maybe he realized that he created a trap that he himself fall into it but the truth is a race as found in Britannica Encyclopedia as below;

“race, the idea that the human species is divided into distinct groups on the basis of inherited physical and behavioral differences. Genetic studies in the late 20th century refuted the existence of biogenetically distinct races, and scholars now argue that “races” are cultural interventions reflecting specific attitudes and beliefs that were imposed on different populations in the wake of western European conquests beginning in the 15th century”

So from the definition you know that one doesn’t change their race when becoming a Muslim because race & religion are two different topic altogether. Now let me share with you the “culture of beard” among the God’s of the Chinese & people from different faith and some reason why some have kept their beards and some not. As for a Muslim there is few view on growing a beard and mostly grew their beard to follow and feel closer to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). In a hadith, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) says;


‘Clip your moustaches and lengthen your beards and do not follow these People of the Book’.

(Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hambal, vol. 5 p. 264)


Also the fatwa from Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi;

"We see that there are three views on shaving the beard. First, shaving beard is prohibited. This is the view of Ibn Taimyiah. Second: it is Makruh (reprehensible), that is `Iyad’s view. The Third view is that there is no problem in shaving the beard. This view is held by many contemporary scholars.

(Source :Islam Online)

Whichever view that someone is holding to, we need to respect their view. Agree to disagree as long as the opinions is based on authentic hadith. Here is some of the photo that I mentioned earlier;

Kuan Gong

God Of Land (Tu Di Gong)

The God of Camellia – Bai Juyi

God Of Dream - Zhou Gong

God of Chrysanthemum - Tao Yuanming

God Of Thunder

God of Tree Peony – Li Bai

God Of Prosperity - Cai Sen (Love By Chinese especially during Chinese New Year)

Confucius

Founder of Taoism - Lao Tze

Taoist in Hubei, China

Wudang Kungfu Taoism - Master Wan Daoke

Qin Shi Huang - First Emperor of China

Justice Bao - Bao Qin Tian

If you look at the photo of all the Gods believe by majority of Chinese you will found all of them have beard. Who is more Chinese now? Hmmm..... Now I will share with you the photo of people from other faith and why they have beards.


Jesus (As shown in the some churches)

Orthodox Christian

One might question why does Orthodox Christian priests wear beards? and why does the long beards of Orthodox priests makes differences with the Roman Catholics?

Here are the few reasons:

1. Long beards wearing’s tradition among Orthodox Christian priests and monks comes after Christ

Jesus (peace be upon him) himself had a beard as it was normal and considered proper for a man to wear long beard. The fact that Jesus (pbuh) had a long beard himself can clearly be observed on all Orthodox Christian icons.


2. Long beards priest wearing comes as a natural tradition from the Old Testament’s times and the tradition of early Church
If one reads thoroughfully the old testament, he will find out that even from Moses and Aaron and onwards the tradition is the same. All the Godly man and the priests had their long beards unshaved as a mark for their belongship and dedication to God. To generalize the long beards wearing is according to ancient old testamential ancient tradition.

Modern Day Jewish Rabbi

The long beards tradition as an ancient Jewish religion (Old testamental) tradition can still be clearly observed in Jewish rabbis (nowdays the jewish priests), who still wears their beards long, like for example you can see in the picture aboved

Hindu Holy Man, Sadhu at the shrine of Tirupparankunram, Tamil Nadu, India

Jack Passion - Two Time Worldwide Beard Champion

Greek Gods Family Tree

If you notice in the Greek Gods Family Tree, you will found majority of them kept their beard too. By looking at the picture you can immediately differentiate which is man and which is woman easily right? Can you imagine a lion without all his beard just like this?


Now I would like to ask why they felt is ok for their Gods to have beard or is fine for people from others faith grew their beard but when it come to Muslim they accused us as extremist or even terrorist?




15 comments:

  1. Sabar je la, I know those non-muslim chinese's sarcastic style of talking without filter through brain.
    They think that all those fashions that make them more 'chinese' is seriously disgusting me.
    They are actually the ones who washing away the chinese culture.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Small matter...but being made emotionally.

    ReplyDelete
  3. nice one bro Wong, that gave him something to think about..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alhamdullah... Perjelasan yang amat serdahana dan begitu ilmiah...

    ReplyDelete
  5. During my childhood, chinese people used to greet me in chinese many time, although I am Malay. "Maaf saya tak faham. Saya Melayulah", that was my responds.

    But when I start keeping some hair (goatee) on my chin, no one greet me in chinese anymore, hehe...

    Keep writing my brother. People need good message like this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i like u brother.may Allah keep us all steadfast!
    from jb

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for all the comment and encouraging... Amin to all of your good doa and May Allah make us steadfast in our Deen... InshaAllah...

    ReplyDelete
  8. i am a muslim woman born from malay chinese parentage, but my looks is 99.99999% chinese. during my childhood, people will think i'm chinese and speak chinese to me which i unfortunately don't understand, when i get older and wears according to muslimah wear, people will still think i'm converted chinese.. well, i have nothing to object as I am Muslim first and malay-chinese second..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice post masyaAllah, but one naseeha, please do not put capital letter "G" to god for other than Allah. That's more alligned with the practice of scholars and tafseers. Wallahualam.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Capital G sebab kata nama khas lah..bukan macam tu...?

      Delete
  10. Nice bro....

    Boleh jadi point untuk dakwah...good for ice-breaking with chinese friends.....better than "We muslim are more christian than the cristians, since we obey Jesus more than christian do"

    ReplyDelete
  11. Awesome. Something to think about definitely. Thanks for this.

    ReplyDelete
  12. very enlightening..sharing it..TQ

    ReplyDelete
  13. Assalamu'alaikum. Brother, let me ask you a question. First, there is an issue that Judge Bao and Wong Fei Hung are(WFH) Muslims. The first name - I believe - is a Muslim, not from his beard but a fact that he is black (Chn) meaning mixblood and d way he solves cases tends to be a Muslim like. While, the latter name - WFH a Muslim is doubt. No reliable sources provide the info. Pls assist me answering this. Thankyou.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting my blog and take some time off to read and May it benefit everyone. Everything that is good come from Allah and for every shortcoming come from me. I appreciate all your criticism, suggestion and comment. No permission needed to share as all belong to Allah. Jazakallahu Khaira (May Allah Reward You with Good) for your time and comment....

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...