Does that make me a bad person? Did attending the now infamous 'I want to touch a dog event' make me a bad Muslim? Does it indicate that I "menghina Islam" (as claimed on the front page of a daily)?
I haven't logged into my facebook account for a few days, so I was blissfully ignorant of the strong backlash against the event in social media. But I somehow sensed that things were not quite right when a family member whatsapp-ed a screenshot of the event and asked "apa perlu kempen ni?", not knowing that I had attended the event myself.
So I explained to her why I attended. And now, after reading the facebook posts of several close friends who also disapprove of the event, I think it's incumbent on me to explain myself again.
So readers, if you consider me your friend, please, hear me out. Put your preconceptions aside and weigh in my side of the story:
I first got to know of the event via fb (where else?) when somebody posted this link (http://bit.ly/1tEN58b). I then watched the video mentioned and was left feeling ashamed and outraged as well. How could we treat the most vulnerable people in our society with such disregard? That runs contrary to the teachings of Islam; We are supposed to be compassionate towards one another, especially those most in need of assistance in our society. However, our actions, as depicted in the video showed otherwise.
Though I was upset by what was shown in the video (see from 7:30 onwards), I wondered: What would I have done if I were in their place? I'm scared of dogs too, due to life-long conditioning. Most likely, I would have reacted in the same way: I would have jumped aside and avoided the blind man and his guide dog like a plague, instead of helping him. That scenario got me upset and ashamed of myself.
Thus I clicked 'Going' on the event page. The event was conceived to help people who are fearful of dogs, overcome their fear so that perhaps, in the future, they can do the right thing when they encounter situations similar to the ones in the video.
To me, that was the whole purpose of attending.
It WASN'T to showcase how "liberal-minded" I am.
It WASN'T an act of provocation.
I WASN'T willfully menajiskan myself.
I WASN'T about to keep dogs as pets, and most importantly,
I DIDN'T go with the intention of "menghina Islam".
God knows that I'm not a good Muslim, but I do try to be.
For those who disapprove of the event and have made their feelings known, please don't be too quick in passing judgments. Don't jump to conclusions by the sensationalised headlines that you read. Do not immediately assume that the organiser and the attendees have bad intentions and hidden agendas. You don't know what are in people's hearts so don't. Just don't.
One of the things that I read on my newsfeed was this: "Lepas ni kempen pegang babi pula?". I don't know whether to laugh or cry at reading that. Seriously?
Dear readers, even after reading this explanation, and watching the video that started it all, you still disagree with the event, fine. Let's agree to disagree. Just don't label and accuse people indiscriminately with hurtful words. That's not a very Muslim-thing to do.
The whole episode reminded me of this beautiful quote from the movie Chocolate:
"Listen, here's what I think. I think that we can't go around measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think we've got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create and who we include."
7 comments:
Well actually we all know the intention of the muslims who went to the event has a good intention, in order to create awareness and to overcome the judgmental perceptions that we had for dogs.
The reason being why people are so upsets of the event is because of the nature and all the reasons being said in hadis and Quran about dogs and pigs about being the highest level of najis.Please understand this!( yeah, i urge u to do more research on why these two animal we should avoid, and understand for the sake of being a better muslim, isnyaAllah)
Fairly, we should not treat ALL ANIMAL badly including those two. i admit some people sounds a bit harsh in commenting u guys who went to the event. but pls understand, they just dont wanna see the future generation to have a wrong understanding of dogs in islam and how we should treat them.
Whatever it is, we're all learning to be a good muslim. But when the Ulama and ustaz had advise us not to engage in such animals if theres no reason to, we need to learn our mistake and just admit. Make it as an experience, and as a learning process. Not just keep on saying "Nahh, u guys are the one who dont undertand the reason of the event.. there's nothing wrong with touching dogs, we just want to overcome the fear of dogs..bla vbla.." seriously its a human nature to be scared of animals like dogs, even cats, tiger and all. if we encounter with one of these animal, should we our self help them if we are so terrified? nope! but we can try to call someone for help or even lodge a report or watever it is that we can to help (if we are really want to help). We dont need to be brave, Not everyone are born brave.
Lastly, if you really are wanted to help animals from cruelty, why just dogs? many other animals out there that we can help too u know :)
Wassalam.
Salam,
As a Muslim who grew up in Kelantan (mostly Malay Muslim population), I was very afraid of dogs. Because most dogs you encountered were stray dogs or trained dogs (for safety reason)who guard premises etc. And of course you ought to be afraid of those.
During my 3-year stay in the UK, dogs were unsurprisingly common, so I wasn't fearful of them anymore. The fact that those dogs were well taken care of, were put of a leash helped me to calm down when passing them on the streets. I didn't need to go to the extent of touching them. It was the fact that I encountered so many that I didn't consider them as a threat anymore.
In Malaysia, pet dogs are not so common- or at least we hardly ever encounter the tame ones. So we're afraid of dogs for a logical reason- we don't wanna get bitten.
What I'm trying to say is, just go to the event. Get used to having dogs around you. But you don't have to touch it. You just don't. You just need to get used to their presence.
did you really touch the dog? OMG !! are you insane?? you are a teacher and you know its not haram to touch it.. but what about your muslim students? they dont know all of this in details. we are going to produce generations who will just follow without bothering the reasons what so ever. you should not do that you know!
It is sad to see people judging one another without knowing the person & knowing their true intention. And how quick people can form such judgements!
It is also sad to realise that people only choose to see only from their own standpoint.
I think society need to understand that differing opinions doesn't mean one side is correct and the other isn't. Both sides can be correct at the same time, depending on the situation at hand.
anon 2 ...
ayyoyyo...are you going to check people's intention? how are you going to check that? you are the one who should be open actually. of course people will say thing based on their judgements and opinions.. takkan la orang nak bercakap ikut otak n hati orang lain ??? duhhh
Would you email me please? almanar@pd.jaring.my
https://youtu.be/AlOTZFzoSVk
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