mamakk!!!

American Expat in SEA:

The Asian toilet or the Muslim toilet is basically a hole the ground, there is normally a hose hanging down next to the toilet or a tub of water and a pail. You basically stand over the hole and then squat to relieve yourself. While it might sound simple so use, it isn’t. Very few Westerners have ever learned to master the “Asian squat” , and the brave one’s who have tried this difficult maneuver normally end up losing their balance or hoverering above the hole and crapping on the back of their pants. The hose and/or the pail are supposedly meant to used in the manner of a bidet, but it almost always ends horribly wrong with water and faeces ending up being splashed all over the place.

But it can be just as difficult for Asians and Muslims to use a Western-style toilets. Years ago after a dinner party at my house, I was horrified when I went into the bathroom. Toilet paper was strewn everywhere, the toilet was was on the verge of overflowing, the floor was all wet and there were footprints on the toilet seat. It was a nightmare I will never forget.

Well, I still prefer the Asian-style ones if it’s dirty ‘cos you wouldn’t wanna guess what kinda germs you can find on those seats!

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via Newsweek:

Traditionally, Southeast Asian Muslims have been known for their tolerance and their incorporation of traditional beliefs into an Islamic framework. Indonesia and Malaysia are thought to be models of multicultural democracy. And yet, say mainstream Islamic scholars, political analysts and even former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, Southeast Asia’s two most important countries are both drifting toward fundamentalism—a trend made scarier by the inability or unwillingness of some senior political leaders to condemn those promoting the shift. Some analysts are already calling this the “Arabization” of the region.

There are different factors at play. In Malaysia, the lower-income Muslim Malay majority resents the economic clout of minority Chinese business groups. Economic insecurity, hence, has resulted in a mix of Muslim nationalism and Malay nationalism, exacerbated by the possibility that non-Malays (almost 45 percent of the country’s 26 million people) could someday become the ethnic majority in the country. Malaysia already has Sharia for Muslims, which has equal status to the civil and criminal laws that apply to ethnic and religious minorities. Still, the conservative Islamic opposition wants harsh hudud laws to be enacted.

“exacerbated by the possibility that non-Malays (almost 45 percent of the country’s 26 million people) could someday become the ethnic majority in the country” -> Comparing the birth rates of non-Malays and Malays, I find this statement errorneous. Anyway, it’s kinda true that Malaysia is going into a period of “Arabization” - a quick look at Putrajaya’s Arab-influenced architecture will tell you that.

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More from other blogs:

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Dunner’s:

I have mixed emotions about this idea of translating the works of Malay Muslims in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, etc., into English. It’s not that the works of the Malay Muslims shouldn’t be translated; I think that the ummah would benefit if more works on Islam worldwide were translated into numerous languages, including but not limited to English. Ideas such as Islam Hadhari deserve a wider audience than just the greater Malay community here in SE Asia.

However, what worries me are the motives these foundations and governments have in doing these self-funded translations. The article claims “Arab radicalism,” but that’s an extremely weak argument in my book. Islam <> “Arab radicalism.” Moreover, I’m also concerned about other aspects of the translations: Who chooses what is to be translated and what are the criterion for those choices? (Don’t tell me there won’t be an agenda in the selection of what should be translated, especially when government funding is involved.) How accurate will the translations be? Will these be MEMRI-style hachet jobs? I’m extremely, extremely leery of non-Muslims being involved in this type of work.

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[pic source]

via Bin Gregory Productions:

Malays eat with their hands. Americans eat with fork and spoon. We all know, as muslims, that our Beloved Prophet, saws, ate with his hands, and licked them afterward, and he told us that those who love not his sunnah are not of him. That is a clear indication that even such mundane and seemingly unimportant aspects of life like eating our food, there is a Prophetic way to do it, and we should follow it.

Malays, in their culture, have internalized and made rote the Prophetic way of eating their food, and it doesn’t matter if a Malay has completely forgotten that it is sunnah when he does it, it is still praiseworthy and carries a blessing with it that God will reward him for in the Hereafter, with every bite he eats. Of course it would be better if he took that bite with the intention of fulfilling the sunnah - the reward would be greater - but it does not take away from the fact that he has committed a good deed, and our Lord, who is Most Generous, will reward him for it.

So, in the very mundane and not terribly important area of dining ettiquette, we must conclude as muslims of the Ahl as-Sunnah that Malay culture is superior to American culture.

Interesting interpretation…

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via SMH:

NEW YORK: Muslim feminists from around the world have vowed to create the first women’s council to interpret the Koran and overcome two stereotypes about their religion: that Muslims are terrorists and Islam oppresses women.

Many in the newly formed group, the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality, said strict sharia law was not divine because it was created by men and should be changed to incorporate women’s rights.

“I can’t live with a God that is unjust,” she said. “The law is progressive, but those men controlling the law aren’t.”

Girl Power!!!

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