Covering the Black with White Doesn’t Work

And cover not Truth with falsehood, nor conceal the Truth when you know (what it is)
Al-Baqarah: 42
There is a big difference from being truly Islamic and seem Islamic or ‘more or less’ Islamic. When the first verse from surah al-Qadr said that We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power, Abdullah Yusuf Ali in his translation of the Holy Quran noted that it transcends Time: for it is God’s Power dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance, by His Revelation, in every kind of affair.
In every kind of affair. I deem entertainment is not exclusive. In Islam entertainment stands on two strict pillars. It must be entertaining, yes. And simultaneously it must educate. In this article, I am not going to touch on how even when an actor and actresses are doing a husband-and-wife scene or rather mother-and-son scene, as long as they are not muhram, they stay as not muhram and all the rules and regulations towards not muhram applied.
My concern falls on the so-called Islamic entertainment on our television. They are namely Akademi al-Quran, Akedemi Nasyid, Nasyid Minggu Ini, Cari Menantu (season I and II) and Busana Muslimah.
In Akademi al-Quran, I suppose as a substitute to Akademi Fantasia or Audition. Yet the way it was conducted was not much less or difference to the latter. The sitting arrangements of the participants: they always sandwich the male in between two females or the other way round. The host always got to ask questions to the female participants and sometimes he would post leer questions or non-necessary private questions just to ‘cheer up’ the program. Likewise the hostess on the other hand would ask the male participant. The dressing of the host, hostess and participants were not according to Islamic law in term of it lack modesty and worse for the females, their dressing completely violate the aurat covering code: with the too outstanding make-up applied and eyes-catching clothes be it from the colour or the cutting. When it comes to elimination, the host and hostess struggle their best to play with the participants’ emotion, trying to make them cry on stage (does it ring a bell now? Only in Akademi al-Quran they don’t have to pull their bag down stage).
As our community is getting more interested in singing than other form of performing arts, Akademi Nasyid comes along. Unfortunately their choice of songs, participants, clothing and guest stars had not been selected thoroughly. It is important because Malaysian always associate things. If this had been done on TV then it is alright to be carried out in real life. Moreover, all those choices reflect more than just a show put up. It reflects ideas, ideology and powerful underlying messages.
Nasyid Minggu Ini suffered the same tragedy. The dressing of female artistes were not following the aurat code although they put their gloves on, they were literally dancing! And their clothes were flamboyant. The hosting style too duplicated that of non Islamic show.
I was surprised when I had the chance to watch Cari Menantu (a few episodes from both seasons). They lied? Yes, they did! How an Islamic show (so-called) could chose to lie as a mechanism to convey the good news that a couple had been chosen to participate. They lied that there was an emergency at home, they chased a couple car and cornered them and others. There is no cheating or lying in Islam. Not even for a joke because every lie counts! Then in the show they had all cultures and customs mixed up with the true that is asked from Islam. The sadder part was that there were respected Muslims public figure, ustaz and ustazah on the show, couldn’t they say anything?
Busana Muslimah by far is the most concerning. Not only it lacks education, it is downright misleading. All the clothes paraded were against the aurat covering dress code. An aurat covering dress should be modest in term of design, loose, doesn’t draw attention and not transparent. In Busana Muslimah we have a jubah costing thousands of ringgits, we have baju kurung laden with beadings, we have hijab that has been twisted that it looked more like a head gear than a hijab, the flamboyant satin underlying sheer black organza was sexy plus the shiny embroidery or beadings… these are not a Muslimah clothes.
I think we have lost focus on the fundamental of Islamic entertainment: to entertain and to educate. Though our intentions in offering alternatives are noble, we must not try to simply camouflage the wrong with Islamic values. We must broadcast Islam as it is clearly and creatively. We can learn a lot from the Iranian movies for a start. Don’t just coat hedonism with Islam. Rasulullah s.a.w said that, “I am sent to complete the proper behavior (akhlak).” Thus in any show, we must be careful with the adab in conducting it. Do not deceit the audience that they are in an Islamic program when they actually are not.

All the Heat on PPSMI

The ways to overcome mistakes are first, to recognize one, secondly, to admit it is a mistake, third, make a correction and apologize where necessary and finally do not repeat it. This article is not written by a well known scholar yet I consider this a humble analysis from a person who has had the experience of teaching English, Bahasa Melayu as well as Science and Mathematics.
It takes more than just the delivery language to excel in a subject. It needs passion, both, from the teacher first and consequently the students. My Bahasa Melayu was worse than my English when I was in primary school but I had good teachers throughout my schooling years. Teachers who never gave up on me, teachers who were patient and passionate in teaching. Now I am sought for to do free lance editing for Bahasa Melayu.
I have friends who hated certain subjects because they dislike their teachers. Some teachers made a subject seem tougher than it really is. Some taught with no hearts that a subject felt flat and boring to death. Some just let their students drift (and drown) on their own. These types of teachers, sorry to say, are responsible in heartlessly slaughtering and murdering a student’s interest in a subject.
I had the experience of teaching tutorial for university students on Calculus and Statistics. Many of my students had problems not with Mathematics but English. When they told me they cannot solve a problem, I did not give them the answers but asked did they understand the question in the first place. The reply always came in a shy smile and a slow shaking of their heads. When I explain the question in Malay, they straight away know which Mathematics’ formula they need to use to solve it. This happened not only to my Malay students but the Chinese and Indians alike.
Other friends of mine who are teaching in schools claim the same thing. They even had to battle with time as they struggle to finish a syllabus because they had to reduce the quality teaching time since they had to waste it to translate back into Malay. Thus instead of a two period learning session, they probably cover only a one period’s topic.
Thus it is far from appropriate to tackle lack of English proficiency problem by implementing English teaching for other subjects. This will not only intimidate the students but I am afraid it will slowly kill their passion for Science and Mathematics not because of the subjects per se but simply because of the language in which it is being delivered. This will be a shameful waste of brilliant minds.
We do not need English to get better understanding of Science and Mathematics. Japanese don’t need it, the Germans don’t need it, the French don’t need it, why Malaysians?
When there was a mass demonstration and procession to the Palace, the feed backs from both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education were shortcoming. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he is aware that more and more citizens are voicing out their disagreement on PPSMI but he seems fail to look further as to why are they against it? And why are they fighting so hard against it for so long and in so many ways? They want to be heard, the need to be heard. And when their voices are shun and ignored, they need to scream thus a demonstration play that role, as the amplifier of their voice. Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein on the other hand took it in a way far too different. He warned Malaysians the negative impact it would bring when certain groups are tying every issues to races and religions. That it would neglect us from the more important things. What is this important thing? I ask. He had failed to look at it beyond the political frame.
Our leaders need to grow up and be more responsible on each decision they are making. The people’s interest must be first in their hearts. Don’t just look at who is saying it but listen if it is of the truth. If truth is what we stand for, it doesn’t matter if it comes from one’s side or the other. If our objective is merely to win over, hence we can’t hear the truth let alone see it because all we think about is rebut.
I certainly hope that the PPSMI issue is given a fair judgment and stopped so that students can gain back their passion and enthusiasm in learning Science and Mathematics. Who knows? A Malaysian learning Science and Mathematics in Malay can be a Nobel Prize winner one day. It is possible.