the beckoning plague!

we are living in the state of fear today. there is fear all around us. the "tarkin doctrine" is emerging into our society. there are fear of crimes, fear of rights, fear of power, fear of social degradation, and even fear of individualism. strangely though, there was no fear of Allah. i must stress this is happening in our society, frail and fragile, afraid that a stress will break the thin loose threads that maintain the fabric of society. but this fear is justified. truly frail our society is, that a snip will break us apart. chaos is the fear of society right now. tension is everywhere, whether between ideology, race or religion. particularly religion. Islam is being fought in from many directions, by human rights, from within, from other religions. why is that? did we not do what has been done by our muslim leaders, particularly Prophet Muhammad SAW? Something wrong with our education? Our ustaz and ustazahs not doing their job properly? yes, a lot may be to blame, but stress is on education.

these days the education system is all about grades, nothing else. this effects the student in their understanding of the islamic education subject. they are pushed to read books, about how to do this and do that, know this know that, but I believe they lack the understanding of WHY this is done. Do they understand WHY there are things not allowed and prohibited in Islam? why its bad to consume pork, why dogs and pigs are filth, why alcoholic beverages is haram, why there is an aurah, why this why that? yes, i remember explicitly the questions that are asked in the paper, eg. explain reasons that (insert statement here)... yes, students need to go beyond that, ask themselves why, and there should be a dedicated guide to help, not some itchy-itchy ustaz or lion-faced ustazah to make the student hate the subject. everything done must be for a reason, and the reason must be valid and acceptable! we want a guide who we can respect!

talking about respect, it seems we're losing it day by day. there's no respect for the elderly, the teachers, our own parents. what is going on? is individualism rearing its ugly head too soon? is it just me or is the kid screaming to his/her dad/mom? ouch, our parents do not want their children to feel what they have felt - the misery and pauperness of life - is not such a good excuse to shower and pamper them. i see children with gadgets - ipods, 3g phones, ps2 - when i see myself at their same age clueless about playstation or even the walkman. in fact i remember that the only computer-related thing i know when i was 6 years old was the reader rabbit learning software i take in that computer class oh so far away, and the thin, flimsy diskettes you put in to play that platform games which title has lost itself in the back of your mind. we spoil them rotten! they won't be thankful if they have all these things without an effort to mind!

truly, times are changing. while i was reading that pagelet in the star talking about how thankful they are to be living in malaysia, i was wondering to myself, albeit feeling helpless myself, what can i do to help myself be grateful?