MAWI?!

Why him?!

About 4 hours ago, i was invited by an anonymous YM moderator to an online Islamic-academic circle/halaqa/usrah/whatever you name it. People whom joined the forum came from all around the world, from Japan to the United States. The speaker of the forum was a regular Malaysian-Malay-Muslim preacher, currently residing in Morocco (aka Maghribi), and he discussed a wide range of issues related to the Muslims ummah nowadays.

It is widely understood & accepted by the majority that there should be some ethical & moral concern towards everything we do, & this also applies to the quest of seeking of knowledge. 'Adab' is one of the fundamental teaching in the Islamic & many of the great world traditions. Unfortunately, this morally-behaved act has been neglected by the mass, in which i blame the media for not potraying the importance of it.

Despite being the 'Islamically-learned' people, some of the so-called 'alim' people look down towards those whom have no or very few background knowledge on Islam. We have to bear in mind that everyone has different provisions bestowed by Allah. Different doesn't mean unequal. The 'alim' might be different than the 'commoner', but i would argue that the former is not unequal than the latter. There were many factors contributing to my argument in which i do not wish to explain the its details at this moment.

There are several groups of people whom are really concerned with the foundations in the teaching of Islam. That is absolutely fine, no problem. Unfortunately, having to only care towards those whom are within the circle of the same people WITHOUT taking the concern of the others whom knew nothing or very few about Islam, i think, is not appropriate.

I came about to write this post after getting to know a person whom i may call now as my friend. He comes from a fairly moderate family, currently studying in Form 6 in Muar, Johor. He's a humble, easy-going 19-year-old lad, with an exceptionally great voice! He has similar voice as Mawi's & he's so articulate that he makes a good radio DJ. From the song he sang, i believe that he's an ardent fan of Mawi. He knows most of the songs Mawi sang & even some of the qosidah Mawi chanted (although he himself doesnt even know what qosidah means). Judging from our discussion, i could see that he might not have a good Islamic knowledge by-text, Islamic appreciation by-influence, and Islamic ethics by-surrounding. The reason for me in coming up with these deduction is based from my observation towards how he behaved during the online forum, how he reacted to some questions posed by me & the way he expressed himself publicly in the forum. Indeed, he's the young MAWI!!

I befriended him, and he's such a wonderful guy. And guys, there are simply a lot of people like him out there in our country.
1)Are we satisfied with our own circle of friends, empowering each and every one of us without cosidering the others whom are more in need?
or..
2)Are we committed in empowering ourselves, as well as opening our hearts in accepting and cherish every single soul, regardless of whoever they are.

You decide...