apa ada pada nama?

pegawai polis : itu ayah ke?
rosita : ye, ayah saya, kenapa encik?
pegawai polis : kenapa dia tak tukar nama dia? kenapa masih Michael?
rosita : nama tidak menentukan keimanan, encik.

i can still vividly remember this conversation though it took place approximately 9 years ago.  i was accompanying my late father to lodge a report on an accident which took place in our own house. my late father due to his sickness, couldnt differentiate between the accelerator and brakes and he stepped on the accelerator while he was driving our kenari onto the car porch area.

my point is...just because my late father's name is Michael does not make him a less Muslim.   He was the greatest father and my bestest (if there is such a word) friend...the most generous......gentle..funny..loving...adorable..understanding..honest person and the list goes on and on....

so, the problem here is about  the cruel and harsh perception of ignorant people...the norm would be if your name is not an Arab name, then you are considered second class Muslim...wait wait...second class? who came out with that class? just because i'm Rosita Michael, not Rosita Ahmad, or Rosita Ali or Rosita Seman or Rosita Samsudin...that makes me a less committed Muslim? what about Khalid Al-Walid? before and after Islam, he didnt change his name and he was a warrior of Islam....think about that...

i've read somewhere that to judge a man, listen to his questions not his answers...the person who asked me (refer to the above conversation) why my late father's name is still Michael...the question reflected his personality and his level of thinking....let's pray that the person is not that ignorant anymore...

the most astonishing conversation i had was with a pakcik....we were having the following conversation:-

pakcik: ayah kamu tak join ke perbincangan hari ni?
me: ayah saya baru saje meninggal dua minggu lepas...
pakcik: innalillah...takziah pada kamu sekeluarga..
me: terima kasih pakcik..
pakcik: kenapa nama ayah kamu Michael?
me: memang itu nama dia...

here comes the best question ever....(he could win an award for best question of the century)
pakcik: masa dia meninggal, dia mengucap tak?
me: .........zzzzzzzzz......kuci kuci yaayayay....wkakaka...natahahpahapantah...
imagine how i felf??????

i felt numb....not only he has insulted my late father ...also because of the super intelligent question from his super intelligent self proclaimed religious mind....

my point is... who is dat pakcik who had the guts to come up with that question? from my observation this shows how ignorant people who think that their level of understanding and practice of Islam is better than others (ujub dan takbur) allows them to do so....what a pity....

this story of mine coincides with some of the writings of a Muslim writer known as Sheikh Muhammad Al-Gazali, he wrote:-
-Religion, only fully benefit those who are capable of understanding them in their pure (original form);
- Good perception of religious facts as they were revealed, has to be coupled with the sincerity in implementing them;
- Those so called scholars, may try to show us the way to the truth, but not able to take us to it....(the pakcik represents one of these people)


i want to remind myself and my dear friends, students, readers that Islam is about submitting ourselves to ALLAH...please do ourselves a favour for the sake of Islam...and that is to accept the fact that the difference in the names and races is the beauty of Islam.......therefore, apa ada pada nama?