The Real Meaning of Islam – Dropping by the National Mosque of Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur is quite a unique metropolis to explore. It has the vibe in which the city and nature meld into an eerie squirming mass of curved buildings, Hindu temples, and rock formations visible from highways, creating swirling roads and topped with the Petronas towers.

I must admit that after seeing the towers up close, they seem quite small for their reputation. They are, however, quite grandiose.

Anyway, I’m going to be talking about religion for a bit, specifically Islam. What prompted this is my visit at the National Mosque of Malaysia.

What is this place? Also, where’s my cap?

Anyway, the National Mosque of Malaysia is a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia designed by a UK architect Howard Ashley, and Malaysians Hisham Albakri and Baharuddin Kassim in 1965 symbolising the aspirations of an independent Malaysia.

It is one of the most solemn places in KL, and I have been bewildered as to why this has been included in our itinerary. However, upon walking around this seemingly plain, but significant edifice, I noticed something…

But before that, let me give you the opposite of such sentiment.

Disclaimer: By sharing the video below, I do not encourage disparaging other faiths, and I strongly believe that people should be allowed the freedom of religion.

Double Disclaimer: This post is not an attack on the Islamic faith. This video only shows a different perspective, which I believed should be explored with an open mind. (Besides, this guy attacked the Catholic faith too.)

Let me introduce, Amos Yee:

Yeap, he’s quite a handful. He did get into prison (twice), and some of his videos depicting him tearing pages and humping the Bible and the Quran both seem to be taken down. He’s been around for a while, and he’s been publishing unpatriotic videos on YouTube, claiming Singapore to be the worst place on earth. Personally, I think his view of the world is quite limited as all countries have their own specific flaws, and some are definitely worse than Singapore. However, since he lives there, his statements are very limited to that country alone. I do, however, agree that he is entitled with the freedom of expression. Hence, however revolting his content may be, he should be able to express himself regardless of our opinion of him.

Going back to the mosque…

I was walking around it when a Malay girl approached me with a pamphlet. It read, “Islam: The Religion of Peace.” A bigoted thought flooded my brain real quick – “Really? Peace?”

But nevertheless, I played along.

The Malay girl was smiling. She asked me where I was from. I thought that was a reasonable query since I strangely look Chinese. I told her that I was Filipino. She continued smiling.

“Do you want to know more about Islam?” she asked.

“Sure,” I answered reluctantly.

“Well, Islam is the religion of peace.”

Then it hit me. It didn’t matter what I thought of Islam. What mattered was what that girl thought of it. Islam was f&cking subjective. It meant that she thought it was the religion of peace and love, so it made it so. And the majority of Muslims think this way. Thus, it is so wrong to stratify them as the terrorist cult when in fact, people like that Malay girl exist. Should we deduce automatically that they’re terrorists as well? After that little encounter, I don’t think so. I’ll close this article with a TedTalk by Zak Ebrahim. It’s quite nice. Click on it.

Cheers.