Need to stress the sweet side of Islam

BY the time we secured an interview with Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, he had already been in Malaysia for four days.

A stocky man with piercing eyes set in a friendly face which quite readily breaks into a smile, he exudes warmth and weaves a magical effect that makes his audience creep closer to him to listen to his words of wisdom on Islam.

He speaks of the wonder of Islam as it should have been told to us during religious lessons in primary schools.

His description is a far cry from our own experiences of grudgingly reciting prayers. At such tender ages, sometimes not even 10 yet, we were told to get the sound right before parroting the meanings and reasons for reading a particular scripture.

Where is the sweetness that we Muslims have been told is there but are still searching for?

Shaykh Hisham said it very simply: SPIRITUALITY! "The spirituality of Islam has almost been lost," he stated many times.

Touching on the mentality, the mindset, of those who had been raised as Muslims, he said: "They believe that the religion must be presented in a serious manner or all importance is lost. They convey their messages by shouting and yelling, thinking that the young would pick up and understand whatever they are teaching."

Shaykh is not a man given to sudden outbursts. Steeped in religion for as long as he has been walking--what with his paternal home being the centre of education for ulamaks headed by his uncles, one of whom was in charge of the religious ministry in Lebanon, and having a cousin who is currently the mufti of Lebanon--he knows his stuff.

"I grew up in a conservative Muslim family that believed in schooling all their children with strong Islamic values. Therefore, when I speak of the mindset, it is not out of grudge. I have been through it myself. The teacher holds an extremely long cane in his hand. If he didn't particularly like the way a scripture was being read, he just hit you on the knuckle or hand," he said.

Shaykh Hisham acknowledges that rigidity is a bane for the young who will end up becoming frustrated from regimentation.

"The young cannot associate themselves with regimented processes. It is different when they self-regiment things but not vice-versa," he said with some degree of amusement.

He said that the young today are raised with more Westernised inclination and will not accept threats feebly.

"You can no longer go about yelling or shouting at them, or threatening them that if they didn't do as you say, they would be kafir (infidel), or saying that something was haram or halal without explanations.

"The teacher or scholar does not try to balance his way of approaching the student in a more persuasive and amicable manner," he said, adding this was where the danger lay.

Shaykh Hisham said the current presentation, which was common in almost all Muslim institutions of learning, was strict and dry.

"It is in this manner that the good, tasty and sweet aspects of Islam goes unlearned. This frustrates the students and starts a rebellion within them," he said.

For example, he said: "I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry in the United States and after that had a brief stint in Belgium. It was there in Europe that I saw youths from good families in Lebanon give in to their frustrations and dabble in negative elements.

"Many had gone into devil worshipping and the like. They did it out of frustration."

We, Shaykh Hisham said, have to understand that many things could be said in a rational and logical manner, but in subtle and persuasive tones.

"You can try the negative way--tell people, if you don't pray, you will enter hellfire.

"But why can't we say, in a more encouraging manner, that if you pray, you will enter paradise, and so on."

The moral is that you cannot teach in a way to frighten people, he said. "We must bring about Allah's mercy, not the harsh side of punishments and difficulties."

Shaykh Hisham said this could be the reason why a growing number of students from religious schools are getting involved in devil worship.

He said an influential family in Malaysia had approached him about one of their members. This person who was in his 40s was schooled in religious studies and had all the while followed the Islamic teachings ingrained in him.

"It is now that the person has rebelled against all that he has been taught. Why? All out of frustration," Shaykh Hisham said.

So, what must be done?

Shaykh Hisham said scholars must change their style of presenting religious edicts and teachings to effectively reflect the spirituality of Islam.

"Islam is not only about its physical aspects of praying five times a day, paying the zakat, fasting during the Ramadan month or performing the haj.

"There are two other aspects that the scholars have not emphasised on--the six pillars of Iman and the state of perfection, Ehsan," he said.

Shaykh Hisham said scholars must learn to balance their teachings with spirituality, that is, to expound the mercy of Allah and not His punishments or anger.

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