On religion and rationalism
In reference to the letter Religion and rationalism by Agus Utoro, published in The Jakarta Post on May 21, I would like to share my views.
By performing our religious obligations, we are rewarded many pahala, or gains, by Allah. Some of these gains can be realized and benefit us in our daily lives, others are "invisible". Invisible means we will be rewarded with those gains on the Day of Judgment, when all believers will be answerable for their deeds.
Gains of shalat, or prayer, puasa, or fasting, and performing the haj are the same way. Some we can benefit in our daily lives, while other gains are kept with Allah for the Resurrection.
Now, I will try to explain some of those gains that we can benefit from here in this world, which Agus Utoro might be interested in learning about. Shalat teaches us equality, punctuality, cleanliness and many more things. Equality in the sense that when we pray together, we do not care about the race or the color of people, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with each other without discriminating between rich or poor. Which means all humans are equal before Allah and should be treated by fellow humans in the same way.
Puasa teaches us patience and self-control. Abstaining from all sorts of regular activities such as eating and drinking requires lots of patience and self-control. I am quite sure many people could quit their bad habits and addictions by benefiting from the month of Ramadhan, as many have already done.
The haj pilgrimage teaches us international brotherhood and love. Haj spreads the message of peace to all nations of the world. On these days Muslims gather together peacefully from all parts of the world.
In the matter of saying prayers together in Arabic and a translated language, there is the fear that over time someone will say, "What's wrong in saying prayers in translation only?"
This way, slowly, we will go away from the original. We all know a translation cannot be 100 percent the same as the original. But as long as understanding the meaning is concerned, Muslims are encouraged to learn the meaning. There is nothing wrong with that.
FAZAL-E-MUJEEB, Jakarta