Amar Razali

Olive Tree Education Group telah dijemput untuk membuat program Learn Islam di CAT TV. Seperti biasa, orang-orang kuat OTE - Dr. Awadh, Nuruddeen, Hamza dan diri saya sendiri - membuat perbincangan dan persiapan untuk mengendalikan program tersebut sepanjang minggu ini. Rakaman pertama telah dijadualkan pada malam tadi.

Studio CAT TV terletak di Nashville Technical College di White Bridge Road. Saya tiba di sana kira-kira jam 7 petang. Tidak mahu lagi terlewat setelah terlambat hampir 15 minit pada pertemuan di Starbucks pada hari sebelumnya. Siaran rakaman akan bermula jam 730 pagi. Ketika meletakkan Ford Taurus di tempat letak kereta, saya terperasan Honda Civic milik Nuruddeen. Dia lebih awal tiba daripada saya.

Dr. Awadh tiba sekitar jam 730 petang. Rakaman siaran bermula tepat pada jam 8 malam setelah kami selesai menunaikan solat Maghrib secara berjemaah. Rakaman dimulakan dengan Dr. Awadh mengendalikan slot memperkenalkan Islam. Beliau menerangkan secara ringkas berkenaan dengan Islam, Muslim dan perkara lain yang berkaitan seperti akidah, tauhid dan pegangan dalam agama ini.

Kemudian Dr. Awadh mengulas berkenaan sebuah buku yang sangat bagus untuk dibaca. Buku tersebut, "What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims" ditulis oleh Suzzane Haneef. Jujurnya, saya belum lagi berkesempatan membaca buku tersebut kerana saya baru sahaja bercadang membelinya. Suzzane Haneef pada mulanya merupakan penganut agama Kristian akan tetapi setelah melalui pembacaan dan pengajian secara mendalam terhadap agama Islam, Alhamdulillah, beliau telah mendapat hidayah dan menerima ajaran Islam.

Setelah berakhirnya sesi ulasan buku, tibalah giliran saya dan Nuruddeen untuk ditemuramah. Sesi soal jawab berkisar berkenaan 'The diversity and tolerance in Islam'. Saya berkongsi berkenaan pengalaman toleransi agama di Malaysia. Di bawah merupakan senarai soalan yang dikemukakan kepada saya beserta jawapan yang telah saya berikan;


1. Tell us a little bit about Islam in Malaysia and briefly about Islam in South East Asia.

I am originally from Kuala Terengganu, which is the eastern part of Malaysia. I am studying at Vanderbilt University majoring in Electrical Engineering since July 2005. Malaysia borders Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

Well Malaysia is a multi religious society and Islam is the official religion. According to the Population and Housing Census approximately 61% of the population practiced Islam; 19% Buddhism, 9 % Christianity and 6 % Hinduism. About 5% practiced other religions. Although Islam is the official religion – all other religions are respected and everyone has equal rights. I consider Malaysia to be a good example of tolerance and respect for all religions.

2. Early experiences in Nashville?

I arrived in Nashville on July 2005. At the beginning, yes, I would say that it was hard to make myself comfortable with the surroundings. The free mixing of sexes in America is not seen in Malaysia. In addition, I came from a modest city in Malaysia, smaller than Nashville and where people live in a simple way. I also had problems to adjust myself with the weather in the US which has 4 seasons while Malaysia has a warm and humid climate. The humidity in Malaysia is about 80% all year round and the temperatures range from 21 to 32 Celcius.

3. Tolerance and Diversity in Malaysia.

Malaysia, as I mentioned earlier, is a multi religious country. It is also a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multilingual society. In Malaysia, Malays, Chinese, Tamil, and all other races with different faiths and religions live together, work together and play together. We still have our differences but we settle our difference across the table. Each person is free to practice his or her own faith. Also, Malaysians will have a public holiday on every kind of religion celebrations. We have a public holiday during Eid Fitr, during Chinese New Year, during Deewali and during Christmas. We also visit each other during those celebrations and taste other traditional foods. It is a very harmonious and peaceful atmosphere.

4. What make me feel strongly bonded with Islam?

Well, for me Islam is very simple yet so beautiful. The clarity of monotheism in Islam is the main point that makes me amazed about islam. Tauhid in Islam means declaring Allah to be the only God who deserves to be worshipped in truth and confirming all attributes with which He has qualified Himself or that are attributed to Him by His Messenger. The belief in Allah is that we should believe that Allah is the Sole Creator, The Sustainer, The provider and the One, the Only One, who is worthy of being worship.

5. Global Changes, politically and economically. Where’s my place?

I believe that when I go to other places, especially when I am too far away from my home country, I need to find somebody who shares the same values with me. And the Muslim community is the answer. Although I come from a different part of the world with different culture and traditions, these are no longer what defines me as I meet other Muslims in Nashville. We share the same beliefs and the same monotheism – worship the same One God.

Jadi begitulah soal jawab yang berlangsung selama lebih kurang 15 minit itu. Cemas juga sebenarnya kerana saya tidaklah bersedia sepenuhnya. Saya juga tidak suka sangat bergantung kepada teks atau menghafal teks yang telah saya buat sebelum bermulanya sesi rakaman. Saya lebih suka kaedah bersahaja dan spontan, dengan syarat saya sudah memahami dan mengetahui dengan jelas perkara yang ingin saya sampaikan.

Jadi begitulah sedikit sebanyak Program Learn Islam di CAT TV oleh Olive Tree Education. Jika ingin mengenali Olive Tree Education dengan lebih mendalam, sila lawati laman web kami.