A Doublethink

            When I was 17 ,my history teacher told me in the classroom, that should I insist to disagree with the National Constitution, I should migrate to a country of my own creation .  I was dissatisfied with the textbook which has too much of the name UMNO in it, and I did not agree that Tunku Abdul Rahman should be called the Father of Independence. He was born in a rich royal family, and did nothing except for going to London to talk with some rich people there.  There was nothing he did that I could count as a struggle.

                       I did not agree with the reasons stated in the textbooks for the uprisings of  Mat Kilau, Tok Janggut and Dato' Bahaman. They seemed superficial and trivial; that was what I thought. Tok Janggut was suggested to refuse to pay tax to the imperialists, while those people who conspired in the murder of J.W.W birch supposedly did so because they interfered in the customs and traditions of the Malay people. Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong were said to fight for the rights of farmers over the lands. Some of the fighters were known as clerics, as ulama' , and the lack of a religious motive in their struggle was very suspicious. I thought that to fight over socioeconomic matters weren't as  important as hudud and Islamic laws.

     It wasn't a profound opinion , only logical. And as time flows, they become logical no more.

       I could not accept that the reason for uprisings were petty things such as refusing taxes, or that the British interfered in our customs and traditions. Yes, to a child, taxes and customs do not really matter.

      I believed that there were bigger motives than a mere scuttle for power or land disputes, to bring back Islam as the ruler and the law to the Peninsula. I begun to imagine those freedom fighters as Mujahideen, the frontrunners of the muslim society at that era.

      I thought that they were actually fighting for hudud and to reinstate muslims as rulers.

       Without proof of any sort, I rejected what the textbooks supplied, and proceeded with my own belief, since it seems more logical that way. I had read Orwell's 1984, and I am currently under the impression that the government could easily alter history, rewrite the textbooks, since nobody would ever bother to check.

        It seems to be a very acceptable conspiracy theory that the text writers concealed Islam as the reason for uprisings because Malaysia as a secular country cannot afford such history . It would only lend credit to islamic political movements, and that is not beneficial to the ruling party.

       I went to talks by students about the rise and fall of Islam, during which they seemed to voice the same opinion that I had. The talks ,though always supported by vague and unverified information, supported my view that those people who fought against the British were actually leaders of some sort of an Islamic uprising against the toghut.

       But then time flew, and I had to pay things with my own money. I found out there and then that the struggle against taxes and the rising cost of life is real. It is in no way something petty. I had learnt about exploitation of labour, inequality in urban areas, and how people struggle to make ends meet. If Islam is indeed rahmatul lil alamin, why would the fight for the poor and against living costs not  part of its core? Why shouldn't it be ?

          I was mistaken for saying those reasons as petty motives and were not worth dying for.

      I was mistaken for seeing that refusing taxes and fighting for land rights as not part of a fight for Islam. 

               
      I was too vehement to believe that they fought for islamic laws and its rule, and taxes and lands were worldly matters, not important enough as a motive.

      There were many verses in the Quran about good governance , the land and taxes, as many as there were rules. To disregard them as a part of Islamic struggle is to be a secular in its pure form. I had thought that they were worldly matters, and money is not a religious thing.

Sahih International

Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing.

Sahih International

And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with an even balance. That is the best [way] and best in result.

Sahih International

There was for [the tribe of] Saba' in their dwelling place a sign: two [fields of] gardens on the right and on the left. [They were told], "Eat from the provisions of your Lord and be grateful to Him. A good land [have you], and a forgiving Lord."

      People who talk about the rise and fall  of Islam often gloat about the glory and the size of the empire, buf often fails to mention that the charity of the people was part of the glory, and it should be a part of the current struggle. The most emphasized  part  were always the beautiful architecture, the rules and the development of technology, but matters concerning economic developments and the social conditions were always left out, as if they weren't part of the religion.  

       It is wrong to think that the fight for charity and human rights is not a major part of what Islam is. We had been so far left behind in the matter of human rights, exploitation of labour and the sort. The prophet was an advocate in freeing slaves, one who spoke against malpractices in trade, taxes , and he taught us against asobiyah/racism. It is embarassing to see that Muslim countries always regard matters involving human rights and discrimination as minor issues; or simply failed to acknowledge that those problems ever existed.

             I was always under the impression that should Islamic laws and rules come into fruition, social problems and human rights issues would be solved by itself, but indeed I was wrong. As long as economic and social issues weren't considered as part of Islam itself, we haven't practiced Islam as a whole, and more than that, we became secularists ourselves.

Peace.

       

                

History, seriously?

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
George Santayana


The wise words of George Santayana, well, it is wise. Those who cannot remember the past, will somehow repeat the past. Although it was not defined which 'past' is meant. Is it if, you forget a victory in the past, somehow, someday, you will succeed? Seriously? If it is that way I want to forget every kind of achievements I did, then I'll be the most successful person ever. Mr Santayana probably meant that those who cannot remember their wrongdoings, failure in the past will probably do it again.

In a simpler way, we, the new generation will again sell the country to neo-imperialists if we ever forget the events of The Pangkor Treaty, or the occupation of Penang. No, that's rather hard. A person may fall into a hole on the road again, if he forgets that there is a hole.

But , there is a catch over there, Mr Santayana's words are deeper than that. Remembering the past, seriously , is not enough. You have to 'understand' the past. Remembering , as said by Mr Santayana, really does mean 'to recall and seriously understand'! Take an example, a car dealer and a customer. The car dealer might cheat the customer, by selling the badly shaped car at a high price. The car dealer discloses the real information of the car, while the happy customer buys the car without hesitation. If, that customer is a good man, he'll remember being cheated, he remembers how was he cheated, and he'll probably buy a better car in the future. But, if he is the opposite guy, things are not the same. He remembers losing money, after being cheated by the car dealer, but, if he doesnt know how was he cheated, then does it make a difference? He will be cheated like; forever.

I'm trying to express my anxiety; about our history, history itself, and probably history as a subject in schools.

A question in the recent SPM's History paper was "What is the name of the national anthem?"

Seriously?

Is the thirst for the grade so hardcore, that such question even exists? What do you expect from the students, if that is the question used to evaluate students' knowledge about history? That is not history, unless someone made the national anthem a history.
That is a small issue for almost everyone, and probably good news for the candidates. Bonus marks.

Learning history, like Mr Santayana said, is for not repeating the mistakes we've done, the wrongdoings of the elders. We ought to learn history so we do know , what we shouldn't do when we become leaders in the future. History teaches us that life isn't as bright as we imagined in our teenage years. There are springs, winters and autumns, and there are hurricanes, tornadoes and tsunamis. Unless history is really 'taught' to our students, the past mistakes of our elders; the corruptions, the lies, the stupidity will be repeated all over again.

The question paper is so easy that I don't think revision is necessary. I do know that failure in History means no certificates, but what does the certificates mean , if students fail to understand our history? The test is an evaluation, of their understanding. If it is just for the certificates, the whole period of five years of education is useless. The test should investigate, what do the students think about the history, what are their opinions of the causes of the past events and the consequences, not basic general knowledge!

Malaysians are among the worst readers in the universe. The amount of books read by Malaysians in a year, by average, can be counted by fingers alone. History, is mainly about reading. If the level of difficulty of the test is so low, youngsters will probably read less. What to read? Why read? The test is just for the grades, and it is damned easy.


"Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them which We had established upon the earth as We have not established you? And We sent [rain from] the sky upon them in showers and made rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their sins and brought forth after them a generation of others." ( Al-An'am;6 )

Allah ordered us to look into the past. There are a lot of ayahs reminding us about the past. About the prophets and their people,their deeds and the consequences. These are the basis of the human history, of which all of us should know. People should remember and understand, of the generations in the past. All those homosexuals do not understand history, because all of Prophet Lut's people were demolished out of their wrong orientation. The people of Madyan were destoyed because they cheated in their businesses, they were corrupted and evil.


"And to [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu'ayb. He said, 'O my people, worship Allah ; you have no deity other than Him. There has come to you clear evidence from your Lord. So fulfill the measure and weight and do not deprive people of their due and cause not corruption upon the earth after its reformation. That is better for you, if you should be believers.And do not sit on every path, threatening and averting from the way of Allah those who believe in Him, seeking to make it [seem] deviant. And remember when you were few and He increased you. And see how was the end of the corrupters." ( Al-A'raf: 85,86)

Allah taught us about the history of the corrupters, and the punishment for their deeds. Dude, seriously, this is History.

If, history is just another grade on the certificate, for our students, beware and be patient. The future leaders will be most corrupted. Future leaders do know what's the name of the national anthem, of course they do! But they will never know that the mistakes done by the elders, are actually mistakes, and they probably will do it, again.

Deadly pessimistic-peace.