Sharing a thought

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

It has been exactly 7 months and 14 days since we returned to Malaysia. We realized that it would quite a while before we started HO-ship. And it did. I'm expecting another 3-4 months before putting the medical text into practice.

Therefore in the meantime, like many of my colleagues, I looked for jobs. Excluding work as a research assistant (RA), others has salary or commission. These jobs really taught me the different perspectives from different angles.

During the last weeks as RA, we spent a few minutes with an ED specialist asking for advice. And this is what she said,

"What are you doing here? You should be doing something else"

"If I had children your age, he will work in McD, or KFC"

"Being a doctor is one thing, but being a human is another thing. You will spent your lifetime as a doctor, so don't worry."

"(Some) doctors think they have privilege, they cannot take advices, can't stand being corrected."

"Be humble."

Be humble. She emphasized this, i believed.

When I worked with people from different background, economically and socially, it becomes easier to understand them- albeit impossible to really empathize.

 For instance, a malay male co-worker around my age was transferred for a while to my place to assist with setting up the shop. It's a big shop, hence need more people.

Since the first day, I never saw him pray, and not long after to realized the next day he also did not fast. It is the month of Ramadan. We chat. Sometimes we talk about work while labelling the products, and wanting to know him better, we talked about family. A couple of times I invited him to pray, and he just smiled, or waving his hand, gesturing 'pergi dulu', then continue his work.

One time I asked why he did not fast, he said,

"Kadang-kadang bangun lambat, tak sahur."

His mother was divorced. His mother also woke up late, and no sahur.

Context.

Should I just let a burst of anger blaming and shaming why he did not pray or fast, I may not understood why.

But, partly due to me delaying, I did not have the opportunity to have a longer conversation with him, as he transferred back out to his own shop in Cheras.

This is one of a few other instances where I feel the need to continue learning, not only the text, but also learning the people. If we were taught in school and university on Quran, Hadith and Fiqh, we must also delve in human psychology, economics and history.

Unfortunately, without the mix of both, we have become too idealistic about what a Muslim should be. We put our monocular view and expecting people to follow it as we see.

I'll share one example. Praying 5 times a day is obliged for one as a Muslim, but in reality many Muslims do not pray.

Hence the gap is achieved by da'wah, a call towards Allah. But not merely a call, it should be done with knowledge and love. Just like the man in the surah Yasin, he called upon his people towards worshipping Allah with love.

It is demonstrated when he was in heaven, greeted by the angels he said' If only my people could listen'. In the midst of enjoyment and having the best of blessings, he still remember his people. It is love which brings him to heaven, and calling his people to it.

Better said than done. Not an easy thing to do in a world where doing good is considered 'angelic', and doing sins are 'cool' and trendy.

May Allah guide us all.








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