Respect

"Hey Asif, could you tell our teacher, tomorrow I will be absent...I will be celebrating Vaisakhi" he said.
"What? Celebrating what?.." I replied.
"Vaisakhi..my religious festival..."...

BAM!

That moment, I feel very guilty. How can I do not know about him? He's one of my best friends here, and I did not even know about his religious festival. Deep down, I feel ashamed. He often asked me about Quran, Jawi, Hudud, even Halal and Haram food. And I did not even know his religious festival. I know about the Khalsa order, but the term 'Vaisakhi' didn't ring a bell, AT ALL. Astaghfirullah.. Until now, I do not know how will I patch that up. He did not show any remarks, at all. Not knowing how remorseful I felt inside I guess. Insya Allah, we often talked and both of us know we are kind of 'open' person. My azam, I wish to dump my ignorance, and show that I too concern about him and his religion. Insya Allah..

Reminiscing, I still remember my former classmates last year during Ramadhan. When they had a birthday party, and I was there. I was there just to wish him and went back. And they understood. But to my surprise, they prepared a polystyrene box to pack the food for me. And when they were wishing, before they started, they gave me my box of cakes and food, so that I could go without watching them eating. Masya Allah.. I pray so that Allah will give them hidayah one day..

Along my experience with 'not-yet Muslim', I know the key is to respect them. We cannot expect them to respect us, when we easily label them infidels and other bad terms. We have to show first. And the vital thing is, to respect them. Know them, and their religion. And do not forget, tarbiyah and dakwah are our keys of life. Maybe along our experience with dakwah, we may find something uncomfortable. I've met an ikhwah, where his intellectual level I respect, said that, if we didn't agree with something in the usrah or group, don't run, be the changing agent. Wallahu a'lam....

There's a BIG difference between religious tolerance and pluralism... Just keep that in mind. 

I believe Islam the one and only true religion.. 

* Alhamdulillah, exam sudah habis..ucap tahniah pada diri. :) Cuti semester seminggu....