Blog Issue

At LU last night, we were discussing the 3 Marhalah (peringkat) in Dakwah. Usually when it comes to core topics such as these, we will invite a penceramah jemputan.

Having had about 3 other previous sessions before, we were oredi getting comfortable with the speaker, he even remembered all our names by heart -- all eight of us. Ha ha. So u cant actually just face down when he asks a question coz he'll just say ur name and u have to answer whether u want to or not. Ha ha :P

So the 3 marhalah of dakwah are Ta'arif, Takwin and Tanfiz. Ill not go into that just yet. I think its a very heavy topic so Ill write about it in another specific post. It wouldnt be fair to combine it with this one, coz Id like to discuss and express my opinion about some of the points mentioned last night.

Dakwah.. what exactly is it? Some ppl think that dakwah is ceramah sana sini, thats the typical mindset of our community. But doing ceramah about this and that isnt the real meaning of dakwah, it is only a method. So what is dakwah?

Dakwah in its most simplest form is anything that invites people to do good.

But, in order to define dakwah more specifically, there must be an object, a goal, methods of achieving that goal and the objectives of the goal. So to put it together..

Dakwah is to summon fellow humans to turn to Allah with hikmah and by example in order to emancipate people from taghut to worship Allah instead. So that they will be free of the darkness of jahiliyyah and come into the light of Iman.

In Malay it is

"Menyeru manusia (object) kepada Allah (goal) dengan berhikmah dan contoh tauladan (methods) bagi memindahkan manusia daripada taghut kepada beriman kepada Allah, supaya manusia bebas daripada kegelapan jahiliyyah kepada cahaya keimanan (objectives)"

There are a lot more explanations about Dakwah, which of course I will go into later.

Something that I wasnt comfortable with the discussion yesterday was about blogging. The discussion was about our level of commitment towards dakwah. How committed are we really, and how do we rate it. Some examples of famous athletes that can be related with this were..

1. Tiger Woods: being one of the best golfers in the world -- he is known by all. When we say golf, ppl will automatically connect his name with it. It become synonymous.

2. David Beckham/Christiano Ronaldo: Famous footballers. Ppl either are totally devoted to them or seriously despise them. Either way, they are still well known around the world.

So the question was.. How many times do u think they practice each day? How many hours do they spend their time perfecting their swing or free kick technique. They sleep dreaming of how to improve their performance, their problems relate to everything about golf and football. They spend most of their time just thinking about it. You can see their dedication in everything they do. Their commitment shines from their faces.

So what about us? How is our dedication and commitment towards dakwah? We should use any means possible for this cause -- including blogs.
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Yes, this is something to think deeply about. A somewhat muhasabah tuk diri sendiri. But when we suddenly went into the issue of blogs, it became something totally different.

There was an example of how to use our blogs -- an example of a blog that was famously known for its strong tarbiyah method was mentioned (Im not mentioning names, but Sakinah knows :P) and was said that this blog is a very good example how a blog of a da'ie should be. It should be filled with everything ilmiah which will be good to the readers. It was mentioned that we shouldnt be talking about the problems we face, personal experience, how me feel, so on and so forth. We should use our blogs for dakwah, dakwah and more dakwah.

I dont exactly agree or totally disagree with this opinion. Yes, it is true that we should use any means possible to sebarkan dakwah. But we should go back to the definition of it - Dakwah is to summon humans to turn to Allah with hikmah and by example.

So it doesnt mean that by expressing how we feel, what we gro thru and the different experiences of our lives is not considered as dakwah. We are still just young muslim girls who go thru the same hardships of studying, the difficulties with relationships and mood swings. We are still but humans with lots of weaknesses and we need lots of improvements. The only difference is how we deal with these life experiences. This is our real reason for blogging. We want to share how we deal with problems so that ppl can take advantage and learn from them.

So I dont see any reason why we shouldnt write about ourselves in our own blogs. I am not against blogs that are very ilmiah like that was mentioned. It is good to go to such blogs for tazkirah now and then. But those blogs are very impersonal. They dont convey who that person is and how they really are in real life. Which is why I disagreed with the choice of the perfect blog -- bcoz I know who that person is and how he really is. Sometimes I think it's hypocritical.

I want people to know me when they read my blog, not someone who is so hard to get to know. We are who we are, and we are what we write. Some ppl are better saying things out loud. Some ppl are better expressing things in writing -- like me.

Like I used to mention before, my personal blog is for me to vent, to express and to say what I think without fear of being judged. Its my personal space, so I dont see why we have to follow what other ppl say when we dont agree with them. They think it is wrong, and they express it to us. But remember, it is our own choice to choose what to do and how to respond.

p/s: this is exactly why I have 2 different blogs. A personal and public one. One is for me to be me -- the crazy and silly girl I am when I want to be. The other for serious discussions on dakwah or anything ilmiah (although I havent started yet :P). Its much much easier that way. No fitnah-fitnah or misinteprations.

Wallahu'alam =)

Any opinions anyone?