One group of kids was dressed in gym clothes, with a red baseball cap turned sideways on their head. Can you guess what they are dressed as? Americans! They were the only group of children to do their skit in English! You could write a book about what American youth culture means to Malaysians through that cocked-sideways baseball cap, but I’ll just note the fact of it here for you and move on. American Garb! The event dragged on, as official functions tend to do, into its third hour, and the children milling around in the

holding area grew more frenetic, and the loud murmur rose to a dull roar until finally a pair of teachers whipped out their kompang and dumbek and began to play. The kids immediately started singing along to the hymns and things grew if not quieter, at least less chaotic until the time came to start walking the stage. My daughter, Kak Uda had a great time. I may not have caught all the skits this time around, but that’s OK. I’ll be back next year with Kak Andak.

Other posts about Taski ABIM:
Berjayalah Taskiku!
My eldest child’s graduation

M. Nasir:
My affairs are not yet settled
Till I have found His Light
All I desire on this journey
Is that you send along the Fatihah for me

Al-Jawaher:
Listen to my voice calling you
Like a song
Know that this journey has nearly reached its end
Deliver my intention
Unto the righteous
(O Friend)
Tell them how I long to be with them
Begging the Good Pleasure of the Lord

Together:
I beg His Good Pleasure

(repeat to fade)

***
English translation by
Bin Gregory Productions.
***

Original Lyrics.
M.Nasir :
Urusanku belum selesai selagi
Belum ku temui sinarnya
Hendaknya dalam perjalanan ini
Kau bekalkan ku Al-Fatehah

Al-Jawaher :
Dengarlah suara memanggil
Bagai bersenandung
Sedarlah perjalanan ini hampir tamat
Sampaikan hasratku pada mereka
Yang soleh
Oh teman
Katakan ku ingin bersama mereka
memohon keredhaannya

Duet :
Aku pohon keredhaannya

Sekuntum bunga itu

***
Give it a listen:
Kopratasa – Masihkah Kau Ingat

***
English translation by
Bin Gregory Productions.
***

Do you remember still
That single moment where
A blossom full in bloom
I placed within your hair

Do you remember still
Transformed into a dream
Longing to be with you
Do you remember still

Do you remember still
As we ran and ran
To the foot of the sky
The rainbows we chased
As the rain did come to fall
Together we were drenched

Do you remember still
Do you remember still

Do you remember still
The blossom on that day
In the palm of my hand
It did wilt away
As I closed my grasp
It did turn to dust
Do you remember still

Do you remember still (repeat to fade)

Original lyrics in Bahasa Malaysia:

Masihkah kau ingat
Pada waktu itu sekuntum bunga mekar
Kuselit ke rambutmu

Masihkah kau ingat
Ia menjadi mimpi dan menjadi rindu
Masihkah kau ingat

Masihkah kau ingat
kita berlari-lari di kaki langit mencari pelangi
lalu hujan turun kita basah bersama

Masihkah kau ingat
Masihkah kau ingat

Masihkah kau ingat
sekuntum bunga itu
Ditapak tangan ini
Ia menjadi layu
Lalu kugengam ia menjadi debu
Masihkah kau ingat
Masihkah kau ingat

Masihkah kau ingat
kita berlari-lari di kaki langit mencari pelangi
lalu hujan turun kita basah bersama

Masihkah kau ingat
Masihkah kau ingat

Masihkah kau ingat
sekuntum bunga itu
Ditapak tangan ini
Ia menjadi layu
Lalu kugengam ia menjadi debu
Masihkah kau ingat
Masihkah kau ingat

Masihkah kau ingat(8x)

Disclaimer: Lyrics and song link posted in the spirit of fair use and providing publicity to a non-BM-speaking audience. Copyright holder may contact BGP for removal requests at kopratasa@bingregory.com

The cicak, or house gecko

***

Translation and more after the jump.

Gecko, Gecko on the wall
Quiet, Quiet as he crawls
Along comes a lone mosquito
Hap! Hap! He’s been swallowed up!

Living in Malaysia means sharing your home with the cicak, the house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus). You may find them cute, you may find them repulsive, but you will find them everywhere. They are in every home, shop and mosque, from the lowest to the grandest. As house guests go, the cicak is a good one. They stay quiet and out of sight, hiding behind pictures, clocks and light fixtures on the wall by day. At night, they emerge to feed on the insects of the house, especially mosquitos.

The cicak (pronounced Chee -chak) turns up elsewhere too, in nursery rhymes, in textile patterns, even in movies. Cicak-man is a popular action-comedy movie about a Malaysian who acquires superpowers when he drinks a teh tarik that had been pooped in by a cicak!

The cicak is the top-level predator of the home. Nothing much eats cicaks though occasionally one will fall off the wall into the hands of a cat. Or a kid. My brothers-in-law amused themselves as kids by shooting them off the walls with rubber bands.

Hemidactylus frenatus

By Abu Muhammad of Bahrus Shofah

***

English Translation by Bin Gregory Productions

***

Datuk Haji Abdul Kadir bin Hassan, may Allah have mercy on him, was born in Kampung Patingan (or Kampung No. 6), Kuching, Sarawak, on the 6th of August, 1928 (28th Safar 1347). His formal education began at SRK (Public School) Merpati Japang (my own school) until Standard 4 (10th grade), after which he attended the Madrasah Melayu (Malay Religious School, Kuching). While studying at school, he deepened his religious knowledge with local ulama (religious scholars), among them Guru Sulong bin Hussin and Tuan Guru Haji Yusuf bin Abdul Ghani. Datuk Abdul Kadir then entered Madrasah al-‘Arabiah al-Islamiah, an Arabic language school founded by Datu Imam Tuan Guru Haji Abang Murshidi, before continuing his education at Madrasah al-Juneid, Singapore. Among his other teachers were Ustaz Sharkawi bin Shaykh Othman, Shaykh Syazali bin Shaykh Othman and Shaykh Zainuddin bin Shaykh Othman (they being the children of Shaykh Othman as-Sarawaki) and many more ulama who taught at Madrasah al-Islamiah and Madrasah al-Juneid.

After finishing at Madrasah al-Juneid, Datuk Abdul Kadir served as a religious teacher at the Singapore Police Academy. He was also active in da’wah (calling to Islam) in many mosques throughout Singapore, and was frequently invited to give the Friday sermon at Masjid Sultan. Realizing that he needed to contribute to the people of Sarawak who were more in need of his service, he left his career in Singapore to return to his homeland. In Sarawak, he continued his duties as a religious teacher and resumed his da’wah efforts. Alongside that, he constantly endeavored to take his religious studies to a higher level, and in the end, with the assistance of Tan Sri Abang Ikhwan Zaini, he was given a scholarship to continue his formal education at the Islamic College of Malaya. Among his teachers there were Tan Sri Muhammad Abdul Rauf, Tan Sri Jalil Hasan, Ustaz Zulkifli Muhammad, Dr. Zaki Badawi and Ustaz Nik Mohd. Mahyuddin. After completion of his studies at the Islamic College in 1959, his ambition was to pursue further studies at Al-Azhar University. This was blocked by the British colonial regime which at that time did not want students to be sent to an Egypt under the control of President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Fatwas of Mufti Datuk Haji Abdul Kadir Hassan

On the 1st of May, 1967, Datuk Abdul Kadir was appointed Mufti of the State of Sarawak. His appointment did not prevent him from continuing his da’wah work. His study circles continued as before, while he continued teaching classes on the book Sabilal Muhtadin at a number of suraus (neighborhood mosques) around the region. While he was well known as an alim (one of the ulama) and a caller to Islam, he can also be considered as a pious servant (of the Lord). As part of his regular devotions, he would read 3 juz (30ths) of the Quran every day and complete the reading of the Quran every 10 days. Tahajjud and qiyamullail (the night vigil) were constant practices of his, together with Salat ad-Dhuha (the mid-morning prayer) which was his routine practice before heading to the office. In the month of Ramadhan, he held fast to the practice of 20 rakaat (cycles of prayer) in tarawih (special night prayers during Ramadhan), even though the trend was toward 8 rakaat as preferred by those in power in the government at the time. As firm as he was in his certitude, he always carried himself with great humility. Once, when he was invited to lead the tarawih prayers by supporters of the 8-rakaat prayer, he honored the invitation, but when the 8 rakaat where finished, he withdrew and requested someone else to lead the witr (three rakaat closing the tarawih prayer), completing his tarawih later. Such was the character of Datuk Abdul Kadir: he was the gentlest of men and did not like to force his ways on others. So soft was his manner of speaking that he would win the heart of anyone who interacted with him, even the smallest of children.

Datuk Abdul Kadir returned unto the mercy of his Lord on Friday, the 15th of January 1988. May Allah have mercy on him always. Al-Fatihah.

The Fatwa (Ruling) of Datuk Abdul Kadir Concerning Zikir Marhaban (recitation of devotional poetry about the Prophet, peace be upon him).

Question:-
What is the Islamic position regarding zikir marhaban as it is practiced by the Islamic community today?

Answer:-
• In truth, this represents a form of praising and wishing blessings and peace on the Exalted Messenger, peace be upon him.
• Standing at the moment when the birth of the Prophet is mentioned, together with singing the songs “Marhaban Jaddal Husaini”, “Ashraqul Badrul ‘Alaina” and others, out of respect for Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is in fact an excellent practice, and there is nothing in the Law that prohibits this, as long as one does not change the pronunciation of the words in such a way as to alter their meaning.
• Sayyid Zaini Dahlan, the Grand Mufti of the Shafi’i Madhab in Mecca (d. 1304H) was of the opinion that congregating to celebrate the birth of the Prophet, reciting accounts of his life, standing and praising the Prophet, peace be upon him, were praiseworthy actions. And it has been practiced in such a way by many of the ulama who are the leaders of the Ummah (muslim nation). (I’anatut Talibin, section III, page 363).
• Imam Taqiyuddin as-Subki, among the greatest scholars of the Shafi’i Madhab (d. 657H) was also of the opinion that standing upon hearing accounts of the Prophet’s birth was among the praiseworthy actions for honoring the Prophet.
• In short, there is no doubt that holding Zikir Marhaban as practiced in our community is not remotely contradicted in the Law but rather it is counted amongst the best of deeds.

***

Originally published in Bahasa Melayu at Bahrus Shofa.

Any errors or shortcomings in the text above are on the part of the translator. Corrections warmly welcomed.