The Noble Quran

hey awesome.

i have a lot of  non-Malay and non-Muslim friends and sometimes they like to ask questions regarding Islam. most of the time i am able to answer their question and give acceptable clarification regarding certain issues like the need to cover our aurah properly and practice the right attitude in our daily life with the surrounding people. yet, there were times when i fail to establish a thorough explanation of my religion towards my friends and that leaves them hanging on the air with the questions, leaving me a shameful person due to my own menial knowledge.

i'm not the kind of person who would read Quran in front of people because i think it could be a provoking action on my part to do so. because we have our own level of awareness when it comes to faith and i am very afraid that if someone saw me doing this deeds, they might think that i am pretending and just showing off how good of a person i am. but the truth is, its not like that. after a huge fall out with a certain someone, i became more passive and is more restrictive and secretive when it comes to doing something good. i just feel like someone is scrutinizing my action with my daily lifestyle. sometimes late at night when i'm alone in my room, i would sit at my study table and read the verses and the meaning and try to discover something from my reading. i admit with deepest humiliation that i do not read the Holy Quran everyday, and the blame is place wholly upon my own shoulder.

the problem with taking TESL is, i am exposed with English everywhere i go. i know some people are so damn annoyed because i always speak rojak English + Malay in my conversation but what can i do? its the way i am. and my Quran have this Malay translation with a hint of Indonesian influence in its translation. of course it wouldn't be a problem for my Malay friends if i explain about the ayat to them but when my non-Malay friends, the Christian, the Buddhist, the free thinker, ask me questions regarding Islam, i must explain in English. because Malay is not their mother tongue.

and my non-Malay friends are all very curious lots. take for instance, my friend Tay Jia Chyi who's interested in the words of Quran and is very adamant at understanding them. he even ask me why certain things can be done, certain things can't and what's the reason behind it. sometimes he would read the hadith and ask me the meaning of the hadith too. of course i explain in English because its the easiest way for us to communicate.

sometimes, i don't know how to explain what's in the Quran because i don't know how to say a certain terms in English so that's a huge bummer for me. i've been asking around from my seniors for Al-Quran with English translation but all is in vain. until, i found this website in Maria Elena's blog which give me joy beyond words! and i can't believe i didn't notice the link before this! stupid me ayayai~

click HERE to go to quran.com where you can find the English translation of the surah and it is arranged nicely where the translation follows each ayat to make you understand what the specific ayat is about. i've been reading it the whole time i'm online and there's a lot of benefit for me when i browse through this website.

i consider this new found happiness as a sign for me. there's the term for everything thus its easier to apply them in some Q&A sessions with the non-Muslim. besides, as English is my language here in IPG, i don't really have any problem understanding the translation.

this is the ayat that touch my heart two days ago.

Then Allah will accept repentance after that for whom He wills; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

At-Tawbah  9 : 27

its like a huge rock just smash itself on my face. yeah, like that.
toodles.