I refer to your article, "Malaysia's Fly in the Ointment" I do not agree with all your points because there are many members of the Malaysian Civil Service who do not visit that particular witch doctor which your writer indicates. By the way the local term for these witch doctors is bomohs. It is true that many members of the Malaysian ulama moonlight as part time or full time bomohs.
Religion is also big money in Malaysia. The ulamas are being given more power and this usually translates into spending public funds. Recently there was a scandal in the state of Johor when ulama misused baitul mal funds to buy luxury four-wheel drive vehicles for their personal use. As you know baitul mal funds are for the poor, the orphans and the widows.
In the state of Selangor, over RM 2.0 million of Baitul Mal funds was lost in a share scam. The same Baitul Mal set up 12 companies to venture into business, all of which ended up making consecutive losses.
There is even bigger money involved at the federal level in Kuala Lumpur. Millions of dollars are involved to construct mosques in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of the country, conduct many religious programs, printing and publishing. We can very safely say that those at the very top of the religious establishment are not exactly on the Siratul Mustakim when it comes to awarding contracts or evaluating tenders from contract bids.
Not surprisingly one of the most
successful contractors who frequently wins contracts to build
mosques in Kuala Lumpur is a non Muslim Chinese who is very
friendly with the highest levels of the ulama. He has been so
successful that his Company is now seeking a listing on the stock
exchange in Kuala Lumpur.
Dato Abdullah,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
'Thank you for sending your interesting and excellent magazine - but I am surprised you do not give some space to study of the Quran in Arabic.
There must be many of your readers who are learning Arabic and who, like me, would appreciate on one or two pages with verses of the Quran in Arabic vocabulary and grammatical notes, together with brief notes in English on the verses.
I am sure this would increase the
appeal of Signs magazine to all students of Arabic.
D, Payne, Essex, England.
Having seen Ahmed Deedat's video lectures I was very impressed by his depth of knowledge and when he visited Glasgow recently I was delighted to go and hear him speak.
Sadly, I was most disappointed. Mr.
Deedat had a wonderful opportunity to talk about any aspect of
Islam but instead he chose to chastise, using degrading
expletives, those men who did not wear a cap -as if that w as the
only way to distinguish Muslims. When questioned by a female
member of the audience why he swore throughout his lecture, his
reply was nothing short of arrogance. His terse advice was not to
attend if you don't like his style. I will take it.
Sarah McDougal, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Please know that receiving Signs means a great deal to me, and has helped me gain spiritual perspectives, which have assisted me in my daily activities. Signs are well written, informative and easy to read. I share the magazine with others and they also respond positively.
Signs have improved my life!
David C. Seidlar, USA
According to God, our only Lord, our Initiator (Al Fatu - Father) and Redeemer, there is only one religion (= faith & science) acceptable to Him, i.e. Submission to God alone. That's the message preached by all the prophets, from Abraham to Noah, David and Solomon to Moses and Jesus and it was also preached by Muhammed. The Quran confirms previous scriptures.
The Quran preaches in unity of all
the people. Let's not waste our time arguing about the
religion, since we have the Quran.
Study the Quran, and obey our Lord, without arguing with those
who do not believe! God is Almighty, Omniscient, and He knows
what everyone has in his or her head. The Quran tells the Truth,
the Quran guides us with our Lord's own words. So why argue? I
think that Signs should focus on the only real issue of
importance i.e. "how to worship God alone?" This is the
real issue.
Let's focus on the
real issue, how to worship God alone! Obviously, it is not
arguing with the hypocrites and disbelievers that we worship God.
Let's reflect on 78:38, "The day will come when the Spirit
and the angels will stand in a row. None will speak except those
given permission by the Most Gracious, and they will utter only
what is right."
Erik V. Tornvall, Switzerland
Signs magazine presenting a
Quranic perspective for discussion and debate. We would like to
hear from you. If you have any news, views or questions please
write to us. Signs Magazine Strathyre House P.O. Box 164 Glasgow
G3 6LR. (U.K.) Fax No: +44 (0) 141-331 2861 or Can e-mail us at SignsEditor@netscape.net