Cock of the Walk

While being driven to work this morning,I confessed to my parents this morning that I have a blog and am actively writing in it. My father's comment?

"Stay away from political and religious issues. You don't know enough about religion to comment on it."

At which point I had to smugly point out that my e-mail to Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, the ex-mufti of Perlis had been placed in his website as an e-mel pilihan (insert giddy cackle). I continued on to explain that the e-mail was a long(-winded?) commentary on the sad state of the religious education for our young.

I held court in the car to my captive (literally) audience on how no one should blame the sad state of the Malay Muslim youths' moral judgement to the lack of religious education. Seriously, the national religious education curriculum (of which all Muslim children are subject to at all Government schools) is a rigorous one and covers all the basics that a Muslim should know: from aqidah, fardhu ain, sirrah nabawiyah and tauhid. There are even practical classes on how to pray. I remember being scolded by my ustazah for failure to bring the requisite telkung to school for the practical.

So why is it, with the well-crafted religious education curriculum that is taught from Primary One to Form Five, do we still say that our social ills are due to lack of religious education? Is it because our religious teachers adhere to the medieval teaching style whereby all dissent will be awarded with hell? Or the lack of a sensitive and well thought-out approach to inculcating our religious values?

Man, I could go on and on. But I had already arrived at my lab.