The Malaysian Insight

A FRIEND of mine, Randy, was completely irritated by an incident which took place in his office recently. His colleague, a Muslim woman blasted a sermon session from her phone while everyone was busy doing their work at the office.

The sermon continued for at least an hour or so without any scrutiny from Randy’s officemates. According to Randy, everyone tolerated the sermon, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

“I just don’t get it,” said Randy.

“Why are Muslims so self-centred and ignorant of others?

“Why do they have to bring religion into the office? What if I blasted some Buddhist chants?”

Randy’s annoyance reminded me of an incident which I had experienced myself a few months earlier.

Once, in the middle of a training session, a fellow participant’s phone started blasting the azan. Immediately, the non-Muslim trainer stopped the session.

“What is that sound?” he asked.

“Sorry, that is the call for prayer coming from my phone. It reminds me that it’s time for prayers,” she explained, still not switching off the application installed on her phone.

“Ah, does that mean you have to excuse yourself to go perform your prayers?”

“No. It’s okay, I can perform my prayers later.”

The trainer was surely dumbfounded by her answer like the rest of us. Why on earth would anyone disturb a training session with the sound of azan if they are not planning to perform prayers upon hearing the call to do so?

On second thought, why does any Muslim who is dedicated to perform daily prayers need any reminders? Shouldn’t the time for prayers be imprinted in their minds already?

Equally dumbfounding is a prayer recital conducted over the speakers at 8am and 4.45pm every day in an industrial plant in a northern state of Peninsula.

Anyway, I ended up sharing Randy’s story with my brother a few nights ago, only to have him share his own experience.

He was once called by his department head to discuss an ‘urgent matter’ – it turned out to be about a few of his staffs who have miniature deities on their office desks.

“Please inform your staffs to remove their miniature Gods and Goddesses statues from their cubicle. This is an office, not a temple,” lamented the Muslim head.

My brother obliged but before carrying out the orders, he pointed at the framed Quranic verses hanging on the wall in his department head’s office and asked, “Does that include the holy scriptures in your office? I could ask Samy to help me take them down.”

The head of department was clearly annoyed.

“You are too much. This is an Islamic country, let me remind you!” she said after a few moments of being gobsmacked.

“This could be an Islamic country, but this is an office. As you mentioned earlier, people should leave their religious matters at home,” said my brother in a cynical manner.

The head of department went silent and adjourned the brief meeting.

I was quite pleased with my brother’s story and am planning to share it with Randy – I think it is important for him to know that not all Muslims are ignorant and self-centred.

However, I believe it is not wrong to bring our faith into our workplace. After all, our faith is within us and goes where we go. However, no religion promotes ignorance and self-centredness. In fact, all religion emphasises the importance of mutual respect to everyone.

If a person is truly an individual of faith, they would not be blasting religious audio and disrupting an office environment in the first place.

Equally important, in my honest opinion, is to understand that tolerance is not all positive as we have been brainwashed to accept since childhood. Putting up with things we do not approve of is never a sign of strength; instead it is a sign of weakness.

It is high time we stop tolerating people who do not practise mutual respect. Whatever the consequences are, is it not better to be honest and upfront with the people we work with instead of grumbling behind their back? – August 10, 2017.

* Fa Abdul is a passionate storyteller and a resident agitator of the idiots in society. Well-known for her straight-talking sarcasm and occasional foul mouth, she juggles between her work as a writer, producer and director.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.