An SMS Warning or wachamaycallit

I received an sms from an unknown sender – unknown in that the name is not in my phonebook. Normally I would have replied with a, “u r?” but this was the kind of message I usually ignore and click on ‘delete’ which I did.

However, I received a second sms, most probably from the same person, with the added ‘instructions’ that I should forward it to all my ‘Muslim’ friends and acquaintances.

I was about to delete it when I thought that I should put down my thoughts in this blog. Sms’s, to me, are short messages but this was rather long. The text of the sms was as follows:

Skrg krstian sdg aktf d Srmbn n Slngor n kian pesat ke negeri lain. Seramai 1900 org pdri Mlayu yg baru tiba dr Sgpore telah berada d sini…………….…Air tsbut tlh dcampur dgn holy water……Air ni blh m’ngkbtkn lidah keras@kelu utk mnybut klimah Allah.

Roughly translated it goes like this:

Now Christians are active in Seremban and Selangor and gaining momentum in other states. 1,900 Malay priests have arrived from Singapore and are here.…( here it warns against drinking certain brands of mineral water as) the water is mixed with holy water…This water will make one tongue tied and unable to pronounce the name of Allah.

I found this quite hilarious.

I think everyone knows that in Malaysia it’s against the law to try to convert Muslims out of Islam. So if the originator has any information of such activity, he/she should report it to the relevant authorities.

Then the sender, if he/she has not verified (or at least try to verify) the authenticity of the message, is guilty of spreading falsehood – and that’s not a small sin based on my understanding of Islam.

The sender is also telling me that my faith (Iman) is weak. Maybe so, but shouldn’t the originator/sender be actively promoting activities involved in strengthening my faith rather than just make our already rich Telcos richer.

We then have Malay priests coming from Singapore. The Malaysian constitution is clear that to be called a Malay, one must profess Islam as his/her religion. It would be different if the sms said ‘Malay speaking’ priests, but then aren’t many of the Christian priests and ministers already in Malaysia able to converse in Malay. This is a necessity as the first language for most of us is Malay even for those of different ethnic origins.

What is ‘holy water’? My Christian friend tells me that this is plain water which has some drops of olive oil sprinkled on it and prayers are recited over it by the priest by way of blessings. And if this water is able to be specific in its targeting (only making its drinkers tongue tied in pronouncing the name of Allah and the Shahadah - Attestation of Faith), all the intelligence agencies of the world should be real interested in learning its secret.

On a somber note however, we see so many misguided ‘Muslim’ and other youth loitering the streets and complexes in our towns and cities. If we as Muslims don’t guide them and show them the way, then there surely are others who are more than willing to do so.