twist-irony-surprises

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Mawi...oh Mawi!

It was 6.45 a.m, when i accidentaly stumbled onto Channel 4, Ria at Astro. My intention was never to watch anything malay-nised in that channel, but my real intention was to turn on to channel 42 but i had difficulty pressing the button 2, so therefore i ended up watching Ria.

It has been many nights without slumber and my usual bed time would be around 9 or 5 a.m in the morning, and i would wake up four hours after that. Insomnia, has been a loyal friend in my new idle life.

On Channel 4, recitals of 'Takbir Raya' is booming loudly on the tv and i have nearly forgotten that today, this morning ,is Hari Raya Aildil-adha. I stopped my intention from changing the channel into the one i had planned to watch earlier.

I thought to myself, as a duty of a Muslim, eventhough not religeous but it is still my duty to at least listen to a few beautiful verses of a recital from the Al-Quran. Mawi, the winner of Akademia Fantasia led the recital and it was amazing how he could recite a few verses with such calmness and impresiveness without sounding vain at all. His eyes were closed and his body rocked from side to side as if, possesed but gently and peacefully possesed.

The rest behind him, followed his recitals. Thier eyes told a story of solemnity and solace. Some even shut thier eyes closed, trying to appreciate the beauty of the Al-Quran, but all of them had one thing in common; thier bodies were rocking gently from side to side. It was not synchronised and rather messy, but they were all rocking to thier own rhythm. Rhythm of spirituality and finding inner peace with himself and God.

It was not only thier eyes that captured me, but it was also thier head and body movement. Most of them, had thier head tilted down, looking down as if, they were very ashamed of themselves and regretted of thier doings in the past. From there, I can see a Muslim repenting and being a 'hamba of Allah'. It shook me wholly.

Slowly and seldomly, they would opened thier eyes, but when they did, it was heavy and lazy as if had just been sprinkled with a magic spell.A magic spell that would give them peace and calmness that could put them to sleep like a baby. I found myself slowly reciting the verses that I knew so well since i was a child.

On every Hari Raya's eve, I would play outside the house with my cousins, my lovely and ever so many cousins at night. We would play hide and see, fire crackers, skipping rope and so much more. On that very night i would never fail to hear the recitals faintly on the background as i played. Sometimes, i even did try to follow the recitals, but i never knew the words, so i just followed the melody. Now I know the words, and it has always been my favourite recital as it had been so nostalgic.It brings comfort of my childhood.

This is just a short story, telling all of you out there, how i am as a Muslim and an individual feel about my religeon and my spirituality. Just surfacing the hidden emotion and let you all out there, experience a lil jist of spiritual comfort of another religeon and culture. How much i tried to run away, (even without me realising it) from my roots and heritage, i could never go far. I would always be on the starting point of my race in denial. = )

by Zephyr at 2:56 PM |