Surau it's meaning

What is a Surau? According to a friend of mine it comes from a mandailing root word of pagan times Pensurauan a place where prayers are done. So it is the same as Mussola an arabic word went translated means a prayer place. I still have to be certain of the above but it is safe to say a pace where prayers is held. I ask myself with the advent of knowledge you can find on your fingertips don't you think the Malays Muslim can be put in the dark? Can we stop them from asking question, is it wrong for other people to pray in the same room who shares other beliefs?

If you travel overseas you will find designated prayer room/meditation room for every people of other beliefs to pray. Muslim use it to pray. We have no problem but why can't we share the same? Why if Islam make us better are we so selfish on space? As long as no idols or trinket is used why is it so wrong? If the kafir can be so nice to give us place in their place of worship like in a sikh temple in India recently why can't Muslims be that magnanimous?

Are we not Allah's caliph? But our behaviour frightens me. Yes it was in bad taste but it was a private prayer room so why should he reconfirm his faith ie the resort owner.Why does he has to take his oath again or the syahadah? Has he offended God or Muhammad? In what way?

The kiblat or the shahadah on top is not right that is a different issue. I prefer the surau or prayer room to be devoid of any words or emblems. It must be empty just like Kaabah a rectangular house. People forget that Kaabah has many statue one of it is Allah! Back to thr above his mistake perhaps was thinking being kind is wrong. The guest want to pray there was no place available so why not be kind.

Where is the insult?

A surau is a prayer room or hall. It is not quite a mosque. You can even have a prayer room or surau in your home or place of work. But even if it is a mosque what is wrong if non-Muslims use it to pray as long as they take off their shoes and cover themselves decently?

NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

“On YouTube, yet another religious row stirs”, said The Malay Mail report today.

Malaysians are again picking up their well-worn pitchforks after a video surfaced on YouTube yesterday allegedly showing a Muslim prayer room in Johor being used by Buddhist tourists for worship.

The 85-second-long video titled “Surau dijadikan tokong???” (A surau turned into a temple?) begins with an external shot of a small building and a close-up of what appears to be a sign in Arabic script over a doorway.

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A surau is a prayer room or hall. It is not quite a mosque. You can even have a prayer room or surau in your home or place of work. But even if it is a mosque what is wrong if non-Muslims use it to pray as long as they take off their shoes and cover themselves decently? Anyway, in the first place, they would not be allowed into the mosque if they were indecently dressed.

All over the world prayer rooms are ‘shared’ by those of different religious persuasions. This has never been an issue for either Muslims or non-Muslims. So why is it an issue in Malaysia?

It is reported that after the Muslim army’s siege of Jerusalem in 637, Patriarch Sophronius refused to surrender except to the Caliph Omar himself (the Second Caliph after Prophet Muhammad) and Omar travelled to Jerusalem to accept the surrender.

He then visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Sophronius invited him to pray inside the Church. However, Omar declined so as not to set a precedent and thereby endanger the Church's status as a Christian site. Instead, he prayed outside in the courtyard, in a place where David was believed to have prayed.

Around 550 years later the Mosque of Omar was built on that site, opposite the southern courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Muristan.

Omar refused to pray in the church not because it was unsuitable for prayers but so that there would be no conflict later as to whether the church has now been turned into a mosque. In other words, Omar respected the status of the church and wanted it to remain a church.

Many churches in England have been turned into mosques and/or Islamic cultural centres. No one regards this as an insult to Christianity or Islam.

So, no, today, I do not want to write a long-winded cheong hei article. I just want Muslims to reflect on this and not see everything as an insult to Islam. So what if all religions share one prayer room or hall? Do we not all pray to the same God? And if Muslims subscribe to the doctrine “there is no god but God” then for sure we all pray to the same God -- just that we do so in different ways.

(MM) - Malaysians are again picking up their well-worn pitchforks after a video surfaced on YouTube yesterday allegedly showing a Muslim prayer room in Johor being used by Buddhist tourists for worship.

The 85-second-long video titled “Surau dijadikan tokong???” (A surau turned into a temple?) begins with an external shot of a small building and a close-up of what appears to be a sign in Arabic script over a doorway.

The video’s maker then approaches the building to record what appears to be a prayer session by a dozen white-clad people led by a monk in red and saffron. At the front of the room, the video briefly displays a Buddhist poster below a plaque with Arabic script.

According to reports by several local dailies today, the surau (prayer room) is located within the grounds of Tanjung Sutera Resort, but the resort’s manager has clarified that the tourists were allowed to use the Muslim prayer hall as the other locations were unavailable due to over-booking.

Still, the angry responses are pouring in.

Johor Islamic Religious Council (MAIJ) adviser Datuk Noh Gadut said the group of tourists should be banned from Malaysia, accusing them of violating the sanctity of a Muslim place of worship.

“We should be stricter by using existing laws including blacklisting that group from re-entering the country.

“That incident should not have happened. They have to understand Malaysia’s laws because that action does not only mengguris perasaan (hurtful), but also insults Islam,” he was quoted as saying by Berita Harian.

The Johor Religious Department will also probe the incident before action is taken, the Malay-language daily reported.

Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria also weighed in, saying that the resort management was at fault for allowing the incident to happen.

But Tanjung Sutera Resort manager Syed Ahmed Alkaff explained that permission was given to the tourists as the resort had no knowledge that they would be using it for worship.

“We gave them permission to use the surau because the other halls were already full.

“They told us only for meditation, not worship,” he was quoted as saying by Malay-language daily Kosmo.

Berita Harian also reported the resort manager as saying he did not expect the offer to lead to the controversy now.

“I do not think the action of giving permission to believers of other religions to use the surau is wrong. This is because they only wanted to use the surau for meditation.

“I have no intention of hurting anyone’s feelings. My intention is to show that Islam is universal and tolerant,” said the Singapore-born Muslim with permanent resident status in Malaysia.

Kota Tinggi district police chief Supt Mohd Nor Rasid confirmed that the police will investigate reports lodged over the matter.

The incident is the latest case of local Muslim outrage over what the group perceives to be insults to Islam.

Last month, bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee were charged with sedition, among others, after they posted a photograph of themselves eating “bak kut teh” (a pork broth), together with a Ramadan greeting on Facebook.

Days after that, a Muslim dog trainer, Maznah Mohd Yusof, was also arrested and probed under the Sedition Act over a video she made three years ago in which she is featured celebrating Aidilfitri with her three pet dogs.