Are We Islam Enough?

One night about two months ago, me and my other two friends spent four hours talking about life questions, world issues and such. It was really intriguing we got carried away and ended up spending four hours just exchanging ideas. I didn't feel much regret spending that much time, though, because we seldom talk about some serious life questions.

During the discussion, I had one of my biggest realizations ever - the question of "Am I Islam Enough?"

Honestly, I am one of many who believe that as long as we acknowledge that Allah is our God, then that'll pretty much prove that we are Islam enough. But my friend told me that when it comes to believing in God, there are two levels. "Rob", and "Illah".

Rob, could be described as the believe that there is God, while Illah, is a higher level that makes us believe and TOTALLY submit ourselves towards Him. Illah drives our life to only live for Him, and Illah makes us be His servant and let Him be our only reason to live.

Surely Illah sounds like a really high level, doesn't it? But as hard as we should work to achieve that level, we should also realize that being only at the Rob level does not guarantee us that we die in Islam.

But why? One might ask. If I believe in Allah, that should mean I'm a Muslim, right?

Not necessarily.

Whenever we refer to the word "Allah", it always depends on what is the context that we're referring Him to. If what we see in Allah is just as our God who is up there and the one who created this universe, then this is described as being at the "Rob" level. If we're only at this level, we should worry a lot.

Again, why? What's so wrong about being at the "Rob" level?

Well, it's simply because almost everybody believes in God. Even some of the atheists I've talked to believe that there should be some kind of higher power up there but they just don't know which religion is the correct one.

The Jews, Christians, for example - they all believe in the same God that we always refer to as "Allah". And worse, even the evil satans acknowledge the existence of Allah! So, if our belief in God is only at this level, we should worry because we might be risking ourselves to be placed at the same level as the satans!

But Illah, as pure as it is, means total submission. And total submission means that everything we do on this earth is because of Him, adhering to His words and avoiding what He dislikes. That's why He likes it better for us Muslims to call Him Allah instead of just God. (Note: You could still call Him Allah but mean just the God at the Rob level). Being at this level makes our prayers being the reason we stop committing sins. Being at this level makes us feel peace. Being at this level gives us security.

Now, ask ourselves, my fellow Muslim friends - are we only acknowledging Allah the same way satan does, or are we moving towards having Illah inside our hearts?

May Allah bless all of us in this world and in the hereafter.

Finally, Proton

Last Monday, on the very front page of the "Ekonomi" section in Berita Harian, an article writes "Proton mampu berdikari". This article explains how Proton is now moving forward due to its success in their customer feedback on the latest Proton Saga and Persona.

Proton's CEO, Syed Zainal Syed Mohamad Tahir said,

"Semua usaha dilaksanakan sudah berhasil. Tanggungjawab Proton besar dan apa yang penting ialah mengeluarkan model disukai pembeli"

And the article further writes,

"Namun, katanya kunci kejayaan pembaharuan itu yang menekankan aspek mutu ialah Proton tidak boleh lagi mengeluarkan model 'syok sendiri'"

"Kami perlu mengeluarkan model disukai dan ia terbukti berjaya apabila Persona dan Saga baru mendapat sambutan."

Dumbfounded at first, then I thought "Oh, Yay..... Errr, Congratulations... Proton...."

After a looong 23 years in the business, FINALLY Proton got the secret formula of how to actually make cars: produce models that customers like. I could imagine the CEO in his office shouting with pride "Oh My God!!! Guys, Check this OUT!!! I got the secret formula!!!! We need, to make cars, that our customers love!!!! Wooot!!"

Lame...

Right now, let's cross our fingers and hope it won't take Proton another 23 years to finally learn that cars have four wheels.