In a few days,\nMalaysia will be celebrating its 62nd National Day. The theme selected for this\nyear\u2019s celebration is \u201cSayangi Malaysiaku: Malaysia Bersih (Love My Malaysia: A\nClean Malaysia).\u201d As announced by the Communications and Multimedia Minister, by having this theme, we hope to \u201cinstil\nand ignite the value of integrity and build up a strong and noble character\namong Malaysians.\u201d It is a long effort, but we need to start now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word\n\u201cbersih\u201d or clean, used in the theme, is simple but could be understood more\ndeeply. In simple terms, clean means \u201cfree form dirt or pollution\u201d and could\nalso mean, \u201cceremonially and spiritually pure.\u201d Based on this, cleanliness\nshould exist in both physical and spiritual levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is exactly\nwhat Islam has taught us. In Islam, cleanliness is essential and fundamental in\nthe Muslim life. It is also considered a part of faith. Islam is concerned with\nboth physical and spiritual cleanliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Physical\ncleanliness is obtained by cleansing one\u2019s body by bathing, brushing teeth,\nusing perfume, making ablution before praying etc. In fact, among the early\nrevelations of Islam is an injunction to cleanse the physical part of human\nlife. The Quran (al-Muddaththir<\/em>, 4) encourages\nus thus, \u201cAnd your garment, cleanse\nthem.\u201d<\/em> Human physical cleanliness will be completed by having a cleaner\nliving environment. The physical cleanliness is easy to achieve as long as we\nare willing to invest the time and effort to organise ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second type\nof cleanliness involves the human\u2019s inner being. It could be achieved in\nvarious ways but the basic one would be through upholding the five pillars of\nIslam that are the declaration of faith (Shahadah<\/em>), obligatory prayers\n(Solat<\/em>), compulsory tithe (Zakat<\/em>), fasting in the month of\nRamadan (Sawm<\/em>) and pilgrimage to Mekah (Hajj<\/em>). If these\ndemands are executed in diligence, patience and sincerity, they could help to\npurify one\u2019s soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A purified soul\nis one that would strive to avoid sins and making an abundance of goodness.\nThis will shape a personality of one who despises corruption, willing to help\nothers beyond religion and differences in political understanding and having a\npositive mind as well as a compassionate heart which is free of anger and\nhatred towards others. Malaysia needs such kinds of \u201csouls\u201d to create loving\nand respectful citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another way to\ncleanse one\u2019s soul is clearly stated in the Quran. Verse 23 of surah al-Zumar<\/em> states that by listening\nand reciting the Quran, one\u2019s hearts will experience serenity and be susceptible\nto accept the teachings of Allah and be blessed by Him. Indeed, Allah will\nguide us through our lives. Thus, we must read and learn the Quran as it\ncontains various guidelines which can be used in our daily endeavours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this sense,\nthe physical cleanliness could not be realised unless the inner part of a human\nis purified. Dr. Aisha Utz in her book, Psychology from Islamic Perspective<\/em>\nexplains that the soul \u201cdrives the physical body\u2019s feeling, movements and\nvolition. When the soul is removed, life ends for the human.\u201d The phrase \u201clife\nend for humans\u201d could be seen around us today. Humans are involved in countless\ndestructive acts such as fighting against one another as well as destroying the\nenvironment which we rely upon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Quran,\nAllah says, \u201cBy the Soul, and Him Who\nwell-proportioned it (with faculties well-suited for its creation); And\ninspired him with (knowledge of) what is wrong for it and (what is) right for\nit; Indeed blessed shall be the man who has kept it pure (with faith and good\ndeeds), And ruined shall be he who has corrupted it (with sins).\u201d<\/em> The verse\nstresses those who purify their souls are fortunate while those who neglect it\nwill be heading to self-destruction (al-Shams<\/em>,\nverses 7\u201310).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hence, it is\nvital to take care of our spiritual health as much as the physical one.\nAbandoning effort to cleanse the soul will be reflected in many ways. One will\nshow a number of difficult attitudes such as arrogance in speech and behaviour,\nenjoying evil acts, belittling others and feeling pleasure upon the hardship of\nothers. These immoral attitudes are bad for individuals and harmful to society\nand would create disharmony in the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion,\npurifying one\u2019s soul is indispensable. Once a person improves his or her soul,\nit will be reflected in his or her words and actions. Good souls nurture\nvirtuous human beings and are thus necessary in forming a harmonious and\nsuccessful societies and nations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a few days, Malaysia will be celebrating its 62nd National Day. The theme selected for this year\u2019s celebration is \u201cSayangi Malaysiaku: Malaysia Bersih (Love My Malaysia: A Clean Malaysia).\u201d As announced by the Communications and Multimedia Minister, by having this theme, we hope to \u201cinstil and ignite the value of integrity and build up a strong and noble character among Malaysians.\u201d It is a long effort, but we need …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-225","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26325\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}