MUSLIMS recently celebrated Hari Raya after a month of fasting. Except for those in the east coast who were bracing for the floods, others have had a wonderful Aidilfitri.
Mosques were filled to the brim for the Raya prayers.
Thousands, if not millions, ma-naged to return to the kampung to meet up with parents and friends, many had open houses and quite a number of families held kenduri for newly-weds.
Christmas, too, was observed in an atmosphere of high-spirits. Chris-tians, who a week earlier had joined their Muslim friends for the Raya, reciprocated by organising open houses.
But elsewhere, according to news reports, this festive season had been a rather gloomy one.
In Afghanistan, political and social uncertainties appeared during this Aidilfitri.
While human sufferings and ca-lamities remain untold, critics are already dismissing the interim ad-ministration as an American puppet.
Christmas, too, seemed a bleak affair. Streets in Bethlehem were deserted.
Tourists stayed away as a renewed crisis loomed over the birthplace of Jesus and its surrounding areas.
In Europe, a deadly cold front is sweeping the continent. Across the Atlantic in New York, Christmas brought little cheer as memories of the Sept 11 attacks lingered on.
In Argentina, the economy had all but collapsed due to excessive debts.
At the Indian-Pakistani border, innocent bystanders and soldiers were preparing for yet another hope-less war.
Despite these gloomy scenarios, we should remind ourselves of the basic reasons why religious festivi-
ties have been prescribed onto us.
Religious celebrations are aimed at acknowledging success and pro-viding optimism as well as hope to the faithful in bracing for new challenges.
Religion teaches us that two elements vital to promoting har-monious inter- and intra-religious relationships are optimism and a positive outlook towards life and others.
Verse 56 of Surah al-Hijr (Chapter 15) of the Holy Quran states: “He who despairs of God’s mercy has lost the right course.
Prophet Muhammad says in this respect: �Make things easy and not difficult. Propagate hopeful news, and not desperate ones.
He demonstrated one of the gre-atest examples of optimism.
While on his way to a town called Taif to preach the religion of God, the Prophet was stoned till he bled profusely. Emotionally hurt, he was visited by the Angel of the Mo-untains, which encompassed the Va-lley of Taif.
He was offered the choice to have the people who denied his message crushed. However, the Prophet refused to assign these people to destruction, citing that their off-spring might become believers. This wish was realised.
Samuel Smiles, the 19th century Scottish doctor-turned-writer, ob-serves:
History shows us that the greatest geniuses were happy and optimistic men, for they realised the real meaning of life and tried to manifest their reason in their flesh.
When one reflects on their achievements, one can clearly notice their healthy souls and thinking, and their kindness and enthusiasm. The greatest souls and most intelligent people all enjoy cheerful faces and happiness.
In a way, optimism is linked to trust. In order for the latter to exist between individuals and commu-nities, the former must become part of their lives.
Trust among members of any society is an important factor in the advancement of that society.
In this regard, the implementation by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall of new by-laws on the licensing of dogs next year should be looked at in a positive view.
For years, neighbours of dog owners have had to endure the noise from the snarling and barking, not to mention droppings, of these ot-herwise delightful animals.
It is time dog lovers reciprocate by minimising the nuisance, if any.
Similarly, criticisms that very little or nothing has been done to alleviate the sufferings of the current flood victims in the east coast should have been made through proper channels.
Likewise, the recent allegations of schools deliberately segregating pu-pils based on race could have been raised in a proper forum.
In these examples, actions based on trust promote love and harmony in our lives and will most likely result in a positive outcome.
Dale Carnegie, pioneer in public speaking and personal develop-ment, and author of How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948) had two maxims: “Believe that you will succeed, and you will,” and “Learn to love, respect and enjoy other people.”
Carnegie used to relate this story in his lectures:
“Recently I met the manager of a franchise of restaurants. This par-ticular chain of restaurants is called ‘The Honourable Deal”.
In these restaurants, which were established in 1885, the employees never present the bills to the customers; instead the customers order what they wish to eat and after the meal they calculate the charges and pay the cashier without any questions.
I said to the manager: “Of course you have a secret inspector?! You can’t possibly trust all the cus-tomers of your restaurant?”
He answered: “No, we do not secretly watch our customers, yet, we do know that our method is appropriate, otherwise we would not have been able to advance during this last half century.”
“The customers of this restaurant feel that they are dealt with ho-nourably, it stems from the idea that the poor, rich, thief, and beggar all try to conform to the good conduct which is expected of them here.”
Islam commands its followers to trust each other and to assume that another’s intentions are good.
Thus, it is not permitted for anyone to judge a Muslim’s actions as corrupt without proper evidence for such a judgment.
The Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib says: “Expect good from your brothers, unless something happens that makes you rule otherwise; and do not assume a word of his is evil when there is still the possibility of it being good.”
Contrary to optimism and trust are pessimism and suspicion of others, which limit the ability for righteous thinking and lessen the opportunity of a plural society to move towards consolidating its strength.
Another consequence of pessimism is committing ourselves to whining rather than taking pro-ductive measures. A great deal of our talks, articles, sermons and lessons seem to concern with how bad others are treating us.
If we confidently believe that what we have inherited and chosen to sub-scribe is indeed the absolute truth, then optimism is the only reasonable stance we should take.
Thus, with the coming of the year 2002, Muslims should be steadfastly optimistic and not follow the pace mapped out for them by their rivals or descend into the blind alley of extremism.
Optimism, coupled with hard and sincere work, will enable them to once again become a significant force in the world.