Day2

That night, without actually planning it, we were invited to go the Mufti of Cambodia's house/office. Alhamdulillah, we were granted an opportunity to actually meet the man responsible for the well-being of Muslims and Islam as a whole in Cambodia.

To get to the Mufti's house, we were able to view the 'night scene' of Phnom Penh.. Not very surprised really to see that many of the shops have already closed for the day, and it was a bit gloomy and dark all around. After all, the man at the embassy office yesterday did tell us about it: the shops had to close in the early evenings (at about 5 pm) because the supply of electricity is mostly provided only until that time. If not they needed to use their own generators for electrical supply 5 pm onwards.Hmm...
(and what about us in Malaysia?? Never really consider the 'nikmat' of electricity as something to be grateful for.Keep on wasting them ada laaa..)

Anyway, back to the Mufti. He was really fluent in Malay Language, and one thing we should know is that Malay Language is recognised as the one of the language for Islamic education here in Cambodia. I guess it's just similar as to what Arabic is in Malaysia innit.
Somehow it really amazed me to listen to him telling stories after stories of Islam and Malay Cham in Cambodia, and of the Pol Pot regime which he himself experienced. You know, like 'sumber pertama' Sejarah like we used to learn dulu2.hehe.. really cool

He told us that the Pol Pot regime has caused the death of 60% of Cambodian Muslims. Also about how the villagers were living in this time of Khmer Rouge. Husbands were separated from wives, and families were torn apart. And many of them were tortured in the most unthinkable ways. If a man tries to escape and he succeeded,well, he may be safe from the grasp of Pol Pot. But not his family. His whole family would then be put to face the consequences and face even worse torture.

But alhamdulillah, the Mufti was one of the few educated persons who survived (which was rare) which he put as "saya tak sempat mati".. Life and death is of course in Allah's hands, and undoubtedly, Allah has his own plans for him..And to think that after the whole thing ended, there was only 4 or 5 'guru agama' left to be teaching all the Muslims in Cambodia about Islam. The Muslims then needed to start building back what they have loss, but it was really a big challenge in itself. And even up until now, they are still trying to find that firm ground to step on.
So isn't it part of our duty as their Muslim sisters and brothers in Malaysia, to offer as much help as we can to them?

Another story that he shared with us was about the Malay Cham race in Cambodia. They actually migrated from the Java Islands long long time ago, and had once build their own empire of Champa.. very interesting indeed..

All in all, I think , he was very inspiring indeed. I am sure it's definitely not easy to rebuild a community after it has been so badly damaged and bruised. But, yes, he was strong and had enough of those will power to contribute to his fellow men, to strive in the name of Allah because he cared about Islam and the Muslims as a whole.. Kita, bagaimana? hmm..

Pic: Just a little bit of our contribution..Iqra,Muqaddam, Islamic books. We also want to see the rise of Islam in Cambodia!