Let’s be frank but fair.
The actual name for Chinese race is Han. And most Chinese who settled
in Malaysia are Han. Their major beliefs are Buddhism & Taoism,
besides the small but growing number of Christians & Muslims among
them.
Contrary to popular conception, the famous admiral Cheng
Ho is actually Hui by ethnicity. Just as Baba Nyonya is born out of
Chinese-Malay mixed marriage, Hui people are from Arab/Persian-Han
intermarriage. Nevertheless, Cheng Ho is, and still is, a pride not only
to the Han Chinese people (the majority race in China) but also to the
Muslim world, as he’s also a Muslim.
When this part is understood, you’ll know what I mean by next part.
During our trip to central China, whereby the majority Hui populations
live alongside Han people, I often encountered a self-contradicting
statement.
Here’s an example that happened during Ramadan this year:
Situation 1 : My delegation consisted of me and my Malay brothers &
sisters. As our Hui friend casually asked my Malay friends’ ethnicity,
he was happy to know the diversity of Muslims as he asked them. When it
comes to me, I replied I am Han Muslim. Immediately, he said “No matter
what race, we are all Muslims”. I was astonished. Just now, you were
happy to know the diversity of Muslims’ race, and now you were awkward
at my race?
Situation 2 : A Hui sister briefly expressed her
grouse about China government’s unfair policy towards Muslims by using
the term ‘Han country’ (汉族国家) when referring to China. However, during
the get-to-know-you session with me together with my Malay friends, she
referred me as ‘Hua ren/华人’ (another general name for Chinese race).
You may wonder, why do I care so much about these terms Han, Hua, Hui,
whatever? Well, the following situation which had happened recently will
illustrate the importance of not overlooking this matter:
In one
of the Maghrib sermons delivered by a respected ustadh few days ago, he
repeatedly cursed the Jews of the Prophet pbuh’s time as he elaborated
the meanings of the verses in Surah Baqarah (whereupon Jews were causing
trouble to the Ummah). He even used the word Laknatullah (meaning, may
Allah’s curse be upon them) and even further strengthened his statement
by mentioning that the it was a Jewish, - again Jews- who poisoned the
Prophet pbuh during his final moments. All these statements were as if,
Jews are a cursed race and Muslims need to beware of them.
My
heart felt like a stab of parang knife when he said like this, despite
having great respect for his knowledge in Islamic matters.
Think
about it, if it’s so true that Jews are a bunch of cursed race till the
End of the world, why would Allah care to give Hidayah to some Jews who
are sincere to Islam even until now? What about the Jewish lady Tsafiya
bat Chai (Safiyya bint Huyayy) who became one of the respected Mother
of Believers as one of Prophet’s wife? Not to forget, there is Muhammad
Asad who is himself a Jews, and he had even produced a Tafsir of the
Qur’an and wrote some books that are still printed until now.
And think again, if all that is in your mind about the Han Chinese is
that they are a bunch of oppressors in China and communists gangs in
Malaysia, why should you even care to Da’wah to them?
We should
be careful when mentioning about other races who are still
predominantly non-Muslims. Yes, I know very well how Jews in ancient
times had hurt the hearts of many messengers that Allah had sent. But
let’s not forget to put extra effort to address to the listeners and
readers that these are a particular group of Jews and not in the whole
race. And even in today’s context, the one that you should hate with all
your heart is the Zionist and not Jews!
If you bear deep
hatred towards a particular race, then, as ustadh Nouman Ali Khan
mentioned in his Friday khutbah about Surah Hud, “You are not ready for
the work of the messengers (peace be upon them)”.
In this Surah,
Allah mentions about Prophet Saleh pbuh. The first words that came out
of his mouth when he Da’wah was “O my people, worship Allah ; you have
no deity other than Him.”. He did not say, “O people of Thalmud” or even
“O people”. But he said “o MY people”. Thalmud is also Saleh pbuh’s
race, but instead he began with “O my people” because he CARES for them,
he is WORRIED of them.
Da’wah is the first and foremost job of
all prophets pbut. As Muslims, this is the legacy of Prophet Muhammad
pbuh that we must continue, so long as there are still not yet Muslims
on the Earth. Even if they do Syirik, it is not our excuse not to have
compassion, because it is love that will smoothen the Da’wah, not
hatred! Is the proverb “Hate the sin, not the sinner” still in your
heart?
I myself am proud to be Han Chinese, no doubt at all. I
am very proud of the Chinese's 5000 years of history, and I am more
grateful and proud with the legacy of Muhammad pbuh and his Lord.
However, this does not mean I am sidelining Islam nor mixing race with
religion. Islam has to be above our races and not the other way round.
And think again. If we insist to hate Jews for the rest of our lives,
then we are no different from racism towards Chinese and many other
races in the world. Guess what's next? This hatred is against Allah's
reason in creating multiracial humanity as stated in His Book.
