Monday, October 05, 2009

Pantang-pantang and myths

Do you usually adhere to pantang orang tua? Like during the confinement pantang for example? Do you or can you believe to the smearing of your face comot during confinement? Or putting bawang putih in your ears?

Or what about these?

Jangan tunjuk kat pelangi (or is the crescent) nanti jari kudung?
Jangan duduk atas bantal, nanti bisul.
Jangan bukak payung dalam rumah, nanti ular masuk
Jangan tiup api lilin/ pelita..nanti nanti apa ah? tak ingat
jangan sharpen pensil dua-dua belah, nanti rumah terbakar (ni pantang orang tua ke budak-budak?)
Jangan meniarap angkat kaki, nanti mak mati.
Masa bini mengandung, suami jangan memburu, nanti anak cacat/ sumbing.
Jangan menyapu malam-malam, nanti rezeki pendek.
Jangan makan tangan kirilah! Tak baik!
Kalau dah laung azan nak pergi buat haji, jangan pandang belakang, nanti tak dapat sampai. (oh man)
Kalau lepas beranak jangan minum air banyak nanti peranakan berair.
Jangan main nyorok-nyorok waktu malam, nanti kena sorok hatu kopek.
Anak dara jangan nyanyi kat dapur, nanti kahwin orang tua (preferbally filthy stinking rich)
Hah anak dah gigit kaki tu, nak dapat adiklah tak lama lagi tuuuu

Do you adhere to most of them? Or you would chose only the logical ones?

I, for one, always argue with my parents (my dad especially), about some pantangs that just seem unbelievable. I think like for the many of us, we are using our sensible brain and thus become anal when caution with pantang orang tua.

So I am just thinking, thinking and thinking, that perhaps we are at the risk of treating the sunnah Rasulullah s.a.w. the same way we are treating pantang orang tua.

For example
Jangan makan tangan kiri! tak baik!
Jangan biar budak keluar maghrib. Banyak hantu!
Jangan meniarap (beserta angkat kaki) nanti mak mati

are part of Rasulullah sa.w. sunnah.

Try listen to this for example. Evident no 1 : Makan tangan kiri.
Salim, on the authority of his father, reported Allah’s messenger S.a.w. as saying : “None of you should eat with his left hand and drink with that (left hand) for the Shaytan eats with his left hand and drinks with that hand.” Muslim 5010

Evident no 2: Hantu masa maghrib

The Book of Drinks (Kitab Al-Ashriba)
Muslim :: Book 23 : Hadith 4998

Jabir reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Do not let your animals and children go out when the sun sets until the first and the darkest part of the night is over, for the Satan is let loose with the sinking of the sun until the darkest part of the night is over.


Evident No 3 : meniarap

Ibn Tikhfa al-Ghifari reported that his father told him that he had been one of the People of the Bench. He told him, “I was sleeping in the mosque during the last part of the night, lying on my stomach. Someone came to me and moved me with his foot, saying, ‘Get up. This is a manner of lying down which Allah hates.’ I raised my head and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was standing by my head.”

This hadith describes that Allah does not like us sleeping with our stomach down. So we must try our best to avoid sleeping in the position.

As the reason why it is disliked, AbuDharr said it in a different narration

“The Prophet saw passed by me while I was lying down on my stomach. He saw then struck me with his foot and said,
“O Junaidab, this is nothing other than they lying-down position of the dwellers of Hell fire


So so so, I am thinking now I want to make a new approach. To make teguran to my children concerning the sunnah by actually mentioning to them that it is a sunnah.

Ya bunaya, I would say. Do you know that Rasulullah wants us to eat with our right hand.
Why, they might ask.
Because you know who eats with the left hand? It's shaytan. Now we don't want to copy what our enemy does, do we?
Euuuww, so not!

Our children have probably memorised the six pillars of faith since they enter school. I think casual mentioning of the sunnah like this is among the time we can reassert they knowledge of believing in their prophet with something practical. Introducing how to believe and love Rasulullah s.a.w. How to abide to the command of Allah. That loving and adhering to Allah and His Messenger's s.a.w. command should become our way of life.

Perhaps by clearly saying which one is the act of sunnah, we will not be eagerly disputing the sunnah like what we do for the pantang, Insya Allah. We listen and obey. Asami'na wa ata'na.

Perhaps also, we will come to understand which one is the real one and which one is fabricated. So one doesn't get attracted to the fabricated ones instead, Insya Allah.

Perhaps by mentioning Raulullah s.a.w often we can instill our love to him. Our prophet wo brings us light and help us show the true path.

I remembered that there are certain time in my life, I did dispute eating with right hand. I think I look stupid eating with right hand when I eat steak. But Alhamdulillah upon knowing that it is a prophetic's command, I don't dispute anymore.

Now tell me which one bears more weight. Knowing it is a prophetic command or it is just another pantang orang tua.

I have so much to learn.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it's a good idea to tell the kids as per the prophet's teachings. I've long stop using this orang tua pantangs for eons and my mum as well. She did use it with us when we're kids but not with her grandkids. Secara logik, it's better that way too.

With the kids kat rumah ni, to explain about how things are done in islam, i use logic reasons aside from religion reasons. To make them further understand rather than just "we can't do this cause Islam is as such" but it's also "we can't do this cause it's against our religion as well as it benefits us in this way... etc etc"

er make sense kah?


-nonah-

Anonymous said...

Dear Sis,

I have come accustomed to eating steak with the right hand. I cut the meat out with both hands and then put the knife down and take the fork with my right hand....or if you get tired of doing it then just cut the steak to pieces and "wallah" eat it all up with your right hand.

What about drinking while standing up? most of us adults do that which irritates my hubby to bits. My kids will just squat down and drink if there's no place to sit. I do that too occasionally :(

Yeah I know bout this pantang larang orang tua....esp the part while lying on the stomach n putting ones feet up. I always tell my kids it's rubbish.

About the maghrib thingy....yeah...my kids are well aware of it.....not the hantu part though but the fact that Syaitan looms around at that time. i keep my doors and windows shut till after maghrib.

There are hadith books for little children out there that you should get for your kids. It's simply amazing...and when they do things then are not "sunnah" then we can remind them of it.

Soon you'll find your kids correcting you on your mistakes pulak.

We all hv a lot of learning to do....

Belajar lah sampai ke liang lahad!

May Allah bestow upon us Hidayah InsyaAllah.

Anonymous said...

My nek's version is: Jangan minum air banyak dalam pantang nanti becak. ekekkek 'becak' what a word to describe la.

Anyway good that you point this out. Hari tu dengar ada ustaz ni cakap 'satu hari satu hadith' cerita kat anak2 dan ahli keluarga supaya kita lebih paham cara hidup islam. Ya tak ya jugak eh?

:)

Lollies said...

nonah - yeah it makes sense. The thing is as per hadith religion cannot be based on the logic's mind.

Ali r.a. who said "If this religion is only based on logic (rather than submission + following the wahyu + sunnah) then (logically) the wiping would be at the bottom of feet (bcoz that's where it's dirty)" (referring to the allowance of menyapu over khuf/ socks)

and sometimes also due to our lack of wisdom and capacity, we cannot think of the benefit of a certain command. so this is when it can backfire.Insya Allah we will try to make them (and us) love Allah and His Messenger s.a.w. and can accept His commands because of fear for Him and love for Him.

anon - tulah dia. Having learnt the weight of eating with right hand, I have learned to eat steak with the right hand. Eat with our right hand we must. Let's do the simple sunnah first kan?

what I am trying to do is going through with the children the sunnah one by one by practicality yaani things that we do everyday. like eating, getting into the house, sleeping and so forth. Insya Allah. Because it's me who are learning first then them and them myself relearning from them. may Allah make it easy for all of us.

My children are already making teguran on me. Soemtimes I would say tak sedaplah makanna ni, and my daughter said, rasulullah s.a.w would refrain from commenting food he doesn't like and just not eat them. Gasp! :P

rotidua - hahahhha. lecak. becak.

tapi you know pantang orang tua ni usually comes from observation. Even if they not be proven scientifically but observation does count in any research kan? Perhaps sometimes it is just an outcome of something else. Wallahualam.

Well as long as the pantang does not lead to khurafat, we can take it. SOme are sensible also.

waaahh nina boleh jugak buat something interesting session tu. Like Do you know that Rasulullah s.a.w lloooovveess those who smile. Rasulullah loves those who gives salam. And reiterate how we loovve to follow what he says. Love kelah lahir dari rasa kenal tak? Tak cerita sellau mana nak kenal. Insya ALllah. Thanks nina!

butterflutter said...

Aha..I pun selalu lah malas nak ikut pantang larang but really some tu mmg ada kebenarannya.
What you are trying to do based on sunnah is the best way esp with our children yg banyak bertanya. Org dulu2 mungkin caranya different, more of dgr org2 tua kata but now we read more.

Mana nak dapat buku tu ya?

Sheherazade said...

I have so much to learn,me too.thanks k.lollies selalu post yg bgs berguna utk semua kat blog.

أم الليث said...

hehehehe great effort sis!
some people say these sunnahs are minor so tak perlu fuss over them. BUT..if you can't even master the minor sunnah then how can one expect to fulfil the major sunnah like establishing jihad or khilafah. start little, aim big inshaAllah.

Lollies said...

BF - Alhamdulillah for the generations who are given more chance to read. Books ya? Hmm I got myself Book on Manners. I think kat Malaysia pun banyak this sort of book. Just do cross check that the hadith quoted is sahih. Insya Allah it will be easy.

ruby - we try as much as we can

aliya - Thank you for the encouragement. I worry thati if people now are intermingling between normal pantang and sunnah, our next generation lagilah fonkius. last last the only sunnah they can think off is kahwin more than one.

Tadi ada status FB of my friend who said, dimana ada kesusahan, disebaliknya pasti ada kesenangan. and someone who rebutted him and said who said this? the other guy also said kalau gitu soma orang nak susah. (what a strange remark)

Actually I am surprise that people did not notice this phrase.

I like what you said start little, aim big. Nak quote selalulah. :D

Anonymous said...

Salaam. Sekarang ada jugak orang2 yg buat research on some of the prophets's sunnah and prove that it also has health benefits, for instance sleeping on your stomach does have negative impact to your stomach and the fingers on your right hand has enzymes which aid in digestion. Allah Maha Bijaksana. Wallahu'alam.

Lollies said...

anon - really? Masya Allah. May the process and the results of the research make people have more love and fear to Allah. May there be increase of yaqin in the Rasulullah sa.w. teaching. And May the believers see them as signs of the truth.

أم الليث said...

but Alhamdulillah we Muslims follow the example of the Prophet even if there is no research done to prove its benefits.

following the sunnah is one of the best deeds with huge ajr. any benefits gained thereof are only additional bonuses.

Mulan said...

i lagi haru kalau makan steak.. kiri kanan pisau & fork, susah laa..

rasa nak suruh chef tu potong kasi kecik2 je, then use the fork to eat maa..

elisataufik said...

I for one would like to believe that these pantang larang has a logical/scientific explanation behind it, as well as the spiritual reason. I believe that whatever that is unsavoury to Allah/Rasul or 'ikut syaitan' is also actually detrimental to humans in this life.
i.e. Makan guna tangan kiri - since that hand is used to basuh-basuh you know where, ita tak tahu maybe ada leftover germs ke, and that may cause us sakit perut kalau guna makan tangan tu.
i.e. Going out during maghrib - we know that visibility during that time is the worst due the weird balance of light and dark and our eyes' inability/limit to adjust itself capture light without proper contrast, therefore more likely for mishaps to happen.

So sebenarnya semua Hukum Allah or Sunnah Rasul tu actuallynya ada scientific/logical backing, and the effects of your actions will not only be felt in the afterworld, but also in the present world. Which further proves how holistic Islam is.
Makes sense lah, kan Allah is all-knowing, and He with the help of Rasulullah S.a.w. guides us to a straight path, a path that leads us to heaven, not just in the hereafter, but also in the here and now.

mush said...

like the dialog part:
"Euuuww, so not!" sgt kool if your kids do say that. haha.

btw i actually adhered to most pantangs, just for the sake of it. haha. malas nak argue.

lagipun if baring meniarap, cepat semput. if makan tangan kiri, mmg tak rasi. if duduk atas bantal, panas. and i tak menyapu malam2, sbb i pemalas. so there. haha.

Nina @ BabyBoon said...

hey lolls, been a while. life's been.. insane. i'm still reading through your entries and trying to keep up! ;)

i always wondered about that part where the hadith said; "the darkest part of the night"... do they mean a certain part of the night? ada pulak sorang hamba Allah once told me that that part refers to the midnight hour. err.. or is it the hour when it is 3 a.m. on the dot. because .. (in his exact words).. "setan tukar shift masa tu". err.. betol ka..

my ignorance is shining through lah!