Stranger in Masjid

The very first time that I entered the small masjid (what Malay Muslims call 'surau') in my locality, eyes seemed to coldly stare at my every movement. Perhaps it was just my feelings of guilt. I had never bothered to know about the masjid before though I passed by it daily going to and back from work. It was a single story wooden structure collectively built by my concerned surrounding neighbours from the pieces of building materials salvaged and donated by the developer of the housing estate from the site office near the main street that had been brought down.

There I was, a stranger in the masjid and unknown to the few surau people although I had been living in the area for 3 years by then. I did not know any of them. I felt like a fresh first year kid on the first day of school. A mixed feeling of anxiousness, edgy, a little hesitant and uptight. However, I remember a brother in the jamaat said that a righteous Muslim feels calm in the masjid like the calmness of a fish in the water, whereas a hypocrite Munafiq feels disturbed in the masjid like a distress bird in a cage. And so it was the beginning of a starting point where I frequent the masjid every day for solah.

I had just returned from my first three days in dakwah and tabligh short journey then, and my beard was hardly three days old. What I had been told when I return home was to start the effort of dakwah and tabligh both in my own locality and to get it started in my own house. The local work must start from the local masjid. As the effort of dakwah had initially centred at the house of Arqam bin Abi Arqam radiyalaahu anhu, but when Allah Ta'ala commanded Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wassalam and the Sahabah radiyalaahu anhum to make dakwah publicly, the effort of dakwah shifted to Masjid al-Haram though the opposition from the Makkah Mushrikeens that controlled the Haram Shariff intensified manifolds.

Maulana Inamul Hassan rahmatullah alayhi used to say that the most effective means for protection against the present day evils is to do this work of dakwah in a simple way with adherence to principles and single mindedness. He said, "This is the age of fitan. They are emerging from all sides. If we keep ourselves firm on this work with simplicity, the work and we too will remain safe from fitan. Avoiding the fitan, if we continue doing these deeds with single mindedness we shall be safe from fitan otherwise even if we just have a peep into a fitan, it will pull us towards itself. Therefore, my brothers and friends! Keep engage in these deeds with simplicity and single mindedness and do the work with avoidance of the fitans, otherwise they will grab our attention. May Allah save us from fitan. Amin."

For me, there was one big problem - I did not even know how to start the work of dakwah and tabligh, let alone be familiar with its principles. For one or two weeks, I looked for any sign or clue if the work did exist in my local masjid, but there was none. I needed to start the work for my own benefits. I have to be in the environment of dakwah for my own constant reminder. It then occured to me that I need to find someone who had been going out with tablighi jamaah. I need to find someone with the same mindset and the same heartfelt. I need to find a 'karkun'.

My quest to find a fellow karkun began soon after. I started to 'screen' every men that I met in my locality. There were certain standard or benchmark in the appearance for a karkun that I somehow formulated myself. Firstly, the man must have beard - full bearded or goaty, it did not matter to me as long as his mustache is clipped short. It was a very simple and helpful criteria as I managed to narrow down and restrict my search considerably. Back then it was not easy to find bearded Muslim men, especially the Malays. Secondly, the man must be wearing his pants above his ankles. This criteria too did limit my search considerably. I've seen most men wearing their lower garments lower than their ankles - and ironically, women shortening their lower garments. The general criterias were helpful but they were not necessarily accurate. I once saw a man who almost fit the standard and benchmark and boldly stopped and asked him, "Are you a karkun?" He looked puzzle and replied, "No, I'm Thamby Sudeen."

As I mentioned, the above benchmarks were used then in order for me to look for a karkun that could assist and guide me in the effort of dakwah and tabligh. The two measures used to be sufficient then. Now I have to add a third benchmark i.e. speech. For only when you talk to someone that you are able to determine whether he shares the same one mindset, one heartfelt and one work act in relation to the effort of dakwah and tabligh. This criteria is especially important when there are more Wahhabis or Salafis lurking around. But alhamdulillah, now most of the time I would be able to recognize a karkun even from a distant the moment our eyes met. Alhamdulillah, it is by the Grace of Allah Ta'ala that instill the feeling of love and affection to whomsoever He wants.

Anyway, my quest in search of karkun in my own locality finally was over when I met Al.