Remembering Arwah Umar Myanmar

All praise is for Allah. We praise Him and seek help from Him. We believe in Him and have complete trust in Him. There can be none to misguide the person the person whom Allah has guided and there can be none to guide the person whom Allah has caused to go astray.

Hadhrat Maulana Muhammad Yusuf rahmatullah alayhi said, "We urge all our brothers, 'Spend a little time of your busy schedules to learn and practice dakwah. When returning to your homes or work, then keep making the effort with usool and tartib as specified.'"

One of the important usool and tartib of dakwah and tabligh effort is to spend at least 2.5 hours of one's time daily for the purpose of going to every Muslim person at our mohalla or locality when we are at home for the purpose of fostering relationship or silaturrahim, engaging in dakwah illallah and conveying the messages of Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam. In this way, every Muslim's hearts in the mohalla will be attached and connected to the masjid. This will eventually enliven the aamal of the masjid like the aamal of Masjid-un Nabawi during the time of Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam and the Sahabah radiyalaahu anhum where dakwah, ta'leem wata'luum (teaching and learning Deen), ibadat dhikr and khidmat (serving) were prevalent for 24 hours round-the-clock.

In order to achieve this purpose, in every localilty and from every masjid, each jamaat consists of two persons is formed, areas of visit are divided (so as not to miss out anyone), the time of mulaqat (visit) is set and specific targets as well as goals are specified. If 2.5 hours of time is spent diligently everyday, the Deeni mahul (environment) will take place. Mulaqats (visitations) are combined with tashkeel, no matter what time it is, even if it is at 12 midnight, visitation and tashkeel may be carried out if it suits the person that is being visited. If he is yet to perform solah in congregation, tashkeel him to join solah in congregation with other Muslims in the masjid. If he already frequenting the masjid for solah in congregation, then tashkeel him to sit with other Muslims in the circle of ta'leem in the masjid daily. If he already regularly sat in the circle of ta'leem every day, then tashkeel him to join other Muslims for the weekly ghusht in the locality. If he already joined the weekly local ghusht, then tashkeel him to join other Muslims for second ghusht at other nearby masjid area. And next tashkeel him to spend his time in the path of Allah for 3 days, 40 days and 4 months. In this way, everyone is constantly encouraged to sacrifice for and be steadfast in the path of Islam.

Just across the road from our old wooden surau/masjid, there was a newly completed rows of double-storey houses. There were about 250-300 newly built houses within that phase of development that made our mohalla (neighbourhood) grew even larger. At that time there was only the said old wooden surau as the place for worshiping for all the 90% Muslim dwellers of the 243 ha. resort-theme township.

One fine afternoon sometime in October 2000, we were making rounds for mulaqat in our mohalla. We met a few Indonesians and Bangladeshis who were a part of the large construction workforce who have left the completed site for construction works elsewhere. The said few workers were left behind to work on minor repairs and restoration upon complaint by the house-owners of the newly completed houses. We managed to gather about 7-9 workers in one of the houses that they used for their temporary stay. After a brief ta'ruf (introduction), one of us started to remind them about the importance of Imaan and the value of being a Muslim. They were also told about the many benefits of solah and the urgency to safeguard their solah.  As Maghreb was approaching, we then made 'cash tashkeel' for them to immediately get ready and join the other Muslims for solah by performing it in congregation in our nearby surau.

"But this man is not a Muslim", one of the Indonesian workers told us. "He is not?", we asked in surprise. "No, he is a Burmese from Myanmar", they replied. We thought we were talking to a group of Indonesian and Bangladeshi Muslims. The Burmese chap, in his 30's, could not be distinguished from the Indonesians. It was even harder to notice the difference since he just kept silent whilst listening attentively to our conversation and targhib. "Do you like what you just heard?", I asked him. "Yes, I like it very much," he replied with a smile. I said, "Well, if you want to know more about Islam, you are welcome to come along to the surau with your friends." His agreement to the invitation immediately drew excitement among his friends.We asked him to have a bath, and requested his friends to provide him with clean clothes to which they readily agreed.

He and all his friends came to the surau just before Maghreb adzaan wearing a shirt traditionally worn by Indonesian Muslim men, a sarung or lungi (traditionally and commonly worn even by the Burmese Government officials) and a topee. He performed Maghreb solah with us and we took him to the surau's corridor to have a chat whilst a guest ustaadz delivered a lecture that night to the other Musholeens. He was a Buddhist. He has small tattoos on his fingers which he tried to hide from us. He has many Muslim friends when he grew up in Myanmar. He used to stand outside the masjid in Myanmar waiting for his friends while they performed solah in worship. He had a small factory there but he had to flee his native lands when he had a serious dispute with a local military officials there. He lived in Thailand for a few years before deciding to come to Malaysia.

He readily agreed upon our dakwah to him to embrace Islam. In the company of his friends, we explained to him the meaning of the Kalimah Shahadah and coached him in the recitation of the Kalimah. He proficiently professed and testified to Islam after a few attempts. While the ustaadz were still delivering the lecture, we read to him and his friends stories of the Sahabah radiyalaahu anhum from the book Fadha'il Aamal by Hadhrat Maulana Muhammad Zakariya rahmatullah alayhi. It has already passed Esha' time and we continued reading while waiting for the ustaadz to wrap-up his lecture. At this point, the Burmese brother said, "I like the story of this man." His words drew smiles from those people sitting nearby him. "Oh! You ought to like him. We all do. He is one of the great companions of Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam," the reader said referring to Sayyidina Umar bin Khattab radiyalaahu anhu. It was then decided that he should take the namesake of Umar as his Muslim name to his rejoice. 

It was originally planned for the ustaadz and the other Musholeens to choose a Muslim name for him. Nevertheless, we spoke to the chairman of the surau committee to arrange for a formal recitation of the Shahadah to be carried out by the ustaadz and to be witnessed by the others, in honour and celebration of the blessed occasion. A man who had not been receptive to the effort of dakwah and tabligh wept in happiness witnessing Umar's testification to Islam. Alhamdulillah, praise be only to Allah, he and many others had since positively change his view on the importance of the work of dakwah and tabligh.

Since then, Umar had been spending time with us on regular basis, going out in the path of Allah for 3 days for the effort of dakwah and tabligh, learning Imaan and practising the Sunnah of Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam. We also regularly brought him to the dakwah and tabligh markaaz at Masjid Jame' Seri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, where he sat in the circle of fellow Burmese immigrants, meeting and communicating with them in their own native language. He eventually managed to get a Burmese translated copy of Fadha'il Aamal for his own use and reading. He received much help and assistance from the surau people and people easily grew fond of him. Not long after, he married an Indonesian woman and the couple became close to my family.

Towards the end of his life, he was employed by our masjid committee to do the cleaning work of the masjid which suited him best. Allah made it easier for him to safeguard his solah. In 2010, whilst I was in khuruuj in the path of Allah for 40 days, I received a devastating news of his demise. May Allah fill his grave with noor. Ameen.