What is your religion?

Is it rude to ask someone what their religion is?

Or perhaps that's not exactly the issue. Maybe it's better to ask, what they believe in. Who do they worship?
God? do they create partners for God? Or do they worship the world instead?

Maybe elaborating the question is uncalled for? That's like nagging already - if the person has not answered the first question.

It seems to me that discussion about faith and religion is like a taboo in Singapore. People feel like it's very private. Or they feel ashamed to talk about it.. or they don't really think about it in the first place.

Why change?

Sometimes for the sake of 'change' that is the 'in' thing in the 'modern' world now, organisations feel obliged to change their process and system after a while, EVEN IF it is/was working well for the organisation. Sometimes, the newly changed system even complicates the work flow and the outcome is worse than before. Then they assign manpower to resolve these newly created issues and try to work around them with some manual or off-the-system work.

This happens even in big organisations. You know actually, it's in big organistions that these things are more likely to happen. The bigger the organisation, the harder it is for.. someone.. to manage quality. Sincere quality. Everyone is employed to carry out their duties - it's not their money that they are spending anyway, it's the company's and what's the point of making a point, if the leaders don't understand, and you're only jeopardising your position in the organisation by having a point that goes against the 'flow'. Nobody likes surprises in the organisation. They just want to get their day over and done with. So let's just let whatever it is, come and go. And so the monster organisation's expenditure and the quest for GREED! growth, grows bigger without real thought.. it's just a glob growing out of control, contributing to even more wastage, greed and invisible evil in the world.

I digressed.

Back to 'change'. Why fix it if it's not broken? Why change your furniture if it's not broken?
Why lay off people if you can afford to give them the means to support themselves through the job you are providing? (digressed a bit again.)
WHY?

Can you see all these people getting carried away in the gushing stream of illusions of modernity?

the strong, the weak, and me

A person's feelings are very complex. When people react, they are not reacting to THE situation alone, but to a series of situations that they went through, which may or may not be related to the situation at hand.

It takes quite a lot of mental and emotional strength to withhold it from being expressed inappropriately, in terms of time, place, intensity or method. I guess that's why people say, it takes a strong man to walk away from a fight (a strong lady to walk away or ignore an argument or mindless comments that may hurt).

If we're weak, we will fall into the situation very easily, without any resistance. The strong ones, will be able to keep their cool.

I'm still working on it - keeping my cool and totally ignoring the noises - without being too hard on myself... because I know, Allah is Oft-Forgiving because He loves me. Aamiin.

"Hi. I want to be Muslim."

If a person comes up to us and says that he wants to be Muslim. What would we do? Do we tell him to look up Darul Arqam, Singapore on the internet? Do we tell him to come back another day, because the mosque office is closed? Or do we look at the tattoo on his arms and tell him that we don't think he can do that?

NO.

We should ask him for confirmation, if he believes in One God. Next if he believes that Muhammad SAW is the slave and Messenger of God. When the answers to both are 'yes' to both - ask him to bear witness verbally in Arabic, to what he just said he believes. (Saying the syahadah). Alhamdulillah, he is Muslim.

T-H-E-N, you can direct him to people or places where he can learn about Islam further, e.g. Darul Arqam.

to invite graciously

Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance

An Nahl 16:125 (transliteration by Yusof Ali) .