Iktibar

Mohd. Yassin bertandang lagi ke KL. Setiap musim panas di Teluk, begitulah keadaannya. Tok-tok Arab keluar bercuti ke negara-negara yang lebih dingin. Dan kali ini sebagaimana Tok-tok Arab yang lain, Yassin meskipun berbangsa Somali, ke KL. Kebetulan pula empat anak-anaknya belajar di sini.

Seronoknya berbual dengan Yassin kerana meskipun apa tujuan kedatangannya menemuiku, beliau akan mukadimmahkan perbualan atau perbincangan dengan hal-hal diniah. Apa saja yang dibincangkan akan dikaitkannya dengan agama.

“So Brother, I was expecting to see you as President of Somalia this time.” Aku mulakan.

“You know, akhi,” sambutnya, “it is the warlords taking control. Not through the election processes that I have been involved in. But through the use of guns. And now what have they? Ben Laden’s recorded message to them is placing the whole of Somalia in deep trouble. We are now branded as terrorists. Why? It is all because of one resource just discovered in Somalia. Oil and gas. So we know who is behind this entire fiasco.”

“Muslims must learn to be more democratic,” ujarku.

“Do you know, akhi, how many people died during the first and second world wars?” Tanyanya.

“At least 10 million in Russia,” jawabku, “not killed by the enemies but by the Russian armies themselves.”

“Thirty million, akhi, thirty million. After the wars the nations had a meeting and they decided to stop all future wars among themselves, that is, and to live in peace. So what was decided were:

1. They agreed that all nations must have a leader that can deliver his work honestly, efficiently and effectively. To achieve this, they decide to hold regular elections. To implement a democractic process. To check and counter balance the power, they decided to have parliaments, senates and houses of legislations. They make education compulsory. They drew out social programmes for the people.
   
   
2. Then they agreed that the leader must have the ability to deliver justice. Processes of justice were established.
   
   
3. Then they decide to achieve growth among them. Thus the implementation of the Marshall Plan in Europe.
   
   
4. Then they created greater co-operation among the nations such as the EU and other economic blocs.

They went through this process, brother, and they achieved peace. And those who initially were not in the loop such as the communist bloc, were left out. The war that is happening today is not among them but outside their nations. In countries with rich resources because they need new sources of cheap resources. It happened to certain South American nations, to Iraq and Sudan for example. And now Somalia. This will continue.”

“So, brother, what about us?” Aku cuba mencari jawapan.

“Brother, we are deaf and dumb and blind. Allah SWT has given us the best example. He sent the best leader in the Prophet Muhammad sollahu ‘alaihi wassalam. He came in with an example of leadership, and he brought justice. Then peace prevailed among the tribes. The Arab nations became united. Then he brought in education. The Quran itself is a source of all worldly knowledge. Economic progresses were achieved during his time. Rules for transactions and markets were set by the Prophet, in line with the dictates of the Quran. He brought in legal reforms, or imposed laws among the nations. The trade routes flourished from that time because of the accepted code of conduct. You know better than me that the international promissory notes were started by the Arab traders. And many many more examples that we have learnt from history.”

“So, what about us?" Aku bertanya lagi.

“As I said akhi, we are deaf, dumb and blind. We are not just rejecting the ways of Islam but are also not taking good the ways of the West.”

Perbualan kami di kedai Kampong Pandan Curry House ketika itu diganggu oleh seorang budak Bugis yang nak menjual burung cenderawasih kepada kami. Ceritanya tentang cenderawasih melupakan kami kepada masalah politik dunia.