Najah, before u shut ur blog up, please explain on what u said in Suara Malaysia about sex ed - At the end of the day, the choice to have sex is the individual's. It is doubtful that religious education alone will prevent the ills of society like prostitution, AIDS, and teen pregnancy.
To make u think more.. what if that individual is ur own daughter... will u really let ur own child to decide on sex (outside marriage that is) and as a Muslim don't u think Islam know what is best for us? BTW, do ur schoolmates had the truth Islam teachings while they commit their sins.

Hmmm ... I believe Najah is just exercising her right not to comment. I dont think she meant shutting down her blog.

Dear Rambai,

Like it or not, you have a choice in life. To commit sin or not to commit sin. If that person was my own daughter, I would want her to know that Allah does not want her to commit zina, because of the social ills it causes as well as the effects to one's health. That makes her more informed to do things are are best for her, both religiously and physically.

To me, faith is stronger with reasoning, and just because we as humble human beings cannot rationalise everything, it doesn't mean that He did not have a reason for asking us not to do something.

Of course, there are those who are stronger in that we don't do something just because we are told not to do anything. But not everyone is like that.

Sex education, or I would prefer to call it, personal health and well-being, is considered ilmu, and it's important as it is a very important part of life. Don't just assume that it's all about sex outside marriage. There are things about it that we all should know in preparation for marriage.

Actually in Islam we already have Munakahat which includes sex education... but for me when u're commenting in a non-muslim blog and u said sex is up to individuals, it sounds like u are in the same boat as they are... for them safe sex is condoms but for us safe sex is sex after marriage. To mention that relegious thought alone is not good enough to prevent zina maybe true from their religion but not in Islam that teach us to even doa before making it to hope that our zuriat will be protected from syaitan. What will they think about religion and sex? They will say that it's all about u urself to judge it when it is totally untrue. And how about the nahi mungkar thing.... a true Muslim cannot simply leave it to individuals but to prevent the mungkar. I told Suresh about the bohsia thing... and he answered its better to let them know how to protect themselves... what about u?

No Rambai, let me ask you back. How do YOU propose to fix the problems of society?

IMHO, my suggestions :-
1) Go back to our sole source - Al-Quran and Hadith
2) Everybody in our community must be aware of what is happening around us... if we see any mungkar.. do something about it.. not just look and feels nothing
3) Mind our surrounding business.. not mind our own business..(if ada kemungkaran lah)
4) Everybody must practise Islam the way it should be.. and not the one who against it.
5) Amar Maarof.. Nahi Mungkar. Menyeru kepada kebaikan dan cegah kemungkaran.
6) Stop supporting non-muslim who think Islam is just a brand..
7) Think ahead of how our children will live if we do not correct it now.
8) Stop thinking that its not our problem.. it is everybody's problem
9) Love ur child the way our Prophet taught us... common example... ask them to pray when they are 7 and if at 10 they disobey u.. beat them... (please don't fall for murtad mama defination of beating ur wife/son..)

There are so many things that we can do... it is only us that do not want to accept it... why? Mainly because we see things in short term.. ie at this world only... we tends to forget that all of us will be responsible to what we do when akhirat comes... esp the nahi mungkar thing..
"Tiap-tiap diri bertanggungjawab atas apa yang telah diperbuatnya" Surah Al-Muddaththir Ayat 38.

Wallahualam

Najah - I don't know how this discussion started, and I don't think I want to know, but from what I have read in this comment space, you are not expressing yourself terribly clearly. Rambai's arguments on the other hand are tautological - they are true because they are defined as being true. This reminds me of Dr M's comments which were published in today's newspapers where he urged Muslims to follow the "true" interpretation of Islam.

The question is who defines which interpretation is "true"? How would we know it was "true"? And how would we argue that the contending interpretations are "false"? As it is, once you introduce the idea of "interpretation", you can no longer argue for a definitive view of things.

This, as I see it, is the problem with the discourse on Islam in Malaysia. Instead of accepting that religion is personal and subject to individual interpretation and that we should all agree to live amicably in our diversity, it choses to formalise the phenomenon and thus subject it to confrontation and the dynamics of domination. This could only bode ill for all - Muslims and non-Muslims alike. We already see it in the PAS-UMNO discourse.

Rambai,

Your statement: Do something about it. What? I believe what was debated on Suara Malaysia was a specific potential policy. Even the things you outlined, they're very much concentrated on personal lifestyle choices rather than tangible policies that has national impact.

I do believe that we live in a plural society, and that a middle ground needs to be made between the different segments especially with respect to our education system.

Rambai, I suggest you bring this discussion back to Suara Malaysia instead of trying to drill me to perhaps find out how much of a Muslim I am based on my personal opinion of how our education system should tackle the topic of personal health - because essentially, that's what sex education is a subset of.

P.S. I'm closing comments because it's the wrong thread. I checked out the SM site, and Rambai didn't write anything there - which would be the most appropriate place to continue this discussion.