Seeking 'fun' face of Islam

THE sky was overcast. A tall, bearded man in a baggy swimming suit that well covered his knees walked into the water of an Australian beach carrying a surfboard. Within a fraction of a second, he had started riding the waves skilfully. Then, came the booming voice of the BBC News introducing the figure featured in the short telecast titled "Australia's Surfing Imam" thus: "Australian surfing imam is one of the rare breeds. Haisam Farache is a homegrown cleric working at one of Sydney's biggest mosques. He's been riding these waves since he was a child. Surfing is his passion. The blue waters of the Pacific Ocean are a world away from the rigours of a strict religious life. Board-riding, though, has become an important tool of his trade."

"It's a way to relate to people," Farache said in the telecast. "It's a starting point to talk about... and also people realise although we may look a little different and our way of life may be to them a little weird, could say, or maybe a little different. When I come down and I catch a couple of waves, I really feel in tune with myself, I really feel in tune with God and I really feel in tune with Australia and nature."

The short film feature went on to explain how young Australian Muslims want "homegrown" imams as opposed to those imported from the Middle East who are "outdated" and out of touch with the "modern Australia."

"... homegrown clerics, able to surf and play rugby, can connect better with young Muslims and help limit the appeal of extremism," says a VOA News report. "Moderate imams are on the front-line in efforts to stop Muslims in Australia from being seduced by extremism."

Farache listed surfing and rugby as his hobbies, which were said to enhance his ability to connect with young Muslims. "That's worth its weight in gold — to find someone who can relate to someone else about sport or understand the politics of this country, be able to talk about what young kids want to talk about; music and fashions and cars," said one local Muslim. "That's really important. Our old imams can't do that."

While we can debate about the slant of the reports which linked the "outdatedness" of "imported, old clerics" with "the appeal" and even "seductiveness" of extremism, we can, however, understand the need for the young Muslims in Australia, or anywhere else, to find a representation of Islam that appeals to their youthfulness, their sense of fun. When some " ulama or imam mention Islam, the mental picture that somehow goes across to the audience is that Islam is so serious, so strict, so rigorous, so sedate, so devoid of lightheartedness, so...for want of a better expression, "un-fun"!

But Islam is actually fun, if only one knows where to look, and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) actually loved a good dose of healthy jokes, even if he did become the target of some jokes.

Alhamdulillah, Muslims are increasingly aware of the need to present a "fun face" of the faith and so harness their creative talents into producing healthy, family-friendly entertainment that stays inside the bounds of the faith. Hence, the increasing popularity of nasheed, films, even comedy acts around the world ("Allah Made Me Funny" shows came to mind here), brought here by various media technologies so that Brunei Muslims can also enjoy, as well as contribute to the production of, the fun-faces of Islam.

At the end of the day, however, fun is about attitude, about feelings of gratefulness that one is enjoying the mercies of Allah Ta'ala. One Palestinian ' alim, blind after years of torture inside Israeli prisons, once went on a long drive with two friends. Unseeing but sensing the exhaustion of the one driving, he kindly asked, "Are you tired, my brother? Shall I take my turn driving now?"