Panggilan Itu.

Every single day in our lives, we get calls. Sometimes, we choose to answer, but other times, we just can’t be bothered. It’s a free country, so yes; it really is your choice.

But for some of us, there’s just one call we cannot afford to ignore, and that is the call for prayers, or Azan.

When we were in school, we were taught to respect the Azan. We would stop reading the Quran, we would stop fooling around with our friends and when we didn’t keep quiet, people would remind us how important it was for us to respect the call for prayers. So, we did give it the respect it deserved.

Weird isn’t it that I’m the one talking about all this? Without my headscarf and not-so-close-to-perfect attitude, I really think I’m in no position. But maybe just this time, look at the content of what I’m trying to put across, rather than the fact that I am the one putting it across, okay?

I work in a government department and the government officers and staff are predominantly Malays and Muslims. Every morning, before we begin work, the prayers (do’a) are recited and some of us raise our hands just for the sake of it. Perhaps the do’a does sound a tad bit too sad, so I get it when people don’t understand why prayers must sound like that, when of course, it could be recited in a less melancholic manner. But whatever it is, I’m glad people raise their hands in respect anyway.

Every single day, 2 calls of prayers will be broadcasted using the PA system; once during Zohor and the next during Asar. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m beginning to realize that more and more of us are ignoring or pretending not to hear this call.

Unlike the respectful school children we once were, we, the grown-ups are now raising our volumes above those of the call for prayers. Better still, we’ve become ignorant; and proud of it. Sometimes, the reasons are undoubtedly acceptable, but some other times, I think whatever we have to say can wait.

It becomes very difficult to respect the call for prayers when your own peers don’t. It becomes difficult not to talk when the Azan is “on air” when your friends are talking to you and you’re expected to respond.

I don’t know how to do it other than simply smiling or nodding when my reply really isn’t that crucial. And sometimes, I do it too; I too, fail to stop talking when the Azan is on air. I too, talk when the call for prayers is so clearly broadcasted in the background. I too, am guilty for not being able to stop others and from stopping myself.

And when we, the Muslims fail to respect our own call for prayers, how can the Chong and Muthu friends of us do the same for us?

My dear friends, what has happened to us that we have now become worse than those school children we were who knew the meaning of respect? Let’s make it a point to be better, let’s?

The least we can do is to respect the “call”, because there’s really no guarantee that our prayers are accepted to begin with. Baik, kawan-kawan?

Yang baik itu datangnya dari Allah, buruk itu saya punya sendiri.