We should be conscious of being well-mannered. We should be conscious of being considerate. The list is endless. The ill-mannered rat race that we have become is not something to be proud of. Why is there a desire to hurt others, and be crass?

A FRIEND gave me a copy of Mohammad Asad’s translation of The Quran. Its presence has sparked some interesting comments by visitors to my home.

“Ooer. Asad. He’s an Orientalist, no?”

“You better watch out for him. He’s a liberal. Best to stick to the older translations, more conservative.”

It was during this particular Ramadan that I opened the holy book. The type is much bigger than the Quran my mother gave me many years ago; a welcome relief especially when one faces the computer the whole day. I also noticed, that Asad writes simply, and in a more concise manner.

Now before the fundamentalists raise their heckles, let me disclose that I am not a scholar of the Quran. I am a Muslim who wants to read the holy book, again, after a long break due to work and other commitments.

As I began reading Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow), I came across the second sentence of the surah:

This divine writ – let there be no doubt about it – is (meant to be) a guidance for the God-conscious;

In his footnote, Asad had written: “The conventional translation of muttaqi as ‘God fearing’ does not adequately render the positive content of this expression — namely, the awareness of His all-presence and the desire to mould one’s existence in the light of this awareness …”

I was struck by this interpretation and checked with two other great translators of the Quran. Yusuf Ali had interpreted the sentence as “This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah,” while Marmaduke Pickthall wrote “This is the Scripture whereof there is no doubt, a guidance unto those who ward off (evil).”

The Quran given by my mother was translated by Dr Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali, PhD and Dr Muhammad Muhsin Khan, which stated, “This is the Book (the Quran), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)].”

Neither translation is a bad one. They are all correct, but what a paradigm shift. From God fearing, to being conscious of everything we do as Allah is all-seeing, all-knowing.

Perhaps it is because of Ramadan that I am reflecting on so many things. And being conscious is one that we should aspire to be.

We should be conscious of being well-mannered. We should be conscious of being considerate. The list is endless. The ill-mannered rat race that we have become is not something to be proud of. Why is there a desire to hurt others, and be crass?

On this note too, I observe that being charitable is part of godliness, but I wonder whether God ever wanted us to be flamboyant about it. These days, charity seems to be about celebrity. I do not deny the power of celebrity is a huge boost to a cause.

I once worked and volunteered for a few non-profit organisations. I have attended as a guest, and seen many empty tables, and a lot of food go to waste, food which could have gone to the very charities supported.

But I suppose it is what it is these days. Without publicity, events, social media, a charity does not go far. The networking the staff has to do — it’s a different world for non-profits these days.

It certainly is different from my grandmother’s time. My mother told me that my grandmother always gave out 10 sen, 50 sen (in those days, 50 sen was a big sum!) and during the Japanese Occupation, she doled out a handful of rice grains to poor visitors.

She donated whatever she could afford, however little it was. I can’t see any one of us living in Kuala Lumpur donating a handful of rice grains though, our needy and beggars these days are choosy! (I once gave RM2 to a monk-looking beggar, and he gave it back to me and said in broken Malay, “Ini mana cukup la, apa boleh makan.” Aiyoh!)

Perhaps, these days, we have no choice but to be conscious of our charitable acts. If it is not seen, it would be perceived as lacking in taste. I don’t know.

I’m out of the loop these days, and see what I see on the social media. The latter could have amplified something discreet into something bigger than it is.

An atheist friend asked me once whether any of the spiritual lessons I have learned is applicable to a godless person like he. Why not? There are many human values we share, and being conscious of what we do is for everyone, no?

Since the next article will be published after Raya, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to the readers who read this column. May you be blessed, drive safely, and cut down on the rice and sugar, bad for the hormones. I think you can be conscious of that.

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