Extremism

One question: What is extrimism?

Ok, perhaps more than 1 Q.

• Who set the limit of being normal, that when you crossed that limit, u're extreme?
• What are the limits?
• Who are the extrimists?

At this point of my life, my mind cant stop asking these questions.

Why?

Because lately, i have heard too much of the word "extrimist", "fanatics", "fundamentalists" etc.

So, i began to wonder what made the world label them as such?

As a medical student, i am supposed to study almost the whole day (well, at least that's what my seniors told me) but i just cant. I cant keep reading the text book. I wanna play, i wanna surf the net, i wanna read ppl's blog, i wanna write my own blog, i wanna read other books, and i wanna do lots and lots of stuff so, i just dont study the whole day. 

Hence, if i were to hv a friend who slept only 3-4hrs a day, studying for almost the whole night, i'm bound to label this friend as "extrimist". I'd say 

"Fuyo.. U're vry xtreme! How could u sleep only 3-4 hrs?? I cant!"

But then, there is one thing i realised now that i need to bear in mind. This friend of mine, HAVE THE capability to sleep only 3-4 hrs a day. 

He@she is not my type, who gets headache whenever i do not sleep enough. So, to him@herself, he@she is not being extreme. Hr@she is surviving!

And, from (let's assume this is a girl) her point of view, i'd be the extreme one. Why? Cos she can only afford 3-4 hrs a night and study at other times while i sleep 8hrs a day. Twice the perios that she slept. Won't i be the extreme one? She might just say:

"What?? U slept 8 hours! That's extreme and ridiculous! How did u manage to finish the syllabus?"

The fact is, i didnt manage to finish the syllabus. =P I went for my Sejarah (History) SPM exam with not revising the last chapter. I skipped the whole chapter. It was something abt the policies of Malaysia after the independence. But i still managed to score A1. Alhamdulillah..

So, to me, she is the extremist. To her, i am the extrimist.

When i 1st got to know that my beloved prophet, Rasulullah pbuh stayed up almost the whole nigt praying to the Almight God, i was like, "What? That's extreme! I cant do it". But now i realised, the prophet was given the capability to do so by Allah. He has the patience, his level of iman is incomparable, and his love to Allah is beyond others. Thus, he was not acting extremely because his act was still under his capability. He didnt stand on one leg on a coconut tree praying, did he? Even if he did, that means he's capable of it, and so he's not extreme. Ok, perhaps that's not a beautiful example, but at least the concept is there. Correct me if i'm wrong.

So, who gave the world, the media especially to label some people in the world as extremist?

In Islam, there is the word "moderate".

As the hadith of Rasulullah SAW:-

Aishah narrated: The Prophet was asked, "What deeds are loved most by Allah?" 

He said, "The most regular, constant deeds, even though they may be few." 

He added, "Don't take upon yourselves, except the deeds which are within your ability"

(Al-Bukhari)

Well, clear?

Muslims are supposed to take only the deeds which are within our capability.

And so, eventhough Muslims are compulsory to pray 5x a day, and the way to do it is to stand, except when during ruku' or sujud. But if your leg is aching etc, u can do it sitting down, or lying on the bed, or in worse cases where the Muslim cant even move their limbs, paralysed the whole body, the Muslims can still pray - by using their eyes. Only the movement of eyelids are required. Isnt Islam beautiful?

So, in my opinion, the word extremist is not supposed to be popularised.

But the word "wrong-doers" should.

Those who do things extremely, like locking their women in the house because they do not want other men to look at their women, in the same time denying the women their rights, are not extreme, but they are wrong-doers. Islam do not allow women to be oppressed. Islam respects women like no other civilisation. Unless, the woman herself do not want to go out of the house because she doesnt want other man to treat her badly, that's totally ok with me.

Sometimes i feel like not going out of the car also when there are lots of men outside and i'll prefer if my father drives the car further from them before i come out.

That's normal...

So, am i being extreme?

Hurm...