In a Masjid in Puchong

I distinctly remember my mind being blown,

as I opened that book 

picked off a shelf 

in a masjid in Puchong

over four years ago now -

a Chinese translation of the Quran.

Immediately I turned the page

to one of my favourite ayat,

and as I often did back then 

took a picture, put on a cheap filter, and posted it on Insta 😓

But why did the image of Chinese letters

side by side with the Quran's Arabic words

have to blow my mind so?

When we have been taught in school

that the message of Islam is universal,

for all peoples of the world?

Perhaps it's because we have forgotten 

this unifying message of the deen,

and replaced it with the sentiment of racism and nationalism;

a sentiment taught implicitly in our Muslim homes, 

and lived out in our everyday lives.

All under the guise of 

Us Muslims, versus Them kafirs.

Until eventually we come to believe 

that Islam is Arabic,

or Malay.

How sad, how ironic

that we Muslims are the ones who hide the universal beauty of Islam

on a shelf in a masjid in Puchong:

"O mankind, 

indeed We have created you from male and female and 

made you peoples and tribes that 

you may know one another. 

Indeed, the most noble of you 

in the sight of Allah 

is the most righteous of you. 

Indeed, 

Allah is Knowing and Acquainted." 

- Surah Al-Hujurat:13