About three semesters ago, I met this very complex
individual from one of the modules I was taking. This guy (let us call him
ICM), was Indonesian Chinese Muslim. So he was born in Indonesia, his ethnicity
was Chinese and Islam was his religion. Together with him, we had to work on a
project with another Singaporean guy who a very staunch Christian (let us call
him Guy). Being guys, we managed to click quite well and easily. But one day
something happened, and it kind of broke the relationship between ICM and Guy.
We had just finished a project meeting and we decided to go
for lunch together. We knew that ICM was Muslim so we were finding food places
that were ‘halal’. To our surprise, ICM told us that we could go to any food
place just also long as they did not serve pork or lard. He told us that he
could eat food that was not certified ‘halal’ which is even prepared by
non-Muslims. Although I was kind of surprised, I felt that it made our decision
so much easier so I did not bother much about it. Guy on the other hand was
flabbergasted and could not believe what he had heard. Guy asked ICM if he was
a true Muslim or was just a Muslim so that his family could do business in
Indonesia. At that ICM became a little defensive but still managed to tell Guy
in a nice tone that he believed in Islam.
But Guy still was not satisfied. He went on to question ICM,
asking him if he knew what ‘halal’ and ‘haram’ was? ICM told Guy that he knew
what it was, but Guy believed that he did not, so he began to explain it to
him. Guy said that besides pork and lard, food was considered ‘halal’ only if
they were killed mercifully and that if the shop did not have the ‘halal’ sign,
he should not eat there as he would be committing an act of sin. At this, ICM
got very angry and told Guy to ‘F*** off’. Then Guy got angry and they actually
started quarrelling, and eventually we went our separate ways without having
lunch. After that incident, Guy and ICM rarely spoke and it was very awkward
for me.
I understand where Guy was coming from. Being a very staunch
Christian, he believed that ICM should do as what the Muslims in Singapore are
doing, which is to only consume food that was labelled ‘halal’. But according
to ICM, it is perfectly fine, as in Indonesia, not every shop which serves ‘halal’
food has the ‘halal’ sign. I think Guy should have tried to understand this
fact and not impose that ICM follows our Muslim culture here in Singapore. I
felt that Guy was also rude about the comments he made and he should rephrase
them so it would not be very offensive.
What do you guys think?
