Muslim father, Khairul Nizam Omar has been praised by netizens after sharing his story of how he teaches his daughter to respect all religions in a recent Facebook post.
It is understood that Khairul’s daughter, Asya a newly enrolled student at a convent school was curious about the Christian crosses she sees at her school.
In the Facebook post, Khairul writes that “During her first week of school, she asked me all kinds of challenging questions.”
“Pa, what do the plus symbols on the school walls mean?” asked Asya, referring to the Christian crosses.
He said that he proceeded to answer her questions bit by bit and was met with another challenging question after.
“Can Muslims sit near crosses?” asked Asya this time.
“I assured her that there would be no issues if she chose to remain close to a cross, using her friend Jade who is a Non-Muslim but regularly passes a mosque while listening to the azan, as example. Nothing occurred to her, Jade is fine”, explained Khairul to his little curious girl.
In a more heartwarming response, Khairul begins to further explain to Asya that religion is more than just material things that can be seen or touched.
“Religion is not about what you touch by hand or see with your eyes.. Religion is deep down there as I point towards her heart.. Can no one touch Asya’s hand? She nodded.. Can someone touch Asya’s eyes? She nodded again.. Can someone touch your heart? She shakes her head.. So, what should we be afraid of?”
Khairul told his daughter that she need not worry and that we all should respect everyone’s religion as Allah SWT does not like to see people fighting.
Children lead by example
Speaking exclusively to WORLD OF BUZZ, Khairul said he did not expect his post to go viral as he usually just shares his experiences without expectations on Facebook.
He said growing up in the 80s, he never heard anyone insulting each other due to race or religious differences despite having a diverse group of friends but pointed out that times have changed lately.
“It’s my responsibility to show to other religions that Islam is not extremist.. Our attitude reflects on our belief..”
Khairul says he can’t change the world but can try changing the people in his circle.
When asked if he has any advise on how parents should teach their children to practice religious harmony, he said the best way is to be a good role model.
“Their eyes are always monitoring what we’re doing” he says.
Anak aku ni aku hantar sekolah convent.. jadi seminggu pertama persekolahan ni mcm-mcm soalan mencabar dia tanya aku….
Posted by Khairul Nizam Omar on Thursday, 30 March 2023
Kids lead by example so it’s best for parents to be mindful of how they portray their religious or racial differences. Malaysians are lucky to be exposed to such culturally diverse set of communities as we get to learn and experience so much from each other.
This heartwarming story is a testament to how many of us actively prioritise religious harmony in our country. Khairul’s Facebook post currently has 8.8k likes, 4.5k shares with over 600 comments!
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