ham must not separate our friendship

Memang, kayaknya lucu ya. Tapi ini serius sekali, tanpa saya perlu refer ke cerita2 dari milis tetangga tentang anak2 Indonesia di Melbourne yang beda agama dan bertemu di satu sekolah, terus 'selek' gara2 ham ini, sampai2 orang tua dipanggil ke sekolah...

Nah, lagi-lagi ini kelihatannya akibat tidak tuntasnya pengajaran agama bagi anak-anak. Dan kelihatannya bukan hanya fenomena dari masyarakat Muslim Indonesia, tapi dari komunitas Muslim lain di Melbourne. Setelah saya korek2, Elka dan Farhan cerita kalau ada beberapa teman2 mereka (kelihatannya imigran dari Timur Tengah dan Afrika) yang suka 'kampanye' bahwa "Muslim tidak makan pork, cuma orang Kristen yang makan ham..." dst. Itu memang realitas, tapi kemudian anak2 ini mengarah ke pembedaan identitas agama untuk melihat seseorang itu baik atau tidak, atau bisa dijadikan teman. Misalnya, "si C makan ham, si D enggak, jadi saya main sama si D aja." Sampai2 mereka bingung kok yang mengajar bahasa Arab (bahasa Qur'an) di sekolah itu orang Kristen, mereka pikir semua orang Arab itu Muslim.

Dengan pertanyaan sederhana saya bilang "so what? memangnya kenapa kalau si C makan ham," "memangnya kenapa kalau si D itu agamanya Kristen?" Kita Muslim memang tidak makan ham, tapi bukan berarti kita memusuhi orang yang makan ham atau orang yang berbeda keyakinan dengan kita. Kita sangat yakin dengan Islam, dan begitu pula orang lain yakin dengan agama mereka. Ya sudah, itulah realitas sosial. Toh dulu beberapa kerabat Nabi Muhammad (termasuk ayahnya) tidak menjadi Muslim. Jadilah kami sekitar dua mingguan selalu berdiskusi tentang pork, ham, dan realitas agama2 di dunia.

Isu ham ini berawal dari wacana halal haram yang ditangkap anak-anak secara praktikal. Well, anak2 yang kritis itu sulit menerima begitu saja penjelasan bahwa katanya daging babi itu mengandung cacing pita atau babi itu jorok; jawaban yang tidak kontekstual yang dengan mudah disanggah. Jangankan kita, para fuqaha (ahli hukum), mufassir (ahli tafsir) dan filosuf juga belum bisa memberi jawaban rasional memuaskan terhadap larangan makan daging babi ini. Toh persoalan kepercayaan kan tidak semua bisa atau perlu dirasionalkan.

Uniknya isu babi dan halal haram santer pada zaman modern. Dan tentu saja santer di tempat2 Muslim menjadi minoritas. Dulu, Nabi Muhammad sering datang ke undangan makan komunitas non-Muslim. Artinya, beliau setidaknya menikmati makanan disana. Hadis riwayat Muslim dari Abu Hurairah mengatakan bahwa Nabi tidak pernah komen tentang makanan kalau dia diundang; beliau makan makanan yang disukainya, dan membiarkan makanan yang tidak disukainya. "Mu'amalah ma'a nas" nya luar biasa baiknya! [Gak ada clash of civilization!]

Dalam kitab-kitab fiqih klasik, tidak ada satu chapter atau topik tersendiri mengenai halal-haram. Dalam usul fiqh, para fuqaha membagi hukum suatu perkerjaan itu ada lima: fardhu/wajib, sunnah (dianjurkan), mubah (diperbolehkan), makruh (tidak dianjurkan/tidak disukai), dan haram (dilarang). Wacana halal-haram itu dibahas dalam fiqh mu'amalah (masalah sosial), diantaranya kitab at'imah (bab makanan). Nah sekarang fiqh halal-haram ini jadi komoditi, diantaranya ekonomi, sampai menjadi identitas sosial. Seorang teman yang tinggal di Singapura bertutur, kalau sekarang banyak pertemanan yang berakhir di depan pintu restoran. Atau acara makan2 di kantor urung gara2 tidak ada kesepakatan di restoran mana...

Setidaknya kata2 Farhan cukup menentramkan hati: "mummy, a friend of mine eats ham, but I dont care, I still play with him because he is a nice person."

Farhan's 6th Birthday

Moreland Primary School, Melbourne, 31 October 2006.

Farhan's performance at the school assembly

Almost every Monday, Elkana and Farhan's school hold an assembly. The assembly is informal, informative, presented in a communicative way, and fun! Students sit on carpet according to their classroom (not their grade). Teachers stand or sit surrounding the students. Some parents sit on chairs and banks surrounding the hall to see the assembly.

In this assembly Farhan and his friends from grade one and two were doing performance. I was so happy to see Farhan introducing what his class was going to perform. He was so confident. Farhan and his friends were singing and dancing, helped by their teachers. It was funny song about counting ducks. They were laughing during the performance. They got big applause from other students, teachers and parents. Weldone Farhan and all grades one and two!

Here in Victoria, assembly is something that students very much enjoy at school, which is far different from what it is in Indonesian schools...

mothers day card from Farhan

gymbus at school

about scout

by farhan

hi my name is farhan i am 1 of the scout people. I am a joey scout. joey help people and they are god. My dad and me gos by car. My mum gos to university. My dad and my mum gets us from the scout.

My family working in computer

My name is farhan. I have three computers. My brother is playing in one computer. My dad is working in one computer too. I am working in my mum’s computer. My dad is making a computer for me.

A school

by Farhan

me and my family

by Farhan

this day is close and it is friday . My name is farhan and i like to go to my mums school. my dad is home i like my dads school too. my mum like my dad and my dad like my mum. I like this day and my mum like this day too.

Be happy

Maisy goes to the library

by Farhan

Maisy likes going to the library. how lovely to look at a book in a nice quiet piace. it was the sort of day when Maisy wanted a book about fish. she found a flappy book about birds ... but no fish. she f0und a shiny green book about turtles ... and a great big stripy book about tigers but no fish! Never mind , there are so many other things to do in the library ... use the computer listen to music make a copy of your favourite picture ... look at the fish in the aquarium ...

from monday

by farhan
in Monday i went to School and it was lunch time. then i played with Fatima a little bit then wi line up in the lineing up area. then wi went up the stairs

On School Day

A Story by Farhan

On school day I played a cricket with my friends.
Then I saw an old lady holding an umbrella.
Then the bell rang. Then I done a lot of works.
Then the old lady go to the city.
Then the old lady ran away.
And she said "aaaauuuch...."
And then she went home.
Then me and Elkana went to Aftercare.
Then that was the end.

Neerav's Birthday

Story by Farhan, written by mum

Neerav and me played outside in his party. The party is new and I played with Neerav and I liked it. The party and I had fun. I ate chips and chicken nuggets at McDonald. We played pass to puzzle and this party is in McDonald. There are seven peoples and I got so fun. And I played with everyone in the birthday. And I liked Neerav's birthday.

the pizza

by farhan

i put tomatto and i put sausages and
. i put cheese and i put pineapple and
i put the pizza in the oven.

Whitty is from farhan

by Farhan
when i go to someone house i got a rabbit and i went home and i playd computer and i had haue a rabbit. but i forgot my rabbit i cant find my rabbit on time. i look and look and look and i find my rabbit. tomorrow will be holiday and i had breakfast with rabbit and i sleep with whitty .

farhansleep2.jpg