REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Chairman of the Haji Karim Oei Foundation/Lautze Mosque, Ali Karim, stated that Chinese Muslim people could take advantage of the Chinese New Year momentum to maintain kinship with their non-Muslim family members. He explained during the Chinese New Year, families would usually gather, even the extended members.
"If there are any members of the family who are not Muslims, we can simply invite them or join them to maintain kinship among family members," he stated in Jakarta on Thursday.
He believed that Chinese Muslims need to maintain their relationships with all family members, as it is in accordance with the teachings of Islam. By maintaining good relationship with non-Muslim family members, they could even disseminate factual information and eradicate negative perspectives in the eyes of others towards Islam.
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"Show them that Islam guides us towards a better life. A missionary endeavor does not always need to be done by words, but we could actually do that by showing good behavior," he added.
Furthermore, he explained that the Chinese New Year is not a religious event. Its history began when Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty in China, after the previous ones failed, created a calendar which could be used all over China.
With that being said, he added that the Lautze mosque, with the majority of the people coming in being Chinese, will not organize any special events to commemorate the changing of the Chinese year.
"We will carry out activities that are in line with the teachings of the Holy Quran and the prophet's sayings, I norder to ensure that we do not cross any lines and do not turn them into habits," he revealed.
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