Masalama
May Peace be with you until we meet next time
Call me an ‘infidel’ or in a real meaning is to be lacking basic Arabic (well I am not an Arab, one, hence, two, don’t speak Arabic!), I have never heard of this virally Arabic term before until recently. I said ‘virally’ because it was trending in the social media- and that is how I picked up on this word- as a lot of newly reverted Muslims for example, from South Korea, would give Salam at the opening of their channel and end with, Masalama!!! The first time I heard that I was like, ‘What was that?’ and ‘Is that a new religion they are liberating now?’ My suspicious ‘cultish’ remote in my head suddenly was turned on.
Bravo! It is not an easy practice to discipline, especially when it acts as if it is a sore thumb that felt provoked by society.
The Salam part is normal, but the Masalama part I had a problem with. Either I was not bothered or maybe confident enough or perhaps I am embarrassed to ask, for fear of their mockeries, I kept this matter quietly inside me. Only today, by the grace of God, I finally had an encounter with an Egyptian Arabic teacher, out of the blue explaining to me the meaning and the context of Masalama from their perspective. Now then, I think I owe an apology to those newly converted Muslims. Hats off to them for establishing Islamic adab (trans: manners) to the online and/or (perhaps) offline communities. Living in a Muslim majority country, I get to experience their daily exchange. Usually, the Muslims’ greetings to family and close friends or any strangers you meet on the street that you can spot as Muslims is to say the Salam and be receiving the response right after, which sounds like this: ‘Waalaikummussalam’ (This is the shortest version, there are two other longer versions to respond with)- but only a recent phenomenon that non-Muslims began to pick up this Salam giving as their ‘norm’ to greet their Muslims comrades. But when you are living among the non-Muslims, that is another ball game altogether, as they make up the majority of the population of the land, -although not that living in a Muslim country making it less awkward to practice the Messenger’s sunnah of giving Salams to strangers in this supposedly ‘progressive’ modern, sophisticated, elegant and selecteds’ society -which characterizes it as an entity that celebrates freedom and liberty, in return making people more reclusive and individualistic, my Salams to them get close to a null. With that therefore, those newly reverted who practice Masalama in their social media platforms ought to be praised. Bravo! It is not an easy practice to discipline, especially when it acts as if it is a sore thumb that felt provoked by society.
Fact is, we don’t know when and if we could meet that person again after this goodbye […] Our deaths wait no longer than prescribed time nor does it come a millisecond earlier. […] So say our Goodbyes as if that will be the last one.
Okay, back to the main topic, sorry for derailing, I am a master of derailing stories, THE DERAILER, I can take you to the other side of the world within words! Speaking like a true Magician, I thought. Shamans, ahh! The Muslims would call them, the ghostbuster as Raqi- the selected, sophisticated and elegant one. One of the most controversial topics that get Muslims all excited and scared their pants off at the same time. Before you all get all bewitched, I must confess, I had derailed you guys again! Sorry.
So, the Egyptian teacher said to me, ‘May Peace be with you until we meet next time, Masalama! That’s the meaning of the word- peace until we meet again next!’. Fact is, we don’t know when and if we could meet that person again after this Goodbye. Perhaps that might be the last opportunity you two get the chance to bid each other farewell. So do it right, with meaning and real connection. Muslims are trained to reflect on death frequently in a day. That practice is to bring us spiritually back to Our Creator, to remind us that we will return to Him soon and serves as a reminder on our purpose on this Earth; to submit only to Him and be kind to His other creations on Earth. Five times a day is the number of reflections we have to have in a day, where we prostrate to Him, in massive gratitude for this gift of life, ‘even this prostration belongs to You Ya Rabb (trans: My Lord)’. Our deaths wait no longer than prescribed time nor does it come a millisecond earlier. Punktlich! Punctual! On the Dot! So say our Goodbyes as if that will be the last one.
P/S: From the next article onwards, every time I get to the end, I will try to practice Masalama as my Outro.
So here is my improvised Outro for now: May God bless you all, MASALAMA! Ciao. Peace out! (Okay, I need to improve a lot on my Masalama version. Till next time guys.)
