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PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL
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Another interesting story about how Hindus from
Singapore became Muslim ( unlike Hartina who rejected
the true guidance from Allah)
Wassalam
Sitora Jebat
Why Indrani and Chandara embraced Islam
Sister Nishani (previously known as Indrani) and her
husband, Brother Rafiq (previously known as Chandara)
shared with Sister Muneerah Al-Idros, their path
toward embracing Islam.
Indrani was 6 years old when her father died. Her
mother stopped praying as she felt that God had been
unfair to make her a widow with 5 little children.
Indrani and here brothers and sisters were brought up
as nominal Hindus. They had neither an altar nor
pictures of gods in their house as many Hindus do.
When Indrani was 10 yrs old she began to love God. She
collected pictures of Hindu gods and godesses and
worshipped them at home. She felt the need to pray and
thought it was odd that, unlike other Hindu families,
her family performed few Hindu rites.
During her teenage years, Indrani started going to
temple thrice weekly. She encouraged some of her
friends to go to the temple with her as she quickly
became more interested in Hinduism.
She participated in bhajanai (devotional singing)
activities and became a committee member in Ayyapan
Group in Perumal Temple for several years.
One day, Indrani became very ill. She consulted
several doctors but was informed that there was
nothing wrong with her. However, her illness
persisted. She later consulted a Swami (a Hindu
priest) so that he would clear the sevanai (evil
spirits) that she suspected were dwelling inside her.
The Swami and his assistant came to visit her. The
assistant was Chandara, who was involved in her
temple's religious rites and who has also organised
religious trips to Malaysia for Indrani and her
friends.
Indrani was very impressed with the knowledge the
young man demonstrated while assisting the swami.
After that visit, Chandara dreamt of his favourite
goddess, Kaliamma, telling him to take Indrani as his
bride. After much persuasion, his family asked for
Indrani's hand in marriage. Indrani and her family
were pleasently surprised by the marriage proposal.
Indrani could not believe that her dreams of marrying
a pious Hindu had come true.
Unlike Indrani, Chandara was brought up in a religious
Hindu family. On top of that, Chandara was the most
religious in his family. He would often slip into a
trance, reciting the holy mantras, in praise of the
gods and goddesses who would possess him and speak
through him. In Hinduism, it is considered an honour
to be possessed by the gods or godesses.
Chandara and other members of the group often got
together to listen to the teachings of the swami. They
would also make house visits to chase evil spirits out
of other people's houses and bodies. This is how
Chandara was appointed to be the swami's assistant.
Indrani had never entered into a trance but had seen
Chandara being possessed by the elephant god,
Vinayagar. Chandara would behave exactly like an
elephant, eating the fruits that the elephant ate.
When in a trance, Chandara would be approached to
solve problems. Those who approached him would
prostrate before him, for they regarded him as "God".
The vibuthi (white ashes) used to anoint the forehead
would be brought to Chandara to be blessed.
Despite all this, Chandara did not feel complete.
Dissatisfied, he knew there was something not right in
his life. He failed to see the light and always felt
that his path was blocked by some kind of darkness
which he wanted to clear so he could reach the light.
He knew that were 3360 Hindu gods and he prayed to
several of them.
Whenever he felt confused, he would go to the library
to find out more about Hinduism. He learned from the
elders but knew there was still alot more to learn.
Many of the Hindu priests did not want to share
everything that they knew; knowledge was their
ricebowl and they did not want their source to be
taken away.
It was difficult to learn on your own about Hinduism,
as most of the writings were in Sanskrit. Chandara
could not find any holy books that satisfied his
quest. All the books were written by different authors
and each of them had different ideas about how and
when Hinduism started. Even the Bhagavat Geeta (which
emphasised more on Vishnu), Ramayana and Mahabrahta
were very limited. These holy scriptures were more
literature books, teaching that we should do good and
pray to the gods. Above all these gods is the female
god who is the
