Reasons Why We Mad at Muhammad Firdaus Dullah’s Mother

On last Saturday (20^th June 2014), Malaysia Immigration Department officers, by God’s grace, on a scheduled operation to crackdown against illegal immigrants at the flats block in Taman Semarak, Nilai, Seremban, were taken by surprised to found Muhammad Firdaus Dullah (see picture) “who is physically and mentally challenged, living in extremely unhygienic conditions in a room at the unit,” writes The Sun Daily newspaper last Sunday.

The boy was her mother’s second son from her first husband. Her current husband, she said, was not living with them. This 15 year old boy was found neglected and malnourished – literally, skin and bones – at the flat because the mother, a food catering company staff, said that she was so busy working and have no time to take care of Firdaus. At this writing she was remanded by the police under Section 31 of the Child Act. And Firdaus, thankfully, is being treated at the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Seremban. He is responding well to the treatment and is expected to recover soon. God have mercy!

Because of this abuse, this insanity, people all over Malaysia that heard the news – whatever religious, races and background they are from (as long as they are called human beings) – are mad like hell! On mother’s day, we read something like this “Mother’s love is the most pure of all” but now we read all over social medias that Firdaus’s mother is somewhat “the most evil of all!” Why are we so mad? What does it tells about us? What make us mad?

I’m not trying to insult Firdaus and his mother, but I’m trying to make us think of why we’re so mad whenever we read or heard news like this. I think there are 3 main reasons why (and what does it tell about us):

1) We are Mad because of the Injustice and Lack of Mercy

Handicapped, deformed limbs, weak and small Firdaus is basically dependence on others in order to survive. There are many Firdauses around us today. We can see people like him almost everywhere if we care to look. There are also many people like his mother if we care to know. We are mad because somehow we ourselves are the victims of the injustice. Government supposed to take care of the citizen not exploiting people. Universities supposed to educate students not manipulate them. Religious officers supposed to free people not imprisoned society. Parents should take care of their children. Mother should love her son. Endless injustice. We are mad because there is no mercy.

2) We are Mad because we have the Sense of Right and Wrong

The moment we read the news, we’re mad. As we heard the story repeated over and over again, we’re mad. The last time we saw Firdaus’ picture, we’re mad even until now. Why? Because within us there is a sense of right and wrong which we can know immediately that the act of abuse against Firdaus is a – sin. We are made in the “image of God”, therefore, we know deep in our souls that God hate sins and we are aware of it even when we try to deny it. But like our forefather, we are mad because of other’s sins – always someone else except ourselves – and in this case, Firdaus’s mother’s sin makes us mad.

3) We are mad because We Think that God is Not Fair!

How can a good God let this happened? Why God doesn’t do anything about this? Is God dead? This kind of questions is normally come from those who are mad. Naturally, we are rebellious against God. We mad at God – expressively or secretly – because of every bad thing happened to us and around us. So we say, “God must be fair. Firdaus have the right to live like every other kid.” But never come across our minds that if God is fair then the statement also have to be fair: “God must be fair, we should be handicapped like Firdaus.” We don’t like that kind of fair, we like our own version of fairness. (We are not fair ourselves, then why we expect God to be fair?) In reality we are mad because we can’t figure it out, we can’t figure God out. We are mad because we don’t have the solution to this universal problem. We are mad because we think that God must be fair to His creations… even to Firdaus.

In conclusion, we are mad people. There is Firdaus in every one of us. Though not necessary physical, we are for sure spiritually handicapped, weak and dependence beings. We depend on God. There is also Firdaus’s mother in us. We are selfish, sometime heartless and for sure sinful like her. We are unable to have relationship with the holy God because we are not pure and utterly sinful. There is no such thing as God is fair. The God of the Bible, the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, God in Christ, is not a fair God but – a righteous God. This is how righteous God deals with us: Because He is holy, we are His enemies; because God is just, we should be punish for our sins; because of His mercy, He provide the way for us to be save from His wrath. The Scripture point out the way: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, see also Acts 16:31).

Only through Jesus we can be right with God, only through Jesus we know the Father and only in Him we can be saved by grace through faith. Why we dwell in mad-ness when Jesus can turn it into gladness? I tell you, there is more pitiful for those who are “neglected” by God and “malnourished” from the Word of God than Firdaus. There is much more to just being mad about the news. The news is just a parable to point out to our humanity greatest need – we need Jesus. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.