Fashion: At the school, we were honoured to attend a presentation put up by the students themselves, teaching us about the Islamic attire. We learnt that for the women, they are supposed to cover all parts of their body except their heads and hands. Both genders have to wear clothing that is loose, opaque and does not attract attention. This is a sign of modesty, respect for oneself and others. We also found out that this is also to emphasis on a woman’s inner spiritual beauty, rather than her superficial appearance. This is really heartwarming to know as Islam empowers women by teaching them it is the inside that matters, not the outside! Perhaps, you may think that the Muslims find it hard to keep to these restrictions on their attire. However, according to our guides, it is not the case at all! The women have hijabs specially designed for their ease and swimwear specially designed for them to follow the Islamic rule of attire even while swimming.
The students at the school there were all very friendly and waved to us whenever we passed by. Did you know that each student actually has to juggle with up to 15 subjects? They also have to attend lessons from 7.45am to 4pm. That is incredibly tiring! They have to take subjects such as islamic society, islamic history, Quran, Fiqh and more. They have to put in extra effort to learn about their religion and culture and we truly respect them for that. We also found out that this school has actually set for itself a tradition of academic excellence. That must be hard work and we all look up to the students for that. We wonder how much time and effort they must have put in for their religion and studies!
In the school hall, we got to learn about different forms of Islamic art and enjoy some performances! The first performance put up was the Maqamat, the beautifying of one’s voice in recitation of Quran. The students’ singing were really superb and pleasing to the ears. Much practise and training must have been put into use to master this skill to beautify one’s voice this way! This is a very special experience for us as we have never heard this method of reciting in our own religions. We were also introduced to Khat, the art of writing using letters of Arabic alphabet. This is similar to the English or Chinese calligraphy, but in Arabic alphabets. As our guide wrote examples for us, we got to witness the beauty of this form of writing! We got to know that this writing is usually for the Quran, which shows how dedicated they are to their religion. These two forms of Islamic art we have been introduced to have shown us that the Muslims want to beautify the Quran further, most probably so as to honour and give respect to it. This is new to us as it is never done in our religions. The concept of having a religious text for a religion is also really special and nice to know. As we wondered about the purpose of such a text, we think that this may be for the Muslims to have something in common to follow and adhere to, as part of their religion and cultural practices.
This is the school uniform for the girls of Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah. As you can tell, only the face and hands can be seen. The rest of the body has to be covered, according to the Islamic attire. This shows a custom of their religion and culture.
This is the school uniform for the boys of Madrasah Aljunied Al-lslamiah. The boys are not as restricted as the girls on what they can wear. However, according to the Islamic attire, it must not be too showy or extravagant too. This is important to their religion and culture.
These are the Islamic books in the library at the school. Some of them are prayer books for the students to refer to, to conduct their prayers. This is of importance to their religion.
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