2nd week as a medical student has been going fairly well for me. I hope this goes on for a while.


Okay, on the last week's entry you guys have probably read about a friend of mine who asked something about my religion. This week it happened again. This time, its an australian lecturer who asked.

Her name is Dr Deborah Zion. As you can tell by her name, She's a Jew.

Oh no, don't get me wrong. She smiles a lot. She's really nice, friendly and talkative. =)
So we were discussing about alcohol ethics and she asked a question which is
"Do any one of you come from a family who do not consume alcohol at all?"

And then there a few of my colleagues who raised their hand which of course, including me.

Dr: Sorry, are you a muslim?

Me: Yes.

Dr: So can you tell us about the reasons why muslims are prohibited to consume alcohol?

To be honest, I was struck by her question. I knew it would come to this situation because I'm the only muslim in my group.

So at that time, suddenly all my friends suddenly place their hands under their chin signifying their eagerness to listen. =="

With a pump of anxiety, I mustered my courage and carefully answered the "killer question"; keeping myself calm at the same time.

Me: Well, it is taught by prophet Muhammad that liquor is prohibited. The Arabs used to drink a lot those days. When the revelation came, suddenly all of them stopped drinking..........

And I goes on talking about the punishment of hellfire and that sort of stuff. And how Allah prohibit any sort of action which is detrimental to our physical and mental health.

So guys, it is not my intention to brag, but alhamdulillah, I found myself able to explain to them fairly in a smooth way.

The moral of the story,

1) Make yourself fluent enough to talk in English because you do not expect them to ask you this sort of question in you mother tongue (unless English is your mother tongue)

2) I remembered ustazah Noorhazlina (my LAN islamic studies teacher) warned me about this. So she said that it is really important for us to know Islamic terms in English. Now I can see why.

Oh and to Mr Easy, I am rationing your cigarette! chaiyok bro! =D