Resentment Against Sekolah Agama

OutSyed the Box Saturday, August 11, 2012

OutSyed the Box

Many school leavers from the 'sekolah agama' system (the tahfiz al Quran graduates, the sekolah pondok graduates, the madrassah, sekolah agama graduates etc) face dead ends. Their choices of furthering their education are very limited.

Many parents place their children in sekolah agama out of either ignorance or feelings of guilt. The ignorant think they are giving their children the best chances in life and in the "hereafter" by sending them to religious schools. How mistaken you are.

The guilty have committed some serious 'perbuatan berdosa' in their lives. Maybe they cheated people of money, songlap too much money or some other guilt ridden actions. So to tebus their own "dosa", (repent for their own "sins") they seek to make amends and send their children to thesekolah agama. The children become sacrificial lambs for the parents' guilt.

(In old Ireland, the very religious Catholics often wished that if they had sons, at least one would "serve the Lord". This meant joining the Church. Maybe the Lord would look favourably on the parents and improve their chances of making it to heaven)

It is the same with some people who feel compelled to "naik haji" five times or go for "umrah"seven times. They have too much "dosa" or "sins" which they have committed. Cuci dengan sabun tak hilang, cuci dengan chlorox tak boleh hilang, naik haji sekali tak puas, dua kali, tiga kali they still feel guilty. Terlalu banyak dosa. So if they have children maybe they will also sacrifice their children "in the Lord's service". Send them off to sekolah agama. Maybe their children will learn how to baca Yasin and baca doa at their funerals which will help alleviate their burden of guilt and gain an entry to heaven.

Hence many children end up at the sekolah agama because their parents had some motive or other. It is not in the best interest of the child's future.