Personal Encounter

5.4.2 Personal Encounter

The findings of this study reveal that most informants had their religious encounter with the Muslims who have familial relationship with them. Muslim siblings and offspring tend to be the object of observation and thus the source which generates the persuasion and trust components. Th e informants‟ experience of this kind of encounter can be seen from the following interview excerpts:

[E19.Muslim Dusun.I45]

Three of my Muslim sisters lived with us before they got married. Although I was still quite small at the time of their conversion, after years and years living with them, I somehow looked up to my Muslim sisters more than I did to my non-Muslim siblings. The Muslim sisters were always attentive every time I had problems and they helped me with school, and I remember thinking, they were nice because Islam must have taught them to be so, and I wanted to be like them too... [Trans.]

Similar experience of living together with Muslim family members over time changed the view of 65-year-old security guard on Islam:

[E20.Muslim Dusun.I31]

I learnt, rather indirectly, about Islam from my workmates. Yes, I know Muslims have to pray five times a day and that they have to fast during Ramadhan and this did not even trigger my interest at that time. Who would want to complicate himself with such obligations? I wouldn‟t, that‟s for sure.

[Q: what then changed your perception?] After living tens of years under one roof with my Muslim children and their families, that opinion gradually changed. I could see they lived good lives and noticed how Islam has helped them through difficult times. That was when I began to reflect on my own religious conviction... [Trans.]

Whereas the following 61-year-old female convert believes it was her Muslim children who brought her to Islam:

[E21.Dusun Muslim.I24] My children continued living with us even after their conversion. Because I never went to school, I only know Islam from radio and television, and I always thought Islam sounds complicated. But having my children around me had shown me a different side of Islam. Islam is not that complicated. Of course, there are many religious duties to be observed, like praying, fasting and reading the Al-Quran but they are only to be carried out at a specific time of a day and in a very orderly manner. And for the elderly like me, there is no pressure for me to perform these duties to the utmost perfection. I should only do them according to my ability. That is what I like about Islam... [Trans.]

What did the informants gain from their above personal encounter? Because the source of the encounter is personal in nature, the informants had effective two-way communications with the “living examples” who in turn fed the potential converts with interactive and meaningful information about Islam. These “living examples” clearly enriched the people around them with what the latter actually needed to know about Islam, how to behave within the religion and how Islam had improved their lives. Thus, to notice that the Muslim family members are happier because Islam has helped them through difficult times is a motivation in itself and a definite source of persuasion for one to learn more about the religion at a personal level.

What is also equally significant about the personal encounter is that, such encounter can demonstrate how the conflicting religious values between the Dusun religion and Islam can actually be reconciled by having both the Muslim and the non-Muslim family members to be tolerant with each other‟s beliefs. It cannot be denied that some informants had faced rejection from the non-Muslim family members in the early days of their conversion. But over time, the new converts set real-life examples of the way of life according to Islam by practicing the religion in a way that it would not offend the non-Muslim members, particularly if they lived under one roof with their non- Muslim family. It could be argued that the crucial point of Islam as being able to facilitate reconciliation between Islam and the ethnic religion, as demonstrated by personal encounter, is what school subjects or public sermons cannot effectively convey and possibly hope to achieve. The impact of such personal encounter is illustrated by the following interview excerpts:

[E22.Muslim Dusun.I29]

My brother had already converted at that time, and I saw his relationship with our Dusun parents remained the same, if not better than before. He treated our parents with kindness and respect. Likewise his relationship with other Dusun relatives... [Trans.]

A similar observation was made by the following informants:

[E23.Muslim Dusun.I37]

The first one in my family to convert to Islam was my second elder brother who converted in 1972, and he continued to live with us after his conversion until he got married recently. He treated us similarly as how he did before his conversion. In fact, he probably respected and treated our elders more kindly than we did and I guess this is perhaps the reason why my parents were willing to accommodate his Muslim way of life into ours... [Trans.]

[E24.Muslim Dusun.I9]

As my children, one after another, converted to Islam, I really thought, this is it. There would definitely be a day when all my children would abandon us and prove the truth in the old saying that Islam breaks families up. But that day never came. My children strictly observed their religion but not at the expense of our relationship. They all continued to live with us and needless to say, the experience of having them around that was really an eye-opener for me as I all along thought Islam and Dusun just do not mix... [Trans.]

Thus, it is inevitable for the non-Muslims to observe the ways the Muslims close to them lived and arranged their life in accordance to the Islamic teaching. The way these Muslims displayed their religious commitment and the confidence they had in the religion, over time, changed the perception that the non-Muslim family members had on Islam. Accordingly, the new insight of Islam brought the non- Muslims‟ knowledge about the religion to a new level where they began to see the appeal and benefit of Islam as a religious system.

Furthermore, the knowledge gained from a personal encounter experience could hugely impact one‟s final decision to commit to Islam. This is because, it is one aspect to know, for example, that Muslims fast, it is another to know the proper way they

carry out the fasting and yet another to know that they (the potential convert) themselves can fast. Finally, it is important to learn and recognise that, in deciding whether to commit, that the person can fast without falling out with the Dusuns within their immediate social networks. Thus, all these information are crucial in making decisions leading up to a conversion and they all clearly come from a personal encounter experience.

The persuasive power of a personal encounter had been mentioned by one of the key informants of this study who is actively involved in da’wah activities:

[E25.Key informant.I58]

I remember one case of a Dusun man who we repeatedly approached during our round of visit to his village for almost five years but our visit failed to produce the desired outcome. Then, about three years after our last visit, I received a phone call from him, inviting me to come over to his place. Without expecting anything, I responded to his invitation and went. After we spent a good half an hour talking about his paddy field, the weather and other mundane things, he s uddenly said, “I want to convert”. It took me rather by surprise because, after our failed visits, he was probably the last person I would expect to convert. But I later learnt that his experience of living with his Muslim son taught him a lot about Islam... [Trans.]

Thus, it could be strongly argued that, in the conversion experience of the Dusun Muslim converts, a personal encounter is clearly the main source of persuasion and trust for one to pay more attention to Islam and start to have confidence in the religion. To further strengthen the argument that a personal encounter is a religious encounter in the conversion experience of the Dusun Muslim converts, the following discussion will illustrate how the non-occurrence of personal encounter within one‟s family network will not transform a casual familiarity with Islam into a meaningful source of motivation and interest towards the religion.

Interviews with several non-Muslim Dusuns reveal this interesting fact. Robust Dusun personal environment is one of the reasons why many Dusun informants do not have the intention to learn more about Islam despite possessing a solid amount of religious knowledge. For instance, despite attending both a state school education and religious school in the past, a 22-year-old university student displayed no inclination towards Islam. His interview revealed that he is clearly content with his Dusun life and does Interviews with several non-Muslim Dusuns reveal this interesting fact. Robust Dusun personal environment is one of the reasons why many Dusun informants do not have the intention to learn more about Islam despite possessing a solid amount of religious knowledge. For instance, despite attending both a state school education and religious school in the past, a 22-year-old university student displayed no inclination towards Islam. His interview revealed that he is clearly content with his Dusun life and does

[E26.Dusun.I49]

At school, I got along with my Dusun friends better than with my Malay friends. We do not fight among ourselves but the Malays can be hostile sometimes and like to pick fight for no reason... [Trans.]

The above excerpt thus illustrates the robust Dusun social circle around the informant, together with a strong family circle rooted in the Dusun tradition. This evidently minimises the possibility for an occurrence of a personal encounter within his personal network. Such minimal prospect for a meaningful contact with Islam to occur can also

be found in the life experience of a 48-year-old Dusun school teacher who, despite of his constant socialisation with Muslims at workplace, he perceives Islam as a burdensome religion:

[E27.Dusun.I62]

One of my nieces recently converted to Islam but to be honest, I cannot understand why she wanted to burden her life. She is still young and even if she did not practice Temarok, she can still easily see that the Dusuns do not have complicated duties like the Muslims do... [Trans.]

Further analysis into his interview reveals that, within his family context, he only has an older Muslim brother who does not keep a constant contact with the informant‟s family. This demonstrates the fact that, without the observation opportunity within their personal circle, the Dusuns cannot extend their tolerance towards the religion. In Further analysis into his interview reveals that, within his family context, he only has an older Muslim brother who does not keep a constant contact with the informant‟s family. This demonstrates the fact that, without the observation opportunity within their personal circle, the Dusuns cannot extend their tolerance towards the religion. In

Therefore, the above discussion on the encounter stage strengthens the argument for question 5A where the characters and the definition of the encounter stage in the experience of the Dusun Muslim converts is distinctive as the result of the effects of

Brunei‟s majority-religion context. Because the dissemination of Islamic information is so widespread that virtually any individual in the country at some points should have

encountered a decent amount of religious information, it is essential for this study to differentiate between a mere meeting with an actual religious encounter. Thus, due to the influence of the majority-religion context, the above discussion has demonstrated that the encounter stage of the Dusun Muslim converts should be defined as a personal encounter between the converts and Islam, in the form of the Muslims within their personal network. The later part of the examination of the encounter stage further suggests that the absence of such personal encounter could effectively hinder a Dusun from gaining a religious awareness beyond the facts and figures about Islam which he or she has learnt in school, or beyond the religion whose information is repeatedly transmitted through public means of contact.

A key point that should also be emphasised here is that the learning and evaluation of Islam through a personal encounter significantly affects the subsequent two conversion stages, namely the quest and interaction stage. In the case of the quest stage, the need for knowledge acquisition, which should be pursued by a potential convert in order to make an informed evaluation of the prospective religion, has been fulfilled by the personal encounter and thus leads to the absence of the quest stage in the conversion A key point that should also be emphasised here is that the learning and evaluation of Islam through a personal encounter significantly affects the subsequent two conversion stages, namely the quest and interaction stage. In the case of the quest stage, the need for knowledge acquisition, which should be pursued by a potential convert in order to make an informed evaluation of the prospective religion, has been fulfilled by the personal encounter and thus leads to the absence of the quest stage in the conversion

A personal encounter also defines the characters of the interaction stage as the Dusuns tended to rely on the Muslims whom they observed during their personal encounter stage for direction and advice as they experienced an intensified interaction with Islam before their conversion. Section 5.7.2 will explain further this argument.

The above discussion also suggests that because personal encounter starts from a casual familiarity with Islam before the stage could effectively trigger motivation, this study argues that the encounter stage is likely to be the first stage to occur in the conversion process of the Dusun Muslim converts. The above discussion also reveals that the personal encounter inevitably leads the informants to evaluate their life

situation where for most informants, the constant observation of the „living examples‟ and to see how Muslims around them led good lives caused them gradually to question

their religious upbringing. This is the outset of the crisis stage, which is discussed next.