Competition at Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia - 2010 - Photograph 01

Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) - January 06, 2011

By Nathaniel Muhammad

 

A Muslim is the one who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue and hands.

Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Amr (RA) said that which means: “The Prophet (PBUH) said that which means, “A Muslim is the one who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue and hands. And a Muhajir (emigrant) is the one who gives up (abandons) all that Allah has forbidden.” – Sahih Bukhari

Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) - January 06, 2011

By Brother Nathaniel Muhammad

Umar bin Al-Khattab (may peace be upon him) said that which means: " I heard The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) saying, "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he intended. So whoever emigrates for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration will be for what he emigrated for. - Sahih Al-Bukhari

All praise is due to Allah. I pray that this hadith (saying) of The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) be of great value to the Believers and that we may implement it into our lives in order to be better servants of Allah. Ameen.

Aladin - A Bangsawan

By Nathaniel Muhammad

Aladin is a story about a poor young man named Aladin from a country of the desert. Meanwhile, in the state’s boundary of Baghdad, ruled the famous king, Sultan Harun Amirul Rashid and his bishop, Abu Nawas. The king and his queen are bestowed with a daughter named Princess Balkis. Everyday, there shall come a young man from various places to get betrothed with the Priness by all means, but consequently rejected by her.

Amongst the many young men is Jaafar of whom reknown as the potentially evil magician. As much as his forerunner, Jaafar has also fallen into the rejected numbers: and thereafter fill his heart with vengeances.

Meanwhile in the court, the king has regretfully admonished Princess Balkis’ choosiness, thus bring to her frustration and self-dismissal from the palace. The belligerent Abu Nawas tries all his effort to persuade the king.

Downtown at the bazaar, the Princess accidentally acquaints Aladin. The story of their incidental meeting starts when the Princess pretends as a poor lady and pitifully helps a group of young orphans, begging the merciful sympathy of a hawker of apples, who has cruelly denied their wanting and chased them all away.

The Princess of who feels utter disheartenment with such a cruel treatment has forcefully stolen some of the apples and gives them to the craving young orphans; then flees away with the children. The incident has been speculated by Jaafar, of who has then pretended to have chased after the Princess.

At the same time, the incident has also been speculated by Aladin who is passing by the palace. The helpful Aladin uses all his strength to save the Princess by catching her hand; thus sparking their love at first sight.

Suddenly, Jaafar and his bazaar’s hawkers caught them escaping. While Aladin falls into the quicksand and consequently found the magic lamp, Princess Balkis is unfortunately caught and brought back to the palace. In the court, Jaafar threatens the king to be just while shrouding the shamefulness committed by the Princess by marrying her solely to him.

Does not the king agree to betroth his Princess to the evil magician? What is the reaction of the King’s bishop, Memanda Wazir Abu Nawas?

Aladin strongly believes that outcomes and profits are not given by human but rather bestowed by His Almighty.

Aladin, was the third bangsawan that I’ve attended thus far. It a play that is performed by local Malaysian actors and actresses, using a very limited and restricted budget. Even with such a limited and restricted budget, they have been able to produce a wonderful form of entertainment. In today’s modern world where the vast majority of people rely on television and the movie theatres to entertain themselves, there is still a desire to be entertained by more traditional means, live theatre. Yes, there may not be any 3D effects and spectacular props, but with a little imagination and a great appreciation for the performing arts, one will grow to love live performances, bangsawan.

History of Bangsawan

By Nathaniel Muhammad

 

Since bangsawan found ground in Malaysia in the late 1880’s, a theater pursuit began which later became very popular and monopolized theatrical activities in Malaysia for more than 70 years. Bangsawan was set in motion in the Malaysian state of Pulau Pinang, which then expanded throughout the whole of Malaysia and even to Indonesia. Bangsawan went through modifications when it was introduced in Indonesia.

Bangsawan did not originate in Malaysia; instead bangsawan was born from the demise of an itinerant theater from India. During the 1870’s, Pulau Pinang received influences from the staging of an itinerant theater company named Parsi Theater (Wayang Parsi) or Mendu. This company staged many tales using the Hindi language and was performed by actors and actresses who were brought in from India. The repertoires of the tales were on the subjects of love and adventure of this group and the gods.

Moreover, the people of Pulau Pinang, throughout the years, comprehended the language from the Indian region because the British colonialists brought with them as many Indian nationals as possible to work and become the island’s inhabitants when they occupied Pulau Pinang. In view of the fact that there were more male than female Indians, many of the male immigrants married local women and eventually fostered a community of Indian/Malay which were once known as Jawi Pekan. Later, Parsi Theater was secured by the local master among the Jawi Pekan community named Mohamed Pusi in 1884.

Interestingly, the equipment used for the stage shows were improved and were salvaged, with a new ensemble of actors replacing the old. The new masters harbored the interest of promoting and marketing bangsawan so the performance was named Bangsawan Theater (Wayang Bangsawan). The first bangsawan group was called Pusi Indera Bangsawan of Penang. This group began to become active in 1885 with the company of actors using the Malay language. This group journeyed on to the rest of Malaysia and to Sumatera.

Subsequently, Bangsawan Theater was traded to an entrepreneur in Sumatera named Jaafar Turk. Meanwhile, bangsawan as a stage performance was no longer monopolized by its initiator Mohamed Pusi. Several other groups were put together by other entrepreneurs who saw that this form of theater had commercial potential that could be profitable. The growth of bangsawan was incessantly happening in the hands of the entrepreneurs. In line with the influences of secular education from the west and the effect of westernization, the name bangsawan was revolutionized into opera.

Each state in Malaysia has a center whose aim is to stage bangsawan. In Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, the group of Sungai Wang Plaza was once a venue for staged bangsawan and it was known as Happy World. There have been numerous groups that have been actively involved since the inception of the first group. The various groups that have been committed and dynamic are Nahar Bangsawan, Malayan Opera, Kinta Opera, Indera Bangsawan of Penang, City Opera, Peninsula Opera, Dean Opinion Opera, Rose Opera, Seri Pertama Opera, Jaya Opera, Zanzibar Bangsawan, Rose Opera, Gray Noran Opera, Indera Permata of Selangor, Constantinople Opera, Rahman Opera, Kencana Wati Opera, Bangsawan Jenaka Melayu and Bolera Opera.

As a popular stage performance, bangsawan activities were finally affected by the birth of film arts. In the beginning, film arts proffered lucrative incomes than did bangsawan, casts of all star bangsawan actors were picked as film actors. This brought about the decline of bangsawan activities as actors of bangsawan had been won over by the film arts and at the same time contributed to the growth of the film arts. The popularity of the bangsawan actors and actresses helped to attract audiences to Malay films. Other factors included the war, rise in the standard of living and the rocketed amount of funds needed to mobilize bangsawan contributed to the freeze of this art form. At the present time, there are only two bangsawan groups that still continue to keep alive this art form.

I was honored to have attended a performance last evening entitled, Megat Bulang Kuala at Panggung Bandaraya DBKL at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was an excellent performance. To be amongst individuals who have an appreciation for this art form was exciting. I must admit that I did not understand everything that was being said, due to my lack of fluency of the Malay language. However, the acting, the music, the singing and dance, not to forget the performance of Silat, the Malaysian martial art, were superbly executed. I congratulate and applaud all those who were involved in sharing this wonderful art of bangsawan.