Outside the window

These are the words of a stranger.....

I have a house.
It's the place where I've spent my childhood and my adolescence years. Until now, I am still proud to call it my home. Even though through the years they've been some renovations and extensions, the core structure of the house remains untouched.

But I've never ever gotten outside the house. The farthest that I've gone from the front door is about two feet away from the gate. And I'm lucky I've never taken a step outside my home. Why is this so?

Because my parents forbid me from going out.
Because my friends forbid me from going out.
And everybody else forbid me from going out.

But outside, they are lots and lots of people. I find these people very intriguing and very exciting. It's not that I'm lonely, I come from a very big family, but these outsiders, they do such interesting things.

Things that my parents, my friends and everybody else said is not just for me. Some are hanging around doing indescribable things, some are smoking while others just looked at us in sheer curiosity. Our house is always open to everyone, my mom once said. But despite our openness, there are some people who hurtled pebbles and slippers to us, possibly out of hatred. Or maybe they just don't understand, I often mused.

I was never afraid by the damage that those people could do to our home.

But lately, a fear for the well-being of my home has arise.

Like I said, I am not afraid by the rocks hurtled by the outsiders, or even by the firecrackers thrown.

But what I'm afraid of is the occuring disintegration between the members of my family.

Lately, they've been too many fights and we just cannot see eye-to-eye with each other anymore, despite living together under the same roof.

Some members of the family even sneaked out at night to go out and join the outsiders.

I fear this divide will harm our house. I fear the walls of my house will crack from within and make it unsafe for us. I fear the day which I could no longer call my house a home will one day come true.

Therefore, I appeal to the members of the house to stay united and instill within ourselves the knowledge of operating a peaceful house.

Oh, by the way my house has exactly 5 pillars.....

"Islam itu dibina atas 5 perkara: mengucap dua kalimah shahadah, mendirikan solat, menunaikan zakat, mengerjakan haji dan puasa bulan ramadhan." (H.Muslim)