Grand Tarbiah Talk: ‘Don’t be like grass,’ says Ustaz Adnin

By Nayli Halim

GOMBAK, 22 March 2024: “Don’t be like grass,” was mentioned by Ustaz Adnin as one of the highlights of the Grand Tarbiah Talk, a program organised in collaboration between TESL Students’ Society (TESS) IIUM and Tarbiah Sentap, today. The guest, Ahmad Adnin bin Roslan, fondly known as Ustaz Adnin, was invited to be the speaker for this talk that was held in the Main Auditorium of the IIUM, in the late afternoon.

The talk was on a topic that is quite sensitive but vital to be discussed with fellow IIUM community members, which is, ‘The Dangers of Ikhtilat.’ The program commenced with a welcoming speech by the Deputy Rector (Student Development and Community Engagement) of IIUM Gombak, Prof. Dr. Akmal Khuzairy bin Abd. Rahman. In his speech, Prof. Dr. Akmal emphasized that although the act of physical dating is less seen, the threat of virtual ikhtilat (free mixing between different genders) is still evident among students.

Soonafter, the mic was passed on to Ustaz Adnin who spoke on the chain of sin as his first point which started with ikhtilat. He enlightened on how small sins, when they accumulate, over time, might lead to bigger ones. Thus, this is the beginning of how the boundaries of ikhtilat are overlooked and overstepped.

He also stated that due to the way in which people seem to normalize the immoral act, it is getting harder for a person to stick to the right path, which leads to the remark, “Don’t be like grass” or in Malay, grass is translated as lalang. The remark here is related to a Hadith on how a person needs to be consistent in his principles and not be easily swayed to do something just because others are doing it.

The talk received full support from the audience as evident through the good interaction between the speaker and listeners as the latter seemed to be fully immersed in the talk. This talk ended with a Question and Answer session and six people were gifted with a free book written by Ustaz Adnin. Not only that, but the audiences were also seen to be excitedly buying his books and getting his signature at a small booth outside the Main Auditorium after the talk.

Ustaz Adnin is one of the popular icons in Malaysia in the field of dakwah and Islamic writings. More than 10,000 units of his books have been sold all over the country. Since the style of his dakwah is ‘novel’, his books tend to touch on the issues of contemporary times, acceptance and support of his books are evident, especially from youngsters. Tarbiah Sentap has a record company, has a publishing company and manages the Dakwah Tarbiah Community and the Tarbiah Sentap Store. Their founder is Ustaz Adnin.***