So, the National Fatwa Committee has decided that celebrating the festivals of other religions could erode the faith of Muslims and could lead to blasphemy. And to think that I had been having Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, free-thinking and free-loading guests in my house on Hari Raya for the last 30 years! And worse, I would visit them when they celebrate their festivals. Should I repent or giggle?

Shouldn't I be punished for still remaining a Muslim? Well, Putrajaya, the F1 Circuit, the Twin Towers, KLIA, Bakun Dam and higher fuel prices cannot be collectively considered as punishment for celebrating the festivals of other religions. True, they are a form of an absent divine intervention, but they apply to all Malaysians because of the few who still think and cross the 'dacing' box.

Now, why did I have to celebrate Hari Raya that way? Couldn't I have just booked a flight to London for my family and spent a week there shopping? Of course not, unless I'm a corrupted politician or a corrupted government servant or someone who is just plain corrupted.

On the other hand, what if I was right and the National Fatwa Committee was wrong about celebrating the festivals of other religions?

It makes me feel good to share my joy with friends, old and new, their religion and status notwithstanding. After all, it is important that I do my best for what I believe in, having faith in the simple things that keep my mind at peace with myself.

Am I a liberal? I do not encourage my wife and daughter to wear the 'tudung' (just the 'selendang' will be fine when the occasion warrants) nor dress up in clothes that are one size too small. My son and I were once asked to leave a mosque in Penang because I insisted my son pray beside me in the front row. And just three months earlier, we both had prayed in Mekah without anyone checking to see if my son had been circumcised.

I am against polygamy, not because my wife is a close friend of Lorena Bobbitt, but because it is the children of such multiple homes who will suffer in the end. In the first place, I find it hard to believe that the majority of male Muslims with two or more wives could fulfil the holy criteria. Unlike these Muslims, I could only imagine that taking on a second wife is - if not to express a fashion statement - to keep up with the Datuk Joneses.

I dote on the only family I have; I drive them around yet they drive me up the wall. I cannot imagine a second family driving me up the wall. I knew of a tanker driver and a despatch rider who each had as many wives as credit cards willingly issued by their banks.

It has been said before that what one says can be heard and what one does can be witnessed, but what one intends is only known to God. So long as my intent is always good, I am always blessed. No contracts, no mistresses, no mansions, but true friends around. I will go on visiting them in their homes and hospitals when they are warded. I have attended prayers for some who have departed. I was there in the mosque, church or the crematorium to bid them farewell.

Maybe the National Fatwa Committee could study the behaviour of Muslim drivers of both sexes who are lacking in consideration for other road users and issue a fatwa on good driving manners. Like reminding these drivers that patience should be a virtue we strive to achieve not just in the month of Ramadan, but everyday and everywhere.

Issue fatwas on corruption, transparency, politeness and courtesy in service to customers, hygiene, cleanliness (maybe include toilet training and etiquette), among others. Make the non- Muslims understand what Islam teaches its followers. Only then can non-Muslims accept this 'Penyerapan Ciri-ciri Islam Dalam Pentadbiran" that I used to hear way back in the early 80s.