Twitter rebel breaks taboo posting picture of her sister praying on patch of grass in Malaysia

A rare scene in Malaysia: A person performing the Islamic prayers in the open. While Muslims practise this in many other countries – that is praying on the streets – in Malaysia one would expect a Muslim to pray in a Surau and in a Mosque.

The netizen who posted the picture got various responses from users but this did not overshadow the intentions of the user.

She broke a taboo, posting her a picture of her sister praying on a patch of grass in a street corner.

baca replies, baru faham kenapa @itsteme ada bagitau dulu solat dekat London best sebab boleh solat dekat memana je tanpa kena judge and kecam, bukan macam dekat malaysia ni. https://t.co/78GkzRVqoA

— aqilah ? (@aqilaanrzn) September 2, 2019

A Surau is a smaller prayer room as opposed to the bigger Mosques. Since the Twitter user and her sister are not familiar with Petaling Jaya, they could not find a place to perform their prayers. This led them to pray at a street corner, on a patch of grass.

But what attracted praise from netizens – especially on Twitter – is the Grab driver who waited for the person to finish performing the prayers before ferrying her to her destination.

The intent in posting the picture was to showcase how Malaysians are patient and tolerant, contrary to the viciousness seen on social media networks lately.

The Grab driver is an ethnic Chinese, and he waited. The fact is the person who posted the picture of a woman praying on grass in Petaling Jaya wanted to showcase the great spirit of among Malaysians.

“Kagum dengan driver Grab kerana mahu menunggu kami tadi ?,” cuit @AinulNunanaa.

“Impressed with the driver who waited for us,” said the Tweet. The user calls herself ‘Rebel’ on Twitter.

The user said she and her sister went to Petaling Jaya to do some business but when it was prayer time, they could not find a Surau in the area.

This prompted them to pray on the grass.

What impressed the two sisters is the tolerance displayed by the Chinese driver who never showed any signs of impatience.

In the Tweet, she said her intentions in posting the picture was to show how the Grab driver is proof there are many Malaysians who knows how to respect people of other race and faith.

The post comes at a time Malaysians on Social Media are struggling to recognise their own country after a series of setbacks that brought intense debates online on race, religion and unity in the country.