It is regarding an email that was purportedly sent to and distributed among Malaysian Muslims today urging them to stay clear of Indian restaurants because of their purportedly practice of sprinkling ‘komiyal’ and ‘bibuthi’.
One thing clear is that I had never received such emails in my life. I also had never heard of these so called strange substances that they called ‘komiyal’ and ‘bibuthi’ before.
I tried to look up for their definitions in the internet but found none. There’s nothing there that would let me understand what these ‘komiyal’ and ‘bibuthi’ are all about. The closest thing I found so far is ‘vibhuti’. According to Wikipedia, ‘vibhuti’ is, quote:
“Vibhuti is the sacred ash used in religious worship in Hinduism. The vibhuti ash is generally the residue of cow dung that is burned in a sacred fire (Homa). Main ingredient of Vibuthi is cow dung ash but several other substances prescribed in scriptures also used. Vibuthi is placed on the forehead as it is considered sacred and holy. Some devotees add a small amount to the tongue to pay respect to the diety.”Pardon me for asking this but can somebody please confirm whether or not ‘bibuthi’ and ‘vibhuti’ are the one and the same substance as mentioned by MalaysiaKini?
If anyone has a copy of that email, I would strongly suggest that they would stop distributing it to other Malaysians immediately. It would be better off if they submit a copy of it to our Islamic Religious Departments instead. Let them take a look at it and conduct some kind of investigation on the supposed allegation. We are in no position whatsoever to speculate, let the authorities that have been entrusted to take care of Islamic religious matters handle it.
Let’s not overreact, Malaysians!
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5 comments:
bibuthi and vibuthi is essentially the same thing, wiki gave the correct definition, komiyal is cow urine
vibhuti is the ash of burned cow dung and Ayurveda, the ancient Indian medical science, say that it is very purifying.
Komiyal [komiyam], cow urine, is extremely potent in warding of evil spirits. Try it if anyone's is possessed of ghost to see its effects. They are thrown on floor and not on foodstuffs. Also a very good medicine especially for liver related diseases.
This issue has made its mark on local medias. I read Malaysia Kini, it comes out under the title "Banana leaf war?". It also says the issue spread out by SMS: "It seems that an email by an anonymous writer, calling himself MJH, has warned Muslims not to patronise Indian restaurants because of the Hindu practice of sprinkling komiyal and bibuthi (both of yucky bovine origin) on the premises of newly-acquired property for purification purposes, blessings, and to ward off evil." MJH is certainly not you, are you?
Salam Abdul Latif..
Thank you for visiting and leaving your say on the matter.
Nope! MJH is definitely NOT ME. If I was MJH, I would rather submit that email to our Religious Departments rather than the Malaysian public.
While I'm on the subject, I would like to express my thanks to Anonymous and Umar Rentaka for their clarifications on 'Komiyal' and 'Bibhuti' (or 'Vibhuti').
Funny eh... 50 years of Merdeka and yet we do not know anything much about our diverse Malaysian beliefs and culture. :-(
You know i am surprised how many "Hindu Owned" restaurant does those stuffs anymore? We all know that to run a successful Indian Banan Leaf restaurant, you need to adapt to the local enviroment. That is why All foods served are Halal and even the meat bought are from Halal certified traders. Many Indian restaurants employ staffs from Muslims and hindus. I don't see this as an issue since the guy who actually wrote that posting doesn't even know what he is talking about. You don't spread those items on food. Vibuhti or sacred ash is applied on the forehead of many hindus signifying that in the end ireespective of your background you body will just end up like ash as of everyone else. it sads me that instead of seeing the traits that bonds us we tend to see the traits that makes us difference.
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