Sunday, June 18, 2006
Improve your perspective : the beginning of paradigm shift
Stereotyping, however vile it is as we know it, still choke our view on things, politics, events, people and other elements of life around us. Somehow, even with a sound acknowledgement of it as a bad thing, I still, sometimes, catch myself stereotyping things and people.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Honour killing : the curse of culture
National geographic's documentary on the Pakistan's honour killings was very graphic, and interesting. Women are killed because of the simplest misunderstanding and mistake. This happens only in the rural area of Pakistan, as the journalist found out that the rich and urban population of Pakistan does not do that.
The bad thing is, these people back their actions with the Quranul Karim. They claim all the killing they do is justified by the commandments in the Quran. To my relief, at least the journalist was being fair by mentioning the very people
who claims this does not even understand the messages in the Quran as they are illiterate, just like the majority of the people there in the rural area. And they wore a form of serban, with a face full of thick scraggly mustache and beard, and most evidently, yellow rusty teeth. Judging from their appearance, these are truly mukallids, those who follows blindly. They take what their fathers has taught them as Islam laws and practices, without question. Sounds familiar?
Back in the city, a young rich man is marrying his lady, and a party was about to start. The journalist mentioned that these people holds the same faith as the rural people who practices the honour killings, that is Islam. Just when the wedding was about to start, he was shown smoking and drinking beer and even pronouncing it, claiming it makes him calm.
What a sad, misinterpreted portrayal of Islam.
How far off can we deviate from the way of the true religion, when we leave it to culture to dictate the deeds we do and the thoughts we bear, all in the name of Islam. Evidently, the sky is the limit.
Both sides of Pakistan as portrayed in the documentary bears a lot of distortion in the true form of Islam. The cruelty to women is not at all in the teachings of Islam. As a matter of fact, you have to PROTECT your women! PROTECT my fellow muslims, PROTECT! We can have a lenghty discussion on what does the term holds in the application to the modern and ancient environment, but ofr sure, it has nothing to do with killing and maiming your women!
The urban groom was no different. Consuming alcohol is clearly one of the biggest sins in Islam. And yet he was gulping happily to 'make himself calm'. You don't proclaim yourself as a Muslim when you do the thing that Islam highly forbids.
Here's the idea : when you claim to be a Muslim, what ever you do will be regarded as a presentation of your claim. People around the world, for whatever reasons pride themselves as Muslims, and still do things clearly or subtly against it. Truly, this is misleading. By this, the unlearned will see Islam just as 'another religion' and not see the purity, the truth and how Islam truly clicks life in place when practiced thoroughly!
Having said all that, I have to add that even in Malaysia, some of the practices of the muslims are giving out a wrong indication of the true face of Islam. Pick a regular Muslim, and see his habits, his speeches, his acts and his character, and there you have a layman's portrayal of Islam. It's prety inevitable though, in this stereotypical society we live in. Truly, Muslims has to start at the very basic, the very beginning, the very introduction of Islam. How Rasulullah S.A.W portrays it. How he says it in a few words, and how he himself made it clear the beauty and the truth of Islam without saying a word. Islam is a lot more than marrying 4 wives. A lot more than 'moving along with modernity and economics', more than Ignoring Islam as a whole, and practicing what we perceive as Islamic traditionally will not convey the correct message outwards, and verily, marring the quality of Muslim as indicated in the Quran and Sunnah.
Allah knows best.
The bad thing is, these people back their actions with the Quranul Karim. They claim all the killing they do is justified by the commandments in the Quran. To my relief, at least the journalist was being fair by mentioning the very people
who claims this does not even understand the messages in the Quran as they are illiterate, just like the majority of the people there in the rural area. And they wore a form of serban, with a face full of thick scraggly mustache and beard, and most evidently, yellow rusty teeth. Judging from their appearance, these are truly mukallids, those who follows blindly. They take what their fathers has taught them as Islam laws and practices, without question. Sounds familiar?Back in the city, a young rich man is marrying his lady, and a party was about to start. The journalist mentioned that these people holds the same faith as the rural people who practices the honour killings, that is Islam. Just when the wedding was about to start, he was shown smoking and drinking beer and even pronouncing it, claiming it makes him calm.
What a sad, misinterpreted portrayal of Islam.
How far off can we deviate from the way of the true religion, when we leave it to culture to dictate the deeds we do and the thoughts we bear, all in the name of Islam. Evidently, the sky is the limit.
Both sides of Pakistan as portrayed in the documentary bears a lot of distortion in the true form of Islam. The cruelty to women is not at all in the teachings of Islam. As a matter of fact, you have to PROTECT your women! PROTECT my fellow muslims, PROTECT! We can have a lenghty discussion on what does the term holds in the application to the modern and ancient environment, but ofr sure, it has nothing to do with killing and maiming your women!The urban groom was no different. Consuming alcohol is clearly one of the biggest sins in Islam. And yet he was gulping happily to 'make himself calm'. You don't proclaim yourself as a Muslim when you do the thing that Islam highly forbids.
Here's the idea : when you claim to be a Muslim, what ever you do will be regarded as a presentation of your claim. People around the world, for whatever reasons pride themselves as Muslims, and still do things clearly or subtly against it. Truly, this is misleading. By this, the unlearned will see Islam just as 'another religion' and not see the purity, the truth and how Islam truly clicks life in place when practiced thoroughly!
Having said all that, I have to add that even in Malaysia, some of the practices of the muslims are giving out a wrong indication of the true face of Islam. Pick a regular Muslim, and see his habits, his speeches, his acts and his character, and there you have a layman's portrayal of Islam. It's prety inevitable though, in this stereotypical society we live in. Truly, Muslims has to start at the very basic, the very beginning, the very introduction of Islam. How Rasulullah S.A.W portrays it. How he says it in a few words, and how he himself made it clear the beauty and the truth of Islam without saying a word. Islam is a lot more than marrying 4 wives. A lot more than 'moving along with modernity and economics', more than Ignoring Islam as a whole, and practicing what we perceive as Islamic traditionally will not convey the correct message outwards, and verily, marring the quality of Muslim as indicated in the Quran and Sunnah.
Allah knows best.
Monday, June 05, 2006
The culture : a blessing or a curse?
We do what our parents did. And our neighbors. And the rest of the people living around us.
Where does it originated from? Who told you to bow when meeting people? Who says we need to spend thousands and go through intricate processes to marry the love of your life? And what's that stuff you burn when someone dies?
Who knows.
Culture, oftenly bragged as a commodity of a tourist country, may not be very beneficial after all, at least for the people who embraces this themselves. People would do stuff they follow from their predecessors, be it their parents, neighborhood, or senior co-workers in your office. It's very easy to pick up, and almost impossible to get rid of.
The thing about culture is, you can't do anything if it's wrong. Not doing it would indicate anti-social sentiment. Being openly against it would wage war with your grandad, or that old popular dude who has been in the department for longer than you have lived. That's it, there is no standard to rely on! It could have been started by a guy for his personal needs, and carried on by people imitating for a reason no one could understand.
Bad culture comes in many faces. Going off early for work breaks, taking long lunches, spitting anywhere as you please, LITTERING, and many more, which varies from town to town, office to office, and country to country.
Even with the heavy influence of ISLAM, getting rid of culture is really difficult. In fact, portions of the Din (religion) becomes a culture, and that is so bad, since the purity of the Din is no longer maintained. The very source of Islam is no longer the source of actions and guidance, instead they just follow blindly without question. Try putting forward an authentic sunnah that goes against an islamic practice, and wait for the response!
The moral? Check, and always recheck the cultural thing that you do. See what the rest of the world is doing. And always, always see the pure source, the Quran and Sahih Sunnah.
Where does it originated from? Who told you to bow when meeting people? Who says we need to spend thousands and go through intricate processes to marry the love of your life? And what's that stuff you burn when someone dies?Who knows.
Culture, oftenly bragged as a commodity of a tourist country, may not be very beneficial after all, at least for the people who embraces this themselves. People would do stuff they follow from their predecessors, be it their parents, neighborhood, or senior co-workers in your office. It's very easy to pick up, and almost impossible to get rid of.
The thing about culture is, you can't do anything if it's wrong. Not doing it would indicate anti-social sentiment. Being openly against it would wage war with your grandad, or that old popular dude who has been in the department for longer than you have lived. That's it, there is no standard to rely on! It could have been started by a guy for his personal needs, and carried on by people imitating for a reason no one could understand.
Bad culture comes in many faces. Going off early for work breaks, taking long lunches, spitting anywhere as you please, LITTERING, and many more, which varies from town to town, office to office, and country to country.
Even with the heavy influence of ISLAM, getting rid of culture is really difficult. In fact, portions of the Din (religion) becomes a culture, and that is so bad, since the purity of the Din is no longer maintained. The very source of Islam is no longer the source of actions and guidance, instead they just follow blindly without question. Try putting forward an authentic sunnah that goes against an islamic practice, and wait for the response!
The moral? Check, and always recheck the cultural thing that you do. See what the rest of the world is doing. And always, always see the pure source, the Quran and Sahih Sunnah.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
it all doesn't begin here
The thinking started long ago, long before i even contemplated of having this. Sometimes an unsuspecting friend had to bear my purging of ideas, and sometimes it's typed out in my favourite high-school friends forum, wajjaq.com. But oftenly, it is nicer to have exchange ideas instead of spitting them to a possible unwilling friend with mere uhuhs and nothing more.
Im going to stop here, for my debut appearance in the blogger arena.
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