Medievalist
13-07-07, 10:51 PM
:salams
It is given that whatever environment a person lives in, in all likelihood, he will take on some of the norms and practices of that environment. We live in a society where there is no purdah, no hayaa, no sharam - we take on these qualities even without realising. Alhamdulillah that ALLAH Ta'ala guided us with Islaam, may He Ta'ala ennoble us with imaan, and grant su taufeeq to reach maqaam e ihsaan. ameen.
It is a common trait of our "practicing" youth in UK to look down - directly or indirectly - on the cultural practices of our parents and elders. We recognise the cultural baggage as something alien to our deen and we develop, at times, a superiority complex that we know better than them.
Let's put the shoe on the other foot.
Consider for a moment that some of the cultural practices of our elders may be closer to the shari'ah than our "enlightened" views. It is often that our elders frown on intermingling of the sexes and Im sure many of them would be appalled if they understood and read the way muslim youth interact with one another on the net. Is this attitude of theirs culture or religion? If there's is culture, then similarly our laxness with each other is not religion, that too is part of "our" british culture.
Ponder if in neglecting and saving ourselves from our parents culture - have we not erred and adopted the culture of another alien nation? We might not think it is a major issue - but anyone with any purity of heart is aware that the interaction that many of us engage in in uni or at college or at work or on the net is anti-islamic, anti-shari'ah.
ALLAH Ta'ala ennobled us with the religion of purity and cleanliness - in a hadeeth Nabi :saw: states to the effect that cleanliness is half of faith. This includes the purity of our interaction with each other - including people of the opposite gender.
Too many individuals here are playing with each other, the undercurrent is strong and pulsates quite clearly. ALLAH hamari hifaazat farmay. There is no need for names to be mentioned, nor is there a need for us to specify individuals - rather we need to do muhaasabah of our own condition.
If we are sitting here and engaging in illicit talk and illicit relationships with akhi fulaan and ukhti fulaana then we are bigger hypocrites than Jahangir and Perveen who link up at the cinema; atleast they dont don the garb of religion to engage in their relationship, we do.
It isnt difficult for a guy to not communicate with women, it isn't difficult for a woman to not communicate with a guy. Control that nafs and taste the sweetness of imaan. We think there is no harm in having sista fulaana on MSN list, oh we only having a laff, oh she asked me for religious advice - or its ok to chat to bro fulaan cos he's so funny, he makes me feel better. Rubbish! Rubbish! Rubbish!
It is given that whatever environment a person lives in, in all likelihood, he will take on some of the norms and practices of that environment. We live in a society where there is no purdah, no hayaa, no sharam - we take on these qualities even without realising. Alhamdulillah that ALLAH Ta'ala guided us with Islaam, may He Ta'ala ennoble us with imaan, and grant su taufeeq to reach maqaam e ihsaan. ameen.
It is a common trait of our "practicing" youth in UK to look down - directly or indirectly - on the cultural practices of our parents and elders. We recognise the cultural baggage as something alien to our deen and we develop, at times, a superiority complex that we know better than them.
Let's put the shoe on the other foot.
Consider for a moment that some of the cultural practices of our elders may be closer to the shari'ah than our "enlightened" views. It is often that our elders frown on intermingling of the sexes and Im sure many of them would be appalled if they understood and read the way muslim youth interact with one another on the net. Is this attitude of theirs culture or religion? If there's is culture, then similarly our laxness with each other is not religion, that too is part of "our" british culture.
Ponder if in neglecting and saving ourselves from our parents culture - have we not erred and adopted the culture of another alien nation? We might not think it is a major issue - but anyone with any purity of heart is aware that the interaction that many of us engage in in uni or at college or at work or on the net is anti-islamic, anti-shari'ah.
ALLAH Ta'ala ennobled us with the religion of purity and cleanliness - in a hadeeth Nabi :saw: states to the effect that cleanliness is half of faith. This includes the purity of our interaction with each other - including people of the opposite gender.
Too many individuals here are playing with each other, the undercurrent is strong and pulsates quite clearly. ALLAH hamari hifaazat farmay. There is no need for names to be mentioned, nor is there a need for us to specify individuals - rather we need to do muhaasabah of our own condition.
If we are sitting here and engaging in illicit talk and illicit relationships with akhi fulaan and ukhti fulaana then we are bigger hypocrites than Jahangir and Perveen who link up at the cinema; atleast they dont don the garb of religion to engage in their relationship, we do.
It isnt difficult for a guy to not communicate with women, it isn't difficult for a woman to not communicate with a guy. Control that nafs and taste the sweetness of imaan. We think there is no harm in having sista fulaana on MSN list, oh we only having a laff, oh she asked me for religious advice - or its ok to chat to bro fulaan cos he's so funny, he makes me feel better. Rubbish! Rubbish! Rubbish!