Are there merry-faced Muslims?

[Outcider]

I was watching a TV report from a Rio Carnival. All people seemed to have very merry faces; they were clearly enjoying themselves. The going may have been a bit heavy with feathers, drums and almost no clothes to a European. The festival made me think that no Muslim could ever have anything similar.

I may be totally wrong, so let me ask you does anyone know of any similar festivals where Muslims would really show that they enjoy themselves?

I have once participated in a Nowruz (Persian New Year) party and people there were happy and even danced, although I was a trifle perplexed that no couples seemed to be on the dance floor. The dancers were mainly men, although I strongly doubt that they were gay.

Are men and women allowed to dance together at all?

[sajid]

Well the closest that ive seen that muslims Celebrating was on Eid Days..(the 2 festivals that occur in the yr one after ramdhan and the other just after the pilgrimage season) however these Celebration are very unislamic..and bad

Typical example...few places that i can recall

Birmingham, Manchester,Southall i think most of the major Asian populated area
but there they hold Street Parties...and take over the main road..and blast out music load...u see people driving around in Rent-a-cars and all sorts..just they typical street party...however its gone very bad to the extent that...in some cases i hear that Alcohol is diguised in Coke cans..and they drink it...Intermingling....i.e the typical scenario where young teens of boys and girls mix freely in cars...

im sure u get the picutre..

i know that what occurs here in UK,,,although i dont live in a majortiy asian area..its more towards the SW wales..Bristol etc..however noone of that occur here..but in the major cities of UK it does..

how bouts in America...or other places..are these things common?


Sajid

[jamila]

Getting merry for the sake of being merry? What's the point? Dancing and mixing so strange men can feel me all over - you think that's enjoyment? No thanks!

Happiness and smiling faces because of contentment, and living according to the way Allah made us. That's what I call being happy. And happiest of all when doing something or celebrating something ordered by Allah (like the eids, Ramadan, The Hajj, the prayer, entertaining guests) all together.

The rest is just sensuality in the dunya, and catering for shaitan as the evil, whispering, third party.

[Hierophant]

is that really what happens when you mix men and women??? i guess here, we have more respect for ourselves and others than to behave that way. public celebrations are a great way to bring the community together as a united unit. we try to have at least one per month, during the winter they are even more important.

[Horus]

thanks for the jewish input :)

Originally posted by Hierophant
is that really what happens when you mix men and women??? i guess here, we have more respect for ourselves and others than to behave that way. public celebrations are a great way to bring the community together as a united unit. we try to have at least one per month, during the winter they are even more important.

[Outcider]

Jamila felt: "Getting merry for the sake of being merry? What's the point? Dancing and mixing so strange men can feel me all over - you think that's enjoyment?"

It is not a question of getting merry for the sake of being merry, although most people I think wouldn't mind that. But I think a merry face indicates that you are, in fact, happy! Have you tried crying, when you feel very happy? Or have you laughed with a merry face in a funeral? Must be very hard.

[Hierophant]

here, we have a party smack dab in the middle of winter. right on the shortest day. why? a party for the sake of a party? well, sort of. there is a definite sociological reason for it tho. after spending half the winter somewhat isolated due to snow and cold, its a chance for the whole community to come together, share stories and each others company. It curbs depression caused by a lack of sunlight and gives ppl something to do in preperation for it. It also breaks up the long cold winters into more manageable periods. kinda like playing 3-20 minute periods of hockey vs. 1-60 minute period ;)

Festivals marking the seasons and the equinoxes etc are important. winter and summer solstices, spring planting, fall harvesting. they bring communities together. i kinda feel sorry for the big city dwellers who dont get these and instead have more and smaller(by percentage) gatherings.

[Khawlah]

Well said Jamila. Couldn't agree more. Such parties inevitably lead to haram.

Look at what happens in non-muslim parties. This is an example and I'm not saying all non-muslims do this...OK a woman gets "merry" and drunk and ends up having a one night stand. Then she has a baby from this man but she doesn't know who the baby's father is because she'a done this so many times before! What kind of society do such actions bring about? How do you think this child will grow up? If one follows the rules of islam this could NEVER happen.

[Outcider]

Khawlah. Your comments go outside the topic now. The original question concerned merry-faced Muslims. Where could I see them like I saw those people in a Rio carnival?

Shouldn't we all be happy and show like ones? I am not speaking of being drunk, that's quite another thing.

[jamila]

Originally posted by Outsider
Khawlah. Your comments go outside the topic now. The original question concerned merry-faced Muslims. Where could I see them like I saw those people in a Rio carnival?

Shouldn't we all be happy and show like ones? I am not speaking of being drunk, that's quite another thing.

Carnaval was once a religious festival. :D The feast of meat, when the pious ate up all their supplies of meat so that they wouldn't go 'off' during the 40 days of Lent.

Lent is supposed to be 40 days of fasting for the Christians, commemorating Jesus' travail in the desert, and preparing the soul for the most important event of the Christian Calender, the celebration of the death and rebirth of their 'god'.:rolleyes:

Now Carnaval means Rio, and cavorting naked, or next to naked, in the street, dancing, bumping and getting well turned on. Two years before I became Muslim, I saw one woman in her 'costume'. She was in her birthday suit, with a sailor's uniform painted on her skin. Where she ended up that night? I wouldn't like to hazard a guess. Islam condones no such thing. Is that clear enough? :p

As I said before, happiness and merryness is connected to the halal and ordained celebrations in Islam. Smiling throughout the year without the excuse of mad covortion and abandoned display is a sunnah. A hadith says, give in charity. But if you have nothing to give, then give the salaam of Allah. And greet your fellow Muslim with a smile. Smiling at a person is a form of charity.

Jamila :)

[Outcider]

Jamila said: "Now Carnaval means Rio, and cavorting naked, or next to naked, in the street, dancing, bumping and getting well turned on."

However obsessed with sex you may be, the atmosphere of a carnival is not only due to sex! You can show a merry face even without thinking of sex all the time, believe me!

Your description of the history of the festival was obviously correct. Isn't it a bit like the Eid ending Ramadan? Some people might not know that the word "carnival" comes from the word "carne" or meat. We all have eaten "chili con carne", haven't we?

[Evil E]

"Merry faced Muslims"??? I have seen many happy Muslims. I have seen radiant, merry Muslims many times. Why just yesterday I saw that "look" you are seeking on the face of Muslims right here in the park. There was a group of Muslim women in the park, sitting under a tree near the Bayou - watching their children running freely through the grass. The children were playing with each other and the adults were conversing... about what I couldn't hear, but they were definitely enjoying each other's company and watching their children enjoying themselves. Even though their bodies were not cavorting semi-nude or jerking spasmatically about, the women's eyes and the children's faces were beyond merry - they were radiant. You mustn't be looking in the right places. I suggest you might try looking in other places -- other than at the base of the golden calf that is.

[Outcider]

Evil E described above how he had actually seen merry-faced Muslims. Of course, there's happiness, too. I've also seen lots of merry Muslims, for instance in a Nowruz party arranged by Iranian Muslims.

Originally the question was made more generally. The carnival in Rio made me think that such happenings in the Muslim faith may be almost non-existent in that scale. And judging from the response, my observations seem to have been correct.

By the way, I don't smile all the time either!

[Bilal]

The prophet of Islam siad:
(Your smile is charity)

[AbuMubarak]

it is said that no one smiled more than the Prophet (sas) and he wasnt someone who kept a frown on his face

but he would never attend such an event

but more to the point, what are these people joyous about? have they received glad tidings of a place in jennah, or are they just following their lowest base feelings?

what will be of these people on the day of judgement?

true joy is pleasing your Lord, folly is not truth

[Outcider]

Raafi asked: "what are these people joyous about? have they received glad tidings of a place in jennah, or are they just following their lowest base feelings?"

There can be many causes for joy. As long as we live on this globe, let us not be sinister! Your smile would make me happy, too.

[AbuMubarak]

thats why its called folly

anyone can act a fool

lets be real and stop falling for the deception

eat, drink and be drunk and act stupid, if thats what makes your boat float, thats sad

[Outcider]

Raafi, have you ever been happy? And I am not speaking of the use of intoxicants? Look at little children, their face is often so innocently happy. According to your profile, you may even be a grandfather, just like I am. Let us try to learn from them!

And after a merry spell with them take a nice motorcycle ride to your mosque or where ever you choose to go. There are many things in life that you can enjoy without having to think of your hereafter all the time.

[AbuMubarak]

i have many children, that bring happiness to my eyes, and you wanna see raafi smile, watch my face as i race on the highway on my motorcycle, i enjoy seeing a nikah, i enjoy an aqeeqah, i enjoy the smile of a child, i enjoy when i fix something with my own hands (and it doesnt come out lopsided) sitting with brothers at the masjid and remembering Allah and also inter-relating with each other

but the difference here is that before i enter my home, i make a dua, when i leave my home i make a dua, i make dua when i ride my car, my bike, even walking down the street, i strive to be in constant rememberance of Allah and that He may take my soul at any time, i have over a period of time rearranged my priorities in life where things that make me smile are things that are halal.

this is the same instruction i give to you or any muslim, strive to please your Lord, thats where true happiness in this world and the hereafter

please dont look at me as some type of doom and gloom individual, i just try to keep things in proper perspective

all of my means of bringing a smile on my face are within the guidelines of what my Lord has ordained for me

i do not go out looking for some feeling of happiness at the expense of displeasing my Lord

if that was the case, i could go out and smoke crack, pick up some loose woman, drink a beer, go hang out and waste time watching the yankees play baseball, or go to some stupid movie and watch fake people tell me how i should think and live

these things are not true happiness, they are akin to drinking and drugs, folly, fruitless folly

btw, you never addressed my first point, in the sight of god, these people pursuing their god-given right of happiness, these rio and mardi gras, and clubs and discos, is god pleased with them doing these things?

[Outcider]

Raafi,

man you lead a hard life, bowing here and there, trying to remember this and that instruction, etc. But we all choose our own methods of happiness. Yours might not suit me, but mine probably wouldn't suit you either.

Do we have to compete in whose happier? I don't think so.

As for the happiness of other people, well, do we really try to affect that either? Shouldn't we all allow them to find their own ways?

As has been proven by millions of people, the festivals of Rio and other similar events are one way. You undoubtedly want to consult Allah, what he thinks of that. Or you try to find the answer in your Quran.

There's one thing, however, which we both probably agree on. We only believe, we have no precise knowledge.

[AbuMubarak]

if i believed as you, then i would have stayed a christian, worshipping one day a week, drinking and doing all sorts of things

but my yearning for truth (and Allah's mercy) guided me to islam

i did not create myself, nor have i created creation, i am but one of god's creation, who must either willingly or unwillingly submit to gods will

now we go back to your point, if folly is acceptable, then you are right, we can do whatever we want

but if we are gods creation and he has left guidance for us, out of his mercy, should we not submit our desires to the commands of Allah?