Salam!
Well there’s been something nagging at my thoughts for the whole day, and I just think I need to “get it off my chest”, so to speak. Naturally these are my own opinions, so if you agree…great! If not, that’s cool too!
Whenever there’s some story that surfaces in the media about something that has taken place in a “Muslim country” (which to me constitutes a country made-up of a majority of the populous being Muslim) that doesn’t attain to western or really modern political and/or religious norms I find that I always begin to suffer from headaches.
The latest story is that of an Afghani man who converted to Christianity, and for doing so was being put to trial, under which if he tried guilty would be sentenced to death. Thus far the trial has been put on hold due to lack of proof.
Before I get ahead of myself I would like to say that from what I know of Islam, I have yet to hear anything that constitutes the death of an individual who leaves the religion. I am a firm believer that Allah (s.w.t) will decide and deal accordingly with each person. If they sin, it is His duty and only His duty to punish them suitably, as we are all held accountable for our own actions and not that of others.
Islam is a peaceful religion, irregardless of what you may hear. And the teachings of both our beloved prophet (p.b.u.h) and holy book the Qur’aan, preach such. So when it’s grandly publicized that Islam is the complete opposite of that it really becomes a hard name to live down.
I will not deny that such stereotypes can hardly be blamed for cultivating themselves because there are a lot of harebrained people that tend to twist things in their favor. But lest we forget that this is true for every religion; as every religion is compromised of human beings, and everyone should know that we, the people are anything but perfect. We are beings afflicted with flaws, both grand and small. This furthermore suggests that due to such shortcomings there are a lot of weak minded people who will, turn to evil, two dimensional ways of dealing with things.
Does this justify many of the evils that take place in our world? The many inhumane injustices? The beating, raping, murdering, torturing, and exploitation of men, women and children? In every and any country? No, it most certainly does not, but then it’s our job to do something. And it’s Allah who will give out the ultimate punishment to those who succumb to such evils.
Now, to get back to the specific topic at hand.
So with the common knowledge that all religions suffer from the contortion of their beliefs by others should Islam really be the only one to be put under the magnify glass?
Many Muslims and non-Muslims speak about how backwards Islam is. How, we should really start making our religion more modern, more befitting to the current times. What exactly does modernization entail? In short, “modernization” is a progression of the times. An evolution, if I may, of a mindset and ultimately a people.
So my question is how exactly do you want to modernize Islam? What are we to do? Do you want us to change the Qur’aan? (Astighfurillah) Modernize it, so that it suits the lifestyles of the contemporary?
Are we, the women of this faith, supposed to take off our veils because the majority of women presently do not believe in covering in such a way? Are we supposed to start drinking alcohol because no one else seems to have a problem with it? Because it is a norm of society? Are we suppose to start dating? Because that too has become a prevalent norm of society? Are we supposed to say its “ok” to have sex before you’re married? Because that too, is starting to be seen as the “ok” thing to do?
To some extent I can’t help but wonder why lots of Muslims wish to modernize Islam, and therefore sometimes wonder if in doing so they are just hoping that an official “APPROVED” stamp can be placed upon the things that hitherto have been looked down upon and/or forbidden?
Tell me, what are we supposed to do exactly? If you’re talking about Shariah Law, would you just like to get rid of it? I believe that there is no country currently who can righteously establish our Islamic Law. None, so we have a lot of problems associated with Shariah Law and how it should be followed through with because this is a weak point, where everyone’s idea of how it should be established starts to conflict.
But, this again is due to the fact that humans aren’t perfect and therefore can twist and interpret things wrongly. But there is so much more to Shariah then that. I mean, the Qur’aan along with all other Holy books gives us more or less a set of rules to abide by. Moral ways to live our lives, the differences between what is good and what is wrong, and then it is up to us to live according to those rules as best as we can. Allah won’t blame us for trying!
However, aside from that what do you wish us to do? Do you want us to lie down and let go of our convictions as a means of moving on with the times? Should we just forget about hijab, and drinking, and gambling because it’s ok with everyone else?
NO! Why should we give up on our principles just so we can make everyone else happy? We have to respect ourselves enough to stand up for what we truly believe in, so I don’t know how you would want us to modernize. I truly don’t.
I think Islam is perfect, I truly believe that. However, I do not believe we are perfect, so that leads to all these problems. All the hurting, suffering and injustices apparent.
I often hear that we are given a brain to think for ourselves with, and I agree. I mean, Allah has truly blessed us with a brain, but He has also blessed us with knowledge. We do not know everything, and we can sit here and analyze till the end of times but we will never know the answer to everything. We will never fully comprehend all that is around us, simply because, though we were blessed with knowledge that knowledge is limited. The only One who truly knows everything is Allah, and if He wants us to know something He’ll teach us.
So I find it very pretentious how people can go around and question absolutely everything, thinking that there will be an answer. Thinking that unless there is solid proof there is no way it can be.
Don’t get me wrong I believe that it’s healthy to question things because maybe we look harder for the answer which therefore means we truly with all our heart want to understand it, and this helps our faith. But to always rely on the limited knowledge we have kind of worries me. I mean, sometimes you just have to have faith. You just have to believe, maybe then and only then will you find your answer.
I don’t know for certain, and I wonder if I ever will, but I do know that we should just try and be open-minded.
This may be going off topic but I truly believe in what Allah say’s, that for every mustard seed of good we do we will be rewarded and for every mustard seed of evil we will be punished accordingly. (That’s basically what it says, more or less). Which leads me to believe that every person be them Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, et cetera that does good will be rewarded.
So maybe instead of always criticizing Islam and that it is in time of some revamping, think about the fact that there are many evils in this world and Islam, which means to Submit to God isn’t the problem, but the people. And that goes for every person, because all the wars and injustices in this world weren’t started by Muslims or Islam. We’re all at fault here.
Take care and have a good night.
~Pink Gerbera~
P.S. I apologize if I veered from the path a few times on here.
Well there’s been something nagging at my thoughts for the whole day, and I just think I need to “get it off my chest”, so to speak. Naturally these are my own opinions, so if you agree…great! If not, that’s cool too!
Whenever there’s some story that surfaces in the media about something that has taken place in a “Muslim country” (which to me constitutes a country made-up of a majority of the populous being Muslim) that doesn’t attain to western or really modern political and/or religious norms I find that I always begin to suffer from headaches.
The latest story is that of an Afghani man who converted to Christianity, and for doing so was being put to trial, under which if he tried guilty would be sentenced to death. Thus far the trial has been put on hold due to lack of proof.
Before I get ahead of myself I would like to say that from what I know of Islam, I have yet to hear anything that constitutes the death of an individual who leaves the religion. I am a firm believer that Allah (s.w.t) will decide and deal accordingly with each person. If they sin, it is His duty and only His duty to punish them suitably, as we are all held accountable for our own actions and not that of others.
Islam is a peaceful religion, irregardless of what you may hear. And the teachings of both our beloved prophet (p.b.u.h) and holy book the Qur’aan, preach such. So when it’s grandly publicized that Islam is the complete opposite of that it really becomes a hard name to live down.
I will not deny that such stereotypes can hardly be blamed for cultivating themselves because there are a lot of harebrained people that tend to twist things in their favor. But lest we forget that this is true for every religion; as every religion is compromised of human beings, and everyone should know that we, the people are anything but perfect. We are beings afflicted with flaws, both grand and small. This furthermore suggests that due to such shortcomings there are a lot of weak minded people who will, turn to evil, two dimensional ways of dealing with things.
Does this justify many of the evils that take place in our world? The many inhumane injustices? The beating, raping, murdering, torturing, and exploitation of men, women and children? In every and any country? No, it most certainly does not, but then it’s our job to do something. And it’s Allah who will give out the ultimate punishment to those who succumb to such evils.
Now, to get back to the specific topic at hand.
So with the common knowledge that all religions suffer from the contortion of their beliefs by others should Islam really be the only one to be put under the magnify glass?
Many Muslims and non-Muslims speak about how backwards Islam is. How, we should really start making our religion more modern, more befitting to the current times. What exactly does modernization entail? In short, “modernization” is a progression of the times. An evolution, if I may, of a mindset and ultimately a people.
So my question is how exactly do you want to modernize Islam? What are we to do? Do you want us to change the Qur’aan? (Astighfurillah) Modernize it, so that it suits the lifestyles of the contemporary?
Are we, the women of this faith, supposed to take off our veils because the majority of women presently do not believe in covering in such a way? Are we supposed to start drinking alcohol because no one else seems to have a problem with it? Because it is a norm of society? Are we suppose to start dating? Because that too has become a prevalent norm of society? Are we supposed to say its “ok” to have sex before you’re married? Because that too, is starting to be seen as the “ok” thing to do?
To some extent I can’t help but wonder why lots of Muslims wish to modernize Islam, and therefore sometimes wonder if in doing so they are just hoping that an official “APPROVED” stamp can be placed upon the things that hitherto have been looked down upon and/or forbidden?
Tell me, what are we supposed to do exactly? If you’re talking about Shariah Law, would you just like to get rid of it? I believe that there is no country currently who can righteously establish our Islamic Law. None, so we have a lot of problems associated with Shariah Law and how it should be followed through with because this is a weak point, where everyone’s idea of how it should be established starts to conflict.
But, this again is due to the fact that humans aren’t perfect and therefore can twist and interpret things wrongly. But there is so much more to Shariah then that. I mean, the Qur’aan along with all other Holy books gives us more or less a set of rules to abide by. Moral ways to live our lives, the differences between what is good and what is wrong, and then it is up to us to live according to those rules as best as we can. Allah won’t blame us for trying!
However, aside from that what do you wish us to do? Do you want us to lie down and let go of our convictions as a means of moving on with the times? Should we just forget about hijab, and drinking, and gambling because it’s ok with everyone else?
NO! Why should we give up on our principles just so we can make everyone else happy? We have to respect ourselves enough to stand up for what we truly believe in, so I don’t know how you would want us to modernize. I truly don’t.
I think Islam is perfect, I truly believe that. However, I do not believe we are perfect, so that leads to all these problems. All the hurting, suffering and injustices apparent.
I often hear that we are given a brain to think for ourselves with, and I agree. I mean, Allah has truly blessed us with a brain, but He has also blessed us with knowledge. We do not know everything, and we can sit here and analyze till the end of times but we will never know the answer to everything. We will never fully comprehend all that is around us, simply because, though we were blessed with knowledge that knowledge is limited. The only One who truly knows everything is Allah, and if He wants us to know something He’ll teach us.
So I find it very pretentious how people can go around and question absolutely everything, thinking that there will be an answer. Thinking that unless there is solid proof there is no way it can be.
Don’t get me wrong I believe that it’s healthy to question things because maybe we look harder for the answer which therefore means we truly with all our heart want to understand it, and this helps our faith. But to always rely on the limited knowledge we have kind of worries me. I mean, sometimes you just have to have faith. You just have to believe, maybe then and only then will you find your answer.
I don’t know for certain, and I wonder if I ever will, but I do know that we should just try and be open-minded.
This may be going off topic but I truly believe in what Allah say’s, that for every mustard seed of good we do we will be rewarded and for every mustard seed of evil we will be punished accordingly. (That’s basically what it says, more or less). Which leads me to believe that every person be them Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, et cetera that does good will be rewarded.
So maybe instead of always criticizing Islam and that it is in time of some revamping, think about the fact that there are many evils in this world and Islam, which means to Submit to God isn’t the problem, but the people. And that goes for every person, because all the wars and injustices in this world weren’t started by Muslims or Islam. We’re all at fault here.
Take care and have a good night.
~Pink Gerbera~
P.S. I apologize if I veered from the path a few times on here.
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