Reason?

Since lately, I can’t seem to get my head around a topic that I want to write about and I think one of the reasons for that is that I feel like I’m just trying to find the answers to so many things myself that I feel like I have nothing to give away. And yet I continue to write, probably just to ease the turmoil that is silently growing in my head.

One of the things that has been bothering me is when I see people moving about in their lives just satisfied with the way things are, with the way they are, satisfied with what has already been decided for them and with not questioning as to what is the reality of their purpose. They are just so content with the way things are in their lives and the sad part is that they don’t realize that their contentment is only confined to the bubble that they live in, beyond and out of it, they have no idea as to what contentment really is and how to achieve it.

Maybe it is as much our fault as it is theirs’, the picture of Islam that people get is that of restrictions, compulsion and extremism. When frankly speaking, I don’t even believe there is anything known as “extremism” in Islam, you’re either a Muslim or a non-Muslim, because “a Muslim does not have a sliding scale”. This is a quote which was used in a movie called “traitor” and it is a line which couldn’t have made more sense. Any discrepancies that are so often associated with Islam are either bidat, or they are a making of hypocrites or of some anti-Islamic individuals, but to associate discrepancies with Islam is like calling milk black. (This is not a simile, but I thought it made sense.) Islam is refined, it is pure and it is the word of God for crying out loud!

And yet we, humans so boldly challenge it. We call the religion backwards, we call it strict and we forget that Allah Ta’ala Himself says in the following ayat, that He only wants to make things easy for us;

"Allah desires ease for you; He does not desire difficulty for you" (Surat al-Baqara, part of ayat 185).

We challenge Allah’s commandments with the voice of our intellect. Yet we forget Him, Who gave us intellect in the first place! Allah gave us intellect, He gave us reason, He gave us wisdom but not so that we could question Him and stay in ignorance but so that we could use it to understand Islam. The people with the greatest of intellects were the people with the greatest of faiths, take the example of Hazrat Ali (R.A.), Imam Shafi’i, Ibn Taymiyah, so on and so forth.

To sum things up, I guess what we all need to do is to understand Islam before we accept irrational and “extremist” judgments made about it. Islam is not just about restrictions; it is far from that, in fact ONLY 3% of the ENTIRE Quran consists of commandments regarding the halal and haraam. Do not be content with not knowing, and do not be content till you have made an effort to find out what the truth is. Our intellect was not given to us in vain, be grateful for it and use it to understand Islam and its teachings for there is no doubt in the fact that Islam and reason are certainly allies.

“And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?”

(Surah Qamar, ayat 17)

What Allah wants for you?

Modesty and hijab.

In this time and age, when apple and blackberry are not just names of fruits, where science has stepped up its game to a whole new level and where everything is becoming known globally; here this awesome globalization has brought, with it, its own set of problems. My point being that this world is becoming a place where secularism is taking over and religion is being sidelined with a common culture and set of trends that is shared and welcomed by all. Where is modesty in all of this? For most, modesty has taken its way out the window.

We need to understand that where we need to be tolerable and understanding towards others, we also need to be affirm and steadfast on our core beliefs and one of our core beliefs is our modesty, our “haya”. Sadly, not only is haya not practiced by many but it is also misunderstood by most. Having haya includes doing proper “parda” and being modest at the same time. But let’s further simplify it; it means to be completely disgusted at and by obscenity and shamelessness. But our standards of what we call shamelessness have gone down to such a terrible level that we need to understand that term all over again. Shamelessness includes just about everything that we are being bombarded with in the form of movies, songs, sitcoms etc., and this constant exposure has made us immune to it.

We, “the so called Muslims”, cannot imagine a wedding without dholkis, mehndis, mahyons, dance parties and all kinds of ridiculous events, if someone practices Islam properly we start getting scared and worried about them and if someone does proper parda then we feel uncomfortable around them because we don’t know what we should talk to them about. But is that really what Islam teaches us? Absolutely not; in fact Islam teaches us to practice simplicity and to stay away from extravagance and all kinds of shameless activities, Islam tells us that the fundamental reason for our existence is none other than worshipping Allah and it teaches us to do proper parda.

Coming on to and focusing on the concept of parda; some people think that hijab is only a cultural thing, others believe that it was a commandment that was only for that time and many others believe that it is more important to just be a nice person and dress decently and that that is enough. Let me now refute all these arguments. Firstly yes, it is important to dress up decently, BUT who will define the standards of this “decency”, certainly not you or me. Then who else can define the standards of decency other than the One who created us in the first place? The fact that we call ourselves Muslims means that we believe in Allah, but how can we say that we believe in Him when we don’t even accept the boundaries He has laid down for us. Secondly if hijab was just a cultural thing then it would have been limited to a locality, which it is not, and there would have had been no mention of it in the Quran, which is not true either. So hijab is not at all a cultural thing but rather a direct commandment of Allah.

And lastly, Islam is a universal religion, it was not just for the Quraish but instead for the entire humanity then how can its commandments be limited to only that time and place? Moreover, if it was only for the women of that time then there would have been a mention of that in the ayat but instead Allah gives this commandment while referring to the BELIEVING women and a believing woman is anyone who has recited the kalima and believes in God.

The commandment is clear, so any controversies that exist regarding hijab within our communities and social circles are only a result of ignorance or lack of believe in Allah. Islam is a package deal, it is a manual for life, it is a beautiful thing if we follow it the way; we can’t just pick what we like from it and leave the rest. There is wisdom behind all the commandments whether our limited intellect perceives it or not. Furthermore, believing in Allah means believing in the choices He has made for us. He has made us dignified creatures who cover themselves and restrain their desires in contrast to animals, He has chosen modesty for us and there is absolutely no doubt in the fact that His choice is the best. So do we think so highly of ourselves that we are ready to stand up and challenge GOD?

O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. (Surah al Ahzab, ayat 59)

Also look at Surah Nur’s ayat 31, it talks about parda and modesty in more detail.