Playful People

Aman made a comment on my last post on Hijab which I consider to be a piece of contemporary Art!

He said: “Doesn't all this thinking make your head hurt?”

I call it Art coz last week I was complaining about dat awful statue that went up in Trafalgar Square of a disabled (and for some reason naked) woman. These people are so confused man! Anyway, someone tells me that it’s Art coz Art is defined as anything that provokes an emotional reaction. Aman's comment provoked a very long reaction in me – mabruks bro, U is an official contemporary artist.

Hold on, so would that mean Bush is an artist instead of a mass murderer? Hmm...

Dats why defining words correctly can make ALL the difference: Insurgent/Mujahid, Radical Islamist/Practicing Muslim, To-may-to/To-maa-to…

It’s true, I do think a lot nowadays and it does hurt my head – sometimes I can actually feel my entire brain being squashed coz I’m thinking so much. I guess it’s coz my brain’s not used to it – the only things I'm used to thinking about is having fun, pleasing my parents and trying to get people to like me.

One of the things that got me thinking was a book about European History (I forget the name). One guy in there was talking about the problem of the black slaves rebelling against their masters and said: “the best way to enslave a people is by convincing them that they are not slaves”. Fool the slave into thinking he’s free and then get him to do what you want, out of his own free will. Classic! Don’t force someone to degrade themselves – make them think it’s a privilege. Don’t force women to walk around naked – make them think it’s liberation.

Very clever… NOT! Coz you end up in Jahannam if U not careful.

It's like the black slaves that worked in the fields and weren’t allowed to wear clothes – it was a way of taking away any honour or dignity that they had. Just think how you'd feel if you were forced to work naked – proper demeaning. It reminds me of what they did to our brothers in Abu Ghraib. They took photos of them naked just to humiliate them. Makes me sooo angry I feel like smashing something. It's one of those things, I guess. I remember even as a child I would feel shy if I had nothing on.

Clothes can really shape the way I feel – if I'm dressed cool, I feel cool. If I'm dressed spiritually, I feel that too. Or if I see someone dressed in a uniform I give 'em sum respect. When I look at slavery, colonialisation, subjugation, torture, etc. there’s always examples of demeaning people by forcibly exposing them. It’s a tried and tested formula.

But not with me… no-one forced me to wear the stupid clothes that I did. I dressed pretty much like a tart so that I would be accepted – so that I wouldn’t feel so insecure. I wanted guys to give me sum attention so I had to show something – it's not my fault coz if you covered up it meant you weren’t confident about your body. Actually, I wasn’t confident at all and exposing myself just made me feel even more insecure. Then coz I felt insecure I had to try harder to get attention. That means I would have to show a little more. It was a horrible cycle – and all the time I knew there was something wrong, it shouldn’t be like this, man. When I'm putting clothes on, I'm thinking what the boys will think. I feel disgusted now - like I was married to every guy in the street or something. Man, I woz mashed!

But I wasn’t forced into it – I did it out of my own free will. I had become the slave that European History Book was talking about. People think they’re doing what they want to do; it’s their life, their choices. That’s so naïve! Every choice, every decision I've made, I can see how it is affected by the atmosphere I'm in.

I don’t want to be a slave no more – not to any man anyway. I don’t want to be the subject of this tried and tested formula of degradation – first the blacks by force, then the Iraqis at gun point and now women in general by the new improved technique of brainwashing and pressure. Dats probably one of the first things that got me thinkin. How many other things am I doing coz I’ve been brainwashed into thinkin a certain way? I really don’t know – that’s why I question most everything nowadays.

Anyways, if that hasn’t convinced you to think even if it hurts, here's something that should definitely work: Ibn Abbas (ra) said "thinking is the light of Iman".

Mashallah, that’s beautiful.

If Hijab is a Fard like Salah, then why is it that I knew Salah is Fard since I was seven years old but I hadn’t even heard the word Khimar let alone know it’s Fard until recently? What about jilbab? What’s a one of them then? Only heard about that the other day – and I’m told that’s Fard too.

Where are all these hidden Fards popping out from? Some mashed scholar must have misunderstood when he read about the veil and thought he’s supposed to veil the idea rather than the woman’s awra! Now everyone’s bare confused – as in bare and confused.

Like those sisters who told me Hijab is a CHOICE. Now they tell me they knew it was Fard all along but they were using “wisdom” in their words to stop the Hijab being banned in France. But that’s not good enough. No amount of wisdom turns FARD into CHOICE. The definition of Fard is that it is obliged. It’s really bad because at least if I knew something was Fard I would feel so much regret for not doing it and inshallah one day I may repent. But thinking it’s a choice, I’ll never repent, I’ll never feel regret and then I’ll have to burn for it in Jahannam! Thanks a lot, sisters :(

Ok, I must think of an excuse for them now coz otherwise I’ll feel guilty. I think they were maybe confusing free-will with choice.

Anyway, I’m going to look into this issue in depth – if something is Fard then I need to do it – I don’t care what any man says – the only ones I obey other than myself is my Creator and my Messenger “PBUH”.

What about those people who say Hijab is oppressive? How can anything that Allah “SWT” decides, be oppression? That’s like saying “I’m oppressed because I’ve only been given two eyes instead of four” or “I’m oppressed because I can’t fly”. That’s so silly! Nobody, not even Atheists, see Allah’s decisions as any form of oppression.

In my view, oppression is when another person forces you to do things to benefit themselves (e.g. what Sharon is doing in Palestine or Blair is doing in Iraq). Not once in my entire life have I felt pressured by anyone to put on Hijab. On the contrary, the only pressure sisters get since day one from friends, cousins, media, career and society in general is NOT to wear the Hijab. Every day we’re being pressured by men and women not to cover simply because they don’t agree with it. Excuse me, who asked your opinion… and do I need to ask you how to worship my Creator?

Or worse, men spend billions of dollars to watch porn – obviously, they would love for women to walk around naked – it’s just free eye candy for them. Especially since everyone knows Muslim women are blatently the most beautiful in the world.

So all those people who say Hijab is oppressive, they are the real oppressors! Using all their power and influence to put sooooo much pressure on sisters not to wear hijab. I know how difficult it is when it’s hard to even get a job if you’re covered. Hijab is one of the only things that so many sisters want to do but they feel anxious because of societal pressure. So don’t tell me Hijab is oppressive. It’s your forced Secular influence that is oppressive.

When’s the last time I proper chilled with my cousins? I don’t even remember! They’ve all become ghosts… It’s really sad because some of the best days of my childhood was definitely when my cousins came over.

Not only that, I thought Islam puts huge emphasis on family and meeting relations and chilling with them.

If it was sunny, we played badminton in the garden without a net in the middle. If there were enough of us, we’d all play cricket!

I didn’t like cricket. I liked it when it rained and we all had to trundle inside and pull out the board games. I absolutely loved and still love board games – especially if the company is good. It’s so much more personal than playing a sport or watching a movie. You can really get to know the people you’re playing with and enjoy their company.

But you know what they say? The things you learn as a child has a lasting effect on your mentality when you grow older. Every single idea, thought and value you’re exposed to shapes your thinking. I’ve seen it myself – people always refer back to their experiences when making decisions. So let’s see – maybe I can figure out what my cousins are doing even though I haven’t met them in ages based on the games they were best at. Hmm…

Hungry Hungry Hippos – Zoo Keeper

Draughts – Communist

Jenga – Civil Engineer

Chess – Politician

Operation Game – Doctor

Battleships – Navy

Risk – Ameer of Jihad

Monopoly – Capitalist

Hangman – Articulate executioner

DemoCrazy – Tony Blair

Cluedo – Detective

Those trains that go round and round on the same track – Convert to Hinduism

Solitaire – Loner

Scrabble – Writer (also risk of falling into Loner category)

Ok, so now I know what to look for… ;)

Hey, I can’t remember what my extremist cousin was good at. I remember she was soooo cool and used to tell us the scariest ghost stories about women with twisted feet. But as soon as it was time for Salah she ran to pray. That scared all the rest of us. It just wasn’t right for a 13 year old girl to pray so “fanatically”. That’s what we all thought anyway. I can’t believe I used to think my cousin was an extremist for praying Salah on time! Now I’ve become exactly like her – Eek!

That makes me think some people might think I’m an extremist. But then I sometimes think other people are extreme. It just didn’t make sense – anybody that has a set of standards will always see other people as extreme. That’s why my friend said we all need a standard that is universal! For Muslims, that’s obviously the Qur’an and Sunnah.

If that’s our standard then my cousin was definitely NOT an extremist! I was being extreme for not praying with her. It also means that all those people Tony Blair and the Media call extreme are not really extreme at all. It’s all about what your standard is. They obviously have a different standard to us since they don't believe in the Qur'an and Sunnah. DUH!
Cool – makes sense now, alhamdulillah I'm happy.

Right that’s it – I’m going to go on a campaign to visit all my cousins or at least call all the international ones before Allah “SWT” accounts me big time for being a sad loner! And I don’t care what they think of me, as long as Allah doesn’t think I’m a fanatic, it’s all good with me… Mwah! ;)

The light bulb in my bedroom exploded today and once again I found myself in darkness. Alhamdulillah, this time it wasn’t the darkness of Jahiliyya.

(I love using Arabic words in-between my sentences – makes you feel more Muslim anit?)

Anyway, whilst contemplating whether to change the light bulb or leave it till the morning cos I was so tired, I remembered half a joke and then made up the rest…

How many Salafis does it take to change a light bulb?
They don’t. Light bulbs are bid’a.

How many Jihadis does it take to change a light bulb?
They don’t. Just incite others to do it instead.

How many Tablighis does it take to change a light bulb?
They don’t. Make dua, Allah will change it.

How many Hizbis does it take to change a light bulb?
They don’t. Khilafah will solve it.

How many Ikwanis does it take to change a light bulb?
They don’t. Wait and you’ll get accustomed to the dark.

How many Qutubis does it take to change a light bulb?
An army of them.

How many MCBs does it take to change a light bulb?
They don’t. Let’s lobby the Government instead.

:)

I guess the list goes on… obviously it’s a joke and factually inaccurate – no disrespect to any of my brothers and sisters who are in any of the above groups, organisations, madhahib, etc, etc. I only meant it as a funny and I love you all.

Now I feel so guilty for even thinking it, I’m going to have to stick up for you guys and gals. I know some Muslims who really attack ALL of the above groups – simply because they’re groups – and inadvertently become a group themselves. I think that’s the worst kind of group. It’s called: “The Group that Slanders other Groups for Being Groups Without Realising We Have now Become a Group Ourselves”.

I personally don’t think groups are a problem at all. Remember at the time of the Prophet “PBUH” there used to be different tribes. He “PBUH” even addressed people by their tribe name always reminding them. So having tribes wasn’t a problem I guess, it was looking down on others for not being part of your tribe that was wrong. I think it’s called Tribalism.

There’s lots of things like that where issues can be confused if we’re not careful. For example check out this hadith:

Muslim reports from Ibn Mas`ud “RA” that the Prophet “PBUH” said: "No-one who has even an atom's-weight of pride in his heart will enter Paradise." A man asked him, "What if a man likes his clothes and shoes to look good?" (Meaning, is this counted as pride?) The Prophet “PBUH” said: "Allah (swt) is beautiful and loves beauty. Pride means denying the truth and looking down on other people." [Sahih Muslim, 2/89]

So it’s ok to look good as long you don’t have pride (I get to keep my labels – YIPPEE!) – whereas some people think you can’t be pious unless you’re dressed in rags.

Even non-Muslims have loadsa groups and it doesn't cause them any problems or disunity - actually they even see it as a good thing. It's what the person says that can cause problems. You have to look at what these groups say and not just ignore them because they’re from a group because then you become a member of the above mentioned group in bold – the worst one of all!

You can learn a lot from anybody if you’re just prepared to listen and be sincere. I’ve really learnt so much recently after ignoring the preconceptions I’ve built up over the years and taking each person and each argument as it comes without looking at the background of the person it’s coming from.

Hey, but that still leaves me in the dark and without a light bulb… Eek! It's scary in here :(

On my way home from shopping today, I passed my Primary School.

I've never stopped and looked back since leaving and going to High School. But this time I stood for what seemed like hours staring at the playground and then at the building and then at the great big tree in the middle of the grass. It was a big evergreen.

I remember when we used to play "Kiss Chase". The boys chased the girls and if the girls got caught they had to give the boy a kiss. Subhanallah, we were only 12 years old. Even the Muslims girls used to play. Funnily enough, I don't remember any of the Muslim boys playing. There was this one Bengali boy and one Pakistani boy who used to sit and watch but never joined in.

Anyway, that was just one thought that went through my mind whilst staring at the big green tree through the black metal gate at the back of our school. So many other things I've done that nobody knows. Well, the friends that did know have probably forgotten them by now. Different people remember different things.

I learnt so much rubbish at the school - like evolution and every religion is a path to God. That's so stupid. If I said to my teacher I want to be a doctor what subject should I take at A-level? I can just imagine her saying: take any subject, Safoorah, they all lead to Medicine.

How could my parents have allowed me to be exposed to such rubbish? Why did Allah let me go to that stupid school where I learn all the things I shouldn't have learnt? I was just a child. And now all those things in my head that come back and haunt me when I want to practice the Deen.

I love Islam so much... But it's so easy to love Islam coz it's so beautiful. The hard thing for me is getting Islam to love me back...

We live in a really interesting time... I can just feel something big is going to happen. Or maybe it's happening right now!

Anyone who hasn't got their head in the clouds will see parallels between our time (the last five years) and what happened during the renaissance, during the fall of the Berlin wall and way before too:
During the time of our mega beloved Prophet "PBUH".

Before that too!

At the time of Nuh "AS" and even during the time of Adam "AS".

I just feel it's that time of great big change again and ideas are flying around everywhere!

It's a confusing time where I think Muslims especially need to bear one thing in mind. I say especially Muslims because we know we're blatently right and everyone else is blatently wrong. It's not arrogance! That's like calling someone arrogant because they believe the sun is hot. Not my fault it's so obvious.

But if I feel this way - I bet ya millions of other Muslims feel the same way. That's exactly what makes us guys vulnerable. We need to remember that if the companions of the Prophet "PBUH" were not open-hearted and open to listening to other people's views then we wouldn't be Muslim today. It was the Quraish who didn't listen to their Messenger and that's why they got messed up.

But today because we've got such strong beliefs, we've become like the Quraish and think we know it all. But then at the same time, why do I always feel I'm right when it comes to Islam Vs non-Islam? (I can't think of a better term). I blame everyone else for having such weak arguments and not researching their beliefs properly or just saying silly things like "because it just is". I mean come on, what kind of argument is that?

With most discussions, it's all about convincing somebody else of an idea or point of view. But what I find more fascinating is when it's got nothing to do with convincing, simply because you didn't have a view on an issue to begin with. Instead someone points out to you something so simple and so obvious that you just haven't considered before. You never disagreed. It was never about agreeing or disagreeing - it's just something you've never considered... then you just think: Oh... wow! That's amazing. It happened to me today.

Does anyone get what I mean?

Thinking...

Just chillin'

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