Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Negative consequences of horror movies.

News report from utusan malaysia..taken from drmaza.com

Ia diakui oleh Mufti Perlis, Dr. Mohd. Asri Zainul Abidin yang turut menganggap ada antara filem hantu tidak menyumbang kepada pembentukan insan. Malah Islam sendiri tidak menerima apa-apa perkara yang boleh memperbodohkan masyarakat termasuk juga sesuatu pekara yang divisualkan dalam filem.

Lebih membahayakan apabila sesebuah filem seram itu ditonton oleh kanak-kanak yang sedang membesar kerana ia boleh mempengaruhi pemikiran mereka.

"Filem-filem seram yang keterlaluan adalah berbahaya kerana ia boleh menyumbang kepada penyelewengan akidah.

"Kepercayaan bukan-bukan seperti ada kuasa ghaib yang divisualkan dan hantu itu boleh mengetahui sesuatu perkara boleh menyebabkan masyarakat terpengaruh dan mempercayainya," kata Dr. Mohd. Asri ketika dihubungi Jumaat lalu.

Filem seperti ini kata beliau boleh merosakkan akal disebabkan unsur serta gambaran yang diperlihatkan mengenai makhluk halus itu adalah tidak benar.

Maka ujarnya, secara tidak langsung akan lahir masyarakat yang penakut apabila mereka terlalu dimomokkan dengan filem seperti itu.

"Kita bimbang filem itu mempengaruhi jiwa masyarakat yang akhirnya menyebabkan mereka akan takut walaupun hendak ke bilik air," katanya.

Bagaimanapun kata beliau, tidak salah untuk menghasilkan filem seram asalkan tidak diselitkan dengan unsur khurafat selain perlu menggambarkan syaitan itu lemah.

Dalam masa yang sama filem hantu yang dihasilkan juga perlu memberi kesan positif agar manusia tidak hilang keyakinan diri.

Mengambil contoh filem Zombie Kampung Pisang arahan Mamat Khalid, kata beliau, tema yang dibawa dalam filem tersebut tidak bercanggah kerana akhir cerita memperlihatkan makhluk halus itu tidak dapat menguasai manusia.

Sumber: Utusan Malaysia

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

What?! No BGR? (0.0)'

This is written to answer blog_surf's question at the chatbox.

BismilLahirRahmaanirRaheem.

Before that, there was once, when a friend asked me a similar question. She asked me about how she could have a relationship while ensuring that she doesn't go against Islamic principles. And this was my reply to her. .

>>>>

Salam ukhtie,

Its good that you've been aware and making the efforts to make yourself a better Muslim. I understand where you're coming from as I went through such a phase myself. It's been many years now since I made that first step to try to improve and I'm still learning every day and have to be constantly aware and stand firm to ward off temptations by the nafs or shaitan. Its not an easy transition.

Hm, I can't give you a solution.. You have to figure it out yourself through reading more about this, asking Islamic scholars, and to try understand, keeping an open mind and a strong will to learn and possibly change. At the same time, constantly supplicate(doa) and seek help from Allah SWT.

I will give my views on this though, through what I've learnt and understood.. but do not stop here, keep on reading and make your own decision.. I recommend articles and cyber counselor section from islamonline.net..there are many articles there on topics such as relationships based on Islam. Just type in a keyword in their search column. Also this article - islamic-world.net/boy_girl.php

Before this, I think there's a more important question that you have to consider. That question is "What is the purpose of Life?"

Do you know? Do I know the answer? I myself don't know but our purpose of life is already there before we're born.. Just hypothetically.. if we ask this monitor we're facing why is it made, if the monitor is able to speak, it will not know why it is here. Logically, we have to ask the factory which made it..and if we ask the factory, it will give a collection of questions and answers in a book called "Instruction Manual".

Its the same with us humans.. if we want to know the answer, we have to ask the God that creates us i.e. Allah SWT and Allah SWT have given us a complete set of questions and answers in His book called.. the Quran.

So what does the Quran says about our purpose of life?

"I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me." - adh-Dhariat:56

So knowing this.. we have to know that the concept of worship towards Allah SWT in Islam is not just strictly through performing the pillars of Islam like solat, fasting and zakat.

We have to understand that whatever we do and how we perform in our daily life (our actions, deeds, work, character, outlook) that meets the criteria of Islam that have been set in al-Quran and as-Sunnah.. that is the concept of worship! (ref. from an article at saifulislam.com)

So if you can agree to what have been explained here, then even in relationships and interactions with the opposite sex, we have to follow the guidelines that have been set for us. It's totally alien to what we have been used to, growing up in a secular life with all the influences from movies, friends and surroundings.. and it won't be easy to try and follow. But thats the safest and the best way.

Thats all I've to say. As I've said, continue to read and figure out for yourself, ask more from other sisters and Islamic scholars about this.. insya-Allah..He will show you the way.

Wassalaam.

>>>>

It's important firstly to ask ourselves what is our purpose here? As Muslims, what is our true goal in life?

Now back to the question about how are we going to meet the other half..

As you have already read, that Islam recognises feelings and needs between a guy and girl but disciplines it by allowing it to be expressed only after marriage.

Which means that ideally, the only time a Muslim should even think of searching for the other half is when he/she is ready for marriage and have made concrete plans to get married within a short term period.

Some examples upon approaching marriage the Islamic way are as follows; searching and finding a wife (or what Malays call 'merisik') is performed through a third party, meeting to get to know more about each other is allowed but only in the presence of family members and during the engagement period, contact is allowed but the engaged couple should always keep in mind not to overdo it and transgress the limits.

As you'd notice, Islam permits interactions as long as it is done in a respectful manner and doesn't transgress the limits set in Islam.

The Islamic concept of marriage, what happens before and during the engagement is totally different from the horrifying idea of fixed marriages that some may suggest or assume; being forced to marry, not being able to make your own choice, not able to choose your own partner or even not knowing the other half at all!

There are a lot of misconceptions in Islam mainly due to ignorance and the only way to break away from it is to sincerely research on it, keeping an open mind. Only then will we know and be sure of the choices we make in life.

Just to add also that if anyone is already involved in a relationship and have realized that there should be no relationships before marriage, try not to go to extremes by immediately breaking it off. Think about the possibility of taking the relationship towards marriage as soon as possible.

I hope that this will help to lead to the answers you're looking for. And Allah Almighty knows best.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Wake up!

I have posted this before in the form of a YouTube video but when I reviewed the previous post recently, found out that the video had been removed for terms of violation. Since I like the post so much, I've decided to repost it in the form of a written statement.

Why the removal of the video? Only Allah knows why.. Hm, maybe some Arabs' pride may be hurt due to it but it's a true reflection of reality in the Arab world and for me, it is a wake up call. They should take the criticism seriously and do something about it. And other Muslims could take this as a reminder and as a motivation factor to spur ourselves to be better.

For now, the video can be found on MEMRITV.org:type 645 into search

Anyway just for your info, MEMRI is a pro-Israeli Middle Eastern press monitoring organization. Their work has been attacked on three grounds: that their work is biased; that they choose articles to translate selectively so as to give an unrepresentative view of the media they are reporting on; and that their translations are sometimes inaccurate.

Brian Whitaker, the Middle East editor for the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom, has been one of the most outspoken critics of MEMRI, writing: "My problem with Memri is that it poses as a research institute when it's basically a propaganda operation," and that "the stories selected by Memri for translation follow a familiar pattern: either they reflect badly on the character of Arabs or they in some way further the political agenda of Israel."

Go Wiki it for more information on this. Anyway, here's the said speech..

The following are excerpts from a Friday sermon on Qatar TV by Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi :

Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi: We use trains and planes, but they are not our trains or planes. The (Westerners) manufacture them and export them to us. True, we can buy the most magnificent things in the world products for our homes and for ourselves. Our people can buy the most luxurious cars, Rolls-Royce or Mercedes 500 or 700, models S, M, and L with all the luxuries. We own them, but we don’t manufacture them. We don’t even produce a single nail in any of these cars. Others do this for us.

The income of the entire Arab world, including the oil-producing countries, does not reach the that of a European country, such as Spain. Spain!? let alone Germany, France, Britain, or Italy. Just Spain, which is at the bottom of the list of industrial countries… The income of the entire Arab world does not reach it. How come? Because we don’t work, and if we do work, we don’t do it professionally.

They conducted a survey of the average time that a government employee spends working in a certain Arab country. The average was 27 minutes a day. 27 minutes! The rest of the time he drinks coffee, reads newspapers, and goes on errands here and there. Only a small number of people work. The rest do not.

In the mid 1970s I went to Germany. We arrived during in the morning. I asked the guy who took me from the airport to the convention hall. As I was passing through the empty streets, I asked him how come the streets were not busy, like in our countries. He said: “People are at work.” After 7 p.m. he took me back to the hotel, and the streets were empty. I said to him: “What’s going on, the streets are empty again.” He said: people are back home from work, and they are exhausted. All they want is to eat their dinner, watch the news, and then go to bed, because early next morning they have to wake up for hard work. They commute more than an hour to work and back, and spend an hour at lunch. They work non-stop.

We are a nation that doesn’t work. How can we develop if we don’t work? When we do work, we don’t do it professionally. We keep saying “Don’t worry, later, later!” Islam teaches us to do things professionally. Doing things professionally is a religious duty. The Prophet said that Allah ordered to excel in everything. He imposed excellence and professionalism. Professionalism must be followed in everything. “If you kill, do it properly, and if you slaughter, do it properly.” Even when killing, you must do well.

Unfortunately, we do not excel in either military or civil industries. We import everything from needles to missiles. This is our nation. We still haven’t manufactured an engine in our Arab countries. We assemble parts, but have no manufacturing industries. India has manufactured a car, and even a plane, while we still go around in circles like a bull in who turns a grinding mill or a water weal until it reaches exactly where it started.

How come the Zionist gang has managed to be superior to us, despite being so few? It has become superior through knowledge, through technology, and through strength. It has become superior to us through work. We had the desert before our eyes but we didn’t do anything with it. When they took over, they turned it into a green oasis. "How can a nation that does not work progress? How can it grow?