Throughout most of my adult life i have watched Islam being trivialized by none other than its most devout followers.
I have heard speeches and preachers going on and on about:
- entering the bathroom with your right foot or left foot.
- sleeping on your left side or on your right side.
- eating with which hand.
- what prayer to say when you get into the elevator
- what prayer to say when you get into any other mode of transportation
other topics of widespread interest are:
- what to name your pet
- whether you can pray with your nail polish on or not
- whether you can put make-up on when fasting or not
- whether men can wear a golden wedding band or a silver one
- whether deodorant should be equated to perfume or not
do i need to go on?
More and more of those trivial issues get international coverage, coz well Islam is a buzz word these days, it sells!
The sad thing is that there's so much more to religion than this. Why waste your breath talking about those things when you could be talking about more important things. Things that will truly make a difference to people. Things that are also in Islam, values like hard work, seeking perfection in what you do, honestly, treating others.
Or other amazing things like formulating a whole system of inheritance in just 3 lines, the brilliance of the language use in the Koran, the examples of democracy, forgiveness, tolerance and acceptance to other people, feminism and family values.
It's like reading a brilliant piece of literature and spending your time evaluating the font it's been written in. Or eating the most delicious meal and focusing on the decoration on the plate. Or listening to the best orchestra playing and focusing on their looks.
How do we expect people to respect us or our religion if the only things we focus on are things which mean nothing and add no value?
And how can we be that misguided and disillusioned to think that these issues are our calling, and are what God would have wanted us to spend our time on?
Where have peoples' common sense gone?
4 comments:
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Outstanding post.
Great post babe!
You kick ass...
"- whether you can pray with your nail polish on or not"
One should think that God would look into your heart and not at your nails.
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