Tag: hypocrisy

  • A Rant About The Petty Impotence of Muslims

    We had an interesting incident at work today. It was related to a new prayer facility that we managed to obtain from the company in recent months. The pettiness and irrationality of today’s incident made it clear why the Ummah is in the state that it’s in. This might sound overly dramatic, or it might even sound petty in its own right, but the underlying principles struck me as exceptionally concerning because of the way it plays out in much greater issues than what took place today.

    The incident involved the installation of carpets in our new facility. The carpets are specifically designed for mosques, so it has patterns that guide the rows that we stand in to perform salaah. The fact that there is real cause for concern regarding the direction that the carpets face relative to what was previously agreed to be the direction of the qibla is a separate issue. However, in the installation of the carpets, the project manager forgot to set aside a section at the entrance to the room to be tiled so that we could enter the room before removing our shoes. As a result, the practice for the last couple of weeks was to remove our shoes outside the room in the common use area which is a high traffic corridor shared by all employees, and then step into the room with shoes in hand to be placed in the provided shoe racks.

    Last week we agreed to place down a strip of tape to demarcate the salaah area from the entrance to the room so that it was easy to determine which area could be stepped on with shoes, and which not. After salaah today the changes were announced. I later received an email advising me that some ‘brothers’ took exception to this common sense approach. They apparently didn’t feel it was right to step on the carpeted area inside the door because it was a single piece with the area that we performed salaah in. Is it just me, or is this seriously ridiculous logic?

    So I asked what the basis for such a decision was, since I’m quite certain that it has absolutely no basis in the Sunnah and in fact inconveniences the Muslims that wish to use the facility, and I was told that it would just make it easier for those that were using the facility, so we should just accept it. Makes it easier? Really? According to some nameless/faceless ‘brothers’?

    The underlying principles that I complained about at the beginning of this post relates to the willingness to give way to common sense in the enforcement of petty personal preferences. It has a distinct undertone of extremism that has no basis in Islam, and cannot be justified in any reasonable manner. But we’re loathe to object because of our need to pacify those that hold sway, rather than speak out against such pettiness.

    This same inclination to give in to personal preferences over what is specifically allowed or forbidden in Islam is exactly the source for so many contaminants of culture that have soiled the simplicity of Islam. I wondered about the precedent already set in almost every other mosque where a single piece of carpet extends between the official boundary of the mosque and what is deemed to be the outside of the mosque for purposes of i’tikaaf, and it simply caused me to struggle even more with the ridiculous logic being subscribed to in this instance.

    This must seem really petty, but it’s the pettiness of it that seems to carry the theme of the Ummah these days. We’ll strike out in full fury to defend the honour of Rasulullah (SAW) when some idiot makes a second rate movie that received almost no attention prior to our mob-like behaviour, but remain silent when innocent Muslim men and women are assaulted, harassed, murdered, abused, raped, molested, mutilated and worse. Is it because we’re incapable of behaving honourably, that we find it necessary to seek honour in defending something in a manner that is not even sanctioned in Islam? It’s this same mindset that has created suicide bombers and indiscriminate attacks on unarmed civilians including women and children and the elderly, simply because this same irrational logic that we allow to perpetuate in the Ummah is used to justify our actions where cowardly acts are easier to enforce than having a backbone and taking a principled and bold stand against the injustices that we profess to want to avenge.

    Muslims have earned the scorn and contempt of the disbelievers, most definitely not because Islam is prone to attracting such vile criticism, but simply because we’ve become petty and impotent to the point of having inane debates about simple logic and sectarian bull, while pretending to be defenceless when faced with the responsibility of protecting the honour and dignity of those we are responsible for.

  • Before you judge others…

    We are collectively responsible for the extremists that have hijacked Islam for their own personal agendas and political motives. If we had established the unity that is demanded of Muslims, the non-Muslims would never have the gap to produce plausible blame regarding atrocities often instigated by a third force that knows full well that Muslims are in too much disarray to provide any meaningful response.

    Each time I try to engage with a non-Muslim about the true essence of Islam versus what is reported in the main stream media, I am immediately hit with a barrage of comments and examples of how Muslims do not act in line with what we claim is the beauty and essence of Islam.

    But who cares, right? We need to focus on establishing sects and madhabs and Allah knows what else to define our superiority relative to others so that we can feel affirmed in our spirituality, while missing the point completely. I’m sick and tired of reminiscing about the glory days of Islam while our present actions make a mockery of that same legacy that everyone is quick to claim as their own.

    So here’s a few questions that I’d like to ask my fellow Muslims:

    1. Have you ever accused someone of being a kafir because of the way they behaved, rather than because they openly proclaimed not to believe in Allah and the last Prophet Muhammed (SAW)?
    2. Have you ever conducted yourself in a manner that would make it difficult to identify the Muslim in you when compared to another individual of the same ethnic origin?
    3. Have you ever put off doing the right thing because you didn’t think it was anyone else’s business how sincere your efforts at being a Muslim is, or is not?
    4. Have you ever engaged with a non-Muslim and made excuses or apologies about some aspects of Islam because you felt ashamed of what they questioned simply because you didn’t have the knowledge or appreciation of the issue to provide them with a reasonable response?
    5. Are you looking for affirmation and inclusion from the non-Muslims and celebrating our inclusion in the world sporting events rather than realising that we’re pandering for attention at the expense of our integrity?

    There are many more questions, and I have no doubt that some may interpret these questions as arrogance on my part. But I’m not here to appease anyone. I’ve been excluded from the Muslim community more times than I care to remember simply because I challenged their ritualistic approach to Islam that was almost always tainted with a healthy dose of cultural bias. We have turned Islam into a cult and the we cry that we’re being oppressed!

    I for one am tired of watching kids raised with the fear of non-compliance rather than the appreciation of the beauty and value that the adoption of Islamic principles offer us. I’m also sick of the hypocrisy of overt inclusion but distinct prejudice when it comes to accepting Muslims as Muslims regardless of their ethnic origins or caste. Being of Indian descent in South Africa, the sickening stench of the caste system still very much permeates the Ummah, and given the stories that people share from around the world about their challenges in finding a marriage partner because of this, it’s obvious that this is not restricted to South Africa only.

    We’re impotent. We are the generation of the Ummah that is a fulfilment of the statement of Rasulullah (SAW) that says that we will be large in numbers but weak like the foam of the ocean. So before you thumb your nose at a seemingly lesser Muslim, consider that you are part of this despised and contemptible Ummah, not because Islam is contemptible, but because our selective use and abuse of Islamic injunctions to suit our personal fetishes and fancies is what is making us contemptible.

    Audhubillah min dhalik…May Allah save us from ourselves, and may He save others from us. Ameen.

  • In Need of a Label

    Sometimes I feel inclined to succumb to the labelling that makes others feel more comfortable to be with me or around me. Perhaps I should be the stereotype that is expected of me, and assume the position of vulnerability and neediness that would make others feel more significant around me. Labels, stigmas, stereotypes and the like repulse me. It forces me into a pigeon hole and makes me feel smothered and claustrophobic.

    It’s seemingly easier for me to deal with others that don’t fit the mould than it is for others to deal with me. I don’t tow the line when I’m expected to, and I don’t reserve opinion when it would be proper or polite. Instead, at this ripe old age, I still fail to realise that sincerity is not what is being sought, but rather affirmation. Saying the right thing at the wrong time has probably gotten more people in trouble than anything else.

    Such is the double standards of being human. We choose to see others through our insecurities and then lash out when they respond in a way that exposes it. I’m probably a prick of a human being because I don’t see fit to play along out of obligation when needed to do so. I assume that others are as passionate about the truth, sincerity and transparency as I am, and I’ll repeat that as many times as is needed despite knowing how arrogant it must sound.

    Proclaiming not to be arrogant isn’t the same as professing to be humble, which as they say is arrogance in itself. The absence of arrogance is not necessarily humility, nor is the absence of humility arrogance. Both are in fact perspectives that others hold of us which most often would not be true because it’s easier for me to dismiss someone else as being arrogant instead of accepting that I may have failed to engage meaningfully or explained myself sufficiently. This doesn’t excuse the behaviour of those that are inconsiderate morons who assume that the world revolves around them, although having said that, I get the nagging feeling that I just contradicted myself.

    This is a pointless ramble.

  • Missionaries in Africa

    When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.

    Desmond Tutu (via ya-lahwi)

  • These are the words of someone who fully understood singing and its effects, for no one regularly sings or listens to song except that his heart falls into (nifaq) Hypocrisy without him realizing. If such a person understood the reality of nifaq and its end he would see it in his own heart. Never do the love of song and the love of Qur`an come together in a person’s heart except that one expels the other. I and others have witnessed how heavy the Qur`an feels to singers and song-listeners; how they coil when it is recited and how they get angry with a reciter when he recites too long for them (in prayer etc); and how their hearts do not benefit from what he recites: they are not moved to do anything by it. But when the Qur`an of Shaytân comes, la ilaha illallah! How they lower their voices and settle down! How their hearts feel at peace and how the crying and emotions start, how moved they are inwardly and outwardly and spend on clothing and perfume and staying up hoping for a long night ahead. If this is not nifaq then it is certainly the way to it and its foundation.

    Ibn Al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) [Madaarij Al-Saalikeen] (via byyourmercyallah)

  • Change is Imminent

    eatandbeawesome:

    Here’s some poetry I wrote, cuz I was boredddd. 

    Asalaam Alaikum wa rahmatullah

    Bismillah

    You’ll have to excuse me I developed this with a quick pace so allow me some space as I translate the case of the mistaken race and the warfare we face

    As a community wrought with disunity under constant scrutiny by our fearless enemies I feel the need to channel some energy and create some synergy

    The last time I spoke of a story, it was one of glory, about a man of authority, the goal was to shuffle your inventory, you see our lives have become oh so regulatory.

    In a constant state of reaction towards some illegal action, we’ve made ourselves a faction that serves as a distraction while the real villains roam with satisfaction

    You didn’t need to show me that Find Kony was a phony, yet society seems to own me, and my mind is so lonely without the media to control me and so,

    I resort to blogging on a social website about the battles I fight where on the same night I feel its my right to point out I’m right and the destruction I type on someone’s profile pic could make the Companions sick because im such a hypocrite.

    You ask me about change on a global range, while you hold the reigns and lead the campaign of delivering pains to those you claim to love without blame.

    You want rights brother, start respecting your mother.

    You want respect sister, stop flirting with that mister

    The key to revolution begins with evolution and dissolution of our primal confusion that requires a fusion of respect minus intrusion and a mental ablution so in CONCLUSION.

    Implement moderation with a desire for education for that is the foundation that leads to the equation for a united nation

    Change is Imminent

    I really enjoyed this on different levels and thought it worth sharing. 🙂

  • Hypocrisy Perfected

    They say that the fear of ridicule breeds the most repugnant of cowards. So then the most repugnant of cowards must surely breed the most despicable of hypocrites. And I fail to see how hypocrites can be happy or fulfilled people.

    I find that so many times we’re too willing to sacrifice what we want for ourselves under the guise of being martyrs for the greater good. But that greater good is rarely subscribed to by those for whom we claim to pursue it. Yet our self-pity, or is that self-destructiveness (read cowardice) prompts us along that very same path that robs us of our own peace or happiness, all the while convincing ourselves that we’re doing it to make someone dear to us happy, which should inevitably make us happy.

    But it doesn’t. Because rarely, if ever, does anyone reciprocate such sacrifices. If they do, it’s usually for someone else that they’re also trying to please or ‘make happy’ and as a result, we end up in a vicious cycle of unfulfilled aspirations of securing the love and adoration, if not at least appreciation of those we deem deserving of our sacrifices, only to discover that we’ve lost the essence of ourselves in the process while they were trying to please someone else.

    I’ve always believed that we act out of duty rather than conviction when the guilty martyr in us triumphs over our courage to be true to ourselves and just to our souls. There’s less risk in having to face the consequences of a bad decision that may leave us exposed or vulnerable, and infinitely more cowardly comfort in the knowledge that if someone betrays us, we can blame them for their dishonesty and feel justifiable pity for ourselves. Justifiable or not, that pity will never leave us feeling fulfilled, loved, or appreciated. It will leave us seeking fulfilment from others, and we will disguise that yearning as willing sacrifices for those we love, but it will never bring us any closer to being true to ourselves.

    There’s a fine line between being selfish enough to sustain our own soul’s desires, and sacrificing enough to selflessly contribute to the life experiences of others. Being human lies somewhere between being a narcissist and a martyr. And hypocrisy has no part to play at all.

  • My Greatest Fear

    I fear hypocrisy more than I fear disbelief. Determining, subjectively or objectively, whether one is on the path of Imaan or Kufr is relatively easy, with the most daunting obstacle in this path possibly being arrogance or pride. And both arrogance and pride quickly subsides in the face of overwhelming odds. So at such a point, it would be quite easy to determine whether I’m a believer or not.

    Hypocrisy is so much more difficult to identify, both within ourselves and in others. Blatant hypocrisy is easy. Seeing someone visibly making statements about their beliefs and then deliberately or equally blatantly acting in contradiction to those beliefs is a litmus test of hypocrisy that anyone can apply, regardless of education, intelligence or upbringing.

    But hypocrisy can be easily disguised through the conscious application of our intelligence, especially if we’re naturally self aware. I can easily observe my own actions relative to my statements in front of others, and through conscious thought, ensure that they are always aligned. But if my motivation to do so is to appear to be sincere and consistent to others to save myself from criticism or ridicule, then this is when I believe I’ll be standing on the edge of hypocrisy and potentially not even realising it because at that point, if practiced for long enough, I would possibly succumb to internal debates that justify my actions to myself because my actions are beyond reproach by others. But…this internal debate is what I fear most as the potential seat for hypocrisy.