Tag: hypocrisy

  • Some stray thoughts

    I’ve often read about incidents where strangers approached a gathering looking for the leader of the Muslims, including the Prophet (SAW) and some of the Caliphs after him, and often they would not be able to determine who he was because he would appear as ordinary as the rest of them.

    Today I wondered about the context of this and how it may apply to what I’m doing in my life. The dress code and appearance of these blessed leaders was similar to the common people around them, not different. They didn’t appear to be more pious, or more religious, or more anything; they must have appeared to be as common as the rest. So I considered this in line with the obvious difference in appearance between the present day scholars, especially those living in western societies with no ties to the Arabian culture, and the common people of those same areas. 

    While I can accept that there is sincerity among many that choose to dress according to what is interpreted to be the Sunnah, I once again wonder how much of the principles of this simple Sunnah have been forgotten or overlooked, and how much of the practice is just a custom. For me, the Sunnah is about establishing your appearance based on modesty, not extravagance. Which leads me to question whether a man dressed in a casual jeans, with a casual top that covers his body appropriately to perform Salaah is in fact more modest than a man dressed in a cloak designed in the style of the Sunnah, made of the finest non-crease fabric, and with a recognised label from a prominent designer house with just the right combination of expensive pens sticking out from his top pocket, and an equally elegant watch to match. 

    I don’t know…that’s a pretty long winded way of trying to make sense of this. But the lingering thought in my head is still whether or not attention to detail in appearance taints our intentions or not? I think it does. And some may accuse me of extremism or impracticality in my views on this, but given the stigma that is attached to appearance being a measure or at least an indicator of piety, dressing according to the Sunnah, knowing about this stigma, surely must introduce a significant distraction about conformity of appearance with those social circles we aspire to be a part of, rather than establishment of modesty? Incidentally, one of the common traits in appearance of these pious predecessors was that it was often possible to count the number of patches on their clothes. I can barely recall the last time I saw a scholar walking in clothes that had any signs of excessive wear on it, let alone patches. 

  • I Regress…

    Today

    this morning

    I regressed…

    I missed the callous one

    the one that taught me about betrayal and cowardice

    about hypocrisy and pain

    about futility

    The pain of her Cesarean act

    threatened to disembowel me once again

    The void returned

    and the hope and optimism receded out of fear

    today

    this morning

    I yearned for love

    but I’m left only with hate

    and a tainted view of a life in limbo

    embellished with rose-coloured recollections

    of a life almost lived.

  • In the absence of affirmation or constructive criticism, it’s extremely difficult to maintain my bearings on whether I’m heading in the right direction or not. I’m inclined to believe that despite my best efforts, I simply do not fit in with the Muslim community. This despite the fact that I am a regular musallee and those salaah that I miss in congregation I perform in the privacy of my home. I pay my zakaah, but in private of course. I fast during Ramadaan and occasionally on days recommended by the Sunnah throughout the year, but I don’t advertise it to others when I do. I have tried to obtain my visa for Hajj twice now, but both attempts being unsuccessful because of quota restrictions from the Saudi government. And most importantly, I have no doubt that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammed (SAW) is the last and final prophet and messenger of Allah.

    Yet none of this is sufficient to provide me with any level of peace or fulfillment in my engagements with the broader Muslim community. The lack of conviction to principles, the kowtowing to elitist social circles, the embellishment of kufr to make it acceptable, the condescension and rhetoric from the pulpits, the detachment of the scholars from the communities, the excess in lifestyles, not just materialistically, but also ritualistically, the condoning of suicide bombings and attacks on unarmed women and children, and so much more that just doesn’t seem to fit in with the value system that I see Islam teaching us. 

    We’re living the signs of the hour, yet we’re still looking outwardly to judge others for their contribution to these signs? I need to find the middle path in all this…Ya Allah, please guide me to the path of moderation and sincerity in all this. Please save me from myself, and save me from the allures of social acceptance when that acceptance demands insincerity and hypocrisy. 

  • The anxiousness continues to build inside of me, while I wait to feel suitably guided on how to deal with this. I have no reason to believe that any engagement with the local Ulema will be productive given that the last time I presented proof of the despicable origins of the moon and star as symbols of Islam, they hurled verbal abuse at me, raised their voices in the masjid and dumped a calendar of pictures of mosques from Saudi in front of me as proof that the embellishment of our masjid with such symbols is acceptable in Islam.

    Subsequent to that distasteful experience, I challenged the Jamiatul Ulama on their stance around the Soccer World Cup in 2010 versus their position on the moon and star. At the time of the World Cup, they were exceptionally vociferous in their condemnation of the religious symbols that were incorporated into the logo designs for the various countries which generally represented the Christian faith, and they made a point of speaking out from the pulpit on Fridays, having publicity campaigns in the form of talk shows on radio, compiled posters for the mosque boards, and even put in significant effort in emails and on their website to raise the awareness of this apparently Kufr practice if those soccer tops were worn by Muslims.

    So I thought it was an appropriate time to raise the issue of the moon and star being incorporated into the designs of so many mosques in South Africa and the world over. I presented them with proof that the crescent symbol originated from the pagan worship of the goddess of the hunt known as Diana, and that the star was in fact the symbol of King Richard who conquered Constantinople before the Ottomans did. The invading Ottoman army saw these symbols all over the city, and because of its congruence with a dream that the leader of the army had before they entered the city, they took it as an omen of good fortune and adopted it as the symbol for their army. Being the head of the Islamic state at the time, this was quickly adopted as the symbol of Islam and not just the Ottoman army, and so was the beginning of the embellishment of the houses of Allah with these symbols of utter blasphemy!

    So after much evasiveness, the Jamiatul Ulama finally conceded that the symbols had no place in Islam, suggested that a subtle program of awareness would be adopted at some point to avoid creating consternation in the Muslim community, but they refused to respond to my questions about the disparity between their response to the soccer tops versus these symbols. That was over a year ago. To this day, I have yet to see even the semblence of an awareness campaign to highlight the fact that we worship Allah while placing our foreheads on symbols deifying Diana, or standing beneath symbols of Christianity that have been placed on our domes and minarets. And for this reason I cannot bring myself to enter that masjid again. The more I contemplate ignoring it, the more I wonder if I’m succumbing under internal pressure to be seen as a respectable Muslim in the community, and would therefore not want people to judge me wrongly for not attending salaah with congregation! But that reminds me that my intention would then be performing salaah to be seen of men, and not to sincerely worship and praise Allah.

    So I found another mosque close by that is not adorned with these symbols, and I’ve chosen to perform my Jumu’ah salaah there at least. However, in the meantime, I have resorted to performing the rest of my salaah alone in a quiet dimly lit corner of my own home, and I pray that this effort is accepted from me. But I also pray that Allah guides me towards a means to get others to realise the gravity of this evil innovation that has been adopted as an innocent embellishment of supposedly Islamic architecture.

  • howfreeitis:

    I try so hard to recall the location of that time:
    I was lost, you were high; something sweet and sublime.
    Back when I used to think every look on your face
    Was some confirmation of a feeling or a place.
    We had playful arguments over theodicy,
    With underlying remnants of hypocritical duplicity.

    You were lying to me.
    You were lying to me.
    You were lying to me.

    There is no forgiveness for mimicry.

    Because
    The God you so vehemently professed
    With a deceitful heart such as yours would never be impressed.     

  • Nothing saddens me more than to witness a soul in the throes of desperation, trying to find significance in the eyes of those that lack the faculties to appreciate the effort, let alone the beauty. Acceptance of self and a minuscule dose of optimism is all that stands between you and a life worth living.

    Cynically Jaded

  • I think we lose ourselves in misplaced love more than in the things we love.

    (Source: http://imgfave.com/view/1563601)

  • Being human lies somewhere between being a narcissist and a martyr. And hypocrisy has no part to play at all.

    Cynically Jaded