Honestly, I am actually feeling guilty about being in Crystal Jade (Holland) and Eski Bar just two days ago. You don't have to ask me what I was doing in those places in the evening but you all know it's the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan and I am supposed to be at the congregational prayers at the mosque every night, as what other able-bodied Muslim men are supposed to do. Today, my blog is about our personal choices, and also to share some knowledge and hopefully debunk a few myths.
I suppose life is all about choices you make. Nobody can force you to make any decisions. Some people have outright issues with faith and religion, in that they say that most people are born into their religions, and not by their own choices - so, some people make the mistake of questioning others who continue to believe in their own faiths into adulthood, accusing them of being afraid to question and thus follow their religion 'blindly'.
I have a few fellow Muslim friends who apparently appear to be totally Muslims only by name. They publicly consume pork and drink alcohol in abandon. To me, I don't think it is their intention at all to be 'rebellious' against the teachings and prohibitions of Islam. Rather, I suspect that they are in the increasingly popular belief that Islam as a religion, should change in accordance to the current times, and that somethings need to be 'updated'.
Usually, when I tell my non-Muslim friends that the reason that Muslims do not consume pork is that it is the only animal on earth that eats excrement, including its own, And somehow, the blood of the pig is tainted with its own urine, which renders it impure. These result in the fact that pork is potentially very dangerous to human beings and has proven to cause disease and epidemics of epic proportions. Of course, the usual reply from my friends is that now pigs are farmed and their diet is controlled but how are we to know that pigs will not continue to eat excrement? Can they be trained not to do so? Are they being watched 24/7?
Of course, the other argument is that pork has been consumed by humans for thousands of years and that is enough to signify that they are indeed safe to eat but I think, due to ignorance, people continue to forget that throughout centuries, pigs have been known to still cause epidemics that wipe out populations, just like the recent swine fever pandemic. It is just that now, technology has made it faster to control these kinds of pandemics.
So, I think to most people - it is just the belief like "Oh, it's nothing serious. Why not I just eat it..What's the worse that can happen?"
To me, I don't need to eat it simply because it has potential of being harmful to my body and purposefully causing harm to oneself is againts Islamic teaching, besides being logical. I have also read that eating pork is considered a sin in Christianity and to Jews too. I shall not comment on this however.
Myth debunker - Eating pork will not make a Muslim sick and a Muslim is allowed to eat pork in dire situations - if they are absolutely nothing else to eat in an emergency and they need to eat something to stay alive.
The other popular issue is about dogs. Non-Muslims tend to believe that we Muslims hate dogs. No, we do not hate dogs and Islam teaches us to be kind towards all animals, including dogs. In fact, we are allowed to keep dogs - just that they have to be outside of our houses and that we cannot keep them as pets for pleasure, only as guard dogs and hunting dogs. We also prohibited from mistreating them - we have to care for them, provide them with proper shelter and food, and take them to the vet when they are sick.
The reason why dogs are not allowed to be kept as pets is also because they are unclean. They are known to be the only carriers for fully grown tapeworms, invisible parasites that can cause fatal diseases in human beings.
Myth debunker 2 - Muslims CAN touch dogs. In fact, I like dogs. But we have to wash up when they lick us because the saliva is unclean and is the main reason that diseases are easily spread.
To sum up, my personal belief is that all religious teachings are meant for the benefit of mankind, NOT to just please God. I believe in all religions, the fundamental guideline is not to do things that harm oneself and not to harm others, but instead love oneself and others too.
It is also extremely beneficial and encouraged to pursue knowledge. I, for one, know very little about my own religion and is constantly in the process of learning more. Knowledge pursuit, in itself, is a life-long process.
The most important thing though, is to make the effort and not remain ignorant about things in general, so that we all can live in peace, instead of constantly living in fear and making the wrong decisions, and saying the wrong things, just because of pure ignorance and the lack of desire to find out more about things and understand them.
Peace and out. =)
Update Indi wrote me a reply with a link to his blog -
http://hdiani.blogspot.com/2006/09/holy-month-is-here-again.html
Haha, nothing like a bit of humour to help forget a bit about my hunger pangs.
Well, my personal stance is that we Muslims must always be grateful to be given the chance to go through another Ramadhan, and we must always take the opportunity to better ourselves, become better Muslims. People do not change overnight, so it's always best to constantly remind ourselves that we are fortunate enough to be blessed with the opportunity to give to charity, get closer to the community and improve our health.
Of course, throughout the year, we can (and should) definitely do all these but we all know that Procastination is one of our biggest weaknesses but during Ramadhan, the obligation presents itself in a clearer and more meaningful way. We Muslims must all acknowledge the significance on the month and blessings that are given by Allah S.W.T. For example, when I give alms, I remind myself of the orphans and the destitutes and the homeless who feel that immense sadness that comes with Aidilfitri, a special occasion normally spent with loved ones and friends.
Hopefully, as we get older we do not let each Ramadhan pass by us and remind us of only hunger and thirst but we must take the opportunity to associate with and do the good that comes with the blessed month of Ramadhan.
If we do that, then the rest of the days of our everyday lives, will we feel the impact and benefit from the gradual positive attributes that comes with Ramadhan and ultimately become good human beings that contribute positively to society.
I think it is wrong to just continue whatever we have been doing just because we think it's hypocritical to do it only during special occasions but we must always make the effort to gradually improve ourselves and our lives through these occasions. Of course, it will take all the discipline and proper knowledge to attain these. We all acknowledge our weaknesses as human beings but that doesn't mean that we will stay this way. Instead, Allah S.W.T has given us all with the resources to improve the quality of our lives.
Don't you agree?
=)
