My Islamic Society
NP - Chagos Project - Danza De Los Perros
A joke. Apart from all the stories which I wont share here, the latest story out of the ISOC here is the elections, due to be held on Monday. Yesterday on my way home, I go to the prayer room, and see a poster on the front door. Its a picture of Uncle Sam, with some type of hat on his head (you know the type, almost like a skullcap), and a caption saying YOUR ISOC NEEDS YOU. This made me laugh, but also made me kinda despair about how sad they've become. Theres so many things wrong with that poster.
Firstly, Uncle Sam? You couldnt find anything better than UNCLE SAM to promote ISOC? Not that I'm anti-American, but Uncle Sam represents a very specific image of America, that of patriotism and the Army. These things arent 'unislamic', but they arent exactly the most appropriate themes to incorporate into this whole affair. Secondly, the absolutely amateurish photoshopping made me want to tear. It was atrociously done, didnt even look realistic. Looked like it was MEANT to be a joke. God, I hope it was. Thirdly, the presence of that skullcap thingy itself. WHY GOD WHY! Is it supposed to be a MUSLIM thing?? I take great offense to that! Nay, its a cultural thing, its a piece of clothing that some people from the Subcontinent, Pakistand and Bangladesh choose to wear. That they incorporate it with Islam, not only is it silly, its plain wrong! Coming from the ISOC - its downright shameful.
As I walked in there was a slip of paper on the noticeboard which was basically asking people to nominate themselves or their friends for positions for next year. Well, I figured, since ISOC seems to have spontaneously developed a sense of humour, why dont I join in the fun? So I put my name down, and for my position, i wrote SATANIC OVERLORD.
I came back today. Curiously, my name had disappeared. Someone had gone through the trouble of printing out a new sign-up sheet and replacing the old one, just to get rid of my name. Im ticked :D Oh, but more interestingly than that, it seems that I wasn't the only one who found the pictures of Uncle Sam someone offensive. Someone else had disagreed with them, for reasons which just made me want to cry about the absolute hopelessness of it all. Someone had gone to everyone one of those Uncle Sam posters, and cut out his face. After all, drawing faces is haram in Islam.
Kill me now.
Posted by illogicist at 3:40 PM
8 Comments
I agree with you that the right personal statement to make from yourself would have been to sign off as "Satanic Overlord", and the correct response from the administrator would have been to create a new sheet, since he would not have understood your sarcasm, making this a classic example of the entire umma doing what it has been doing for a very long time now, following its own tail, and getting nowhere...
Oh well...maybe when we decide we want to wake up we can decide to wag someone else's tail for a change, and watch from a third person stance wouldnt that be grand!
Haha, come on cill out, the whole thing's a joke. Umm it must be!!
I suggest you sign up again for the position of the "Elite Vampire" :D
P.s. that first Anon comment wasn't from me :/ Maybe I better start signing my name on your blog.
Blah
@anon1: i agree with you. Its sad really, but you're right, just another example of WHY we arent getting anywhere.
@anon2: yeah...Im sure it was a joke. Ive been too uptight, too tense about so many things recently. But the ISOC have just...well, I wont say ruined my life, but they've been a thorn in my side for over a year. And it just keeps getting worse. Im starting to hate them - theyve ruined many things for me. Theyve ruined some good friendships.
Theyre a bunch of good people really, Im sure they mean well, but...well, lets not get into it. But you know what sucks, getting close to people. Ive decided I dont want to know what people are 'really' like - Im content in believing whatever facades people put up. Its easier that way - everyone can be whatever they want to be.
That was at a complete tangent :p but it might give some broad hints as to why Im hatin' my ISOC right now.
I am assuming that you will be able to decipher this author based on the above two anons.
In as much as joking, and the older word, jesting, is appropriate and makes life fun, there is great shame in bringing this jest into the official work of unifying the umma, if that is to be taken seriously at all.
Yes we live in a day and age when there is no real entity so described as "the umma" in a political and statutory form, but we have already been told by Allah in the Qu'raan that we are indeed one umma whether we like to understand that or not.
Furthermore, if joking and jesting do not have their place or time, then that is the meaning of anarchy in its primeval form.
So, for those who think we should never be this serious in our lives, to them we are not apologetic, for Allah has said "Indeed, it is Tyranny that comes after Justice, so where do you go?"
If the Qur'aan is to be taken seriously as a text, then we would all be better off and understand our place of play and our place of work. There is no doubt that "Money [ and what else may symbolise earthly possesions ] and children are the epitome of the earthly life" and that these lusts have been encrusted into the human psyche as part of Allah's way of creating the concepts of pleasure and happiness for mankind in general (society - umma) and in particular (individual - muslim).
I couldn't belieeeve you wanted to nominate yourself! After all my preaching and debasing.. oh the horror!..
and then I read Satanic Overlord .. hahah... classic.
I don't know why you feel so bad about their incompetence. I think that my "islamic society" is there for my sole amusement. You simply cannot find comedy such as this in theatres or books..
Please, more hypocrisy! more idiocy! .. as far as I'm concerned it all Pales in comparison to the memory of a stumpy bearded official chasing.. nay.. hobbling after me in Riyadh to bellow for me to cover my face.
Notice that I HAD MY HAIR covered.. no less than a feat.. but if you're hair is covered they go after your face, if that's covered then the eyes, then the hands.. then it's like "Why are you out? a woman's place is at home."
So yes.. these little islamic societies are amusing bits to me.. chips off of the old fucked up block.
Jeez.. I do go on don't I.
@anon: Im not quite sure I get your overall message. Can you repeat?
@Leen: Yes, you do go on, to my absolute delight :D I was reading that reply in the library, trying not to laugh (so that the girl next to me wouldnt think Im a little bit off).
She probably already thinks so.. you shoulda just laughed. Then you can turn to her like she's the crazy one.. classic arab trick-- hiiighly recommended.
Then you must of course throw her your number.. as if it's an after thought and she's been blessed.
All hail Mr. Arabia!
Seriously.. procrastination turns me into a loon..
lol well leen, unfortunately im not very arab (according to some im not arab at all), so I dont know how well I'd be able to pull those off. But hey, practice makes perfect right, so I ought to try it next time I guess.
Get this, one of my friends was telling me about the elections (which I didnt attend, because I thought elections were haram). One of the candidates for president made his speech, and people liked it so much they started clapping afterwards. So he goes 'brothers and sisters, you shouldnt clap, its not sunnah.'
I think im going too far with this. People are going to think Im a self-hater (from from it really...if you want some good ol' self-hate see The Religious Policeman blog, I cant bear to read his whining any longer). I just cant stand these little things which make no sense and which people stick to stubbornly, and ruin the name of our lovely religion (see, so many people would have put 'deen' instead of religion. Why put deen? They mean pretty much the same thing in this context? The only reason Id put deen instead of religion was to show how 'islamic' I am. I have a thing with peppering phrases with arabic words as if it makes it any holier. Meh.)
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