The Universal Pout

Assalamualaikum,

I previously started watching the series Lie To Me, and quite honestly I'm a little addicted. Learning how to spot lies is kinda cool, and together with Criminal Minds makes for a great "unofficial" social studies-type class. You won't get a degree sure, but its better than nothing. One of the main principles in Lie To Me, is that facial expressions are universal. Everyone no matter race, age, religion, nationality, they all show the same facial expression when feeling the same emotions. A teenager when asked if doing drugs by a parent will show the same facial expression as a celebrity if asked by a reporter if s/he had an affair, if they are both guilty.

Now, keep this principle of universality in mind for my next point.

Have you ever wondered why most women, not all but most, especially the younger Malay generation are so fond of taking pouting (muncung) pictures?? This seems to be universal when it comes to young Malay girls. Non-Malays not so much.

I mean, I'm just throwing out a theory here, but do girls feel, "sexy" when they do that? Is the "kissing lips" face a sign of sexuality? Assuming it is, is it because Malay girls aren't allowed to dress in skirts and tight clothes, and they compensate with the pout? I don't think so because even girls who don't cover their aurat pout in pictures. I really don't understand this weird phenomena =p

"Why" aside, I do have one concern. I don't have a problem with women posting their pictures on Facebook or the internet in general, women have every right to just as much as men. But what I'm worried about are these pouting pictures. Whatever the reason behind it may be, you can't deny that the most common, or "universal" purpose of such photos are to grab the attention of men. Even if that wasn't the initial intention of the pouter, as a guy I can't deny that those pictures are attention grabbers. I don't like it when women post those pictures on Facebook, quite honestly I find them annoying, but I always notice them nonetheless.

So here's my final word on the matter. I don't know why women do it, but I would suggest to them to not post those pictures on the internet. Or even anything remotely "sexy" or attractive. The world is full of sickos and guys who love pictures of hot, sexy women. Who knows, some of your friends might even have a secret collection of your photos and you know nothing about it. No point in covering your aurat, protecting your humility if you post your attractive pictures on Facebook for everyone to see.

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Islam and Knowledge

Assalamualaikum,

I've talked about science from an Islamic POV quite a few times, most recently here. But on my recent Facebook status another discussion ensued, and I recalled an episode of "Bones" where a Muslim intern working at the Jeffersonian (an anthropologic institute) was explaining to his colleagues how he can balance both a rational scientific mind with an Islamic lifestyle. Here's an excerpt of the script:

HODGINS: How do you balance an archaic religious belief with a life devoted to science?

ARASTOO: This discussion is exactly what I hoped to avoid.

CAM: It's not our fault you let the accent slip.

ARASTOO: There's no conflict between Allah and science. Allah created the mystery of the world, and science struggles, and mostly fails, to explain it. But the search for truth is honorable, and I honor Allah through the search for truth.

Islam and science are not contradictory. Neither is Islam and economics or Islam and politics. Every aspect of knowledge can be, and is related to Islam. Its human error that makes them unmixable.

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Familiarity breeds Carelessness

Assalamualaikum,

I was reading an article online about the recent tragedy involving a bus and how its being deemed the worst road accident in Malaysian history. The author wasn't really reporting on the accident, but more on why such incidents occur. One factor he gave was the fact that because land transportation has become so frequent, we tend to take the whole process for granted. Especially the safety component of travel. I can see his point.

As a counter argument, he said that when it comes to air travel, before every single flight, there is a safety briefing by the cabin crew. Before every flight, the planes are checked. Its the same regardless of where the planes are going, what time the flight is, how long the journey will take. If air travel is this particular about safety, why are we not about land travel, even though we travel on land much more frequently than we do compared to air? And as a side note, you will never ever hear a news report about a commercial plane being flown by a pilot without a license. Unlike bus drivers who have been caught driving without a license. I'm just saying.

When we get comfortable doing something, we tend to go into autopilot when we do it. Being on autopilot makes us less vigilant, we don't focus as much as we should and we tend to get careless. This is human nature I guess. It might take some will power to override autopilot, but one thing we should always remember, is to recite Bismillah before doing anything, even the things we usually do on autopilot.

Driving. Studying. Cooking. Working. Ironing. Washing dishes. Doing the laundry. All seem quite mundane, but anything can go wrong if we aren't careful. That's why we should do everything in the name of Allah by reciting Bismillah.

A simple measure we can take to make our lives that little bit safer. Don't forget to recite Bismillah before your next drive, before your next flight, and especially before your next bus ride.

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Respecting the Azan

Assalamualaikum,

When I was in Kuantan, one of the places I usually went to watch football is a place called Celup, which is located right next to the masjid. One of the things I really respect about this place is that when the azan is heard, they mute the TV until the azan is finished, respecting the azan. It's not something we really think about, preach or practice in our society today.

I once heard that we should give the azan our utmost respect and attention, so much so that even if we are in the middle of reciting the Quran, we should stop to respond the the call. How many of us actually stop what we are doing when we hear the azan? I gotta admit, even I don't stop what I'm doing all the time. This is as much a reminder to myself as it is to others.

We fail to acknowledge the importance and significance of the azan. I wrote a post once about how the times of prayer around the world are so elegantly in sync that there isn't a moment in time where this Earth does not hear the azan. One more thing about the azan we don't really think about is that even in this modern age with technology doing practically everything, making our lives easier, the azan is still recited by a bilal for every single prayer. Just think, it would be easier to install a PA system connected to a computer that plays the azan everytime masuk waktu. Yet the bilal, ever since 1400 years ago still recites the azan every single time.

The azan is only like 5mins. It shouldn't be that hard to show your respect for that long should it? We don't even need to stand at attention like we do for the national anthem. If we can stand for the duration of the anthem, the azan really does deserve more.

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Child Marriage

Assalamualaikum,

Malaysia has been in a bit of a debate about the concept of child marriages after 14-year-old Siti Maryam Mahmood (Maya) got married to 23-year-old Abdul Manan Othman earlier this year on October 22nd. Some are even claiming it is nothing more than a "legal" form of paedophilia.

Here's my take. For the non-Muslims I can understand their concerns. Child marriage may not be something they are familiar with. What I don't get is why some Muslims are concerned. After all, our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) married Aisyah (may Allah be pleased with her) when she was still very young. So to me, Muslims who don't agree with this marriage, don't agree with what our Prophet did earlier either. Also from a religious perspective, the marriage is completely legit (halal). There's nothing wrong with it from a religious point of view, so those who oppose it can be seen as opposing something our religion allows, mengharamkan yang halal.

Rationally on the other hand, yes paedophilia is a serious issue that should not be taken lightly, but this marriage is not a paedophilic act in my opinion because all parties involved welcome the union with arms wide open. Both families agreed, Maya was not pressured into it, there is no "sexual component" as far as we know that played a hand in the marriage, so why create a fuss? And based on the interviews she gave, Maya seems like a very mature individual despite her young age. It's better for them to marry young instead of having all kinds of slander thrown at them by outsiders looking in. And it's also better to marry young instead of getting knocked up and dumping your baby in a dumpster, which sadly seems to be the norm nowadays.

The divorce rate in this modern age is extremely high to my understanding, and these marriages usually happen in the "normal" age rage. So age may not be as important a factor in divorce cases. Its not fair to assume the same will happen to this newly-wed couple just because Maya is younger.

Leave them be. Whether Allah blesses their marriage or not, its none of our business. We should not interfere regardless.

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Balance

Assalamualaikum,

Last week I attended the 3rd International Conference on Advancement in Science and Technology (iCAST) and I even presented a paper. So while preparing for my presentation, I showed my slides to a friend asking for an opinion, and he asked me "Is this an Islamic conference or something?", while referring to my slide with Quranic verses that I used to incorporate an Islamic perspective into my presentation. I said no. It may have been organised by IIUM, but it was open to everyone including non-Muslims, we even invited non-Muslim speakers and students to the conference. I told him "Just because it's a scientific conference, doesn't mean we should ignore the Islamic aspect of science". He told me "You should put that in your blog", so I did.

As Muslims we need to remember that Islam is more than just a religion, its a way of life, and everything we do can be related to Islam, even science. That's what IIUM means by Islamisation of knowledge I believe. Islam should not be practiced only in masjids and suraus, not only on Friday, and not only in Ramadhan. We should not act "Islamic" only when we pray or mengaji. Being Muslim is a full-time thing, not part-time and not based on a contract. We tend to forget that sometimes.

However, there are some people who take the "full-time" thing a bit too far, and live only for Islam and neglect every other worldly thing. No music, no "western dressing", no standing for the national anthem even. True, Islam is and should be #1 on our priority list, but moderation works both ways; we can't be too duniawi, and we can't be too Islamic (some may term this as extremism). Balance like I say all the time, is the key to everything. Students shouldn't be too nerdy and study around the clock, at the same time they shouldn't be too laid back either. Its OK to eat junk food and fast food once in a while, as long as we stay fit and eat healthy every other time. The same should go with our way of life, its OK to have fun, as long as we do it how Islam teaches us. We should work towards jannah, but at the same time not at the expense of a comfortable life. The concept of balance can be summed up by the following verses;

"O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic): That is best for you if ye but knew! And when the Prayer is finished, then may ye disperse through the land, and seek of the Bounty of Allah. and celebrate the Praises of Allah often (and without stint): that ye may prosper." Quran 62:9-10

So remember, Islam is a part of everything we do, but remember to maintain a good balance, like Hannah Montana said, "You get the best of both worlds".

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