Article: Are we going beyond the limits without even realizing it?

[eat-halal guy]

Are we going beyond the limits without even realizing it?

Sikander Ziad Hashmi, sunniforum.com


A few weeks ago, Montreal hosted the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix. That week-end, my parents and I were heading west on the highway, and many of the race fans who had come from out of town were sharing the roads with us on their way back home.

One thing really caught my attention, more than anything else: almost every single one of these race fans was driving extremely fast and was zipping by us, as if they themselves were race drivers competing in a Formula One race.

I found this to be interesting because here were the race fans, after only a few hours at the racetrack, already acting like racecar drivers. The point being that only a few hours in the racing environment (without even actually racing) had such a profound effect on them that its effect was showing in their actions.

By just being around racecars driving around 300 km/h, driving fast had become a second nature of sorts for these fans.

This clearly shows the potential effects that the environment can have on a person’s thinking as well as actions.

We all know that we’re members of a decaying society. Morality, decency, modesty, and the sense of the shame are in a freefall, and things are progressively getting worse. Immorality and indecency are at an all time high.

All this is very evident. It’s not hard to tell, especially in the summer. Just head downtown and you’ll notice the billboards on the highway, take a stroll at the mall, watch a few commercials on TV, take in a movie or two, and you’ll be faced with stuff that’s nowhere near being decent or modest.

So basically, indecency and immodesty are rampant these days. And the worst part? We live in the midst of it, and are faced with this stuff day-in and day-out.

Unfortunately, the environment around us is bound to have some sort of effect on us. Just like those race fans at the Grand Prix got accustomed to speeding, we can easily become immune to indecency and immodesty, and used to seeing it all.

In fact, it IS so easy to get used to, and that’s an extremely dangerous thing, because all this indecency and immodesty is clearly against the moral fabric of Islam. After all, modesty is a branch of faith.

Abu Hurairah (RA) narrated that the Prophet (may peace be upon him) said: Iman has over seventy branches, and modesty is a branch of Iman. (Reported by Muslim)

The Quran is very clear on seeing that which one shouldn’t be seeing.

Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things)… (Quran; 24:30)

And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things)…(Quran; 24:31)

Jarir bin 'Abdullah (RA) reported: I asked Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) about the sudden glance (that is cast) on the face (of a non-Mahram). He commanded me that I should turn away my eyes. (Reported by Muslim)

The following, from Bukhari, is especially notable for us:

Sa`eed ibn Abu Hasan said to Hasan (RA): the non-Arab women bare their chests and heads (so what should I do)? The Prophet (SAW) said: turn away your eyes.

In situations where we have no choice, we can’t do much. But in cases where we do have a choice, it is our duty to stay away, no matter how tempting it may be.

The danger is that we can easily become so accustomed to indecency and immorality that we don’t even realize that we are seeing something forbidden, and as a result, we knowingly go and see things we clearly shouldn’t be seeing.

So before we walk into a movie theatre, attend that social function, gaze at those billboards, flip through that magazine, chill at the beach, surf the Net, or spend an evening in front of the TV, let’s try to make a moment to ask ourselves, “are we going beyond the limits without even realizing it?”

The bottom line is, every single little thing we do (good or bad) is recorded, and will be brought before us on the Day of Judgement.

And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant), shall see it. (Quran; 8:99)

May Allah save us from becoming immune to indecency and immorality, and may He help us in differentiating right from wrong. Ameen.


editor@eat-halal.com

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[Raeesa]

Ameen.

Subhnallah a brilliant article!

Funny i was thinking the very same thing today.. well not formula one racing or anything lol. But for example, watching tv. It used to be a thing that was considered very bad forbidden tottaly, and now it seems more acceptable, like withthe addition of programs such as Islam channel etc.
Or like with photographs, which I remember used to be considered tottaly haraam, and now we have differences of opionions within madhabs.
I'm not saying those who say it is permissable for something is wrong, I just find we're becoming more and more acceptable of the environment around us.
Like i opened a magazine and out popped an advert of the Islamic teddy bear. The one that says bismillah and subhnallah and allahu akbar. Just like a real bear, with the Islamic touch.
Now i remember when i was a kid (which wasnt a long time ago ), that a teddy wasn't something Islamic. I grew up believing it wasnt right to keep soft toys, and eventually chucked all of mine away. Just that teddy sends out the wrong signals to Muslim kids. How can an Islamic teddy be non-Islamic. It does sometimes feel like we're bending the rules a little just to make things easier on us.. Allahu aalim

Forgive me if i have said anything wrong inshallah...

[eat-halal guy]

Ameen.

Subhnallah a brilliant article!

Funny i was thinking the very same thing today.. well not formula one racing or anything lol. But for example, watching tv. It used to be a thing that was considered very bad forbidden tottaly, and now it seems more acceptable, like withthe addition of programs such as Islam channel etc.
Or like with photographs, which I remember used to be considered tottaly haraam, and now we have differences of opionions within madhabs.
I'm not saying those who say it is permissable for something is wrong, I just find we're becoming more and more acceptable of the environment around us.
Like i opened a magazine and out popped an advert of the Islamic teddy bear. The one that says bismillah and subhnallah and allahu akbar. Just like a real bear, with the Islamic touch.
Now i remember when i was a kid (which wasnt a long time ago ), that a teddy wasn't something Islamic. I grew up believing it wasnt right to keep soft toys, and eventually chucked all of mine away. Just that teddy sends out the wrong signals to Muslim kids. How can an Islamic teddy be non-Islamic. It does sometimes feel like we're bending the rules a little just to make things easier on us.. Allahu aalim

Forgive me if i have said anything wrong inshallah...

. I totally see what you're saying...and to be honest, it's scary.

[Tasmiya]

Yep, mashaAllah very well written article.

Like sister Raeesa, I was just thinking about television. At the moment, I have "hidden" mine away and it's only been about 3 weeks, but after visiting a home where the television was on, my husband and I couldn't believe the things that were on! Not just the obvious (women without hijab) but the covert sexually suggestive messages, the language and this was all supposedly during "family hour". Astagfirullah. To think that just 3 weeks ago, that sort of rubbish could have been on in MY HOME!

Once those sorts of things become commonplace on television, surely the next step is for it to become acceptable among people in their normal lives. Some would say that television mimics reality but it certainly isn't any reality that I, or other God-fearing people would know.

-Tasmiya (and people wonder why it's called the "idiot-box")

[Omar_Farouk]

Really good article. Its true what your all saying about TV. I was just watching the football the other day thinkin that its just sport and its harmless. But then every now and again the cameraman shows the spectators around the stadium, the main specatators they were showing were women dressed immodestly And then the commercials aswell. They always show this but only now has it hit me how much TV can affect a person. My molanas always tell me that we shouldnt watch football, even though its a sport, but because its on TV. Now the more i think about it I can see exactly what their saying.

[GenN]

Assalm alykum

MashAllah, good article, highlights a very important point.

Now the teddy bear example highlights another related point, muslims MUST look at very carefully. "the bending of rules". And this is done by muslims ESPECIALLY in the west. Most likely due to the western muslims being more influenced by kufr. And yes it is usually those muslims that are labelled "moderates" that do all the rule bending.

For example the teddy bear again, it is well known animate objects like that are not allowed, so why do muslims go and "islamisise" the animate toy? Do they feel too ashamed to say these things are forbidden in Islam?!! Or do they want to "fit in" to the west, integrate in the kufr society and be all "pally pally" and "peaceful" and forget that Islam came to dominate over all other deens and guide mankind, not integrate with them?!! Or do they think they will be looked at as "extremists" if they don't do these rule bending things?!!

What ever the case, this rule bending seems to come from a lack of fear of Allah, and the lack of fear of Allah comes from all the enviromental influences of the west, usually without realizing it, as the initial article highlights. It is time muslims voice their opinions, not with the permisson of the kuffar, but with a challenge for the kuffar.

May Allah forgive us all and guide us.

was salaam

[Raeesa]

Exactly bro Genn.. we gotta remember that we are here to please Allah and Allah alone.

But as it is said, when you go out in the rain you'll get wet. It does seem like we're changing and not for the better. Islam cannot be moulded for people, it is perfect in every way.
However i think we can still integrate, we dont have to change though. We have to remain strong in our deen and we will still integrate.
If we look at the time of the companions (peace be upon them) they travelled all over the world and were able to fit into all communities but they didnt change, they changed their environment.
In a similar way we have to stay strong and change the environment around us, rather than changing ourselves inshallah.

Ameen to your duaa.

[Nayab]

glad to see all ol' SVers


the sex culture we live in today is quite similar to pagan roman times. reminds me of the study of the ancient city of Pompii (sp?) where sex toys, exploitation of women, slavery, etc. were cultural practices. Jahiliyah was at its peak, and then Allah swt sent adhab in the form of a volcanic eruption, which distroyed the whole city and surrounding areas. its just too scary to think of the kind of adhab this civilization is goung to face.

good to see you here Eat-Halal guy, i'm going to montreal this weekend. hope to see you there

nayab :evil:

[UmmIbrahimIsa]

Assalamu alaikum wr wb

When ppl put on too much restrictions of what you cant do, rather than what you can do, these people feel there's nothing more to do except its better to leave what does not concern them. So if they feel that this preaching all that they're doing to them and not trusting them, then they're not going to care. So we shouldn't push ppl to the limits and push them off the cliff. Instead we should hang onto them and lend them a hand and a shoulder to cry on when things do not go their way. Be patient with them and understanding towards them.
We all go to Allah's Path in different ways and different tests, and trials, and struggles. This is a test from Allah swt, the biggest test of all..the huge exam trying to get passed it and moving onto the next level and the next and so forth. We need to study as much as we can by learning from one another and benefiting from one another as well as reflecting and praying and reading quran and making dhikr and just basically remembering Allah swt at all times, 24/7 and through all the good times and the bad times. Dont only remember Allah when things dont go your way, remember Him when something good happens to you and thank Allah swt and everything has a reason and a place. We might not understand at the time its happening to us, and we think why? but there's a reason and we have to be patient in waiting to see what the reason is..insha'Allah we'll know and get it and till then we just hang on for the ride with lots of patience in Allah and that in hopes we hope that Allah forgives us and has mercy upon us to help us and guide us to Jannah.

IF we hear of something happening to our bro or sis, we should help them best we can. We should support them and think highly of them and not think of them as bad people, we should give them excuses as muslims are humans and entitled to making mistakes. We're not perfect and we shouldnt really push at ourselves to be perfect but just be muslims. We should give our brothers and sisters 70 excuses for whatever they are doing, are they having a bad day? why? well it could be they woke up on the wrong side of the bed, it could be that they didn't have any breakfast as they didnt have any food in the house, it could be that they had a flat tire on the way to work, it could be that their boss yelled at them for taking too long to pray the salah, it could be that they went in the elevator and got stuck with 10 women that were dressed immodestly and inappropriately yet you could not say anything against them as it could get you fired or their spouses could come after you for saying such a thing. Who knows? There are so many excuses one after another that we should make for them and excuse them for that and forgive them for that as we want that kind of excuses for us whenever anything happens to us and things dont go our way. We should give each other the benefit of the doubt and we should truly thank Allah swt for giving us life and for giving us the opportunity to actually be able to live in this society and be able to express our thoughts and actually have a brain to think for ourselves.
Our parents and their parents basically told their kids you do as I say and do and dont ask us questions, we know better than you and we know Best. that was it, our parents didnt ask any questions about islam, they just followed even if it was cutural they followed and mixed it within islam, and even if it was not really fard in islam or sunnah it was believed to be this way according to the culture you were from and country that was the way life was and that was it.
But, we... we have choices and we should make the right one, and do it to the point of where we are not g oing beyond our limits and we need to realize this before we actually go off the cliff or push someone else off the cliff if we put too much pressure on them.
Just have trust in them and ask them to have trust in Allah swt..
Good things comes to those that wait... and Insha'Allah we'll get our reward from Allah swt, and all the treasures, gems, jewelry, gold and silver, and billions of dollars couldnt amount up to the biggest reward of all Jannah.

[UmmIbrahimIsa]

glad to see all ol' SVers

nayab :evil:

Assalamu alaikum wr wb

Who you calling ol' Sv'ers?
Small world. Sv's been gone almost a year and yet we all miss it except for me I'm having the greatest amount of pressure relief since that's been down. Lots of free time to spend with my children and focus on other things my deen.