Shaykh Abu Eesa from AlMaghrib Institute posted this up yesterday in response to the Pharrell – Happy British Muslim music video:
– The background track behind all the folks dancing has got to be one of the most addictive things I’ve ever heard! I hear that Iblīs himself might have got personally involved with that one.
– My first reaction when I saw sisters dancing like that was just how much these ladies love to talk about objectification and being stereotyped and feminism and all that bakwas, but they play a different game in real life. #FireAbuEesa
– The image which came to mind after a few moments was of slave masters watching their slave girls/boys amuse, dance and entertain them as they twirl their moustaches happily. Yes this is a metaphor and our brothers and sisters are not slave girls, but what is worse is when a Muslim makes that conscious decision that what they have from their Deen and their values just isn’t “good enough” and thus “let’s use the medium of popular culture instead regardless of whether it fits an Islamic ethos or not”. This is of course the real slavery. The slavery of the mind. The music etc wasn’t so depressing for me; it was watching a people fall even more into subservience.
– Any women who claim that females dancing is not provocative or sexual, is either naïve or just plain miskeen. And any man whom claims the same, is, well, lying. Ladies, you could dance like Peter Crouch and men would find that sexual! Men don’t think like you. You lift an elbow out and just wiggle your head forget about anything else and you just provocation-ed off the provocation-meter. You want to do that, keep it for your fella’s eyes only please.
– It’s amazing just how strong that feeling of inferiority amongst liberal and secular Muslims is. That is definitely the major concern here, not the music or dancing. Folks used to call it a inferiority complex. That’s outdated now. We need to call it an “inferiority crisis”.
– We’ve basically lost all meaning for what the word hijab means. I can’t even be bothered to explain this issue again, the fact that hijab is a state, not just a piece of cloth on the head. Anyway, whatever. This isn’t about the women anyway, this is about the mindset of *all* who support such things.
– I love seeing happy people. I loved their smiles in this video. I just wish I could see them so happy without the music and dancing. Surely we can do that? Although in fairness, perhaps some folks can’t? Genuine question.
– The Yanks are looking at this video and thinking, “Erm, so what’s exactly the issue here folks? Who did what wrong?!”
– To those who are disappointed with all this, don’t even try for a second to criticise music and dancing. Once you’ve gone down that route, it’s more than just a poisoned chalice. It’s professional suicide. Everyone is so happy inside, and suddenly you’re telling them they shouldn’t be? You will NEVER win this argument, and frankly it’s no biggie anyway. Emotional ignorance of the rules of Allah is the most difficult to discuss, so don’t waste your time on it.
– For those who say that scholars says music etc is good and allowed: firstly forget all the so called scholars and Shaykhs and Imams in the West who are not much more than transmitters of fatwas and opinions. No disrespect to us all but let us all recognise our reality. If we were to see the actual real scholarly voices that permit the use of music, and you would be able to count them on one hand frankly and that doesn’t diminish our respect for them by the way, then I say this: from this group would be Shaykh Abdullah Judai’ and Sh Yusuf al-Qardhawi. I would love to see their reaction to seeing what happens in this video and then ask them, “Shaykh, we make stuff like this because we follow your fatwa that music is allowed.” I think you’d better prepare to get slapped lol.
– I love creativity. I think Muslims have so much to offer. I just hope and pray it can be done without the need to have to use what everyone else values, as opposed to what WE value. Or at least SHOULD value I guess I should say.
– Remember that above all, the resulting video is one which involved *personal* sin and it was concerning *fiqh* as opposed to anything else more serious. This is most definitely not belittling sin by this statement, but just reminding us all that we do have much bigger problems amongst Muslims to focus on such as what we actual believe in, and whether we consider Allah’s requirements to be divine enough so as to be protected from our desires and flawed intellects. There is a chasm between saying (a) Allah couldn’t have said this or made that halal or haram, and saying (b) I know Allah said that but I’m struggling with it.
Struggling is good, keep up that struggle. Denying is bad, drop that bakwas otherwise you’ll be dropped in the next life. No, you won’t be dropping it like it’s hot. You’ll be *dropped* somewhere hot.
May Allah protect us all and forgive us and guide us all, my sinful self before anyone else. Ameen.
– Whatever is sinful or potentially sinful or at least doubtful, should be kept to yourself. Sing with your hairdryer in the mirror. Dance your socks off in the privacy of your bedroom. Chill at home as undressed as you want. Allah is covering you right at that monent.
But once you bring it out like this, go public, and be happy about it, then Allah has uncovered you. And thus you have lost protection. And once you lose HIS protection, then, well, Allahul-Musta‘an.
– Many folks will see this comment as really negative. I apologise for that, genuinely. I actually really sympathise with those who feel so happy with song and dance. It’s a natural human reaction. But then trying to bed the hottest girl ever next door is also a natural human reaction. Control, willpower and taqwa are what should control human reactions. I will post something on this specific music challenge a little later because I’ve been there, done that.
– Personally, for me, the biggest outrage in this entire episode is the name of these people. Honest Policy 786?! 786!? Are you kidding me?! If you guys really are going to go all out sick on the positive Muslim PR front, can we please please drop the 786 part at least? Jazakumullahu khayr.
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