Definition of imitation.
Imitation (tashabbuh in Arabic) means resembling. If we say that someone imitates someone else, we mean that he looks like him and acts like him. Likening a thing to something else (tashbeeh) means saying that it is like it. The word tashabbuh has many counterparts in Arabic which carry meanings such as being like, imitating, looking like, following, agreeing with, taking as an example, copying, etc. They all have shades of meaning of their own, but they also overlap with the meaning of tashabbuh. In terms of the terminology of Fiqh, al-Ghuzzi al-Shaafai defined tashabbuh as describing a persons attempt to be like the one whom he is imitating, in appearance, characteristics, equalities and / or attributes. It implies making an effort to achieve this and deliberately taking action for that purpose.
The ruling on imitating the kuffaar
One of the most important basic principles of our religion is that of al-walaa wal-baraa, loyalty (walaa) to Islam and its people, and diavowal (baraa) of kufr and its people. One of the essential features of this disavowal of kufr and its people is that the Muslim should be distinct from the people of kufr, and he should feel proud of his religion and of being a Muslim, no matter how strong and advanced and civilized the kuffaar may appear to be, and no matter how weak and backward and divided the Muslims may appear to be. It is not permissible under any circumstances to take the strength of the kuffaar and the weakness of the Muslims as an excuse for imitating and resembling them, as some hypocrites and defeatist Muslims claim. The texts which forbid imitating the kuffaar do not make any distinction between whether Muslims are strong or weak, because the Muslim can be distinct in his religion and be proud of being Muslim even when he is in a weak position.
Allaah calls us to be proud of Islam, and considers this to be the best of speech and the best kind of pride, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
And who is better in speech than he who [says: My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness), and then stands firm (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allahs (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: I am one of the Muslims. [Fussilat 41:33]
-------Original Message-------
Date: 02/12/06 15:52:04
Subject: [IslamCity] SHOULD WE CELEBRATE VALENTINE'S DAY?
True Love
Love - one of the strongest emotions known to mankind-
a power that
can ruin or redeem a life- that can bring joy or
painful heartbreak.
Today as the world celebrates this emotion on
Valentine's Day, we
see hearts of all sizes and shapes all around, hearts
of chocolate
and satin. O Yes! It's Valentines! The day of hearts,
red roses,
poetry, candies and above all - Love!
Where did Valentine's Day come from?
There are many traditions about its origin, but the
most authentic
seems to be the one from Encyclopedia Britannica that
says that this
day has nothing to do with Saint Valentine, instead it
is related to
the Roman pagan festival of their god, Lupercalia.
It was celebrated on 15th February and in honour of
the goddess Juno
Februata, the names of girls were placed in an urn and
the men would
draw out the name of a girl at random who would then
become their
date for the remaining festival.
When Christianity came to Rome, they tried to
Christianize this
obscene yet popular festival by replacing the names of
girls by
those of saints. The men were then supposed to emulate
the saint,
whose name they drew, for the rest of the year.
However this attempt
proved unsuccessful and the use of girls' names
returned.
Many associated it with Cupid (the virtually naked god
of love), who
is the central character of Valentine's Day
paraphernalia, who
shoots people with his arrows to make them fall in
love. His mother
is said to be Venus (goddess of love) and apparently
the rose was
her favourite flower.
Another tradition speaks of a Saint Valentine who was
killed on 14th
Feb. by Emperor Claudius for secretly arranging the
marriages of his
soldiers whom he had banned from marriage. The Bishop
is said to
have fallen in love with the jailer's daughter during
his
imprisonment and wrote her a letter signed `Your
Valentine', which
became a tradition for people to come. In 496 Pope
Gelasius
officially replaced the pagan festival of 15th Feb
with St
Valentine's Day on14th Feb.
Valentine's Day Today
Whatever the origin of this day, today it seems to
have returned to
its pagan, vulgar roots with the child-god cupid and
open dating
being very much a part of it. It is celebrated in many
parts of the
world in different ways. For instance, in France, a
girl befriends
the first boy she sees in the morning and if this
relationship lasts
for a year, they end up getting engaged on the next
Valentine's Day.
The Valentine lottery caused severe problems in France
and was
banned completely in 1776. Later Italy, Hungary,
Austria and Germany
also rid themselves of this obscene custom. England
remained safe
until it was under Puritan rule but then Charles II
started it again
and from there it entered America, where it was first
commercialized
by A E Howland, who made 5000 dollars from selling
Valentine cards.
In 1995 one billion valentine cards were delivered in
the US and the
postal Dept. made an extra profit of $ 30 million.
Flowers began to
be used in 1300.
Now people all over cash in on this opportunity to
kindle the fire
in young hearts and instill in their minds the
necessity of having
a `Special Someone' to love. No wonder last year's
newspaper carried
news of a woman who sued her husband for divorce for
not giving her
anything on Valentine's. According to her it was
absolutely
necessary to express one's love on this day and her
husband did not
give her anything which meant that he did not love
her.
Apparently Valentine's Day made her feel `unloved'
rather
than `loved'.
What kind of love depends upon gifts for its survival?
What kind of
love is restricted to one day in the whole year? What
kind of love
breeds hatred, jealousy and a sense of deprivation in
many?
Valentine's Day also proves exceptionally painful for
the not-so-
popular kids in school who don't get as many Valentine
cards as
their friends do.
In Pakistan, this day has come to mean getting dressed
in red,
valentine cards, hearts, and chocolates. Through these
apparently
innocent things the occasion promotes the culture of
free sex and
male-female relations. Also becoming common are public
displays of
emotions including advertising love messages in
newspapers, going
out on romantic dates and attending valentine balls
and parties.
Schools are not far behind in holding such parties for
their
students. As a result, even young children are fed new
ideas of
developing lusty feelings and expressing them boldly.
Closet
romantics are given a chance to emerge. They imitate
their favourite
movie love scenes in broad daylight. In all this
`love' fever Islam
is given a backseat to sit and see how it's teachings
are being
ridiculed in public.
The question that comes to mind is why should WE
celebrate
Valentine's Day? Is it our national festival or a
religious one?
Festivals are part of a nation's identity. They
symbolize any
religion or culture.
ASK YOURSELF !
On this day that the world celebrates love and we see
hearts all
around, ask yourself: "Have I ever thought of loving
the One Who
created me, the One Who gave me a heart that can feel
love? Has this
heart ever felt love for Him? How many times have I
cried for His
love?
Have I ever spent any time, effort or money to express
my love to
Him Who has given me all these things? Am I confident
enough to
declare my love for Him? Do I ever miss Him in
solitude or amongst a
crowd? Or am I wasting away a beautiful emotion that
was meant for
eternity-not just momentary gratification of our ego?
Inspite of our
ingratitude, The Merciful One continues to love us .
Our love is a measure of our faith. Is our love deep
enough to
recognize the One we cannot see but expressions of His
love are
scattered all around us? Or is it so shallow that it
begins and ends
only with humans who often abandon and hurt us in this
world when we
need them the most, whose love brings heartbreak and
depression and
who will be the first to leave us when we depart from
this world?
Ask yourself, " How much do I love Prophet Mohammad
who had
said: "By Him in Whose Hands my life is, none of you
will have faith
till he loves me more than his father and his children
and all
mankind" (Bukhari).
Did you ever wonder how we can get Allah to love us
too?
Ask yourself why do I love the people I do? Are the
motives all
worldly like their looks or money or is it something
deeper like
their piety or good deeds?
Ask Yourself!
Ask yourself honestly, is Valentine's Day anything but
obeying our
baser desires and following our lusts? Are we only
like cattle
following our passions and the trends without knowing
why, without
understanding?
As a Muslim, a boy-girl friendship is totally out of
bounds. In
Surah An-Nisa a woman's qualities are described:
"Chaste, not lustful nor ones taking secret friends"
Muslims have a beautiful institution of marriage where
romance is
not a summer fling nor is it based on superficial
looks, but on a
serene relationship of mutual affection, kindness and
responsibility.
T R U E L O V E
For a Muslim, TRUE LOVE happens only once and
eternally and that is
with the Lord, The One Who exists from eternity till
forever. For
Muslims, love for Him supersedes everything and
everyone else. Love
for Allah is meaningful since it then teaches loving
all His
creatures (and not just a `Special Someone').
Muslims already have a day for expressing love and
that is `Id-al-
Azha when Muslims sacrifice a life to show Allah that
they can
sacrifice anything for Him-even their own lives. They
relive the
Sunnah of Sayidina Ibrahim -Allah's friend-who readily
proceeded to
sacrifice his most beloved possession, his teenaged
son, for Allah.
Love demands sacrifice. Do we have that kind of pure
and intense
love in our life? Who do we love the most-our own
selves and desires
or Our Rabb? If we love Allah, how can we celebrate a
pagan custom
when our Beloved Lord abhors paganism more than
anything else? Then
how deeply do we feel on `Id-al-Azha and how do we
feel on
Valentine's?
A Muslim's actions are not purposeless or meaningless.
Even his love
is meaningful and the _expression_ of love is useful,
since instead of
spending thousands on flowers, on `Id-al-Azha meat is
provided for
the poor, jobs are created for many, animal skin is
used for leather
and so on.
A Muslim doesn't do something just because the
whole world is
doing it. He doesn't waste his life. Let us be Muslims
in heart,
body and soul.
Let us then find True Love
True love seeks sacrifice and I've given it all.
This, this is true love in it's purest form.
I turn my face towards You now.
The Lord of my world and the Heavens above.
I am Yours and Yours, alone.
My prayer, my sacrifice are only for You.
My life and death are Yours to take.
A promise I make.
To lay my life for You.
An oath that I worship.
No-one but You.
__________________________________________________
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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