Society & Culture - 12 December 2006

I mean no offense but if you don't believe there is a god, why are you always answering religious questions? A religious person often asks a spiritual question to other religious people and an atheist always has to put in his insults and negativity, then you all give yourselves thumbs up and the spiritual people, especially the Christians and the Muslims thumbs down. What is the fascination with religious questions if you don't believe there's a God?

2006-12-12 10:40:52 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2006-12-12 10:40:32 · 25 answers · asked by handsomeworshipper 4 in Religion & Spirituality

On christmas day i will be eating a frozen turkey T.V. dinner, watching the fire place channel and listening to christmas carols while wishing for some of my family to visit me.

2006-12-12 10:39:54 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Christmas

The status of women in Islam is often the target of attacks in the secular media. The ‘hijaab’ or the Islamic dress is cited by many as an example of the ‘subjugation’ of women under Islamic law. Before we analyze the reasoning behind the religiously mandated ‘hijaab’, let us first study the status of women in societies before the advent of Islam.

In the past women were degraded and used as objects of lust

The following examples from history amply illustrate the fact that the status of women in earlier civilizations was very low to the extent that they were denied basic human dignity:

Babylonian Civilization: The women were degraded and were denied all rights under the Babylonian law. If a man murdered a woman, instead of him being punished, his wife was put to death.
Greek Civilization: Greek Civilization is considered the most glorious of all ancient civilizations. Under this very ‘glorious’ system, women were deprived of all rights and were looked down upon. In Greek mythology, an ‘imaginary woman’ called ‘Pandora’ is the root cause of misfortune of human beings. The Greeks considered women to be subhuman and inferior to men. Though chastity of women was precious, and women were held in high esteem, the Greeks were later overwhelmed by ego and sexual perversions. Prostitution became a regular practice amongst all classes of Greek society.
Roman Civilization: When Roman Civilization was at the zenith of its ‘glory’, a man even had the right to take the life of his wife. Prostitution and nudity were common amongst the Romans.
Egyptian Civilization: The Egyptian considered women evil and as a sign of a devil.
Pre-Islamic Arabia: Before Islam spread in Arabia, the Arabs looked down upon women and very often when a female child was born, she was buried alive.
Islam uplifted women and gave them equality and expects them to maintain their status.

Islam uplifted the status of women and granted them their just rights 1400 years ago. Islam expects women to maintain their status.

Hijaab for men

People usually only discuss ‘hijaab’ in the context of women. However, in the Glorious Qur’an, Allah (swt) first mentions ‘hijaab’ for men before ‘hijaab’ for the women. The Qur’an mentions in Surah Noor:

"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do."[Al-Qur’an 24:30]

The moment a man looks at a woman and if any brazen or unashamed thought comes to his mind, he should lower his gaze.

Hijaab for women.

The next verse of Surah Noor, says:

" And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons..."[Al-Qur’an 24:31]

Six criteria for Hijaab.

According to Qur’an and Sunnah there are basically six criteria for observing hijaab:

The first criterion is the extent of the body that should be covered. This is different for men and women. The extent of covering obligatory on the male is to cover the body at least from the navel to the knees. For women, the extent of covering obligatory is to cover the complete body except the face and the hands upto the wrist. If they wish to, they can cover even these parts of the body. Some scholars of Islam insist that the face and the hands are part of the obligatory extent of ‘hijaab’. All the remaining five criteria are the same for men and women.
The clothes worn should be loose and should not reveal the figure.
The clothes worn should not be transparent such that one can see through them.
The clothes worn should not be so glamorous as to attract the opposite sex.
The clothes worn should not resemble that of the opposite sex.
The clothes worn should not resemble that of the unbelievers i.e. they should not wear clothes that are specifically identities or symbols of the unbelievers’ religions.
Hijaab includes conduct and behavior among other things

Complete ‘hijaab’, besides the six criteria of clothing, also includes the moral conduct, behavior, attitude and intention of the individual. A person only fulfilling the criteria of ‘hijaab’ of the clothes is observing ‘hijaab’ in a limited sense. ‘Hijaab’ of the clothes should be accompanied by ‘hijaab’ of the eyes, ‘hijaab’ of the heart, ‘hijaab’ of thought and ‘hijaab’ of intention. It also includes the way a person walks, the way a person talks, the way he behaves, etc.

Hijaab prevents molestation

The reason why Hijaab is prescribed for women is mentioned in the Qur’an in the following verses of Surah Al-Ahzab:

"O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad); that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."[Al-Qur’an 33:59]

The Qur’an says that Hijaab has been prescribed for the women so that they are recognized as modest women and this will also prevent them from being molested.

Example of twin sisters

Suppose two sisters who are twins, and who are equally beautiful, walk down the street. One of them is attired in the Islamic hijaab i.e. the complete body is covered, except for the face and the hands up to the wrists. The other sister is wearing western clothes, a mini skirt or shorts. Just around the corner there is a hooligan or ruffian who is waiting for a catch, to tease a girl. Whom will he tease? The girl wearing the Islamic Hijaab or the girl wearing the skirt or the mini? Naturally he will tease the girl wearing the skirt or the mini. Such dresses are an indirect invitation to the opposite sex for teasing and molestation. The Qur’an rightly says that hijaab prevents women from being molested.

Capital punishment for the rapists

Under the Islamic shariah, a man convicted of having raped a woman, is given capital punishment. Many are astonished at this ‘harsh’ sentence. Some even say that Islam is a ruthless, barbaric religion! I have asked a simple question to hundreds of non-Muslim men. Suppose, God forbid, someone rapes your wife, your mother or your sister. You are made the judge and the rapist is brought in front of you. What punishment would you give him? All of them said they would put him to death. Some went to the extent of saying they would torture him to death. To them I ask, if someone rapes your wife or your mother you want to put him to death. But if the same crime is committed on somebody else’s wife or daughter you say capital punishment is barbaric. Why should there be double standards?

Western society falsely claims to have uplifted women

Western talk of women’s liberalization is nothing but a disguised form of exploitation of her body, degradation of her soul, and deprivation of her honor. Western society claims to have ‘uplifted’ women. On the contrary it has actually degraded them to the status of concubines, mistresses and society butterflies who are mere tools in the hands of pleasure seekers and sex marketers, hidden behind the colorful screen of ‘art’ and ‘culture’.

USA has one of the highest rates of rape

United States of America is supposed to be one of the most advanced countries of the world. It also has one of the highest rates of rape in any country in the world. According to a FBI report, in the year 1990, every day on an average 1756 cases of rape were committed in U.S.A alone. Later another report said that on an average everyday 1900 cases of rapes are committed in USA. The year was not mentioned. May be it was 1992 or 1993. May be the Americans got ‘bolder’ in the following years.

Consider a scenario where the Islamic hijaab is followed in America. Whenever a man looks at a woman and any brazen or unashamed thought comes to his mind, he lowers his gaze. Every woman wears the Islamic hijaab, that is the complete body is covered except the face and the hands upto the wrist. After this if any man commits rape he is given capital punishment. I ask you, in such a scenario, will the rate of rape in America increase, will it remain the same, or will it decrease?

Implementation of Islamic Shariah will reduce the rate of rapes

Naturally as soon as Islamic Shariah is implemented positive results will be inevitable. If Islamic Shariah is implemented in any part of the world, whether it is America or Europe, society will breathe easier. Hijaab does not degrade a woman but uplifts a woman and protects her modesty and chastity.

2006-12-12 10:39:42 · 24 answers · asked by Muslim 1 in Religion & Spirituality

2006-12-12 10:39:21 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

I AM TIRED OF IT! I AM TIRED OF IT! I AM TIRED OF IT! EVERY DAY I KEEP GETTING PICKED ON BY PEOPLE AT SCHOOL! TODAY I WAS WALKING DOWN THE HALL AND A RANDOM PERSON WHO I NEVER SEEN BEFORE STARTED PUSHING ME ON THE FLOOR. THIS REALLY Is lowering my self esteem and i feel like a sore loser! This really makes me want to start being a asshole and ****** myself and being mean to everyone else and becoming a negative person! SOmetimes i even think about suicide and jumping off my school gym building! I am tired of going to the ocunselors and teachers everytime cause im refreeed to as a "*****". I just dont want to do it. I am really weak and have no muscle so i cant fight back. ALso beacuse I do not wanna be suspended, because I am a good kid. I really do not know what to do! Please help! I hate this! Help me before its too late and I end my own life!

2006-12-12 10:37:57 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Society & Culture

2006-12-12 10:37:17 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Cultures & Groups

is it snowing where you are? i live in a place where it should snow but its not doing anything this year! its crazy! i think weare expecting a little bit on monday and tuesday but we hope it does! i cant get into the christmas spirit without snow! it stinks! so my questions are where do u live? and is there snow on the ground? how much? any other info would be great!

2006-12-12 10:36:37 · 23 answers · asked by sup yo 5 in Christmas

I plan on going to a Mosque before the end of the month to officially convert to Islam. What should I do when I get there? Who do I talk to? And how long will it take? My parents probably won't want to stay, so I can tell them that they can go to a nearby mall and pick me up when I'm done. I'm a little nervous.

2006-12-12 10:35:31 · 17 answers · asked by Michael 1 in Religion & Spirituality

when you thank them for something??? Aren't you just supposed to say "you're welcome"???

2006-12-12 10:33:18 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Etiquette

2006-12-12 10:33:10 · 2 answers · asked by markbnv m 1 in Other - Cultures & Groups

2006-12-12 10:32:59 · 9 answers · asked by ashok k 2 in Languages

I find it amazing. I am no math-wiz, but how hard is it to figure 15-25%, according to quality of service, size of tab, how long you kept the table, etc...
What is the deal? Ar ethey afraid to leave too much? Afraid to leave too little? What?

2006-12-12 10:32:23 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Etiquette

but on my front door I have a welcome mat that has a big santa clause on it , and I let my son believe in santa just as I did as a child .. so are you saying I'm taking away from Jesus? why can't I believe in them both, I know what the Lord can and has done for me and that santa is just for fun .. do I have to be stuck up just because I know the lord.. can I still have fun and not be put down .. God knows my heart.. I believe we only have one life to live and as long as your not hurting no one you should have fun and always put god first..now on christmas eve I'm going to church then home to wait on santa to bring my son's gifts...

2006-12-12 10:32:19 · 10 answers · asked by ladytee 4 in Christmas

2006-12-12 10:31:44 · 15 answers · asked by josie 4 in Christmas

2006-12-12 10:31:36 · 63 answers · asked by Brian K 1 in Religion & Spirituality

i need to get 10 small presents for my friends , we're 12. any ideas? and good stores?

2006-12-12 10:31:05 · 7 answers · asked by xhjckshdfvdjs 2 in Other - Holidays

2006-12-12 10:30:58 · 9 answers · asked by josie 4 in Christmas

I'm buying a gift, no more than $25, for a 10-year-old little girl (through a local charity). I don't know anything about her, what she likes, what her hobbies are. Help?

2006-12-12 10:30:44 · 13 answers · asked by paperclip 2 in Christmas

it has to be christian orinted since its a church setting...it can be a story or poem somehow about christmas or jesus's birth, mary the 3 kings...something...I've been looking and haven't found anything yet.

2006-12-12 10:30:15 · 4 answers · asked by Jasmine M 2 in Other - Holidays

Who do you purchase gifts for in your family - your parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins (all or some)? How big is your family? What is your gift giving tradition?

2006-12-12 10:29:51 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Holidays

the abc song and the twinkle twinkle little star have the same melody? why is that.


and yes i know ur all singing it now. stop moving ur lips. :)

2006-12-12 10:29:40 · 5 answers · asked by bencilius 2 in Mythology & Folklore

please try to say nice things, harshful comments are not wanted.... tnx

2006-12-12 10:28:28 · 80 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

We drew names at work and I'll be buying for a guy.
It can be a gag gift too, but not too crazy : )p

2006-12-12 10:28:27 · 13 answers · asked by 1texascutie 1 in Etiquette

2006-12-12 10:28:15 · 10 answers · asked by urlast2003 1 in Religion & Spirituality

2006-12-12 10:28:14 · 6 answers · asked by karen h 1 in Religion & Spirituality

Any recommendations? (this ? is for gay guys or lesbians)

2006-12-12 10:27:59 · 8 answers · asked by Noclue 3 in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender

2006-12-12 10:27:46 · 30 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

Further:
There are hundreds of types of Christians and donzens of types of Muslims and Jews. Why?

2006-12-12 10:27:31 · 11 answers · asked by BigPappa 5 in Religion & Spirituality

2006-12-12 10:27:04 · 7 answers · asked by markbnv m 1 in Other - Cultures & Groups