Recently I re-read some of my favourite Stephen King's novels: Salem's Lot, IT, The Shining. Yeah I do like scary books, movies ect. But only good ones.
All these novels have one thing in common, something I have never paid any attention to, but this time, after re-reading all these books one after another, it just became so obvious.
These are all about children who were scared- and lonely. There was nobody to share their fears with? Or maybe, these fears just could not be shared?
I started to recall my own childhood fears. Of course, I was afraid of ghosts ect, but this thing never bothered me too much. Other fears were more real. And I do not remember myself, being a child, sharing this with anybody; not even my friends.
So first of all, I was a victim of communist policy- the tv propaganda, and taming of solidarity movement. I was 7-8 years old at the time.
I remember people running, trying to escape the special police units. If one wasn't running fast enough, they would catch him, or her, and the 'fun' would start. The beating. They did this to my father once. People would even run on the roofs of the buildings. Then came the tear gas; and walking to school in tears.
On tv one could see movies about 2nd World War, especially those about concentration camps were horrific. Some other topic? Here you go- USA gov wants to nuke us.
I mean seriously. Even in school we were trained how to behave when it happens. Note- no 'if' it happens, but 'when'.
So I remember going to summer camp when I was 8, and I remember myself crying in the night, because I was scared- what if the Americans nuke my town, my parents would die? -and I thought it would have be so much better if I did not leave, so I would die with them. I never told ANYBODY about it.
Or I was scared the Nazis would come again, and take my little brother to the concentration camp. I used to spend long hours thinking about ways to hide him- he was a cute 2 year old at the time.
Seems so absurd now but at the time it was so real for me. I wonder if anybody had similar experiences?
Well I wonder how many children have such fears -NOW. How many children are afraid of a possibility that their families would be tortured or killed, their homes destroyed? Just thinking.
sobota, 10 września 2011
czwartek, 8 września 2011
ostracised
As far as I recall, there always had been a sense of unity between Polish muslims- sunnis, sufis, shias, it did not matter too much, as long as we were all muslims.
We were all very fitna-conscious, and being a tiny minority we would rather remain united.
This positive approach changed however, about 2 years ago- and I'm sad to say- with the growth of salafi community...
Suddenly it became very clear that being a sunni means being a 'true' muslim, and being a shia makes one to be a kind of a shady individual; better not to hang out with such or, God forbid, to talk to such a person- who knows maybe being shia is contagious? Better be extra careful.
Some lies about shias were spread by some people even few years back, but it did not matter too much.
Anyway things have changed.
I found myself being deleted from certain fb muslim groups, or blocked by few people.
I wonder why would people do such things?
As far as I understand my being shia- it's nothing more but another muslim madhab. First of all I am a muslim.
Funny thing is, people who spread the most unbelievable lies about shias, are the same ones who cry the most about unbelievable lies spread about muslims in general.
Brothers, sisters- so spreading lies about shias is perfectly ok; but spreading lies about muslims is not? You do not like being in position of somebody who is constantly humiliated by lies? Well why don't you stop telling lies about us, shias for a change?
No, we do not have different Qur'an.
No, we do not believe Ali ibn Abu Talib is God.
No, we do not believe Gibril made a mistake and gave Qur'an to Prophet Mohammad /pbuh/ instead of to Ali ibn Abu Talib.
The list is very long. Too bad.
We were all very fitna-conscious, and being a tiny minority we would rather remain united.
This positive approach changed however, about 2 years ago- and I'm sad to say- with the growth of salafi community...
Suddenly it became very clear that being a sunni means being a 'true' muslim, and being a shia makes one to be a kind of a shady individual; better not to hang out with such or, God forbid, to talk to such a person- who knows maybe being shia is contagious? Better be extra careful.
Some lies about shias were spread by some people even few years back, but it did not matter too much.
Anyway things have changed.
I found myself being deleted from certain fb muslim groups, or blocked by few people.
I wonder why would people do such things?
As far as I understand my being shia- it's nothing more but another muslim madhab. First of all I am a muslim.
Funny thing is, people who spread the most unbelievable lies about shias, are the same ones who cry the most about unbelievable lies spread about muslims in general.
Brothers, sisters- so spreading lies about shias is perfectly ok; but spreading lies about muslims is not? You do not like being in position of somebody who is constantly humiliated by lies? Well why don't you stop telling lies about us, shias for a change?
No, we do not have different Qur'an.
No, we do not believe Ali ibn Abu Talib is God.
No, we do not believe Gibril made a mistake and gave Qur'an to Prophet Mohammad /pbuh/ instead of to Ali ibn Abu Talib.
The list is very long. Too bad.
środa, 24 sierpnia 2011
convertitis haramitis
Szczególna odmiana choroby convertitis.
Ktoś przyjmuje islam i z miejsca jego- jej- ulubionym słowem staje się 'haram'.
Co i rusz dowiaduję się z uniwersytetu facebook od swoich sióstr w islamie, ze to i tamto jest 'haram'.
Haram jest wanilia, mówienie 'Ramadan kareem' itd itp.
Tymczasem Bóg jasno określił w Koranie zasady uznawania czegoś za haram, i przestrzega przed popełnianiem błędów w tym temacie.
6:138 Oni powiedzieli: ,,Te trzody i te zasiewy są zakazane; będzie się nimi żywił tylko ten, kogo my zechcemy - tak oni twierdzą i zwierzęta, których grzbiety są zakazane, i zwierzęta, nad którymi nie wymieniono imienia Boga." To wszystko jest zmyślane przeciwko Bogu! On zapłaci im za to, co oni wymyślali!
6:140 Ci, którzy zabijają swoje dzieci, ponieśli stratę przez głupotę i przez nieświadomość. Oni zakazali tego, co przydzielił im Bóg, wymyślając kłamstwo przeciwko Bogu. Oni zbłądzili I nie są prowadzeni drogą prostą.
Główną zasadą -asl- jest to, że wszystko co stworzył Bóg dla pożytku ludzi, jest dozwolone.
Jeżeli nie istnieje werset z Koranu, lub mocne dowody z sunny zakazujace czegoś- jeśli rozumowanie opiera sie jedynie na słabym hadisie- to obowiazuje zasada główna. Innymi slowy, nie powinno się deklarować, że coś jest haram jedynie na podstawie słabych dowodów.
dowody z Koranu:
2: 29 On jest Tym, który stworzył dla was
wszystko to, co jest na ziemi.
Następnie zwrócił się ku niebu
i ukształtował je w siedem niebios.
On jest o każdej rzeczy wszechwiedzący!
45:13 On poddał wam to,
co jest w niebiosach i co jest na ziemi
- wszystko pochodzi od Niego.
Zaprawdę, w tym są znaki
dla ludzi, którzy się zastanawiają!
31:20 Czyż nie widzicie,
że Bóg podporządkował wam
to, co jest w niebiosach i co jest na ziemi,
i przelał na was Swoje dobrodziejstwa,
jawne i skryte?
Prorok /Pokój z Nim/ powiedział: 'na co Bóg zezwolił w swojej Księdze, jest to halal, a czego zabronił, jest haram, a o czym milczał, na to zezwolił okazując swoją łaskę. Więc przyjmij od Boga Jego łaskę, gdyż zaiste, nie zapomina On o niczym", po czym wyrecytował: (19:64) "Twój Pan nie zapomina!"
hadis przekazany przez al-Hakim, sklasyfikowany jako sahih (sound), cytowany przez al-Bazzar.
Salman al-Farsi przekazał hadis, w którym Prorok, zapytany o dopuszczalność zwierzęcego tłuszczu, sierści i serów, odparł: "Halal jest wszystko, na co Bog zezwolił w swojej Księdze, haram zaś wszystko, czego zabronił; natomiast jeśli o czymś milczał, dozwolił tego okazując swoją łaskę"
(al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah.)
10:59 Powiedz:
"Czy widzieliście,
co wam Bóg zesłał jako zaopatrzenie
i jak wy uczyniliście z tego
zakazane i dozwolone?"
Powiedz:
"Czy Bóg wam zezwolił na to,
czy też wymyślacie kłamstwo przeciw Bogu?"
Ktoś przyjmuje islam i z miejsca jego- jej- ulubionym słowem staje się 'haram'.
Co i rusz dowiaduję się z uniwersytetu facebook od swoich sióstr w islamie, ze to i tamto jest 'haram'.
Haram jest wanilia, mówienie 'Ramadan kareem' itd itp.
Tymczasem Bóg jasno określił w Koranie zasady uznawania czegoś za haram, i przestrzega przed popełnianiem błędów w tym temacie.
6:138 Oni powiedzieli: ,,Te trzody i te zasiewy są zakazane; będzie się nimi żywił tylko ten, kogo my zechcemy - tak oni twierdzą i zwierzęta, których grzbiety są zakazane, i zwierzęta, nad którymi nie wymieniono imienia Boga." To wszystko jest zmyślane przeciwko Bogu! On zapłaci im za to, co oni wymyślali!
6:140 Ci, którzy zabijają swoje dzieci, ponieśli stratę przez głupotę i przez nieświadomość. Oni zakazali tego, co przydzielił im Bóg, wymyślając kłamstwo przeciwko Bogu. Oni zbłądzili I nie są prowadzeni drogą prostą.
Główną zasadą -asl- jest to, że wszystko co stworzył Bóg dla pożytku ludzi, jest dozwolone.
Jeżeli nie istnieje werset z Koranu, lub mocne dowody z sunny zakazujace czegoś- jeśli rozumowanie opiera sie jedynie na słabym hadisie- to obowiazuje zasada główna. Innymi slowy, nie powinno się deklarować, że coś jest haram jedynie na podstawie słabych dowodów.
dowody z Koranu:
2: 29 On jest Tym, który stworzył dla was
wszystko to, co jest na ziemi.
Następnie zwrócił się ku niebu
i ukształtował je w siedem niebios.
On jest o każdej rzeczy wszechwiedzący!
45:13 On poddał wam to,
co jest w niebiosach i co jest na ziemi
- wszystko pochodzi od Niego.
Zaprawdę, w tym są znaki
dla ludzi, którzy się zastanawiają!
31:20 Czyż nie widzicie,
że Bóg podporządkował wam
to, co jest w niebiosach i co jest na ziemi,
i przelał na was Swoje dobrodziejstwa,
jawne i skryte?
Prorok /Pokój z Nim/ powiedział: 'na co Bóg zezwolił w swojej Księdze, jest to halal, a czego zabronił, jest haram, a o czym milczał, na to zezwolił okazując swoją łaskę. Więc przyjmij od Boga Jego łaskę, gdyż zaiste, nie zapomina On o niczym", po czym wyrecytował: (19:64) "Twój Pan nie zapomina!"
hadis przekazany przez al-Hakim, sklasyfikowany jako sahih (sound), cytowany przez al-Bazzar.
Salman al-Farsi przekazał hadis, w którym Prorok, zapytany o dopuszczalność zwierzęcego tłuszczu, sierści i serów, odparł: "Halal jest wszystko, na co Bog zezwolił w swojej Księdze, haram zaś wszystko, czego zabronił; natomiast jeśli o czymś milczał, dozwolił tego okazując swoją łaskę"
(al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah.)
10:59 Powiedz:
"Czy widzieliście,
co wam Bóg zesłał jako zaopatrzenie
i jak wy uczyniliście z tego
zakazane i dozwolone?"
Powiedz:
"Czy Bóg wam zezwolił na to,
czy też wymyślacie kłamstwo przeciw Bogu?"
poniedziałek, 1 sierpnia 2011
czwartek, 28 lipca 2011
oh, human... what have you done... again.
Hatred
Look, how constantly capable
and how well maintained
in our century: hatred.
How lightly she regards high impediments.
How easily she leaps and overtakes.
She's not like other feelings.
She's both older and younger than they.
She herself gives birth to causes
which awaken her to life.
If she ever dozes, it's not an eternal sleep.
Insomnia does not sap her strength, but adds to it.
Religion or no religion,
as long as one kneels at the starting-block.
Fatherland or no fatherland,
as long as one tears off at the start.
She begins as fairness and equityt.
Then she propels herself.
Hatred. Hatred.
She veils her face with a mien
of romantic ecstasy.
Oh, the other feelings --
decrepit and sluggish.
Since when could that brotherhood
count on crowds?
Did ever empathy
urge on toward the goal?
How many clients did doubt abduct?
Only she abducts who knows her own.
Talented, intelligent, very industrious.
Do we need to say how many songs she has written.
How many pages of history she has numbered.
How many carpets of people she has spread out
over how many squares and stadiums!
Let's not lie to ourselves:
She's capable of creating beauty.
Wonderful is her aura on a black night.
Magnificent cloud masses at rosy dawn.
It's difficult to deny her pathos of ruins
and her coarse humor
mightily towering above them columns.
She's the mistress of contrast
between clatter and silence,
between red blood and white snow.
And above all she never tires of
the motif of the tidy hangman
above the defiled victim.
She's ready for new tasks at any moment.
If she must wait she'll wait.
She said she was blind. Blind?
She has the keen eyes of a sniper
and boldly looks into the future
--she alone.
by Wislawa Szymborska, -translated by Walter Whipple
Look, how constantly capable
and how well maintained
in our century: hatred.
How lightly she regards high impediments.
How easily she leaps and overtakes.
She's not like other feelings.
She's both older and younger than they.
She herself gives birth to causes
which awaken her to life.
If she ever dozes, it's not an eternal sleep.
Insomnia does not sap her strength, but adds to it.
Religion or no religion,
as long as one kneels at the starting-block.
Fatherland or no fatherland,
as long as one tears off at the start.
She begins as fairness and equityt.
Then she propels herself.
Hatred. Hatred.
She veils her face with a mien
of romantic ecstasy.
Oh, the other feelings --
decrepit and sluggish.
Since when could that brotherhood
count on crowds?
Did ever empathy
urge on toward the goal?
How many clients did doubt abduct?
Only she abducts who knows her own.
Talented, intelligent, very industrious.
Do we need to say how many songs she has written.
How many pages of history she has numbered.
How many carpets of people she has spread out
over how many squares and stadiums!
Let's not lie to ourselves:
She's capable of creating beauty.
Wonderful is her aura on a black night.
Magnificent cloud masses at rosy dawn.
It's difficult to deny her pathos of ruins
and her coarse humor
mightily towering above them columns.
She's the mistress of contrast
between clatter and silence,
between red blood and white snow.
And above all she never tires of
the motif of the tidy hangman
above the defiled victim.
She's ready for new tasks at any moment.
If she must wait she'll wait.
She said she was blind. Blind?
She has the keen eyes of a sniper
and boldly looks into the future
--she alone.
by Wislawa Szymborska, -translated by Walter Whipple
keeping things simple
History of human kind is a history of mixing.
Whatever culture one can think of, it was influenced by other culture, or cultures -one way or another.
Europe experienced long and painful history of persecuting people who were different, who did not want, ot were not able to blend into the rest of the society.
The 'other' has always been perceived with fear, which in turn caused anger, and then, agression. The 'other' wants to cause disharmony and eventually, desctuction to 'our' culture. Therefore 'we' have to protect it; most effectively, by eliminating the 'other'.
Dear readers... without muslim influences, 'European' culture would not be the same. Muslims were the main contributors to European culture, except of Europeans of course.
Ibn Sina's /Avicenna/ works inspired Thomas of Aquinus works, which enriched catholic telology. Ibn Sina himself was inspired by Aristotle.
See cultures influencing each other's development? This is only one, simple example.
Whatever culture one can think of, it was influenced by other culture, or cultures -one way or another.
Europe experienced long and painful history of persecuting people who were different, who did not want, ot were not able to blend into the rest of the society.
The 'other' has always been perceived with fear, which in turn caused anger, and then, agression. The 'other' wants to cause disharmony and eventually, desctuction to 'our' culture. Therefore 'we' have to protect it; most effectively, by eliminating the 'other'.
Dear readers... without muslim influences, 'European' culture would not be the same. Muslims were the main contributors to European culture, except of Europeans of course.
Ibn Sina's /Avicenna/ works inspired Thomas of Aquinus works, which enriched catholic telology. Ibn Sina himself was inspired by Aristotle.
See cultures influencing each other's development? This is only one, simple example.
wtorek, 17 maja 2011
networking at EMAF
EMAF was a nice conferrence with a very long yet meaningful name: Building the Network:
I guess the name itself tells us a story, but experiencing it was so much more inspiring.
The idea was to bring people together- in every way. There were participants of many different countries and all Abrahamic religions (and buddhists too! )
Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Italy, Poland, Denmark, Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Spain, Albania, and, of course, Poland.
I was particularly happy that the conferrence was organised in my city. Like -the world is knocking at my door :) Very nice feeling (You should try this! ;) )
At the beginning I was kind of sure it would be another boring and sad event, gathering of people who'd just sit and listen to lectures. Now I am so happy I was wrong! We were divided into smaller groups, and we started to exchange our ideas, views, stories. It was so inspiring in itself. Seeing Jews and Palestinians talking and smiling to each other... Alhamdulillah for that!
Another fear I had was that we'll all get back to our daily routines without actually taking any actions after going back home. I am almost sure it won't happen.
Altogether the whole experience was so positive it makes me thank God for every second of it.
Believe it or not - the lectures were AMAZING! The lecturers focused on social responsibility in their religions- and you'd be so surprised to know how similar judaism, christianity and islam are when it comes to this particular topic (many other topics as well).
But the most important thing I realised was that our main obligation is to refuse to hate other human being. Of course, we see wars, crimes and oppression every day. But hating the opressors is so much easier than doing something to help the victims.
We will not be able to change anything by just feeling anger and hatred. Let's focus on compassion instead. Be responsible; do something.
Our beloved Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) said that even a smile is charity. So do not say 'I can't do anything'. Actually you can. All of us can.
Social Responsibility in our Religious Traditions
2nd conference of the Euro-Mediterranean Abrahamic Forum
I guess the name itself tells us a story, but experiencing it was so much more inspiring.
The idea was to bring people together- in every way. There were participants of many different countries and all Abrahamic religions (and buddhists too! )
Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Italy, Poland, Denmark, Bulgaria, United Kingdom, Spain, Albania, and, of course, Poland.
I was particularly happy that the conferrence was organised in my city. Like -the world is knocking at my door :) Very nice feeling (You should try this! ;) )
At the beginning I was kind of sure it would be another boring and sad event, gathering of people who'd just sit and listen to lectures. Now I am so happy I was wrong! We were divided into smaller groups, and we started to exchange our ideas, views, stories. It was so inspiring in itself. Seeing Jews and Palestinians talking and smiling to each other... Alhamdulillah for that!
Another fear I had was that we'll all get back to our daily routines without actually taking any actions after going back home. I am almost sure it won't happen.
Altogether the whole experience was so positive it makes me thank God for every second of it.
Believe it or not - the lectures were AMAZING! The lecturers focused on social responsibility in their religions- and you'd be so surprised to know how similar judaism, christianity and islam are when it comes to this particular topic (many other topics as well).
But the most important thing I realised was that our main obligation is to refuse to hate other human being. Of course, we see wars, crimes and oppression every day. But hating the opressors is so much easier than doing something to help the victims.
We will not be able to change anything by just feeling anger and hatred. Let's focus on compassion instead. Be responsible; do something.
Our beloved Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) said that even a smile is charity. So do not say 'I can't do anything'. Actually you can. All of us can.
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