The Prophet of Islam and a feature film

It is the maiden attempt by V S Mohammed Ameen, a young lad with a dream and passion to form a just, God-fearing, loving society.

It is a fitting reply to the dirty film (The Innocence of Muslims) which evoked massive upsurge throughout the world. Peaceful demonstrations were held in more than 800 cities and more than 50 brothers and sisters lost their lives in police shootings.

It is a just 14 minute feature film. The story is simple.

Ganesan a fruit vendor starts his day with parking his cycle ladden with fruits in front of a Madrasa. Suddenly he gets the news that his only son has met with an accident. Ganesan instantly abandons his fruits and cycle and rushes to his home.

On his way he gets the news that his son is okay. He returns with lots of apprehensions about his shop, fruits which he left unattended in a hurry. Thoughts and fears continue to creep in his mind. 'Somebody might have stolen my bicycle', he murmurs himself. 'The students might have eaten out all of my fruits', he fears. 'What to do for my livelihood, I should not have left it unattended' fearful thoughts bombard his beleagured soul. And with mixed feelings of joy, fear, sadnes he rushes back to the place where he left his 'shop' unattended. He felt happy because nothing serious happened to his son. He was afraid of losing all his fruits, bicycles. The thought of the loss of his 'shop' made him sad.

With these thoughts in his mind he returns the place. To his astonishment he sees his bicycle, fruits safe. Moreover he sees the students taking fruits and placing five rupee, ten rupee notes in the basket itself. He was simply perplexed.

Out of curiosity he asks a student. 'Why didn't you simply take away the fruit? What made you to place the money in the no man's shop?'. The student replies, 'Even if the shopkeeper or nobody is here, Allah is there Who watches us'.

Ganesan was dumbfounded by the reply. Who told you so? he asks. 'Muhammad the mercy to mankind has taught us this lesson'.

Then the student takes him to his teacher. The teacher welcomes him and explains the life and teachings of the Prophet of Islam.

Rest of the story could be seen in this 14 minute feature film.

It is aptly  titled as Oru thuli kadal (One drop of Ocean).

  Here

Life, surprises and the Prophet of Islam

Life is always full of surprises, twists and turns.

It is God who shapes our lives. It is He who directs us.

The Prophet of Islam used to pray: "Oh God! Bless me with sudden, instant pleasant surprises and happiness. Protect me from sudden, instant unpleasant, tragic happenings and accidents"

திடீர் திருப்பங்களையும் ஆச்சரியங்களையும் கொண்டதுதான் வாழ்க்கை. நம்முடைய வாழ்வையும் செயல்களையும் இயக்குவது இறைவனே. கண்காணிப்பவனும் அவனே. ஆட்சியாளனும் அவனே. அண்ணல் நபிகளார்(ஸல்) பிரார்த்தித்து வந்தார்: "என் இறைவனே! திடீர் சந்தோஷங்களையும் இனிய ஆச்சர்யங்களையும் எனக்கு அருள்வாயாக. திடீர் திருப்பங்களிளிருந்தும் ஆபத்துகளிலிருந்தும் விபத்துகளிளிருந்தும் என்னைக் காப்பாற்றுவாயாக. "

Annadurai on Islam

Here

Muhammad the benefactor of humanity

Here

Jamaat to launch massive campaign on the life and teachings of Prophet of Islam

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Tamil Nadu has decided to launch a high profile, high voltage massive state wide campaign for introducing the life and teachings of the Prophet of Islam. 

Dates are 5th October, 2012 to 14th October, 2012. 

A committee has been formed under the stewardship of Br I Kareemullah. It comprises of Br S N Sikkander, Br K M Siraj Ahmed, Br Mohiyuddin, Br K Jalaludeen, Br T Azeez Luthffullah, Br T Yousuf Basha, Br Sirajul Hasan and Br V S Muhammad Ameen alongwith Brs Abu Tahir and Br Noorul Hasan (representatives of SIO)

The committee has chalked out a 14 point programme for the Units and circle and a 20 point programme for the activities at zonal level.

Samarasam would bring out a special issue on the life and teachings of Prophet Muhammad. It has also been decided to conduct a zonal Essay Competition for the college as well as higher secondary school students. 

Besides various activities such as press conferences, VIP meets, corner meetings, Hall meetings, Symposium, Ulema meet, and exclusive programme for non-Muslims would be carried out in massive scale throughout the nook and corner of the state. 

Jamaat has planned to distribute the book "The Prophet of Islam" by Prof Ramakrishna Rao and also its tamil version "Manuda Vasantham". Please send us the suggestions as also pray for the success of the campaign.

Reaction to "Innocence of Muslims" movie : DVDs on Prophet Muhammad in 30 languages

Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo has launched a campaign to introduce Prophet Mohammed to the world by distributing DVD’s in 30 languages, explaining the message of Islam and the life of the Prophet.


At the same time, Dr. Abdul-Rahman Al-Barr, member of the Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau, has appealed on Muslim producers to use their artistic talents to create productions of the highest standards of quality, in all languages, to highlight aspects of greatness in the Messenger of God, to introduce him to the peoples of the whole world, and to use those productions to compete at international art festivals of all kinds.


"We must introduce the Prophet in an appropriately positive manner. When defending the Prophet, we must begin by understanding his life and his personality. Those who do not quite appreciate Prophet Mohammed must learn about him first, before talking about him. We should inform people about the Prophet, instead of pushing them away from him, from Islam."

Here

"Islamic Dawah is the best option to prevent the recurrence of dirty American film": Ameer-e-Jamaat

Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari has severely condemned the American film blaspheming the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him). Terming the release of this film as an act of hurting the Muslims of the world, he expressed grave concern over the fact that America fails in making concerted efforts to contain such anti-Islam activities in spite of expressing displeasure over them. 

The Jamaat chief expressed his confidence that conspiracies to tarnish the image of Islam and denigrate the personage of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) have failed earlier also. And even now no country or group, despite investing talents and resources, can harm the truth of Islam and the majesty of the Prophet who is the Mercy to mankind. Therefore, people should keep from destructive activities aimed at spoiling world peace and try to understand the Message of Peace and Salvation Islam gives and the position of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) as Mercy to all the worlds. 

Declaring the protests, being staged in Muslim countries against the heart-rendering American film, as Muslim masses’ love for and close affinity with their faith and the Messenger of God, the Jamaat leader said the Muslims should prove themselves as Khair-e-Ummat (the best nation) and Ummat-e-Wast (the moderate nation) in every action and every measure they take, and keep from every approach that can bring a bad name to the position and greatness of the community. It would not be right that the crime is committed by one and you punish someone else; it tarnishes the image of Islam.

The Jamaat Ameer appealed to the Islamic Movements and organisations world over to realise the Dawah responsibilities much more so that the common masses might be acquainted with the teachings of Islam, and the ignorance and misapprehensions of the world about Islam, its way of life and the Holy Messenger be allayed and the incidents like the release of the American film might not be repeated in future.

அகிலங்களுக்கெல்லாம் அருட்கொடையாய் வந்த இறைத்தூதரின் கண்ணியத்துக்கு ஊறு விளைவிக்கின்ற வகையில் தயாரிக்கப்பட்ட அமெரிக்க திரைப்படத்தை ஜமாஅத்தே இஸ்லாமி ஹிந்த் அகில இந்தியத் தலைவர் மௌலானா சையத் ஜலாலுத்தீன் உமரி கடுமையாகக் கண்டனம் செய்துள்ளார். உலகம் முழுவதும் இருக்கின்ற முஸ்லிம்களின் உள்ளங்களைக் காயப்படுத்துகின்ற செயல் இது என்றும் அவர் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார். இஸ்லாத்துக்கு எதிரான இத்தகைய நடவடிக்கைகள் குறித்து அதிருப்தியும் ஆட்சேபமும் அழுத்தமாகப் பதிவு செய்யப்பட்ட பிறகும் இது போன்ற அடாத செயல்களைத் தடுத்து நிறுத்துவதில் அமெரிக்க அரசாங்கம் தோல்வி அடைந்திருப்பது குறித்து அவர் பெரிதும் வேதனைப்பட்டார்.

இஸ்லாத்தின் மாண்பையும் அண்ணல் நபிகளாரின் மகத்துவத்தையும் கொச்சைப்படுத்து-கின்ற சூழ்ச்சிகள் இதற்கு முன்பும் தோல்வியையே தழுவி இருக்கின்றன. இப்போதும்கூட எந்தவொரு நாட்டாலும் அல்லது சமூகக் குழுவினாலும் - அவர்கள் தங்களுடைய ஆற்றல்களையும் வசதிவாய்ப்புகளையும் வளங்களையும் முழுமையாகப் பயன்படுத்தினாலும் - இஸ்லாம்தான் சத்தியமானது என்கிற உண்மைநிலையையும் அகிலங்களுக்கெல்லாம் அருட்கொடையாய் வந்த அண்ணல் நபிகளாரின் மகத்துவத்தையும் இம்மியளவுகூட ஊறு விளைவிப்பதில் வெற்றி அடையவே இயலாது.  எனவே உலக அமைதியைப் பாதிக்கக்கூடிய நடவடிக்கைகளிலிருந்து முற்றாக விலகி இருந்தவாறு அமைதி, ஈடேற்றத்திற்கான இஸ்லாத்தின் செய்தியையும் அண்ணல் நபிகளார்(ஸல்) அகில உலகங்களுக்கெல்லாம் அருட்கொடையாய் இருக்கின்ற சிறப்பையும் புரிந்துகொள்வதற்கு முயல வேண்டும்.

உள்ளங்களைக் காயப்படுத்துகின்ற அமெரிக்க திரைப்படத்திற்கு முஸ்லிம் உலக நாடு-களில் நடத்தப்பட்டு வருகின்ற ஆர்ப்பாட்டங்களும் போராட்டங்களும் தங்களுடைய மார்க்கத்தின் மீதும் அண்ணல் நபிகளார்(ஸல்) மீதும் அவர்களுக்கு இருக்கின்ற அளவிலா அன்பையும் இணையிலா பற்றையும் வெளிப்படுத்துகிறன என்றும் அவர் தெரிவித்தார். அதே சமயம் கைரே உம்மத் - சிறந்த சமூகம் என்றும் உம்மத்தே வஸ்த் - நடுநிலை மிக்க சமூகம் என்றும் இறைவனால் அறிவிக்கப்பட்ட முஸ்லிம் சமுதாயம் அந்தத் தகுதிநிலைக்கு இயைந்தவையாகவும் அதற்கு சான்று அளிப்பவையாகவும் தம்முடைய அனைத்து செயல்-பாடுகளையும் அமைத்துக் கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்றும் சமுதாயத்தின் தகுதிக்கும் அந்தஸ்துக்கும் மகத்துவத்திற்கும்  சற்றும் பொருந்தாத யாதொரு வழிமுறையிலிருந்தும் முற்றாக விலகி இருத்தல் வேண்டும் என்றும் அவர் அறிவுறுத்தினார். குற்றத்தை ஒருவர் செய்திருக்க, இன்னொருவரைத் தண்டிப்பது சற்றும் பொருத்தமற்றதல்ல. இது போன்ற செயல்களால் இஸ்லாம் பற்றிய சித்திரம் சிதைக்கப்படுகின்றது என்றும் அவர் சுட்டிக்காட்டியுள்ளார்.

முன்னெப்போதும் இல்லாத அளவுக்கு இஸ்லாமிய அழைப்புப் பணி தொடர்பான தம்முடைய பொறுப்புகளை உணர்ந்துகொண்டு, அவற்றை நிறைவேற்றுவதில் கவனம் செலுத்துமாறும், பொதுமக்களுக்கு இஸ்லாத்தின் உண்மையான செய்தியும் போதனைகளும் சென்றடையவும், இஸ்லாத்தைக் குறித்தும் இஸ்லாம் எடுத்துரைக்கின்ற வாழ்க்கைத் திட்டத்தைக் குறித்தும் அண்ணல் நபிகளாரைக் குறித்தும் உலக மக்கள் மத்தியில் காணப்படுகின்ற அறியாமை அகல்வதற்கும் தவறான கருத்துக்கள் களையப்படுவதற்கும் உறுதி செய்யுமாறும் ஜமாஅத்தின் அகில இந்தியத் தலைவர் உலக இஸ்லாமிய இயக்கங்களுக்கும் அமைப்புகளுக்கும் வேண்டுகோள் விடுத்தார். இஸ்லாத்திற்கு எதிரான அமெரிக்கத் திரைப்படம் போன்ற சூழ்ச்சிகள் மீண்டும் மீண்டும் தலைதூக்குவதைத் தடுப்பதற்கு இதுதான் சிறந்த வழி என்றும் ஜமாஅத் தலைவர் அறிவித்தார்.

Here

The Righteous Mind, Reason, Intuition and Islamic Dawah

You’re smart. You’re Muslim. You’re well informed. You think non-Muslims, non-believers are narrow-minded. You can’t understand why people worship statues, cow, film stars, sun, moon and etc etc. You figure they’re being duped. You’re wrong.

William Saletan in his article on the book "The Righteous Mind" by Jonathan Haidt unravels of the mystery behind rejection and acceptance. Excerpts from his review in The New York Times

In “The ­Righteous Mind,” Haidt seeks to enrich liberalism, and political discourse generally, with a deeper awareness of human nature. Like other psychologists who have ventured into political coaching, such as George Lakoff and Drew Westen, Haidt argues that people are fundamentally intuitive, not rational. If you want to persuade others, you have to appeal to their sentiments. But Haidt is looking for more than victory. He’s looking for wisdom. That’s what makes “The Righteous Mind” well worth reading. Politics isn’t just about ­manipulating people who disagree with you. It’s about learning from them.

The problem isn’t that people don’t reason. They do reason. But their arguments aim to support their conclusions, not yours. Reason doesn’t work like a judge or teacher, impartially weighing evidence or guiding us to wisdom. It works more like a lawyer or press secretary, justifying our acts and judgments to others.

To explain this persistence, Haidt invokes an evolutionary hypothesis: We compete for social status, and the key advantage in this struggle is the ability to influence others. Reason, in this view, evolved to help us spin, not to help us learn. So if you want to change people’s minds, Haidt concludes, don’t appeal to their reason. Appeal to reason’s boss: the underlying moral intuitions whose conclusions reason defends.

****

Many of Haidt’s proposals are vague, insufficient or hard to implement. And that’s O.K. He just wants to start a conversation about integrating a better understanding of human nature — our sentiments, sociality and morality — into the ways we debate and govern ourselves. At this, he succeeds. It’s a landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself.

But to whom is Haidt directing his advice? If intuitions are unreflective, and if reason is self-serving, then what part of us does he expect to regulate and orchestrate these faculties? This is the unspoken tension in Haidt’s book. As a scientist, he takes a passive, empirical view of human nature.

 William Saletan in The New York Times. Here

More and more women embrace Islam in Britain

Three-quarters of Britons who become Muslims are female.

Record numbers of young, white British women are converting to Islam, yet many are reporting a lack of help as they get used to their new religion, according to several surveys.

As Muslims celebrate the start of the religious holiday of Eid today and hundreds of thousands from around the world converge on Mecca for the haj, it emerged that of the 5,200 Britons who converted to Islam last year, more than half are white and 75 per cent of them women.

In the past 10 years some 100,000 British people have converted to Islam, of whom some three-quarters are women, according to the latest statistics. This is a significant increase on the 60,000 Britons in the previous decade, according to researchers based at Swansea University.

Richard Peppiatt in The Independent. Here

REBUTTAL- “Women & Islam: The rise and rise of the convert”

More important than the statistics was the highlighting of issues faced by recent reverts, a pertinent point amongst us newbies. Whilst I’m tempted again to think of the ulterior motives of the author for highlighting yet another flaw to converts and Islam, it is a valid point that the Islamic community can be very insular. Never mind the muslims not mixing with the non-muslims, it’s the Pakistanis not mixing with the Somalis and the Bengalis not mixing with the Arabs and each cultural group keeping themselves so much to themselves that there is no way that the born muslims would even think of mixing with the new muslims!

I found this too at the start. It’s hard to break into these already well established groups as a newbie. There’s a lot of furore around a person wanting to become a muslim. People can’t be helpful enough to notch up another shahada on their record! But it’s the aftermath that’s the issue. I’ve heard awful stories about new muslims being disowned by their families. Friends no longer want to know you because you’re ‘boring’ now, and Eid can be a VERY lonely time indeed. We want sisterhood. We want classes that run from the VERY basics, not ones that start aimed at people with a good decade or two of knowledge behind them. Books are great, but there’s no one to ask the silly questions to about where my feet should be in prayer or how on earth you pronounce this word correctly!

Sarah Hunak in her blog. Here 

Islamic Dawah, Cricket and winning hearts

Andrew Carnegie has said, “Dealing with people is a lot like digging for GOLD: When you go digging for an ounce of gold, you have to move tons of dirt. But when you go digging, you don’t go looking for the dirt, you go looking for the gold.” The same logic applies in Dawah work as well. If one expects to sow a seed in one moment and pluck fruit in another, he could not prove to be a good Da’ee. It is here that the analogy of Da’ee with a bowler is best illustrated. Even best of the bowlers in the world bowl extensively, throws wide and no-balls, shed runs, hit for fours and sixes, and it is only on a couple of those lucky balls which earns him wicket in which his credibility as a bowler lies. This patience and perseverance of a bowler is extremely essential for a Da’ee.

To be a bowler, you don’t need to attend hi-fi coaching. To bowl, you just need a ball and will to bowl. With a ball in the hand and will to bowl in the heart, when you first reach the ground to face the batsman, your first ball will crawl over the pitch barely able to reach the crease. It will be followed by dozens of wide and no balls; some balls will go over the batsman in the gloves of wicketkeeper, others over him as well, across the boundary line. Then the umpire may whisper in your ear that your action is not appropriate. After all this, when your first ‘legal’ ball will reach the batsman, he may send it flying for six for several times. It is only after going through this ‘humiliating’ process that you could aspire to be a Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne.

In the same manner, you have to hit the grounds for Dawah work. You must train yourself, polish your arguments, read extensively but your actual training centre will only be your Dawah field. You may commit mistakes but these mistakes will teach you lessons that thousands of books and lectures could not. Every question that your addressee asks and whose answer you don’t know will prompt you to increase your knowledge, every taunt of your addressee on your personality will help you improve your personality.

Believe me, if you get busy in Dawah work sincerely, the day is not far when you will notice that whatever you are preaching, you are automatically practising yourself. Dawah work will improve your personality, skills, character and most important of all, it will be an asset for the afterlife.

Khan Yasir in Radiance Views Weekly, New Delhi. Here

Iftar Parties in Police stations

The Programs like Iftar Parties where in people from different communities participate will pave the way for proper understanding between the communities and such an opportunity was provided by this Police Station. These were the words spoken by Mr Mohammed Ziaullah, President JIH, Gulbarga at an Iftar Party organized at Raghavendra Colony Police Station on Friday the 12th August 2011. He briefly spoke on the importance of Fasting the month of Ramzan by Muslims all over the world, how it prepares a human being to be pious, the book of Quran as guidance to humanity, its message and the importance of the belief in the here after.

Presiding over the function Mr Basavaraj, Police Sub Inspector of the Police Station, expressed pleasure and happiness for having arranged this program in his police station. And glad to know about the importance of Ramazan and teachings of Quran.

The Police Constables and other staff of the station participated. They appreciated the effort of Jamaat in organizing such programs.

 From Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Gulbarga's site. Here and Here

Signs from the Holy Quran

“I learnt new English words,” writes Sajitha in my notepad. “I want to cultivate my mind. Kafeel has taught us how. I will do my best to spread this,” writes K.V. Karthikeyan. “I'm happy I came,” scribbles A. Abdul Rajeed. It's lunch break for Sayed Abdul Kafeel's class of 50-odd hearing impaired students. The just concluded session on lessons from the Quran has them all pepped-up. 

Value education

This is Kafeel's yearly session in the city organised by the Coimbatore Islamic Cultural Trust (Kafeel is from Kozhikode). He teaches values such as obedience, honesty, generosity, etc. in a way that is appealing. There are jokes and instances from day-to-day life, all woven together as a PowerPoint Presentation. Armed with his laptop and a few CDs, the 42-year-old travels across the country with a purpose — to teach Quran to the hearing-impaired people of his community. 

Speech and hearing-impaired himself, Kafeel has been doing this for over eight years now.

“I am a happy man,” he says in sign language. But, it took him a long time to get here. Kafeel is a school drop-out. “Our family lived in Mandya and I stayed with an aunt to attend school in Bangalore.”

Life was hard for the youngster as none of his relatives made an effort to communicate with him in sign language. “I was lonely,” he says. His family owned a travel company, and Kafeel tried to work there. But, his disability came in the way. “I did not have an interpreter back then, so communicating with customers was very difficult.”

“In 2000, I shifted to Kozhikode and married a hearing impaired girl.” Kafeel smiles at the thought of his marriage. “My wife's family knew no other language but Malayalam and my family knew only Urdu. Whenever they met, the two groups would communicate only in sign language!”

A chance to learn

It was in Kozhikode that Kafeel decided to take the Quran to the hearing impaired. “The hearing impaired in our community did not have a place to learn our scriptures and I decided to do something about it,” he says.

Kafeel approached ISM (Ithihadu Shubhanil Mujahideen), an NGO. With their support, about 300 deaf people from near-by villages were gathered. “Initially, a person read out portions of the Quran which was interpreted into sign language.” Classes were conducted for two hours every Friday. Kafeel watched from a distance. “But, I felt there was something missing. There were misinterpretations and mistakes. Our students had difficulty understanding.” Gradually, the numbers dropped. That's when Kafeel decided to take over. He pored over an English version of the Quran and selected portions of it for the benefit of the hearing impaired.

People came from all over Kerala for his classes. Carpenters, painters, daily wage labourers…Friday evenings with Kafeel became popular in the region. 

“In 2004, we registered our organisation, ‘The Truth of Deaf Da'wa Wings,” he says. Back then, Kafeel also taught value education to school children in the evenings. 

A good influence

“A lot of deaf teenage boys, who indulged in smoking and drinking just to be accepted by the other kids, changed for the better,” he smiles.

Kafeel put together a CD with verses from the Quran in sign language. “I've signed about 25per cent of the Quran so far,” he says. “I hope to complete it in about 20 years.” He has also trained some of his promising students to teach the hearing impaired in their areas. He has trainers in places such as Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Patna and Chennai who take lessons from him every month.

A good response

During his travels Kafeel interacts with speech and hearing impaired people from all walks of life. “A lot of our people are uneducated. They lack any kind of support,” he says. He thus conceived the idea of ‘Ability Institute for the Hearing Impaired,' which was set up with the backing of ISM in 2009. “We have courses such as B.Com with Tally, BCA, BSc I.T, Indian Sign Language, etc. approved by the government of Kerala.” As the principal of the institution, Kafeel is now a busy man. “We have a stream of applications coming in,” he smiles. 

Kafeel is pleasantly surprised at the amount of support and positive response he got from people across the country when he approached them with a proposal to conduct Quran classes.

Akila Kannadasan's report in The Hindu. Here

Rise of Islam in Europe

Eversince 9/11 the quest to know about Islam has been increasing manifold. More and more people - men and women - embrace Islam every day everywhere. This trend is more visible and vibrant in Britain and parts of Europe. Here is an enlightening report from BBC.

Television, Islamic Dawah and Muslims

When television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly commercials -- many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you'll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it.

Is there one person in this room who claims that broadcasting can't do better? Well a glance at next season's proposed programming can give us little heart. Of 73 and 1/2 hours of prime evening time, the networks have tentatively scheduled 59 hours of categories of action-adventure, situation comedy, variety, quiz, and movies. Is there one network president in this room who claims he can't do better? Why is so much of television so bad? 

From Newton N Minow's speech on Television and the Public Interest delivered on 9 May 1961, National Association of Broadcasters, Washington, DC. More Here.

In the Lizard's Hole: Television, Televangelism and Muslims

By Khalid Baig

We must not underestimate the destructive power of television. Television did not cause all the upheavals in society by being ineffective. Rather the above only highlights its ineffectiveness in carrying a serious discourse. But it is a very effective tool for carrying propaganda. Since television appeals to emotions not intellect, it can be easily used to stir up emotions of, say, hate and anger --- something that has been used effectively by the Islamophobes in the Christian world and beyond. Some televangelists have played a major role in the rise in Islamophobia in the US through their media crusade against Islam.These also cannot be ignored in our discussion of television policies.

Obviously simple yes or no answers cannot work. Just ignoring television will not reduce the destruction it is causing in the society. Jumping on to the bandwagon and starting Islamic television programs to reach the large audiences without careful analysis and planning will only perpetuate the problems that have been outlined above. Due to the nature of the medium, if it is given legitimacy as the venue for Islamic teachings, then in time alim and mufti actors will replace the real alims and muftis as is already happening. They will also set the expectations for what the real alims should look like and behave.

There is no ready made solution. The real solution will be the outcome of a rigorous and ongoing discussion involving the scholars, thinkers and the media experts and will require first that we do fully understand the nature of communication in the video world and its peculiar problems.  

TV Free Home
The solution they come up with will be a multi-faceted one and will vary with the circumstances of the person. For an individual the prime goal is just to protect him and his family. For this the message should be that the less you watch, the better it is. An atmosphere is to be created in which not watching television and maintaining a TV free home is a perfectly respectable and even desirable option. Grass roots organizations and all means of persuasion should be used to promote this idea. Such an organization exists in the US (10). It is a pity that it does not exist in the Muslim world.

The success of this campaign will not be measured just by how many stop watching but also by what they think about watching it. The objective should be that those who do not have a TV free home should look up to those who do and not the other way around. Declaring Ramadan as a TV free month, where participants pledge to keep television off during Ramadan and use the time so saved to benefit from Ramadan may go a long way towards this objective.

Alternative Channels of Communications
At the same time we need to develop the non-television channels of communication to the best of their potential. In the communication landscape, television is one option. It is not the only one. It is expensive and it is fraught with serious problems in its ability to transmit our message. Even if we cannot avoid it, we do need to put it in its proper place. This means we do need to rethink the older avenues. 

Friday khutbahs are a case in point. They offer an immense resource for educating the masses. Everywhere Muslims turn in large numbers to them and there are no production or distribution costs like those associated with TV. Unfortunately this priceless opportunity is wasted because the great majority of those speaking have not been prepared for the task. They either do not have an understanding of how to relate Islamic teachings to the problems of today or do not know how to communicate that effectively. As a result most attendees go without any expectation of enlightenment through the khutbah. Squandering of this tremendous opportunity has no excuse. It is a pity that Islamic religious schools have, by and large, failed to step up to the responsibility to have special training programs for speakers and guiding the khateebs.

The Okaz Market Model
What about using television itself?

We may learn from the Prophetic Example in the souq of Okaz, the largest and the most famous of the annual markets and fairs of the Jahliya period. There pilgrims from all of Arabia gathered for business, poetry competitions, networking and entertainment. When the opposition of the Quraish to the Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, increased to a point where continued call to Islam within Makah was not possible, he sought all avenues outside to continue his mission. This included his visits to Okaz. The purpose of the visits was to meet the people and pull them out. The place of training and education was Dar Arqam.

Using that model as our guide, we may make a case for reaching out to the people who are today in the Okaz market created by television. That is we must not confuse it with the masjid, or school, or Dar Arqam. The purpose should be to pull the people out from there to these places where real worship, education, and training can take place. Recognizing the peculiar problems of this new venue, we must make sure the programs avoid all the pitfalls outlined above. No run for ratings. No entertainment. No music. No celebrity culture. No expectation of a return on investment. No competition with the commercial world. No ads that can dilute or counter the message. In other words no distortion in the message in exchange for a large audience. 

The numbers who respond will be small, just as they were in Okaz. But just as the Prophetic example in Okaz showed, delivering the pure unadulterated message to a small number is infinitely superior to delivering a distorted message to the millions.

From Khalid Baig's enlightening analysis "In the Lizard's Hole: Television, Televangelism and Muslims". More Here.

A. R. Rahman, Oscar award and an open letter

Sirajul Hasan has done it.
I always believed, hoped and expected that he alone could do it.
Siraj Bhai, Siraj Sahib, Sirajul Hasan as he is affectionately called by everybody is the chief editor of Samarasam Tamil Fortnightly.
He is a prolific writer in Tamil and master player of words. Over the years he has developed his own style of conveying his thoughts. It could be described as simply endearing. He is in the field for the past three decades. He was groomed by late Moulana M. A. Jameel Ahmed. He has written three books and a collection of short stories. He is the most soft spoken man in the earth. But he is very shrewd in equal measure. Measure your words when you speak with him.
Now what has he done?

He has written an open letter to A. R. Rahman, the music wizard of Chennai. He has lauded ARR for his achievement. He has expressed his joy, pleasure in his own way. A.R Rahman had declared "Yella pugazhum Allahvukke" (All glory be to Allah!!) at the dias of Oscar arena.
Sirajul Hasan has lauded this spontaneous reaction of the Music maestro. Then he explains the significance of Alhumdulillah...!
Slowly and steadily he has woven the web and highlighted the drastic consequences of Shirk-Inai vaippu.
A.R. Rahman is known to be very particular in offering Namaz in time. Sirajul Hasan mentions this and praises the enthusiasm shown by ARR in offering Namaz. Then he goes on elaborating the significance and importance of the ultimate success - the success in Hereafter.
The final appeal from Siraj is what makes your heart melt.
His words are:

isai vazhiyil payaniththu immaiyin sigarangalai ththottu vitteergal
ini-
irai vazhiyil payaniththu marumaiyin vetrigalai pera muyalungal.

It could be roughly translated as "You have reached the zenith of glory in the path of Music.
Next, in future, Please try to get success in Hereafter"

Oh! I miss Br P. H. Shafeeq Ahmed, the lanky lad from the dusty town of Tirupattur. He is also a gifted writer. Shafeeq writes in English.
More than a decade ago, Ace director Manirathinam produced a stupendously stupid film "Roja" depicting Muslims in a very bad light. At that time too Sirajul Hasan wrote an open letter to Mani Rathinam. The finishing lines of that letter are still embedded in my mind "Today what you have in your hands is a stone..! I pray and hope that a day will come when the stone would be replaced by a flower"
Br Shafeeq translated the letter in English and it was published in Radiance Views weekly, Delhi.
I wish I had Shafeeq at my side. He would have translated the piece in English in no time.
As my hands are full I could not do it by myself. If somebody reading this, wishes to translate in English, he is most welcome.