Adil Najam
It is not as if we do not have enough real problems in Pakistan to worry about. Why, then, do we keep inventing imaginary fights to worry about? Here are some Valentine’s Day pictures from Pakistan.
56 comments posted
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Comment Pages: « 7 6 5 [4] 3 2 1 » Show All
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WoW these Mulani’s and Mullahs have opened my eyes. I cannot follow western ways anymore. I am logging off the internet and destroying anything western from now on.
Wait hold on… I think that means I have to start living in a cave with a flame light. DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
sorry I think that I am too westernized I even think like Homer Simpson. :)
Some comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
- “Wah bhai wah. So, valentine’s day and friendship and goodwill is “Haram” and burning property and shouting and abusing and blowing yourself up and killing innocent people is “bayas-i-sawaab”…. wah bhai wah… ajab eeman hai aap logouN ka!”
- “The whole GF and BF nonsense is here because most people on facebook are frustrated, which why so many men are posing as girls and all that…”
- “Look at that second photo… you really think these who ladies are getting flowers for their BFs…. sharam karo logou, you are just imposing your own frustrations on others.”
- “who is saying that it is bayis sawab to burn the property of people, blowing yourself up etc? No one has done so. Why u r summarizing this discussion with ur wishes? Ofcourse it is not allowed to kill innocents etc but it is also not allowed to take ur girl friend to date and other rubbish like this. Mr, Islam is a code of life. It gives u the instructions for the every second of ur life u spend in this world.”
- “it is not hidden what our youth do this day. The parks become dating places, girls and boys are expressing their love for eachother. What is this? Is it Islam? Ye aap ki kham khayali hai, aesa Islam apne pas hi rakhiye tou behtar hoga”
- “Why can’t we just leave it to the One who is supposed to know?? Islamic lit is full of incidents when God forgave ppl who were mighty sinners in the ordinary sense of the term. God also said that actions depend on intentions and religion is a very personal affair. Its between that person and God. If you dont like it, dont do it. But don’t give fatwahs abt it. You dont have the authority which resides with God only. And I hope you all know that all the things you are attaching with this specific day happen in pak and around the world regardless of valentine’s day..”
- “Its cultural, nothing to do with Islam, and culture changes with time. So people, please stop dictating your personal interpretation of Islam on the rest of us. Let each one of us deal with our religion as we see fit. After all we are individually answerable in the hereafter so allow us this liberty here too, which is our right.. ”
- “god has forgiven mighty sinners but that doesn’t mean that we start comitting sins keeping this in mind that the god who has forgiven mighty sinners, why wouldn’t forgive us. This we should think when mistakenly or due to ignorance, we have comitted any sin and want to repent. Religion is a personal affair but there are various Ayats and Ahadith which command us eradicate the evil and spread the goodness. There are many commandments about preaching. That’s what i and others are trying to do!”
- “And also, even if the things we are attaching to this happens regardless of valentines day, who is stopping u to eradicate these evil activities in normal days. Since the day is specific, our objections here are also specifically for this day. Look at the history of this, should we celebrate it? Does islam allows us to indulge in obscenity or dating? No never”
- “though we are individually answerable, but we will also be asked there what we have done to wipe out the evil from society and bringing the ignorant to the right path. It was therefore, that the prophet(pbuh) started preaching people, he could also sit in home thinking i am individually answerable to my god but he was ordered to eradicate evil from society and spread the message of Allah. Hence, as to follow our beloved Allah and his messenger(pbuh), we should also do what he did.”
- “I reminded you of the ultimate power of God who can forgive, and has forgiven those who never repented and consciously committed sins. And if you want to eradicate evil, do it, stop it but I am against your judging ppl and their intensions which you don’t know, no matter how wrong they appear to you. And btw there is a difference between teaching which our prophet(pbuh) did and forcing your point and terming every other thing haram which you are doing.”
- “sorry to see that Shiv Sena and RSS has so many followers in Paksitan. They also think that Valentine is haram and are burning things to protest against Valentines Day. I guess at the end of teh day there is not much difference between Taliban supporters this side of the border and Shiv Sena wallas on that side!”
Just a little history:
Valentine’s Day is named after early Christian martyr named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496.
The sending of Valentines cards and gifts was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards to follow the British custom in the year 1847.
good luck.
Indian Taliban (a.k.a. Shiv Sena) and Pakistani Taliban agree on one thing:
They both are against Valentine Day.
Happy Valentine Day (belated)
Ali,
Please read my post one more time…and then tell me if what I said is same as what you said about pork and alcohol or not?
Now that we have cleared that, read my post again and see what I said about difference between culture and religion. Religion is something that you follow. Culture is something that evolves with you. I follow my religion at my office. My co-workers follow the office culture by fasting along with me. We do it for different reasons. For them, it is a culture without any religious element in it. For me, its religion.
I never talked about worshiping idols. I am merely talking about difference between religion and culture and sooner we, Pakistanis, understand that the better it will be for our country.
Whatever the history of Valentine maybe, today it is used to express your love for significant people in your life. Love could be sex and only sex for one person and true expression of feelings for someone else. It depends on you choosing the radical meaning or a liberal one. THAT…my friend, is the exact problem we have. We believe more in radical thinking than liberal.
And anyway our MEN in Pakistan are all becoming girls and try to become at least. For our youth now money and love are the only things left in the world.
IN the picture above I salute to those sensible GIRLS who are doing a little but at least doing something and making statements! A right statement. Valentine is not our day to celebrate
@Aziz
If they did fast with you or anyone follows Islamic rules, these will help anyone because in Islam nothing is useless and harmful.
But let’s see if I have Hindu or some other religion friends and I am working with them to show them sincerity and to gain their trust in me Should I go to worship their idols? Of course I will NOT do that? Should I also eat Pork with amricans or westerners if I am living in Europe becuase they fast when I fast? NEVER.
Becuase I have my values, rules and most of all I have my identity which I know and I must trust that they are the best in the universe. I will stick with them.
Valentine was a Jew who gave an idea of sex b/w man and women without marriage, he was hanged or whatever on 14th Feb and I and also MUSLIMS MUST NOT be his followers by celebrating his day [full stop]
@Asma: What do you mean by “outside culture”? We do not live in the 7th century anymore and we should not try to live in that century either. The world is not “mine and yours” anymore. We are a melting pot. Everything fits in its place. We cannot be rigid and not express our feelings through other cultures specially when your own culture does not any dedicated day to express love and affection. The Indian Sub Continent is a mixture of several different cultures including British.
Also remember, culture is different than religion. If someone defies religion and drink or eat pork etc., are not along the same lines of showing affection on February 14th or wishing New Year on January 1st. I work in USA. I am the only muslim in my deparment yet in the month of Ramadan, they fast with me. They may not follow the rules to the dot but they atleast try to respect the fact that I am fasting and they decide not to eat also. It benefits them in several ways. First, it saves them $10 a day for 22 days. Second most of them lose weight. Their intention may not be the same as mine when we all fast but the fact that they understand “other” cultures and religions and respect it makes me proud of them.
No other country needs valentines day more than Pakistan right now. It may have a Catholic history but it makes me feel good when I bring flowers and gifts to my wife, kids and parents. It makes me feel good that I can take time out of my busy life and acknowledge that I am what I am today because of the ones I am loved by and vice versa.
So grow up Pakistanis. Valentines day has been celebrated in Pakistan for years and years and no protests were held until recently. Do yo use a trend?