Category: Agama

Tempers Flare Over Australia Day Ad Featuring Hijab-Wearing Girls

Tempers have flared over an Australia Day advertising campaign featuring children wearing Muslim headscarves, fanning debate over the meaning of the January 26 Australian national holiday.

The image of the young girls wearing hijabs was removed from a Melbourne billboard this week after the advertising firm behind the campaign to promote the holiday, which was backed by the Victoria state government, received threats.

Far-right groups posted a picture of the poster on social media claiming it to be a misrepresentation of Australia Day and accused the government of being too politically correct.

In response, a crowdfunding campaign to raise A$20,000 (S$21,561) to have the advertisement reinstated kicked off Wednesday and by late Thursday had received more than A$140,000 in pledges.

“The people who found it offensive are the same ones that complain ‘the Muslims don’t assimilate’, and yet here we have two lovely girls celebrating Australia Day,” the campaign’s organiser, Dee Madigan, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The money raised will be used to publish the ad on billboards and in newspapers in major cities across the country from Friday, according to the campaign’s page on the Go Fund Me website.

Weighing into the debate, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told Australian radio that images representing diversity in Australian society meant showcasing people from different backgrounds.

“I think it’s great that we’ve got young girls, young boys from whatever background who are embracing Australian values, flying the Australian flag, proud to be Australian, proud to be part of our society,” he said.

Mr Dutton also took aim at the Australian Greens political party for failing to distance itself from a hard-left faction who have advocated the burning of the Australian flag, erecting protest banners and interrupting Australia Day activities.

Celebrated annually, Australia Day marks the arrival of the first English settlers more than 200 years ago, and is supposed to be a day of reflection on national achievements as new citizens are sworn in.

But for many people, particularly in the Aboriginal community, Australia’s most disadvantaged group, it is known as “Invasion Day”, when colonial forces began to take land and lives from the indigenous population.

Source: Today

January 20, 2017
Malay Wedding Pay Respects To Passing Chinese Funeral Procession

A Chinese funeral and Malay wedding were seen co-existing in the same shared space within the vicinity of Blk 256 Pasir Ris. According to the Jan. 14 post by Maidin Packer, the guests at the wedding stood still to pay their respects as the procession moved along on foot.

Some members of the funeral procession reciprocated by nodding to acknowledge the guests.

The next time you need a real-life example of how far Singapore has come, remember that this is the Singapore you know but don’t read about very often in your textbooks.

Jo

Reader’s Contribution

January 20, 2017
Warning To Any Malay-Muslim Or Muslims From Other Races Attempting To Create Unrest

Someone post a warning to all the malays/muslims in sg about jangan buat kecoh or his words “unrest” when the Israel Pm comes to sg soon. The screenshot of the post said:

“Any Malay-Muslim or Muslim from other races attempting to cause unrest, I will not hesitate to go against any of you, even if it means I must beg for ISD involvement.

As far as I am aware, within Muslims community, there are still sleeping extremist trying to inject their extremism ideology to other peaceful Muslims.

Don’t try to provoke government, you can’t win at any cost, even if you’re willing to die for your own cause.

Ponder over it!”

Tapi bukan itu saje!! He even accused that there is sleeping extremist in the muslims community?

Jangan sembarang tuduh sesama orang Islam dan sangka buruk niat orang. Tak paham lah orang mcm ni.

He even dare to tag Singapore Police Force, Mr Lee Hsien Loong & Mr K Shanmugam Sc to scareus.

Cahaya

Reader’s Contribution

January 19, 2017
OIC Meeting On Myanmar Rohingya Kicks Off

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers on The Situation of The Muslim Minority Rohingya in Myanmar kicked-off with the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) here this morning.

The two-hour closed-door meeting attended by senior officials from member states of OIC, among others, aimed to discuss the draft resolution and the communique that will be delivered at the end of the Council of Foreign Ministers’ session this evening.

The SOM meeting was jointly chaired by Foreign Ministry’s Secretary-General Datuk Ramlan Ibrahim and OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Abdullah Alim (Alim).

Today’s extraordinary session was convened at the request of the Malaysian Government to discuss the ongoing situation of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

According to reports, the ongoing crisis in Rakhine state has caused thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar with reports of atrocities, including rape and murder, which has been denied by the Myanmar government.

The Kuala Lumpur meeting is expected to issue two documents – resolutions and a joint communique to show their united stand regarding the matter.

Source: TheMalayMailOnline

January 19, 2017
Getting Inked: The Islamic Perspective On Getting Tattoos

Following Fox News’ recent interest in the ‘deep love’ that is intrinsically hidden at the heart of Shias getting tattoos, it really begs the question, what is Islamic and cultural perspective on getting one?

So what is the deal with tattoos anyway? Fox News suggests that for some people, it is a way that people respond to the pressures of war and daily issues. On a cultural level, many people get tattoos for very personal reasons, either to remember a loved one, showing their political and religious affiliations, and many other reasons that fall under such a wide spectrum.

For some, the idea is that “There’s something about the impermanence of life these days that makes it necessary to etch ink into our skins. It reminds us that we’ve been marked by the world, that we’re still alive. That we’ll never forget.” [Tahereh Mafi, Unravel Me]

Islamically, there’s a difference between the opinions on the permissibility of getting a tattoo.

The Sunni school of thought follows the belief mentioned in a hadith, suggesting that “the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed the one who does tattoos, the one who has a tattoo done.” [Bukhari].

Conversely, scholars from the Shia school of thought are generally accepting of it and see no issue with both the one getting the tattoo and the one inking them. For example, Sayed Ali Sistani suggests that, “tattoos are permissible irrespective of whether they are permanent or temporary.” and Sayyid Ali Khamenei, in Practical Laws of Islam, ruling 1220 answered a question about the permissibility of tattoos and said: “Tattooing is not haram.”

That being said, the main issue that stems from getting a tattoo is before all else, the permanence of obtaining one, and the belief that it causes you to alter the creation of Allah (swt). This begs the question, how does that then differ from dyeing ones hair, getting piercings, tanning, braces, amongst other things which all technically change the way in which a person looks? While these are not permanent when done, they can lead to the permanent alteration in pigmentation and the body in general.

Another issue is the said unnecessary infliction of pain, which is also considered to be prohibited by some.

To this, I would like to mention that a majority of tattoo artists would rub the area with numbing lotion that prevents you from feeling anything. It also differs based on the area in which you consider placing it, and your own pain threshold. With this, there are a good many things that people do which cause pain to the body such as waxing, threading and piercings, none of which are considered to be forbidden.

Further to this, the popular belief is that a tattoo prevents water from reaching the skin, thus preventing taharah, or ritual purity, necessary for wudhu. This is incorrect as when getting a tattoo, the ink is deposited below several layers of skin, and so it does not prevent water from reaching the skin.

Source: TheMuslimVibe

January 19, 2017