By whose definition?

I came across this blog, where the writer said some things that I feel obliged to challenge. (I am not going to put the blog site up as it is the type that shouldn't be promoted) And before I proceed, this is not a theological blog, nor do I intend or have the knowledge/ability to preach, this is just something that I wish to share.

The blogger(or bugger), was making a few not-so-flattering comments about Islam. About how marrying 4 wives is an obsolete law, etc. But the most striking comment was about how he described certain Islamic punishments (eg execution) as BARBARIC. The writer is a Muslim by the way.

Now, if I go to England's stadiums and an ex-footballer had just died, I would observe a minute of silence. If I went to Rome and the same thing happened, they would observe a minute of applause. So is the applause or silence a better indicator or respect? It just depends on whose definition you go by; the English or the Romans.

If I were from the States, it would be perfectly okay for me to call my mum by name, but if I were from Malaysia and I did that, chances are I would get smacked right in the face. So, by the Malaysian's definition, not by the American's, calling your parent by his or her name is totally unacceptable.

So if I kill someone in Italy, I get imprisoned for life. That's "humanitarian". But I kill someone in Saudi, and I get executed, and it's "barbaric"? My question is; whose definition of "barbaric " are you using? Why are we judging by Western standards, standards that are alien to us and have been imposed on us, either by the Westerners or by ourselves?

So I remind myself, so as to share with you guys, please, let us not talk like fools. Sometimes beacuse we are in university, because we are well-educated, we tend to think we are great, we are smart. Let us not show our stupidity either through our words, or as is the case nowadays, through our blogs.

And, in life we must always remember we are bound by certain things. As children, we cannot talk badly of our parents. As Singapore citizens, we cannot, as much as we want to, slam our government. And as Muslims, we most definitely cannot blast about our religion (Islam, not Muslims). No doubts, we are entitled to pass comments about our religion, but there is a proper way. Choose our words carefully, be constructive, not destructive, make sure we have 'adab', etiquette. And the funny thing is, these people who write about these stuff on their blogs probably can't even name the 13 rukun solat!

So I ask you again: by whose definition?