Friday, April 4, 2008

Fitna.

Everyone has been asking, "How's the situation now in Amsterdam, after the release of 'Fitna'?" Well, this entry serves to answer that question, among other more important purposes of course.

If you all have been following the developments in MS yahoo grp mails, you would know that Ibnur suggested not watching the film, as a response. Actually, I agree with him, but I figured being here and all, it wouldn't be smart of me not to watch the movie, in case I got quizzed. So yar. I did have a look at it. And, like most of you, I was appalled and enraged.

In fact, I would go as far as to say; after watching the film, if you did not feel any anger, if you did not feel upset, if you did not feel hurt, then there is no iman in you.

How then do we show/channel our anger, our hurt? Do we burn effigies of Geert Wilders? Do we burn flags of the Netherlands? What should we do?

Allow me to give a little background regarding the director of the movie, Geert Wilders. He is a Dutch Member of Parliament, he is a prominent critic of Islam, and has very very strong relations with Israel (I'm not trying to imply anything). He has said many degrading things about Islam, amongst which, and I quote: "(Muslims should)tear out half of the Koran if they wished to stay in the Netherlands” because it contained "terrible things" and that Muhammad would “in these days be hunted down as a terrorist”. Now, some of you will remember the assassination of Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch playwright, for his works regarding Islam. You may now question this Geerst Wilde guy's intelligence for releasing this movie, considering what happened to Van Gogh. So why did he release it in the end?

Maybe I could give a little insight here. You see, the Dutch have a very very tolerant culture (be it regarding religion, personal beliefs or anything else), embedded in their society for donkey years. No doubt, as in other places in the world, Islamophobia has creeped in. But, it's not that easy to change this culture of tolerance, it's not easy to suddenly make every Dutch citizen hate Islam.

Thus, anti-Islamists like Theo van gogh and Geerst Wilde resort to such means. Freedom of speech? Bullshit. They don't give two hoots about that. What they want, is to spread propaganda about Islam. Paint a negative image of Islam. Why? Because they want to provoke the Muslims, specifically in Holland, to react. They want Muslims to show violent reactions, so that the process of disseminating Islamophobia can be sped up. Once they get reactions from the Muslims, they will have justifications to rid the Netherlands of Muslims, for good.

Of course, alongside them, they have an ally in the media. You see, the media just wants to sensationalise everything, simply because sensationalism sells. I do not know if you have seen these footage(which was shown in the local media), whereby young Muslims were interviewed and gave comments like "Geerst should be killed" etc. They try to paint pictures of unrest in Amsterdam. When in fact, there really is none (yet!). It's been very calm here. As for those footage, the media has a tendency (my 'bro' told me this) to go this part of Amsterdam, the suburbs, where some of the Muslims are school dropouts and do nothing everyday, and interview these people, just so that they would get non-intelligent responses to broadcast to the world. Unfortunately, it works.

So that's his main motive (to eventually drive Muslims out) and we know his modus operandi (via mass media). So again, what should we do?

Well firstly, we shouldn't give him what he wants. Don't give him a reaction. But I'm sure you all have heard that rhetoric before from MUIS, the government etc so I need not elaborate further.=)

Secondly, it's time for us all, as ambassadors of our religion, to get acquainted with the Quran, particularly those verses used in the movie. Go and check them up, please. After my exam earlier in the day, my Romanian friend (who's a staunch Christian btw) came to me to talk about this. She asked me regarding one of the verses, verse 60 of Surah Al-Anfal, whereby God mentioned to us to get ready weapons against our enemies. She asked if that was true. I said yes, I took out the Quran (with English translation) and showed her verse 61 of the same surah: "But if they incline to peace, you also incline to it, and trust Allah....." She immediately went, "Oh my God. Now i question his ( Wilde) motives. What is he trying to do???"
Point is, equip ourselves with knowledge about our own holy book, so that we will not get red-faced if asked by non-Muslims. Do not just race to 'khatam' the Quran, and not understand it at all; read it and read its translation, it would be much more worthwhile.

May I also praise Mr Wong Kan Seng, for his comments regarding the release of this film. I think the Singapore government should be lauded for the way it deals with these issues. Also, Christian societies in Singapore have come out to condemn this movie. I really respect that. It only goes to prove what Allah said surah Al-Maidah verse 82, to be true.

As for Wilde himself, we don't have to worry about him. Allah will recompense him. And Allah is the best of recompensers.=)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Walid, you are right. Wilders cherry-picked warlike verses from the Quran. The film would have been much more effective had it shown the richness of Islam by juxtaposing peaceful verses from the Quran with scenes of devout Muslims murdering thousands of innocent people.

Anonymous said...

I was curious about this FITNA video. Just watched it, in case people asked me & I have no idea what it was about......Seriously after watching it, I felt the guy who did it was utterly stupid! Lifting verses w/o knowing full context is definitely stupidity. As Muslims, we should understand these verses not on its own but comprehensive understanding. InsyaAllah if we seek Allah's knowledge in the right way, HE'll show us HIS guidance.

Anonymous said...

Whoa, Mr Impostor, I thought you at least had respect for our religion. Turns out you don't even have that. But tahu pun takut, letak as anonymous, because you're afraid of offending people. You disgust me lah. Your time will come, sooner than you imagine. =) Be careful when you ride your bike, when you get out of your lift, when you're walking at engine fac. You never know what might hit you.=)

Anonymous said...

jaga jaga Mr Imposter, we know who you are! we will crush you like a maggot! let this be a death warning to you. im going to kill you, your family, your niece, your ayang, your mac, and whatever God you pray to! let this be a warning.

Anonymous said...

Mr Imposter doesn't know there's such a thing called IP address. And even if there wasn't. it wouldn't take 2 seconds for us to recognise it's you lah. Only a man like you will issue a death warning to your own family, and Nau'dzu billah, your own God.

Anonymous said...

ahahah! Mr Imposter is so stupid! just like his family! and to send a death threat to his own family? hahahah! what a joker! fuck his family man! fuck him!

Anonymous said...

Astargifirullah. stop this! I suggest you have a one to one talk with the guy if you know who he is. just my humble suggestion. please walid, i know you for so long and this is not you. please. someone talk to this guy.

Anonymous said...

salam walid. word of ur blog spread.. i must say, i really like ur style of writing. really pleasent to read. jus one thing, i watched the fitna film, and i felt nothing for it. so i kinda disagree with you that a person who does not feel anger for this film has low iman. the film was utterly lame, and i just felt that as if i was listening to a foolish person speak. and u dun get angry w fools, you jus dismiss them and walk away for their stupidity is wasting ur time.
in fact for the part where he was tryna show islam taking over the world, i smiled to myself. he's working so hard to stop this, but the joke is on him. we all know islam will prevail towards the end of days. it has been decreed by Allah, and only the foolish try to change what Allah has written.
but i do agree with you. know the quran, but to guide ur own heart first, and then to dakwah.

Anonymous said...

Assalamualaikum,

wise words sister. if only you and the imposter can apply it to yourselves. What is this? death threats? swearing on each others parents? please settle your case outside of this blog ok? i do not feel you write good but as a friend who comes here occasionally, this fight between you and the person is just so.....childish. and walid, there is no need to resort to such lowly levels like the imposter. you are better than that. thats what i thought. then again.

Allahuma inna lakimnal ulun.

Anonymous said...

Bros & Sis,
This imposter is trying to get attention. Just ignore him, InsyaAllah he'll just 'die a natural' death. Such a pity, people who want to seek attention has to resort to such means. Just like this 'Fitna' show, obviously this guy is trying to get cheap publicity. Remember, orang yang beriman & bertaqwa will behave as one so bros & sis, just ignore him. We just doa that he'll be given taufiq & hidayah one day InsyaAllah.

eusof said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Hey anonymous...
I find you a really interesting character man...Don't worry I'm not of walid's friends nor am I tracking you down or something.
But I sure would love to buy you a cup of coffee....Pls do call me at 97907591...tell you what if you call me in the next 48 hours...I'll throw in an oreo chessecake in as well...

Walid said...

Thanks Ana, didn't expect you to be here.=) Allow me to disagree with you though. I'm sure you have heard of the hadith, 'If you see something wrong stopt it with your hands, if not your tongue, if not your heart. I'm referring to the 'heart' part here. And, you may think he's a fool. Trust me, he's not. I mean, he has a law degree! He's very smart actually, using simple effects )like the child) to win hearts over. It did have its desired impact, at least on non-Muslims, those who don't know too much about Islam anyway.

Walid said...

By the way, Abi_Furqan, somehow, your number seems very familiar. Hmm....=)

Anonymous said...

How did rasul s.a.w. react when the quraish ridiculed him and quran? they did far worse than what was done in fitna, they threw vulagrities, said rasul was possessed, a liar, they understood the quran thru and thru and they sneered at the words of the quran and they WERE the leaders, the best minds, in mekkah at that time. Did rasul s.a.w. get angry? no he did not. he brushed off any foolish talk and instead, prayed for these people. he never got angry, he was always tolerant and gentle. so what if this guy has a degree? A person (the rich quraisy) can be educated, but foolish. A person (rasul) can be uneducated, but wise. you cannot equate intellect to hikmah. the hadith u quote refers to muslims. when u see a muslim not praying, you correct him. you cannot impose islamic laws on a non muslim, can u? if you read many hadiths you will realise that most of the stories where rasul got angry involved muslim hypocrites. not non muslims. its more an insult on our religion seeing muslims (who are fighting against stupid stuff like fitna) themselves disobeying Allah and his rasul. its a greater insult on rasul himself when we totally disregard his sunnah and follow our own nafs. the actions of muslims should sadden us more than non muslims. i jus am not angry with this video. its utterly ridiculous. we muslims shld know better than to get angry. bc this guy is tryna stop the spread of islam. so who wld he be fighting against? you think the muslims nowadays spread islam? i think the quran does a better job than the muslims. Allah spreads islam. so this guy can try as he might, he wont win. and we muslims know that. so why entertain such vain talk? why get angry? no reason at all.
hehe.. sorry if i sound defensive... its jus de way i speak. you can ask norhafix.. haha he knows i speeak this way. no hard feelings man, jus my nature is as such. =]

Anonymous said...

oh yah. i describe him a fool because that is how we muslims shld see him. we know he's tryna fight Allahu Akhbar. The GREATEST. only a fool wld do that. fools dont realise they are fools. but ppl who know better, like us muslims, shld be able to see that they are.

Walid said...

Why entertain such talk? I think here are plenty of reasons for us to. Haha. I already gave the example in my entry, so I do no want to repeat it again. Basically it's our religion, and if you wanna let people spread falsehood about it without standing up for it (in the right way of course), I believe that's a twisted opinion.

I don't know why you wanna give exmaples about educated people being foolish, I thought I explained myself clearly about his motives.

And Rasul s.a.w never got angry when insults were hurled at him, but when it involved his religion or Allah, he did get angry. There are many occasions of such, I'm sure you can check it out in the stories he mentioned.

And if u wanna use that rationale, every non-muslim is foolish because they do not accept Islam. That's not the issue. The issue is, this guy knew exactly what he was doing.

I think I already said in my entry,that Muslims who resort to violenece because of this isn't smart, so I didn't see the need for you to bring it up again.

Don't worry about your tone or what. Ni blog yang menghormati perbezaan pendapat. Haha. ANyway I've had much worse on my blog, no worries.=)

Anonymous said...

hehehe.. alright. i hear you. i still dun agree but thats alright. im fine with the difference in opinion. it is, after all, jus opinion.
i brought this up initially bc i didnt think it was appropriate for you to say that someone who does not feel any anger has no iman. its quite dangerous to say that, really. for only Allah knows who has iman and who doesnt and only HE has de right to say so. so it is really not for any of us to say whats in the hearts of people.
so yeah, i respect ur opinion, but i think u shld take back that statement abt the iman. really, u dun wanna thread along tt line. really really. noone has de right to speak of the iman of others, unless Allah gives him that right (eg: rasul)

Walid said...

Oh thanks for your concern.=) But I don't think there's cause for me to retract that statement, really. It is after all my opinion and I stand by it. Of course, if it's wrong, I 'm only human and I'm not infallible. But yar, I still stand by my opinion.=)

Anonymous said...

alright. but im warning you against that kinda talk. do not do anything tt is only Allah's right to do. i seriously urge u to reconsider that statement. its not a matter of opinion. Allah did not say a person who does not feel anger for such things have NO iman. so pls rethink. this is really thin ice.
sorry im jus really concerned. leave matters of iman to Allah.

Walid said...

Ok. "Warning" noted. By the way your statement "its not a matter of opinion" is an opinion in itself.=) Alright then.