“STOP POSTING YOUR PICTURES ON INTERNET!”
Dear Sisters-in-Islam,
Right from the time when I made up my mind to address this issue, I have been harboring second thoughts and even come of the opinion that doing so is a rather unwise and seemingly a rash thing to do.However, I plunged into this topic with high and rather wistful hopes that this message will have passed along to as many people as possible and they would have seen the error of their ways.
Before I begin, I would like to plead to every reader to not jump to immediate conclusions and please lend an attentive ear and hear me through.Your reactions might vary according to single individuals.i hope very much that this shall be an eye-opener, something of a realization or a revelation. It’s your conscience that I shall try to prickle by doing so.
Before I come to the heart of the issue,I would like to highlight on certain points which you might be lead to believe is totally out of topic but is completely interlinked and shall add insight.
Let me begin with an introduction on Modesty and Shame.
Modesty literally means avoiding indecency or impropriety,
while Shame being:
a feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour.
My first advise is that we ponder over their meanings and look into the very depths of our souls and see if we have these two highly important traits in ourself.
I understand ive been doing enough beating around the bush trying to dodge the main subject, now I shall take a direct and personal approach.
“STOP POSTING YOUR PICTURES ON internet FACEBOOK!”twittter,myspace etc etc
I can almost hear a collective gasp and many who have already considered reading all that was above a waste of their precious time.All I ask is to have some patience and give me the benefit of the doubt and read on…
It is grieving to know that we,the teenage girls of todays world have stooped to such a low level and by doing so have endangered the dignity of Women in Society. It is unfathomable as to why the need arises for teenage girls to post their pictures on Fcebook.It is dis-heartening when one logs on to see the display of many photo’s and images of special moments and fun gala’s being showcased to the general public.
I vowed to myself not to make this a religious viewpoint but I don’t think the enormity of it can be conveyed by not bringing religion into this discussion.
God Almighty says:
"And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like palms of hands or one eye or both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer dress like veil, gloves, head-cover, apron, etc.), and to draw their veils all over Juyubihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms, etc.) AND NOT TO REVEAL THEIR ADORNMENT EXCEPT TO their husbands, their fathers, their husbands fathers, their sons, their husbands sons, their brothers or their brothers sons, or their sisters sons, or their (Muslim) women (i.e. their sisters in Islam), or the (female) slaves whom their right hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigour, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful"
( سورة النور , An-Noor, Chapter #24, Verse #31)
Women are considered the jewels of society. How often do you see valuable jewellery encased with gemstones for instance being kept out in the open? Perhaps for trade purposes they are displayed in showcases. Otherwise, they are kept safe and special care is taken for their protection.
When seen under light of this comparison what it implies is, by posting your pictures you are, in short ADVERTISING yourself. Every wandering eye sees you and measures your character. Have you ever wondered how much of yourself you are giving out by your images?
Even after being given such an esteemed position in the eyes of society, why are women striving so hard to try to snatch the spotlight in society ? To try observe a round-about social life? Have our hearts hardened so bad we can’t see our mis-deeds and are not striving to abstain from them?
Yes! We understand times have changed.It is afterall the 21st century."The modern era"----where change is imminent but can we compromise with religion in this instance? Can we forget the general teachings that we have been brought up with, in order to be socially active and to observe the niceties of the present in-lifestyle? I am not asking you to delete your Facebook account, just a simple request.DON'T POST YOUR PICS ON IT! We do understand the importance of staying in touch and knowing what our friends are upto and how they are doing? That does not necessarily justify us putting up loads of pics of ourselves, our families and friends.
Okay,many may counter argue by saying..i am not doing anything wrong.i am covered up in adequate clothes and some even with their cloaks(abaya’s) and/or others with their scarves pinned up.I have modestly covered myself and have nothing to be ashamed of. How very wrong we are?
Modesty as you very well are aware (after the explanation) does not only include wearing decent clothing and appropriately covering yourself ,it has various other aspects..Modesty must be displayed in one's Acts and Behaviour too! Is posting your picture on the Web modest? Ask yourself this question?
And the second important trait, Shame. If you have commited an error you find yourself guilty, regret it and perhaps vow never to do it again. But what if you don’t have shame? You don’t have a conscience? You sin! And are not sorry for it.Don’t you think this is the case here? Aren’t we ashamed of making ourselves a public exhibit?We go on doing it without thinking over the consequence?
Have we ever thought what shall become of our pictures?Anybody could copy the pictures and save it on their PC’s..And what Gurantee do we have that these pictuers wouldn't be seen by the members of the opposite sex!! And if, inshaAllah in the near future we decide to change?become far more modest in our clothing than we used to be? Even if it maybe by a small degree.We decide to cover the head, face or wear abaya,then what of our old pics? The ones the others have saved on their PC’s..they shall have our pics till the very end of time and we won't be able to do anything about it.
And the other problem many girls have had to face was when their friends have put up their pictures without their consent.They are left with nothing to do but plead with their friends to remove their pictures.The friend unfortunately turns deaf ears to her.Not only are you displaying yourself but also others..Now how Grave could this get??so please think hard and long about this..
I don’t want to have to pin the tail. I want everyone to chew over what I have said and come to terms on your own.Please think about everything said here.Its your pictures,and it's your choice what you do with it.All I can, is let you know why this shouldn’t be done...
And read this too..Jazakallah Kahair
http://sharingknowledgeofislam.blogspot.com/2010/03/humble-request-to-sisters.html
http://sharingknowledgeofislam.blogspot.com/2011/01/humble-request-to-all-brothers-sisters.html
The Writer wishes to be unknown for personnel reasons
Right from the time when I made up my mind to address this issue, I have been harboring second thoughts and even come of the opinion that doing so is a rather unwise and seemingly a rash thing to do.However, I plunged into this topic with high and rather wistful hopes that this message will have passed along to as many people as possible and they would have seen the error of their ways.
Before I begin, I would like to plead to every reader to not jump to immediate conclusions and please lend an attentive ear and hear me through.Your reactions might vary according to single individuals.i hope very much that this shall be an eye-opener, something of a realization or a revelation. It’s your conscience that I shall try to prickle by doing so.
Before I come to the heart of the issue,I would like to highlight on certain points which you might be lead to believe is totally out of topic but is completely interlinked and shall add insight.
Let me begin with an introduction on Modesty and Shame.
Modesty literally means avoiding indecency or impropriety,
while Shame being:
a feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour.
My first advise is that we ponder over their meanings and look into the very depths of our souls and see if we have these two highly important traits in ourself.
I understand ive been doing enough beating around the bush trying to dodge the main subject, now I shall take a direct and personal approach.
“STOP POSTING YOUR PICTURES ON internet FACEBOOK!”twittter,myspace etc etc
I can almost hear a collective gasp and many who have already considered reading all that was above a waste of their precious time.All I ask is to have some patience and give me the benefit of the doubt and read on…
It is grieving to know that we,the teenage girls of todays world have stooped to such a low level and by doing so have endangered the dignity of Women in Society. It is unfathomable as to why the need arises for teenage girls to post their pictures on Fcebook.It is dis-heartening when one logs on to see the display of many photo’s and images of special moments and fun gala’s being showcased to the general public.
I vowed to myself not to make this a religious viewpoint but I don’t think the enormity of it can be conveyed by not bringing religion into this discussion.
God Almighty says:
"And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like palms of hands or one eye or both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer dress like veil, gloves, head-cover, apron, etc.), and to draw their veils all over Juyubihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms, etc.) AND NOT TO REVEAL THEIR ADORNMENT EXCEPT TO their husbands, their fathers, their husbands fathers, their sons, their husbands sons, their brothers or their brothers sons, or their sisters sons, or their (Muslim) women (i.e. their sisters in Islam), or the (female) slaves whom their right hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigour, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful"
( سورة النور , An-Noor, Chapter #24, Verse #31)
Women are considered the jewels of society. How often do you see valuable jewellery encased with gemstones for instance being kept out in the open? Perhaps for trade purposes they are displayed in showcases. Otherwise, they are kept safe and special care is taken for their protection.
When seen under light of this comparison what it implies is, by posting your pictures you are, in short ADVERTISING yourself. Every wandering eye sees you and measures your character. Have you ever wondered how much of yourself you are giving out by your images?
Even after being given such an esteemed position in the eyes of society, why are women striving so hard to try to snatch the spotlight in society ? To try observe a round-about social life? Have our hearts hardened so bad we can’t see our mis-deeds and are not striving to abstain from them?
Yes! We understand times have changed.It is afterall the 21st century."The modern era"----where change is imminent but can we compromise with religion in this instance? Can we forget the general teachings that we have been brought up with, in order to be socially active and to observe the niceties of the present in-lifestyle? I am not asking you to delete your Facebook account, just a simple request.DON'T POST YOUR PICS ON IT! We do understand the importance of staying in touch and knowing what our friends are upto and how they are doing? That does not necessarily justify us putting up loads of pics of ourselves, our families and friends.
Okay,many may counter argue by saying..i am not doing anything wrong.i am covered up in adequate clothes and some even with their cloaks(abaya’s) and/or others with their scarves pinned up.I have modestly covered myself and have nothing to be ashamed of. How very wrong we are?
Modesty as you very well are aware (after the explanation) does not only include wearing decent clothing and appropriately covering yourself ,it has various other aspects..Modesty must be displayed in one's Acts and Behaviour too! Is posting your picture on the Web modest? Ask yourself this question?
And the second important trait, Shame. If you have commited an error you find yourself guilty, regret it and perhaps vow never to do it again. But what if you don’t have shame? You don’t have a conscience? You sin! And are not sorry for it.Don’t you think this is the case here? Aren’t we ashamed of making ourselves a public exhibit?We go on doing it without thinking over the consequence?
Have we ever thought what shall become of our pictures?Anybody could copy the pictures and save it on their PC’s..And what Gurantee do we have that these pictuers wouldn't be seen by the members of the opposite sex!! And if, inshaAllah in the near future we decide to change?become far more modest in our clothing than we used to be? Even if it maybe by a small degree.We decide to cover the head, face or wear abaya,then what of our old pics? The ones the others have saved on their PC’s..they shall have our pics till the very end of time and we won't be able to do anything about it.
And the other problem many girls have had to face was when their friends have put up their pictures without their consent.They are left with nothing to do but plead with their friends to remove their pictures.The friend unfortunately turns deaf ears to her.Not only are you displaying yourself but also others..Now how Grave could this get??so please think hard and long about this..
I don’t want to have to pin the tail. I want everyone to chew over what I have said and come to terms on your own.Please think about everything said here.Its your pictures,and it's your choice what you do with it.All I can, is let you know why this shouldn’t be done...
And read this too..Jazakallah Kahair
http://sharingknowledgeofislam.blogspot.com/2010/03/humble-request-to-sisters.html
http://sharingknowledgeofislam.blogspot.com/2011/01/humble-request-to-all-brothers-sisters.html
The Writer wishes to be unknown for personnel reasons
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