Cloaked in religion
Susuk Ayat??
Classic example of mixing religion with traditional superstition and charms. I was having lunch and was watching tv at the same time when i chanced upon this documentary show on tv3. It was about the way in which women traditionally try to achieve flawless beauty. Imagine inserting needles, gems and gold or silver into ur skin (ie, cheeks, chin, forehead, and other parts of the face). Damn...its disgusting la. My belief is that when these things are inserted at the proper places of the face, they ease out the wrinkles..making the facial skin look taut. Imagine foundation (those pillars and beams on the walls, not the powder or liquid ones u put on ur face!) being inserted underneathe ur skin..brutal man!
And now, they interview and air this guy who claims to go against all these old due to it being against the Islamic teachings. He has his methods for women to achieve beauty though..through prayer and certain rituals. Through prayer and rituals??? I was like.."HUH?? Biar betik?!"
For those who come to him to ask for beauty..he 'checks' them first for illness and if there are any spirits residing in the body. Then, he will ask them what they want and they will tell him what they wish to achieve for. In between them will be a coconut shell container and whatever she says, he claims will be stored in the shell. After that, he recites prayers whilst squatting down, balancing on top of the small coconut shell container. And he turns round and round.. I was stunned. In my head, this is obviously not a teaching of Islam. He claims, the recitation of the prayers are important as they are god's blessings.
He does some prayers while seemingly removing the bad forces from the woman. Then, he presses on the regions of the face which the woman wants to be improve. All these while reciting prayers. I was like..oh well..at least he memorises the surah yaasin. But dang...touching a woman all over the face? To me, this doesnt seem medicinal enough to warrant the touch..and after that, the woman will bathe in water immersed with flowers and lime with certain roots.
All these rituals for me, seems to be a cultural belief cloaked with prayers to make it look religious. But underneathe it all, its still an act of superstition and ritualism. These people usually protect their beliefs with claims like, "you don't belief in these?? means you doubt the powers of god!" or "with prayer, anything can happen" or "god is almighty, he can do anything so why doubt this??"
Yes, Allah, the one God, omnipresent and omnipowerful has the ability to do anything and everything. But the thing that i see him in is the order in this world that he ordains. That nature works in an order, undisrupted. You see day and night moving like clockwork, the universe, the stars and the planets moving about its own orbits and having its own path.
And yes, i believe that there are spirits around. The satan that had vowed to lead us all astray from the path that we are supposed to walk on and the jinns that he has created. Basically, i cant explain more due to my lack of knowledge but here i am, presenting my views on this practise.
Basically, the devil seeks to lead us astray even in tasks we think are towards the path of God. The more we think of God, the more he seeks to lead us away. We must be concious of the guidelines given in Islam..on the behavorial code which we are taught to follow so as to keep us away from being led into the path of the devil.
Right now, it seems that the devil is more faithful to God than we are. He has kept to his promise since the day he was created. Us?? When are we going to fulfil promise we made that Allah is the one god and that we will follow the message brought by the prophet Muhammad?
This act of ritualism and practises which cloak themselves in religion is an act i do not believe in. And advise for the women out there, true beauty lies in the heart and character. Physical beauty can never match true beauty and the quest for physical beauty should be sought hand in hand with inner beauty. Having just the physical side, u get attention, and unwanted attention to yourself. Keep urself healthy and fit, that way, ur inner beauty will shine through the healthy brimming exterior. That way too, you are keeping yourself at the optimum self you have been created to be.
May Allah guide us all..bless us with happiness and health n protect us from the dangers of this world, physically or mentally. Help us become successful people in the world and after...
Classic example of mixing religion with traditional superstition and charms. I was having lunch and was watching tv at the same time when i chanced upon this documentary show on tv3. It was about the way in which women traditionally try to achieve flawless beauty. Imagine inserting needles, gems and gold or silver into ur skin (ie, cheeks, chin, forehead, and other parts of the face). Damn...its disgusting la. My belief is that when these things are inserted at the proper places of the face, they ease out the wrinkles..making the facial skin look taut. Imagine foundation (those pillars and beams on the walls, not the powder or liquid ones u put on ur face!) being inserted underneathe ur skin..brutal man!
And now, they interview and air this guy who claims to go against all these old due to it being against the Islamic teachings. He has his methods for women to achieve beauty though..through prayer and certain rituals. Through prayer and rituals??? I was like.."HUH?? Biar betik?!"
For those who come to him to ask for beauty..he 'checks' them first for illness and if there are any spirits residing in the body. Then, he will ask them what they want and they will tell him what they wish to achieve for. In between them will be a coconut shell container and whatever she says, he claims will be stored in the shell. After that, he recites prayers whilst squatting down, balancing on top of the small coconut shell container. And he turns round and round.. I was stunned. In my head, this is obviously not a teaching of Islam. He claims, the recitation of the prayers are important as they are god's blessings.
He does some prayers while seemingly removing the bad forces from the woman. Then, he presses on the regions of the face which the woman wants to be improve. All these while reciting prayers. I was like..oh well..at least he memorises the surah yaasin. But dang...touching a woman all over the face? To me, this doesnt seem medicinal enough to warrant the touch..and after that, the woman will bathe in water immersed with flowers and lime with certain roots.
All these rituals for me, seems to be a cultural belief cloaked with prayers to make it look religious. But underneathe it all, its still an act of superstition and ritualism. These people usually protect their beliefs with claims like, "you don't belief in these?? means you doubt the powers of god!" or "with prayer, anything can happen" or "god is almighty, he can do anything so why doubt this??"
Yes, Allah, the one God, omnipresent and omnipowerful has the ability to do anything and everything. But the thing that i see him in is the order in this world that he ordains. That nature works in an order, undisrupted. You see day and night moving like clockwork, the universe, the stars and the planets moving about its own orbits and having its own path.
And yes, i believe that there are spirits around. The satan that had vowed to lead us all astray from the path that we are supposed to walk on and the jinns that he has created. Basically, i cant explain more due to my lack of knowledge but here i am, presenting my views on this practise.
Basically, the devil seeks to lead us astray even in tasks we think are towards the path of God. The more we think of God, the more he seeks to lead us away. We must be concious of the guidelines given in Islam..on the behavorial code which we are taught to follow so as to keep us away from being led into the path of the devil.
Right now, it seems that the devil is more faithful to God than we are. He has kept to his promise since the day he was created. Us?? When are we going to fulfil promise we made that Allah is the one god and that we will follow the message brought by the prophet Muhammad?
This act of ritualism and practises which cloak themselves in religion is an act i do not believe in. And advise for the women out there, true beauty lies in the heart and character. Physical beauty can never match true beauty and the quest for physical beauty should be sought hand in hand with inner beauty. Having just the physical side, u get attention, and unwanted attention to yourself. Keep urself healthy and fit, that way, ur inner beauty will shine through the healthy brimming exterior. That way too, you are keeping yourself at the optimum self you have been created to be.
May Allah guide us all..bless us with happiness and health n protect us from the dangers of this world, physically or mentally. Help us become successful people in the world and after...
very nice article you have written, yes people have to watch out for this type of thing, it is very wide spread through out the Muslim world.
Salam