After reading, "AlMaghrib Institute: Who is Your Family,"
in volume 20, issue 08, all I can say is: alhamdulillah! It was truly
heartwarming news to hear of these social service initiatives taken up by young
AlMaghrib Institute students. Our Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam, tells us about the true love of one another. In addition, Islam teaches us that the true faith is what is demonstrated through positive, sincere
deeds, and that action is what makes noticeable progress in society and not
just talking and preaching. In the Qur'an, we learn the characteristics of the truly righteous: "As
to the righteous, they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and
the captive (saying), we feed you for the sake of Allah alone, no reward do we
desire from you, nor thanks" [77:8-9].With food and nourishment being the most basic physical needs of a human being, feeding others in need has been classified as one of the most outstanding virtues by the Sunnah. So, again, I must commend the AlMaghrib volunteers for providing the needy with the basic necessities of
life. As a suggestion for future projects, I hope these exceptional groups of
volunteers and Muslims across the globe will remember to extend their services to other needy
people in countries like Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Malaysia and many
other nations with high rates of malnourishment.
I was reading the letter-to-the-editor section of one of
your older issues, volume 20 issue 02, when I saw a response to the discussion
of punk music and dawah. I thought the response was contradictory and I was quite
offended by it as I am a fan of heavier types of music.The letter stated that
means for dawah should not be associated with filth, however many Muslim rap
bands have formed and are successfully preaching Islam, my mother a fan of one
herself.
I believe that rock/punk music is far purer than rap
music.A Muslim rock band is going to be pushing the same values of any other
genre Muslim band. Punk/rock music contains far less indecent ideas and half
dressed women than rap.
I also believe that the idea of "pure" and "clean" music
is very opinionated. As an example the
infamous "psychedelic rock" has two different meanings. In the West, it is a form of music that tries
to imitate the effects of hallucinogenic drugs while in the East (Japan a key
example) "psychedelic rock" took a change for the better. Previously known for the drug intake of its
performers leaving an impact on the hazy, drugged-out music, Japanese Rock
performers tended to be drugfree and adamantly anti-drug. Now rock performers
in the East are wearing clothes that push modesty and shyness for both males
and females. I think a way to clarify the dawah and music controversy is to
look at the musical group itself and see the values they promote. Muslims and
non-Muslims listen to a variety of music and if punk rock will help convert non-Muslims
and strengthen the belief of Muslims, then there should be no debate on whether
its origins were clean.
