"Eeekh Women in Veils, Eating Mansaf & Arabian Scottish skirts!"

So what if a woman covers her face, if you eat Mansaf with your bare hands, or wear traditional clothes, (7atta, deshdasheh or even a serwal)... so what if you pray in the middle of a crowded place cause you don't want to miss a prayer...

It's interesting how people find it so easy to mock their own people's traditions, heritage and even a certain understanding of religion...

Why is it a must to follow movie trends in everything from clothing to eating... If someone wants to eat Mansaf in his/her bare hands... leave him be... If he wants to grow a long beard why not? should we all look western and that's the only way to do it!?

It is not a sign of prosperity to reveal your body, or to look western... Why is it easy for you to accept traditions from the far east, say you're walking into a traditional Chinese restaurant where you have to take off your shoes and sit on the floor...

When an Asian lady walks backwards when she is getting out of a room, so as not to turn her back on whoever is in that room (I think some still do that in rural parts who still didn't catch up with GLOBALIZATION! or global Identitization (I think I just invented a word)...

Why is it so much easier to accept the look of monks in temples... or how priests & nuns choose to look or live.... why is it so easy to see men wearing Scottish skirts but it so difficult to accept a man wearing a short dishdasheh (you know the ones above heels)...

Are we so ashamed to accept our own Scottish skirts... yet still respect other people's differences...

It's not easy covering your body if you're a good looking girl, covering your hair is more difficult and covering your face is many times out of the question... put yourself in the shoes of those who do it..... its not easy growing a long beard or getting dressed in a short dishdasheh (I never did that yet)...

No one likes looking weird, or out of place... but those who do that, are welling to take all the comments from their own people... because they believe it does not matter... something else matters more, it is their belief and conviction in what they do... that they are willing to resist all temptations just because they believe it's the right thing to do...

Agree with them or don't, at least respect their strong will and their daily sacrifices... the fact that they are willing to stand up everyday looking out of place but still doing it just because they believe they are doing the right thing no matter what what the consequences are, they're not going to get great jobs looking like that unless the day comes when their own community respects them...

Such people will probably stand up in the most difficult situations and will easily give up their lives for what they believe in... maybe some day we will stop being ashamed of them...

Maybe some distant day will come... a day when we will be ashamed of NOT being one of them!

تعليقات

‏قال غير معرف…
Well said, MK. A friend of mine was recently in Taba, and said people stared at her because she was the only person in a one piece bathing suit.

I think we like to try and conform people into our own image of what is appropriate. Insecurity, maybe.
‏قال M Kilany
Thanks Kinzi,

Insecurity, yes... I think some people are so brainwashed by the media to the point they no longer have pride in their heritage or identity, that's not wise to say the least...
‏قال غير معرف…
same thing goes with why people think it is abussive for parents to dress their young girls in a hijab, or any Islamic code of dressing, while they totally accept dressing them like "bratz" girls.. I found many Muslims here in America saying ya 7aram about the hijab, yet adoring the other way around.. weird, huh?
good post!
‏قال Mohanned
A9lan el mansaf ma bettakel 3'er bel2eed ya m3allem :P
‏قال Bilalٍ
yah ya abu el Kilany, u hit the spot. I always thought about this thing and i think the reason behind it is that, sorry to say, we dont have personality. We are always afraid of others so try to look like them, look at biys and girls these days how they look and dress, imitating people they saw on TV even if they look funny. Yet, when they see a guy or a girl dressing in a different way or old fashioned way, they start laughing at him/ her. That one of the reasons why we are behind.
If we look at the history, LEADERS were the people who were not afraid to do what they velieved in even that most of the peop,e crtiticized them but after they proved to be right, they followeed them. Someone omce said - in arabic- "85% - 90% of the people are followers, they will follow the strong, the other who truly have personlities and do what they bvelieve in"
sorry for a long reply, i think it needs a blog:)
‏قال Miss sea lover
i don't like wearing short dishadash...nor bears...i don't eat mansaf with my hands...but still i respect ppl who do, i respect them because they have thier believes, and they r not afraid what other will think...
‏قال No_Angel
when you wear a Hawaiian shirt and shorts to a wedding what do u expect ?
ur mixing public and private domain here, now while it was/is acceptable to wear dishdasheh to work in the gulf this was never the case in the levant area, so speaking frankly it is out of character for us... you can blame our great great grand parents for that when they choose to wear the shirt and tie.

The other thing is if those people you are talking about don't judge the majority it would be fine, but they have to shoulder the blame for bad mouthing others. while the general sentiment might be pity on one side at the other side it is takfeer. now which do u prefer ?

either way it is a choice and that personal choice should be respected . although it should never be in the sense that you should be that way or another since in the end conformity is and individuality killer. (they both conform to the majority by the way thats why its easy to generalize)
‏قال M Kilany
Bilal,
I think its not Arabs only, its almost everywhere... people are always so impressed with the powerful... they imitate...

Miss,
I wish all were so respectful...

No_angel,
I'm not blaming anybody in here... I agree that deshdasheh is more of a fashion in the Gulf, actually it's not only the gulf its desert everywhere... and by the way its not that far... "great great great grandfather" People in the Jordanian Badiya are still wearing dishdasheh... and people in villages used to wear Gombaz or Serwal... and even in in cities... traditional dresses were there... Maybe we are talking about 70-80 years Max. and thats in cities only...
And believe me you should communicate with the "other side" not everyone who wears a short dishdasheh in Jordan is a takfeeri... far from it, you will find out that most of them are sociable normal human beings... who don't view other people as potential hostages :)
‏قال No_Angel
hmm am a city boy through and through so am talking about my side of things at this point, tracing back through history i think up till the late 1800's they were wearing dishdasheh in the private sphere and "western clothes" in the private sphere, and you can disagree based on ur side of things but am stating mine here.
as for "you will find out that most of them are sociable normal human beings" first of all most of them don't approach me again if they did so once before, secondly even if i do approach them and i do for curiosity's sake i find that most of their ideologies are based on belief and not understand which makes it that much easier to "2itkafer" someone, wahabi's(salafi's) are the people you are referring to here, and those people are in the business of takfeer far too easily and without much respect to the gravity of the situation, for them to lately put up a nicer front doesn't change their reality in my eyes
‏قال M Kilany
No_angel,

There is a misconception that wahabbi/salafi is the same as takfeeri... It's not accurate.. There is a huge difference... actually some takfiri's bekafro wahhabi's... meyma3a...
‏قال No_Angel
yes that is true but in ur reference to short dishbashee it pretains to wahabi's and salafi's being logical and peace loving people which their own history proves that they are not ! not by a far shot, and the ones u are referring to might be the exception and not the standard
‏قال M Kilany
I think you might be refering to your own experience with them... not their history... but your comments are interesting, at least you know a salafi when you see one...

There is another part that is Al-Salafiyya Al-Jihadeyyah which collides with salafiya, now there's an interesting history for you... Maybe you're confusing the two... Actually most Salafi's are now regarded as kind of moderate EVEN peace loving! simply because they don't believe in fighting their own governments even if they don't follow Islamic share3a...

Anyway, don't you think that if you really want to understand someone you shouldn't read about him from his enemies alone, that you have to listen to him as well...

Search and Prepare to be dazzled...

المشاركات الشائعة من هذه المدونة

Destroying A King's School in Jordan (Built in 1947)

When did Jordan become a country?

زمن الحمير و مكافآت دائرة السير بمناسبة الغلاء