Sufia's-eye View

Much is being said of how Veena Malik has embarrassed Pakistanis no end with her recent exploits on the 4th season of Bigg Boss. Yesterday I even watched an entire hour long live program on a news channel, where Veena was invited along with a maulvi who, to put it politely, insulted her openly on air.

I would like to ask my fellow Pakistanis and Muslims – and the media one question: Why Veena? Are there really NO other violations of Islam in our daily lives? What the public, and the media, should really be raising a hue and cry about are the major violations of Islam that take place every single day – and on a much larger scale. How come we see no one raising these issues on TV or other media? and how come no maulvi dares to raise his voice on these issues? Aren’t they just as prevalent in our society, in fact even more so? Don’t they deserve more importance than a woman’s indecent exposure?

Ill present my list here:

• Target killings (“A Muslim is the one from whose hands and tongue other Muslims are safe” – Prophet Mohammad (Peace be on him); ”Take not life, which Allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus does He command you, that ye may learn wisdom“.- The Quran 6: 151; among many others)

• Rape of women (Islam forbids sexual relations outside the bonds of wedlock. Even the “rape” of one’s wife is not permitted. Similarly, the religion also prohibits a man from looking lustfully at a woman other than his own wife)

• Homosexuality (Sexual relations with members of the same sex are expressly prohibited. The Quran describes the story of the Prophet Lot, whose people openly engaged in homosexuality – and have been condemned in no uncertain terms in the Quran. “Would ye really approach men in your lusts rather than women? Nay, ye are a people (grossly) ignorant! ….And We rained down on them a shower (of brimstone): and evil was the shower on those who were admonished (but heeded not)!” (Qur’an 27:55-58)

• Bribery (“The giver and taker of bribes will both go to Hell” – Prophet Mohammad (PBUH))

• Denial of women’s right to employment (“..to men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn” The Quran, 4:32)

• Depriving women of education (“To acquire an education is the duty of every Muslim male and every Muslim female” – Prophet Mohammad (PBUH))

• The open dating culture (Read points above)

• Thievery, robbery and dishonesty

• Prostitution (same logic as above). Do the maulvis dare point fingers at the influential politicians who are regular visitors at Heera Mandi?

• The use of alcohol and other intoxicants (“O you who believe, intoxicants, and gambling, and altars, and arrows of chance are tools of affliction used by the devil. You shall avoid him so that you may be successful.” The Quran 5:90)

• Fortune tellers, which are in fact so openly endorsed by television channels (Read above verse)

Narrowing down to the entertainment industry in particular, why not openly condemn other violations of the teachings of Islam? The biggest example could be seen in the shape of another contestant on the same program – Mr. Ali Saleem, better known as Begum Nawazish Ali. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has specifically cursed men who dress like women, and vice versa. Did we hear anyone speaking out against him/her?

Or how about Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena, a dance competition which Wasim Akram co-hosted with Sushmita Sen, and in which both of them danced together? Is not touching a strange woman also prohibited?  How about the fact that singing and dancing are not allowed in Islam? Did I see any protests against that?

The fact of the matter is, we as a nation are hypocrites. We condemn what we feel like condemning, while we ignore the things that give us pleasure and enjoyment.  We pick on a non-issue like Veena Malik, conveniently ignoring the other things more deserving of our attention. If we condemn Veena Malik so openly, we should ALSO condemn all the other things I mentioned earlier, otherwise we shouldn’t condemn her either.

The words of Prophet Isa (AS) (Jesus Christ) mentioned in the Bible seem very appropriate here:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”