“CAIRO, August 19, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – In a move considered an example of communal harmony in India, Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat are making rakhis for their fellow Hindus, according to press report.”
This is the result of lack religious education for Muslims in India. Rakhi is a religious act for Hindu and Muslims should not participate, there are many non religious ways to have communal harmony. Islamic scholars in India should have a Fatwa against performance of Rakhi by Muslims.
Reading at your response Rasheed tells me why Muslims really dont prosper. What difference does it make if a Muslim person makes Rakhis :) I think one shall come out from the WAHABI set of mind and embrace people. Islam is a religion of Peace. Come out from this set of mind dude!
Religion of Peace means embrassing and Plurality. NOT being a WAHABI and stating lets have a FATWA. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong if they are making Rakhis. They are not performing any ritual to be the part of Islam.
Dear Sara, your response is enigmatic to me. Shirk is association of anyone with ALLAH. One does not commit a shirk when he or she participates in other religious activities. The Failure for us is when we are so rigid and we don't know how to Tolerate and accept other relgions. Infact ALLAH himself once said in the Holy Quran lakum dinlakum waliyadin
We should learn to accept other religions and focus on the historical contexts to be a better human being. No religion teaches destruction or ervil. In this case it's Rakhi, a relationship of a brother and a sister, where is SHIRK here.
"They are not performing any ritual to be the part of Islam. "
Well isnt that the issue...they are performing a ritual which is specific to Hinduism which making Rakhis is...Like i am sure it is alien to a Hindu to be expected to pray Salah because it is something which is specific to Islam...these arent universal actions...they are specific to a faith so neither should be practiced...
"Islamic scholars in India should have a Fatwa against performance of Rakhi by Muslims. "
What happened to simply explaining something...people throw fatwas around when ever they feel like it...people are doing something unknowingly so explain to them...just condemning them for their shirk is hardly going to help isit?
Well shirk according to quran is Very very serious offence, and no doubt many muslims take it very lightly.
By defination, worshiping (praying to ) any diety apart from Allah (the one almighty God) is shirk.** And, millions of muslims in subcontinent wholeheartidly commit shirk with all devotion** And in quran Allah has said nubmer of time that he may forgive all other sins but not shirk and sins against humanity (haqooqul ibad).
Tieing Raakhi does not constitute to be shirk, it will be practing rituals of non-believers. I dont know the details but if it requires saying prayers to any diety( which i think is part of ritual) then it will become shirk.
And it should be avoided at all costs.
Other than that simple tieing rakhi is nothing serious
Pilgrimage and Circling Kaba 7x
Each local tribe of Arab pagans walked 7 times around their own kaba that housed their own black stone.
Muslims circle the Kaba, claiming Abraham did such.
Kissing black stone
Each local tribe of Arab Pagans kissed their own tribal black stones.
Muslims kiss black stone but say it was a divine meteorite that fell at Adam’s feet and was rediscovered by Abraham.
"The stone throw" at Mina
Wide spread custom among Pagan Arabs.
Muslims claim the custom was started by Abraham when he threw stones at the devil.
"The Run": Safa and Marwa
Pagans ran between two idols, Isaf and Na’ila:
Muslims perform the same running but redefine the meaning to be Hagar running between hills, looking for water for Ishmael
Code Red
I may be wrong but surely you are sinful only when you are aware that what you are doing is incorrect from the tenets of Islam. If people are aware that they are committing Shirk then naturally that takes them out of the fold of Islam but if they do things unawares are they still sinful?
What a simple onesided analogy. Islam came to negate ALL the acts related to
‘Shirk’
If one kissed something that does not mean ne is worshipping that thing or person.
Besides, Wahabis have been given wrong name due to political reasons.
Walking 7 circles or any other so called Pagan’s ritual is not correct either.
Muslim believe these were the ways explained to people to worship.
Pagans changed this to walking ‘naked’ around the Kaaba. Muslims do not do that.
Stone throwing comes from imitation of messanger who threw stone at Shataan when he was revealed.
Running between two hills is after Hajra’s desperation to look for something for her little son.
All part of religeous ‘rituals’ not social rituals performed by Pagans.
Anything which imitates any ritual other than Islamic ways or makes it look like the person is NOT muslim than its not recommended. Each ritual needs to be looked at individually as to decide if the ritual is against the teaching of Islam.
Why people have problems if someone wants to be stricly Muslim and very careful that he or she stays nothing but the muslim???
In many books that person is cad Wahabi, fundementalist,hardliner or even other bad names…!!
Now who is at fault? …Strict wanna be muslim or those who just love to bash him/her?
I am not a Wahabi, the only reason I brought the word Shirk because in Hindu religion they believe in several gods, it is possible this RaKhi Bandhan may be an act of one of their gods. Rakhi Bandhan is not a cultural thing but a religious act. I have no problem if Muslims promote harmony through non religious acts. This is a fact many adult Muslims in India/Pakistan lack religious education and right now there is no system to educate Muslims. This ignorance happens when you do not have religious education. It is also a fact that there are many Muslims sects in Gujrat and they have different Aqeeda. May be in their aqeeda, it is not a big things or they lack religious education.
The Kaaba was made before paganism came into being. The kaaba and Makkah were to be the center of all activity. Allah calls Makkah in the Quran as Umm al Qura, the Mother of Towns. The fact that the pagans paid homage to the Kaaba was because they knew this was the original House of Allah. The believed in Allah all the while, but they associated other gods with Him too. So their circulating the Kaaba had nothing to do with paganism, but they were only paying homage to the House of Allah, and they probably adopted this practice from Abrahamic times.
Kissing the black stone is not a requirement of Hajj. Pagans respected the stone because they new this was sent down from the Heavens, and so do we.
The pagan arabs, were also decendants of Abraham and Ismail, hence they did adopt some of the true Islamic practices and concepts, such as knowing that there is Allah, and obeserving the importance of the various religious monuments in teh city.
Hagara (may peace be upon her) ran between the exact same hills, i.e. Safa and Marwa, the exact same number of times, and it is to give life to this very action of hers, that this act is incorporated in Hajj.
Overall, all these acts are part of the Pilgrimage to Makkah. And pilgrimage is just ONE of the requirements of Islam, and is liable only upon those who can afford to travel to Makkah. You wont find anything else in Islam, that resembles any of the pagan practices.
**
The word “raksha” signifies protection, and “bandhan” is an association signifying an enduring sort of bond; and so, when a woman ties a “rakhi” (a colorful thread) around the waist of her brother, she signifies her loving attachment to him. He, likewise, recognizes the special bonds between them, and by extending his wrist forward, he in fact extends the hand of his protection over her.** http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Festivals/Raksha.html
RA you may not be a Wahabi as you say it. However you are being an ignoramus beardo weirdo when you try to find shirk where there is none. Come down from the high horse of Mullahdom and look at non-Muslim traditions in their proper context.
You can “look” at Non-Muslim traditions all you want. But if you really feel that obliged to participate in them, then by all means join the other religion. After all, its very beardo wierdo these days to have only one religion.
This is a religious section of the forum and require decency even if you do not agree with others. Rakhi Bandhan has a religious background because I remember reading about it that one of their Lord perform this religious act. You are missing the main point of the argument that Muslims should not follow other religion's act. I was born and raised in India and went to school with Hindus and I use to have good Hindu friends but we never discussed religion.
As evident, there is religious significance attached to this festival and I don’t see how it makes it legitimate for the Muslims to celebrate this festival, unless of course one believes in the tradition. Being tolerant is one thing and imitating others in their religious festivals is totally another.
I think it's safe to say that if this was happening in Pakistan or any other Muslim country, these "shirki Muslims" would have been slaughtered mercilessly by the "peace loving" religious members of the Wahabi cult. God bless India.
