Could we get a separate forum or dedicate ONE thread in ONE forum for people who are requesting/need prayers?
No offense to people who are asking/requesting/need prayers, but come on guys… Is this really the right place to ask for prayers for people you love and spend your lives with? Its a freaking internet forum, not your masjid or dargaa/darbaar.
You think you are really helping and people are sincerely praying for you when they write one line reply to your two line thread? If you really want to help and make things better for your love ones, go donate money to your masjid, pray nawafil for them yourself, feed some hungry person, give food to your nearest homeless center or something.
These threads are like birthday threads: Boring and everyone replies with same thing… and we don’t really need to know who is sick in your family, everyone has those issues and many deal with it privately.
Actually you can't be sure whether people who post 1 line reply really post just 1-line reply or mean it. And nothing wrong with asking others (whom you've gotten to know over time) for prayers because as I see it, you never know who's dua Allah is gonna hear at what time. What's wrong with others prayering for you?
As far as the 1-line goes, I cannot speak for EVERYONE on this site but I do know some friends who really do mean it when they post that 1-line. Even I prayered nawafil last week when I realized that 1 of my friend went through tragedy. So not everyone posts 1-line and moves on.
1 line or two lines or 10 lines, it doesn't make any difference.
If they really believe in prayers, they need to do it:
on their own, tak some responsibility, show some love
pray nawafil, ask other family members to do that as well...
donate money in their masjid
feed hungry
*]donate food to foodbanks
ye dikhawa ke jee humare leye prayer karo aur jesey hum sub barey naik hain... this is a web forum, not a prayer council.
That's the thing. You are labelling something as "dikhawa" without any hardcore evidence what the person on the other side must be feeling or thinking. Agreed with the points you included (pray nawafil, show love etc) but how do you know the person is not doing it or will not do it? Not everyone is the same and hence, not everyone keeps it to themselves. When you've been through hell or a tragedy have befallen you or your family, you sometimes need to let it out and let others know, which is fine. This just helps you move on easier. Otherwise, pretty much everything can be applied here.
Why post jokes on online forum when you can tell them to your friends?
Why post drawings/paintings on online forums when you can go out and show it to your loved ones.
Why post/seek religious guidance in religion forum when you can do the same at masjid?
Why seek advice on household matters when you can ask someone from your family?
In a nutshell, opening prayer threads are not breaking any hardcore rules of GS. If you don't like it, you can just ignore it. I can see you might have a point when it comes to B-Day threads because I myself have seen people opening them for people who never log on to GS etc (but I just ignore them), but prayers threads are different because you do not know what the other person is going through and whether or not he/she is just opening a thread for the heck of it or is really doing the things you mentioned above.
I think prayer and having someone sick in our family is a serious matter, personal matter, private matter, it needs to be dealt with seriously and privately. No need to give me speech on this.
You want to tell the whole world that your mom/sis/brother/father/aunt is sick and people should pray for them?
As I said, everything else is just entertainment and an agent people use to pass time… of course, that does not apply to prayer threads or if someone is sick in your family.
Jaan Leva, do you seriously expect a separate Prayer Forum/Thread, or is this just a rhetorical rant to get this off your chest? My guess is latter, in which case, I hope it worked. :)
How do you know that the OP and his/her family isn’t already doing that… in all likelihood, asking other members online is just “another” avenue for collective supplication.
Well – no one’s asking you to click on those specific threads… perhaps you’re using a second of your precious time to wade and filter through the index. Yes… many deal with it privately… and perhaps you are one of them… but why should you impose your philosophies on others?
and whosoever said that a web forum can’t double up as a prayer council… people have different reasons for joining and participating on a forum. There are many here who have developed networks and relationships at a very personal level with other members and if they ask their friends along with others for prayers etc., it’s their choice.
Like I said above, people have their own reasons for participating in an online forum… you can’t easily put all of these reasons in a grand bucket called “entertainment”. That’s the whole point of having multiple forums… serious, non-serious, entertainment oriented, information oriented.
Lastly, I’d just like to say that sharing your personal matters with others is something that is delicately linked to people’s personalities. As you said… some keep it to themselves… then there are those who write about it in their private blogs… and then there are some who request prayers in public. Whatever your preferences… it is these affective (you may refer to them as sappy) interactions that lead to an overall stronger sense of community - which btw is a prerequisite to the growth and success of any community... online or offline.
Often when I read supplications in such threads, "aameen" comes automatically from my lips.. and that is the case with many people... so dua threads do have an importance.
It did aur uss ke sath kuch aur log bhi apney bill se bahir nikal aye hain.