The true culture.

Culture. What does culture mean, it is defined as ;'The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought', And the best thing we do is mix cultures which is aimed at nothing but our pleasure , when being a Muslim is doing everything for the pleasure of Allah!. The truth is that we don't need to take from others what Allah has defined for us already!.

There are two states of a human being with regard to knowledge;
1) state of ignorance or jaahalia
2) state of negligence or ghaflat
both of which aren't what you'd be proud to be in.being in any of the two states is not productive in any way. It's important to realize that Islam in itself is a culture, & there is absolutely no benefit in mixing the Islamic culture with that of the country you reside in. There is no reason for you to neglect this fact and absolutely no reason to say you were ignorant anymore!

Islam is a culture because it clearly tells you what to do everyday from morning till evening, it tells you what to do when someone is born, or when someone dies, when u wake up in the morning or when you should get married, what you should wear etc. Islam is undoubtedly the most practical religion and it has always been that way. But the creativity of the Muslims in doing everything but what is prescribed is mind blowing. We seem to be getting some sort of pleasure out of the wrong, the unwanted, the unsolicited, the haraam!.

There seems to be a need to go against the wish of Allah, a need to redefine our pathetic state by making it even more miserable. How often in a problem do you think to yourself "why do i have these problems?" I'll tell you, trust me it wasn't very difficult to solve this mystery, this phenomenon of loserness is because NO ONE IS FOLLOWING THE RELIGION!!!

Yes, u read it right, in fact read it again, repeat it, oh no! not softly loudly so your totally cross wired brain gets it to the point you start understanding what you read and signals are sent to your whole body saying you have been a totally insane person till now!!! on the more positive note you could've been worse, there's no limit to how much you can ruin your life!!

Now that you're strong enough and have accepted the fact, its time you start to think about how to turn your world around. Get the basics of your religion right, get to the core ask yourself what your aim on earth is?, why have u been neglecting all your responsibilities?, why have you been suffering like a moron?, do have an Iman?, do you have implicit faith in Allah? these are just some of the difficult questions. You should then try to make a change in not just yourself but also in the people around you and please don't take your time, you're not on earth forever!; there is absolutely no age bar on when you should start practicing your religion a man is responsible for his actions from the age of 14 and the woman by the age of 9. Understand that you only get so many chances and you can't be taken your life for granted, ask Allah for forgiveness, spread the word of Islam, understand It, understand that you already have a culture,and you're just not following it. Understand the need to understand.

Lastly don't chose to be jaahil, learn to learn more, don't chose to be in ghaflat, remind yourself that you are here for a purpose an exam, the benefit of which you would reap not only in this life but also the hereafter.The clock is ticking the sigh that you're going to take after you finish reading this very article might be your last!

Syeda Fatima, 18
(syeda715@hotmail.com)