There is a ferocious wave that is hitting the Islamic ummah globally, i.e. the wave of the jahiliyyah culture which is destroying the akhlaq and aqeedah of mankind shown through the TV and other medias. This wave in reality is fiercer than the nuclear weapons which always become an international issue. Only that, this ferocious wave, due to its targets, destroys the akhlaq and aqeedah, whereas the one that champions the akhlaq and aqeedah is Islam, thus those who are most concerned and becomes the targets are the Islamic ummah. Though the ferocious wave is hitting the entire world, the talks about it are only up to the level of complaints by the ulama' and the Muslims whose imaan are strong, as well as some scholars who are objective.
The ferocious wave is no other than the jahiliyyah culture that is spread through the various of mass medias, especially the TV, VCD/DVD/CD, radio, magazines, tabloids, newspapers and books, and that destroy the akhlaq and aqeedah. The Islamic world is as if crying in encountering this ferocious wave.
One of the negative influences of the TV is that it stimulates the animalistic instinct in the individuals… and the impact from that is the diminishing of the akhlaq and the very scary errors that are bound to collide with the norms in the society. There are a number of important examples for us from the research done by Charterz (a researcher) about this issue. Amongst them, he said: “Indeed, the display of porno images and the visualization of porno tricks, where a film star instills the feeling of pleasure and stimulates the lusts of the viewers in a very vulgar way for the children and teenagers, are very dangerous.”
The researcher had produced a statistic for the group of films shown for the children, he concluded that:
• 29.6% of children films have the theme of sex.
• 27.4% of children films are about coping with evils.
• 15% of children films revolve around romance in the sense of lusts through sexy scenes.
There are also films which present violence that suggests the acts of revenge, intimidation and brutality.
This argument is supported by the scholars in psychology that too much watching TV programs and films would result in a shock to the souls and inclination towards the emotion of revenge and feeling of satisfaction with the deviated values. (Thibah Al-Yahya, Bashmat ‘alaa waladi/ Signs on my children, Darul Wathan, Riyadh, edition II, 1412H, pg. 28).
Reaching To A Wider Scope
What had been brought to light by the researchers a few years ago apparently did not work as a warning for the destroyers of akhlaq and aqeedah. They instead accelerated their programs more ferociously and extensively in terms of its scope, through the productions of VCD's, DVD’s or CD’s watched by the society, from the children to the grandparents, in every house. Images that destroy religion could be rented by the roadside or bought in the streets for a very cheap price. Videos and computer/CD’s had become the channeling mediums for the culture of the jahili people in order to destroy the akhlaq and aqeedah of the Islamic ummah. Not to mention the porno sites on the internet.
The jahiliyyah culture is clearly dooming mankind to hell. Whereas, Allah SWT orders us to guard ourselves and our families from the fire of hell. Allah says:
“O ye who believe! save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded.” (Qur’an 66:6).
The Distribution of the Destruction of Akhlaq and Aqeedah
The abundance of presentation traffics that could destroy the aqeedah and akhlaq through various channels makes the people of the world – the Islamic ummah in this discussion – attacked by the satanic destroyers of akhlaq and aqeedah in a variety of shapes and forms. As images, the jahiliyyah culture is presented through the TV’s, films, VCD/DVD’s, CD’s, cinemas, printed images in the forms of photos, books, magazines, etc. The same goes with the contents of stories and reading materials.
Shows, images, sounds and reading materials that destroy the aqeedah and akhlaq have ganged up on the Muslims, and then practiced immediately by the destroyers of aqeedah and akhlaq in the form of their personal selves i.e. behaviors. Next, the society would follow suit and practice the same behaviors, until the Islamic ummah is overwhelmed by the daily practices in their lives that have deviated from the true akhlaq and aqeedah.
From a different perspective, the imitated practices of the personages who support vices are then programmed to be pumped into the society by a variety of ways. One of them is by way of force such as dressing the female shopkeepers in the uniform of the jahiliyyah styles. To the point that the Islamic ummah is pressurized by a myriad of culture that are destructive to the aqeedah and akhlaq, starting from the mere presentations to the practices that are forced upon them (as in wearing the jahiliyyah uniform) .
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has reminded us so that the Islamic ummah would not obey orders from anyone that are in conflict with the laws of Allah SWT. Rasulullah (SAW) said:
"There is no obedience of the creation wherein there is disobedience to the Creator." ( Hadith Ahmad, in his Musnad #20191).
The Attitude of the Islamic Ummah
The Muslim community is also diverse in their reactions to the siege by the ferocious wave. The first group is the concerned ones, their loud voices could be heard in the masjids, majelis of ta’lim and education, in the places of learning and in their own houses. They prohibit their children from watching TV as there is almost no benefit in it, in fact the harms are bigger. They feel the difficulties in educating their children. The possibility is that there is only a few madrassas left that are still relatively more secure than the general education where the surroundings are already polluted with decayed akhlaq.
The Islamic ummah is the first community that cares and wants to protect the aqeedah and akhlaq of their children. They are in this world today like people avoiding attacks from the enemies. They have to look for shelters that are at least free from the various “bullets” that are being shot. Indeed!
The second group is made up of Muslims who are mediocre in their attitude. In silence, these ordinary Muslim people are instead enjoying the assortments of presentations which in fact are destroying their akhlaq and aqeedah. They believe that whatever has been presented to them had already gone through the censor board, that there are others who are responsible, meaning it is okay to watch to the point that they do not feel uncomfortable anymore, much less feel guilty. They even prepare all sorts of snacks to be enjoyed while watching the shows that are destructive but considered as enjoyments. Until their souls are molded to become aficionados of those shows and it makes them want to practice them in their lives. Without them realizing, they are already shifted far from their religion.
The third group is made up of people who are also claiming to be Muslim but are worse than the attitude of the ordinary people mentioned above. They dream of how pleasant it would be if their children become like the performers in the shows, even only as background dancers or whatever role it is for that matter, what’s important is that they can appear in the show. If luck is on their side, they can become top stars who earn lots of money. They do not think about the akhlaq anymore, much less the aqeedah. What’s important is that life is good, lots of money and it is all comforts and luxuries, and be famous if they can. In order to reach this “status”, they dare to sacrifice everything including what their children possessed. Na’udzubillaah. This is not a secret anymore for those who know about it. Na’udzu billah tsumma na’udzu billah.
The first group, those who want to protect the akhlaq and aqeedah, if compared to the third group i.e those who dream of their children or themselves becoming the destroyers of akhlaq and aqeedah, might be balanced in numbers. Then, if the third group – those who becomes the destroyers of akhlaq and aqeedah – combines with the second group i.e. those who feels pleasant with the abundance of the immoral presentations, a majority number would result, to the point that the Muslims who are protecting their akhlaq and aqeedah become the minority.
That is the reality. The proof? Nowadays the society favors the comedians more than the ulama’. They are lauding the singers and dancers more than the ustadzs or sheikhs. Appreciating the film stars more than the Qur’an teacher. And imitating the actors more than the imam of the masjid or khatib.
Reasonably, this expression seems hyperbolic, too dramatized in a clever way but in reality it is very clear. In fact, not only the voices of the ulama’ that are not heard these days, even the Kalamullah is also not heard to the extent that the voices of the singers, comedians, advertisers, etc. are more memorized by the society than the Kalamullah, the verses of Al-Qur'an. Fa nastaghfirulaahal ‘adhim.
The TV shows, etc. have caused the changes in the society drastically. From having a noble and lofty akhlaq to become a society that has no “filter” anymore. They do not know which is ma’ruf (good) and which is munkar (evil and forbidden). In fact, in practice they always prioritize 'the evil and forbidden' than 'the good and ordered by Allah SWT'.
Meaning, mankind has altered the state of their selves. This resulted in the blessings of Allah being revoked due to the changes in the behaviors of mankind itself, from good to become bad.
Allah SWT says:
“Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with their own souls).” (Qur’an 13:11).
Intermixing Goodness and Evil
Why is the society unable to differentiate between the good and evil? Because “their main teacher” is the TV. Whereas, the programs on the TV are always a mixture of mishmashes. There are all kinds of lies such as the advertisements which in reality are deceptions, unsuitable with reality but are still shown continuously. These lies are then continued with programs about goodness, advices or religious studies. Then, porno films that are harmful to the akhlaq and aqeedah, and that suggest sadism, are shown. Next, a variety of talks or news that are not guaranteed as educational are shown. To the point that the viewers, especially the children, cannot tell which is good and which is evil. The same goes with the society, it happens all the time, until in the period of some years, the Muslim people who earlier could easily differentiate between the haqq and the bahtil, change to become a people with the mindset that allows every way, to be permissive or ibahiyah (the attitude of tolerating everything without knowing the sure limits), anything goes for them.
The emergence of this permissive society is caused by the presence of a systematic removal of the normal rules i.e. the prohibition of mixing up the haqq (truth) with the bathil (falsehood). What we are presented with is the intermixing of the haqq and the bathil in a continuous way, shown to be watched by the general public. Whereas, Allah SWT forbids the intermixing of the haqq with the bathil:
“And do not mix the the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it].” (Qur’an 2:42).
By continuously intermixing the truth with falsehood, it would result in mankind refusing to uphold the haqq/truth and reject the bathil. Next, it would result in the development of the human souls that allow both the haqq and bathil exist side by side.
It would further result in the agreement for the establishment and widespread of bathil, and then it would result in the development of the human souls that are permissive in their viewpoints. And lastly, the human souls that are no longer able to differentiate between the good and evil would develop. Therefore, if the human beings are no longer able to tell which is good and which is bad, which is the haqq and which is the bathil, then where is the imaan?
It is the diminishing of the imaan that is the most critical disaster that is hitting the Islamic ummah due to the mega-scale and systematic, as well as non-stop projects that are thrashed upon the Islamic ummah globally i.e. the projects that mix up the goodness with the evils through various presentations. What efforts have we taken in shielding our imaans?
