Halloween

LadyAna

……you scare the heaven out of me whan you say, ``we can have either Heaven here and Hell there or Hell here and Heaven there. We can`t have both. ``……… tell me, what am I supposed do …… just yesterday mrs. hamidm, who is in charge of extraterrestrial affairs and religion in household went out and spent a small fortune on halloween costumes and decorations …………now, mind you, she is a fairly religious person who pulls out the prayer rug at lease once a month, fasts with alarming regularity during ramzan and pays qari sahib seventy bucks an hour to teach our girls how to read a book in Arabic ……… but she also makes a big deal out of Halloween and I have been ordered to carve the pumpkins and have them glowing out on the porch by the end of the day …………how do I tell her that she is headed for hell ? ……….. and what about my little one who is all excited about her new mummy costume and can’t wait to get out there and do the devil’s work …what do I tell her? ………"beta, you are a muslim, and good little muslim girls don’t worship satan and run around dressed as mummies …… now go and offer ten nafils and pray for forgiveness`` …… do you know what my little one is going to say? ……… ``abu, get a life …… build a bridge and get over it``……… i think that is sound advice coming from a nine year old …………

Urstruly - uffoo... so simple.... it`s called abcs of HTML.

do < then i then > then type yr phrase then do < then / then > to close. That will italicize (i). For bolding, you can type ``b``, for underline type ``u``.

It should go like this:

< i > type text to be italicized here < / i > (don`t leave any spaces between the code, I just left spaces to show u as an example)

it will look like this:

type text to italicize here

Got it? Now practice karo.

i am a paki and i will celebrate any festival i want. and there is nobody to stop me.

Certainly ``Qiyamat ki nishani hai``.

All the little kids having fun!

There must be something wrong somewhere?

Lets all get a life. Loosen up and go ``Trick or Treat``

Are OBL masks available in Isloo ?


Ras Siddiqui

ladyana

how did you manage to post in italics and bold letters

Naqshbandi:

Basant can NEVER be banned. It can ONLY grow. Your insecurities not-withstanding. It`s a Pakistani festival now. The romp, pomp and extravaganzas associated with it grow every year. No other place can compete.

NO Islamic festival can match the power of Basant in Lahore. Not Eid, not shab-e-baraat- nothing! So I suggest you go fly a kite.

Out of the religious parties, it seems the brelvi-led PAT of tahir-ul qadri is the only one that emphasizes the equality of everyone regardless of faith etc. for example, PAT posters greeting the people with `Merry Christmas` can be be seen on the main roads during the end of the year. probably aimed at the large minority in Lahore, however, no one else makes this humane gesture.

I prefer brelvis too. But it`s not like their annual gatherings ie gayarveeN sharif get kids wild. Those gathering are already a stale ritual and those currently claiming to be decsendents of Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jillani look like bad scam artists who can`t believe it`s actually working.

shanzeh (and other like minded individuals) Alhamdulilah, u r a very open minded person. I wish I could say the same for myself.

However, do tell me, you enjoy celebrating - and I mean celebrating - not just acknowledging and being ok with it as in ``Merry Christmas neighbors, have a great time``, but actually getting really deep down into the nitty gritty with presents trees and all for Xmas and Halloween.

Do u also celebrate Kwanza, Rosh Hashanah, Purim, Hanukkah, Buddha Jayanti, Easter, Holi, Deepavali, Rakhsha Bandhan with the same universal-love-and-acceptance fervor? What about Onam, Pongal, Jamshedi Navroz, Baisakhi, Gurpurb, Eid ul Adha, Eid ul Fitr, Muharram Matam? After all, there is doses of fantabulously healthy family fun in all of them.

I`d like to see you take part in a Holi playing (ummm... yes I did part once when I was 17, so pls. don`t think I am that narrow minded myself), getting your immaculate white dress stained with color and red all over your cheeks.

And maybe lighting the little katoris of light on Diwali (yes, I have done that too...), and attending puja just like everyone else. After all, Diwali is only a festival to signify the victory of ``divine`` forces of light over wickness in the world. And it`s oh so much fun.

Or do u only feel the need to liberate yourself in Western-inspired activities that allow your acceptance of them and so u just take part in ``totally harmless`` activities on Valentines Day, Xmas, Easter and Halloween and nothing else? Maybe because it is the gora thing to do, to show how ``maadrun`` and ``progressive`` u r perhaps? Hmm?

And that too, u feel the need to only accept part of the gora culture, that which is most ``fun`` for you, neglecting the feelings of those real practicing Christians for whom their festivals actually mean something? Hmm? After all, no harm done if u accept just one half of someone`s belief system and do laat-maar to the remaining half na? It is after all, a sign of a progressive, liberal and oh-so-accepting and tolerant mind, when u selectively practice someone else`s religion and toy with their beliefs.

Yes. This is the way to tolerance, progress, and peace. Definitely.

Let me tell the people who call themselves adherents of Islam on this board, that you are doing ``Islam`` no great favor by claiming to practice it, or adding your count to numbers of the ``Ummah``. If a person has a certain belief, let him/her follow that belief in all sincerity for their own benefit and to their own ends. If u are not a follower of Islam, come out of your feeble despicable hiding shells and say it. U r not doing God a favor by succumbing to the temptation of your other gods, albeit you r definitely making Satan`s life heavenly.

A pagan who accepts that he is a pagan is a hundred times better than a hypocrite who claims to believe in one God, no matter what religion. If there is a God, He (or She or It) wants attention, devotion, and service. By serving our own mind`s idols we are neglecting that Supreme Being, and it is better we wash our hands off that Entity completely so we know exactly where we stand where He stands.

We can have either Heaven here and Hell there or Hell here and Heaven there. We can`t have both.

Ana

ps. this post is not directed towards shanzeh in particular, but towards people who have no idea what the heck they really are. U guys need to figure out quick, or u`ll die not knowing if u`re going to hell or heaven. And if u die not knowing, u won`t know how to live, will u?

In my case, I`m going to hell, so I`m tailoring my life towards that end.
Life comes once, it`s not meant to be wasted.

Let the children play!

hamid...i agree with you that the rise of wahabbism in pakistan is an evil which needs to be checked...but about 80-90% of pakistan`s sunni muslims belong to the Ahle Sunnat (Barelvi) and hold all these celebrations you mentioned such as milad sharif, urs of the saints, khatms, gyarveeN sharif etc. and will continue to do so..ALL these celebrations have precedents in Islam and therefore can be proved from Quran, Sunnah, the writings of the pious predecessors etc and are hence completely Islamic (eg interested readers might wish to consult Hazrat Mufti Ahmad Yaar Khan Naeemi`s Jaa al Haqq wa Zaahiqal Baatil which deals with such proofs etc.)

having said that i agree with the author of this article that we, as Muslims, must not celebrate kafir celebrations. Halloween is one such celebration--no matter how commercialised it may have become its roots still lie in satanic ideas and cults and kufr. The same applies for basant etc. It is only the slave class who celebrates these Western cultural celebrations anyway...most pakistanis do not.

**Don`t worry though with the MMA a big player in national politics now and Maulana Noorani sahib as the Chairman of the Senate--and I heard head of religious affairs too...most of these things like halloween, basant etc will be outlawed. Of course the HIndus of pakistan should be allowed to celebrate them as it is a part of THEIR religion...

**
Practically speaking, we have enough of our own Islamic festivals to keep us happy all year--why do we need to ape kafir ones too?!

It smacks of a slave mentality!

Urstruly:

``The other day z-tv was showing a soap where a character beds his own niece and impragnates her; and yesterday in another soap a wife catches her husband with another man in bed mid-coitus. ``

HAHAHA!!! What a hypocrite...don`t tell me you watch Z TV while you should be reading Quran. :)

Theek hai, enjoy the sinful pleasures of the Harami Hindus lol :)

i am the cheese:

You`re the same as AnNy aren`t you???

My reaction after reading this article is one of extreme disappointment.

Pakistan is celebrating Halloween..in India, we didn`t have a clue what the hell halloween is.

Pakistan has Dunkin Donuts, Indians make do with Vada Pao and Doodh Jalebi.

Why are we so deprived???

OK I am the bad guy - the party pooper - curse me all you want but promise me that you will be as passionate about learning good things from other societies also - things like good and honest governance, respect for law and order, respect for dissent, respect for individual freedoms, respect for the rights of the people whom you hate, honest business ethics, and this list just goes on and on.......... if you promise this I think no one will even dare if you celebrate devils birthday or worship him. Can you do that?

Tahir,

Here is another typical pakistani, reporting on the superficial. The great islamic republic has banned basant festival, has banned kite flying. All that belonged to the people have been banned as kafirian, they reek of hindus. The people want to celebrate they have caught on halloween, may be valentines day. These are non-hindu and are fine in pakistan, do not forget, identifying hindu is a curriculum requirement.

Tahir, the day is not far off, get rid of haloween, you will have the friday beheading for the people to enjiy as it happens in saudi. Change your name to tahir bin gul al hasan and move to faisalabad to enjoy beheading and to take part in the stoning entertainments. Leave haloween alone.

It is highly doubtful that a 5 year old child, who simply wants to dress us as her favorite cartoon character or toy doll, is going to check up on the ``Satanic`` and ``Devil-like`` history of the holiday. That idea is absurd. Halloween has evolved, the same way ideas evolve and humans evolve.

Things change.

I spent 20 years in the states, dressing up as one character after another. I was a witch, a princess, a robot, a cheerleader, a princess again, a cat, and a really scary zombie! Not once did I really care what Halloween was, what it used to be, or what it has become. ALL A KID WANTS IS HIS/HER CANDY!!!! And that`s all i wanted too! Every single child I know celebrates Halloween and they all go trick or treating, they all go to the Halloween parades, they all go dressed up in their costumes to school, to show off their costumes! God forbid anybody take their fun and sense of belonging away from them. Its a community affair and I am glad that Pakistan is adopting it. Halloween is not about Satan or the Devil or Witches, its about coming together and having fun. And believe me, its always fun to go to your most hated teacher`s house and toilet paper their trees!! or put eggs in their mailbox! the tricks are just as fun as the treats :)

You sound like some man from the 1700`s who wants to burn all the beautiful women in town because you think they`re witches! You need to go to some Halloween parties and live it up a little! Believe me, the devil worshippers ain`t gonna get u!

HamidM- Christmas is not a pagan holiday, I celebrate every Christmas, with the tree, and the presents, and the traditional dinner. If that makes me a pagan is someone`s eyes...then so be it. I am proud to celebrate Christmas...so should u be.

Reply Ustooly (I am not mean pigeons, ok?)

``The other day z-tv was showing a soap where a character beds his own niece and impragnates her; and yesterday in another soap a wife catches her husband with another man in bed mid-coitus. The man was baffled to find his pants first or apologize to his wife first - that was haloween enough for me. If this is modernization then I would like to be a taliban - thank you very much.``

I am sand you staightto Mullah Sandwich.

Badmash!

Plz aoplgising to AAmirbai at ONCES!

oh, holoween - I amv v disappionting - Iam dreslike Sjhehrzad all thi syears and now u r sayit is haram? HaiN? Whyyou were silence allthi s times, haiN?

ok - Iam forgiveyou bcoz u r muslim and havegod niyat.

Salaam! Don ot mint my cross words - Iam fried, give sypathy - meray idreamofjeanie suit kay saat abh kiya karooN?