A new beginning

Looking back in retrospective, I’m sure all of us would agree that our media has really come along way: from the two hour broadcast of PTV, we now have a multitude of channels catering to one and all. However, they say that you should not run, when you have not learnt to walk properly; and unfortunately that’s exactly what seems to be going on.

In a nation, where the majority by far is illiterate, a great burden is placed upon the shoulders of the men and women in the entertainment industry, for they are not just entertainers for the nation, they are educators, guides and heroes. And in a society where parents and adults fail to live up to the responsibility of educating their wards about the ill effects of the media, then the load of educating the masses essentially doubles on the shoulders of our media personnel.

What is indeed surprising for me is that parents do not monitor what their children are watching on TV or what they are doing on the Internet. Given the progress that we have made in identifying the psychological effects of the media, and the rating system we have devised so that we don’t expose the delicate and impressionable minds of kids, no Pakistani parent that I know ever screens what his teenage child is watching, be it either on cable or on DVDs. The only parents who make such an effort, are the ones who themselves were raised abroad. Typically, Pakistani parents only watch their kids when they feel that their young ones have impressionable minds. And when they feel that their children are no longer so “vulnerable”, namely in their teenage years, they let them off the leash. Unfortunately it is at this very stage of their lives that the hormones are raging within, and given a free hand, I’m sure we can all understand what they would want to be watching.

Let me prove my point by paraphrasing a true story: a kindergarten teacher who taught at a school in a posh district in Karachi, wore a new dress to her class. One of her student came up to her and said: ‘If you think you’re so hot, how come I’m frozen solid!’

Keeping in mind that this was a four year old speaking, I’m sure parents will appreciate the importance of not letting their children watch Johnny Bravo which is aired on cartoon network. At the same time I feel that TV channels themselves need to show ‘ratings’ so that it’s easy for parents to identify what’s appropriate for their child and what’s not. Not that I am an expert in these things, but I do remember many a channel showing ratings for each movie before it began. And if the movie was aimed for a mature audience, the rating would be ’sticky’, viewable throughout the duration of the movie.

However, this will only help of parents actually pay attention to the ratings that are shown. I know plenty of parents who are either ignorant of these ratings or choose to ignore them. My request to all those reading this, is to watch for ‘R’, ‘18′, or ‘M’ ratings when buying your child his next video games or relenting to let him rent that movie that he’s been pestering you for so long about. In most cases kids are able to buy these things for themselves without any ‘interference’ from their parents, so parents actually have no idea what their kids are indulging in. So while mummy dearest thinks that beta is studying for the exams, or doing an assignment for school, beta dearest could be doing anything from chatting up the girl he met online playing warcraft III over the Internet, to uploading the hot pics of his girlfriend that he took with his camera phone, to actually studying for his exams.

Given such circumstances, wherein parents themselves are not familiar with technology, and then for the media explosion to have taken place, I believe that each and every TV channel needs to do much more to make TV a better experience for everyone. This not includes rating for programmes being aired, but a decent attempt to educate and maybe even train masses towards their responsibility. This would mean that our talk shows don’t end up on notes that there is nothing wrong with lesbianism, or VJs on music channels should refrain from discussing authors who are known for their sexually graphic novels. And yes, believe it or not these were Pakistani channels and everyone involved was Pakistani.

I am not saying that we should attempt to isolate our kids from what is going on in the big bad world, but as a parent what I would want is for me to able to decide what is what is not appropriate for my kids to watch. I still remember the days when some Pakistani artists went to our neighbouring country to get their music videos made: only after thoroughly being censored were those videos shown on national TV. But today, we have ads for hair removing products that focus on models wearing nothing but lingerie, and we no longer see it fit to edit music videos featuring dancing women. Call me conservative, but shouldn’t I have the ability to control what my family views, without having the cable disconnected? Am I not within my rights to ask that the ads that are aired, should keep in mind what is morally, religiously and culturally acceptable? And all this applies not only to entertainment channels, but to news channels as well: I do not want my children to be exposed to repeated images of violence and gore. Let me say it clearly: I believe in censorship, censorship that is free from political and similar motives.

I also believe in infotainment: which means that I would expect entertainment channels to air ads about safe driving, consumer rights, environmental issues and human right concerns in our country. I would want people to understand that it is unhygienic and unbecoming to spit out paan at public, through a “manners campaign” on TV (as was carried out once upon a time in China). I would want our channels to remind people that it is unethical to jump queues and that the rich have an obligation towards the have-nots.

I remember watching an award-winning Iranian film, ‘A taste of cherry’: it began with “Bismillah hir rahman ar rahim”. What I realized from watching the movie was that Iranian movie do not forget their roots. They are essentially family movies_ something that Pakistani cinema has lacked for a long time now.

My intention in writing this article is to ask all those who are in any way related to the media to play a more responsible role, for the sake of our future generations.

An old Grandfather, whose grandson came to him with anger at a
schoolmate who had done him an injustice, said, “Let me tell you a
story. I too, at times, have felt a great ‘hate’ for those that have
taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you
down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and
wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings
many times.”

He continued, “It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is
good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and
does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only
fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.”

“But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will
set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for
no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great.
It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them
try to dominate my soul.”

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather’ s eye and asked, “Which
one wins, Grandfather? ”

The Grandfather solemnly said, “The one I feed more.”

Published on http://www.islamtoday.com/showme2.cfm?cat_id=31&sub_cat_id=2007

“Indeed, he loves Allah & His Messenger…” | Dr. `Abd al-Wahhâb al-Turayrî |
There was a man named `Abd Allah who loved Allah and His Messenger so much that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had to declare about him: “Indeed, he loves Allah and His Messenger.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (6282)] This man named `Abd Allah so loved the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he used to delight in presenting the Prophet with any delicacy that came to Medina, so when any merchant caravan arrived with something like butter or honey, he would take it for him as a gift. Later, when the seller demanded payment, `Abd Allah would bring the seller to the Prophet and say: “Give this man its price.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) would then say: “Didn’t you give it to me as a gift?” `Abd Allah would say: “Yes, O Messenger of Allah; however I cannot afford to pay.” The two of them would laugh together and then the Prophet (peace be upon him) would have the merchant paid. This was the type of close and jovial relationship that `Abd Allah and the Prophet had with each other. It remains to be said that `Abdullah was an alcoholic. He would often become so drunk that he had to be brought staggering through the streets before the Prophet (peace be upon him) to be sentenced for public drunkenness, and each time, the Prophet would rule to have the prescribed punishment carried out. This was a common occurrence. After `Abd Allah had departed from one of these all too frequent sentencings, one of the Companion’s declared about `Abd Allah: “O Allah curse him! How often he is summoned for this!” The Prophet (peace be upon him): rebuked that Companion, saying: “Do not curse him, for I swear by Allah, if you only knew just how very much indeed he loves Allah and His Messenger.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (6282)] He then added: “Do not help Satan against your brother.” We can learn a lot from the Prophet’s attitude. We should reflect first upon the close and affectionate relationship this Companion enjoyed with the Prophet (peace be upon him), in spite of this Companion’s shameful fault. Though the Prophet (peace be upon him) was who he was, it did not prevent him from relating to `Abd Allah in a familiar manner, of being his friend, and joking with him. This shows us that in the society envisioned by the Prophet (peace be upon him) people were not segregated into the pious and the sinners, with social interactions debarred between the two groups. Rather, it was a unified, inclusive society, where each person could be at a different level of piety. Some were at the forefront of righteousness, some were moderately pious, while others were prone to fall into sin. However, no one lived aloof from society, nor was anyone shunned. Everyone remained part of society. This inclusiveness meant that when some members of society fell into error, the effects of their mistakes were limited and short-lived. No one was marginalized, so there was no chance sinfulness to grow on society’s “fringes”. When anyone made a mistake, there was no end of brotherly support from others in society who were more than willing to lend a helping hand and get that person back on track. Another lesson the Prophet’s conduct shows us is the importance of maintaining a positive outlook. In spite of the fact that `Abd Allah was frequently being summoned before the Prophet (peace be upon him) for public drunkenness, the Prophet drew everyone’s attention to one of Abd Allah’s positive qualities – that he loved Allah and His Messenger. Yet, when we think about this particular quality, we find that it was not something unique for `Abd Allah, but a quality that all believers have in common. Nevertheless, the Prophet (peace be upon him) chose to praise `Abd Allah for this reason. In doing so, the Prophet could cultivate, encourage, and strengthen this quality in everyone. He also reminded them that if someone slips up, that person’s faith and love of Allah is still intact. We can imagine how `Abd Allah must have felt when he learned that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said this about him. He must certainly felt it as an immense honor to have Allah’s Messenger declare this about him. It served to help him overcome his bad habit and gave him hope, by confirming that his essential being was not permanently marred by the mistakes. It was the Prophet’s way to point out the good qualities of those who sinned and fell into error. We sometimes forget this, and treat past sins as impenetrable barriers to future good. A person who commits a shameful deed is never allowed to live it down, but is instead often remembered only for that sin. We need to realize that this helps Satan to avail upon the sinner and get that person to sin again. The Prophet’s approach, by contrast, inspires virtue. When reminded of `Abd Allah’s frequent drunkenness, he boasted of that man’s possessing the greatest virtue of loving Allah and His Messenger. Finally, `Abd Allah had done something that was clearly wrong. There can be no doubt that `Abd Allah committed a sin. Imbibing intoxicants is a major sin, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) had often cursed wine. Nevertheless, after the Prophet had the prescribed sentence carried out upon `Abd Allah for his public drunkenness, he did not seek anything further against him. He saw any further reprimand to be helping Satan against the man. Rather, he turned everyone’s attention to his merits that compensate for his shortcomings. This should give us pause, when we consider how harshly we sometimes behave in our disagreements with others whose transgressions are far less serious or certain than `Abd Allah’s were. Sometimes, it is merely our opinion that someone has done something wrong and the matter is really open to other points of view, but we still have no hesitations about railing against our opponents with everything in our verbal arsenal. How far this is from the example set by the Prophet (peace be upon him), who when faced with a person committing an obvious sin, still found it better to speak good about that person. He still kept up his good relationship with that person, despite his shortcomings. The Prophet’s conduct with `Abd Allah is an excellent example for us, full of valuable lessons regarding not only how we should treat one another, but how society can foster social bonds that are strong, wholesome, and nurturing, bonds which can serve to dissuade people from falling into sin.