Bollywood or Bust!
Abdul Muqtadir
Muslims have always been a minority group within the Indian sub-continent, compared to the larger Hindu majority, but what is new in recent times is the Muslims absence from political power. Whenever a nation of people have migrated to India they have been engulfed by the powerful nature of its culture.
The religion of Islam was first introduced to the Indian sub-continent through the efforts of Muhammad bin Qasim Al Thaqafi and other pious men, who struggled and died to take Islam to the distant corners of the globe. The spread of Islam in the region led to its establishment as a political and social order through the implementation of Shariah, this in turn led to massive leaps in the progression of the Indian civilisation and culture.
Islam does not regard culture as intrinsically haram (forbidden). Indeed Arab culture is not necessarily Islamic culture, and Islamic culture is not necessarily equal to Arab culture. There is no identifiable concept as Islamic culture, rather the Shariah of Islam lays down the parameters of what is permissible and what is forbidden from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of Muhammad , sallalahu alaihi wassallam. Anything that does not contravene this can be taken as an acceptable culture. Bearing this in mind we can see it perfectly acceptable for a Muslim to eat an Indian curry or a plate of fish and chips, providing they are Halal. These are two icons of different cultures yet both are perfectly within the parameters of Islam.
When Muslims live side by side with non-Muslims the interaction of the two groups will indeed lead to the exchange of ideas, habits and even rituals. If not safety catches are put in place then over a period of time there is the serious danger that eventually there will be little distinction between the two groups, before long mixed faith marriages, the adoption of festivals, habits, beliefs and even worship will take place and the general lack of religious foresight will lead to a completely new ‘mutated’ community of pseudo-Muslims and their counterparts.
The threat of cultural integration and the loss of Islamic identity is so dangerous that the Messenger of Allah drew our attention to it on many an occasion. That is not to say Muslims should isolate themselves or retreat into ghettos , on the contrary it is an essential requirement to deliver the message of Islam to non-Muslim communities and this in itself must be undertaken with beautiful manners, amicable relations and the finest of speech, and of course all this requires interaction. But the concern that needs to be at the top of the agenda is that of the preservation and confidence in the creed and practice that Islam embodies. It is when the Ummah adopts Islam as a way of life and fulfils its mission that Allah grants it authority on the Earth
There are many complexities to living as Muslims in this day and age. Many factors are at play in the world around us, strings are pulled and flutes are played, the overall effect on our daily lives is tremendous. What is more frightening is the lack of insight and consciousness we as Muslims seem to possess. In most instances we only appreciate the reality of our circumstances and depth of our condition after we have tasted its bitter fruit.
Many of you (I hope) will be unfamiliar with the nature and power of the ‘Bollywood’ film industry and the great impact it is having upon Muslims globally, I will now endeavour to shed some light on the area in a hope that it will make us reflect and help us reconsider our current neglect. The Indian film industry has been in operation for over fifty years and during this period of time it has been able to extend its large tentacles to every corner of the globe. Indeed where there is any substantial number of people from the Indian sub-continent ( that includes Bangladeshis and Pakistanis) you will find the long and murky shadow of Bollywood. Before the era of satellite dishes and cable companies, people would satisfy their craving for an Indian movie via the local video shop, and in the absence of these then there was always the radio and magazines at hand. Through television the access is immediate.
Depravation has led to Muslim involvement in the industry at every level and throughout its history. From the directors of the movies to the local video hire shop Muslims are in it ‘waist high’. From the likes of the legendary actor Dilip Kumar (his original Muslim name was Yusuf, it was changed to assist integration) who had his first appearance in 1944 and Waheeda Rehaman ( a Muslim lady who ran away from home to become an actress and went on to marry Hindu actor Guru Dutt) (???) to the melodic Mohammed Rafi (source of many a love song), down to the modern day Salman Khan ( Indian Romeo of the 90’s and icon for many young Asian boys) and the infamous Amir Khan. All these and many more are part of the machinery to propagate ideas and notions about the world around us. The plot of almost every film is based on the story line of ‘boy meets girl’, the film spirals the viewer into a realm of indecency that would put Hollywood to shame. The unfolding story lines usually marked with their lack of reality expose the naïve Muslim family to every thing that is wholly unislamic. The many Muslim actors and actress’s are not only involved in the encouragement of fornication, bigamy, rebellion to parents but even idol worshipping, roles which they are only too happy to play. Even though Allah says :
“Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgives anything else, to whom He pleases; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin most heinous indeed” (4:48)
The Messenger of Allah said:
“Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” Indeed it is the saying of the companions of the Prophet (SAWS) :
“Whoever imitated the idol worshippers will be raised with them on the day of Judgement.”
to read more >>
http://www.islamicawakening.com/viewarticle.php?articleID=1234
I agree with this thread but(respectfully), the actors and acctresses in bollywood had nothing to do with whts happening in kashmir, u can't blame a whole country just because some people doing wrong stuff, thats the same as saying that muslims r terrorists, u cant blame the whole muslim nation for the bombing of the world trade center, just because the people who did that were muslims, that doesn't mean that every muslim is a terrorist. i do'nt watch bollywood that much, i use to but now i have lost interest in it.
