With Knowledge Comes Power

Now, who said that? Was it Uncle Ben in Spiderman? Or one of Kent's parents in Superman. I'm pretty sure Stan Lee used this line in one or more of his many lengedary comic books.

I am also pretty sure it is somewhere in the Qur'an and / or the Hadith. There are plenty of sayings by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to seek knowledge, and to even seek it to the depths of China (Bukhari). So, there is power in knowledge, and the opposite of knowledge is pure ignorance through and through.

Alot of misconceptions of Islam and Arabs in the non-Muslim world, is pretty much due to the mainstream media that easily lines up the "good guys" against the "bad guys." Not everyone is given the opportunity or makes that extra effort to read up on the other side of the story.

However, there is a fair segment of the Muslim and Arab society who sometimes encourage negative perceptions of the religion to be formed.

Personally I have found that many misuderstandings about Islam are due to cultural interferences in Islamic practice that give rise to the perception that the religion is tedious and embalmed in ritual practices without the sense of logic.

Some examples are such as wedding celebrations, funeral proceedings and even simple things like the 'Eid festival. While Islam makes everything really simple, without much weight on obligations, many cultures practice this differently and often forget that Islam frowns upon many of their superstitious traditions that usually translate into a waste of money, valuable time and energy. Some practices can even turn into shirk - associating partners with Allah. Astargfirullah....

Coupled with the fact that all of this done without knowledge, stress and anger quickly settle in. For example, dealing with debt after and elaborate wedding, not having to hold "follow up" ceremonies after a funeral, or wasting time on the night of 'Eid baking cookies until 4 in the morning and missing the 'Eid prayer.

If you are a Muslim and you reading this, you would probably know what I'm talking about. Islam outlines the complete way of life without any hardship upon us, but we always manage to find ways to complicate matters.

When in doubt of traditions, it is probably best to consult the Qur'an and / or the Hadith, to ensure what we are doing does not violate Islamic teaching. :)

The last thing a Muslim wants to do is to displease Allah Ta'ala and it is obligatory for every Muslim to make that extra effort to read His side of the story.