Facebook: The Dreamlike World

I am no longer the person I used to be. The technological innovation has changed my life to that of a totally different person. I didn’t have any intention to write this article, but I feel that my fingertips are aching, and I can’t help but scratch them. Worse, I have to touch the keyboard to do so. I am a slave to the computer–more precisely, to the internet. My blind devotion to the internet has started only recently. My misery started the day I moved to a new place. I moved from a very sociable place where I was enjoying close friendly relationships with people of my own blood to a place where everything seemed strange and hostile. Consequently, my connection to the virtual community grows worse.

Although overpopulated, my new town seems stagnant. The days are short and quiet. The nights are deadly long , still and have a serene sky with hardly any stars, such a big difference from before! Around them the dying, pale moon blocks the eye. Having been worried by a bunch of stereotypes and prejudices about this new town and its people, I was not in a good mood, nor ready to enter any new circle of acquaintances. I walked to and from the shops mostly alone, seldom with my wife, and only, then, whenever she got bored of the four corners and the different silly TV series. I hardly find any free time for real people and for practicing my hobbies–although much of it is free, the Internet increasingly consumes more of it. My guitar is kept in a corner, and I rarely touch it. Exercise is absent in my new life, except those few stairs I have to walk twice a day.

I feel attached mentally and physically more to the virtual world than to the real world where I live. You can’t imagine how sad I felt the whole day when I learned that my facebook friend, whom I’ve never met, had lost one of his close relatives. Some people may find this weird, but when your real and virtual existences are so complexly interwoven, it scarcely makes any difference. To be frank, I do care for the ”Likes”, shares, posts and comments as much as I do for shaking hands, kisses on the cheek, hugs and smiles.

Facebook, Twitter, Google etc.., have made me a different person. Whenever I see something beautiful or attractive in the real world, I just wish it had a LIKE button to click, as in Facebook. The other day, my wife and I were invited to dinner at my colleague’s house. When I took a mouthpiece from the Tagine that his wife served us, it tasted so delicious that I unconsciously was looking for the LIKE button to express my satisfaction and gratitude. It is not out of my ignorance to those conventions and friendly expressions we ought to say in such occasions, but icons, symbols and language of the virtual world have overwhelmingly occupied my thought so much lately that this was the most natural response to have risen in me automatically.

I have in my Facebook and Google accounts friends that outnumber the “real” ones that I frequently meet. However, can we consider all those people that we have in our accounts, friends? Why do we accept or send invitations to people we don’t know? Maybe it is because the virtual world has norms totally different to that of the real world. The difficulty is when the two become blurred.

By Larbi Arbaoui
Morocco World News
Taroudant, Morocco, March 20, 2012
http://moroccoworldnews.com/2012/03/facebook-the-dreamlike-world/32069

Gospel of Barnabas: Any added value to Islam?

The discovery of an old manuscript of the Gospel of Barnabas by the Turkish authorities raised the attention of the Vatican and kindled considerable debate all over the world. According to the official statement of the Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Erturul Günay, the ministry was going to examine the copy, and will announce the results in the near future. Naturally, everybody is impatiently awaiting the display of those results. As Muslims, however, the falsity or truth of the Gospel is unimportant for many reasons.

The so-called Gospel of Barnabas is not recognized by the Christian denominations because it is considered inconsistent with the principles of Christianity. It is contrary to the religious and historical backgrounds of that religion since it teaches that Christ (peace be upon him) foretold the coming of a messenger, Mohammad (peace be upon him), after him, and, in line with Islamic belief, the Gospel treats Jesus as a human being, but not a God.  Therefore, the gospel was thwarted by Christians who believe only in those collected by the four apostles: Matthew, Luke, Mark and John. Some believe that the gospel was written in the fifteenth century by a Catholic monk who had recoiled from Christianity.

With the appearance of the Barnabas gospel, there is much talk in the media on whether the gospel in question is one of the original versions of the sacred book known as the Gospel of Barnabas or not. Regardless of its contents, I do personally look at this gospel as a book with nothing more than archaeological value. As Muslims, we do not need a copy of the gospel no matter where it comes from to tell us that Christ (PBUH) foretold the coming of our prophet Mohamed (Peace be upon Him).  Simply, because our holy Quran reads “And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad.” (Surat A?-?af: 6). We have in the Quran and the Sunnah enough evidences sufficient to confirm our faith.

More than that, some people are naively counting on some scientific discoveries to prove the righteous beliefs and predictions stated in the holy Quran and the Hadith. Religion, I believe, is a matter of faith which requires belief more than proofs. Once we keep the faith in Islam as a true religion we should take all that is stated in the holy Quran and the sayings of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) for granted. It is no use looking for materials outside the Islamic religion to prove its credibility. I am not against scientific truths, but I believe that science is a process of right and wrong whereas the Quran content is absolutely true.

Those who are searching for anything to strengthen their faith are not already comfortable with the evidences and reassurances given by their religion. The essence of every religion is faith; and faith is loyalty to a supreme power that does not primarily rest on logical proof or material evidence.

By Larbi Arbaoui

Morocco World News

Taroudant, March 15, 2012

http://moroccoworldnews.com/2012/03/gospel-of-barnabas-any-added-value-to-islam/31377

Patterns of Religious Commitment among Young Moroccans

Religion among Moroccan young people is not the monolith that Westerners might believe it to be. It is chiefly characterized by a contradictory combination of religious practices like being committed to the five regular prayers a day, that is the essence of true belief, and indulging in certain irreligious practices such as drinking alcohol, smoking and having illicit relations with the other sex. Although some young people apparently condemn and despise all the acts that have no religious basis, they still cannot help avoid being involved in such practices. These obvious contradictions between strict religious guidelines and the uncontrolled needs and desires of young people lead to internal tensions; this therefore gives birth to various patterns of religious commitments.

In Morocco, there is a kind of implicit consensus about religion as an indispensable social value. Yet, young people may fall into several religious categories. These categories may appear widely different; however, in principle they have many similarities. All of them regard Islam as their supreme ideal and background.

Unlike Muslims, Christians, or at least most Christian friends that I know, it is not obligatory to follow straightforwardly and faithfully all the teachings of Christianity so as to be considered a Christian. Once, I asked one of my friends who is a French Christian spontaneously about his religion. He replied surprisingly “je suis un Chrétien non pratiquant” which means in English, I am a non practicing Christian.  I could not understand, then, how one can be called a Christian but at the same time seemingly not care about the responsibilities and instructions of Christianity. Because, in Islam one is practically a Muslim once she / he obeys faithfully the precepts and responds to the five pillars of Islam.

In the first category are those young people who do their utmost to keep their appearance in accordance with what is depicted in some “Islamic television channels” and conceived as the image of a young Muslim. Influenced by these channels and other forms of media, this category of Moroccan young people has adopted a totally different style of dress. For males, they put on short pants, jellaba and a black or white hat always on the top of their heads, while wearing a potent cologne that can be smelled from afar. For females, they put on a black or brown fabric from head to toe.

Another category is that of young people who are influenced by the artificial ornaments of the modern world. Like all young people in Europe and America, they keep abreast of the latest fashionable clothing styles, listen to rock and hip hop music, and watch the latest movies produced by Hollywood. They feel proud to have girlfriends or boyfriends and never feel embarrassed to walk with them openly in the streets, or even introduce them to their families. With respect to the aforementioned facts, the religious faith, among these young people, is constantly present. Personally, even though they look different to the first category, I can’t name them but Muslims.

There are also some individuals who identify themselves as “atheists”. Even though they maybe not officially or publicly declare their nihilism, it is well known among their friends and colleagues. Nevertheless, it is observed that religious practises predominate their daily life. They always say “Bismilah” in the name of Allah whenever they want to eat or drink, and “Hamdolilah” thanking God at the end of every meal, in addition to other numerous religious expressions. In general, their language is full of religious expressions. One would say that the Moroccan language is religious par excellence, but a true atheist is a person who is known for his conscious denial of the existence of a supreme being. Practically, they exclude the use of any religious expression in their language, which is not the case of “Moroccan atheists”.

What best characterizes all these Moroccan young people are the mutual respect they have for one another.  No one forces their beliefs on the other. Tolerance is not a newly acquired human value for Moroccans– we are famous for it– but rather a virtue inherited from father to son.

By Larbi Arbaoui

Morocco World News

Taroudant, Morocco, March 11, 2012

http://moroccoworldnews.com/2012/03/patterns-of-religious-commitment-among-young-moroccans/30887

International Women’s Day: A Day of Gratitude

http://moroccoworldnews.com

As International Women’s Day gets closer, my perplexity gets more complicated. My eagerness to dedicate something very special to women on the occasion of the anniversary of International Women’s Day heartily increases. I wish I were a poet to give birth to an everlasting, rapturous rhyming ode; praising the woman who raised me with unconditional tender and care, giving thanks to the girl with whom I drank life from the same breast and also paying homage to the woman to whom I gave my heart with blessings of the Almighty.

If only my guitar skills were good enough to compose a soulful melody enfolding my devotion to these women. Being unendowed with such lofty talents, I will try, hopefully to succeed, to bring into view the accomplishments and significant contributions of women to the prosperity of Moroccan society. Because the issue is so big as to be covered in an op-ed, I will highlight precisely some contributions of Moroccan rural women to the welfare of their communities.

Women have always had an influential role in the prosperity and growth of any community. In most patriarchal societies, though, women’s work is hardly regarded as being productive. Therefore, their work is belittled even though it is rewarding and demands great physical and mental efforts. Both men and women’s work are productive, but men’s work is given a higher value and rewarded financially and symbolically more. In Morocco in the regions to the Southeast, women often do the whole work, yet they are perceived to be the weakest components in the structure of the society.

Cooking for the family, breeding cattle, rearing children, making garments, pinning yarn, weaving, sewing and mending clothes are all daily tasks that fall within the scope and responsibilities of women. To accomplish these daily exhausting activities, they have to wake up at the crack of dawn. Worse, they ignorantly believe, or are made to believe that these kinds of work are part of their natural roles and obligations. Any complaint of the harshness of work is perceived by the women themselves as a disgraceful weakness and widely condemned by men.

Domestic work is all work provided by the family in order to meet the needs of its members. The burden of this work lies mostly on the shoulders of women, but it is not recognized as productive. Suppose that, if a family had to pay for others to take on these same chores, ones now done voluntarily by women, they would then notice just how big a sum of money would be required to cover the expenses of a cook, server, maiden and a farmer (to name but a few).  Such a family would have to pay through the roof to keep all its members comfortable; but thanks to women, many families enjoy the services free of charge.

More than that, women are required to please their husbands, parents-in-law and their children. They have to devote their affections to their husbands, and secure them a relaxing psychological atmosphere even at the expense of their health. Women also are the ones who receive the anger of the husbands, their failures and frustration. They are blamed for not being able to give birth to a baby boy while, scientifically, men have the deciding gene with the Y chromosome. If a woman gets a divorce, again, she is to blame and consequently being reduced to the mockery of society even if it is not her fault.

I ardently advocate equality; however, I do not mean by equality that women are, or should be completely like men; but they must be treated equally. This means they are entitled to equal opportunities and value.  Through equality, gender relations can be those of cooperation, communication and joint support.  On a day like International Women’s day, let’s think of ways to help ease the burdens of the women in our lives, or at least thank them for the work they do selflessly for us.

By Larbi Arbaoui
Morocco World News
Taroudant, Morocco, March 7, 2012
http://moroccoworldnews.com/2012/03/international-womens-day-a-day-of-gratitude/30313