We have other Stars and potential Stars to honor. Hakeem should stick to his beliefs. Fans can honor the memories of this hero in other ways. Years ago I gave Rudy T a fine plaster statue of Hakeem. I wonder does he still have it?
I'd love to see a statue of Dream at the new arena just like the Jordon statue. Pesonally, I put Dream on the same level as Jordon. He deserves it, but ultimatley it's up to him.
You know this reminds me of a friend I have. He practices religion and his religion says he cann't drink. Yet he does drink. So, I ask him "why, do you proclaim to follow this religion when every weekend I see you breaking the rules with total disregard. There seems to be a lack of consistency between your religious beliefs and your actions" * Mind you this guy goes to church every weekend, prays every night, and he proclaims himself very devout. He talks about religion all the time and is quite dogmantic of his beliefs. He says to me "We are not perfect. We are only human. I believe in my religion and trying my best to follow the rules" I was speechless after that. So, yes I understand the idea that most people do not follow their religion to the so called "T". Listen, I'm just pointing out something. You don't have to agree with me. Most of you are <B>not willing</B> to disern what I have written anyways. I am not suggesting Hakeem should not stand by his religion. In all fairness we all contradict ourselfs one time or another. Almost all of us on the chat board would have done the same thing if we were Hakeem, venel beings that we are. Someone said ealier, you better read up on Islam before passing judgement... Well to you sir, what part of what I said was false? If I was false please correct my mistake. I was not vilifing Mr. Hakeem or his religion. For those of you who think "hypocrite" is to strong of a word. How about "inconsistent".
There is, I believe, a clear distinction between participating in an activity whereof meida attention and reproduction is an inevitable bi-product, and actively participating in that reprodution...Islam does not advocate hiding in your homes when people are in the neighbourhood with cameras...The point is about idolatry; Posing for a statue in your 'honor' is a bit different than playing a game where your picture will be taken. One further question....You say that this man, the same man who put himself through a significant amount of discomfort to observe the holy month of Ramadan, even when that involved games during the day...this man has given untold amounts of money to charity...you are saying that " If he truly believed in his religion.." etc. that he would not have played in the NBA...Presumably then he has some ulterior motive for not wanting a statue in his honor? If, contrary to the distinction which I feel so obviously applies between being presentwhen cameras are taking pictures and taking part in a premeditated effort to honor yourself in image, you feel that his career somehow defies his avowed belief, then why is he doing this now? Supposing ( and I in way way do, but for argument) that your point has some kind of validity...whose decision should it be for Hakeem to decide when to reform? Should it only be done when you or others like you see no hypocrisy in it? Should he go through a referendum? Or is it, as it would certainly be for you, his decision to make in which way he interprets his beliefs, and applies them, so long as, like now, the issue is about him alone?
Where in the Koran does it forbid Muslims from being in photos? You are wrong. Of course cameras weren't around when the Koran was written. Are you refering to the part of Islam that used to forbid figures of things other than plants from being displayed?
I saw the link, and it talked about statues. I was referring to someone saying that Hakeem by playing in the NBA and being on film was violating his religion. I haven't seen anything that forbids one to be photographed while doing their job.
I read the link, and it doesn't have any point that would make it against Islam to be filmed while doing a job. It's nowhere in the article or the Koran. The article also talks about differing opinions even on the statue thing, but that's another argument. The issue I'm taking contention with is the one where you claimed Hakeem was not following Islam by filmed while he was doing his job. There is no evidence to support that it in anyway conflicts with his religion.
You should really check your own post before calling out someone on their spelling errors. "shold", "a other", "to"
I read the Quran, I dont remember reading anything about you cannot be rich, and i did not ready anything about you have to beat your wife... What i did read was a manditory 2% of your annual income should go to charity, and what i did read was suicide will get you to hell, and what i did read was women have equall rights to men... I dont know where the hell you got that info...
The principle is the same, the photo/statue distinction is essentially meaningless (if you're a qu'ran literalist/fundamentalist), which is why the taliban forbade photos. As for being photographed while doing your job, how is that a meaningful loophole? What if you profit off those photos, as Hakeem certainly did? What if people put those photos up and worship you as a hero, as he certainly was. It seems like he violated both the letter and the spirit of the "law" a thousand times over as a player. It just seems like too little, too late to me. Of course, it's his decision. He's free to make it, and we're free to disagree with it.
Which Hakeem isn't, so why should he care about photos? Statues are a totally diffrent thing. Since in Christianity, the ten commandment forbades us to worship or idolize anything else, are most NBA fans who idolize a superstar or team going to hell? I hope not. What about Jesus's teaching about forgiveness (the part where he said one should forgive some one 49 times instead of following Moses eye for an eye ideology) and "thy shalt not kill" in the ten commandments, most Christian what say that the latter to defend the aborting of the fetuses, but most of them forget the former and are fine with the death penalty, are they hypocrites? The bottom line is most religious doctoring have been translated, copied, etc many times over. Some of the meaning or events could've been misinterperted, translated, changed or lost. We should just take the general messeage behind it. Jesus teached love for you fellow man and lived a pure life. Hakeem's Islam (from his auto bio) preached love and acceptance. But if he feels that a statue in his name is unacceptable, shouldn't that be his right to dissent.
No...not really...He's seen as a traitor to Islam, or at best a religious opportunist by much of the Muslim community, especially the extremists...Which raises a whole number of other topics, but best not discussed here...Remember, all it takes to be Muslim is to profess your faith. As such, it is an easily exploited/misinterpreted religion. I do not believe in Allah as such, but it is a beautiful belief system.
wizkid83, thank you for thinking about this question! Trying to think logically, one would think that they would be hyprocrites but no more than the Muslims that call suicide , martyrdom! Like Christians, Muslims are only Human and adapt things to meet their needs and location.
As is argued in the link you posted, The Taliban were seen by muslims as betraying Islam. Hakeem by the way is not a member of the Taliban, and doesn't practice the same brand of 'Islam' the Taliban did. Hakeem in no way has betrayed the any of the five pillars of wisdom or anything else in Islam by playing NBA basketball, making money, or having his photo taken. He has some misgivings about the statue, which is fine. There is a difference between having your picture taken and filmed while you are working and taking the time to comission or pose for a statue. I'm not saying the statue is wrong, but if it is, having your picture taken doesn't equate to be the same.
Pretty well said! Thank you! Religious belief is personal and if one choose to interprete it in whatever way, it is still personal. We should respect a person belief. If he is uncomfortable to do such things or comfortable to do such things, it is up to him. Also, there are a lot of controversy and argument in interpreting any religions. That is why Christianity, Islam, Buddhism all have more than one sect. The controversy and argument will not go away anytime soon. So if an individual choose to believe in a certain school/sect of the interpretation, it should be up to him.
<B>Eradicating the concentration of wealth</B> "The third object of the distribution of wealth, which Islâm considers to be very important, is that wealth, instead of becoming concentrated in a few hands, should be allowed to circulate in the society as widely as possible, so that the distinction between the rich and the poor should be narrowed down as far as is natural and practicable." Bronxfan do you eat free range chicken eggs or just any eggs? The Hindu religion also denounces violence to animals. The Bhagavad Gita (verse 5.18) proclaims that a self-realized soul is able to understand the equality of all beings. To a Hindu, animal souls are the same as human souls, progressing to higher means of conscious expression in each life. Hinduism teaches that every soul takes on a life for a particular reason and to kill an animal stops the progression of the soul and thus causes great suffering.2
