In my house hold there was also really strict rules about the books I was allowed to read. Nothing about sex, and nothing about magic. Those were the basic rules. That was because both of those went against the teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
My best friend at the time was also a bookworm like me and we always would exchange books that we loved.
The first time I ever read about magic was from a book she gave me. I think it was called Witch Child and it was about a girl in the Salem Witch trials (who also happened to be a witch). I'm getting to a point so be patient. It instantly became a favorite, and then I moved on to Harry Potter. Then I moved on a story about Goddesses on earth, because they had magic powers too. And who doesn't want to have powers that could save their own butt or expose liars or idk...clean up their room? By the time I was done with the particular goddess series, I had read about thirty books having to do with magic. Then, because it was so interesting, I read a book behind the harry potter series and what do you know...a lot of the stuff in that book actually had to do with stuff people actually believed in! All those weird plants, creatures...the author didn't make them up herself, it was stuff that people all over had believed in at one point. Which was the time when I wanted to do some real research into the mythology behind all of that. And from that, since I pretend I'm a little author, I started my own stories.
My point is, something as simple as harry potter can have a big impact on a kid. It started as something innocent and grew into something gross. It can seem harmless in the beginning, but by the end you end knowing what I knew: a bunch of pointless crap.
Divination with sticks, bones, water, smoke on mirrors. Telling the future by putting mirrors under your pillow. Chairs with devils, 3:00 a.m. appearances.... Ok, so I didn't actually PRACTICE these. But I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't interested.
The reason I was thinking about this was because of the new Harry Potter movie that has come out and how soo many muslims are like ALRIGHT! I AM THERE! MIDNIGHT SHOWING HERE I COME! And seriously, I just want to warn them like, do you realize that your nine year old cousin is going to be completely enthralled in this movie and will NOT HATE MAGIC?
I already know I'm going to get comments saying that its JUST A MOVIE and JUST A BOOK and who would think of it seriously?? Well, I was no crazy kid and I definitely knew the difference between reality and fiction, but it would be an outright lie to say that, even though books with magic and movies with magic that make it seem ok, can do no harm. Especially to the little ones who will end up loving it. The movies are meant to make you love it, so its not like its a hard thing to believe.
We all know Magic is 100% WRONG and is considered SHIRK so even though these movies might seem great, they are the exact thing Allah swt hates. We should hate them too for the sake of Allah swt.
Surah Al-Falaq (translation of meaning)
Say: "I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak,
2. "From the evil of what He has created;
3. "And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness; (or the moon as it sets or goes away).
4. "And from the EVIL of the witchcrafts when they blow in the knots,
5. "And from the evil of the envier when he envies."
p.s. I'm too lazy right now to check my writing and spelling, sorry.
ok let the hater comments roll....lol.
13 comments:
I also was a book nerd =) I used to read on average 10 to 12 books a week by the age of 10. The librarian at our library would always comment that there is no way I could finish all those books in the 3 weeks I was given to check themout. Id bring them back 1 week later and have read all of them lol. You are right that books and movies influence peoples thoughts and actions. Take vampires for example. There are groups of people who want to be "vampires" and have even gone so far as to have their teeth reconstructed and sharpened to resemble vampires and they drink one anothers blood. Romance novels promote premarital relationships and often romanticize infidelity.
I prefer to read books about history, religion, pyschology or world affairs.
assalamu alaykum sis
Masha'Allah and I agree with you 100%! I have been thinking/saying this same thing to sisters for a while now. Its just common sense, i mean...think about it! you are watching/reading and enjoying SHIRK, how can that be ok?
may Allah guide us all. there are many many alternative books to read that could benefit both children and adults, that have no iffy stuff in it.
jazaak Allah khayr
wasalaam
Umm Aadam
My conservative Christian parents banned Harry Potter (my siblings and I are all avid readers). I did eventually read the first 3 and half of the fourth when I was in high school. My parents still don't know. I couldn't get that into them, so I didn't finish the series. The movie previews (for this new one at least) look downright scary and I want no part in it.
My parents actually banned anything with witches/wizards period. No Wizard of Oz, no Hocus Pocus, no Sword in the Stone, no Sleeping Beauty, etc. etc. The thing is, I saw all of those movies anyway at school or at friends houses. Did they kill my morality? No. Do I think my parents ban was pointless, a bit. It's certainly right to teach your children that witchcraft is real and is evil and hated by Allah. But you don't want to go around banning so many things that they either a) rebel because they see you as going overboard or b) agree with you too wholeheartedly and think their friends who watch these movies/read these books for fun are bad/evil people out to harm others.
I don't really know what my take will be with my son. Certainly more liberal than my parents, but I will expect him to be firmly rooted in reality and will not have him prancing about the house playing wizard, nor will we be visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. If his school assigns a Harry Potter book to read, so be it. I won't make a fuss. My parents, on the other hand, would have literally gone to the school board about it and probably had me pulled out for the duration of the unit.
@Nikki: My parents did the same thing and I wish I had listened to them. Since witchcraft is one of the most hated things in Islam, I'm surprised by anyone who would be ok with their child reading it / watching it and not having the proper dislike for it. I don't hate anyone who reads that stuff, but I understand its because they don't properly realize how bad it is. Also, that is why I'll be homeschooling my children inshallah. I don't need anyone to desensitize my child on things that Allah swt hates. I seriously doubt that Prophet Muhammed sallallahu alayhi wasallam was just 'eh' about things that went against Islam.
I just wanted to mention that people who practice magic are not devil worshipers. Most witches don't even believe in the Devil or Satan or Hell or whatever. You should do some research on what magic actually is before you condemn people for believing differently than you do. A good site to learn from is http://paganwiccan.about.com/. Magic is very misunderstood by well meaning people.
@Lady Of Ozarks: I didn't once mention that people who practice magic worship the devil. However, I have seen on the wiccan websites themselves that they believe in the sun god aka lucifer aka the horned god. obviously you read my blog post, so you know exactly what i meant by saying I was reading books on it (magic)- and not just the fiction kind. Even if I didn't read those books, I already know that magic is nothing but jinn and the devil playing with people and making them believe that they are actually somehow creating the 'magic' to happen on their own or with the help of their FALSE gods/goddesses. I BEAR WITNESS THAT THERE IS NONE WORTHY OF WORSHIP IN TRUTH EXCEPT FOR ALLAH. Trying to have power, use of anything as power such as amulets etc. is shirk meaning you are taking up partners with the one TRUE god ALLAH swt. Something that is unforgivable.
I never cut down your religion, so don't cut down mine. I just said you should get educated on something before you start spewing hate speech. I have nothing against Muslims I just say that you should know what you are talking about before you freak out or make crap up about Wiccans worshiping a sun god. Wiccans don't worship a sun god, that was the ancient Egyptions. Do research on the topic. My only point is that you need to get educated before you judge others. When someone is uneducated about what they say and judge others AND have absolutely no interest in educating themselves, it's like arguing with a brick wall.
@Lady of Ozarks: Well, I am openly saying I hate magic of any form. No matter how its practiced, how its believed, or how its used. Not because of you, or anyone else who practices it (and i've known people who believe in the 'horned god' who they happen to call lucifer), but because it clearly goes against the one true god Allah. Whatever he hates, I hate. And when I mean hate, I mean HATE.
@lady of the ozarks, where are you from? (if you don't mind saying.) i'm originally from the ozarks, myself. :-)
@alabaster, i get your point of this post, and i really don't have any hater comments to give. however, i would caution you against telling other people what gods they believe in. i know i've been told that allah is an "arabian moon god" a couple of times, and let me tell you, it irritates me to no end when people tell me what allah is, as though i'm just some misguided fool who's been duped into believing in a false god (or who hasn't done any research). it doesn't make for a productive dialogue, that's for sure. :-)
@Neco: You are right, I didn't realize I was telling HER what SHE believes in, when obviously she doesn't believe in it. (I've heard the moon god thing too, so that one hit home). I should have instead said that there are people who practice magic who do believe in him. But I would still warn anyone that practicing magic of any form is falling into shirk, and tawhid (understand the oneness of god)is the most important fundemental in Islam.
I am appalled at how popular Harry Potter is, not because it's all bout magic and wizadry (which is bad and haram of course) but because how wussy and nerdy it is! A bunch of pale four-eyed kids waving a wand around? Please
whoa, there, dd. i really hope that post was a joke! that doesn't sound very nice. so you want kids to not like books because the kids in them are "nerds"? i'm very pale, and i wear glasses (well, contacts most of the time). and i like to read. a lot. i don't wave a wand around, but i'll say it loud, i'm a nerd and i'm proud! and...wussy? really? i mean, i'd rather have my kids adore the harry potter stories then have them going around telling other people that they're wussy and nerdy. please.
@Neco: I think she meant it as a joke. I'm pale and wear glasses and love reading...idk I guess some people would think its funny and others not. I think that reading books that encourage magic and shirk is much more worse than kids going around and calling others nerdy, though neither is right.
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