Wednesday, January 21, 2009

An interesting letter

A friend shared this letter in FB. I thought it's interesting, so I'm sharing it here. Taken from here. If I'm not mistaken, this was written in 2006.

A letter from a Christian to Muslim women
By Joanna Francis
Writer, Journalist - USA

Between the Israeli assault on Lebanon and the Zionist “war on terror,” the Muslim world is now center stage in every American home. I see the carnage, death and destruction that have befallen Lebanon, but I also see something else: I see you. I can’t help but notice that almost every woman I see is carrying a baby or has children around her. I see that though they are dressed modestly, their beauty still shines through. But it’s not just outer beauty that I notice. I also notice that I feel something strange inside me: I feel envy. I feel terrible for the horrible experiences and war crimes that the Lebanese people have suffered, being targeted by our common enemy. But I can’t help but admire your strength, your beauty, your modesty, and most of all, your happiness.

Yes, it’s strange, but it occurred to me that even under constant bombardment, you still seemed happier than we are, because you were still living the natural lives of women. The way women have always lived since the beginning of time. It used to be that way in the West until the 1960s, when we were bombarded by the same enemy. Only we were not bombarded with actual munitions, but with subtle trickery and moral corruption.

Through Temptation

They bombarded us Americans from Hollywood, instead of from fighter jets or with our own American-made tanks. They would like to bomb you in this way too, after they’ve finished bombing the infrastructure of your countries. I do not want this to happen to you. You will feel degraded, just like we do. You can avoid this kind of bombing if you will kindly listen to those of us who have already suffered serious casualties from their evil influence. Because everything you see coming out of Hollywood is a pack of lies, a distortion of reality, smoke and mirrors. They present casual sex as harmless recreation because they aim to destroy the moral fabric of the societies into which they beam their poisonous programming. I beg you not to drink their poison. There is no antidote for it once you have consumed it. You may recover partially, but you will never be the same. Better to avoid the poison altogether than to try to heal from the damage it causes.

They will try to tempt you with their titillating movies and music videos, falsely portraying us American women as happy and satisfied, proud of dressing like prostitutes, and content without families. Most of us are not happy, trust me. Millions of us are on anti-depressant medication, hate our jobs, and cry at night over the men who told us they loved us, then greedily used us and walked away. They would like to destroy your families and convince you to have fewer children. They do this by presenting marriage as a form of slavery, motherhood as a curse, and being modest and pure as old-fashioned. They want you to cheapen yourself and lose your faith. They are like the Serpent tempting Eve with the apple. Don’t bite.

Self-Value

I see you as precious gems, pure gold, or the “pearl of great value” spoken of in the Bible (Matthew 13: 45). All women are pearls of great value, but some of us have been deceived into doubting the value of our purity. Jesus said: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7: 6). Our pearls are priceless, but they convince us that they’re cheap. But trust me; there is no substitute for being able to look in the mirror and seeing purity, innocence and self-respect staring back at you.

The fashions coming out of the Western sewer are designed to make you believe that your most valuable asset is your sexuality. But your beautiful dresses and veils are actually sexier than any Western fashion, because they cloak you in mystery and show self-respect and confidence. A woman’s sexuality should be guarded from unworthy eyes, since it should be your gift to the man who loves and respects you enough to marry you. And since your men are still manly warriors, they deserve no less than your best. Our men don’t even want purity anymore. They don’t recognize the pearl of great value, opting for the flashy rhinestone instead. Only to leave her too!

Your most valuable assets are your inner beauty, your innocence, and everything that makes you who you are. But I notice that some Muslim women push the limit and try to be as Western as possible, even while wearing a veil (with some of their hair showing). Why imitate women who already regret, or will soon regret, their lost virtue? There is no compensation for that loss. You are flawless diamonds. Don’t let them trick you into becoming rhinestones. Because everything you see in the fashion magazines and on Western television is a lie. It is Satan’s trap. It is fool’s gold.

A Woman’s Heart

I’ll let you in on a little secret, just in case you’re curious: pre-marital sex is not even that great. We gave our bodies to the men we were in love with, believing that that was the way to make them love us and want to marry us, just as we had seen on television growing up. But without the security of marriage and the sure knowledge that he will always stay with us, it’s not even enjoyable! That’s the irony. It was just a waste. It leaves you in tears.

Speaking as one woman to another, I believe that you understand that already. Because only a woman can truly understand what’s in another woman’s heart. We really are all alike. Our race, religion or nationalities do not matter. A woman’s heart is the same everywhere. We love. That’s what we do best. We nurture our families and give comfort and strength to the men we love. But we American women have been fooled into believing that we are happiest having careers, our own homes in which to live alone, and freedom to give our love away to whomever we choose. That is not freedom. And that is not love. Only in the safe haven of marriage can a woman’s body and heart be safe to love. Don’t settle for anything less. It’s not worth it. You won’t even like it and you’ll like yourself even less afterwards. Then he’ll leave you.

Self-Denial

Sin never pays. It always cheats you. Even though I have reclaimed my honor, there’s still no substitute for having never been dishonored in the first place. We Western women have been brainwashed into thinking that you Muslim women are oppressed. But truly, we are the ones who are oppressed; slaves to fashions that degrade us, obsessed with our weight, begging for love from men who do not want to grow up. Deep down inside, we know that we have been cheated. We secretly admire and envy you, although some of us will not admit it. Please do not look down on us or think that we like things the way they are. It’s not our fault. Most of us did not have fathers to protect us when we were young because our families have been destroyed. You know who is behind this plot.

Don’t be fooled, my sisters. Don’t let them get you too. Stay innocent and pure. We Christian women need to see what life is really supposed to be like for women. We need you to set the example for us, because we are lost. Hold onto your purity. Remember: you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. So guard your “toothpaste” carefully!

I hope you receive this advice in the spirit in which it is intended: the spirit of friendship, respect, and admiration.

From your Christian sister with love.

A friend shared this letter in FB. I thought it's interesting, so I'm sharing it here. Taken from here. If I'm not mistaken, this was written in 2006.

13 comments:

Rizza

wow.... speechless...[betul ke aku eja ni hehe)

Anonymous

assalamualaikum
thanx mynie..
just what i need now..
by the way, nih Bas :)
aku sebenarnya dah lama baca blog kau tapi senyap je, but today i thought i must write something

just to update- i think u probably know i'm now in manchester, dah setahun dah, my hubby buat phd, i'm on unpaid leave for 3 years from the govn, when we arrived here i brought my maid so i worked fulltime in a gp clinic, but since maid aku kena balik m'sia 30 dec baru ni i have to quit my job, it was my hubby's wish, plus i'm pregnant again now (dah 20 weeks, alhamdulillah), so sekarang aku full time house wife! so at first aku macam sedih jugak sebab tak dapat kerja, but then i discovered many things that i missed when i was working, so i feel better now..
and your latest post really helps

so mcm mana application kau for the part time hours? i fully support it because...you need to live life! hehehe

so i see that you read many books, have you read khaled hosseini's Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns? if you havent,these 2 books are must-read and must- haves :) they are about afghan people..

ok mynie, too much for a comment
send my love to your beautiful pair
bubbye!

Ummu Auni

i totally agreed what the woman wrote down. i wish that Malays who are claiming to be Muslims, would read this article & hold to the advice steadfastly. :(

SMM

rizza,
yup, me too.. direct to the point je hehe..

bas!!!!
tak sangka you've been silently reading my blog. yes, i know you're in the uk, and i've read abt your 3rd one coming in afi's blog. congrats, my dear!

i'm glad you now feel better at home, spending your time with your sons. take this opportunity to develop the other part of yourself, insyaAllah, and do other things. besides there are alternatives, maybe work several hours during the weekend when your hubby can look after the boys (if such arrangement is possible)..

i haven't followed up on my request yet, because i want to give him some good reports/studies/analysis first, to 'bank in some emotional points' first.. my target is april.

and yes, i've heard of the two books. but i've read a review of the kite runner such that i know most of the story, and 'tak brp rasa' nak baca dah buku tu. maybe i'll try the splendid sun one.. thx for recommending.

ummu auni,
it's a good reminder/tazkirah for us. and coming from 'the other side', different impact dia compact to dr kita2 sendiri..

Aina Ana

Mynie, what the lady mentioned about the lies that Hollywood potrays is very true. From my experience visiting Dublin, London & Paris for 2 weeks, I RARELY see their 'kelakuan seperti yg digambarkan dalam TV'. In fact my brother mention in passing that Irish people 'masih tebal malunya'. And I was really confused to see those 'kelakuan' in TV imitated by Muslim women here.
I mean, why are they acting like that when even the Westerners themselves don't actually show it all the time. Anyhow this is my perspective, maybe yours is different because after all you live long enough in UK right.. :)

Ummu Auni

mynie, just want to add i love reading a thousand splendid suns compared to 'kite runner', reason being, kite runner is so predictable even though both portrayed taliban as ruthless force

SMM

ainaana,
you're right. dlm tv je lebih. in real life, sebahagian je yg camtu.. teringat artikel ustaz hasrizal pasal memboikot hiburan barat yg memasarkan budaya hedonisma.

ummu auni,
oohh, kalau camtu kena baca lah ni. err.. you don't have it by any chance, do you? kalau ada, nak pinjam ;p

Anonymous

saja nak nyampuk lagi, punyalah aku nih katak bawah tempurung, lepas baca splendid suns baru aku tau yg upacara nikah dlm masy muslim lain beza dgn kita punya, why we shake hands during nikah? and is it really necessary to repeat the akad if the man stutters?
well, when i was working at the gp clinic here, i found that premarital sex is very much of the lifestyle (nobody's virgin anymore), even the doctors will look sceptically at you if you say you dont want the cervical smear because you are not sexually active, and one of my colleague has 5 children whom all have different fathers and her 13 year old son (as we say mak/bapak borik anak rintik) has already had sexual relationship with her girlfriend..and some friends here dared to ask me 'have you only been with one man all your life? come on you are 28!' (dalam hati just cakap do i look like i'm missing something?)
and the part about antidepressant is very true..semua org depressed kat sini, they are never happy with what they have. I watched a documentary about poor people in UK once, and trust me, they are not poor! they still have roof above their heads, food to eat and they still can afford cigarettes and booze! Poor is like people in zimbabwe who are eating their hut floors now which are made of cow skin because of the food crisis.. and when i was working in jasin i've met more more unfortunate people but nobody complained like the poeple here do..

Anonymous

Mynie,

Thank you for sharing this article. It is really interesting. Boleh tak akak ambik dan share dengan kawan-kawan kat office? Ramai gak yang Muslim tapi rasa cam nak jadi Western (in terms of pakaian lah, not the activities.. nauzubillah)..

SMM

bas,
omg - tak tercapai dek akalku, esp yg 5 kids by different fathers and her son sexually active at 13. what!! i'm so glad i'm a muslim.. alhamdulillah, thank you Allah for this nikmat.. tapinya, risaunya memikirkan what the future for our kids and grandkids would be like..

ipohmom,
sure, sila lah.. saya pun 'pinjam' dari tempat lain gak. i'm glad ada manfaat utk kita dan kawan2..

SMM

bas,
omg - tak tercapai dek akalku, esp yg 5 kids by different fathers and her son sexually active at 13. what!! i'm so glad i'm a muslim.. alhamdulillah, thank you Allah for this nikmat.. tapinya, risaunya memikirkan what the future for our kids and grandkids would be like..

ipohmom,
sure, sila lah.. saya pun 'pinjam' dari tempat lain gak. i'm glad ada manfaat utk kita dan kawan2..

Ummu Auni

mynie, sorry, pinjam dari officemate sebenarnya :D

SMM

ummu auni,
takpe it's ok :)

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