372 replies to this topic

[Kamranistan]

Reps, right man! Aabis shakari!

[imaan=faith]

Al-Mufeed, on 11 November 2011 - 01:18 AM, said:

2- This is an issue that would require a large amount of discussion. That is the reform of the clerical structure/howza. The reason these organizations are slow and unorganized is largely cultural.

Akhoonds/Mullahs/Mua'amams/Mowlanas/Shaikhs/Sayeds - what ever you want to call them are generally seen by society as being unquestionable and are essentially left to do as they like. The society treats them like celebrates, people kiss their hands, they give them long honorific titles - "Hujjat al Islam wal Muslimeen Hajji Shaikh/Sayed Fulan". They are a distinct class of people who get to wear a special type of clothing and so on. People are very reluctant to say any thing to them or reprehend them when (and it is the case many times) they are lazy, unorganized, and unable to manage centers/organizations.

Individuals don't really respect them, majority of people actually look down upon them as they see clerical studies to be a waste of time, they consider it a job for villagers and people who could not cut it in the "real world". However they still, because of deep rooted cultural/social reasons refuse to generally ever reprehend them for much of any thing.

So the first thing I believe needs to be done (although I do not think it will ever be done) is that this clerical class should essentially be eliminated. There should still be scholars and howza studies, but imagine if you eliminated all the titles from the man, called him brother "fulan" , instead of 10 titles, or if he dressed like every one else. Then I believe people would respect these individuals more for their actual virtues and piety, than for clothes and titles, and they would be more apt to actually making sure that they are doing their jobs correctly. I think in reality many of these individuals hide behind the clothing/titles, and feel they are entitled to things which they are not.

Most of them do not work, nor have they ever worked, and hence are usually out of touch with the people who have to struggle daily to make a living and feed their families. They collect a pay check for running an institution or masjid that they only show up to 3x a week at most, and even then only for like 2-3 hours. They should be given deadlines/jobs and have set hours, just like every one else.

Also there is allot of nepotism with in these networks as well, and often times people are promoted in to these positions based on family ties rather then piety and scholarship, although this is the same for other institutions as well. There should be better selection processes for who gets to run these organizations, and there for sure has to be more openness about how the money is spent.

At this point I hate to say it, but i believe its on the youth really to try as best as they can to learn the material on their own, and also to take action on their own in terms of organizing events/organizations/masjids, and spreading the light of ahlulbayt to the people, because as you have stated many of these organizations are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

Answers to Bro Almufeed's ideology about Howza:

Before I start:
Brother, first of all please clarify:
Which society you described its sheikhs? If you mean Iran, then you have to say how many years you leaved there. And then clarify how many cities you have visited? if you have not visited all of the Iran, so how do you know the opinion of all society people about sheikhs?
I'm a sheikh and I'm living in Iran since 21 years and as an Iranian, not a sheikh, I say this is not the situation I've seen in my society.
1. “The Sheikhs are generally seen by society as being unquestionable and are essentially left to do as they like.”
- if you mean people’s questions, you know that one of the main duties we have is to answer people's questions, in a day any anyone who sees you're a sheikh, if they have questions they stop you to ask, either very simple questions or even private questions about their family and their problems within family.

2. The society treats them like celebrates, people kiss their hands, they give them long honorific titles… They are a distinct class of people who get to wear a special type of clothing and so on

First:  sure we kiss the hands of our great scholars if we can meet them and it’s a kind of respect as Islam advice us to respect, but about kissing the hands of all other sheikhs, it’s more like a joke, because no one do it in our society and at most, if someone kiss the hands of a sheikh, if you say it’s bad, is it the problem of the sheikh who has hands (!) or the one who kissed his hands?!
Second: About titles, in any part of society, people in different jobs, have their own titles to be identified from others, so if I’m called “sheikh” my brother is called “Engineer” in his work, and my father is called “Ustad or teacher in his school” and the other one is called “Doctor” in the society.
So if you like we change our titles to Brother, I agree, but you have to change the other titles in the society as well. So we call our Doctors, engineers, teachers, etc “Brother” or “sister”,
Third: like other jobs that they wear special clothes, like doctors or pilots or…we have a special cloth too, by this difference that our cloth is the cloth of Imam Sadiq (a.s), it’s the cloth of our Holy prophet (s.a) and it’s the cloth of Duty, and of course being the soldier of Imam Zaman is an honor, isn’t it?

3. People are very reluctant to say anything to them or reprehend them when (and it is the case many times) they are lazy, unorganized, and unable to manage centers/organizations.
-First: It’s good to know that people in Iran, those who do not like Sheikhs, they insult to us easily and no one stops them …
Second: how many organizations you know that their managers are sheikh?
If there is for example 100 organizations that sheikhs are their managers and let’s imagine they are unable to manage, so if 100 sheikhs are unorganized, it means 199000 other sheikhs are unorganized?!

4. Majority of people actually look down upon them as they see clerical studies to be a waste of time
If people of the world say we’re waiting our time, what’s the reality?
Which science you know in Islam that is greater than science of theology and knowing Ahlul Bayt (a.s).

5. Most of them do not work!!! / They collect a pay check for running an institution or masjid that they only show up to 3x a week at most
Come on brother, if I do daily economical works like other people, so who would spread Islam through people? I have a work and duty and that’s studying and researching about Islam and Shia and then spread the message of Ahul Bayt (a.s) through the world.
Didn’t you know being a Talabe and Islamic student is Wajib Kafaee?
Have you ever read the Nafr verse?! It’s the order of Quran to go and learn about Islam and then teach it when you returned…Can I both concentrate on studying and working?
Meanwhile Please clarify the word “They” if you mean All of the sheikhs, it’s not true for All, as there are less than 500 mosques in our city and we are 10000 sheikhs…please calculate by yourself …
You saw 1 or 2 sheikhs like that and you say ALL of the sheikh are like this!

Ok I mentioned to only 5 points of your post…in order not to be long, I stop here.
I’m ready to debate with you about this issue, if you still persist on your opinion.

Best Regards
Sheikh Imaan

[Maula Dha Mallang]

^^ respected brother, if you wish to debate this then by all means begin a new thread, this isnt really a discussion thread, just an interview thread. it might be worth cutting and pasting the post into a separate thread and PMing mufeed to reply?

Al-Mufeed, on 11 November 2011 - 04:05 PM, said:

So when am I getting my payment for this interview? MDM, if I don't get my check soon I will see you in court!

my friend the nigerian ambassador will be in touch. keep an eye on your inbox.

Replicant, on 11 November 2011 - 03:45 PM, said:

I want either Aabiss Shakiri or Zufa to be interviewed too - they are great members.

theres a bit of a waiting list at the moment - i have to interview a couple of sisters to keep the rest of them quiet or they will just start acting up and we will have to pretend they have rights and feelings etc etc for a little while till they settle down *rolls eyes*


sure, i like them both. aly raza too.

[3rd June]

1st time came to this Topic and read all the pages at once; Superb work by MDM and the people who replied him; got tears too when was reading bout the incident which was been said by Hajj Abbas.  

Who would be the next Bakra/Bakri???

[Maula Dha Mallang]

my next interviewee is wonderer

starter of the most popular thread on shiachat in recent years (thoughts), wonderer is probably the happiest member on shiachat. she has the unique ability to be jolly no matter what the situation. not your average sister, she owns her own business with plans for more, is an aspiring author, persues her passion (knitting), enjoys life, is well travelled, is training towards becoming an interior designer, and has had a very varied life, from living as a native shia in saudi to spending a month in mashad as a guest of the imam to studing in arizona university and now in the UK. i dont know how she does it but she also manages to find time to watch about a million US soaps and shows, eat lots of really bad food between watching loads of really sucky cinema films (her choice) with me and attend all sorts of craft fairs where she sells her knitted goods. do not let her jolly bubbly personality fool you, behind the smile lurks a brilliant mind who has the annoying ability of always giving the right advice (mash'Allah).

(1) tell us about your first time you visited the imam in mashad, how did you approach, how did you feel as you walked in, what was it like seeing his zari for the first time? do you feel closest to imam ali raza ? how were the people in mashad? what part of iran do you love the most?

(2) tell us about your hajj experience. overall, what was the greatest moment? what was the lowest? how were shia treated in front of you?

(3) you have also been to bahrain, turkey, shaam and lebanon, can you give us an outline of the best things you did in each place?

(4) you have been in the UK for a year and a bit now. if you could change things about the city where you live, what would they be?

(5) how do you deal with an irritating customer?

(6) is saudi arabia really that bad a place to live in as we all imagine?

(7) why dont you tell everyone about the hospital story....?

(8) if you were to direct a fiction movie involving me, you and shiachat, who would play you and why? who would play me and why? what would the storyline be?

(9) do you eat food extra slow because you know it annoys me?

(10) which shiachatters would you like to meet?

Edited by Maula Dha Mallang, 12 November 2011 - 04:48 PM.

[SD2]

I see 3 user(s) are reading this topic and one of them is wonderer

Can't wait for the reply

[HellHound]

After Wonderer, the next interviewee HAS TO BE the Facist Admin of SC. You guys know exactly who I speak of

[S.hassan]

Replicant, on 12 November 2011 - 05:24 PM, said:

After Wonderer, the next interviewee HAS TO BE the Facist Admin of SC. You guys know exactly who I speak of

No, it has to be me, we'll save him for later...

[HellHound]

S.hassan, on 12 November 2011 - 10:29 PM, said:

No, it has to be me, we'll save him for later...

Shut up. Big fish first, small fry later.

[Blissful]

Can't wait for wonderer's

[S.hassan]

Replicant, on 12 November 2011 - 10:42 PM, said:

Shut up. Big fish first, small fry later.

You shut up, traitor.

[HellHound]

S.hassan, on 12 November 2011 - 10:46 PM, said:

You shut up, traitor.

How can one be a traitor when he doesn't owe his loyalty to anyone?

[S.hassan]

Replicant, on 12 November 2011 - 10:51 PM, said:

How can one be a traitor when he doesn't owe his loyalty to anyone?

This is your reality:



I won't hijack this thread for respect to MDM.

[Blissful]

Replicant, on 12 November 2011 - 10:51 PM, said:

How can one be a traitor when he doesn't owe his loyalty to anyone?

^ Shutup and hail the fascist mods.




EDIT: Sorry MDM. I'll shutup now.

Edited by Blissful, 12 November 2011 - 11:03 PM.

[_JuGNii]

I mite start reading the answers.. It's jus I hate reading and the replies are Sooooo LONG

Edited by _JuGNii, 13 November 2011 - 07:04 AM.

[Devotee]

Can't wait for Wonderers answers!

[Aly ReZa]

where is  ms.wonderer

Edited by Aly ReZa, 13 November 2011 - 02:04 PM.

[wonderer]

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

my next interviewee is wonderer

starter of the most popular thread on shiachat in recent years (thoughts), wonderer is probably the happiest member on shiachat. she has the unique ability to be jolly no matter what the situation. not your average sister, she owns her own business with plans for more, is an aspiring author, persues her passion (knitting), enjoys life, is well travelled, is training towards becoming an interior designer, and has had a very varied life, from living as a native shia in saudi to spending a month in mashad as a guest of the imam to studing in arizona university and now in the UK. i dont know how she does it but she also manages to find time to watch about a million US soaps and shows, eat lots of really bad food between watching loads of really sucky cinema films (her choice) with me and attend all sorts of craft fairs where she sells her knitted goods. do not let her jolly bubbly personality fool you, behind the smile lurks a brilliant mind who has the annoying ability of always giving the right advice (mash'Allah).  

WOWWW!! what an into! I feel such a celebrity! THANK YOU.. I was actually was really impressed reading all that lool.. it sounds much better than the story in my head! lool (u know what they say we are our own worst critics!  ok let the fun begins!

ps. MDM ENJOYS my movie choices lool well except for a horrible one that we both hated can't remember what it was called lool.. but other than that he loves it

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

  
(1) tell us about your first time you visited the imam in mashad, how did you approach, how did you feel as you walked in, what was it like seeing his zari for the first time? do you feel closest to imam ali raza ? how were the people in mashad? what part of iran do you love the most?

First time I visited Iran was with my family and it was mostly tourism and going around different parts of Iran (u know back when the economy was good lol) and it was just WONDERFUL! but I didn't experience the spirituality of it till I went on my own and spent time just relaxing and connecting with Imam Reda mashallah.. it was SO NICE! and the weather was GREAT in NOV  I hated their traffic and internet tho! if it wasn't for those 2 factors I would consider living in Iran! lool

I def feel close to Imam Reda.. I love his story.. and it could be coz I spent a bit of time there on my own first time i got there it was PACKED as usual, but the feeling was still amazing.. I only touched the zariah once tho one early morning.. coz it's soooooo crowded and ppl (the women side) hit each other reaching to it, and it's SO NOT the point.. why go touch it when u r gona break the imam's moral code doing it u know.. but it was so nice.. got few pix but not many.. we weren't allowed to take pix of the inside

Mashhad ppl were nice once u get to know em, but the shop owners r a bit viscous.. but I solved that and just wore the irani chadore and they stopped approaching me lool

my fav part of Iran is ESFHAN.. it was GORGEOUS.. a living dream for every designer.. everything abt it was FAB! I wanted to buy everything! lool

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

(2) tell us about your hajj experience. overall, what was the greatest moment? what was the lowest? how were shia treated in front of you?

Haj was intense in a VERY positive way! It was one of my best spiritual memories tho I went when my life was a roller coaster, so I think it could have been better.. inshallah Allah will give me the honor to go again.

The sec u stand in front of the kaba'a u just feel soooooo amazing.. u know how great it feels when u r in ziarah? Haj was even more thrilling.. I am very grateful I have done it al7amdilah mashallah <3

greatest moment was EVERYTHING! it's tiring but in a great way.. like u r exhausted but still very excited and happy? that was it!  worth every sec! I'd love to go again inshallah

lowest was that I wasn't prepared.. I should have taken a GREAT sports shoes w me other than the lame pair I had w me coz there's SO MUCH walking and the ehram wasn't as functional as I would have liked.. I'll be more prepared next time inshallah <3

shias were treated fine.. we were Saudi shias so wahabis didn't really mess w us.. we were a big caravan, and the ppl were LOVELY!

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

  
(3) you have also been to bahrain, turkey, shaam and lebanon, can you give us an outline of the best things you did in each place?

yes I have mashallah

Bahrain: it's super close to the Saudi part where I lived, so we used to go a lot like once a month or 2 months.. it was WAY MORE FUN.. shias used to be freer there and they had shia shops w all shia things and they had a CINEMA! something we didn't have in SA!

Turkey: only went to Istanbul for few days.. I would have loved to go more places and to stay longer.. the weather was gorgeous.. food was DELICIOUS.. fashion was very forward.. their malls were FAB! ppl weren't that super coz of the language barrier.. I day dream abt the food mostly.. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to hire a turkish chef! (MDM u better start making enough money for a chef! lool)

Shaam (Syria): BEST PLACE TO SHOP! I need to go back to buy yarn and LOADS OF IT! lool ziarah was really nice mashallah... there r a lot of places worth seeing there! inshallah next time I go I'll do a proper tour!

Lebanon: was GREAT! loved every bit of it.. only part I hated was the shop/restaurant owners coz they didn't have prices on a lot of things and they would price it on how rich u r!! and they thought I was loaded VERY WRONG so didn't do ANY shopping there.. just sight seeing

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

(4) you have been in the UK for a year and a bit now. if you could change things about the city where you live, what would they be?

oh man I would change loads of things!

1- have a more active cinema as in get new movies RIGHT AWAY not a month after! tut tut
2- have more places that does ENGLISH majlis.. there's only one and it's an hr away like wth!
3- change the TINY streets they got! when u compare em to the US 4 lanes streets they looks TINY
4- the sizes of buildings n rooms! they r SO SMALL! (tho am getting more use to it)

my fav parts r the ones where there r local bzns n cafes <3

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

(5) how do you deal with an irritating customer?

all my customers are AWESOME! (well 99% of em) so far I didn't get any annoying ones.. but I got a bit irritated with people who I shared shops with

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

(6) is saudi arabia really that bad a place to live in as we all imagine?

it's really not! it's just like the UK with no Cinema and worst streets.. houses r soo nice! shopping malls r BIG! food is SO yummy! a lot of ppl r nice.. and believe me it doesn't look like a wahabi theme park lool.. u'll c next summer inshallah! I think u'll like the shia cities! they r active and full of local shops, which defines a city!

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

(7) why dont you tell everyone about the hospital story....?

LOL u had to ask this! ok this story involves MDM being a total HERO!

i think I mentioned it on the thoughts thread before.. but I'll say it again for mr.MD's ego

one dark night.. I was sick.. like really sick! my throat was in total agony.. I wasn't breathing or eating.. MD thought I was exaggerating then he called me and listened to how I couldn't even speak! (I can feel it remembering the story!) he didn't have car then and it was gona cost so much for him to come n pick me n take me to the hospital so he had to call his friend.. and they rushed me to the hospital.. and I had a super bad throat condition YIKES! MD supported me.. and waited with me.. mashallah at him.. then he had to call his other friend to pick us up.. but he still manged to get me dinner! which I couldn't eat w my bad throat but HUGE E for effort mahsallah MDM u were such a hero  and u r always my hero <3 mashallah

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

(8) if you were to direct a fiction movie involving me, you and shiachat, who would play you and why? who would play me and why? what would the storyline be?

wow! that's a long one, but basically we'll be 2 sci fi characters who fell in love in outer space, but once we got to Earth we had to fight more enemies to unit lool sounds a bit lame but it'll be good w a good director

ME I would choose hmmmm so hard! someone AWESOME!

YOU someone HOT! probably french lol

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

(9) do you eat food extra slow because you know it annoys me?

LOL u r evil! excuse me but I like to CHEW my food plus that means I won't get a digestion prob.. plus I thought u said it doesn't annoy me.. I think u need to eat slower.. inhaling food isn't healthy hehe

Maula Dha Mallang, on 12 November 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

(10) which shiachatters would you like to meet?

hmmm there r so many cool ppl hard to choose only one! prob one of the cool girls

that was FUN! now back to knitting a scarf!

[Maula Dha Mallang]

question set 2 of 3

thanks for the responses here are my follow up questions:

(1) lol yeah, my secret is out. i love chick flicks. why do you get so nervous when i find "sad" bits of movies hilarious? for example -

girl in film: i love you long time big boy
guy in film: do one, im married. you is dumped.
all the girls in the cinema hall: *gasp!*
MDM in the cinema: BAHAHAHAHAHA
wonderer: *facepalm*

(2) so there is only the iraq ziarahs left for you to have visited all the masumeen except the awaited imam, mash'Allah. if you were to get your book published and get a lump sum of around £50,000, and the condition was that you have to take a year off and travel anywhere, what would your plan of travel be, month by month? assume you start in january

(3) its good that you like the small local businesses. you are also becoming quite skilled and experienced at running your own online business. what advice could you give someone who wanted to start their own web business, but did not know how to market it? what things work for you, what doesnt, what lessons have you learnt so far?

(4) if saudi arabia is such a cool place for shias to live, why do you think it gets such a bad rep?

(5) i am outraged and appalled that you think a smelly surrender monkey frenchman could play me. as if a frenchman could have a similar noor filled face as me (mash'Allah at my noor filled face). you realise that you basically just described the plot of star wars right? how would you write a story that involved the members of shiachat as well? come on, i want sub plots, intrigue, passion, fights, the works.

(6) what was your best dining experience in the UK so far? what do you think of the british desserts i am slowly introducing you to (like rhubarb crumble and custard we had in liverpool that time)

(7) what skills gaps do you have, that you would like to fill?

(8) if you could teach anything. what would you teach, and how would you be different to other teachers who teach the same thing?

(9) why do you have zero faith in my electrical and DIY skills even though i always do everything right

(10) why isnt there any mouse flavoured cat food?

[Gypsy]

Wonderful topic. love it.

SD you should be officially known as the ShiaChat Doubter

Baradar, some of your answers are really funny. But can you please answer the following question

baradar_jackson, on 11 November 2011 - 03:56 PM, said:

I had moisture on my hands when I sat on the interview chair btw, and I rubbed my hands all over it.

So everyone be careful of najasah when they sit.

Baradar, are you the one sitting on the left chair or the right?


I am still reading Mufeed answers. Will probably say something later.

And MDM, great questions. You should probably be a journalist if you are not already one. The questions are absolutely brilliant.

[baradar_jackson]

Gypsy, on 13 November 2011 - 11:10 PM, said:

Baradar, are you the one sitting on the left chair or the right?

Actually I am neither. The individuals in my signature picture are MAFHJ and Ruh.Mujarad.

[S.hassan]

baradar_jackson, on 13 November 2011 - 11:13 PM, said:

Actually I am neither. The individuals in my signature picture are MAFHJ and Ruh.Mujarad.

You have a thing for traitors don't you?

[baradar_jackson]

S.hassan, on 13 November 2011 - 11:16 PM, said:

You have a thing for traitors don't you?

Who is a traitor?

[S.hassan]

baradar_jackson, on 13 November 2011 - 11:20 PM, said:

Who is a traitor?

You and the other fake WF supporters living in shaytan e bozorg.

Edited by S.hassan, 13 November 2011 - 11:22 PM.

[SD2]

Gypsy, on 13 November 2011 - 11:10 PM, said:

Wonderful topic. love it.

SD you should be officially known as the ShiaChat Doubter

Baradar, some of your answers are really funny. But can you please answer the following question

Baradar, are you the one sitting on the left chair or the right?


I am still reading Mufeed answers. Will probably say something later.

And MDM, great questions. You should probably be a journalist if you are not already one. The questions are absolutely brilliant.

loool .. maybe SD can represent Shia Doubter rather than Debater