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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Use of term "mu'min" question |
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| Anonymous |
| 04/08/02 at 00:35:47 |
| As Salam Alaikum, Today i was having a conversation about someone in my sunday school about having a game for the students called, "Who wants to be a Mumin." A quiz type of a game sort of like on here. However, many people said that is ridiculous to have a game called Who wants to be a Mumin b/c it is not our duty to be calling people mumin or not. One person got so outraged and said what is next, {"Who wants to be a Prophet."? What about those people who dont' participate in this game, they aren't mumins? So there was this whole debate about this subject. How can you answer this especially to narrow minded people? I am a little confused. J/khair. |
| Re: Use of term "mu'min" question |
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| jannah |
| 04/08/02 at 00:44:01 |
| [wlm] ignore them and continue with the game. look people have to wake up sometime. like go ask him/her to go to the first grade class and ask them who has watched the program 'who want's to be a millionaire' i can bet you tons of kids would raise their hand.. you want these kids to go through life with 'who want's to be a millionaire' in their subconscious??? if they have 'who want's to be a mu'min?' in their subconscious that's what they'll be thinking about their whole life.. me , me i want to be a mu'min..... what am i doing about it etc.. people just have to get a grip.... while muslims are being slaughtered all over the world and we are losing the next generation in WAVES people have problems about a term the prophet SAW used OVER and OVER again to explain to people how to be a good Muslim??? ugh ok i better stop >:( |
| Re: Use of term "mu'min" question |
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| Abu_Hamza |
| 04/08/02 at 01:49:59 |
| [slm] The title for the competition "Who Wants to be a Mu'min" has some meaning behind it which is relevant only to this message board. In case Anonymous is not aware of it, the posters on this board carry a certain title which appears right below their name in each of their posts. This title changes based on the number of posts that they have. So a person who has 0-100 posts is a 'Madina Newbie.' A person who has 100-200 posts is a 'Madina Muslim.' And so on (see "Help" for more info). The idea behind these titles is just plain fun and nothing else! As you can see, the theme of the different titles is to gradually attain higher levels of imaan/taqwaa/nearness to Allah. Of course these labels do not mean that a "Madina Aalim", for example, is truly that - an Aalim!!! So since every competition usually carries with it a prize, the prize for WWTBAM contest on this board is that the winner gets the title of "Madina Mu'min", regardless of how little their total number of posts may be. "Madina Mu'min" usually requires 400 posts. So because of all this, the title Who Wants to be a Mu'min makes sense. It's obvious that we're not saying that in order to become a mu'min (in the literal sense of that word), all you need to do is win this contest! But, if you have a contest in your Masjid and you wanna name it "Who Wants to be a Mu'min", I can perfectly see people raising their eyebrows! It wouldn't make any sense! Would it? So that's probably why you got the kind of responses you got Anonymous. Wallahu a'lam. P.S. BTW, there's a HUGE difference between a title such as "Prophet" and the titles that we use on this board, such as Muslim, Mu'min, Aalim, Siddeeq, Shaheed, etc. A "Prophet" is a status which is unattainable by any human being on his/her own. It is something *given* by Allah (swt) to whomever He pleases. On the other hand, the titles used on this board are all things that all of us can (and are encouraged to) attain through mujaahadah (inner struggle) and improvement in the practice of our Deen. Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. |
| Re: Use of term "mu'min" question |
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| se7en |
| 04/08/02 at 17:19:47 |
| as salaamu alaykum, [quote author=Abu_Hamza link=board=special;num=1018240548;start=0#2 date=04/08/02 at 01:49:59] But, if you have a contest in your Masjid and you wanna name it "Who Wants to be a Mu'min", I can perfectly see people raising their eyebrows! It wouldn't make any sense! Would it?[/quote] Why wouldn't it? You're not implying that this person is guaranteed a place in Jannah or anything like that.. you're simply asking a question. And "who wants to be a Mu'min" is a lot shorter than "who wants to gain more knowledge about Islam and thus inshaAllah move one step closer to attaining the status of the Mu'min?" :P I think y'all are thinking too hard.. next thing ya know ppl are gonna be like, "ya akhi, did you say Islamic *jeopardy*?! Are you implying that gaining Islamic knowledge puts you in jeopardy? AstaghfirAllah.." take care & take it easy :-) wasalaamu alaykum |
| 04/08/02 at 17:38:55 |
| se7en |
| Re: Use of term "mu'min" question |
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| zomorrud |
| 04/08/02 at 21:54:35 |
| assalamu alaikum, I think the point can be understood from both sides. I suspect that the older members of the masjid are the ones who are objecting to the use of the phrase 'who wants to be a mu'min', because they take it in the literal sense. The younger members of the masjid see it in a different light, being able to see the motivational aspect of it. As a compromise, you just have to add a disclaimer. wassalam |
| 04/09/02 at 09:35:37 |
| zomorrud |
| Re: Use of term "mu'min" question |
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| Abu_Hamza |
| 04/09/02 at 01:00:50 |
| [slm] [quote]who wants to be a Mu'min" is a lot shorter than "who wants to gain more knowledge about Islam and thus inshaAllah move one step closer to attaining the status of the Mu'min?" [/quote] Agreed. But the title itself does not come across as "who wants to gain more knowledge about Islam and thus inshaAllah move one step closer to attaining the status of the Mu'min?" at first glance. Especially if you know and have seen the original game show "Who Wants to be a Millionnaire." Because what happens in that show is the winner *becomes* a "millionnaire." So if I were to look at a flier in the Masjid with this as the title for an Islamic quiz, Who Wants to be a Mu'min, I would definitely raise an eyebrow: "what, are you implying that by winning this quiz you'll become a mu'min? that's odd." I think it'd need to be explained. Without explaining it like you did, I don't think people would understand the intent behind the title simply by looking at it. Wallahu a'lam. |
| Re: Use of term "mu'min" question |
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| imran |
| 04/09/02 at 07:08:11 |
| [slm] can we be a little bit more lighthearted about this please? we will going to q&a for a fatwa next. i just want to know latest scores, Regis please!!!! [wlm] ;-) |
| Re: Use of term "mu'min" question |
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| eiman |
| 04/11/02 at 20:50:30 |
| [slm] I know that I'm a newbie around here, so I shouldn't get myself on the wrong foot... but I really couldn't help but share my two cents on this. I think the whole "who wants to be a mu'min" TITLE - is all about mimicking the "who wants to be a millionaire" title.. and I don't mean to imply mimicking non-believers.. I just mean it, in the sense that having such a similar title may get people riled up, and hyped up to play, since Regis and millionaire is so populaire, EVERYONE knows the title..... which is great I think. I agree with se7en.... its not a big deal... its all in the [i][/i]context... and in this case, I see absolutely no harm.... :) If anything, I think the game is awesome ;) So keep up the amazing work madina admin.... and as far as the 'narrow minded' people are concerned - subhanna'Allah some people refuse to BUDGE and see things from other perspectives... and thus sometimes, its not worth the hassle. I think that as long as each person does his/her best in keeping themselves and their intentions, in check in the 'view' of Allah (swt).... nothing else should matter. :) Take care fellow mu'mins :) Fi Aman Illah, Serenity |
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