Yep, a huge “me too” to Siraaj Muhammad … not just riyaa but an obvious potential for dishonest posing.

I’m with SL on this one. Well said sister, jazaakillaah. And as sister Zainab pointed out, come up with a new idea. With the title alone, they’re trying to compete with the West AND please feminist groups out there. “Look, we can have fun too. But we’re still better than you because we care about morals and not just looks.”

The performance will be, at the least, deception. Reminds me of this:

“Aiyub Ansari travelled from Madina to Egypt to collect one hadith; similarly Jabir bin Abdullah spent one month on his journey to obtain one hadith from Abdullah bin Anas. Another collector of these traditions learned that a certain person knew one hadith. Accordingly, he journeyed long to meet the said person. On reaching his destination, he made inquiries about the said person. Somebody pointed this person who was then trying to catch hold of his horse which had strayed by showing him an empty bucket as if it had some food for the horse. The collector, seeing this person, thus decoying an animal, thought that such a person is not reliable enough, and therefore his version of the hadith cannot be accepted, and he returned home without talking to the said person.”

Though the above story is used as an example of the meticulous care our scholars have used to preserve the Sunnah, clearly these instances, though similar in that they both contain deception, are not of the same caliber. On the one hand, the man deceived the horse, and so his recount of the hadith was questionable. On the other hand, the women will be displaying “how well they treat their mothers”, bringing with them a possibility of deceiving the judges/audience. WAllaahu A3lam.

Alhamdolillah, Who alone Creates without precedent. I agree that (mortal) creativity abounds in the Ummah. But is that particular mosque we all know in Cairo less beautiful because of its resemblance to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul? Are the European or American masajid less majestic which use design features common in the West? Have the westerners who copied designs from Al Andalus also committed some kind of social treason?

People incorporate the ideas that they learn about. It’s the reason IP lawyers have jobs.

True, people also make mistakes. So Siraaj may be right that the contest runs the risk of riyaa. But so does every event that requires persons to advance themselves into the limelight in some way. Applying to become a student at Ilm Summit — why not require every student have been invited? Qur’an recitation competitions? Ilm-competitions, etc. Even letting it be known what degrees and ijaazaat a person has — all fodder for shaytanic-hubris.

Give naseehah (eg, to the contest organizers) if you fear for your brothers and sisters, and otherwise expect the best conduct from them.

Bismillah

I agree with Serendipitous Life about the fact that this pageant concept is a smack-imitation of a Western idea that has been prevalent since decades – of having men/women compete for the coveted “title” of an alpha-male/female who becomes the object of envy and/or adulation by the masses for a year or more. As for what you said about that champagne, it reminded me of another blogger’s post about it that I read recently. :-) Obviously, a debate on non-alcoholic beer-drinking ensued.

I also agree with Br. Siraaj, about the aspect of riya that is fundamental in this pageant – i.e. when observing the conduct of the contestants within a time frame to see who’s best with their mothers, or with others. Wouldn’t that give the contestants a chance to put on a show/deceive others with feigned piety? Also, ultimately, who are we humans to judge a person’s morals?

However, take a bird’s eye view of the pageant itself. It is providing the world, particularly the world of non-Muslims, with a refreshing alternative. It is basically doing something new — emphasizing that, in Islam, women are appreciated for their morals and character, not their physical beauty.

Secondly, the physical anonimity and obscurity of Muslim women in general — the unseen heroines doing daily jihaad within their homes, by serving productive husbands, raising pious children and maintaining/nurturing clean, Islamic, spiritually-charged households, that help bring up the next generation of the ummah’s leaders – are not given any public recognition or coverage, one that will inspire the younger lot, and non-Muslim women in particular, to revert to Islam. Of course, that is because most of these women are very private and chaste, shying away from public recognition because it leads to riya, and this is correct. However, who is going to inspire non-Muslim women to enter Islam, if not the Muslim women of the world today, themselves? So much is misunderstood about them — with the common notion being that they are oppressed — that we need to provide the non-Muslims with the truth: that Muslim women are strong, educated and productive women; they are just not seen or heard that much in the pubic. I am not saying that this pageant is doing this, or that there are no other ways of inpsiring non-Muslims by shining Muslim women’s examples of lofty character, knowledge and chastity, but what it is doing is, providing the world with the alternative, Muslim outlook towards women’s beauty — with public appreciation of their morals, over how they look i.e. without objectifying them. It is also providing the female Muslim youth with something to aspire to.

When I was a teen, I read the Quran, hadith and a lot of Islamic literature in my quest for knowledge. I desperately wanted to change my average, culturally-Islamic lifestyle to embody the true Islam, and to become like the Prophet Muhammad [صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم] and his female companions in my actions. However, what I desperatelty wanted, as a teenager, was a living example of a Muslim woman (preferrably not of naani/daadi age, but someone who was relatively younger, living according to Islam in the current age, and incorporating all the contemporary technological and educational tools in her life) who’d inspire me to take the plunge and revert. It’s anyone’s guess who eventually did that, but the bottomline is, youngsters need living examples to show them how to emulate the Prophet Muhammad [صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم] and his companions. Women, sadly, do not have that many examples, because this requires “going public” with your Islamic way of life, as Umm Al-Mu’mineen A’ishah did with hers, and very few Muslim women have the strength and courage to do that nowadays.

Another point to note is whether the serving of a husband and nurturing of a family applies to all Muslim women. We know that although these actions are a Muslim woman’s tickets for Paradise (keeping in mind Fatimah Bint Muhammad [may Allah be pleased with her] as the prime example — she will be the leader of all women in Paradise, despite living a short life, but spending it in virtue, and in serving her husband and children), they are not applicable to the actual circumstances of all of them. Many sisters I know are not married, nor will they be in the future, either (illaa ma shaa Allah); they are either divorced and elderly, single by chance (i.e. couldn’t marry despite wanting to), or have no inclination to get married. Also, an average married woman spends the 20 or so initial years of her life in an unmarried state. What examples should such women aspire to, if they do not have a husband and children? Should they not have alternate modes of ajar/rewards-pursuit that will earn them Allah’s Pleasure?

Thankfully, Allah has Himself provided shining examples of women who were not devoted wives and mothers for most of their lives — both in the Quran and sunnah. Foremost is, of course, Maryam Bint Imran, who is mentioned for her superiority many times in the Quran. She never married; she never had a normal family life, yet she is one of the most superior among women because of her virtue and chastity. Then of course, there is Umm Al-Mu’minned A’ishah [may Allah be pleased with her] who, though married for a few years of her early life, did not spend most of the rest of it serving a husband and children (Allah did not give her any) but despite that, holds a revered position in Islam to this day, due to her intelligence, narrations of ahadith, and superior level of knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence.

The unIslamic aspects of this pageant, or shall we say, it’s negative aspects – i.e. imitation of the West, giving way to riya, judging a Muslimah for her actions in the dunya — are definitely there; whether they are the lesser evil, or if the da’wah potential outweighs them…..? Who to decide?

Allah knows best.

I’m kinda late, but better late than never.

no one pointed out about the Qur’an hifz and tajweed competitions?

i do agree with what zainab, siraaj n SLife have had to say… but considering the amount of pressure that’s there on (Saudi) Muslim society to adopt western lifestyles and the open invitation by (international and local) media to imitate immoral women, i think this will at least be a reminder for women as to what really matters.

I hope it will insha Allah encourage good and bring to light the real role models of society.

but i wonder scholars will have to say on that. will try to get an opinion insha Allah.

people, i mean the contestants can act or show off just to win the miss beautiful morals but the audience will learn positive things from this which is good.yes allah is the ultimate judge but the programme is set to encourage and make young girls understand the religion more i.e good from bad .so i personally think this is a good idea.