Temetwir

13.2.06

طرطنقية

Just because something is not forbidden does not mean that it is encouraged. In fact, the two have absolutely nothing to do with one another. Sure, it is there. But the question is why do it aslan.

Yes, I am talking about the pathetic valentines day. To my understanding, it is a day of chocolate and flowers on the surface; yet supposedly it has a deeper meaning. A day of love. A day of recognition. And letting the people you love know that you love them. Or some other sort of sorry excuse. Read my lips.

Fuck. That.

I'm not even going to bother with the cliches: "Oh but you don't need a single day annually to let a person know you love them; love is not something you say, it is something you show silently"; not because it's a cliche or anything, rather, because there's no such thing as 'love' as it is defined by valentines day in the first place.

Tell you what. Keep the chocolate, keep the flowers, drop the red, and drop the - sad attempt of an - act.
Just don't regard it as something 'annual' and ... something to do, I guess? Yeah. Don't.

Yes, it does have to do with the fact that OUR .. days (?) which are for the most part greatly connected to events in our religion - en sa7 ilta3beer - are looked at as not so 'joyful' or an 'event not to look forward to'.

That's due to one very simple reason. Lacking understanding of what OUR 'celebrations' - en sa7 il ta3beer - represent. Unfortunately, many people would regard them as social duties.

- "Waaaih ma ri7t il soug, mn lah khelg el za7maaaa al7een"
- "Maly khelg ashoof iflaan mn el ahal"
- "Malal yam3awad en3a6il lena cham youm o ma nesawy shay, bas 3ala 7a6atna malzoumeen b izwarat"

Don't even get me started on the "3ayaady" part of things. Point is, a number of people have forgotten what our 'days' represented in the first place.

Habaab'hom "bashouf shkether ye7ebny", wela "babayen eny a7eba" wel sakhafaat il zayda wel miyaa3a il zift ely gayem soug'ha hal yomain o kelman yeshaji3 el thaany.

-

Allah yer7omek ya Rafeeg ya 7areery.
In one year, 6a shsawaw o wain ewsalaw khawaat il .. eeh. Laken lal7een mossireen 3ala ena "laaaaa hathy akeed sowalef el mokhabarat el sooreya, la la akeed".


posted by Temetwir at 6:23 PM

21 Comments:

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Blogger Reema, at 13.2.06  

  • Personally i don't "celebrate" valentine's day i think it's so overrated in the Islamic world, taqleed bedoon hadaf, plus i agree with what you said, good post.

    -------
    Those of you who want to know the story of how valentine's day came to be this is the story:

    Legend has it that the holiday became Valentine's Day after a priest named Valentine. Valentine was a priest in Rome at the time Christianity was a new religion. The Emperor at that time, Claudius II, ordered the Roman soldiers NOT to marry or become engaged. Claudius believed that as married men, his soldiers would want to stay home with their families rather than fight his wars. Valentine defied the Emperor's decree and secretly married the young couples. He was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and put to death

    Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve of the Roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death, Valentine was named a saint. As Rome became more Christian, the priests moved the spring holiday from the 15th of February to the 14th - Valentine's Day. Now the holiday honored Saint Valentine instead of Lupercus.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 13.2.06  

  • I don't think my hate (or not-liking) for Valentine's day has anything to do with our traditions and all. People mimick each other all the time.

    It was never a special occasion to me. I do love to celebrate and I agree with what smaboose said, it makes mundane life a bit more tolerable. But at the same time, I hate things when they're over-done. And our amazing society over-does everything. And I mean everything. Examples are endless.

    People talk about Friends all the time! the show. I know people who actually use catch-phrases taken from characters from that show.
    Result: ScarlO hates 'Friends'

    People talk about Rap music all the time. I used to be stupid enough one day to consider it as sort of an expressive art that afro-'mericans are so good it. But then you go on the street and on every traffic sign someone's playing rap.
    Result: ScarlO hates Rap

    People talk use the word 'Starbucks' in every bloody sentence they say. 'What are your plans today?' I ask. 'Oh, I don't know, might go to starbucks'. Okay. Or more arsed is: 'Weather's amazing.. mal white mocchaccino (whatever it's called) min starbucks'. Or 'I'll go read the newspaper in Starbucks'. Worse? 'I'll go check my email on Starbucks' Why? *Why?* Why? Can't you do that at home? At work, since most people don't *work*, they just *go* to work ..?

    Add to that the endless list of fads .. Fudrucker's, Friday's, Ruby Tuesday's, Blue Fig (is it blue? and is it one fig or figs?) and the list goes on and on and on

    Valentine's just the same! To many people, if not most people. You all have a happy valentine. I'll sit in bed and read. Boring, yeah, very boring, I know, pathetic, yeah. I like it though


    (fuckit, did I write all that? your topic must have enraged me, lol)

    sorry :-)

    By Blogger ScarlO, at 13.2.06  

  • انا شخصيا أعتقد أن موضوع ال
    Valentine
    is over rated

    بس مساكين الكويتيين مو عارفين اشيبون...وين رايحين معاكم

    By Blogger nanonano, at 13.2.06  

  • I just like flowers. And of course, chocolate. So I guess it's an amalgamation of stuff that I desire but don't get on a daily basis.

    By Blogger Erzulie, at 13.2.06  

  • I agree with u in most of what u have written here.
    Talking about chocolate I prefer eating it everyday not once a year don't all of u do???

    By Blogger Diver, at 14.2.06  

  • i dont even like red roses =S

    By Blogger Mother Courage, at 14.2.06  

  • عدل كلامك بصراحة ماعترف بهالخرابيط لان ما لها اي لزمة ..... و اللي يبط جبدي اكثر الناس اللي شاطة نفسها و تروح و تشتري الورود و البطايق .... و الله مقصة

    By Blogger متفرغ, at 14.2.06  

  • reema overrated o bedon hadaf .. SPOT ON!
    thnx for the info too, i read the same thing once

    samboose a3yaadna bel 3alam il 3araby aghlab-ha (if not all) are from our faith .. so it shouldnt have a THEME, it should have a MEANING

    thats the diff, valentines day has NO MEANING.. but on the other hand, consider "mother's day", it can be looked at as a day in a yr when all the family members 'yege6oon ga6eya' and get something that they usually cant afford on their own

    that's a huge difference 3an sakhafat valentines day!

    scarlo i know exactly what u mean: IL HABBA
    but again, valentines day never did have 'any value' for it to lose any becoz of hal habba ;)

    By Blogger Temetwir, at 14.2.06  

  • nanonano "وأنا بعد وياكم" + what reema said = the gist of it all, i absolutely agree

    however, i would NOT just 'restrict' it to kuwaitis

    erzulie if u agree that it has no meaning and just consider it a day for chocolate and flowers, then we can be friends heh

    diver hehe that's a point to consider, ya3ni valentines day lah men ma3na wala mn ta6beeg!

    mother c i dont know much about flowers, laken el warda etha ma kanat تنصع بياضاً mo shay

    متفرغ ايه صج تعال نسينا البطايق!! يبتها ييب شكلك خبره hehe

    By Blogger Temetwir, at 14.2.06  

  • It's a holiday that allows most guys the chance to show that they really care...for one day.

    It's like Mother's day or Father's day. Valentine's day is a glorified Hallmark Holiday. Help out slow retail sales in the winter and let us guys feel good about ourselves that we bought something nice for our significant others.

    I try to show my love in actions throughout the year, not just in words on one particular day. Good post!

    By Blogger LeftoverJoe, at 14.2.06  

  • leftoverjoe
    if by S0 we're talking wife/husband, then i can see where this is going

    but the thing is, in societies like ours, the whole boyfriend/girlfriend/lover BS is just that.. pretentious BS although NO ONE would admit to it being just that

    not that anyone would blame them actually, dreams are dreams ;) hehe

    By Blogger Temetwir, at 14.2.06  

  • our days

    do you mean the first 10 + the next40 ?

    اللي بقلبه "الصلاة" ما يخليها

    By Blogger iDip, at 14.2.06  

  • idip
    sorry man ur gonna have to run that by me again,, 1st 10 and next 40?
    awal mo7aram laih el arbi3een gasdek? (long shot)

    i used "days" and "events" instead of saying "a3yaad" because we (the gulf region+muslims) have a lot of meaningful 'events' that are, literally, NOT understood/known or looked 'down' at as being 'boring' and 'repetitive'

    laken when it comes to something silly as "3eed il7ob", u see ppl jumping all over it

    its not really abt religion (kelesh mo sobi 7alal o 7aram ehni) .. but im talking abt el khabba wel garga el zayda ;)

    By Blogger Temetwir, at 14.2.06  

  • EL NaS AthWaQ..

    i dunno valentine is day day that a saint was sentenced to death or suomething because he married secretly..ok ..so....where did casanova , romeo, don juan go? they were all lovers but no one celebrsates love on the day they died...

    what am saying is..i dont think you need to celebrate valentines to show your love that you love her/him. however lotsa people think that you HAVE TOO celebrate. for me hearing the words i love you everyday is enough than nything else.

    other than that...you could open a one day business..just sell love cards on valentines day :P

    By Blogger SpiKeY, at 14.2.06  

  • I agree with you Tem: there is little (sorry NO) meaning to Valentine's day, however, if it succeeds in making a few people happy for a few hours, then al-7amdulilla; happiness is in scarce supply these days. Alas, teh reality seems to be otherwise... it's a big let-down for most people who 'believe in it'.
    I nearly threw up this morning from teh number of crappy references to it from vacuous presenters on daytime TV (England).

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 14.2.06  

  • ay valentines day ay ba6eekh, though I dont see the problem of buying flowers for someone the day they are on sale ;p
    Tem- i love how cynical you are, its quite entertaining
    But i do agree its quite pathetic how some people make a huge deal out of this day
    ...and if i hear the name "rafeeg el 7ariri" one more time, i just might vomit

    By Blogger Faith, at 14.2.06  

  • spikey
    elathwaq chena malha sheghel?
    and what the majority here is saying is: u dont have to celebrate, nor do u have to act like u have to.. so let them drop the act and get on with much more important things in life .. something like that

    anonymous
    am sorry come again, u say: it's a big let-down for most people who 'believe in it'.

    not sure i follow, but i really like all the rest heh

    faith
    me? cynical? no?
    o laish telo3 chabdich mn seerat el mar7om, shsayir

    By Blogger Temetwir, at 14.2.06  

  • sorry.. i meant everyone has his own opinion :P ..My bad

    By Blogger SpiKeY, at 14.2.06  

  • I happen to believe that saying "everyone has his own opinion", or "I have my opinion and you have yours", etc of similar phrases, are redundant and useless. Because, I can't have someone elses opinion. "An" opinion is "My" opinion the moment I thunk it.

    I think it only means "we're disagreeing, how about we don't fight? tara male khelg."

    By Blogger familiar_stranger, at 15.2.06  

  • spikey :)

    FS very so true.. and has been discussed in the "islam isnt personal" topic ;)

    By Blogger Temetwir, at 15.2.06  

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