Living with the Enemy on SBS

[ufo_investigations]

I just watched LIVING WITH THE ENEMY on SBS.  The story about Ben the Aussie going to live with Lidia and Ahmed the muslims. Lidia is an Aussie and was raised Catholic and converted to Islam. Ahmed was born in Saudi Arabia.

What did I learn?

- Muslim women wont shake hands with a male person their not related to. (Very rude).

- When husband and wife muslims pray in their own house, the wife has to pray behind her husband. (Women are not treated as equals even in their own house).

- Christians are not allowed to visit Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Why? Because you have to be muslim to be allowed.

- Mosques can be built all over Australia but we can't build a Church in Saudi Arabia.

- The Quran tells muslims to kill people.

- In the mosque women are behind the curtain at the back. It's their own area. Why? Because the men have to be in a different section. Why? To give women privacy. This is the reason they cited. The real reason I believe is not to cause desire in the men.

- When they went shopping they visited a halal butcher to buy lamb shoulder. Ben wasn't consulted. What if he wanted pork chops?

- They went to Bondi to do an "Aussie thing called surfing". Lidia went swimming in her full Islamic clothing then when she came out of the water she placed a towel around her depicting the Australian flag.

[ufo_investigations]

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@purplecarrot-top wrote:
Our barbies have always been steak sausages and rissoles. We have had Muslims attend and they never had a problem with us having a beer or wine.

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All this fuss about food needing to be halal is nonsense anyway. A Muslim is allowed to eat and drink anything providing they pronounce "bismillah" at the commencement of their meal. As reported in Hadith - Sahih Bukhari (Vol 7, 415).

[azureline**]

 so, you think they are lying?

[ufo_investigations]

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@azureline** wrote:

 so, you think they are lying?

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Pronouncing 'bismillah' over their meal makes it halal.  If it aint halal, bismillah makes it halal.

[azureline**]

I believe you are mistaken.

3) Can we read "Bismillah" before eating any meat if we are not sure if it is Halal? People say just say Bismillah and eat the meat, if you are in doubt about its Halal status. Is this correct?
3) To say Bismillah at the start of meal or of any action, is a sunnah of the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wa sallam); a Muslim starts every action by saying Bismillah at the start of any good action to get the blessing of Allah swt

Saying Bismillah does not make impermissible / doubtful food or action, permissible (halal), for e.g. You cannot eat or drink impermissible food items saying Bismillah before consuming to make it permissible; nor can you do impermissible act saying Bismillah before doing it to make it permissible.

People give the reference of Hadith in Sahih Bukhari (vol 7, 415), where it is reported by Aishah (radhiallahu anha) that “A group of people once asked the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam)  that ‘some people have come to us with meat, and we do not know if the name of Allah swt was mentioned over it nor not (at the time of slaughter)’, He replied, ‘mention the name of Allah swt over it yourselves and eat”, She then said “Those people (who brought the meat) had recently entered Islam”

Note: The Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam)  said to eat of this meat, because these people were muslims and a muslim will always slaughter mentioning the name of Allah swt; even if a muslim forgets (not intentionally) to mention the name of Allah swt the meat is still Halal. So this Hadith confers that we should think well of every Muslim and that the outward reality is that it has been slaughtered according to the prescribed Islamic method of hand slaughter, mentioning the name of Allah swt at the time of slaughter. This was also a time when the meat was known to be slaughtered properly.  (This Hadith also tells us the importance of mentioning the name of Allah swt at the time of slaughter of animal / bird, for it to become Halal for consumption)

But, if it becomes known that the Muslim offering the meat has failed to slaughter the animal / bird in accordance with the Islamic method (by hand, reciting the name of Allah swt at the time of slaughter) then, it is not permissible to consume.

If some scholars declare something to be permissible whilst others hold it as impermissible then such an action will be classified as doubtful. Under the commentary on this narration Shaykh Mufti Taqi Uthmani explains how a person should deal with doubtful things.  
In such a situation a person should follow that scholar who he can be rely upon.  If both scholars are equally reliable, then it is necessary for him to follow the view of impermissible (Haram). (Darse Tirmidhi 4/37 Darul Kitab)

The Prophet (salallahu alaihi wasallam) said, “Avoid whatever you have doubts about in favor of what is not (doubtful).” (Tirmidhi)

Whenever any kind of doubt arises in ones mind about the halal status of the meat/food then, it is impermissible (haram) to consume that meat/food. One should rather be safe now then be sorry in the hereafter.

Remember and follow the simple phrase -- When in doubt just leave it out.

[polksaladallie]

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@azureline** wrote:

Thanks so much.

I was a bit focussed on the outdoor loo....................... thinking, his crop must not finance a septic system. It was a bit public, what about carpet snakes? flies, mozzies etc.

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I know some people who live with no electricity and a composting toilet, but is very clean, that one was very dirty.  Can't be very healthy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDAiq2-xeU

[azureline**]

I have lived with no electricity and no septic..........................

generator (restricted to essential use)

pit toilet

composting toilet

eco toilet.

All had doors and windows, lol.

[i-need-a-martini]

So is this the same show that I watched?

Where Ben the racist walked out of their house in a huff after 3 days because he thought these muslims were too nice and normal to be 'real' muslims?

Where instead of inviting them into his home (where he still lived as a grown man with his mummy) he invited them to a street in Bankstown to show them how intimtidated he felt and how dangerous it was? But instead this poor couple arrived in a normal suburban shopping street and kept asking him sincerely "Where is the danger?" "Why do you feel unsafe?' to which his only response was to walk away again?

Where he was taken to a mosque (even though he thoiught he wouldn't be allowed in) for Saturday prayer and treated with warmth and kindness and yet he still spent the time looking terrified?

Where he asked ridiculously defensive and agressive questions about Saudi Arabian laws even though not one of those men or his hosts were Saudi so it was really inappropriate and rude?

Where he found it to ridiculous to believe that Lydias husband did something as normal (and as Aussie) as taking a surf? Where he could only fixate himself on the fact that she was wearing coverings to the beach even though all around him surfers were in head to toe wetsuits and most people wore rashies? And (OMG) she was sitting on a towel with the Aussie flag on it? Apparently the latter is oh, so, wrong!! And the irony is that Ben has never surfed in his life...

Where he insults the host by not eating the food that they cooked once he realised it was bought from a local halal butcher after she had prepared a delicious welcoming mean for him?

Where he spends the entire show obsessed with the issue of not being able to shake Lydias hand even though she was quite gracious and polite about it and went out of her way to explain this custom to him? And then insults her further when she takes him to meet her friend who DID shake his hand by explaining that Lydia has insulted him and he doesn't trust her because she wouldn't touch him but her friend was better.

And in all of this (which was excruciating to watch) he not once asks them questions about their religion and even more pertinent doesn't ask her the obvious question - why would someone convert from Catholocism to Islam?

He left his hosts befuddled and upset and he showed himself up to be an ignorant person of the worst sort - one who when faced with the reality of something so fundamental (ie that Muslims are normal people) instead throws a tantrum and decides he has been hoodwinked by one very normal and lovely couple because he doesn't think they are the 'average' Muslim..

At the end of the show, I only had one word to say - it starts with a 'W' and ends with an 'R'.

[***super_nova***]

Thanks for that; I have been meaning to watch it on iview, but had a horror of a week, and this coming one does not look much better.  🙂

Interesting that  UFO obviously felt the Ben  person was a kindred spirit. 

[ufo_investigations]

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

So is this the same show that I watched?

Where Ben the racist walked out of their house in a huff after 3 days because he thought these muslims were too nice and normal to be 'real' muslims?

Where instead of inviting them into his home (where he still lived as a grown man with his mummy) he invited them to a street in Bankstown to show them how intimtidated he felt and how dangerous it was? But instead this poor couple arrived in a normal suburban shopping street and kept asking him sincerely "Where is the danger?" "Why do you feel unsafe?' to which his only response was to walk away again?

Where he was taken to a mosque (even though he thoiught he wouldn't be allowed in) for Saturday prayer and treated with warmth and kindness and yet he still spent the time looking terrified?

Where he asked ridiculously defensive and agressive questions about Saudi Arabian laws even though not one of those men or his hosts were Saudi so it was really inappropriate and rude?

Where he found it to ridiculous to believe that Lydias husband did something as normal (and as Aussie) as taking a surf? Where he could only fixate himself on the fact that she was wearing coverings to the beach even though all around him surfers were in head to toe wetsuits and most people wore rashies? And (OMG) she was sitting on a towel with the Aussie flag on it? Apparently the latter is oh, so, wrong!! And the irony is that Ben has never surfed in his life...

Where he insults the host by not eating the food that they cooked once he realised it was bought from a local halal butcher after she had prepared a delicious welcoming mean for him?

Where he spends the entire show obsessed with the issue of not being able to shake Lydias hand even though she was quite gracious and polite about it and went out of her way to explain this custom to him? And then insults her further when she takes him to meet her friend who DID shake his hand by explaining that Lydia has insulted him and he doesn't trust her because she wouldn't touch him but her friend was better.

And in all of this (which was excruciating to watch) he not once asks them questions about their religion and even more pertinent doesn't ask her the obvious question - why would someone convert from Catholocism to Islam?

He left his hosts befuddled and upset and he showed himself up to be an ignorant person of the worst sort - one who when faced with the reality of something so fundamental (ie that Muslims are normal people) instead throws a tantrum and decides he has been hoodwinked by one very normal and lovely couple because he doesn't think they are the 'average' Muslim..

At the end of the show, I only had one word to say - it starts with a 'W' and ends with an 'R'.

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If someone refuses to shake my hand upon meeting I would not feel comfortable socialising with them either, it is anti-social and un-Australian. This would ruin the relationship from progressing, it is highly disrespectful. I would not invite this person to my house. Lidias friend though did shake Bens hand so I don't know why the islamic rules were different for her. Strange.

If I was trying to impress an Aussie to show them just how much I integrate with Aussie and how Aussie I am and I was going to take them shopping to buy food to feed them I'd go to woolworths, coles or IGA to buy meat for the BBQ not an islamic butcher shop where rituals of religion and halal apply. I could see Ben was uncomfortable there I would be too.

[purplecarrot-top]

I live in a household of three different religions. Catholic, Uniting Church and Muslim.