So I came back to Male' for hols and met up with some of my YLP friends. The meeting went great except for this one discussion which shocked me utterly.
It started with the discussion about 15 year old girl who was flogged recently in Maldives. It went on to a horrifying story about how one of my friends was labelled as an infidel just for standing up for this girl in her Islam class... on to how a single father refused to shower his own baby and how some people pointedly keep posting stuff encouraging such things on fb. Today my 6 year old cousin comes home from school and tells me to stop talking. I ask her why and she replies, "My teacher said naraka (hell) would have mostly women, because women talk too much nonsense. You shouldn't talk too much I'm scared you might go to hell." Seriously, from a SIX year old, I swear!
So respected teachers, leaders, politicians, dear parents... Before our kids are scarred for life, before they grow on to be women without courage or bravery and men incapable of humility or humanity, before our society goes on to be worse than it is today.. Please, stop.
Stop telling little kids that women would go to hell if they talk. Stop creating a monstrous image of people from other religions in their head, our religion tells us to respect them too. And please, for the love of god stop telling them to not laugh and not have fun, they are kids.. laughing and having fun is what they are supposed to do. Please stop calling people (your students included!) infidels, you do not have the right. Please stop creating fear, hatred and jealousy. We adults have enough of it already, those kids might be the only hope for this country.
Besides,
To you is your Religion and to me is mine. (Qur'an 109:06)
Don't judge others, just make sure you are a good person yourself. Live and let live.
