Picture of Lion 'Lion of Allah'

I have been observing your discussions, many of you have reached the correct conclusion about it, I have decided to collect my thoughts on it and consolidate it for you all.

This is also in response to Abu Hasan who took fault with my criticism of the pathetic 'Chronicles of Karbala' poster that was put up, which I criticised rightfully on the basis that it was immature. He considered my criticism of the poster 'Immature', I dont think his criticism has any place, since his argument is the same as mine, i.e. the story is not fictional: ISLAMIC HISTORY IS REAL, IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE ADVERTISED MAKING REFERENCE TO FICTIONAL STORIES!

Let Christians keep a dramatic narrative about their history, e.g. 'The Passion' of 'The Christ', we dont need to sink to their level in discussing Islamic history within such an emotional lense, we are not going to start coming out with events named 'The Passion of Al Husayn'.

' FAKE MODERN CINEMATIC ISLAMIC ADVERTISING AND HOW TO PROMOTE ISLAMIC EVENTS ' :

1. Islamic culture and history doesn't need dramatic approach to invite lay people. If people are feeling bored of Islam we don't need to appeal to this, but instead expose those people to more dangers and challenges.
2. Islamic history is not a joke.

Real life is not a joke. Guidance from Islam is a rare gift in the processes of daily living, most people dont get a taste of it. If modern Sunnis have become decadent and lazy, and if they do not appreciate things like Karbala, Giarvi, or Yawm Ali, or Salam, or Niaz, etc, this is not because these functions are obsolete, but it is because they have been spoonfed the truth, and never went through mujahada to get it for themselves.

3. If they are bored with Islamic information, then we have a more lengthy curriculum of subjects for them to study, and that can scare them back on to the prayer mat.

4. Islamic events should be respected as much as any other formal gathering, like a meeting of Parliament, or a business meeting. This is where the stories of the people of truth are told, so you observe the etiquette.

5. There is a man named JJ Abrams, he is responsible for making spicy movies. He directed Star Trek and is now making Star Wars 7 at Pinewood Studios. Let him make spicy movies that entertain your fantasies, leave Islam and Islamic education free from Hollywood themes, we dont need it. Imam Asim, get in your place, we dont need you imitating Terminator and making cinematic trailers with Lord of the Rings type spiciness to bring people to Islam.

6. People should not insult Islamic history by giving these real events names that resemble fictional and far inferior stories, such as 'The Chronicles of Narnia', LOTR, Game of Thrones, etc.

Islamic heros are real, Islamic living is real, Satanic danger is real.

Awliya Allah are not the same as Neo from the Matrix, if people want that fantasy life, they should go for theatre, and not Masjid, if you are grounded in reality, a simple Quranic verse would be enough for you, a simple hadith would be enough for you: "From the goodness of a person's Islam is that he leaves that which does not concern him", "Indeed mankind is in loss, except those who believe and work righteous deeds; advising each other to Truth, advising each other to Patience upon it".

7.
To advertise an Islamic event, lay out the subject material in a simple and academic way, he who wants guidance will come, he who wants delusion will leave, we have no room for dead weight in Islam right now, the hadith regarding the period near the End of Times states "at that time, your number will be many, but your enemies will overcome you, many of the Muslims will be weak as the scum of the sea", "near the end of times there will be weak believers whose faith resembles the husks of barley, Allah is not concerned with them".

Everyone knows these hadiths about people of weak faith, Ahlus Sunna, the real Ahlus Sunna, are people who are not victims of these diseases, the most simple word is enough for them, as for the hypocrites, then they are the opposite, in Surat al Bayyina, it is clearly stated, "Those who disbelieve from the people of the Book and Polytheists will not come to agreement with you until there comes to them 'The Clear Proof': A Messenger from Allah who recites 'Purified Pages'. They need a milliion 'Purified Pages' and elaborate Pseudo Sufi 'Mi'raj Experiences' and communications with the 'Hidden Imam', and secret teaching from Khidr to find Islam appealing. Keep them out of Islam, make the Masjids plain, make the posters simple, keep the discourse straightforward, bend your ethical boundaries for none.

 

I think one's ability to comprehend English or any other language clearly and directly is rooted in spiritual and mental stability. Being able to comprehend someone's message or information or knowledge is not necessarily dependent on whether you understand the content they have written but often, whether you can understand where they are coming from.

Things get murky and messy and incomprehensible when nafs, ego, bad spiritual leftover characteristics, exaggerated self-perception etc etc interfere in one's basic capacity to function and operate. It does not explain all the reasons why meanings are misconstrued but it definitely contributes.

 

A lot of misreading went on and a lot of meanings were misconstrued in this thread and it happens a lot on SP (and other forums) in general. The majority of us all need English comprehension lessons. A lot of people on the same side of arguments friendly fire on each other out of lack of reading skills and as you say, paranoia.

 

Lol sorry about that! I misread, I was 50:50 i thought u either meant me or the people who created the poster, also i think people's paranoia is slightly heightened on forums so I was definitely a victim to that this time. My fault

 

Ahh I see! I get ya, thanks for this

 

Also, by "you people" I didn't mean you bro, I meant the people who created the poster. I knew from your inital post that you were aginst the poster and concept.

 

I agree with your points for the most part. Rolla or rollay is a Punjabi/Pathwari word, it means literally loud or calamitous sound/s. It can mean problem/s or issue/s depending on the context also.

 

In response to snaqshi:

I agree.

- Oopsy i hope you don't think that I truly believe the usage of the metaphor is valid? Sorry I wasn't clear, I was trying to understand what the creators of the poster were possible thinking, i.e. "Well we're not saying Imam Ali is a lion, its just imagery" etc etc .. I was just trying to see what their rationale could possibly be. I most definitely do not agree with the principle at all. Like you said, I do see the problem for sure.

This is an interesting point, I did not think of it this way. But if the people who created the poster were interested in making it appropriate and correct, we wouldn't be having this discussion haha, they clearly had different agendas. I think they were trying to be cinematic and that's why they put Lion of Allah first and so on etc. (Not that I'm justifying it!)

I think we should have enough respect so we don't make blunders like these but we should also have respect to the extent that we see the Salaf and great figures of the past as accessible personalities and people who we resemble (spiritually i.e. tariqa) and aspire towards. Some people don't know how to respect the Salaf and they put them on the dusty shelf and forget that they are accessible guides. True respect is in the heart, if someone is having a conversation with someone else about Sayyiduna Ali's way of life and how they can get rid of their depression through it or discussing some waqiat, every time he mentions his name he might not necessarily go Sayyiduna Amir ul Mumineen Asadullah al Ghalib Ali ibn Abi Talib radi Allahu ta'ala 'anh but he might say Hazrat Ali or Imam Ali just to make the conversation more fluid. This does not necessarily become a sign that his heart is cold or hard but just that he wants to talk more about how to solve the depression or how to understand the waqiat better, its not a sign that he has left Sunniyat but just that he wants to communicate more effectively. This is just what I think and as always the same rules apply to these principles: balanced approach and considering the context.


Did anyone check out the shia pictures they are so stupid its humorous.

I have heard this rollay phrase before, what does it mean? blunder? mistake?

Salaam!

 

Bahahaha thats exactly what I'm saying!! I agree to this 100%

 

That's what you do bro-it's called 'rollay'

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Salaam alaykom

Since you asked this is what i think, blatant disregard for adab and akhlaaq in favour of "triumphant and eye-catching" is no excuse to hide behind. The best of you in love and closeness to the Prophet sallahu alayhi was salam on the day of Judgement will be the best in ahklaaq (AHsanukom A5laaq).

You state that the lion is a visual "metaphor", then "do you not see the issue (Share3) with equating a Lion with the Imam of the Awliya and al babul Ilm radi allahu ta'ala anho? let alone the bad adab of writing "Lion of Allah" above the name of Ameeri Mu'mineen Hadret Ali radi allahu ta'ala anho who is above and was the the head of the Muslim Ummah in his life time (as 4th Khaleef)?.

can you not see the point that an attribute (sift) cannot exist without a mawsoof (atributor - the person/body you attribute the sift (quality - sift) to)? in this case the attribute of "Assadollah" is not greater or above the person, so the person making the poster (or the person giving the psoter maker the remit) should (1) have put hadret Ali's (radi Allah ta'ala anho) name first then the attribute (sift) underneath (2) should have not used such a blatantly anti-share3a metaphor (see debate surrounding the one who makes a picture etc).

We should have high regards when we speak and deal with the matter of our elders especially the salaf, such blatant disregard of established etiquette, is no excuse for such behaviour.

 

These people are idiots. Since when was it permissible to put tasawir of living beings up in the masajid? Even if you do believe making such pictures ja'iz. And comparing, or implying a comparison certainly, of Sayyiduna `Ali (karam allahu wajhah al-karim) to an ACTUAL physical lion is totally lacking in adab. Lion or not, it is still an animal (however majestic or beautiful the animal may be) and comparing an animal to any companion, and especially one of Sayyiduna `Ali's (karam allahu wajhah al-karim) immeasurably high stature is highly disrespectful, to say the least. What a dunderheaded approach, why do these people have to be so heavy handed in getting their message across? People would've got the point of what the laqab 'Asad ullah' means and implies without you people having to resort to putting a bloody great lion in the entire background space, and risking an (admittedly probably careless, and without due thought) disrespectful comparison whilst you're at it.

 

Astaghfirullah! Astaghfirullah! Madness!

A picture of a Lion and the caption reading LION OF ALLAH SAYYIDUNA ALI!

This is what photography of animate objects has reduced Sunnis to! No Adab!

 

Yes it was. But again, i don't think it matters.

 

Check out these shia pictures I have attached them. (Especially the one called 'lion 4')

 

Salaam, I have attached the poster the brother was talking about, yes it is Imam Asim's poster I don't think identifying who it belongs to is any harm, if anything we can understand the matter more clearly.

I have thought of the following observations:

1. The posters on Imam Asim's facebook are very similar to this one in being bright, 'triumphant', shiny and eye-catching.
- This a trend I can see on his page and I don't understand why a simple but clear poster advertising the supposedly beneficial event shouldn't work. If someone knows its good they will come, if someone doesn't then they won't. A poster can't do your job for you. Of course not everyone advertises their events this way but it shouldn't become the standard for how we should go about propagating something good.
- Another point is that is he trying to appeal to the youth? And that explains why posters are created this way? Whether this works or not can be answered by finding out whether youths attend the events because of the posters they see or because of word of mouth etc. If I was personally holding an event I would create a simple poster but more importantly I would connect with the audience personally to encourage them to attend.

2. Now as for the poster in question, I have thought of the following points:
- There is a lion looking fierce in a cloudyish background. And the accompanying heading is: Lion of Allah with Sayyiduna Ali written underneath.
- I believe the lion image is being used to act as a visual metaphor. Meaning you see the image and you associate that with Imam Ali and his character. Although it was used as trigger or to make you drawn in, the title of "Asadullah" is spiritual, Imam Ali's character was associated with the spirituality of a lion and not just the physical fierceness, that would be reducing it. If I made the poster, I would not have added the lion because a) it is slightly cliche b) does not capture the concept of asadullah in its entirety and c) more importantly the Shia often create images of what they think Sayyiduna Ali looks like and usually put it next to a lion in pictures etc. Although the people who made the posters did not use Shia images of Sayyiduna Ali, this is still committing the same error as you are trying to capture him visually despite using different images.
- You can't try and force interest through formatting and appealing graphics, interest and niyyah comes from the heart.
- If the image was used to cover up bland walls then that is just plain old stupid because "spicing up" mosques isn't what Muslims need lol.
- If the image was near where people pray or u see it upon entering i definitely feel it is a distraction and unnecessary.

That's what I think - what do u guys say?

 

Well don't beat around the bush. Be Straight up. It is the Imam Asam poster. Simple.

 

I don't think it really matters who's poster. Or does it?

 

Is this the Imam Asam poster?