Assalamu Aleikom
I cannot rightfully post a response without first wishing my Dearest Mirajmom nothing but the best. I was lurking around the other day and read a post with the most wonderful news. May Allah bless you immensely (and your marriage) and fill your life with much happiness and health. I am happy for you Dear Sister and pray that your husband to be is worthy of such a jewel(no offense to you Dear Brother
..just protectiveness on my part for such an amazing and wonderful Sister that has given me so much throughout the years. Her words of encouragement and knowledge has benefited me in many ways and it is my wish that she get nothing but the best as she is very deserving.
Now...on to the topic at hand. I don't quite know how to begin so I should just say that it is not my intention to belittle or insult the OP regarding the thread. I feel slightly annoyed and perhaps I shouldn't...but when I read things such as this I think of the overall impression that it is giving of the Ummah.
We're one and when we stand together united, we are powerful...but I feel that we must tread very carefully in some areas as to not show an air of ignorance and intolerance to menial things and abuse this power. I fear that when we approach such things as this(getting upset over the name of a toilet seat because it happens to be the name of our most precious Medina) is something,
to me, ridiculous and I will tell you why.
First.. Medina is a very very popular name among Spanish people..some of the greatest Spanish people in History(and non Spanish) don this last name... It is powerful and noble.
Second...to the Muslim world it may be "OUR" Medina...but to the outside world, it is a name that represents nobility and status(and even power) in a different meaning and has nothing at all to do with "our" Medina, It's perfectly logical that someone would want to name a product with this name for selling purposes only(in their meaning...it is saying they have the "best of the best" toilet seat ,
or whatever, because of the name behind it)
Third..it shows us in a not so good light when we start to email and boycott products and companies that just happen to name a product a name that
we feel is insulting to us personally, but to them? Perhaps it never even crossed their minds and was never ever meant as some form of insult to Muslims.
Can you imagine he owner of the site,
or whoever named this product, and how he did it with pride in thinking that it is the best and will capture the attention of buyers because of the noble and powerful Medina name that it carries(all based upon the History of the name T
O THEM in Spanish-having nothing to do with the actual origin or
our meaning)
Now he gets a barrage of angry emails from Muslims all over the world who have called for them to be boycotted? To receive tons of hate mail over the name they chose for a toilet seat that most probably(VERY LIKELY) has nothing to do with anything Islamic or was not in any way meant to demean and insult Muslims? What sort of impression does this leave on the Ummah? That now here you have a company who will think to themselves that now they can't even name products(that really are not insulting in any way-to me at least) out of fear of upsetting us...causing tension and stirring the pot so to speak..and how intolerable and ignorant we will appear to be.
It's scares me when I read things like this...to me, it is an abuse of power. We know very well that if we stand and say "look at these people, they are insulting us...insulting our Prophet Muhammad sallalahu alayhi wa salaam(who endured
very real and very meaningful and hurtful insults-nothing like this-in his lifetime)that our Brothers and Sisters in Islam will stand behind us. We can cause this company to lose business...we can cause those radicals( who have no fear of Allah subhana wa ta'aala and have strayed from the right path) to get all fired up and start targeting them..and all for what? Was it really intentional? Are we really right in every sense to boycott them? To write angry emails to them? Do we really know what is behind the naming of that product? NO..in my opinion, NO..absolutely not...but now, there will be some Muslims who will think so because of this thread...because of the thinking that is behind it.
I hope and pray that I have not insulted and I hope and pray that we can use a little more common sense when it comes to things such as this. I do not like when our Ummah, me personally or anything to do with Islam is insulted...but at the same time, I am able to see clearly when there is a need to defend and fight back-
when I am really being insulted-or when it is something that perhaps I may not like...but really has nothing to do with me.(or Islam)
It is my sincere wish for Allah subhana wa ta'aala to bless you all and keep you all upon the straight path...to forgive us our sins and strengthen us, unite us and increase our knowledge Ameen
With much love
Zainsmommy
p/s I miss you tti...I miss all of you!