Models and consumer products lose advertising space to religious messages
The Muslim Awareness Programme has started putting up billboards with excerpts from the Holy Quran as well as Hadith in Defence Housing Authority, Clifton, Nursery and Shahra-e-Faisal. “A good man treats women with honour,” reads one of the signs while another says, “When immodesty prevails, another disease prevails.” Yet another states “the prophet (saw) never hit a woman.”
At the moment, there are about ten billboards around the city as well as pylons in Zamzama. The awareness group, which comes under the AlWasila Trust and is funded by donations, aims to spread the message all over the city.
“There is social illness in our community and immodesty on our billboards as well as our TV [screens]. I wanted to spread the message that this is wrong. The programme also aims to motivate people and give [them] authentic knowledge about Islam,” said the founding member of the trust, Asim Ismail.
Recently, another unknown group started putting up billboards that lambasted the fashion industry for its ‘vulgar’ advertisements. “We are not trying to point fingers at anyone or telling people to stop lawn exhibitions,” said the project manager of the programme, Humaira Iqbal. “There are many people who will be happy to see [our signs] but others might be offended because they disagree. We don’t want to insult people.”
The choice of excerpts is interesting because the average person will not be able to tell whether the awareness group falls into the liberal, moderate or conservative fold of Islam. The group itself doesn’t like to fit into any one of these categories.
“Labelling becomes risky and we basically just teach the Quran and Sunnah,” said Ismail. He feels that though there is a lot out there about Islam, he is trying to put forward a side of it that doesn’t get much promotion.
At the moment, the awareness group’s main theme is women’s rights and in Ramadan, it will focus on motivational quotes and information about the holy month. Iqbal and Ismail both say that they avoid picking sayings that are open to interpretation and select those which no one can deny are a part of the religion.
When questioned that the signs may come across as preachy, Iqbal said, “We aren’t trying to convince people and we’ll have a healthy approach to criticism.”
He added that they have been missing out on an important medium in using the media for spreading their message and this innovative campaign, though costly, can be effective in drawing awareness for their cause.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 26th, 2012.
COMMENTS (96)
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Asalam I Alaikum excellent effort may Allah help them
Some of the people commenting a true idiots. The billboard itself is preaching respect toward women. Tell me, how do Western men respect women? By objectifying them in beauty pageants, magazines, and violent pornography? By ruining their self-esteem if they don't look like the girls on TV or on billboard ads?
That is the true message behind these billboards--to remind all women that they deserve respect and honor no matter how they look--it is a direct protest against the objectification of women within Western society. Women don't need to objectify themselves to be special, and ALL men especially (Muslim or non-Muslim) need to realize that.
@A Pakistani: SCORE!!! :D
Excellent mA, keep it up! For all the people out there who are against this effort, realize that Islam is our deen- way of life, its how we live, connect and experience the world around us. Our lives and the decisions we make have to be based on the Quran and sunnah, because a muslim is the one who has surrendered to the Will of Allah swt. who demonstrates what the Will of Allah is? its our prophet Muhammad PBUH. This is why Quran and ahadith go hand in hand.
I am not able to understand that how some people picked some letter out of the hadeeth which are not even there, it is a simple statement that a man should respect a woman. Nothing can be done for those pre-judiced people who only have hate in their hearts about religion.
The billboards erected urge to treat women well. The comments given by seculars show that they can't tolerate that someone else should be torchbearer of the values (women rights) they preach while keeping others bashing for not being tolerant: an apparent contradiction! If they are committed with the well being of women, they should not be concerned who is taking steps for this. As they are deeply concerned with this campaign, it indicates that there are some other motives behind the so called feminism.
y cant we take things positively???? always looking at negative bring us where we stand today..
A good approach!
The critics wont shut their mouths no matter whatever you do! When you don't talk about women they'd highlight and portray the bashing of women (which is strictly forbidden in Islam! ) , would call you a barbarian or simply stick the label of 'mullah' to you and when you'd raise your voice for their rights , they won't digest you preaching the truth! It simply reveals the biased mentality of conservative minds! As Allah rightly cautions ;They wont be pleased with you until you believe in what they believe ( interpretation of the meaning) .. So do the best , don't give ears to anyone and keep going your way!
@Tabish: "@Umer: why dont u ppl put the articles on billboards of all the corruption." . Excellent idea! Humaira Iqbal if you are from IK's propaganda wing, you must be aware that it will take more than 90 days to get those boards ready. . In case you are financed by Malik Riaz, like the rest of the media, number of bill boards required to cover the whole field, will force this stinking rich person to bankruptcy.
@Confused: go ahead....y dont u do it????????
@Umer: why dont u ppl put the articles on billboards of all the corruption.
@Anonymous:
Assalaamualikum,
Will will have billboards in urdu as well inshaAllah.
JazaakAllah Khair
Humaira Iqbal Project Manager MAP
http://www.map.net.pk/ facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muslimawarenessprogram documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l87LzbSUZ4M
@Saad:
Assalaamualikum,
We will inshaAllah have billboards in Urdu as well.
JazaakAllah Khair
Humaira Iqbal Project Manager MAP
http://www.map.net.pk/ facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muslimawarenessprogram documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l87LzbSUZ4M
I dont think its illegal and as long as they pay a fair market rate whats the problem. If people are forced to look at advertising they can be forced to look at these messages as well. no difference.
Abid P Khan...the problem with you i might say is that you are too much over educated... My man you are creating an unnecessary hype. If you can imply too much from his that means a screw is lose somewhere. If a man tells someone that a lady is his wife, according to sane people that would mean the lady is man's wife, unlike your meaning that would mean the lady is the man's slave. :)
I am with this Muslim Awareness Programm
@Abid P Khan: "And a believing women takes care of her man's property"
Its HER MAN....a personal life-time slave?
Now you know what a daft you are
This is excellent. Why would anyone be against good advice. When did treating women with honor become misogynistic?
If you consider yourself a Muslim and are posting negatively about these billboards, you need to take a hard look at your views and think about whats best for Pakistan and its people.
Sickness of mind lies rampant in the brains of the elements within the society...the rightists or leftists alike. the seculars with all their claims of being fair-headed are extremists within themselves. Their whimsical won't stop. Every good act that can be promoted under the label of religion hounds their sleep. So they need to hog on and yeah that's what I can see here. Go on...thumbsup
@Dinky Mind I think Abid was quoting you not the banner.
This is moderate Islam- All Hail!
URDU sign needed.
@Abid P Khan: What are you trying to imply? Please scroll up, look at the picture again and try to find "his" and "slave" and "object" in the Hadith.
@Nasamajh: @Dinky Mind: . The very usage of the term his proclaims ownership of something as if it was bought in a slave-market or bakra piri. Instead of letting her be a person on her own, an equal, with all the democratic rights, you declare her as your personal possession. A woman is not an object to be possessed.
very smartly done indeed, use 2 messages with univerasal women rights and slip in a misogynistic, regressive message on supposed 'modesty' to control what women wear,,,, please leave the women's right to dress to themselves...stop preaching, lawn models arent responsible for all thats wrong with us , also stop oogling at women.....self righteous ghairat brigade.
Models and consumer products lose advertising space to 'higher bidder'. Fixed. Doesn't sound like ET news anymore though.
@Ali: Cent percent agreed!
If the beauty of women offends you as a man, shouldn't you be the one who should put blinders on instead of telling them how to dress?
@jock: By sticking to this point specifically, I'm not sure about your workplace, but it doesn't happen here at my workplace. [Besides, there always are multiple factors leading to a specific situation. You can't generalize everything, right?]
@Zeeshan majeed: Read, Understand and Spread the knowledge of Holy Quran rather than chit chatting rubbish over here!
Assalamualaikum to all those who have submitted their will to Almighty Allah!
I am very pleased to see such billboards may Allah help them and inshaAllah one day all immodest billboards will be removed from the city, and I pray to Almighty Allah to give guidance to all those cheap business people who promote their garbage by degrading women to the level of a commodity and use them to arouse men. Where as women in Islam is a mother under whose feet the Paradise lies , Women is a sister whose protection is the responsibility of her brothers and women is a wife who is our better half.
Please keep doing the good work and please don't listen to those whom do not have any moral values!
@asif khan: About which women are you talking about to be independent equal to that of men or even more powerful then men. It should have been better if you were given Religious knowledge quite earlier. In Islam women are always lesser in rank than men and are weaker than them. Women do not exist to be more powerful or equally ranked like that of men. And who believe that shorter clothes make women independent? Its not something conservative but about a religion that you and me follows, Islam. They should be honored not be a matter of shame for us.
This is such a great effort! my message to the people who started this program: keep up the good work and don't pay attention to haters!
Nothing wrong with the campaign, The "writter" is trying to "twist" the issue here ! If we can take lessons of life from "Sex in the city" and "Games of Throne", Why a big fuss if we are just being asked to read a example of morality of Prophets !
And for the writter, Please dug in some "Investigative skills" to uncover the corruption in institutions or some social issues, this pitty shortcuts wont help you in your journalism career.
@Abid P Khan: you are such a negative thinker.. by 'his women' it means those who are his responsibility and for whom he will be responsible if he fails to fulfill their needs and demands and give them due respect..
@Zeeshan majeed: @Umer: @asif khan: @Abdul Moiz: They are telling people to treat women with respect, and not objectify them by their glaring looks, and NOT HIT THEM. Where is the misogyny wrapped in the garb of religious ideology? Where is a mention of women's clothes? Where is the misogynistic propaganda? Did you even read the article? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? asdasdfjadskfajshd.. your ignorance frustrates me, ggaaaah..
I didn't find anything wrong in it. Preaching good things as to how a woman be treated should not be taken negatively. In fact its a highly commendable effort made to create awareness about good things and it pleased me to see that measures are being taken to educate people about the values and morality. What I didn't understand is why people are taking it so negatively. I would, however, agree with some commentators who think that the message should be advertised in Urdu language as well as vast the majority does not understand English language.
@Dinky Mind: A woman has every right to embrace parenthood or not; similar to a man. Read EQUAL here. Childbirth is both painful AND optional. Am I to understand a lady colleague's abrupt absence on every riot day as a ' woman's prerogative '? Long and short of it, equality means equal treatment and nothing else...we can't pigeonhole it.
good step ...
Having read all those comments by Liberals, bashing "Mullahs" & "religious fanatics" with satirical barbs... I wonder what if somebody replaces the last word of the advert " Tirmadhi " with the name of some western philosopher or intellectual ? The result would possibly be hail of praises & words of appreciation..... Ironically, the problem isn't with the statement...it's with Islam. ...the moment you intone any ethics with the name of Islam, all human right activists & women's champions would start shoving fabricated words into your mouth...as if Islam promotes torture on women .... Our society is indeed engulfed in liberal fascists.
@Abid P Khan: Why calling her a slave?
Would be better if there were a billboard against acid attacks. Khair. Kia keh saktey hein. I suppose these mullahs have other priorities.
In Surah Nisa before the verse relating to women, there is a verse directed towards men which clearly states that they too need to dress appropriately and (more importantly) lower their gaze in front of women. I don't see many men doing that, whether the woman is in a burkha or a bikini, the gaze is the same lecherous one. Here's what I propose. Instead of targeting women why don't we start a campaign to cleanse the minds of men? Surely they have control over their own instincts.
It might have been a better idea for these bill boards to be in Urdu so everyone can read and understand them
As long as they don't vandalize other people property
dont see what's wrong wiith giving a good message
@Dinky Mind:
".... And a good man treats his woman with all the rights she’s entitled to! " . It is his woman---a personal life-time slave.
Of course " A good man treats women with honor", and now lets ask the women of those who have put the statement on bill board how their men treat them in the private life, do they treat them with honor? and how would they define honor? Can we have the original Hadith in Arabi and complete reference?
@Abdul Moiz: I think you're missing the point here. chill out. not everything has a negative purpose
All those who see every good attempt as a attack on their liberty are not at all liberal in the literal sense infact they are thge ones who are narrow minded judging a good effort as extremist activity. if the liberals can go around naked and endorse it then why not a modest muslim like me can cover herself up and even preach about it.
@Sabih Zafar Ullah: You think the money is being "wasted"? That's too strong!
And well, I also hope they put up signs in Urdu so more and more people could read and comprehend!
Very right thing to do, the advert campaigns loose their sense of responsibility and in the end are propagating strange images and pictures, that are devoid of our culture and present a very strange lewd image of the society.. the authorities should bring about a censor board to control this, or some unwanted elements of the society will take this in their hands and rightly so, the outcome will be ugly..
@jock: "A good man treats his woman equally..." If you think a woman should also show up on a violent strike day (because you're showing up at office), do you also mean that the man should also bear the same pain a woman goes through while giving birth to a child (because men and women should be treated equally)? No, right?
So you see, men and women have different rights and responsibilities. And a good man treats his woman with all the rights she's entitled to!
The money you religious rich guys are wasting on these billboards, should have given it to Edhi. That would have done a lot more good to women, than a hoarding in a foreign language that 95% of women oppressors in this country can't understand.
For all those who are just curious as to why quotes related to women are only displayed first: You start from the main issue first. And we all know it is rightly subjected!
Soon you might also see "“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them. Lo! Allah is Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their modesty.” (An-Nur: 30-31). "Modesty" is not solely related to "clothes"! It is related to your thoughts as well!
After reading this would you even then argue that it relates to poorly-dressed women or that it's a Mullah propaganda?
For heaven's sake, have some sanity and patience! That's something we lack so much!
@Zeeshan majeed: Don't be so shallow, we appreciate 'rational arguments', have you any?
These people are trying to hold the society together...thumbs up...bros keep it up.
these messages dont sound extremist, infact they are promoting good manners. But why in English? shouldnt they be in Urdu so all the uneducated class can understand?!
Asim Bhai- great job. Keep up the amazing work.
OK then...a good man treats a woman equally without cutting any slack...if I am expected to show up at the office on a violent strike day, the same should be expected of my female colleagues as well. Same job, same pay, same understanding. Only this is not the case here in Pakistan...
LOL at comments thinking this is extremism... actually they hate religion and yet have muslim names, If you don't like the message, come up with you own.
I don't see any difference between a billboard with a stylish woman advertising a new lawn or billboards like this telling us to be pious - both are paid.
How about they put up some quotes about animal rights as well?
@asif khan: Does a "strong,independent women" needs to wear less clothes?
@AlWasila Trust: I haven't seen the billboards yet but I hope you're also putting the Hadith # as well so people could check from the books of Hadith. It is very essential that the Hadiths should be quoted as is and they should be taken from an authentic source, which does not distort the meaning.
May you be rewarded for this.
Please... this is the "Islamic" Republic of Pakistan. If someone is making such an effort in raising awareness about our religion, then shouldn't we support it?
Plus, these billboards address to the general public, where women ARE treated badly.
We have lost our way somewhere along the way. We need to get back to basics. Sorry to say, being a parent we ae supposed to guide our offsprings in the right way (as in Qura'an). Need to discipline the kids when needed. But seems that we are lost aswell.
It is a shame that it has come to this, but nonetheless this is a great way of getting to basics. Nothing offensive same thing that Bible/Torah/Geeta teaches.
I truly appreciate this effort.
Your faith gets refreshed and shouldn't it be? At least they are not harming our eyes (as the half-dressed Lawn models do) and neither our mind (as these quotes are generally acceptable in any religion and are not "preaching" as many people fear).
I don't know why people always criticize these kind of acts. But if some one talks about a woman showing her body then these people say about freedom of speech, freedom of expression etc... Its a good act one should appreciate.
oh for Gods sake, preach truthfulness, humility and honesty in hopes of ending corruption and target killings. Or do you thing these are less important than women wearing tight clothes?
These religious billboards are something very recent. I wonder why the writer did not see the so many political billboards which are not even paid for.
Sayings like 'A good man treats woman with honor' or that 'The Prophet (saw) never hit a woman' have no links to extremism. The writer has totally misjudged it in his writing. I think these quotations and sayings are an excellent balance and are even independent of any religion since respecting woman is beyond religious beliefs. I appreciate those who came up with this idea.
Thumbs up for this campaign!
Quite illogical comments that we have here. Stop bashing Islam please. If you disagree then just hold it to yourself. Why are these billboards related to women. Well last I heard domestic violence under the guise of religion was quite prevalent in Pakistan and now that its being cleared some people actually don't want ti to be. As if they will loose the topics to make fun of Islam.
To the people who have done it,bravo and may Allah give you more ability to spread the message
Not such a bad idea if you ask me, outdoor advertisements might get the message across atleast to the Urban educated Middle Classes, it will atleast give them food for thought.
As long as the signs bring common sense back to our people, I dont mind using religion as a tool.
I like this!
This should be done more often. These are plain wise words of our religious archives which are purely humane and nothing for the social liberal elites to label as violent. Pure Elegant teachings!
MASHALLAH, may ALLAH reward those who are working on this. People help it to increase!
What a great idea! The message is simple, non-controversial and easy to digest. Hope to see some billboards in Urdu as well for the non-English speaking audience. Overall, good job!
how can we contribute to this effort financially ?
its better then Models
Awesome . Lets see who wants to blast this as well...
The secular brigade must be burning from inside.
A commendable effort Indeed.
Why do Mullahs always go after women? What about all those sectarian killings happening all over the country? When will these billboards condemn those?
The writer of this article is trying to misconstrue the issue. I don't see the word Muslim, Allah or paradise in this quote nor is this preaching. True, its a religious saying but that would only help to increase its appeal among the general populace. This statement would find agreement in any religion of the world. Don't overstate things.
Much needed - we need public service announcements against domestic violence, bribery, corruption, rape etc anywhere and everywhere - clearly the society has failed to convey these values to so many. Perhaps media can do what parents and families have failed to do.
As if madrassas,sermons,24/7 mazhabi channels weren't enough,now the extremists are occupying advertising billboards as well.Why is the govt. allowing these people to use billboards for their misogynistic propaganda? All this is about is control over females.Such religious extremists exploit religion to disguise their insecurities and inferiority complexes and their fear of working,financially independent women.
Middle class morality revolves around petty issues like women clothes. Such adds are understandable
Don't know why religious men are so obsessed with women's clothing.All this time and effort spent to try to control what women wear is indicative of the mentality of the religious segment of our society.Is their faith put in danger by the length of women's clothes? All this fixation with brainwashing girls through use of religion is highly unethical.Insecure men scared of strong,independent women resorting to advertising campaigns is damaging for our society.
Misogyny wrapped in the garb of religious ideology is fooling no one.All such messages do is to reinforce patriarchy and tell women how they should always feel ashamed of their gender and how they should be ashamed of their bodies. All this insistence on 'modesty' is an old tool used by rightwing fanatics to control women,to 'shame' women into only doing what men want them to do.This is an exercise by religious groups to reinforce the superiority of men in an already highly misogynistic society.
HAHAHAHA.....very few "honorable" men in Pakistan