By Amal Zahid
ONE of the biggest tragedies of our times is the spread of a culture of lies and hypocrisy in Arab societies. It is quite unfortunate that hypocrisy has become the norm and a way of life and it is accepted by people without criticism or condemnation.
We have noticed that what has been acceptable and practiced by individuals comfortably in private away from the eyes of people becomes prohibited, rejected and non-acceptable when it is done publicly in broad daylight.
Many people do not have any problem in doing certain things outside the Kingdom’s borders and in foreign tourist spots. At the same time, they oppose such practices inside the country.
As long as you are away from the eyes of people, it becomes your right to practice what has been denied or rejected thus far fearing spiteful public comments and criticisms.
Many of us have different faces and masks which they show, depending on the situations, places and people around them. Here I am not talking about what has been rejected religiously and morally but about certain practices that come within religious and moral limits.
We know that many practices and behaviors are the products of heavy social and cultural pressures. People often ignore the fact that those practices go against moral values and religious teachings. We can find examples for this in changing lifestyles and the needs of new realities.
Let us talk about extravagance in our weddings and other ceremonies, especially the sound pollution caused by music in wedding halls. Despite all these painful realities you will find people leveling accusations and allegations against you if you dare to open a music academy to teach the best of music and develop a desire among people to enjoy it.
Despite all these bitter realities you will not find anyone who denounces extravagance in our functions and ceremonies, although it goes against the teachings of Islam. At the same time people will denounce superficial things that do not cause any harm to the public and this is clear hypocrisy.
We have seen a culture of shame spreading in our society. It enforces various constraints and creates unnecessary social and mental burden as well as social and mental conflicts.
This culture of shame also hits us economically and materially as people spend lots of money on enhancing their appearance. This is again a sign of hypocrisy, which has unfortunately become the hallmark of our Arab culture. Many of us are used to this culture and as a result we don’t talk against it, considering it as part of our life.
This hypocrisy goes against the teachings of our religion, which calls for honesty and simplicity in life. It urges us to rid ourselves of hypocrisy, arrogance, overindulgence and all other base behaviors that push people to the gutters of failure and defeat.
The most dangerous consequence of this culture of shame is that it produces individuals having dual personalities who will not be mentally upright. They suffer from painstaking mental conflicts. They will fear people and their comments more than their Creator, the Almighty Allah. Such people will lose their integrity and moral values, which will be broken into pieces.
If you go against what is customary you will certainly face lots of criticism. You will be accused of showing religious hatred even if you uphold the truth providing convincing evidence.
The continuation of hypocrisy, on the other hand, would create an atmosphere where all the lies and falsification become readily acceptable to the same people. When accustomed to the lies, people would have no qualms in accepting any sort of ideology.
