Tora Sudiro is a walking sheet of Batik: His tall and broad physique provides plenty of drawing space for tattoo artists. The thing that made him worth mentioning – aside from his adorable qualities and sense of humor – is that, this is a Muslim man who, more than once, has been witnessed observing prayers in a mosque or musholla.
The first thought we had was, "Why did he wear tattoos when he never really renounced his religious duties?" Weren't tattoos damned since our fifth grade teachers made us memorize hadiths about all methods of damnation?
The same damnations were applied to breast reduction and enhancement, eye-brow trimming, liposuction, facelifts, noise and fragrance or jingle emitted from females (intended or not), and male-piercing (although I'm not sure about female body piercings, are we limited to the ears or is also okay to decorate the nose, bellybutton, nipples and youknowwhere?).
There's a recent long discussion about this here, and there's always the forums and FPIs** to set things clear for you in case you want the simpler clarifications.
The underline is that wearing a tattoo is not okay.
And if you seriously want to end up in heaven, you have to refrain from permanent modifications, unplug the internet, the phone, the television, drop your children out of school, maintain illiteracy, declare war on western and eastern medicine, convert to hermitdom, marry four orphan women AND live in the dessert like a proper Bedouin. It's an atheist who said it best: You either take it all, or to hell with all.
Is the Lord really is that narrow? Did He bring us all here just to taunt and scare us with damnation? I might as well do everything wrong – oh that tattoo! – if whatever I do is only going to be chucked in hell anyways. And if I can't have fun in the afterlife, might as well have it here, right?
It's not like anybody could ever really, definitely prove that there's such thing as an afterlife anyways, right?
No, not really.
I think a lot of us get stuck at the end of that paragraph, where a cognitive shortcut forces itself in. You either stop questioning and just settle with "tattoos are not okay and Tora Sudiro is going to hell, God have mercy on his soul". Or you let go of the entire religion system, and be the pantheist, add more tattoos and don the liberated-but-conflicted attitude.
Honestly? Being a non-believer is a lot freedom. The mind unshackled can cross unimaginable boundaries and do wonderfully little crazy things. It's like attending a funeral for God and then going make up your own belief systems that works best for you and the folks around you.
It's also extremely exhausting.
So, if we don't want to settle with sending Tora to hell because he's still "generally a good guy", then where would he fit? We also don't want to dismiss the religious systems, because we've seen a lot of good that faith can do to a person and a society. The question is, again, why would the Lord put us in a world full with temptations if He was just going to constantly threaten us with hell and making it sound (almost) impossible to achieve heaven?
Looking at it from another way around, if Heaven was as easy as drive-thru hamburgers, we wouldn't have needed to pour our daily focus on achieving it, or at least try at it. We've got to go through temptation, children, work, illness, old age and whatnot to deserve anything remotely heavenly.
What lays assuring is to know that Heaven, ladies and gentlemen, is NOT out of reach as much as Hell is not a definitive answer to all our mistakes and tattoos. Heaven is just a carrot and we're the donkeys. The idea is to keep it in our minds-eye; live primarily based on hope and Not. Look. The. Other. Way. Around.
And maybe we don't need to look so far to an afterlife for a reward, when parts of heaven is already here, in the breaks between crunches, under an umbrella in a rainy day, or just pick any one of the most satisfying simple pleasures life has to offer.
The Lord didn't make it easy for us just for the sake of breaking humanity, but because He wants us to work our asses for it. He made it really hard to achieve the reward because He doesn't want us to become lazy or indulgent.
And you know what, that's fine by me.
The point to these questions is not, and will ever be, to provide resolute answers. The point to these questions is to spurt more of them. As long that you are willing to look, as long that you don't give up on Him or on your self-achievement, these questions aren't waiting to be answered, merely waiting to be asked.
Don't you wonder?
* Gorgeous tattoo image powered by good ol' Getty.
** FPI: Front Pembela Islam (Islam Defenders Front), an aggressive organization of brutal and disoriented hooligans that vandalize public property on the behalf of God and religion.
So many issues to cover... (and I'm slightly sleep deprived so forgive me if this post is a bit sloppy)
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, the reasons for forbidding tattooing deals mainly with two issues:
1. Body mutilation
2. Idol worship
You're going to have to do your own research, but the conclusion that I came to (and correct me anybody if I'm mistaken), it's the act of tattooing, and getting tattooed is damned.
If a person has a tattoo, but repents and refrains from seeking tattoos, or tattooing others; then they are no longer committing the damned act.
There are many Muslims who have tattooed during their life; either as Muslims or before reverting to Islam. Some get their tattoos removed, others don't. No biggie.
So bottom line: any form of body mutilation is a no-no.
I gave the American Bedu article a scan, and personally I'm not convinced that the "tattooing" preformed as part of the re-constructive surgery would fall under "body mutilation" category. So I believe that it should be okay; if men can wear silk/gold for medicinal purposes, why can't a woman who had her breasts re-constructed have matching nipples? Islam is generally a simple and forgiving way of life.
Regarding the second point, tattooing back in the day, was also a form of idol worship, and held deep spiritual significance (which lead to diverting people from worshiping Allah). So that is also a no-no.
So are Muslims who are tattooed, damned? The short answer; of course not. So long as they refrain from tattooing, they are pretty much not damned.
I'll tackle the rest of the post when my mind is rested. Yet another deliciously mind-numbing post from the pen of Hning :) so much mental ground to cover, while trying to keep the number of paragraphs reasonable.
Cya in a bit!
bahwa tidak ada jawban pasti, dan terus bertanya selama mau nanya, trs tntng the 30most satisfying in earth could be a heaven, tntng surga bukan drve-tru hamburger, bahwa tuhan itu ngidupin kita di dunia itu ga gampang dan emang ada hikmah dari smua coba2an.
ReplyDeletebanyak deh mba. mba ya2 bisa nulis juga ya. baru tau anggi. :P
anggi ambil buat bahan film aah
ih gila bagus banget topic tentang tato, mba. mashallah.
ReplyDeletebahwa tidak ada jawban pasti, dan terus bertanya selama mau nanya, trs tntng the 30most satisfying in earth could be a heaven, tntng surga bukan drve-tru hamburger, bahwa tuhan itu ngidupin kita di dunia itu ga gampang dan emang ada hikmah dari smua coba2an.
banyak deh mba. mba ya2 bisa nulis juga ya. baru tau anggi. :P
anggi ambil buat bahan film aah
Well...let's not limit that to the tatoos and the plastic surgeries and the piercings...how about people who do pray five times a day...and yet have pre-marital or extra-marital sex? How about those people who pay zakat (poor due) and then hoard millions from the public coffers?
ReplyDeleteI see another bottom line here: We humans don't have the right to tell somebody off that's he's going to hell or heaven for sure. We have the rules to live by, all right, but whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jew or whatever, it's God who'll be the one to ultimately judge. Even if you think yourself as good, you'll never know, maybe you'll get tossed into the devil's pit for something...
And speaking of rules, God has made things simple for us; it's the holier-than-thou people who have made life so so complicated!
ReplyDeleteI would repeat what Coralbead said, "God has made things simple for us; it's the holier-than-thou people who have made life so so complicated"
ReplyDeleteMenelik,
ReplyDeleteDid you know that Everlast performed Hajj after he converted? The best part about American Bedu's post wasn't the post itself, rather AbuSinan's comment and Tattoo story. Inspiring piece, I'd say. And it's also where I got that info on Everlast performing with permanent ink under his ihram.
Anggi,
Yay, my little brother is here! Glad you finally made it and my posts are no longer embarrassing to you.
Coral,
Is that why you would wear tattoos and have sex with your boyfriend every Saturday night and still pray?
I doubt it.
How often do you find another's judgment could cause change of behavior in your self? Compare that the amount of judgment you put on yourself.
What the tight assed clerics are missing that people are more often than not more self-judging than they'd want to admit.
We learn from each other, and the Lord sets these examples not for us to place judgment upon these people, but for us to reflect on ourselves. Why? Because
1) Judgment is an activity solely copyrighted to the Lord. And
2) Humans are bound to err. The human flaw is not to err, but to fail from learning from it.
That said, the variety for hypocrisy and conflict is abundant. I have used the tattoo example because
1) I love Tora Sudiro and I honestly don't want him to go to hell,
2) I want tattoos, and I'm generally good person and I'm looking for reasons why I should abstain from inking my skin,
3) I've given up on myself from time to time, and to see Tora still observing prayers taught me a couple of things. These lessons I've shared with you.
So it’s not about the judgments from or upon others, eventually we're not the ones to decide on that. It's about how much effort you're willing to pull for your soul's salvation.
DG,
Read the above. :P
"And if you seriously want to end up in heaven, you have to refrain from permanent modifications, unplug the internet, the phone, the television, drop your children out of school, maintain illiteracy, declare war on western and eastern medicine, convert to hermitdom, marry four orphan women AND live in the dessert like a proper Bedouin. It's an atheist who said it best: You either take it all, or to hell with all."... lol where did you get all this? lol sounds too much like arab influence.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, lsn... I like tattoos myself, but I am not getting one, Menelik kinda sums it up nicely.
Btw I know ppl who drink, smoke and have unlawful sex and don miss their prayers. The 5 pillars are a bare minimum and it does not really guarantee anything, it all depends on Allah and the day of Judgment.
"2) Humans are bound to err. The human flaw is not to err, but to fail from learning from it."... So where do you stand on getting a inked knowing it was wrong to begin with?
And if you are going to get one, make sure it aint a unicorn or somethin! srsly!
Mehmed,
ReplyDeleteHow about my mama's name or something?
Hehe. No, I've been kinda clean for a while. :)
How do I even comment on the thought provoking-ness that is this comment box. hehe. Seriously though, we try the best we can to be good people, and have hope..the other way is too scary to contemplate.
ReplyDeleteonly if its written across a giant red heart, right on your left cheek (if you know wht I am sayin)
ReplyDeleteI have "read the above" & I say, take it easy :-)
ReplyDeleteMehmed & DG,
ReplyDeleteRepeating what Lamya said, "I do what I can". :)
For me tattoos are not okay, because I always like to have my skin as natural as it is. What about religious reason?? Well... it could be anyobody's reason. Everyone is free to have his own opinion. But for me, I won't let those so-called artful tattoos 'degrade' my delicate and precious skin.... no matter what others might say or write.... ;)
ReplyDeleteI actually came across this article during my search for info to make me feel less guilty about wanting to get a tattoo! A cop out, you might say? Well, the article certainly opened up a moral can of worms for me! I am really struggling with this sort of thing at the moment; not just tattoos, but the realisation that almost everything I consider to be "fun" is banned! (except gardening), and I have come to the idea that as long as you're not hurting anyone,surely it can't be that bad. I am aware of the religious rulings on tattoos etc, but there are so many Muslims who commit acts that hurt others, destroy families and relationships, ruin lives, fighting and killing etc...and I know that two wrongs don't make a right, but put in perspective, really, what is a little dolphin on my bum or a few hairs off my eyebrows going to do to the world?
ReplyDeleteKat...i completely agree with you, i stumbled upon this forum for the exact same reason as you did. I also believe getting a tattoo that is not discriminatory or offensive in nature sure can't harm anyone. I can't lie every thing i do i debate if i will go to hell for it but i truly believe at the end of the day (or world should i say) it is up to Allah! Well if plucking eyebrows is a sin, i guess i am going to hell because it is near impossible to be accepted in society with an ungroomed unibrow face! haha!
ReplyDelete