I had a lengthy discussion last night with a recent acquaintance about the ills of drugs and alcohol. This is a person I've never met, but have some conversation with over the past week. As usual, I argued against what I intuitively feel and what I've been socialized to feel (intuition and socialization are in sync fortunately): i.e. that drugs and alcohol are not that bad, that they are in fact social lubricants that make sociability easier. Shilli, who seems to enjoy arguments as much as I do (which makes him a commodity to be sure), introduced the concept of dignity as an issue to consider. His argument: Alcohol undermines an individual's self dignity by allowing her to loose her inhibitions and good common sense. He suggested that alcohol leads to further ills including rape, divorce, car crashes, violence. The merits of this second point are questionable because I think there are more cases of casual drinking without any harmful effects, than there are cases of serious drinking with crazy repurcussions. In any case, the notion of dignity is one that I will now consider.
When you are in a professional setting, "having drinks" is a norm. It is a social custom that carries a certain degree of cultural capital. One's knowledge of wines and alcoholic connoctions are deemed basic to adolescent rites of passage, as well. In either case, drinking is customary but only as a type of performance. Holding a wine glass is no different from wearing sexy Kenneth Cole shoes or driving a Lexus or going to Uchicago for grad school. Holding that wine glass gives you access to a space in which everyone else is holding wine glasses. Of course, your wine glass can be filled with sparkling water, or sprite and no one would care. Performativity is a key concept that makes human behavior more intelligible.
If the setting is a club or a lounge (places I have been to for fundraisers, film screenings, etc.), the drinking allows people to talk to people they normally (that is under lucid consciousness) would not speak to. However, if you extremely sociable like me, alcohol may not further your befriending strangers' skills. In both the professional after-work setting or the lounge, alcohol serves as a social lubricant by allowing you to approach people in a particular space.
Practicing muslims I've encounted argue that one ought to avoid the environments that can potentially cause one harm. Places that serve alcohol are not safe, and damage one's iman. Now, if your understanding of alcohol as a superficial means of gaining access to people, your iman is in no way damaged by this simple act of holding a wine glass (filled with Sprite). Or your ordering a Shirley Temple.
Over the past year, it has become apparent that Muslim kids my age drink for a variety of reasons, but mostly to feel included within a group. The act of doing so is very problematic because it threatens one's sense of dignity. You shouldn't be doing what other people are doing. There should be more to your character than engaging in groupthink or the norms of American society. I do not believe in avoiding the spaces that may cause me harm. I see them as challenges that are easily overcome. Rather, I adhere to subversion. I believe there are ways to do what is expected of you, but to do it in ways that are unexpected, and that do not threaten your ability to reason. You are ultimately accountable to God, so your behavior must always be within the boundaries of propriety. Loosing your inhibitions, then, is a transgression of how one should normatively act. And given that how one acts is already prescribed by God, then alcohol consumption is to be avoided.
Drugs is another Blog.
When you are in a professional setting, "having drinks" is a norm. It is a social custom that carries a certain degree of cultural capital. One's knowledge of wines and alcoholic connoctions are deemed basic to adolescent rites of passage, as well. In either case, drinking is customary but only as a type of performance. Holding a wine glass is no different from wearing sexy Kenneth Cole shoes or driving a Lexus or going to Uchicago for grad school. Holding that wine glass gives you access to a space in which everyone else is holding wine glasses. Of course, your wine glass can be filled with sparkling water, or sprite and no one would care. Performativity is a key concept that makes human behavior more intelligible.
If the setting is a club or a lounge (places I have been to for fundraisers, film screenings, etc.), the drinking allows people to talk to people they normally (that is under lucid consciousness) would not speak to. However, if you extremely sociable like me, alcohol may not further your befriending strangers' skills. In both the professional after-work setting or the lounge, alcohol serves as a social lubricant by allowing you to approach people in a particular space.
Practicing muslims I've encounted argue that one ought to avoid the environments that can potentially cause one harm. Places that serve alcohol are not safe, and damage one's iman. Now, if your understanding of alcohol as a superficial means of gaining access to people, your iman is in no way damaged by this simple act of holding a wine glass (filled with Sprite). Or your ordering a Shirley Temple.
Over the past year, it has become apparent that Muslim kids my age drink for a variety of reasons, but mostly to feel included within a group. The act of doing so is very problematic because it threatens one's sense of dignity. You shouldn't be doing what other people are doing. There should be more to your character than engaging in groupthink or the norms of American society. I do not believe in avoiding the spaces that may cause me harm. I see them as challenges that are easily overcome. Rather, I adhere to subversion. I believe there are ways to do what is expected of you, but to do it in ways that are unexpected, and that do not threaten your ability to reason. You are ultimately accountable to God, so your behavior must always be within the boundaries of propriety. Loosing your inhibitions, then, is a transgression of how one should normatively act. And given that how one acts is already prescribed by God, then alcohol consumption is to be avoided.
Drugs is another Blog.
Avoiding spaces that could potentially harm you doesnt just have to do with iman. It is also about the rights that your body has over you (remember that hadith?). Our bodies do not belong to us, but have been given to us on "loan." So it matters where you go, what you see, what you listen to, smell, eat, drink...Whatever you subject your body to, if it is prohibited then you will have to answer for that on judgement day. Because our bodies belong to Allah (swt) and we are only the trustees they will ultimately testify against us for the evil we subject them to. So best take care of your bodies.
ReplyDeleteThere exists a dualism between the mind/soul and body, especially in regard to our nafs. What we know as "self" is also layered, with certain faculties being superior to other, more base components to our personalities. For example, the ability to reason and follow God's laws trumps our base desire to fornicate randomly. Now, given this unequal binary between mind and body, the rights of the body seem to be secondary to the laws that govern our reason. Furthermore, given we have sufficient control over whatever haram environment we put ourselves in, the rights of the body are unintelligible.
ReplyDeleteYes, what we do to our bodies, we will be accountable for. But what if our reason deems what is done to our bodies as good, necessary, or not harmful? Even if other people drinking around me is bad, frivolous, and harmful to them, why should my iman be affected if I know that is steady and stable? My body cannot make judgements independently of my reasoning, thinking self.