26 November, 2005
Carlsberg Beer?
Today i thought I'd accompany some friends down to the Mall of the Emirates to have a peek at the new ski hall. The Dubai Ski Club (www.dubaiskiclub.com) was distributing the membership cards over there, together with their members' ski jackets. The back of the ski club jacket features a big logo of Carlsberg beer. As it seems, Carlsberg is a sponsor of theirs. They said: "Nothing wrong with advertising for Carlsberg Beer, it's just a sponsor". So I guess since they already place banners of Carlsberg on their website and now on the ski jackets, we can soon expect the ski hall to be plastered with Carlsberg advertising and handing out freebies to the kids? A Muslim asked the staff over there: "Do you expect the muslims to walk about with Beer advertising on their jackets?" The answer was simple: "If you don't like it, rip the Logo off". Where is this country heading to, I am speachless. I remember a few months ago there was a race at the Autodrome and there were Heineken banners placed all over the place that had to be removed later on.
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15 comments:
I read on Kaya's blog about how Dubai is getting more and more 'anti-islamic' As evidence she stated how in one area people were requesting that the adhan be quietened down (and it eventually was).
But it is just not Dubai coz in Ras Al Khaimah there was even a restaurant serving pork as halal.. but i think that last one was just an anomalous fluke :)
Got my shirt today but have to agree i think they will come a cropper over this.
it is too visible and too much a family area as opposed to say the rugby where Heinekin is plastered every where.
What a spit in the countrys face. When they can advertise and force people to wear beer shirts in an ISLAMIC country. I think it is long due for the locals in Dubai to voice their opinions more actively, the pursuit of money must have some limitations.
A shameful act that is happening in a muslim country, I think residents whether muslims or not, should boycott it until these ads are changed. This is a family hang out , it's supposed to be kids-friendly.
How can a Muslim state accept the sponsorship of such company?!
Isn't the ultimate owner of Ski Dubai a Muslim? Why would an Emirati Muslim accept Carlsberg as an advertiser? It wouldn't have happened if the owner didn't accept it.
It's not just the locals who should address this aspect - the expatriate population should also take a good look at themselves.
I shake my head at some of the t-shirts advertising alcohol that I see being worn by expatriates and tourists in shopping malls - it's a total lack of respect for their environment.
I even saw one girl in our gym, (frequented by non-Muslim and Muslim people), wearing a t-shirt with a big pig on it, advertising some pork bbq restaurant in the US! She didn't see what my problem was when I reminded her about the Islamic views on pork. Her reaction was typical of a lot of ignorant westerners - she wasn't Muslim and she could wear what she liked!
To see this being done by the Ski Club in such a wholesale way is not good - it's disgusting and disrespectful. As Emirati says, it's akin to a spit in the face.
nzm
I agree about alcohol imagery, but less so about the image of a pig (unless it specifically relates to pork as it appears to here).
There have been a spate of pig-icon bannings in the UK, but there is nothing specifically wrong or dirty about the animal in Islam, you're just not supposed to consume its meat. On the contrary, animals are protected and respected in Islam.
Regarding alcohol laws: did the prophet ban it per se, or did he just ban praying while drunk (ie effectively banning it because praying five time a day, you wouldn't be able to have alcohol in your system at all)?
there was someone across the road from me, and they had a tire cover for their prado or whatever.
and it may have been for carlsberg, i'm not sure, but the logo was for a beer company.
it just had the logo (logo had no words), then under it, it said "enough said"
As you know I'm a big fan of beer, but even I can see that forcing a Muslim to wear an advert for the stuff is very, naughty. And advising them to rip it off if they don't like it is just ridiculous.
On the other hand, I am not 100% convinced that alcohol is completely haram - a Muslim friend of mine told me that the only direct reference to it in the Holy Books said that you should not visit the mosque while smelling of alcohol. And I've heard some interesting stories of why alcohol was banned in KSA in the 1930s...
Intoxicants were forbidden in the Qur'an through several separate verses revealed at different times over a period of years. At first, it was forbidden for Muslims to attend to prayers while intoxicated Then a later verse was revealed which said that alcohol contains some good and some evil, but the evil is greater than the good. Finally, "intoxicants and games of chance like gambling" were named as intended to turn people away from God and forget about prayer, and Muslims were ordered to abstain (5:90-91).
There are also many sources in the hadith: "if it intoxicates in a large amount, it is forbidden even in a small amount."
It was reported by Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:
"God's curse falls on ten groups of people who deal with alcohol. The one who distills it, the one for whom it has been distilled, the one who drinks it, the one who transports it, the one to who it has been brought, the one whom serves it, the one who sells it, the one who utilizes money from it, the one who buys it and the one who buys it for someone else."
hope this clarifies it for you
Thanks hallodubai!
Though interestingly, this scholar quoted in Emirates Today suggests there are legitimate uses for it:
"However Dr Abdulmagid Babu an expert in Islamic rulings and an adviser to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs in Dubai says that in cases where alcohol could mean the difference between life and death then the third rule of Islam allows it. ONLY SOLUTION He says: “The use of alcohol in medical cases is permitted if it is a necessity. In a case like this a Muslim would be able to have the operation because the procedure will help the person live longer."
Which makes better sense. After all if we consider the intent of the law - which is to avoid drunkeness - there is nothing specifically evil about alcohol as a chemical used for other reasons.
actually there is a hadith which says that extreme necessity makes the prohibited allowed for this instance only.
If you know that you will you will be shot in the head if you perfom your prayer, then not praying at this instance will not be a sin. (just an example)
very well said hellodubai.. i agree totally.
basically alcohol was banned in approx 3 stages, and i believe that the first stage was the "don't pray when drunk" which some people use as an excuse to drink excessively as long as they don't pray.
however later in islam it was banned completely (in the prophet Mohamad's lifetime). the reason for the gradual banning was that the arabs at that time were very fond of drinking and a sudden ban would make them lose faith in islam.
hope this helps
Oddly, the Tatar Muslims I met in Kazan recently didn't seem to have a problem with eating pork nor drinking alcohol.
that's a shame, but what's more shameful is to see how bars and nightclubs got more arab and muslim attendance than other antionalities and religion.
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