Thursday
25th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Madam Fazna, President Solih and Mufti Menk. Photo: President's Office.
First Lady Fazna Ahmed stated that her first impression of the established Islamic Scholar, Mufti Ismail Ibn Musa Menk (Mufti Menk), who is visiting the Maldives on his tour, was that he appeared “hygienic, pleasant and down to earth”.
Sharing photos of the first couple with Mufti Menk, Fazna stated in her instagram caption that Menk’s sermon at carnival area on the 28th of this month was the first time she had heard one of his sermons. Therefore, she stated that what she knows of the scholar is perception based on first impressions only and he struck her as a pleasant, hygienic man who was down to earth.
Additionally, Fazna said that his pitch and tone of voice was easy on the ears. She said that he did not scream and chose to be encouraging of the rewards of Islam rather than resorting to fearmongering.
Fazna stated that Mufti Menk lent motivation to choose kindness and a positive attitude, in addition to an unrelenting faith in Allah. Furthermore, Fazna noted that he acknowledged and was accepting of everyone, despite their gender or attire.
Fazna expressed pleasure over the fact that Mufti Menk reinforced, albeit briefly, disassociated the lack of faith and mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and stress. She stated that she would have appreciated it if he had gone into a lengthy explanation on the differences between clinical depression, anxiety disorders and normal mood changes.
However the Mufti did acknowledge the fact that he held no doctorates in the field of mental health and the first lady appreciated his admission as well.
The preconception of the liberal communities of the world on Islamic scholars is that they are unclean, unhygienic people. Moreover, this preconceived notion of uncleanliness is one of the things atheists and agnostics use on Twitter to taunt Muslims and their scholars.
Furthermore, teaching of the punishments in Islam for disobedience under the Quranic concept of "Targhib wal Tarhib" or "reward and terror" is also unacceptable for the ears of liberals and Islamophobes.