Valentine's day A mockery of business firm.

Some say saint valentine was a preist who was promoting chritian marriages
somed say that he was helping the christian prisoner escape while some of the people say that saint valentine did not even exist in the history
we dont know the actual back ground of the valentines day but we do know that it is celeberates in the memory of saint valentine and the actual reason of celeberating is to promote love
but in my openion valentine day is a mockery from different businesses as 85 percent of the population of pakistan doesnt know the actual background of valentines day yet they still celeberates.
As soon as the month feb begins different companies starts advertisng promoting and launching new produsts only for valentines day for exampl in Pakistan such as different mobile companies starts launching new offers for valentines day like ufone which is one of the leading company of Pakistan they offered different ring tones themes, wallpapers of valentines day special and companies advertise their service and product heavily.
In th same way differnt Card companies like The wishes and The hallmark etc introduce new love cards for valentines day with different kinds of love poetries and famous love coutations.
Star product
1-chocolates
2-perfumes
3-stuff toys
4-flowers
5-cards
People spend lots of money on these star products on 14 feb and they dont even know the history of valentines day and media keeping the thing in mind that 85 percent of the population of Pakistan doesnt know the history.
however there is no such thing as a star product this is concept that has been pushed into the minds of the cnsumers for the mutual benifits of different companies so that more and more product will be sold and the will be able to achieve a great number of customers.
thts why every year differnt companies come together in order toi gain mutual benifit by persuating the people to differnet packages and advertisement to cleberates this day.
but i still believe that we should not wait for the whole year to express our feelings for our love ones.
Love can not be confined to a specific day we have a right to show our loved ones how much we care for them any time at any moment instead of being a fool and waiting for a whole year to express our feelings.

saad hashmi
06u135

VALENTIN'S DAY

For centuries, people have celebrated Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is the popular celebration of love and romances traces its origin to ancient Roman festival and has not been created by card companies as some people believe it to be. There are different belief associted with the valentine's day. there is a belief that birds began to mate from this day.

Romantic festival of St Valentine's Day is celebrated with enthusiasm in several countries around the world and also in pakistan. Most commonly observed Valentine's Day tradition and custom is expressing one's love with an exchange of cards, flowers and gifts. Pampering one's beloved and making a romantic proposal to one's sweetheart is the other popular tradition of the festival that celebrates love. There are different views of the people about the valentin's day according to some this is good activity because there is nothing wrong by showing your emotions to someone but the other point of view is different according to them the gifting made on valentine's day is only the wastage of money and time and also our religion do not give us permission to indulge in such activities.

One of the most popular tradition of Valentine's Day observed worldwide is to go on a date with their beloved one. Some years back that day is only associated with the romantic couples but today the valentine's day is seen in broader prespective. but now the the people not only wish to their lovers but also to their parents,teachers and friends which is a nice move.the basic idea behind this festival is to express love.

People eagerly wait for this day. A lot of preparation is done before the day comes so that they can express their love and emotions to those who give meanings to their lives.There developed a different methods of wishing valentin's day but the most popular is the valentin's card. There is the second largest card selling recorded on this event after the chrismis.

The most commen practise done on this day is the exchange of cards. In the 18th century people used to give hand written cards but by the starting of 19th century the printed cards make it easier to wish valentine's day through printed cards. Today the thoughts about valentine's day changed much now we also wish greetings to mother, father, brother, sisters or friends. large number of gifts are also exchanged on this day. the most popular gifts exchanged on this day are fresh flowers , choclates and teddy bears. The most multinational companies launch different choklates and candies before this day due to increase demand and earn profits.

the most importnt tradition of this day is to have a candle light dinner with one's valentine. There is also the arrangement of dance parties on that day by various clubs and societies. In a nutshell i want to say that there is both a dark and bright side of celebrating this day. The dark side is that a lot of money is wasted on valentine's day, that money can be spend on the welfare of society and our religion also do not allow us to indulge in such activites and by celebrating this day creates a bad impact on society. But the nice thing about is that it increases love in our society and if we stay in our limits there is no harm of celebrating such events or festivals.

QASIM ALI

06u323

VALENTINES DAY IN THE LIGHT OF ISLAM

Saint Valentine is a name which is given to two of the ancient “martyrs” of the Christian Church. It was said that there were two of them, or that there was only one, who died in Rome as the result of the persecution of the Gothic leader Claudius, c. 296 CE. In 350 CE, a church was built in Rome on the site of the place where he died, to perpetuate his memory.

When the Romans embraced Christianity, they continued to celebrate the Feast of Love mentioned above, but they changed it from the pagan concept of “spiritual love” to another concept known as the “martyrs of love”, represented by Saint Valentine who had advocated love and peace, for which cause he was martyred, according to their claims. It was also called the Feast of Lovers, and Saint Valentine was considered to be the patron saint of lovers.

One of their false beliefs connected with this festival was that the names of girls who had reached marriageable age would be written on small rolls of paper and placed in a dish on a table. Then the young men who wanted to get married would be called, and each of them would pick a piece of paper. He would put himself at the service of the girl whose name he had drawn for one year, so that they could find out about one another. Then they would get married, or they would repeat the same process again on the day of the festival in the following year.

The Christian clergy reacted against this tradition, which they considered to have a corrupting influence on the morals of young men and women. It was abolished in Italy, where it had been well-known, then it was revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when in some western countries there appeared shops which sold small books called “Valentine’s books”, which contained love poems, from which the one who wanted to send a greeting to his sweetheart could choose. They also contained suggestions for writing love letters.

As regards the Islamic stance on this festival, Dr. Su`ad Ibrahim Salih, professor of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) at Al-Azhar University, states the following:

Indeed, Islam is the religion of altruism, true love, and cooperation on that which is good and righteous. We implore ALLAH Almighty to gather us together under the umbrella of His All-encompassing Mercy, and to unite us together as one man. ALLAH Almighty says: (The believers are naught else than brothers. Therefore make peace between your brethren and observe your duty to ALLAH that haply ye may obtain mercy.) (Al-Hujurat 49: 10)

Focusing more on the question in point, I can say that there are forms of expressing love that are religiously acceptable, while there are others that are not religiously acceptable. Among the forms of love that are religiously acceptable are those that include the love for Prophets and Messengers. It stands to reason that the love for ALLAH, and His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) should have the top priority over all other forms of love.

Islam does recognize happy occasions that bring people closer to one another, and add spice to their lives. However, Islam goes against blindly imitating the West regarding a special occasion such as Valentine’s Day. Hence, commemorating that special day known as the Valentine’s Day is an innovation or bid`ah that has no religious backing. Every innovation of that kind is rejected, as far as Islam is concerned. Islam requires all Muslims to love one another all over the whole year, and reducing the whole year to a single day is totally rejected.

Hence, we Muslims ought not to follow in the footsteps of such innovations and superstitions that are common in what is known as the Valentine’s Day. No doubt that there are many irreligious practices that occur on that day, and those practices are capable of dissuading people from the true meanings of love and altruism to the extent that the celebration is reduced to a moral decline.

Additionally, it is forbidden for a Muslim to assist or help in this Valentine's Day, or any other of the forbidden/illegal celebrations in any way whatsoever - whether by food or drink, selling or buying, production, gift-giving, correspondence, announcements, etc. All of these things are considered as co-operating in sin and transgression and disobedience of Allah and His Messenger. Allah, the Glorious and Most High, says:

"and co-operate with one another in righteousness and piety, and do not co-operate in sin and transgression. And fear Allaah! Verily Allaah is severe in punishment," [Soorah al-Maa.idah, Aayah 2]

KAMIL MURAD