PS. Never ever ever take your elders to a place where you havent been before yourself

Last week I decided to take some relatives out for dinner to celebrate the  first pay with them. Weekends are the only time such events can take place for two reasons: weekdays are terribly busy and I live far from the city.

So, on a fine Saturday evening we all decided to go out to a restaurant with subcontinental cuisine. No one had been there or seen that place before so it took a while to locate the restaurant exactly and it was closing at that moment. What the heck? Who closes a restaurant at 9pm on a Saturday night in such a busy district? With very little option owing to the halal(ness) of the food we opted for the Arabian restaurant nearby which I had seen before but never tried. I doubted whether it was a halal place or not but they had a certificate on the door and a banner saying WE ARE HALAL!

Startving, we went in. Apart from the guy who opened the door for us none of the staff really looked interested in serving us. I glanced at one waiter and motioned for him to present the menu cards. He nodded. Then asked me to wait a few seconds.

The atmosphere was expectant. People already eating looked excited while the staff were making sure everything is in order. Within couple of minutes the loud Arabic music started to play. It was so loud that you couldn;t hear the guy sitting next to you without some effort. Then it stopped for a minute and started again. Just when I was about to get up and tear apart a member of the staff as to why he isn’t serving the customers and also to kill that music, the lights went dim and a door (which I earlier thought was an emergency exit) opened. I slipped back in my seat while everyone started clapping.

And there it was. The surprise. A young Arab lady dancing on the tunes of the loud music. It was the Saturday special! Bellydance! Now, this wasn’t ordinary. The aforementioned lady, although dressed nicely in her lower half was barely covered in the upper. (I couldn’t look at her much even if I wanted to because of the guests I was entertaining). Now her dress wasn’t the only problem. She was brave enough to go to every table .. too close to the tables … and dance .. as if exclusively for you. Sitting on the corner, I quickly realised how dangerous my position was. A very small prayer from the heart perhaps got answered immediately as she skipped us (perhaps because of the small kids? and the lack of interest we showed). It was utterly embarassing for me!

Done with the dinner after the awkward moments we decided to leave. Food wasn’t bad. On exiting the place I glanced at the banner that said WE ARE HALAL and all those sorts.

It is really sad to see how Halal is being restricted only to food items these days. This is really making a mockery of the concept of Halal. And no, its not the non-Muslims who are doing it. Its us! Sigh. A non-Muslim would rightly question how one Muslim is supporting the act while the other is calling it unlawful. Sadly, we (the Muslims) are distorting our own image.

The next morning I went back to that place, alone this time to have a chat with the manager. I asked him the same question. He smiled. His reasoning were simple. He says belly-dancing is our (Moroccan) tradition. People love it. They come especially to see it. And that they are abiding by the religion to serve halal but preserving tradition. Quickly I decided against wasting time and left.

The pre-Islamic era in the Arabian peninsula was full of such practices. They aren’t supposed to be preserved in the name of culture. The fact that they are, just goes to show how the Muslims are heading back towards that age of ignorance that prevailed before the dawn of Islam.

May Allah (swt) guide the Muslims to the right path. Ameen.

PS. Never ever ever take your elders to a place where you havent been before yourself