85% HALAL
I guess it’s not really usual for people in my field to talk openly about religion. Maybe it simply escapes my feed or perhaps it’s something we’d rather keep to ourselves. To me, that just seems like a divine opportunity.
For anyone who is not aware, halal means permissible. It is often in relation to the religion of Islam and is more casually used to refer to actions and behavior one would deem worthy of their belief. Now that we’ve got the fog out of the way, it’s time to make sense of the title above. I’ve always wondered what it meant to be 100% halal (as often advertised on products), or perhaps even more intriguing: what it means if it would be less than a hundred.
I have to admit, I’m a big fan. Ever since I was young I was thoroughly interested in religion(s) and my personal environment has quickly led me to Islam, which I’ve come to admire and explore till this day onwards. As one who comes from relatively agnostic/atheistic surroundings, this was definitely not a given.
“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.” - Muriel Rukeyser
I keep wondering how an industry that profits of the invisible, untouchable, intangible value of the belief & trust that stories can evoke, often fails to acknowledge the religious influence. This might very well be coincidental or circumstantial, but it at least breathes some relevance to this piece of writing.
In the creative industry, I think we are very aware of our responsibilities to be honest, to not steal and to love thy client as thyself. However, that doesn’t mean we always succeed. My LinkedIn feed surely has a word or two to say about this — But in the end, I guess it’s really the intention that matters.
“All man’s failures are either because of the religious denial of man’s biological needs or the materialistic denial of man’s spiritual desires.” - Alija Izetbegovic
Should we strive to reach 100%? Yes, always. Should we succeed? Hopefully. And hope is another one of those intangible things data doesn’t get to have any say on. Truth be told, I have never been a big fan of data, at least in the rational sense. You see, I think there’s supporting data to be found for every argument, even opposing ones. Which leaves us most often listening to that little voice(or voices, I don’t judge) inside of our heads.
Who likes to pretend they’ve created something out of nothing? We simply do our best with what we are given or what crosses our path. Sometimes it doesn’t make any sense, but it feels right. Should we then, run the statistics or crash it into a wall with an accompanying yellow dummy? Or should we savor the idea that has so miraculously come to us and try to figure out how to make our figurative Pinocchio into a real-life boy? I think we all start with belief, whether we like it or not.
The truth is, that most often we won’t reach 100%. But we could come damn close, if we just believe we can. How about we settle for 85% and call the rest a work in progress? In the meantime I will encourage you all to look into religion, any religion. As the intrinsic curious creatures and storytellers that we are, I’m quite sure it will be worth our while. And hey, you might even pick up some good habits.
Amen.
