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Letters

The Many Faces of Addiction


	Photo: Amirul Rajiv

I was a bit disappointed but not surprised at the article related to drug abuse published a few weeks ago. The reason behind my disappointment lies in the fact that the article offers very little information about drugs, but focuses mainly on the dependency that develops from drug use, which is like talking about post marriage problems, without providing guidelines on how to find a suitable partner. The truth is that almost everyone has used/uses/will use drug at some point in their life. Cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, yaba, heroine, cocaine, LSD are all drugs. However cigarette and alcohol are accepted by society in general while there is a huge amount of taboo associated with the others. But according to research, cigarette and alcohol are the most harmful drug to society and the individual. Marijuana and LSD are considered to be the safest and has a lot of potential medical uses. Same goes for ecstasy/MDMA. While heroine and nicotine is considered the most addictive substance known to man, marijuana is considered less addictive than caffeine. The truth shall set you free, but sometimes it's clouded by a smoke screen.

Nabeel Iqbal
Monash University, Dhaka

Not just in the Eye of the Beholder

I am writing this letter in response to the cover story of your magazine titled 'Return of the Dark Ages'. Unfortunately, we have started to emphasise beauty excessively. Though many of the creams act as fairness cream and sunscreens at the same time, I agree with the writer's perception that the fairness cream ads make many dark women feel inferior despite how qualified they are. Yet again, we are moving away from the teachings of Islam. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SM) said in his last sermon that no white is superior to a black and no black is superior to a white. Both dark and white skinned people are Allah's creation.

In Islam, beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is in the whole of creation, because Allah, the One free of all imperfections, is the one responsible for it. And as Allah says in Chapter 28 verse 68 of the Quran: "Your Lord creates what; He wills and chooses no choice have they. And far removed is He from the partners they ascribe to Him." Allah has chosen to create some of us as short, some tall, some fat, some thin, some dark, some light - all are beautiful and perfect in their own right. In Sahih Muslim it is reported that the Prophet (SM) said, "Allah does not look at your outward appearance and your wealth, rather He looks at your hearts and deeds.” Therefore, we should strive to beautify our character. That does not mean we should not beautify ourselves too, but there must be a limit to the recent advertisements in the media. It is hurting a certain segment of people, making them feel inferior compared to the lighter skinned people.

Anika Nawal Ahmed
Dhanmondi, Dhaka

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