Saturday, August 04, 2007

Who says Islam cannot adapt to global modernity?

It seems Bill Gates & Co. has put ol' truepeers on an Islamic scam spam email list. As the victims of these scams multiply, how might they and other experiences of modernity, reshape the fatalistic culture of Islam?
THE ISLAMIC EMAILS INTERCONTINENTAL LOTTERY.
102 MOHAMMAD AKRAM ROAD,AMMAN -KINGDOM OF JORDAN.
ASIAN CUSTOMER SERVICES CENTER.
115 SUKHUMVIT ROAD BANGKOK-KINGDOM OF THAILAND.
REF NO:FI/550/05ES.
BATCH NO:6677-05734.

DEAR WINNER,

MAY THE BLESSINGS AND THE PEACE OF ALMIGHTY ALLAH BE UPON YOU.

The lslamic emails lottery happily announce to you the draw of our emails lottery programs held on 3rd AUGUST 2007 IN ( AMMAN- KINGDOM OF JORDAN).your email address attached to ticket number:56475600545/188 with serial number 5388/06 drawn the lucky numbers:31-6-26-13-35-7.have won you the 1st ever conducted lslamic emails lottery.you have therefore been approved to claim your prize at the sum of ( US$1,000,000.DOLLARS) in cash credited to file:(KPC/9080118308/02/FLC).this is from a total cash prize of (US$10 MILLION DOLLARS)shared among the ten lucky winners.this is the 1st lslamic emails lottery and the biggest to be conducted in the lslamic world.please note that your winner number falls within our asian booklet center as indicated in our play coupon.please contact our customer services center for the released of your winning prize.all the lslamic participants were selected randomly from world wide email sites through the computerized system with the help of (MICROSOFT CORPORATION).the lslamic emails lottery takes place periodically.for security reasons,you are advised to keep your winning lnformations confidential to avoid double claims.this lslamic emails lottery is to encouraged muslims world wide to use lnternet and promotes computer literacy in the lslamic world.... [signed]
T.Q
MALLAM ABDULLAH ALI
SECOND SECRETARY
ISLAMIC FOUNDATION UNITY
A couple of days ago I also received this email:
- Dear Beloved Christian, Calvary greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!! I am Mrs.Maria Igwe, a widow of 73years old suffering from cancer of the breast, My husband and my only son were killed last year during the UK terrorist Attack when we visited London for holidays. My condition is serious and according to my doctor, he said it is obvious that I may not survive. I have some funds that my late husband WILLED to me in cash; the sum of $5,900,000.00 United States of American Dollars. I packaged it in consignments and deposited it with a finance house. After my prayers, I searched a Christian site in the internet, I found your email address and I decided to contact you for the usage of the funds in your Ministry. Therefore, child of God, if you are honest and faithful enough to use this fund strictly for the work of God, your response will be highly appreciated.Email: maria_ig_01@yahoo.com Yours in His Vineyard,Mrs. Maria Igwe.
Is nothing sacred, or is everything sacred?

1 comment:

Dag said...

I must be heartless, too. A scruffy kid on the sidewalk said to me: "Hey, mister, I bet yu five bucks I can tell you where you got your shoes." I said OK, what's in it for me? He said, "I'll give you five bucks if I can't guess." Done.

Ha. Ha. He said. "You got your shoes on your feet.

Ha. Ha. Says I. You owe me five bucks: I don't got my shoes on my feet, I have them on my feet. I got them at the shoe store.

As well as a short lesson in English usage, I had also to give the lad an idea of contracts, which I did by explaining to him that we had made a prior agreement that he would pay me five bucks if he couldn't give me the right answer to the question; and furthermore, more importantly, the lesson he learned is that unlike him I was willing to put in the time and effort to earn my five bucks.

I have friends who used to claim that I'm not interested in the money, it's the principle I care about. No, it's not the principle, it's the interest. When people don't learn the penalties for small infractions, they can easily slip into larger and greater infractions, the ones that cannot go unpunished. The lucky ones learn these lessons early before any real harm is done.

Life is not fair, and to give two brief examples I believe I can show it clearly if not memorably: My ex-wife made vast amounts of money teaching sex education, a subject in which she had almost no direct experience; secondly, that of a billion or so sperm guys looking for a date, one -- maybe -- gets lucky once, and the others don't. Maybe sperm-guy gets to be one half of a garden slug. Maybe he gets to be one half of you. What are the odds? How can anyone be so lucky as to have won this infinitely losable lottery? And people complain that life isn't fair!

Those less fortunate than ourselves? Spare me.

Spare me $2,000.00 for a cup of coffee.

It doesn't cost $2,000.00 for a up of coffee, you say?

Well, it does if I want to drink it in Rio.