Modesty... Where Was It Buried?
The Diwaniyya was bustling, and the phones were ringing nonstop.
An elderly man sat quietly, observing, then said, shaking his head: “Where has gone the modesty we used to know? In which cemetery was it buried?”
The disabled man asked, “Why?” He replied, “A guy with a painted-on mustache and a red wig stands in front of the camera, shouting: ‘Press… press… we want the lion.’ And around him are his family, his father boasting: ‘My son is the star of the filters?’”
They laughed. The elderly man said, “The problem isn’t that you make people laugh; the problem is that you’re willing to do anything to make them laugh.”
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The young man said, “We live in an era of business built on chaos and confusion. Turn a blind eye to dignity, and turn on the camera.”
The expert said, “In the past, people hid when they did something shameful. Now, they’re upset if no one films them.”
The elderly man added, “And some people now measure their worth by the number of people who laugh at them.”
The disabled man said, “And platforms have become a modern ‘Aqaz Market,’ but instead of poetry: filters, challenges, and dances.”
The man said, “And all of this is a farce. Social media influencers are a second farce. Two people insult each other in a round, and the audience pays.”
The elderly man laughed: “So even a brawl now has tickets?”
The expert replied, “That’s not a fight; it’s a joint-stock company, with capital drawn from your pocket and mine.”
The elderly man fell silent for a moment, then said, “My children, if privacy and modesty are lost, a million likes won’t bring them back. If your reputation is shattered, it’s not like a phone screen that you can simply replace. Yes, the law can deter, but upbringing prevents wrongdoing in the first place.”
The disabled man said, “Ultimately, not everyone who goes live becomes a media figure, nor is everyone who gathers five followers considered famous.”
The elderly man said, “Go live, but don’t sell your respect for a gift, or your dignity for a follower. In the past, we used to say ‘shameful,’ and the word ‘shameful’ used to stop men. Today, we need to bring the word ‘shameful’ back to the trending list and elevate it.”
They laughed, and suddenly the wealthy man, pointing at himself, said, “Hold on… if ‘shameful’ becomes a trend, who will go live about it?”
The elderly man said, “Don’t joke around. You don’t want to go live; you want to be banned.”
The Diwaniyya erupted in laughter.
Amidst the laughter, the call to the noon prayer rose, voiced by Sheikh Zaghloul, and the Diwaniyya fell silent.
A Kuwaiti writer
