Pakistan is right now at a crucial crossroad to decide what it stands for and for what purpose Mohammad Ali Jinnah achieved this land. Killing in the name of religion is nothing new in Pakistan but the killing of a prominent figure, Governor Salman Taseer, got widespread attention and media coverage. Every political representative disapproved the act and was against this specific killing but almost nobody was even bold enough to speak out about Mumtaz Qadri's logic behind it.
In times where our society is psychologically manipulated by religious factions, are politicians who run this country for us independent to make their decisions? It's not just the political landscape, the ordinary citizen is in a desperate situation, either they speak out the truth and face social alienation and torture or just go with the flow and support the clerics. The norm till now was going with the last option even if it was the wrong choice to make. What wonders me, is the sheer double standard that every Pakistani is displaying.
If you take the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, it is the most persecuted religious organization in Pakistan. Its members are mistreated, tortured and deprived of any social and economic stature. It would require a separate discussion about the atrocities on Ahmadies, but what really is astonishing is the way that people of Pakistan in general treat Ahmadies in different situations. Living abroad, me as a proud Ahmadi, when i meet Pakistani friends, who are not Ahmadies, they refrain from talking about the Ahmadiyya Jamaat issue and say to me:
"Leave it, we are not in Pakistan - just live your life here as you wish"
These same people when going to Pakistan, would be obligated to declare Ahmadies as Infidels as not to be socially distanced. Do these people have a conscience? To suit ones beliefs according to situation and own interest for the most is the norm in the western countries.
Killing of Ahmadies in Pakistan is propagated by the Khatm e Nabuwwat organization by means of public gatherings and flyers. The majority of clerics in Pakistan approve of this organization and second their opinion. No investigation or the mere interest is taken by the government. According to this organization, killing someone who is against the blasphemy law is an act that would ensure a place in heaven, which is deemed to be obligatory for every true Muslim. But what if they would be abroad here, what would they do, would they still be inciting this act knowing the law would imprison them by the sheer intent of killing someone? The true face of a believer comes in sight when he faces hurdles and still keeps loyal to his beliefs. So every Pakistani who lives abroad has to be asked, why don't they take up arms and start the killing of Ahmadies? Its an act declared to be holy by the clerics. Every political leader has to be asked why don't they openly support this stance. They should openly proclaim that this is the true religion. May be every person in Pakistan is following a double standard life. Why are clerics not successful in achieving the support of the rich who can propagate this message across every media channel of Pakistan? Why don't TV channels show these clerics preaching this message on TV.
Every political figure should openly declare whether they are for or against the killing of Ahmadies.
Summary: To see the true face of these so called Muslim Pakistanis and political leaders in specific, the only way is that they come out in a western country and openly declare whether they are for or against the killing of Ahmadies. I'm sure they would refrain from it because material gain is much more deer to them then the religion they adhere to.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Pakistan's religious double game
Although living in the 'Islamic' Republic of Pakistan are we really Muslims? A question that would definitely be answered with a 'sure' or even by todays standards would be frowned upon. But still i ask - are we really muslims? There are alot of anomolies that one could go into but one that is never been debated or even talked about is the womans veil in our society according to islamic teachings - because we apparantly prescribe to it. I'm not putting forth the radicalized version of the 'womans veil' but living in times of 'Enlighted Moderation' we still are muslims. Alot has been said about the subject of woman and the veil and in the society we live in we see all sorts of women with their own interpretation of the veil - good or not good i'll leave it to them. But what is interesting is the fact that the mainstream clerics who are a spiritual guidance for us are playing a double game here. On one side they want women to wear the full hijab (the one that goes from head to toe) and on the other side there is no objection to the elite women who is not even having on a 'Dupatta'. Entertainment shows, News Talk Shows every one watches them, i'm sure these maulanas watch them too everyday. Women on TV Talk Shows wearing tight dresses, wearing no dupatta or hijab - its becoming the norm. Apparently, there is no difference anymore from the indian news broadcast and the pakistani one.
I never heard of any maulana with an objection in this matter. But they are really hardlined with other issues like blasphemy law these days. Approving the killing of a governor in the name of god is deemed to be more worthy then raising an objection to the changing norms of our generation. Why are maulanas silent in this regard? Why don't they put fatwas on these channels? Are there personal gains involved?
Its not just the clerics, the majority of the people are involved in it. Nobody talks about it - whats wrong. We like to watch Award Shows full of glamour and all the beauty of the participants - its not less then the one held in indian culture. But maulana sahib doesn't say a thing. Why don't they disapprove of it?
Ok, if you as an orator or spiritual guide do not object to it then i guess its nothing wrong with it. Then there is no wrong in not wearing a veil or a hijab. But why is it that this is only seen in pakistan's posh areas. Lahore Defence, Islamabad Jinnah Market etc. you'll see pakistani-muslim girls wearing t-shirts and jeans. Slowly as you move towards the suburbs and then to the more rural area - the veil or hijab gets more acceptance and usage. I'm sure the elite and posh community has a mosque or two in their secotrs or areas. I'm also sure these mosques have a maulana or a maulvi sahib in there. Isn't it the duty of these people to guide the lost souls. Its youngsters who are prone to the western culture, its the bitter fruit they want to try out themselve to come to a conclusion - but its the duty of parents and evenmore the task of our spiritual leaders to guide us. But why don't they say a thing about this matter?
Is it may be because they wouldn't want to distance themselve from the rich and powerfull who are their prime source of income? I'll leave the issue of the relationship of rich and maulvi sahib for you to ponder on.
In summary, ask yourself these questions:
1. Why are the posh girls or girls/woman on TV allowed to be that free in not caring for their veil and no religiuos/spiritual leader talks about it?
2. Why are girls or women in rural areas bound to wear a veil or even mistreated if they don't wear hijab? Isn't it that the best hijab according to maulvi sahibs in rural areas is the one that goes from head to toe?
Disclaimer: I'm not for a radicalized version of Islam neither to judge the norm a woman prescribes to. Its a decision that every person has to make for himself what is good and what not. Whether one respects his true religious teaching or not is a decision one has to make on his own. Equally i don't regard every Maulvi sahib the same but the majority is like this - this is the fact.
I never heard of any maulana with an objection in this matter. But they are really hardlined with other issues like blasphemy law these days. Approving the killing of a governor in the name of god is deemed to be more worthy then raising an objection to the changing norms of our generation. Why are maulanas silent in this regard? Why don't they put fatwas on these channels? Are there personal gains involved?
Its not just the clerics, the majority of the people are involved in it. Nobody talks about it - whats wrong. We like to watch Award Shows full of glamour and all the beauty of the participants - its not less then the one held in indian culture. But maulana sahib doesn't say a thing. Why don't they disapprove of it?
Ok, if you as an orator or spiritual guide do not object to it then i guess its nothing wrong with it. Then there is no wrong in not wearing a veil or a hijab. But why is it that this is only seen in pakistan's posh areas. Lahore Defence, Islamabad Jinnah Market etc. you'll see pakistani-muslim girls wearing t-shirts and jeans. Slowly as you move towards the suburbs and then to the more rural area - the veil or hijab gets more acceptance and usage. I'm sure the elite and posh community has a mosque or two in their secotrs or areas. I'm also sure these mosques have a maulana or a maulvi sahib in there. Isn't it the duty of these people to guide the lost souls. Its youngsters who are prone to the western culture, its the bitter fruit they want to try out themselve to come to a conclusion - but its the duty of parents and evenmore the task of our spiritual leaders to guide us. But why don't they say a thing about this matter?
Is it may be because they wouldn't want to distance themselve from the rich and powerfull who are their prime source of income? I'll leave the issue of the relationship of rich and maulvi sahib for you to ponder on.
In summary, ask yourself these questions:
1. Why are the posh girls or girls/woman on TV allowed to be that free in not caring for their veil and no religiuos/spiritual leader talks about it?
2. Why are girls or women in rural areas bound to wear a veil or even mistreated if they don't wear hijab? Isn't it that the best hijab according to maulvi sahibs in rural areas is the one that goes from head to toe?
Disclaimer: I'm not for a radicalized version of Islam neither to judge the norm a woman prescribes to. Its a decision that every person has to make for himself what is good and what not. Whether one respects his true religious teaching or not is a decision one has to make on his own. Equally i don't regard every Maulvi sahib the same but the majority is like this - this is the fact.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Religion, Nation, Politics and Repression
Some sixty years ago, after much struggle and sacrifices, a new country had been carved on the world map. That country, named Pakistan, was solely created on the basis that Muslims of the subcontinent constituted a nation of their own and would be better off having their own homeland. So that they could live their lives according to the teachings of islam.
But what does really disturb me is the fact that although prescribing to the foundational norms of this country, we are at a crossroad where everybody is looking for answers that we all know already. Since the creation of Pakistan, there hasn't been one government that delivered. It was either corrupt or taken over by military regime. What happend? Why couldn't they deliver? Government means politics, politics means strategy and critic. Is it that simple?
Of course not, a lot of other factors are involved in it but one factor that is overlooked all the time is the person self. When a normal citizen does something opposing to the religion or the cultural norms, he is certainly made to feel the consequences. But when a pilitician does so, it gets pushed under the carpet without a mention. Why is that so? The plight of our Politics was and is that a vast majority of politicians are either mighty feudals or big industrialists who employ citizens of this country in vast numbers. Even if these citizens would want to vote for somebody else, they wouldn't dare. What is left, is that the normal citizen whatever aspiration he might have is left to the mercy of the one mighty person. Left to the conscience of the few.
But what does really disturb me is the fact that although prescribing to the foundational norms of this country, we are at a crossroad where everybody is looking for answers that we all know already. Since the creation of Pakistan, there hasn't been one government that delivered. It was either corrupt or taken over by military regime. What happend? Why couldn't they deliver? Government means politics, politics means strategy and critic. Is it that simple?
Of course not, a lot of other factors are involved in it but one factor that is overlooked all the time is the person self. When a normal citizen does something opposing to the religion or the cultural norms, he is certainly made to feel the consequences. But when a pilitician does so, it gets pushed under the carpet without a mention. Why is that so? The plight of our Politics was and is that a vast majority of politicians are either mighty feudals or big industrialists who employ citizens of this country in vast numbers. Even if these citizens would want to vote for somebody else, they wouldn't dare. What is left, is that the normal citizen whatever aspiration he might have is left to the mercy of the one mighty person. Left to the conscience of the few.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Pursuit Of A Conscience
Conscience - something that is thought to be present in everybodies mind. Which is there with a person at any moment and with every action he does. Its there to judge whether something said or done is right or wrong. Which compells you to do the right thing - the right thing? What is the right thing to do? How can one know what the right thing is? Something that is quite fine with one may not be acceptable for the other. Fortunately, we have people around us with their specific humane faith beliefs. The beliefs and teachings the majority share and respect become the acceptable 'right thing' to do. Having these rightful teachings, one can compare them with his gut feeling- the inner conscience of man that is by nature peace loving.
As a Pakistani or more importantly as a Muslim we aspire to the beautiful teachings of the Holy Quran and The Holy Prophet PBUH. The majority of people follow these teachings - even if they do these in there own way. But there are moments when faith and belief get sidelined just because of a certain minority faction of the same society from which they belong want to impose their belief on the majority. These people, even knowing at heart that something said is wrong would admit it to be right just because they would not want to be harassed by this faction. Extremism, they call it.
Now, one could argue that 'how would you know that this faction of the society is doing something wrong - when there are thousands of people who belive in in the same thing'.
As said before, we are extremely fortunate to have this vast treasure of the teachings of the holy quran. But, it is extremely heart grieving to know that not everybody does understand the holy book- far from even reading it. We normally say that if you want to succeed in your studies, want to be successfull in your exams - craming the whole material is not the right way. Understanding what is written is the way to success. Now with respect to the holy quran which is written in arabic, how many people are there who understand the arabic language? Ultimately we are left with the explanation of the holy quran from our local clerics. Which in itself is not bad, but with so many factions - all with their own explanation of the holy book, who makes the right explanation?
With this in mind, isnt there the need for those who seek the truth to explore themselve the holy quran, the various versions of the explanations and decide themselve what is right and what is wrong. Why is it that from childhood to becoming an adult we just take the teachings of clerics as the defacto truth? Why are we ready to do violent acts by the clerics order- without even thinking why we are doing it. Are we really deprived of a conscience of our own? Is there any harm to explore the holy book and the sayings of theHoly Prophet PBUH at our own?
As an example, if you slap your child - even for the sake of teaching him something and compelling him to do something the right way, you are innert prone to your conscience telling you that you did the wrong thing. This feeling will haunt you till you havent expressed your sorrow to the child and taken him to your arms.
What if you were to murder someome in the name of god- because the cleric said it to be the right thing to do to attain eternal heaven. Even if you did it, what does your conscience tell you thereafter? "That was the right thing"? If it was this - there is really something wrong - either your holy book is wrong which says "killing one person is like killing the whole humankind", or your conscience is really manupilated.
Think about it.
As a Pakistani or more importantly as a Muslim we aspire to the beautiful teachings of the Holy Quran and The Holy Prophet PBUH. The majority of people follow these teachings - even if they do these in there own way. But there are moments when faith and belief get sidelined just because of a certain minority faction of the same society from which they belong want to impose their belief on the majority. These people, even knowing at heart that something said is wrong would admit it to be right just because they would not want to be harassed by this faction. Extremism, they call it.
Now, one could argue that 'how would you know that this faction of the society is doing something wrong - when there are thousands of people who belive in in the same thing'.
As said before, we are extremely fortunate to have this vast treasure of the teachings of the holy quran. But, it is extremely heart grieving to know that not everybody does understand the holy book- far from even reading it. We normally say that if you want to succeed in your studies, want to be successfull in your exams - craming the whole material is not the right way. Understanding what is written is the way to success. Now with respect to the holy quran which is written in arabic, how many people are there who understand the arabic language? Ultimately we are left with the explanation of the holy quran from our local clerics. Which in itself is not bad, but with so many factions - all with their own explanation of the holy book, who makes the right explanation?
With this in mind, isnt there the need for those who seek the truth to explore themselve the holy quran, the various versions of the explanations and decide themselve what is right and what is wrong. Why is it that from childhood to becoming an adult we just take the teachings of clerics as the defacto truth? Why are we ready to do violent acts by the clerics order- without even thinking why we are doing it. Are we really deprived of a conscience of our own? Is there any harm to explore the holy book and the sayings of theHoly Prophet PBUH at our own?
As an example, if you slap your child - even for the sake of teaching him something and compelling him to do something the right way, you are innert prone to your conscience telling you that you did the wrong thing. This feeling will haunt you till you havent expressed your sorrow to the child and taken him to your arms.
What if you were to murder someome in the name of god- because the cleric said it to be the right thing to do to attain eternal heaven. Even if you did it, what does your conscience tell you thereafter? "That was the right thing"? If it was this - there is really something wrong - either your holy book is wrong which says "killing one person is like killing the whole humankind", or your conscience is really manupilated.
Think about it.
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