Bewildered!
Jul 7th, 2011 | By Amreen Rehman | Category: Pakistan, Social“Roti, kapra makan and sex! Yes sex!
..These are the basic human needs of today to motivate a person to do something. Our politicians have failed to promise people of this basic human need which is one of the greatest motivational factor just like hunger, food and shelter. Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs ignores the sex aspect’’ .. and the debate goes on in the classroom.
Roti, Kapra, Makaan and Sex!
“Now we will be watching some interactive videos that will depict human behaviour”, the teacher continues.
Next I see some obscene ads being watched and laughed at. This is followed by a useless discussion on how these ads have been successful as marketing tools. One such ad shown was of a body spray and the conclusion drawn was that if you use this particular brand of body spray you will not only save yourself from embarrassment ‘at the required time’ but also not miss out any chance of sleeping with a stranger.
You must be thinking as to what the hell I am talking about?? Let me give you the details. It’s a sunny afternoon, thirty minutes past twelve. Winters are nearly over yet our college fails to acknowledge this and we are made to sit in hot and suffocating classrooms. Welcome to Pakistan…no matter it is a private or public institute things are the same everywhere. I’m sitting in a marketing elective course known as the “Consumer Behaviour” but sex is all I’m hearing since the past half an hour. As I look around I see students of both genders, of my age comfortably and casually taking part in such a discussion leaving me bewildered and confused.
“Am I the only one feeling ashamed to be part of such a group? Have we lost all our values and morals?”
Well I guess I’m talking about the so called elite class of students for whom such topics reflect confidence and boldness.
What a pity if we call ourselves educated! Have we lost our HAYA which beautifies our lives, adds respects to relationships and differentiates us from animals?
Anas (RA) narrated: Allah’s Messenger (saw) said, “Every Deen has a distinctive quality, and the distinctive quality of Islam is Modesty.” (Ibn e Majah)
Sadly we have forgotten what Islam stands for. Islam is our Deen which is a complete code of life and all our actions and words should reflect this. In this very course, my teacher on the first class clearly told us that we are not allowed to discuss two things…can u guess what they might be? Yes, Religion and Politics. And believe me it’s not with this particular course only. All teachers feel Islam is a personal matter and should not be brought to classroom discussions. What does this mean? Is Islam just a badge that we can choose when to wear and when to throw it in the bin? We treat Islam as rituals selected carefully with a painful ‘pick and choose’ process by us.
This leaves me to a dismal state as I realize what education has given us. MBA and BBA degrees we all have achieved at the cost of our Deen. Are we spending so much money so that we can debate whether gay marriages should be made legal or not (sadly another very interesting discussion in class)
This is the state of education in my own so called Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It has made us irreligious and though we excel in speaking and writing English better than an ordinary Englishman it has taken us away from Islam sadly.
Suddenly my thoughts are disrupted by the sound of the bell. I slowly get up, collect my books and leave the classroom with a question haunting me: “Who am I? Am I Muslim or just become part of the secular class for whom concepts like Haya are dead.
I recall a saying of the Prophet (SAW)
“Islam began as something strange and shall return to being something strange. So give glad tidings to the stranger” (Muslim)
It is sad to see how we have deviated far away from our deen and have lost our identity as Muslims. In today’s world people who act upon the true teachings of Islam have really become strangers and are only a minority. But there are glad tidings from God, to these few strangers.
(This was the third session of my course when I wrote this article but never got the chance to publish it at that time but believe me this was just the beginning of the most unimaginable torture and humiliation journey through which I discovered the sad reality : that we truly have left our identity far behind. What came next on this journey cannot even be disclosed and I’m sure it will leave you thinking that what could have been worse than mentioned above!! Wake up time!! Welcome to the world of modernization and liberation where human and animals all are the same!)
“If you do not feel shame, then do as you like.” (Bukhari)
Amreen Rehman is an MBA Executive student at a leading private institution in Karachi.
Amreen Rehman… Worth reading article but I some what disagree with you. You said Have a lost our HAYA? Dear of which society you are talking about, we are totally dead people and ignorant. Just mess around your country and then see what the hell is going on in your country. Our media, our institutes are the big victim of making our young nation like this.
Sex is our need but by showing its ultimate demand it is making our nation totally desperate. Elite class and poor class have a high sex rate because they damn care about what people will think about them, the only cares is the middle class person.
YOu are talking about Islam and our values and norms. Dear our nation is totally ignorant in all aspect. We need to take a start from beginning or from zero to change this nation.
And i appreciate this forum. i really appreciate your work.
Narrated Anas: Allah’s Apostle said, “From among the portents of the Hour are (the following): 1. Religious knowledge will be taken away (by the death of Religious learned men). 2. (Religious) ignorance will prevail. 3. Drinking of Alcoholic drinks (will be very common). 4. There will be prevalence of open illegal sexual intercourse.
Very well written article.
I am glad that it is not just old school people like me who consider this wrong. There are people in the new generation that consider this wrong too. As long as that is the case, we have hope.
And I agree to every word that Talha has written above.
i like it
and we die and do everything to get this EDUCATION
on every cost we must become a bbA and mBa.
coz telenor is the biggest graduate employer.
and p&g are our saviors.
i like u article.
and i want to assure u that u r not the only one.
good to read someone who actually does care about Islamic values and cultures..its a twisted world we are living in and Islam is being made to look like a square peg in a round hole and we need more people like the writer herself who would take initiative rather then whining about things..great work! keep up the good work ..may Allah give you all the strength and success in this world and the hereafter
Quite Worthy Approach……..!
My dear it’s a issue of paradigm shift in goal…1
Thing is that Islamic practices must be our primary goals or objectives and all knowledge of the world should be secondary goals; but unfortunately we have shifted our primary goal to secondary goal and secondary goal to primary goal.Today for all of us the world is every thing or you could say World is enough! because we and our parents never ever tried to learn about real or absolute Islam;for all of us there is separate definition of Islam according to our level of interest.So we have to shift goal accordingly.
Asalamualaikum…dear Amreen Rehman plz do contact on my address..narm_arsh@hotmail.com..
I m planning to make a documentary regarding major issues in Pakistan…n one of them u have discussed here..just wanted few ideas…
Jazak ALLahu Khairan…
Agreed with every word of this Article.
We Indeed have lost our Haya.That is why our society confronting all these Problems. Everyone try to escape from RELIGION if discussed in Institutions.Sadly,that is all what we face.
All we need is to Change our Priorites .We have to accept Islam as ‘First Priority of our Lives’.
HAYA is our ASSET and we need to protect it.
Narrated Anas: Allah’s Apostle said, “From among the portents of the Hour are (the following): 1. Religious knowledge will be taken away (by the death of Religious learned men). 2. (Religious) ignorance will prevail. 3. Drinking of Alcoholic drinks (will be very common). 4. There will be prevalence of open illegal sexual intercourse.
Everyday we move closer to the arrival of the dajjal for whom the whole setup of deception and godlessness has been created so as to lure the ones with weak faiths into utter darkness without them even knowing that they’re being pushed into eternal darkness.
we are proud of our BAA Haya sisters.we pray for them
Dearest amreen! Jazakillah for spreading the awareness regarding the open discussion of vulger topics in our classrooms.this is also a wake up call for those teachers who take full pride in discussing topics deprived of haya,teachers like these sadly argue over the fact that this is a part of the coarse and should be taken positively.shame on all those who proudly adopt bai hayai from the west but do not want to adopt their habbits of not littering the streets,not honking like mad men on the roads,courtesy and patience while forming ques or at public gatherings.Our Deen is as kamil as can be but unfortunately we look elsewhere to gain fundamentals of life and ethics. May Allah subhana wa taAla grant us the ability to live life as true as an Ummati of Rasulullah sallalhu alayhe wassalam as true as a Nabi he was to us.ameen
Nicely written article. I had similar experience in my student life as I studied in 2 separate well reputed!! private universities in Bangladesh. its a shame that our culture and religious values are fading. i strongly believe that only a culturally and morally strong Islamic family can only provide a better generation.
IBA, LUMS etc. are US funded institutes….. do the math!
Asalaam o alaykum,
Alhumdulillah a very good article. i have only just come across this blog site and have enjoyed all the articles. When i came to yours sis Amreen, it reminded me as to why i am homeschooling, and always thought how good it would be if i was in my own country to send my kids to schools there. little did i realise that be-hayai exists in those schools too.
JazakAllah kher for opening my eyes. Allah protect our future generations because the ‘openess’ is bound to increase.