Let’s make it possible

In the world of advanced technologies, where inventions get obsolete everyday due to rapid innovations, where the modernization is the change which is constantly revolutionizing our lives, we the Pakistanis still spend only 2.21% of GDP on the education. I feel this is like the condition of a human half paralyzed, despite of knowing the cure he does not struggle to obtain it. It has been 64 years to our independence but still half of the nation is unable to read & write even in their local languages. Whereas the remaining nation categorized as literate is the majority who hardly meet the definition of educated. That implies that they actually can read and write but are not aware of their basic rights, duties & responsibilities towards their families, neighbourhoods & especially towards the nation. 

In April 2010, Article 25A, “Right to Education” was inserted into the constitution of Pakistan as a part of 18thamendment. The article says that the state shall provide free & compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by the law. But if we look at our government funded primary, secondary, and some of the higher educational institutions, we can’t even find “state” & “education” anywhere and if we move towards private education providers, we find it so much expensive that it goes beyond the reach of a common person.

According to a survey, 10 million of children are engaged in child labour. They are not even provided basic education. This is a double figure for the rural areas where children are forced to work in fields. This part of our nation will become a burden for the country in some years causing an increase in the illiteracy rate and also become useless due to a technological change as they would not be competent enough for the future jobs. If we presume that they will adapt the same thinking in future as their fore fathers did in the past then they would most probably do the same with their next generation by constraining them from education. If this happens, then definitely the percentage of illiteracy will be multiplied by two.

Half of our nation is deprived of a very basic need which is the education, solution of the majority of our country’s problem. It looks like now it has become impossible to resolve this issue of illiteracy unless we join our hands and take practical steps for educating the masses.

It is high time we stood for the cause of education. We have to fight the war against the illiteracy before fighting any other war. We have to make it possible, as it is the need of the day. To change the current scenario and to amend the future, we need to give special importance to this task and for that we have to realize that it is our responsibility.

While delivering a speech to the constituent assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 Mr. Jinnah said,

“I am sure that with your support and co-operation, I can look forward to Pakistan becoming one of the greatest nations of the world”.

Let us own his dream and make it our goal.

The way out

People are in distress across the world. The situations we find ourselves in have solutions; however the process for solving the myriad of problems begins inside of us, as an each unique individual. We must start with ourselves first. The revelation of the Qur’an begin with the word ‘Iqra’, the read /recite/ learn and this is incumbent on any nation that they must develop an educated citizenry. A society steeped in illiteracy must change itself person by person and everyone has a role to play.

We know that a handful of people can change the world, as we learned from the prophet (PBUH) when he talked to people in Mecca under the tree, and one by one people came into Islam. As the strength of each individual contributed to the strength of the deen, the deen changed the world. This lesson must be implemented. How do we work on ourselves first before looking outside and blaming others for the situation our hands have put forth?

Readers may be surprised that when Israel was planning to build an illegitimate state surrounded by all enemies it started with the education sector.  The Israel Institute of Technology was first established in 1912 and the “Hebrew University “was established in 1949. The establishment of the university was the very first step taken by Israel after the war of 1948.

The goal of this article is  not to ask what they are doing to us, but what we are NOT doing. How does each person live his or her life as a gift from the creator and aspire to the attributes of the divine? If we can agree on an answer to this question the path is clear. Any situation we as humans find ourselves in can be resolved with knowledge, patience and prayer, person by person so that hearts become connected.

The  Prophet  of Islam SAW has told us,

“Dissension (fitnah) will surely come. A companion asked him what the way out of it is, to which he replied, “Allah’s Book is the way (out), for it contains information of what has happened before you and news of what will happen after you and a decision regarding matters which occur among you. If anyone seeks guidance elsewhere, Allah will lead him astray. It is Allah’s strong Rope, it is the wise reminder, it is the straight path. He who speaks according to it has spoken the truth, he who acts according to it is rewarded, he who pronounces judgment according to it is just.”(Tirmidhi)

Whenever something happens we are told to raise our voices,  a journalism expression which is taken in a positive way as giving people “voice.”  The people who are creating the dissension want us to cry out loud, and so we do,  we write articles, we protest a lot, we discuss the problem on numerous talk shows and we even make videos and pass them along on Facebook and Twitter.  But what are we  telling the world ‘yes we do have a reaction,  please don’t do this to us’.  But the point to ponder is, WHOM are we crying but in front of?  They are not listening,  they just wanted some reaction from us.  Again, what are we expecting from them?  Are we putting our fate in their hands?  Let’s think of a basic principle of mathematics i.e, we can not work on different units of measurement,  they have to be the same if we want a result.   So, we have to work on a similar medium with similar people to get a result .

The way the Messenger of Allah (SAW)  reacted to trying situations was that he kept everyone focused on self development, education and research.  So this is my impassioned plea for you to is: ‘Recognize yourself as a pearl is hidden with in you’.

As Iqbal said:

Intellect is your shield, Love is your sword

My dervish ! Your viceregency is world-conquering

Your Takbir like fire for Godlessness is

If you are Muslim your prudence your destiny is

If you are loyal to Muhammad we are yours

This universe is nothing the Tablet and the pen are yours.

(Jawab e Shikwa)


 

The greatness of purpose, Malcolm X

Some men are great, some are remembered and some go on to live forever in the minds of millions.

Alexander was great but what did he do but conquer lands? Einstein was a genius but what did he do but lead humanity to its worst nightmare, i.e. the nuclear bomb?  Many philosophers are believed to be great but what did they do but solve some abstract riddles? A man in love with wisdom was Socrates. His death which was otherwise so meaningless and ordinary, was never truly his death and he lived on in the hearts and minds of people to this day.

What is greater is the immensity of purpose. I believe in categorical moral reasoning, and so I do not care what influence that man has had on society. What he did and why he did it is supreme for me rather than how successful that certain person ever was. Power, influence and acknowledgment mean nothing in the minds of the crazy ones.

Isn’t it madness that describes change in its complete form? How can we talk of change without talking of madness? Change is not the property of the same, or sane. It’s the belonging of those who resist, who can’t stand sameness, or sanity, or the status quo, or the world order as we know it.

When there is something unjust in the world it is these mad men that find it in themselves the power, the Khudi (In Iqbalian terms), to say it in the face of injustice without any sign of weakness, and without compromise or any sugarcoating of reality.

‎And here are the words of a madman

“… you’re living at a time of extremism, a time of revolution, a time when there’s got to be a change. People in power have misused it and now there has to be a change and a better world has to be built and the only way it’s going to be built is with extreme methods. And I, for one, will join in with anyone, I don’t care what color you are, as long as you want to change this miserable condition that exists on this earth.”

When he championed extremism I believe he intended to describe the position of truthfulness met by extreme and extra-ordinary opposition.

This is Malcolm X, great in a many ways but what I value most is his greatness in purpose and will. He had given his life a purpose which was to fight a war against injustice.

Born to a poor black family in a racially charged American society, he can be assumed to be quite accustomed to the realities of discrimination. But as obvious as this sentence may seem, it is not.

In relation to his own people, he had always been very bright skinned. This had added to his social status and he always saw it as benefit and a good thing. But after some time he did realize that this was nothing to be proud of. To be brighter, to be nearer to white was not anything that he had accomplished. He realized that this belief was imposed on his people by the white man who enslaved his people ages ago. This white man taught his people that they are inferior and it is the white man that is superior.  With time, an inferiority complex was ingrained in the minds of the blacks, which he believed was not only misleading and false, but also disastrous in its implication for the community.

The realization that his big lips, curly hair, black complexion and all that follow to be part of his African being are not to be ashamed of, didn’t come that easy. It came as a lightning bolt saying “the White Man is the Devil”. He started to hate white people from then on.

Not only did he witness the outright hypocrisy of this certain ‘white race’ that played lip service to democracy, freedom for all, equality and the likes, while indulging in the worst crimes of humanity, he also read how in history this race has taken with itself a ‘white man’s burden’ and a ‘civilization mission’ under the banner of which whole nations have been whipped out, mistreated as animals, colonized, raped and plundered.

When asked why he hated ‘the white man’, he bluntly replied “For the White man to ask the black man if he hates him is just like rapist asking the raped, or the wolf asking the sheep ‘do you hate me?’. The White Man is in no moral position to accuse anyone else of hate”

In any case, he understood that the decolonization of the Afro-American mind was the greatest need of the hour. He would say “A race of people is like an individual man; until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its own history, expresses its own culture, affirms its own selfhood, it can never fulfill itself.”

He joined the ‘Nation of Islam’ a distorted movement initiated by Elijah Muhammad, who claimed to be a prophet of the black people. This movement taught him ‘the white man’s the devil’ doctrine. Interestingly all of his education took place in the jail’s library for which he would famously say that

“My Alma mater was books, a good library. I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.’’

Being a self-learned and self-skilled person as he was, Malcolm X remained always critical and open to new thoughts and considerations. After taking part in a formal Muslim pilgrimage, he converted to mainstream Islam. Religion was not the only thing that changed, it was his whole world view. Upon seeing the sight of Hajj where people of all races, nationalities, colors and complexions where walking together in harmony and love for the Almighty and His creations, all in the same cloth regardless of socio-economic backgrounds, he was simply amazed and astonished. It was here that he realized that some of his previous convictions were wrong. It’s not the white man who is to be condemned; it is the deeds he has carried out.

His letter following the pilgrimage says that

“America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered ‘white’–but the ‘white’ attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color.”

This great man was martyred. According to the autopsy report, Malcolm X’s body had 21 gunshot wounds. He lived and died a brave and proud man.

I see him as a person who truly liberated himself. The greatest freedom is the freedom of the mind. This he accomplished by first decolonizing his mind from all the silly beliefs of inferiority imposed by the European race. He later freed his mind from the prejudices he had established regarding the white man.

In these tough and rough times, the need of the nation today is to have its very own Malik El-Hajj Al-Shahbaz, A.K.A Malcolm X

Change, do we really want it?

A friend of mine tasked me to list all the problems facing Pakistan or Pakistanis. I thought it would be a piece of cake, albeit, an exhaustive list of never ending predicaments we are facing. The ‘z’s came prior to the ‘a’s in my mind as I brainstormed (rather, as a multitude of issues stormed my brain). I thought of prioritizing these issues and that is where the trouble started.

What is our biggest or foremost problem??

I turned to my wife and to her, our biggest issue was lack of security. My son’s list topper was injustice and my 8 year old daughter thought that our greatest problem is that we never stop arguing and quarreling leaving no energy for action. Well, I guess these are real issues, but then, everybody has his own gauge. I came across the ayat from the Qur’an, and then it struck me that our greatest problem is that we don’t really want change.

ALLAH does not change a people´s condition unless they change what is in their hearts…. [13:11]

Every one of us is really waiting for a “somebody” to descend from the heavens and solve all our issues with a magic wand. Some of us even have this supreme revolutionary leader of the Pakistani nation figured out. Nowadays, mostly for our youth, it seems that it’s Imran that Khan while we ourselves ‘khant’. Yet others have different personalities in mind who’ll deliver us from our problems. And then there are those who firmly believe that Mahdi (AS) himself will arrive to end the plight of all Muslims in general and us Pakistanis in particular. Others are blasé enough to leave it to God Almighty Himself to do something while we wait. Of course till such time, there isn’t much to do, or is there?

‘Whoever from amongst you sees an evil, he should change it by his hand, if he is unable to do so then he should change it by his tongue (by speaking against it), and if he is unable to do so then he should reject it in his heart – and this is the weakest of Iman’ (Muslim).

Gauge yourself with the standard laid down in the above referred Hadith. Are we causing physical or verbal change? Do we even stand at the lowest level? Do any of our current or future plans start with change? We just want things to improve overnight and want that when we wake up, everything has turned utopic. Look around and you’ll see that all those who are making moving speeches, none has any change on the agenda, and even if someone does, it’s only a façade and has hardly anything to do with real measures. We appear desperate for change from the outside but are afraid to accept the reality that this implies that we have to change our own selves. For any change to be meaningful it has to come from within, not without. So if we find grandiloquence of the patriotic, spiritual, political, social or even glamorous genres, we line up for the shot and come back relieved. However, the only revolutions such methods can achieve are superficial. Every so called leader that we have has a different cloak, a different line to sell, but in the end its just tactics to win a following. Throwing in Irene Peter’s quote:

“Just because everything is different doesn’t mean anything has changed”.

So what am I talking about here? Let me elaborate. Ever heard that, “if you’re not part of the solution then you’re part of the problem”? In essence, each and every one of us, are indeed part of the problem. If, for instance, corruption is our greatest mire, aren’t we all responsible for it in some way. We are all contributors to the situation we are in. It’s my own self that I have any real power over and I can really influence, so, naturally, any change that I really desire ought to start from my own self. I cannot sit idle and wait for any harbinger of change to end my woes. An individual is the basic component of society. Victor Frankl has said,

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”.

If we are really heading towards doom, we don’t have time to sit down and ponder over the root causes, the factors and solutions. We need not wait for the right leaders, multitudes of like minded people, favorable circumstances or conducive environments. If our predicament is as dire as we consider it to be, then we have not a moment to lose.

“It is not necessary to change, survival is not mandatory” (W. Edwards Deming).

Each and every one of us has to be the first domino. In this game, there is no jump to higher levels without going through the first one. However, I am forced to conclude that we love this quagmire, we really do. Otherwise, we would have acted long ago.

“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof” (John Kenneth Galbraith).

There you have it, that’s our real dilemma, we are stagnant from the inside, and we don’t want to change, not really. There was this “Smiles a Lot” character in the movie “Dances with Wolves”, and if we had a similar name, ours would be “Talk a Lot”. We talk much without actually ending up anywhere.

For better or for worse, change is inevitable, whether we form part of it or not. Let us not lament over it tomorrow that had we acted, we could’ve been at a different place. The verdict from the Quran is quoted above. That’s the ab initio for any real change we want and that’s where we start from.

 

Whatever is the goal of your endeavors, “When you are through changing, you are through” (Bruce Barton).

Leaving you with W.H. Auden to ponder over…

We would rather be ruined than changed;

We would rather die in our dread

Than climb the cross of the moment

And let our illusions die.

 

Are there any rules for a social media debate ?

Do we follow any common rules whenever we debate over social media? The stories of bashing and abusive languages are very common when anyone tries to share personal opinion, in favour of or against any issue. Those who portray themselves as tolerant and liberal also lose their patience when they run out of arguments. The debates become heated discussions and usually no conclusions are derived in the end and no opinions are changed.

Debates on social media remind me of my college days when I actively participated in study circles and group discussions. Those forums were used to share our thoughts on a pre-decided social or religious topics and everyone would have to come prepared with their research and opinions. The rules were strictly defined, i.e.; no personal attacks and no point scoring techniques. It wasn’t about winning or losing an argument, rather the whole idea was to develop a better understanding on issues. ‘Sacrifice of opinion’ was categorically taught and was instrumental in reaching consensus over the issues. The moderator used to have a very crucial role to play to keep the things calm.

Social media has given everyone an opportunity to express their opinions. Whenever you say something, you have to listen to the other side too, in order to keep a balance. It’s an utter failure if we are not ready to listen. Our society is going towards two different extremes and one easily gets tagged with one or other extreme even if you have nothing to do with either of them. You are put into camps and tagged with the payrolls without any logic. The point that you are in ‘opponent’ camp if you aren’t uttering my words, is taking us nowhere. Many a times, emphasis is given to pressurize others to speak the words which they don’t necessarily believe in, and this surely comes under fascism. Also we have different rules for ourselves and for others. One thing might be commendable if our hero is doing it and something similar might be a nuisance and condemnable, if it comes from the opponent camp.

We have a serious problem with ‘active reading’ as well. In our schools, we are taught the skills of ‘active listening’, but very little focus is done on active reading. Probably that is the reason that on social media we only seldom read what the other person is writing. Usually the twists and turns of the words and out of context statements and misquoting are done for point scoring, negating any logic and negative propaganda based on lies. The haste of commenting and replying just adds to the problem and very soon the debates turn into an online fight.

A much deep-rooted problem is the confusion of ideology. Uttering two opposite things in one sigh is such a common phenomenon that it amuses me. A lot of times, people don’t understand what they are talking about. Information from internet is randomly copied and pasted without even understanding the basic idea. Also, new questions are put forward in reply of previous questions while the originals remain unanswered. Sometimes the answers aren’t read or understood and a new question is raised. More and more confusion is raised for no reason which is resulting in division in the society.

Blogging world also witnesses many blogs just conveying one side of the story and promoting hate speech. Criticism for the sake of criticism is in fashion on one hand and lack of tolerance reigns. Harsh comments and retaliatory responses reduce the influence of actual message.

A lot of people also have their own connotations of the words. Some even find the word ‘female students’ as abusive to women and if argued, they just retaliate without any logic. The approach of ‘holier than thou’ and concepts of ‘learned than thou’ are embedded in the mind-sets of many.

Most of the bashing is done in the name of religion (for/against) and politics. Even if you tell something specific about someone which is positive today, immediately a rebuttal will come for something negative done decades ago by them. Can we appreciate something positive without ifs n buts? A difficult question, I guess.

Due to these reasons, more humble and literate people avoid online social media debates. And the result is that sensible voices are reducing in the social media world. If the trend continues, I am afraid social media will be left to abusers only. The life on social media is not in isolation. It definitely has an impact on our daily life routine. The discussions on social media leave a bad taste in mouth at times and spoil the mood. So these debates are creating a negative impact on our daily life as well. The language we use in social media, very much becomes the part of our daily life.

There is a simple rule of debate, mentioned in Quran (chap 25, v 63 and v 72)

‘The (faithful) slaves of the Beneficent are they who walk upon the earth modestly, and when the foolish ones address them answer: Peace; (63).

And those who will not witness vanity, but when they pass near senseless play, pass by with dignity. (72)

Peaceful debates and dialogues are healthy and needed to develop better understanding of the situation and working towards solutions. The strife for winning an argument or point scoring will not help us. Competition is a good thing but when we compete in terms of leg-pulling, it becomes destructive. Constructive debates are only those, where we share the knowledge and experience to develop a better understanding.

Their Journeys to Islam

The following videos were recorded by one of our team members attending ‘Discovering Islam Week at London School of Economics on the 10th February 2012. These beautiful people have their beautiful stories of their journeys to peace which are fresheners of faith to us and reminders of the forgotten blessing of Islam which remains beautifully wrapped up in our bookshelves waiting to be unfolded and applied to our lives. Please share widely.

These videos remain the property of www.mybitforchange.org. For the purpose of propagation they can be uploaded on any channel and spread on social media as long as the content is not altered and the watermark is not removed.

Kristiane Backer is a TV presenter and journalist based in London with a pan-European career. At the age of 24 Kristiane became one of the leading presenters on MTV Europe where she interviewed many major artists and musicians of her time. In 2009 Kristiane published her acclaimed autobiography “From MTV to Mecca” in Germany. The book is currently being translated into Dutch, Turkish, Arabic and English. Kristiane is engaged in interfaith and intercultural dialogue and is a Global Ambassador for the Exploring Islam Foundation. She was introduced to Islam by sports star turned politician Imran Khan.

 

 

 

Sarah Joseph is CEO and Editor of Muslim lifestyle magazine emel (http://www.emel.com) and commentator on British Muslims. She is a writer and a broadcaster and lectures on Islam both within the UK and internationally (USA, Europe, Middle and Far East). Sarah converted to Islam at the age of 16 in 1988 after being brought up as a Catholic.

 

 

 

Yusuf Chambers has been involved with a number of leading Muslim organizations; both in the UK and abroad. His work has often focused around community projects and positive civic engagement.He is a prominent da’ee who delivers lectures around the country. Brother Yusuf has also traveled extensively to give dawah including Mexico, India and Kuwait. He is also a regular on many television channels including Peace TV and Islam Channel. He is one of the Founding members of iERA and Peace Giving Foundation.

 

 

 

Listen and share their stories and freshen up your Eiman.

Divided we fall

We have learnt and read through fascinating stories and examples of history that believing in unity as strength is the key to success and division is the route to downfall. Regardless of the number of population sect-wise in Pakistan, it is observed that implanting hatred and creating distances have always existed in one way or the other. Where our nation stands as one force when a calamity afflicts us or we win a cricket match, hatred and division is seen on the rise and it is surely one of the reasons why we are heading towards becoming a failed state.

Different sects, their own ideas of dominance, ‘holier than thou’ attitude and declaring each other as ‘non-believers (Kafir) are some serious problems. This attitude has given rise to violence in the society. It’s a fact that issues related to sectarian identities are not new.  Mosques and madrasas, or seminaries of traditional Islamic education, play a role in this regard. Where they have a responsibility to bring closer the Muslims and make the ties stronger among the Muslim community, some of them may actually take dividing the nation as their ‘noble’ duty.  They may feel their sectarian affiliation dearer to heart and cause, than their affiliation to the beautiful religion of peace itself. The leadership of such madrassas comes from people who began their careers as preachers and ‘imams’ in their neighbourhood mosques. They do not necessarily represent the most learned and wise men, as in the days of the Prophet (SAW).

A fear factor has emerged among the new generation which deserves to be loved, groomed, cherished and respected. The generation which should hold a pen and book in their hands, holds guns either to give protection to their families, or to do their so called “Jihad” getting paid or aid through different extremist organizations.

Given the brutal violence against the Shias in Pakistan over the past three decades, Shias have started to wonder if there is a future for them in Pakistan. While hundreds of thousands of Shias had migrated to Pakistan in 1947 in the hope of building a new life for themselves and their future generations, many are now contemplating emigrating from Pakistan to save their lives and property.  Hundreds of Shias have been murdered in their Imam Bargah’s by the different sectarian militants in the past. They have been taken off buses, lined up and shot dead. Their places of worship, religious processions, and civilian and religious leadership has come under relentless attacks while the state’s machinery has either refused or failed to protect shias and other religious minorities in Pakistan.

But the question also exists that who in Pakistan is safe. There are attacks on mosques and shrines too, even on people attending the funeral prayers. Blasts kill many people who do not get sectarian or religious tags.  They are just numbered. Some are not even numbered or mentioned. They are declared as collateral damage. We might never know exact figures of civilian casualties of war on terror. Drone attacks are a routine. Bomb blasts all over the country and especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are a norm. Balochistan’s situation is worsening. ‘Missing persons’ is another shameful reality.  Every person puts his life at risk when he leaves for work every morning. School going children are not safe either. Who is destroying our land? Do we have enemies within us? My Sunni friends and I sit together and discuss. We have never hated each other. We have enjoyed the most beautiful school and college days together and helped each other in difficult times. We have dined out, hiked in mountains and spent the most exciting time of our lives together. Our bond has only grown stronger.  But we look around the country and see terrorism, calamaties, blasts, killings either by our very own terror groups or in line of ‘war on terror’. There is only one common finding, ‘we are the ones who are suffering as a nation.’ We are going weak emotionally due to these divisions being implanted, and the tags given to the dead. The people killing us know how to divide us. It’s we as a nation who have to keep our eyes open and send a message of unity and love. For the sake of Muslim unity all sects should be acceptable and equal and we should learn to tolerate each other. I strongly believe that different sects are just different flavours of the same principle. If Christians can protect Muslims while they offer Namaz at Tahrir square, why can’t Sunnis protect Shias and Shias protect Sunnis?

When Pakistan needs some ‘life saving’ measures to restore peace and prosperity, let’s think about the country, rising above sectarian divisions. We are all different children of the same mother, our homeland. Whoever is killed is a human first without any tag and every human is precious and every killing is condemnable and shameful.

Now it’s time to either build or destroy the future of Pakistan. The time has come to unite as a force  and tell the rest of the world that Islam is the religion of love, faith, tolerance and freedom  and not hate, distrust and division.

Excerpt from the last sermon of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH):

‘O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Treat others justly so that no one would be unjust to you. Remember that you will indeed meet your LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds.’

My message to the whole Pakistani nation:

“Love one another and you will be happy; it is as simple as that”

 

 

Of cycles of hate and feet on the pedals..

A life packed away in a few cardboard boxes. The bare room started back coldly. It looked alien already.

“Mom”

A small voice called. She turned to the silhouette in the doorway and wiped the tears, trying to make the motion as inconspicuous as possible but it was too late. The tender 6 year old frame ran in to her arms.

“It’s going to be alright mom”

Her comment lingered on, magnified as the conviction behind them filled the emptiness of the room. Rebecca responded by tightening her arms around the small frame that didn’t seem as dainty as she did a while ago.

“Yes Honey. It will be. Sure it will be”

She stood up and wiped the tears. This time there was no effort to hide them. A car honked outside and she stooped down to pick up Angela, who clasped her hands behind her neck almost as a reflex. Over the next few hours they loaded the cardboards that their worldly possessions seem to have disappeared in to in an old Hyundai that had obviously seen better days. Its owner wrestled one last box in to the trunk and managed to wrestle it closed.

“There now. I’m not that old after all … am I?”

She said trying to stoop down as much as her octogenarian frame would allow as Angela smiled back. For a moment Rebecca focused on Becky’s radiant smile and wondered about its genuineness. She had lost her only son in Afghanistan 3 months ago. The funeral had been a fortnight later. The IED had exploded right under the armoured vehicle almost ripping it in to two. The military repatriated whatever remains they could find. The entire town seemed to have shown at the funeral. Becky had cried in private but refused to mourn her son in public. He had died bringing freedom, democracy and liberation. She had recorded the speech delivered by President Bush on September 20th 2001 and played it many a times:

“Americans are asking “Why do they hate us? ….

They hate what they see right here in this chamber: a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.

They want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. They want to drive Israel out of the Middle East. They want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa.”

She had outgrown the fondness of it over the last few years. She also could not reconcile Bush’s words about Egypt with the Arab spring. The people of Egypt had thrown out their government. The week Hosni Mubarak’s government finally caved in, Beck drove down to the nearest Walmart to finally get a world map. She remembered being struck by how far Egypt and Afghanistan had seemed. She wondered: “How many mad men are running out there to leave the world so vulnerable? Why didn’t the Iraqis do the same with Saddam?

The following week she wrote the last letter to Andy telling him how proud she was of him. He never got to read it. For now the three occupants in the old Hyundai pulled up in front of a small house. The need for repairs was obvious.

“Sorry about the mess. I was hoping Andy would …..”

She stopped midsentence. Rebecca rubbed her hands on her back as she recomposed herself. Over the next hours the three generation of ladies moved pulled, dragged and carried things of immediate need. There used to be an abundance of well natured young men willing to help out in this town of 2000 or so. 90% had signed up for the military in recent years and many were deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many had been motivated by patriotism and the willingness to spread the good that they enjoyed within the borders of this great country of theirs. Yet more saw it as a means of a better future. The promise of a college education eclipsed the danger in the odds.

Meanwhile in Karachi,

Zaman woke up with a start. It took him a while to figure out that he was no longer in North Waziristan. The rain pouring fast and heavy on the tin roof of the cramped one bedroom home sounded like the explosion that awful day. He shuffled through the thin sheet in a frenzy to reassure himself. 6 year old Amina was still there, curled up in a ball. The rain had left the floor colder. He lent her his bedsheet and doubled it on her. He was shivering but not all from the cold. His heart was beating so fast, he worried about waking her up. He tried to block it out but couldn’t.

He was shaking uncontrollably now. He slipped outside the room where a clay pot lay in the corner and poured him a glass of water, struggling to keep his hands steady. The drone attack that day had wiped out his son and wife along with 45 other people from the village. Their remains were never found. A few hours later 20 more people perished in an attack on those trying to rescue any survivors, Zaman had spent the next four months recovering in a hospital in Peshawar. He lost his left eye, walked with a limp and had irretrievable shrapnel to blame for constant agonizing pain that he had no money to buy pain medications for. His doctors had told him he was lucky.

Amina on the other hand had not been that lucky. She had lost both her legs in below the knee amputations. A local NGO had found some ill-fitting prosthesis for her.

Zaman remembered as his wife had proudly beckoned him in to the house to show how Amina had started walking at only 8 months of age. It would take her exactly 8 months since the drone attack to take her first strides with crutches. Zaman was grateful to have her. He went back to the door and peaked inside. She seemed more comfortable now. It had stopped raining.

“Alhamdulillah …”

She was his strength. His uncle, Waleed Khan, who had been by his side in Peshawar throughout their recovery, was an old man now. A labourer in Karachi, he was by no means a man with many resources. Mostly, he would spend the day on a footpath near a busy shopping centre in Karachi, praying that one of the many millions of rupee worth cars would stop and ask him to come by for repairs in their house or a contractor would offer a project. He frequented the nearby mosque and prayed for Amina often. He did not quite understand why his once peaceful village had seen so much bloodshed recently or what technology was pitted against those very modest homes of his loved ones. He just knew that his dreams and the lives of his loved ones were bartered away by a handful of people so shameless and greedy that he paused recently when Amina asked him if we can see Satan. He could have sworn he had. Later, that night he watched in disbelief as former President Musharraf between some nervous laughs admitted that he had written in his book that he handed over a 6 month old baby as a terrorist.

He fought back tears and just looked upwards towards the sky. Later that night he made Wudu (Ablution) and began to read:

“And indeed We have created man, and We know what his ownself whispers to him. And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein” Sura #50, Verse 16

Around the same alignment of the stars, moons, planets and everything else in this universe Becky found herself getting sad watching Angela run around the house. It reminded her of the time Andy had been young. He had practically spent all his childhood in the same house. She opened the bible and began to read:

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” – Psalms 34:18

In the background she could vaguely make out someone on TV talking about a clash of civilizations..

 

 

Love Him, Follow Him

Love is a beautiful emotion. It encompasses all the most beautiful things in the world. Every relation and connection gets stronger and durable when there is an element of affiliation and love added to it.  Beginning from our first love as a child for our mother to choosing someone to spend our entire life with, love is what makes life worth living. And, like all precious things in the world, this priceless treasure demands guarantees to keep it flourishing.

When you love someone, they are always on your mind and become the driving force of your direction in life. You love to follow them, obey them, do whatever you can to please them and try your best to avoid whatever displeases them. You share with them your problems and consult them for their best advice. Their name soothes you and their company is the most precious time of your day. Never do their messages and mails go unread or ignored.  The world sees you change when this beautiful feeling overpowers you, may this love be for a human, a mission, a career or simply a car or a gadget. Love changes your priorities and the colour of this feeling is evident on your face, feelings, words and actions.

We all love the Prophet Muhammad (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the personality whose greatness is acknowledged by Muslim and Non-Muslim thinkers and scholars.  A warm friend and a guide for his companions, a devoted and loving husband for his wives, a shady tree for his daughters, a leader of the Ummah, an exemplary politician and a reformist who transformed the most uncultured Bedouin into the most disciplined force of people known to history.

His message which begins with the oneness of Allah and accountability of our deeds in front of Him, gives answers for all the problems we face today. But how many of us have actually explored the message he brought. Do we really know the message? The Quranic code of life sent to us though our beloved messenger of Allah still remains untouched only to be ‘recited’ when we are in trouble or a calamity afflicts us or becomes a part of the deluxe package that goes with the bride. How many of us consult his way in our practical lives when it’s a matter of celebration or woe.

We never see the Prophet (SAW) telling a lie, deceiving a human or even an animal, breaking a pact or a promise. He forgives and prays for the humiliating tribal chiefs of Taif and the people who throw stones at him. He rejects social inequality and all sorts of racial supremacy and lays down in his final sermon, the basic charter of human rights,

‘An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. ’

He sets best examples of justice and warns that the previous nations were destroyed because they only punished their weak and poor for crimes. He teaches us to have best of our behaviours and ‘akhlaque’ with our neighbours (Muslim or Non-Muslims) so much so that he once thinks that they might get a share in inheritance (because of the stress Allah has put on their rights). He cries for Allah’s forgiveness for us and stresses us to remain united and not be divided due to language, castes or sects.

‘‘Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.”

Non- Muslim minorities are at peace under his rule. Justice is served irrespective of faith, status or personal affiliation. He lifts the status of a woman from the one who was buried alive at birth to as high as a guarantee to get best rewards, may it be through serving and obeying one’s mother, taking care of a wife or raising a daughter with love. He brings a message that puts rewards in charity and spending from what we love most, giving an orphan a home and helping a widow to survive.

No one has the right to question anybody’s sincerity of the claim of ‘love for the Prophet’ but we all need some serious self-evaluation. When we claim to be his followers, it automatically makes us his ambassadors and representatives in whatever role and responsibilities we take. Do we consult the Prophet (SAW) in different matters of our lives?

Let’s follow the Prophet (SAW) to prove that we love him. Let’s celebrate him every day. Let’s light up our hearts with the beacon of his message like we light up the streets on his birthday. Let’s engrave those beautiful stories of his life, which we memorize and narrate, on our actions. Let’s check if our deeds are compatible with our claims of love towards him. In following him, lies the secret of Allah’s love, mercy and forgiveness for us.

‘’Say, [O Muhammad], “If you love Allah, follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” [Al-Qur’an 3:31]


‘Domesticated’ scholars

During our undergraduate years, we often used to ask our foreign qualified professors in Pakistan about life away from the country. Most of the time, we heard the stories of their cooking ventures. One of our teachers was well known in this regard, and whenever we asked him about his experience during his Masters, we ended up listening to something like recipe of ‘making biryani using a rice-cooker’.  It was a source of fun and humour for us, while being in Pakistan. Things got changed and I realized the importance of cooking when I landed in Korea to pursue my Masters.

Korean food was shockingly ‘different’ in taste. I had no experience of cooking whatsoever and had to live on biscuits, chocolates, bread and milk for a couple of weeks before I met few Pakistani fellows to learn the cooking skills. For the first time I ate tuna-palak (Tuna and Spinach) and the ‘chef’ told me that there was no special recipe he followed. He literally ‘threw’ into the cooking pan whatever he got in his kitchen cupboard. It was his way of consoling me as to not to worry too much about the recipes. His quotable quote for me was, ‘Don’t be afraid of experimenting’.

I watched my friends cooking chicken-aalu, chicken palak, tuna kebabs and a lot of other ‘emergency’ dishes. A friend told me that I need to be domesticated and if don’t start cooking, I won’t survive. The idea of cooking once in a week and eating the same dish for rest of the week was terrifying. Also, cleaning and dishwashing after cooking was even tougher. It was an immensely time consuming activity definitely had an impact on the studies too. A friend, who happened to be a ‘pakora expert’ once said out of frustration, ‘banda ya tu bawarchi ban sakta hey ya phir parhai kar sakta hey’ (A person can either cook or study). I experimented with daal for the first time, and honestly, I ruined it.

It wasn’t a gender related issue. A lot of female students, who go for higher studies, face a lot of problems in cooking. A fellow Pakistani girl student was telling me about her ventures with dough and chapaati. It is very difficult for females even to start cooking if they have no experience beforehand.

The problems aren’t limited to cooking and dishwashing either. Laundry is another issue. Typically, the laundry of socks is a highly technical matter and ‘scholars’  have sometimes been seen wearing different socks, but who cares as long as they aren’t visible.  Keeping wardrobes tidy and cleaning the rooms are also gigantic tasks. They consume time and time is money.

As the time goes on, these Pakistani scholars get domesticated; mastering the art of cooking, cleaning, laundry and other chores. Those who are living outside dormitory in private accommodations especially get trained in all domestic affairs. When asked whether these eminent scholars will continue doing house chores after returning home or getting married, the response is mixed.

A ’roti-expert’ friend who has returned to homeland told me that he does not help his wife even with simple cooking because he is tired of kitchen jobs. One commented that he can now criticise his wife in the kitchen, while another one was happy that his wife cannot threaten him with ‘no dinner would be served tonight’. Very few were willing to actually help their better-halves in the house chores.

Life teaches us a lot. All we have to do is to implement it at the right time and place. Why do we associate social taboos with men doing house chores?  Does our religion stop us? Or is it our culture, which is different from our religious teachings? We have learnt in our schools that Prophet Muhammad (SAWW) and his companions used to help their wives in the domestic stuff, but we are not ready to implement it in our society. And, why do our mums tell the potential in-laws with pride, ‘hamari beti ney tu kabhi kitchen mein qadam hi nahi rakha’ and your son would have to arrange a cook or a maid. We have learnt very well that Hazrat Fatima (RA) did all the household chores herself.

Through my experience abroad, I have loved and missed my mother more every day. Women should be respected and loved for the marvellous full-time jobs they do which we only come to know when they are not around. Our men should be thankful and more helpful to them following the ways of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWW).