Thursday night is guys night out here for me and my posse of friends. We usually go out to one of the local Tikka and Kebab places, and hash out all our theories and the week’s dismay over good food & old company. I feel these outings are somewhat quite cleansing for my soul and my gut, and gives the wifey’s some time on their own, not that they don’t get enough of that lazing all day (kidding). Last time though was quite intense because in the middle of the fourth tikka or was it the fourth kebab? The conversation turned religious and some very interesting views came out and across.
Off course i am the designated libertine of the group, with the rest leaning towards religion in several different ways and was quite amused to hear the views of what i consider some of my life long mates. Point to note here is that we hardly ever discuss religion, i mean 95% of us here are of one religion so what is there to discuss about it anyways? What was interesting though were a couple of my mates towing the stoic clerical line on non Muslims. According to them, our holy book basically says that all non Muslims will go to hell. Kinda funny when someone asks the question “well who made them be born in a non Muslim household”? And how the bloody hell is it a Christians fault if he is born Christian? Now off course i know what the book says about this, but I really fail to understand how totally educated people sitting around a table having tikkas can condemn someone to hell in 4 secs flat.
To me this set of a brain spark, and i have been thinking about this for the last few days, is this basically the root of all the problems and complexes we Muslims have? A lot of us see other people in this world/non Muslims as basically superior to us in every way, i.e education, prosperity and security and then just condemn them all to hell based on a few archaic verses from the Qur`an those also interpreted by our renown scholars the last bastions of good moral behavior and over all solid folks!!! i did keep on arguing which is what I basically do after a couple of kebabs on any subject and more and more vile stuff kept coming out, phrases like its such good luck we are Muslims and in the end all of them will burn really set me off. Is this some deep rooted psychological reasoning for our failure to blend in with the rest of the worlds races?
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Switch the perspective a little, lets zoom out of my life and onto a nationwide view, the last 6 months have been full of religious strife. Consider just the news from the last month, with women being beheaded in Bannu for alleged immorality, and rock cavings of Bhudda almost destroyed by explosives in Jehanabad, Swat, we are hardly entering an era of tranquility. Not to mention the various nefarious activities going on in the middle of Islamabad and no I am not talking about the parliament house. We all sat glued and watched the tragic end to that sad affair but what did our great religious leaders do? Except give speeches to promote their ends and weep huge alligator tears when the operation was launched? Did anyone step up to the government and say, hold on… I am going to go in and resolve this, let me bring a peaceful end to this. Yes several alleged conferences and meetings were held by various Ulema but to what end I ask you?
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To me huge areas of Pakistan are being swept away in this Talibinazation of our country. There is nothing wrong in following religion and ours is the most beautiful and peaceful, I will repeat peaceful one. However day by day it seems like a silent revolution is taking place and our society is being divided along the lines of religion. To the extent that we are willing to take any and all laws in our hands to make sure that our thirst for religious exaltation is met. This is not exactly the fault of Islam, but of the people preaching it I say. After all if we the educated can get confused about certain aspects then who is to blame the teeming masses led by our Firebrand scholars and Aalims. We are being brainwashed as a nation to become a supply chain for various Jihad’s around the world, and nothing is being done about it. There used to be a time when, if someone would step over the line with an individual of balance(I am bored of moderate) there would be 20 more around him to say, look my friend preach our religion but don’t twist it around to suit your end. God forbid if any of us today stood up to even the local imam and asked a scandalous question or two. Scandalous being anything divergent from their view. We would be promptly beaten to a pulp!!Â
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We are as a nation running out of time in all manner of ways. This is not the world we used to know where people would follow their own religions and keep it a private matter. No today if one is religious it is almost mandatory to feel the need to condemn anyone who is slightly divergent, and then after breaking them down with these mental attacks to bring them into the fold. I shudder to think of how the minorities in this nation feel those who were guaranteed their safety and security by the Qaid on our formation. What a shame it is that the greatest religion on earth is being maligned by a few men and women to represent a picture of it, which is unacceptable to most of us with any common sense. I wonder how these people sleep at night, when they know they have shattered the confidence of so many, and have reduced them to foot soldiers in somebody else’s war. I wonder why they even condemn anyone to hell any more. For we have reduced this nation to a hell on earth. Enjoy it I say until it lasts!!
well it was really a great attempt indeed…the matter is not in the tree but its there in the roots and as a fact these roots keep on increasing in the split of a second….bt what can be done…does anyone really has the guts to stand up and Shout hisself out Open infront of evry1 guess not as that day would b the last one of his Life as our Nation now really needs a series of changes and it will take hell lotta time and ofcourse patience n whn it comes to Mullahs n Islam n thr brain washing preaches then why on Earth has Allah given us minds…its coz he wants Us to use it,think wid it and never to believe wat has been said even about Islam unless u dunt do Tehkeek on it by ur own…
really it is indeed a great attempt…bt this article of Ur’s wasnt published anywhr,any reason Why??
Sana
United in Hajj, divided by the Rulers
As Muslim it is indeed a beautiful sight to behold, as every year millions travel to the Sacred City with the same pure intention.
“And proclaim to humankind the Hajj. They will come to you on foot and every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (to perform Hajj)” (TMQ 22:27)
When this verse was revealed Muslims numbered a few and were confined to the Arabian Peninsula. Yet even at that time Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) revealed that the Muslims would be spread out through this vast creation, as is so evident today, when one considers that Muslims are found throughout the world. So today it can be seen that camels really would become lean from the journey. The spirit of the Hajj is really conjured up in this thought; millions of people using all means of transport to pursue a quest, and journey in the true sense of the word, all in the direction of the Sacred House. This same direction that every individual faces at least five time a day in submission to the Creator, Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala). The magnetism of Allah’s house attracts Muslims in prayer, in thoughts and emotions, and the greatest journey that any Muslim will make.
Muslims in the past would spend months travelling for Hajj by foot, by camel, and by boat. Today evidence of this is found throughout Islamic Lands. For example, there are many small communities between what is now Sudan and Nigeria where Xhossa (the language of Northern Nigeria) is spoken. The Xhossa speaking Muslim made a string of communities on the Hajj trail. The potent atmosphere of an old West African village, when it was announced that a family has to set out on the Hajj trial, can only be imagined today. The immensity and importance of Hajj would be put into all of the members of the village. Hajj was always a central part of the communal life of Muslims.
There was a time when a Muslim could get on a donkey in Timbuktu and end up in Makkah some months later, with no obstacles but Allah’s created elements and the harshness of the journey. This was at a time when the affairs of Muslims were governed by an authority which drew its guidance from the same source as that of Hajj, the Islamic ‘Aqeedah. Hence there was a harmony between the State and the duty of Hajj.
However, since the Khilafah was destroyed in 1924, till today, the rulers in Islamic Lands seek guidance from other than Islam. They turn to man-made law such as democracy, monarchy or dictatorship. Such a harmony as was experienced by previous generations cannot exist in such a situation. The unity of Hajj is destroyed by the present rulers’ division of Islamic Lands. So Muslims are forced to contend with border checks, quotas for numbers of Hajjis based on nationality, customs and the polite and pleasant officers at Saudi passport control. Centuries of expert schools have discussed in depth the requirement and prerequisites for Hajj. Books of fiqh elaborate who is obliged to perform Hajj, what can and can’t be done in ihram, where to put on ihram, the question of ‘umrah before or after Hajj etc. But nowhere in these books of Islamic law is there mention of visas obtained from the Saudi Embassy or the requirement to travel only on certain national airlines. Nor is there mention of the need to carry an EC passport at all times to avoid being arrested or the electronic fingerprint or eyeball records now being taken of Hajjis. Indeed, nowhere within the Book of Allah or the authentic books of hadith will such things be mentioned.
The Islamic Lands today are governed by non-Islam, which has complicated the lives of Muslims in too many aspects. Hajj is one of those. It is so apparent that the present governments act as an obstacle to the worship of Allah. However, Makkah is still the direction of the Muslims in Prayer. On this Muslims are still unified. Makkah is still the destination for one of the main events of the lives of all Muslims. On this Muslims are still unified. Muslims standing at different points of longitude and latitude, are all unified praying in one direction. It is as if Muslims are praying in one massive Jama’ah. The pull of the Sacred City gives this Ummah invigoration at the time of Hajj. Muslims must try to harness this vigour and direct it towards the obstacles that lay in front of them as an Ummah.
May Allah accept the efforts of all of the Hajjis this year, and bring the true meaning of Hajj into all hearts. May Allah give dignity and strength to this Ummah through those things that it remains unified upon. May Allah help the Ummah to destroy the barriers that remain between Muslims: physically, politically and spiritually.
I was curious if you ever considered changing the structure of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or two pictures. Maybe you could space it out better?