My book “ Impressions” pretends to no originality or much
independent scholarship. These are
expressions of the fragments of my experiences that I gleaned in my 73
years’ life. It has been written with an
aim to evincing the emotions, feelings, longings of a man of a middle /lower
middle class, who is born, grew, educated and groomed in a society where
ignorance is deeply permeated. The tree
of failing owes immensely to the ignorance of Muslim clergy :
Mostly it is owing to the malady of our narcissism and the false
superiority complex. What’s more we are
happy with the retrogressive stance that
our religion provides us with everything and as
Muslims it is okay for us to be
in the Medieval Ages, to have no modern
benefits of modern civilization. “ This imperialistic impulse to rule the world is not
just visible in the subcontinent; it was felt in the earliest parts of Islam,
in the first period of Caliphate, when it was given out to the world that we are
the best people, ordained by divine authority, to rule the world.” This attitude has played a vital role to
create mental
reservations against the modern knowledge and the wonders of science.
Since the early period of Abbasids with the initiation of ‘Rationalist
Movement’ which denies the conservative dogma of the eternity of the Quran,
there have been a dog fight between the adherents of creeds and the
rationalists in the Islamic world. Both the schools of thought are extremists and
are not ready to adopt the strategy of accommodation with each other. One
abuses the intellect because it ‘robes man of his wealth’ while the other
exiles the believer from the species of man.
Allama Iqbal : “ The essence of religion, on the other hand,
is faith; and faith, like the bird, sees its ‘ trackless way’ unattended by
intellect which, in the words of the great mystic poet of Islam, ‘ only waylays
the living heart of man and robs it of the invisible wealth of that lies
within.”
W.K. Clifford. “ Man
is a rational animal, and to have blind faith in anything itself exiles him
from the species of human beings.”
The wrangling of the champions of “Faith” and “ Intellect”
has confused and harassed the common Muslims whose comprehension fails to
garner something pleasant and valuable from ‘faith’ or ‘intellect’. It has only helped widening the gulf among
the groups in Muslim society with different explanations of some important
injunctions of Quran and the traditions of the religion of Islam. I have tried
to illustrate how a man of an average intellect belonging to a middle class
have to travel a trackless desert of life.
Muhammad Asghar Butt.
M.A
{English, Pol. Science}
Government
Degree College of Commerce,
Sialkot.
Part 1
Impressions
(Muhammad
Asghar Butt)
According
to my Matriculation Certificate my date of birth is 14th February
1937, 14th February is a romantic day significant with so many love
stories. As I am starry-eyed from my childhood, it seems the synchronizing of
my birth day with Valentine Day has impact on my nature.
My parents
belong to a Kashmiri family. There is a
tale relating to my childhood. I was
only five or six years, when my father took me to the holy shrine of Da’ta ga’j
bakh’sk at Lahore. My father often used
to tell a story of my foolishness but sharp memory. This runs as: My father
after performing the necessary ceremonies and offering prayers for me and other
members of the family betterment and welfare set out home wards adopting a way
other than the one we used while going to the holy shrine. I began weeping, without telling any cause of
my weeping. On persistent asking the
cause of my weeping I told them that they had forgotten the way.
When I
became able to recognize the atmosphere around me, I found three sisters and my
parents most loving and caressing.
Though my parents were with meagre income, yet I was lucky enough to
find loving care, compassion and fondness in profusion from every body of the
family. I was the only son of my parents, my sisters and parents took me as a
special gift from their God. My sisters
became disturbed at my late coming to my home.
The income of my father was meagre enough to meet the expenses of my
study, specially when I joined Murray
College for graduation. My two sisters
were lady teachers, and they were generous in financing me during my stay at
the college. I could not do my B.A; in my
first attempt. God is Great : He only
knows the secrets of every and all beings.
My failure proved a blessing in disguise. I joined Govt. Commercial Centre, Sialkot to
learn the art of shorthand and type writing along with preliminary knowledge of
office routine. This centre at that time
was producing clerical staff to meet the requirements of the Government and
private offices. It was very old
institution. It was established in
1910. There were only four such post matriculate institutions in the whole West
Pakistan. Under 1956 constitution the
four provinces of West Pakistan were brought into one unit. These Govt. Commercial Centres were situated
at Sialkot, Bahawalpur, Multan and Peshawar.
These Commercial Centres were attached with the Government high schools
in their respective area under the headmastership of the High Schools. After Marshal Law in 1958, the military
regime introduced a commercial-technical oriented education programme with the
inauguration of The Directorate of Technical Education to promote the
commercial and technical education in the country. Under the new regime the technical and
commercial education progressed rapidly.
In every district of the country, at least one Institute, equivalent to
Intermediate Commercial College was established
My fate and the commercial education.
I failed in
my first attempt to do my B.A;. In order to get stipend, that was given by the
government to all the F.As, and upwards to attract the candidates for the
commercial education. In 1960, I did my
B.A; along with a Certificate in commercial education from the Govt. Commercial
Centre Sialkot. My fate began to help me
generously. My loveliest and the most compassionate teacher in my life met me here
in this Commercial College. The
Principal of the College, Mr. Eshan Ul Haq Qureshi, was one of the most
honourable and experienced persons in my life.
He helped his students to the last extent. He was my benefactor, and I
was his most favourite pupil. In making
my career I cannot forget his most loving care and persistent assistance. But for his help in this respect, I would not
have been the Principal of a Degree College.
He helped me in all possible ways.
Mr. Eshan Ul Haq Qureshi.
He was a handsome,
impressive young man, fashionably dressed according to his time, when I met him
first time. He was able to establish
himself as a teacher without difficulty.
His greatest quality as a teacher was his devotion to duty, affection
for his students and a singular desire to serve others. His main ambition in life was to live as a
real teacher and it was due to his ambition that he was never dissatisfied with
his circumstances. He was a man of
lively imagination and it was his memory and imagination which kept him in good
spirits in his eventful life.
He took life “ a walking shadow”
{Shakespeare}, a plaything, and played
with it well. He was an institution in
himself. He took religion, politics,
education and employment as dolls to pay with. He enjoyed life to its
core. It was his appearance, but I do
not know whether he had any grief in his life. He might have, because he was a
human being. Towards the end of his life,
he had a strong desire to write his memoirs and the history of commercial education during his time. But that he could not do although he had jotted down some desultory
notes. He is no more in this world. May
God bless him with infinite bounties, amen.
My other teacher in this college was Mr. Hafeez Butt. He is a simple,
noble and pious man. He is less worldly
and more religious man. He nowadays is
enjoying the life of a pensioner like me. I pray for his peaceful old age.
I joined Sadiq Govt.
Commercial Institute Bahawalpur on 18th April, 1960. Today is 19th March 2011, about 51 years has passed. There I met Mr. Arshad Mufti, the Principal
of the Institute.
Mr. Arshad Ahmad Mufti
was a man of an average ability, but used to boast of his ability and
efficiency in teaching short hand. He
left many stories attached with him. I would only repeat one of them.
In the examination of
1960, I was appointed as an invigilator.
The superintendent of the examination was Mr. Muhammad Ali, his old
colleague and enemy. Up to that time,
the papers of shorthand were distributed among the students, it was a practice
in the Govt: Sadiq Commercial Institute Bahawalpur. And the result had been hundred percent since
long time. This time Mr. Muhammad Ali
told me to be honest in our duty. His
decision certainly was hued and spiced with his enmity with Mr. Mufti, the head of the institute. The
dictation of shorthand was given with three speeds, at the speed of 90, 100,
110 wpm. I gave dictation according to
the rules, and the result was, all the students failed in shorthand. I expressed
my regrets over this ugly situation. He
told me frankly that his students could not take dictation less than at the
speed of 115 wpm, and the speed of my dictation was less than 115 wpm, and that
was the cause of the utter failure of the students. All those who know abc of
this art know that it was the biggest absurdity that a man can expect from a
teacher of the art of shorthand. However
he had a tender heart. He was very kind
to me. He daily gave me refreshment of
tea. I am very grateful to him. He is no more in this world. I pray to God to bless him with so many
blessings. After sometimes the staff of the institute got me in confidence and
made me against him. I was entrapped. It
was my blunder. There were strains in
our relations, and therefore I successfully tried my transfer to Quetta. In Quetta there was my teacher, Mr. Hafeez
Butt running the institute. After two
months or so he got himself transferred to Lahore.
Mr. Afzal Qureshi took
the charge of the College. He was a very
gentle man. He always treated me as his
younger brother. We became very good
friends. I respected him very much. I do no know whether he is alive or
dead. My all respects and regards are
for him. He will remain in the nearest
corner of my heart. My next boss was Mr.
Khurshed A’lim Bhatti, he belonged to a
country side, and possessed very rough habits and tough tongue. One very interesting story of his knowledge I
cannot help to reproduce here. Though he
stayed in U.K. for one year for studies,
he did not know the use of a telephone.
Once so happened that he had to
attend a call on telephone. He held the
receiver in a wrong way, and began to cry,
“ Mr. Bhatti is speaking”. When
he failed to hear any voice, he asked me why the voice was not coming from the
telephone. I hinted at his mistake.
The staff members of
these Institutes were non- gazette. All
of a sudden, one Sunday, when I went to the College to collect newspapers and
other dock of the office, found a bundle of a gazette notification containing
my promotion. I was promoted as an
instructor from a junior instructor and transferred to Rawalpindi. It was 2nd gazette post, and my boss was promoted as
Principal, it was class I post and transferred to Hyderabad. I remained at
Rawalpindi Institute for one year and then was made acting Principal to open a
new institute at Kohat. At that time, 1964, I was hardly 28 years old. In Kohat the people were not zealous to get
commercial education. There the strength
of the students in this province remained unsatisfactory for a long time. During my stay two important events
occurred. During the war 1965, I was in
Kohat. Some members of my family came
from Sialkot to Kohat to take shelter on account of the bomb drops on Sialkot
on 7th September 1965. We all
were sleeping in one room of the institute.
The ceiling fan was working. My
sister in law felt cold and asked to switch it off. I tried to do it, but the button of a bulb
was switched on and there was light not more than a friction of a second
because I immediately realized the mistake, and switched it off. Within a very short period a raid of some
very rude and rough youngsters was made on the main gate of the building with
abusing that all the Punjabis were traitors.
They in some way were not to be blamed for this rough behaviour, because
there was an air raid at the same time.
I was brought to the In charge of the operation to watch the security
of the city. He was a very gentle man. He behaved with me very courteously. He asked me to stay there for some time so
that the wrath of the crowd might come abated. It was a very terrible
experience for me and for my family members.
Other bad
experience, I experienced, was a fraud
of my clerk who misappropriated seven thousand rupees tampering the documents
of the institute. He blamed me for this
misappropriation of the government funds.
His name is Mr. Inn am Ul Haq. He
is the son of my teacher and the brother of my then Hum Zulif. It could be
proved a danger to my employment. But in the court trial it was proved
squarely that the convict was the clerk of the Institute alone.
In Kohat I found some
very strange and nasty practices and traditions. Once my two staff members quarreled on the
issue who would pay the fee of a handsome student. In the beginning I could not understand the problem,
but later on I was made understand that that
was the case of sodomy, and both the teachers were quarrelling to win
the boy. I could do nothing in this
matter because it was a deep rooted practice in that society. A more strange
story I am going to tell you. One member of my staff hailing to Lahore was
addicted to drugs. One day, I was told
that he was going to marry with a two -in –one (eunuch ). It was a practice in that society; one can
marry a two-in-one with all duties and obligations of a marriage.
I was transferred to D. G. Khan Govt. Commercial
College. In D..G .Khan, there was a
member of my staff who possessed strange habits. He continuously took more than one week the
meal consisting of one or the other vegetable.
He slept in one small room without using fan in scorching heat of summer. He used to sleep putting her feet towards
Kiblah. He said that Namaz is an
imitation of behaviour of a camel. The people and the students of D.G. Khan
were very conservative and religious minded. The students lodged a complaint
against the behaviour of the teacher. I
told him that it was not fair and right in any morality to injure the feelings
of the others. Hence he should desist
from this activity because it injures the religious susceptibilities of the
students. He was wise enough and afterwards he never did it again. He proved my right hand in the discharge of
my office duties.
Though my family moved
with me, yet I soon became fed up with
the travel I had to undertake on account of my job far away from my parents.
I began to feel homesickness, and tried my best to come to my home
city. But all my efforts failed. My dear and most respected teacher, Eshan Ul
Huq Qureshi, my reverent teacher, made a plan and executed it
successfully. Here in Sialkot Government
College was an instructor of Urdu, he was willing to go to D.G. Khan. My transfer became possible on account of his
willingness to take my place, and I was transferred to Sialkot as instructor. In pay and other privileges there was no
difference because I was at that time acting principal working with my own pay
and allowances. I remained here for ten
years. In 1978, when again there was
Marshal Law regime, the speed of opening of the commercial and technical
institutions accelerated. I was ordered
to open a new Govt. Commercial College at Narowal, It was then a Tehsil of
Sialkot. After one year I was made Principal.
At Narowal, I passed about 4 years, when there occurred a confrontation
between the joint director and myself at the Govt. Commercial Institute Mian wali
. I was appointed as a superintendent of examination to conduct the examination
of that year. I did not think it
necessary to get the permission from the department. The joint director came there on some official
duty. I complained against the
department that it was biased to prefer the staff of the technical wing to the
commercial wing, and the joint director should be from the commercial wing. The joint director belonged to the technical wing. He was narrow minded and could not pocket
such complaint. He resolved to tease
me. He immediately called my explanation
for doing my duty as superintendent of examination at Mian Wali without getting
prior permission of the department. I
showed a strong reaction, and quoted so many persons who did their duty without
getting permission from the department.
In response to it I was transferred to
Govt. Commercial College Patoki. In one year there was a change in the
directorate, and a very favourable man of my dearest and most respected
teacher, Mr. Sheikh Munir, took the charge of the DTE Punjab. My teacher
endeavoured successfully to bring me Sialkot. At that time my teacher referred
to was on retirement. Meantime I applied
for my retirement with the service of 28 years, 9 years earlier than my
superannuation. Mr. Munir, the new
director urged me not to retire but I remained adamant and went on retirement
from Ist May 1988. During my three years
stay here I got the institute up graded and made first admission for B.Com
classes. I did my best to improve the bad condition of the institute. There was even no arrangement of water to
drink and for other purposes. I did all
possible things that I could within the meagre means of the Institute. During
my stay at this institute, there were some teachers remarkable for their
respective characteristics. Mr. Sheikh
Nisar was very obedient, courteous and well dressed. I used to say that there were only two
persons who had the rights of the title of modern teachers. One was myself and the other was Mr.
Nisar. The other teachers did not look
modern and efficient from their appearance.
There had been a bitterness between myself and the joint director, and
therefore I applied for the pre-mature retirement. Mr. Munir was the present director he asked
me to withdraw my application for the retirement, but I refused to do so. In this matter my ambition to visit U.K was
surging in my bosom, and I did a great blunder not to accept the proposal of the Director. Certainly I lost very much in the matter of
finance. After my retirement there occurred so many opportunities of the better
pay and other fringe benefits in the technical and commercial education.
My employment in Commercial Education.
Impressions.
I am lucky enough in the
field of education and procurement of a job. In the absence of my employment in
commercial education, the circumstances coupled with my nature, which is
somewhat obstinate, I would have been a member of clerical staff till my retirement. Fate helped me in
promoting my education. I feel that I
obtained more in this respect than the energy and time I put to undertake the
obligations. In brief, this leads me to
believe the existence of some mysterious power which played a part in shaping
my life as a teacher because I could not even dream to become a member of a
teaching staff of an academic institution. However my premature retirement was a blunder. It caused
me a lot of loss in financial matter. It
was not the unfriendly behaviour of my fate; it was rather the error of my
hasty temperament.
My first journey to U.K.
I went abroad in the
month of July 1990. My brother in law
along with his wife came at the airport to receive me, I left Punjab in a scorching heat, but in
Manchester, I found friendly weather and
charming scene. When I came out the
airport and cast my gaze on the sky I found
the clouds in the sky were racing, and under the sky the panorama was
more alluring and captivating: the young girls, the daughters of the Eve with disheveled hair, shinning
eyes, beaming faces and full to bursting breasts was enough to martyr the sons
of the Adam .
We reached Old Ham after
a journey of 40 minutes. At home I took
refreshment and went to PUB for drink on the suggestion of Mr. Amjid, my
brother in law. There at home was also
my elder brother in law with his wife, Mrs. Zafar Zora. Both are not in this
world. May God bless them with HIS bounties.
At the pub there occurred a nasty dispute between the two brothers, and the
atmosphere became cloudy. Anyhow I felt
here persuaded to state that both the brothers proved to be very petty and
miserly . The dispute was on an old
carpet that was given to the younger brother by the elder brother. And in this dispute Mrs. Amjid was made the
victim of the cruelty of her husband because she brought that rubbish carpet for use in her house. I had to return
home because of the foolish and poor attitude of my brother in- law with
me.
I stayed there 22 days only
with my brother in law and his family.
He proved a man of low mentality.
He was the most uncivilized and uncultured man in the circle of my
relatives. He daily badly abused his wife for nothing. This seemed his food
along with his drink. I became disgusted
at his behaviour and returned to my home after 22 days. My second visit to U.K. was on account of my
elder son. He was there and desired
strongly for his family to be there with him.
I took his family and reached Manchester airport on 12th
August 1994. When I descended from the
plane, I found the rehearsal of the previous panorama.
It is a welfare state. The Government is
responsible for food, house, medical care and education for everybody living in
the Kingdom with the permission of the Government. My first stay in U.K. was
unpleasant . My second stay was pleasant but the force that goaded and impelled me to come back home
after 6 months was the fascination and charm of the company of my best friend, Qazi
Tariq (late).
My father and his family members:
My
father.
His name is Abdul Ghani Butt. He is the
son of Hafiz Ghulam Rasool, resident of Qila Soba sing.
He migrated to Sialkot City in search of
livelihood, stayed with his maternal grandparents. He was a lock maker. Really, it is true that he was advanced than
I am in thinking and worldly affairs though he was quite illiterate. I still remember the anecdotes he told me and
my sisters in our childhood. In his
youth he was a strong man, enjoyed good health.
He was very friendly and kind to all his children. He was very hard working, and worked
hard for the welfare and betterment of our
future. We
love him very much. He is not now among
us, and we all of us missed him very badly.
He lives in our hearts with all our feelings of love and respect for
him. He was a good father. He has a ting of mysticism and often absorbed
in the sway of it. I have no words to describe his this
attitude; he enjoyed ecstatic moods:
“To the mystic, the
mystic state is a moment of intimate association with a unique other self,
transcending, encompassing, and momentarily suppressing the private personality
of the subject”[ Iqbal]. “ The drop
slipping into the sea”.[Ghalib]. I think
to have some moments of such moods is the supreme
achievement of life. And he was blessed with this gift by God.
My mother:
The name of my mother is Begum Noor Johan. She was a very simple
woman. She was slim and hardworking
domestic woman. She was a very good mother, and has devoted her life for the
comforts of her children. We were five
brother and sisters: four sisters and one brother, and that is myself. In our society, which is men dominated
society, my mother and father never took my sisters a burden, and whole
heartedly loved them. I feel it apt to
appreciate their attitude. My mother
never grudged in any way to bring up her female children. Irrespective to sex she showered the same
love and care upon her all children. In
a society where it was blasphemy to give education to daughters, my parents
took courage to given them education as far as possible. I feel proud of my parents who did all
possible to educate their children. I have complaint against the treatment of
God who left no efforts to give my father and mother all sorts of pains in
their old age. Both of them died in a
very terrible condition. To the best of
my knowledge and belief they did not deserve such punishment that God very
‘graciously’ awarded to them. They were simple, hard workers and honest to any
standard determined by any religion and morality . This has weaken my faith in
the justice of Almighty., and had led me to think the truth of the saying of
Hardy,” And then the President of immortals ended his sports with Tess”. And
Shakespeare’s famous quotation ,” As flies to wanton boys, are we to
the gods, they kill for their sports” May God bless my mother with
infinite blessings, Amen.
My parents’ home.
Impressions
The memoirs of my
childhood and boyhood are fragmentary, isolated and simultaneous as one remembers some glimpses of his past
life. I feel elated to find myself as
one of the luckiest babies who opened their eyes and
grew in a compassionate and lovely atmosphere. My parents and my sisters loved
me madly and thought that I was a special gift from God for them. There was
friendly and lovely atmosphere in every corner of the house. Life felt jealous when peeps through the
window of our house. Every member of the
family enjoyed the thrills of hearts of the other members of the family for
him/her. My mother and father though
illiterate, yet enjoyed the fresh air
through the open windows of their minds. They were kind, sympathetic and loving
with everyone. Though they were poor but possessed generous hearts. I never found any sort of prejudice in them.
Although they were true Muslim, yet they never evinced any trace of repulsion
for any other faith. They were liberal in all activities of life: this helped a
lot in getting tranquility of all kinds in the home. Of course there had been some ripples but no storm in the smooth
sailing on the sea of our home life. This wholesome environment spiritual and
physical has a deep impact in shaping and colouring my temperament and outlook.
I enjoyed complete freedom in my activities throughout my life. There was no restrictions on me
whatsoever. Traditional harshness of the
elders was alien to our door. The
atmosphere of liberty at home in every walks of life made me liberal in my
thinking. And I began to love the saying of Holy Christ : “ LOVE THY ENEMY”.
Love to all, hate to none.
My family
The ceremony of my
marriage with Miss. Rashida took place on 29th April 1962. One year earlier Naka formalities had been
completed. At that time I was in Quetta,
and was very much disturbed by my loneliness.
I wrote at home that it was not possible for me to wait for a long time
without my life companion. I was obstinate
on my demand for the early marriage. It
is relevant to mention here that to remain solitary had become too difficult
for me on account of my very strong and persistent urge for the companionship to avoid my
loneliness in a far flung city.
After fifteen days of my
marriage, I took my wife with me to Quetta.
I reached the city by train while she came by air. Still the beautiful scene of her descending
from the ladder of the plane, wearing a beautiful sari, she seemed a fairy and
not the creature of this earth, is imprinted in deep recesses of my memory.
My wife Rashida Asghar Butt
She was very healthy,
beautiful enjoying good constitution from every aspect of her body. I enjoyed her beauty to my heart content. She was so captivating that I soon forgot all
my romances with my previous fiancée. She had been a good partner in my
enjoyment of youth. After about one year
I was transferred to Rawalpindi with promotion.
I now was a gazetted officer. She
gave birth to a female baby. Our first
child is very beautiful and lucky. My
wife is now becoming old rapidly. She has undergone three major operations. She
feels pain in her spinal cord. She is
not educated. She can read and write
only. She had enjoyed along with me her youth very much. I am a liberal man and do not believe in
useless restrictions for Purdha etc for women.
Moreover I believe a woman is a creator, and merits respect from all
corners of the society.
I am the father of two
daughters and two sons. All of them are independent and living with their
families.
Family
Impressions.
Life is an amalgamation
of tears and smiles, is true to my domestic life. I gained much pleasure from my family and also
taken to heart much pangs to bear for no fault of mine. My sons did not come up to my expectations in
any aspects of life. Though I spent a great part of life in learning and
teaching as a teacher and Principal, but my sons could not complete their education. Moreover the bitterness in this matter is
that they blamed me for not using ‘ cane’ in their bringing up. Perhaps they are right because my parents
never devised a path of my future life.
I tested the same formula and gave them much freedom to tailor their own
future. It was my wrong thinking. They
needed chastisement that I could not know in time. However my family life is
better than that of most of my friends and relatives. In the afternoon of my life, I am satisfied
with my familial atmosphere. No doubts
there had been some inundation to disturb the smooth sailing of the boat of my
family life in the past but now the strong waves have subsided and the ebb and
flow is normal in my routine life.
Friends
There are so many my
friends but I will record only those who have left a deep impact on my life.
Mr. Jamil Qureshi
He entered
my life when I was in seventh class in the Government High School,
Sialkot. He was a polished boy, but not a good student. He could not complete his education. With the
help of his elder brother, he opened a Medical Store. He went to Lahore. We became estrangers. However after a long period we met in Lahore
when I was on an official tour. After
this meeting we again, for a long time, forgot each other. He is now dead. May God bless him.
Miss Iram: (late) was his
uncle’s daughter. She was my student of
M.A; English. I got from her his
address, and wrote a letter to him. He
responded me in good spirits. Thenceforward we remained in communication
through telephone. In 2005, my wife was
admitted in Al Sheikh hospital, I went to see her, and took the opportunity to
meet him. I was struck with grief to see
him. He is altogether changed
physically, financially and spiritually.
He is somewhat handicapped on account of remaining ill for seven
years. He has become a staunch religious man. I was stunned to find the conversion from a
healthy and liberal man to an ailing and fanatic man. We passed a part of
boyhood in a very happy and good
days. Often I recall these days, and am
refreshed with the sweet memories of those golden days. During our friendship, it was the time of our
boyhood therefore I was not able to get food for my intellect or spiritual
appetite in his company, however I did draw instinctive joys in his companionship. I pray for his health and welfare. May God bless him with all gifts he
desires. Amen.
Mr. Zaidi.
We remained friends for
more than five years. He was romantic by
nature. We used to go to the hills
situated in the beginning area of Cantonment
of Sialkot to watch and get
spiritual pleasure of the sun setting.
He failed in F.A; and therefore our company became somewhat far and
between, but anyhow there remained some tie between us. I joined lsamia
College, Sialkot, and this also affected
adversely the fellow feelings. After
doing his graduation he went to Karachi in search of livelihood. I joined Government
Commercial Centre, to get education in Shorthand and Typing. This education proved very beneficial in
shaping my financial and academic
carrier. He met me twice in all
these long years. I do not know at this
time whether he is alive or not. I pray
to God for his health and welfare if he is alive and in case he is no more on
this planet, a cozy place in heavens with 72 Hoors for his service of all
kinds.
He remained in the domain
of my friendship for more than 35 years till the cruel death carried him away
from me and left me with his indelible
memories. He was my best friend. He was an educated and intelligent gentle
man. He had a throbbing heart and so
many times I did see the manifestations of it.
He remained bachelor . He had
three sisters and two brothers. But at
Sialkot, one sister and two brother were staying with him. It is sad to feel that his two brothers and one sister living at Rawalpindi also left
him and went to the silent world. His
snatching by the relentless hand of fate from me affected me immensely. I began to feel myself somewhat incomplete,
alone and deserted. For a time, his
shadow haunted me gravely, but as time is a great healer and
sympathizer, I with the passage of time
returned to my normal life. But
however, I cannot forget the happiest
time of my life with him. Often his
image visits me sweetly and I feel elevated.
It is unfortunate that this happiness does not last for a long time and
proves short lived leaving behind sadness and despondency.
He has so affected my
body and soul that I could not write further on this topic and leave it on some
other time when my mood would permit me to undertake such heartfelt tragic event in form of the death of my the most and
the closest friend.
Some couplets from his
publication under head “
COLD AVENUE “ [Thandhy
Gali ]
He was the student of my
most beloved friend Mr. Qazi who is not in this world. He is well known for his nice behavior with
everybody. He is a polished member of my our company. He always respects me. He is now running a business of screens and
printing. By virtue of his veneration
for me he commands my respect and honour for him. He is a very gentleman. I pray to God for his prosperity in the
business and for his good health.
Mr. Ashraf Qureshi
He is an advocate of High
Court. He is a gentleman. He was a friend of my friend Qazi
(late). He was a prominent member of the
circle of my friends. Probably every Sunday these days he comes to visit me at
my house to celebrate the memory of our most beloved friend Qazi Tariq. He belongs to a conservative family and is
obsessed with old hackneyed thoughts. I feel happy to find that on account of
our discussion on the religious matters he is slowly but surely coming out of
the mire of the religious quibbles.
Mr. Nasir
He is a junior member of
the circle of our friends. He came to
Qazi Tariq to get help in his drafting of letters. He was attracted by the fascination of the
assistance of Qazi Tariq, and became his admirer. He is B.Com and deals with the cases of
income tax etc. He does not believe in
traditionally paranoid creeds and antiquated customs and rituals . He believes in the truth of inventions and
discoveries of the present day. He
venerates more the great figures of the last century like Karl Max, Darwin, etc
than the spiritual personalities of the old and the present. He has read modern
philosophy and sociology through translation.
But like our Mullah he knows less and cries more.
Friends
Expressions
Sir. Francis Bacon a
great essayist in English literature defines a Friend and his functions.
“ Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast
or god”. “ A principal fruit of friendship is the ease and discharge of the
fullness and swellings of the heart”. “ a true friend ; to whom you may impart
grief’s, joys, fears, hopes, suspicions,
counsels, and whatsoever lieth upon the heart to oppress it, in a kind of civil
shrift or confession”.
I am neither a wild beast nor a god. I am among
the spices of animals who is called reasonable and therefore need friends “to ease and
discharge of my swelling of my heart that eat my heart as they are
cannibals”.
I am lucky enough to have my three sincere friends in my
boyhood, youth and in the afternoon of life.
They gave me all that I needed at different stages of life.
Romance
The female characters and
events are real under this heading but the names are fictitious
Miss Moona
She came in my life when
I was in 8th class. She was a
girl of average beauty and intellect.
She was a J.V. teacher in a government school. I was the son of a poor man. Hence there were scanty chances of tempting a
girl for me. I felt myself lucky when I
saw a girl was attracted by me in any way.
Being a romantic from the tips of my fingers, I was much fascinated by
her. Throughout she paid less attention
to me, but I took her as my sweet heart.
In April 1960, I got an appointment of a junior instructor in the
department of Technical Education, and was posted at the Govt: Sadiq Government
Commercial Institute Bahawalpur. In some
way, I became independent. I forced my parents to ask for her hand. With my persistent insistence, a simple
engagement was made in a v. simple way.
But luckily or unluckily it was broken.
I remembered that day, when my father shed his tears, and I agreed to do
whatever they wanted in the matter of my marriage. The episode runs like this:
her parents, especially her elder sister, insisted that on marriage we were
bound to take with us only 10 members for marriage ceremony, while my parents
insisted on more than fifty. This caused
a dispute between them. And I
surrendered my ‘choice’ to the tears of my father. Till now I could not decide whether my
surrender to the wishes of my parents was symbolic of my obedience to my
parents and elder sisters, or weakness in my claim of affection for her. She is
no more in this world. May God bless
her.
Miss Desdemona
I was a student of 9th
class. I used to memorize my lesson on
the roof of my house. One day, it was
afternoon of the summer, when to take rest from my reading book, I cast my gaze
round, I found a very beautiful lass was looking towards me. I was embarrassed to find such unexpected
phenomenon. I took courage, and looked
at her, she seemed to be pleased from my gesture. This exchange of looks lasted about 30
minutes. The evening fell and made us impelled to part. I was so much confused and embarrassed that I
rushed to my elder sister. She
encouraged me and tried to shed off my fear.
During our love affairs, I did some very childish actions. One day I in enthusiasm sent her a love
letter with a picture of heart pierced through with a dagger made of a broken
razor. It was caught by her elder
brother. Her brother sent me a message
to see him in his house. I was warned by her not to meet her brother. But I met her brother and was advised by him to leave the thought of
her sister because she was very clever and I could not pull on with her.
Moreover their father was very cruel he added , and that I already knew. Now I think that my poverty and inferiority
complex accrued from my bad economic condition was the cause of my failure to win
her. Poverty is a curse, I experienced this truth awfully. Some one has embodied this simple truth in
these exquisite words :
“ Moonlit of 14h moon of Poo ( a cold month/
December ) and the youth of a poor person both are wasted.” , because the moonlight of Poo is not seen by
the people for its severe coldness of the atmosphere, and the youth of a poor
young person is not appreciated because of his/her poverty. In this world only Lashmi ( goddess of gold )
is worshiped. These girls met me in my youth and have left an indelible impact
on my life.
Miss Pamela
A young and healthy girl
named Pamela came into my contact when I was the Principal of the Govt.
Commerce College. As I am a born
aesthete, a lover of beauty in all forms and manifestations, I was immensely
tempted by her youth and innocent beauty.
I do not know why she fell in love with me. Anyhow amorous affairs began to grow
increasingly with the passage of time. Soon our amorous affairs blossomed and
then ripen . She permeated into my soul
and body, and the same symptoms were visible in her. She was a teacher in a
private school. I encouraged and helped
in all ways to improve her education for her better future. I feel delighted to find her in a good
position as a senior English teacher getting a handsome salary. When our love affairs were on the peak, they
got somehow or the other scandalized.
She asked me to marry with her immediately. But it was not possible for me at that
time. She gave me the happiest movements
of my life. We were very close . I am
immensely grateful to her for giving me the happiest moments of life. She is one
of the most happy part of my memory. MayGodgivehermanyblessings.
Miss Jessica
She is very charming with
her long flowing hair and tempting gait. No doubt her very ‘self’ is
tearing one’s soul and ready to
sting whosoever casts a vicious eye upon them.
On the very first day I remained spell bound to see her charming figure.
I was martyred when she cast her smashing looks on me. She talked in beauty; she walked in beauty;
she behaved in beauty. She appeared to me a paragon of beauty. Once I remained in ecstasy of intoxication to have a peep into the “valley”
between her two beautiful hills. The scene is so imprinted in the core of my
heart, that whenever it flashes on my mind , I became frenzy and enjoy it to my
heart content. It refreshes my mysticism. But there is also a bad aspect of her
personality. Perhaps I am wrong, but it
appears to me so. She has a stony heart
devoid of any feelings for human beings.
She loves dogs, cats, jackals and so many other animals and birds , but
does not have the capability to feel for the human beings. It is an enigma for me to understand the
heart that feels for animals and birds and does not beat for human beings. It is very hard for me to believe the
validity of it. She does feel for human
beings but she is too strong willed, like Lady Macbeth, to divulge the contents
of her heart/ admit her soft feelings
for the person who lives in her heart. I feel apprehended that such strong
willed persons, like Lady Macbeth might meet their ruination.
I have tried my best to
advise her, through insinuations, the consequences of going against the nature
of man, because I have tender feelings for her. The following are my indirect
suggestions.
My dear Miss,
“Apropos of your comments
on my teaching and the suggested punishment,
I do not desire to advise you on any subject. You should have grown enough to know the
right and wrong. Notwithstanding my
intention and desire not to divulge the
secrets of my heart to anybody, but I am being goaded by some mysterious power to do it. That
my long and ardent desire is to be taught by you, and further I will
take your punishment as an antidote for my spiritual health. Please do it; I am ready to pay anything and
everything for it. My spiritual health
awfully needs chastisement from ‘ some delicate and pretty hand’. I have this passion since long, and do not
like not to avail myself of this golden opportunity. God is great. He is granting me this
blissful chance. I will pray 101 Nafuls in gratitude to Him, the Almighty and
the Beneficent. He knows the secrets of
one’s heart.”
Some words in appreciation of her beauty.
‘It was last Sunday, I
was going to offer my DHUAH at the graves of my father and mother. On the way,
I came across a marvelous beauty
going ahead of me. Her charming long
hair were playing blissfully with her
hips and she was stumbling in intoxication of her beauty. I was awfully charmed to see such heartfelt
phenomenon. After a while when I came
into my senses, a current of curiosity ran in me to see the front features of
the nymph. I took some long steps and
found soon myself ten feet ahead of her.
I pretended that I had dropped something on the ground, and stooped to
pick it. In this way I saw her
bewitching eyes, and full to bursting
breasts to sting the man who dared
cast an evil eye on them.
I, who is well known for my stupidity among my
witches, desired earnestly to take her in my arms and let no body dare claim
her. I wished her complete possession. I remained crazy for a time to devise ways
and means to get my wish be realized. I
compared her beauty with that of yours when I felt spell-bound on your fist visit to me. I could not decide which one of the two
BEAUTIES merits ascendancy . And then, and then, I was awaken up by ASHAN of the Maulvi, who have been my enemy since
my childhood.
Appearance and
reality
There is a great
difference between reality and appearance.
In this connexion, I well remember an event. I and one of my student were watching with
great interest a song with dance on the monitor screen. She was standing behind me holding the back of
the chair with disheveled hair. I heard
the knocking at the door of my academy. I went to know the problem. There was a man who told me that he wanted a
tutor for her daughter. I told him that
I was ready for this purpose. Then he
asked me my method of teaching. I told
him that I taught the students textbooks along with grammar. He told me that his daughter is very young,
and he had heard my good reputation. He
again and again emphasized upon the youth of his daughter and my nobility. He told me that he wished to teach his
daughter grammar work himself at home, and after finishing this he would send
his daughter to my academy for the preparation of the examination.
Suppose he came to my
teaching class and saw himself the scene of a beautiful girl standing behind me
and watching a dance with me. What his opinion would have been about my
character. This event made me understand
completely the philosophy of appearance and reality. The drama of Achy less’ Oedipus and
Shakespeare’s Hamlet could not make me comprehend comprehensively this truth of
life, as this event did. I deem it
appropriate to say that the student was my favourite student, and I took her as
my own daughter.
Romance
Impressions
My experience tells me
that fair sex is very sweet, charming, captivating and enriching life. Up to
the silver jubilee of life, it is very energizing and elevating, but as life
proceeds towards its final goal, the thrills of romantic activities begin to
fade away. However it left indelible
pleasing treasure to enjoy in the noon of life.
As Wordsworth enjoys the scene of daffodils in his pensive mood, I also
feel relieved from the worries of the world and burden of old age to recall the
supreme movements of my youth passed in the company of faire sex. “ A thing of beauty is a joy for every” is
true to my feelings I have in evoking my best days of life. I am very grateful to all nymphs whose sweet
memory still gives me elevation and ecstatic moods to kill the pangs of my
solitude.
Love
Love, emotion explored in philosophy, religion, and
literature, often as either romantic love, the fraternal love of others, or the
love of God. Bhakti, a Sanskrit term derived from the verb bhaj, meaning “to love, adore, enjoy,
eat, or make love to”; it denotes passionate devotion to a Hindu god, primarily
Krishna, Rama, Shiva, or Devi.
Love has been defined in
many and varied ways : every one defines
it in perspective of his/her experience and knowledge.
Rumi a great mystic poet and spiritual teacher of
Allama Iqbal describes love in these lines.
Through love thorns become roses, and
Through love vinegar becomes sweet wine.
Through love misfortune becomes good fortune,
Through love burning fire becomes pleasing light.,
Through love stone becomes soft as butter.”
Perhaps it is rightly said that love does not know
caste, status, adversity, prosperity and limit of age. It is blind to these factors. What is this, no one can define it comprehensively. It is a passion with depths and heights for
which no scale has been invented to measure its depths or heights. And where and how it originates nobody can
tell it. It is a mysterious feeling ,
when, where, and how it takes place in the heart, no history is there to
disclose its true nature. Anyhow the
effect and impact of it is visible, sometimes conspicuous on its subject. It creates ecstatic moods, and the subject feels supreme moments. Some believe that these movements in life are
the real essence of life in this woeful world.
In the perspective of its history, great thinkers
have different views. Some say that it
is the result of disorder of the brain, and only feeble minds fall to its
victim while [Bacon], others believe that it facilitates and helps men to
obtain the highest object of life.
Plato one of the distinguished thinkers of the ages
says that true or higher love does not contain the instinct of sex., on the
other hand Freud, believes that sex is the hub of all mental and physical activities. He goes to the extent that father loves more
his daughter and mother loves more her son is because of the motivation of
opposite sex. Hence the discovery of
Oedipus Complex and Electra Complex has explored new horizons in the human
psychology.
My knowledge and experience lead me to the belief
that both are correct and both are wrong when they go to the extreme and deny
the existence of the other altogether. It is an emulsion of the two. Love or the passion of love if depends
entirely on sex then it will soon disappear after the gratification of
sex. And if it is founded on mere
imagination with no ting of sex, then it will become soon fatiguing and
disgusting after some time. A long
separation certainly causes forgetfulness otherwise this world will become a hell where everybody is beset with woes and
sufferings of all sorts. Therefore to make passion of love persist, both the rudiments are
necessary. The imagination makes it more
pure by injecting it with idealism and sex makes it more pragmatic by bringing
it on the living world.
“ Love is a game: Two can play and both can win”[a nymph]
But I do not agree to this superficial and hollow
significance and dimension of the sacred word love.
Love is not a game: In game each contending party tries its
utmost to defeat the other, whereas in love the loser is always the winner. The
very edifice of love is erected on sacrifice, and whosoever makes more
sacrifice on the altar of love is the winner because in response to it he feels
elevated, an ecstasy in his soul. A
Saint poet says, “ Meda (my) iman be tou
(faith is thou); Meda Jan be tou (my soul and body are you; Meda God be tou (my
God is you); Meda Ka’ba be tou (my place of worship is you.)”
Another Saint poet says,
“ Samoa kara kaba dhus na aye, shada
kaba aye yar the’ah gali’ah. Translation:- Which place of worship are you showing me, my
place of worship is the street of my friend (yar).
It is not fair to soil the sacred name of LOVE
with game. Love creates mysterious feelings that elevate and
transcends you and leads you to the world of ecstasy. It purges all your poisons such as jealousy, revenge, enmity and so many similar
vices.
It is not fair to soil the sacred name of LOVE
with game. Love creates mysterious feelings that elevate and
transcends you and leads you to the world of ecstasy. It purges all your poisons such as jealousy, revenge, enmity and so many similar
vices and in their place creates compassion, kindness and love for all.
In my conception and perception, love is a passion
one has for opposite sex. It is unified
and indivisible. However for the smooth
sailing of the boat of social life, the society has made so many channels for
its ventilation: to avoid the hurdles and trammels in the smooth running of
social life, different relationships were formed by the sages of the ages among
the society. It is obvious that the
relationship of fatherhood, motherhood, sisterhood and brotherhood took place
first and foremost. Sexual intercourse
was forbidden between these relations in order to make family life solid and
peaceful. It must be kept in mind that in the beginning man was an animal and
he lived as a beast for millions years.
And animals have no such relations.
The study of physical anthropology and social anthropology strongly
convince us that man was a mere animal about five million years ago and it was
a mere incident of the discovery of fire that resulted the modern civilization.
For detailed study, please read, “On
the Origin of Species”
by Darwin. The theory of evolution by selection accepted by all the
thinking persons, strongly and convincingly tells that social laws and
regulations framed by the elders of the society were made under the compulsions
of the needs of the time and place Therefore, we without any fear of
contradiction, can designate them the social phenomena and not the need of the
nature for manifestation in such forms. To elucidate the point the example of
marriage in TIBET can be quoted. There a
woman can have four husbands and a man cannot have two wives under the law of
the country. Sin is geographical says B. Russell. Anthropology tells us that
‘human nature’ differs widely in various communities, for example in some
communities the lending of one’s wife to a guest is considered an indispensable
part of hospitality. Infanticide has
been prevalent in many countries. Even Plato recommended it as a remedy against
over population. It is quite in contradiction
of marriage laws prevalent in Muslim Countries where a man can have four wives
but a woman cannot have two husbands. It
is clear that laws and regulations are made in conformity with the needs of
time and place.
To throw more light on my thinking on this matter,
I feel persuaded to reproduce my correspondence with Miss Mama rah, my
student of M.A; class. My first
letter sent to her explaining the nature of love is not available with me. I have lost it somewhere.
Following is the reply of my first letter, which I
have lost.
Dear Sir,
“ First of all, I’ will
define “love” in very simple words,
according to my perception:
“Find
yourself in another’s heart is definitely love.
Love brings people together, it binds hearts to
hearts.
Love is the source of joy and it makes life worth
living.
And whenever
there is love, there is fulfillment”.
Sir, you said that story of (a) and (b) , (a)
stands for your sister; whereas (b) is your wife. But your love for both of them is not of same kind.
Why? I ‘ ill go with your own views that
two persons cannot think of same
level even two sisters have different opinion about the same thing. So how U may think that your love for two
different personalities can be same? Though they are same in physique and mind
but they have a lot of differences in other personal characteristics. It is up to U what and how U think and feel
of (a) and then (b). There is not just
the question of different mothers while it is your feelings that counts here
and tell U how U should think about your sister and wife. We can agree with
William Shakespeare , “ There is nothing good or bad, but our thinking makes it
so”.
Exactly it is your own thinking that makes you feel
how to love your beloved and how to love
your sister ( in spite of having the same characteristics of mind and physique)
But I do not agree with Shakespeare in saying that there is nothing good or bad
because I think there exists “ goodness” and “ badness”. I’ ill again go through your statement “ If one does
something good, one is beautiful and if one does something bad, one is ugly”. If we think,
Shakespeare is right in saying ‘ nothing is good or bad’, we are to
disagree with Keats “ Beauty is truth
and truth beauty, that is all” , because
we have no perfect scale of “goodness” as well as “badness”. We have no picture of evil and good before
us.
Sir, as for the question of change of view and laws
b/w different countries , nations and religions is concerned it is true there
is a hell of difference in concept of crime, vice and sin and for this U have
exemplified TIBET, where a woman can have 4 husbands in a time but a man cannot
have second wife. To be v. honest, if I
would apply this law upon me, I know my husband would never permit me for this
even I cant survive with this law. There
are some things--- might be included in our blood. Sir leave me I think I cannot express my
views about this issue properly. ( I ‘m sorry to say) take yourself for a
while, could you survive in the same situation?
I think no way.
There are some conventions, traditions and priorities of our forefathers
and we have to go with them, and we do obey because we know the ways of our
ancestors are fit for us. And I think we
should be blind of the laws of TEBET like.
In fact these laws are MAN MADE. If we go through the teachings of Islam
and Holy Quran, Allah has convey the good news for men that they will find untouched nymphs in heaven but--- He had
told nothing about women of Heaven. He
had kept women in veil, so how can He
bear that a woman may have 4 husbands in a time. We must close our eyes for these
excessive validities which cannot apply on ourselves. I think we should not
include them even in our discussion.
There are so many issues that can be raised but our religion restricted
to do so or even think of them of which we can’t derive any answer by
ourselves. Anyway, we are to go with
whatever our forefather believe and teach.
That is all I know U would think of me very conservative and narrow minded and I am.
Importance of
life.
Shelley is absolutely right in saying “Birth is a tragedy and death is deliverance”. I agree with him and it is a biblical
reference too that is basically a punishment that was given to man because of
his disobedience to God. OK THANKS
HAVE A NICE DAY.
My letter in response to
the letter of my student is reproduced hereunder:-
My dear student, reference your definition of LOVE,
you are well advised not to confine these tender and subtle feelings/ passions
in the narrow dungeon of conventions and hackneyed phraseology and trite
preaching. Love, a passion is infinite,
it cannot be fettered and imprisoned in
the cell of intellect. Notwithstanding
a hell of difference in our angle of vision to conceive, perceive and judge a
thing, a person or an event, I feel pleased to find the writing capacity in
you.
It has no dimensions, but it is omnipresent and
lives in all creations, animate and inanimate. Its devotees feel its fragrance
everywhere and every time. Wordsworth
sees and feels its presence in “sounding cataracts”. Shelley feels its living in Skylark and Keats
knows its dwelling in the lips of his sweetheart, Fanny. Scientists find it in the gravity among the
stars and planets while a biologist seeks it in the organism of living beings.
But a mystic enjoys its sweetness in rapture when he meets his Big Self. Mujnoo
finds it in the heart of his Laila.
Again I assert the passion of love is integral and indivisible
property. It has different channels for
its manifestations. Only a throbbing
heart can feel and recognize it. Perhaps
I feel it, because without its sweetness I feel some v. vital thing missing and
find myself lost somewhere in the void.
Some are, no doubts, so insensible that they can live without the
thrills of it. They are stony heart, and
really are stones in property but men
/women in forms and shapes.
Now I venture to take the liberty to suggest you
not to indulge and get entangled yourself in debatable quibbles, and endeavour
to support your arguments with logic and not take an asylum in the anecdotes of
your ancestors because the world had changed so much, it is becoming a global village. Our knowledge
is tightly tied and related with space and time. Socrates was poisoned because he refused to
surrender to the faith and knowledge of his ancestors; Galileo was condemned
for blasphemy in religion and he had to undergone a lot of hardships and
sufferings. He had to bear unbelievable
sufferings because he asserted that the earth is round and not flat as the
sacred book Bible tells them, and their forefathers had preached them for
centuries. This is so-called knowledge,
ignorance of our ancestors.
Moreover, the theory of evolution also teaches that one generation gets
a lot from the preceding generation and goes ahead adding more knowledge for
the coming generation. We cannot ignore the importance of dialectics of Karl
Max / Hegel in the study of evolution of man.
As a teacher I feel it obligatory to remind you
that my discussion on Love is based on
logic and syllogism whereas yours is replete with the sayings of your
forefathers and hackneyed dogmas, of course, tinged and flavoured with your
beautiful and sweet words. I would be more delighted if you review your patch
of views on love E-mailed to me in response to my humble and feeble efforts to
imbibe the essence of Love in my pupils, and erect the edifice of your sweet
and delicate thoughts on logic and scientific discoveries.
Reference your quotation of Shelley about the life
and death, I feel sorry to find a clear contradiction in your attitude to
life. On the one hand you are conservative
and traditionalist with firm belief in religion coupled with anecdotes of your
grandmothers, and on the other hand you agree with Shelley, who asserts that
life is a tragedy and death a deliverance.
Most probably religious and conservative people are optimist in view of
life, because they believe in the life of afterward, where the MOMENS and
Momanas will be given all sorts of comforts and luxuries. The MOMENS will be awarded 72 Hoors, the
prettiest women with all charms to please them, but I am sorry that I do not
know what would be given to the Momanas to gratify their wishes.
I conclude
this discussion with my thought embodies in my some verses. It may be noted, I do not know abc of the
technique and delicacies of a poem. It
may be considered a jumble of words to convey my thought:-
Since long, waiting anxiously to see you in person,
Your image, your dream do not console me,
I grew from flesh and blood,
Spirit is only a part of myself,
My flesh and blood call you in person,
To gratify themselves and bring a new creation,
You in my imagination does not satisfy,
Come, come, to complete the mission,
Higher love is fatiguing, idealism an illusory
It must be imbued with the necessity of senses.
Come, come let us complete the mission,
The mission of God to continue His creation.
Break the shackles of conventions,
Free yourself from trite preaching.
Man is created on the image of God,
Man is His Khalipha on the earth.
When God is free from all limitations,
Then why are we so restricted.
Break the fetters of the rusty traditions,
Create a new world to inhale freely.
God is one, His creation is in twos, let us be one
in the ecstasy of love. {Blending of
body and soul]
Science defines what could be understood as love as an
evolved state of the survival instinct, primarily used to keep human beings
together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species
through reproduction.
Love.
Impressions
Love is a sacred passion. It deals with serious
aspect of life. It has depths of oceans and heights of Himalaya
“Tennyson says that it is the greatest folly of
life. But life is incomplete without
it.” Bacon views about love are beautiful but purely commercial. He describes” Married love preserves mankind
; love of friends ennobles human beings ; but dissolute and immoral love
corrupts and degrades mankind.” Jalaluddin Rumi describes in a different
way. He says that “Through love burning
fire becomes pleasing light. Through love stone becomes soft as butter”.
Ghalib views about love;
‘ ishq ne Ghalib nikamma kar diya
Varna{h} ham bhi admi the kam ke.
Love has rendered you, Ghalib, of no use.
Or else we, too, were a person of great use.
Plato and Darwin have contradictory views.
Plato insists on ideal love while Darwin erects its
edifice purely on sex. My experience and
knowledge lead me to believe that love is an emulsion of the urge of sex and
the beauty of intellect. If it is mere sex then it must become exhausted with
the satisfaction of sex. And if it is
mere intellectual beauty then it must
not becomes disgusting when it is not hued and tinged with sex for a long
time.
Different views about life and death.
Death and Dying, the
irreversible cessation of life and the imminent approach of death. Death
involves a complete change in the status of a living entity—the loss of its
essential characteristics.
In a melancholic mood some mysterious power is
goading me to write my view on life. Life and death have been common subject of
the thinkers and poets. Religious people
have quite mythical views about life. To
them this life is a threshold for the next everlasting and eternal life. Hence we should not indulge in the comforts
and luxuries of life in this world. The
extremists of the view are named as sufies or mystics. All religions agree on
this solitary point that this world is evanescent and there is an eternal world
after death.
I am a Muslim, and only know the details of the
otherworld as expounded by Islam.
Scientific approach, based on the perception we get from the five gates
of knowledge, quite contradicts the truthfulness of such faith. To have a life
of luxury with pure milk and Whisky to drink and to enjoy the warmth of the
prettiest women is not acceptable to a man who is hell bent upon to challenge
every and each thing which is not supported with physical witness. They do not
believe in the validity of,
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will”.
“There are more things in heaven and earth,
Horatio,
Than are dreamt
of in your philosophy”. [ Shakespeare]
Rationalists do not believe in mysticism/
spiritualism. Rather they assert : “
Man is a rational animal, and to have blind faith in anything itself exiles him
from the species of human beings”.
{ What is
life? a symptomatic manifestation of elements.
What is
death? Disintegration of these elements.}
………………………………………………………….
“ As flies
to wanton boys, are we to the gods,
They kill
us for their sports”.[Shakespeare]
’ hasti ke mat fireb men ajaiyo Asad
Alm tamam
halqa{h} dam-e khayal hai’
‘Be not deceived by the apparent reality of your
existence, O! Asad!
The entire universe is nothing but a noose of the
snare of thought.’
Shelley
Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822), English poet,
considered by many to be among the greatest, and one of the most influential
leaders of the romantic movement. Throughout his life, Shelley lived by a
radically nonconformist moral code. His beliefs concerning love, marriage,
revolution, and politics caused him to be considered a dangerous immoralist who
describes life in a very pessimistic way.
Law of necessity also plays a great role in his view of life.
“Birth is
tragedy and death
deliverance”
Shelley was an atheist or a materialist. If he may be said to have occupied any
theoretical it was that of an ideal Pantheist.
“The One remains, the many change and pass:
Heaven’s light forever shines, Earth’s shadows fly:
Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity
Until Death tramples it to fragments—Die”.
(Adonis).
His ideal pantheism is somewhat compatible with
some of Persian and Urdu poets’ philosophy of God and Universe, famous as UMMA
OOST, there is nothing but God. All
animates and inanimate objects are only particles of the Big Soul---God and
their deliverance is to unite with the original, God.
Pantheism
‘Na{h} tha kuchh to kudda tha, kuchh na{h} hota to
khuda hota
duboya mujh ko hone ne, na{h} main to kya hota.’
Translation:-
‘When there was nothing, there was God; had there
been nothing,
Gog would still have been.
Drowned because I existed, how would it have
mattered if I had not existed?
Comments:- “ When there was nothing, there was
God. Had nothing ever existed, God still
would have. So, if I had not been created it would have had no impact
whatsoever. However, bringing me into
existence is akin to drowning me, or putting me through a lifetime of
suffering. A remarkable condition of one
of the oldest question in philosophy is portrayed here -----why did God create
us since He obviously did not need us?
Moreover, having created us, why did He make human life a period of
insurmountable suffering? What does God get out of seeing us suffer? The theme of the verse describes in its
entirety the philosophy of Ghalib about life and its Creator”.
“ God is all, and all is God” ‘ to the mystic the
mystic state is a moment of intimate association with a unique other self,
transcending, encompassing, and momentarily suppressing the private personality
of the subject”. ‘ The drop slipping into the sea’.
John Keats
Although
his life ended at age 25, only four years after the 1817 publication of his
first book, English poet John Keats is remembered for his melodious, rich
verse, and is considered one of the greatest English poets.
The relation
between Life and Death has been described very beautifully and delicately by
Keats in his famous poem “ When I have fears”.
“ When I
have fears that I may cease to be
Before my
pen gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charact’ry
Hold like
rich garners the full-ripened grain:
When behold,
upon the night’s starred face,
Huge cloudy
symbols of a high romance,
And think
that I may never live to trace
Their
shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I
shall never look upon thee more,
Never have
relish in the faery power
Of
unreflecting love! O then, on the shore
Of wide
world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.
The subject of the poem is related with man’s
general destiny and life. Man is mortal
and he dies before he can fully realize his capabilities in this mortal
world. Keats presents the theme of
relationship between life and death in a very sublime way. The life of a man is too short to realize his
ideals and aspirations.
This thought that life is too short to fulfill the
desires of a man is beautifully portrayed in the couplet of Badar Shah Zafar
(last king of Mughal dynasty) in the following verses unparalleled in the
domain of Urdu literature. The verses are excellent in the expressions of
pathetic feelings. It seems as a lacerated heart is pouring out the truth of
life which is short and entrapped by the longings of a man.
How superbly Badar Shaw Zafar described the
melancholic state of mind in the following verses. It is unparallel reflection
of the mind when it is soaked in grief and groans of life
Lagtaa nahii hai dil meraa
ujRe dayaar meiN
kiss kii banii hai aalame-naapaaidaar meiN
umr-e-daraaz maaNg ke laaye the chaar din
do aarzuu meiN kaT gaye do intezaar meiN
kah do in hasratoN se kahiiN aur jaa baeiN
itnii jagah kahaaN hai dil-e-daaghdaar meiN
kitnaa hai badnaseeb zafar dafan ke liye
do gaz zamiin bhii naa milii kue-yaar meiN
kiss kii banii hai aalame-naapaaidaar meiN
umr-e-daraaz maaNg ke laaye the chaar din
do aarzuu meiN kaT gaye do intezaar meiN
kah do in hasratoN se kahiiN aur jaa baeiN
itnii jagah kahaaN hai dil-e-daaghdaar meiN
kitnaa hai badnaseeb zafar dafan ke liye
do gaz zamiin bhii naa milii kue-yaar meiN
Rough English Translation
Cannot find peace,
In This heart of mine
in this wreckedland
who has succeeded in this
transitory world
having asked for a long life
I brought back four days
two passed away in yearning
and two in waiting
tell these desires
to go and settle down elsewhere
where is so much space
in the scarred heart
how ill-fated is that
Zafar, for his burial
could not even find
two yards of land in the street of the beloved
…………………………….
Rough
English Translation
having asked for a long life
I brought back four days
two passed away in yearning
and two in waiting
…………………………….
two passed away in yearning
and two in waiting
…………………………….
Lagtaa nahii hai dil meraa
ujRe dayaar meiN
kiss kii banii hai aalame-naapaaidaar meiN
umr-e-daraaz maaNg ke laaye the chaar din
do aarzuu meiN kaT gaye do intezaar meiN
kah do in hasratoN se kahiiN aur jaa baeiN
itnii jagah kahaaN hai dil-e-daaghdaar meiN
kitnaa hai badnaseeb zafar dafan ke liye
do gaz zamiin bhii naa milii kue-yaar meiN
kiss kii banii hai aalame-naapaaidaar meiN
umr-e-daraaz maaNg ke laaye the chaar din
do aarzuu meiN kaT gaye do intezaar meiN
kah do in hasratoN se kahiiN aur jaa baeiN
itnii jagah kahaaN hai dil-e-daaghdaar meiN
kitnaa hai badnaseeb zafar dafan ke liye
do gaz zamiin bhii naa milii kue-yaar meiN
Rough English Translation
cannot find peace, this heart of mine,
in this wrecked land
who has succeeded in this
transitory world
………………….
tell these
desires
to go and settle down elsewhere
where is so much space
in the scarred heart
……………………..
how ill-fated is that
Zafar, for his burial
could not even find
two yards
to go and settle down elsewhere
where is so much space
in the scarred heart
……………………..
how ill-fated is that
Zafar, for his burial
could not even find
two yards
………………..
Ghalib and Life:-
sab kahan, kuchh
lala{h}-o-gul men numayan ho gai’n
khak men, kya surateh
hongi kih pinhan ho gai’n
Translation:-
‘Not all, only a few have
become evident as turlips and roses;
What images may lie in
the dirt that remain hidden from us? ‘
Comments. “The beauty of tulips and roses illustrates
the attractive objects earth produces. Beneath the earth, there are countless
hidden and beautiful possibilities that have not yet become evident to us. This verse refers to many faces of dust and
dirt and not the faces of buried ones,
as often interpreted. One way we know
that dirt exists is from its characteristics of supporting flowers and
greenery, but there may be many more forms of it that remain hidden from us. We cannot know the many ways God can reveal
Himself. Our ability to see things limits us from knowing the reality. A bat cannot see flowers. Does that mean that bat’s worldview is at
fault? There are different ways that God reveals Himself to us but we are not
capable appreciating them.”
I always remain the window of my mind open for
fresh air to come and refresh the chemistry of my thinking without any
inhibitions, within or without. And therefore the readers will find me
impressed by the thoughts contradictory in their nature. I am convinced that life is too complicated
to be comprehended entirely by human
beings. The sages of the ages have tried
to explain it in perspective of their knowledge and experience with special
reference to the time and space. Weather
conditions and one’s country contours have also played a great part in shaping
and moulding the framework of each and every thinker’s mind.
Hardy’s views of Life and Death
Thomas Hardy provoked readers with his tragic novel Jude the
Obscure, a scathing attack on the institution of marriage and sexual repression
in 19th-century England.
Hardy’s view of life has been interpreted as
pessimism, twilight view of life, determinism, fatalism, agnosticism, atheism,
evolutionary, and nihilism. From the various experiences of his life, Hardy
encountered the problem of sufferings
and hardships in the world “Tragedy should arise from the gradual closing of a situation that comes of ordinary human passions,
prejudices, and ambitions, by reason of the characters taking no trouble to
ward off the disastrous events produced by the said passions, prejudices and
ambitions”.
According to him the evil is external as well as
internal. Externally, our environment, and the
nature and society, is responsible for our sufferings and sorrows. Internally, instincts, emotions and passions
lead us to the tragic end. The emotions
and instincts consist of sex impulse or biological necessity and ambition. The
emotions and instincts are not formed by man but by the force that created the
environment. Thus they also become a part
of the environment in which he has taken birth. Although a man tries to control
and formulate these instincts by means of his knowledge and intelligence, yet
he cannot overcome his circumstances. In
his view of life fatalism has a vital role and therefore, perhaps, he is
rightly called a pessimist novelist. His view of life is vigorously expressed
in his famous Novels Tess and Jew the
Obscure. “ No divine power comes to help
man in his adversity .” “ God is
not in the heaves. All is wrong with the world.”
Hardy’s view of life is explicitly expressed in his
remarks about God “ The President of
the immortals had done justice and had ended his sport with her”. (Tess}
Ghalib:-
Sages of the ages who left deep impact on following generations.
Plato his views on life and Death.
Plato, one of the most famous philosophers of ancient Greece, was the
first to use the term philosophy,
which means “love of knowledge.” Born around 428 b.c, Plato investigated a wide range of topics. Chief among
his ideas was the theory of forms, which
proposed that objects in the physical world merely resemble perfect forms in
the ideal world, and that only these perfect forms can be the object of true
knowledge. The goal of the philosopher, according to Plato, is to know the
perfect forms and to instruct others in that knowledge.
His philosophy has dominant role in all the coming
views forwarded by the different philosophers. Greek philosopher, a pupil of
Socrates, he wrote widely on many
aspects of philosophy. In his search for
the true nature of knowledge, he proposed the theory that the things we see and
touch are merely imperfect copies of perfect entities, called ‘forms’ or
‘ideas’, which exist outside the physical world. One aspect of the theory, that the human soul
is immortal, formed an important influence on the development of Christianity
and the great thinkers of Islamic world including the great figure of Ghazali.
Charles Robert Darwin { 1809-82 }
His views on Life
and Death.
He was a British naturalist who developed the
theory of evolution by natural selection.
In 1831 he sailed to South America in HMS Beagle on a voyage of scientific
discovery. The observations he made
there led him in due course to put forward the idea that species of animals and
plants change over time by retaining certain naturally occurring features which
make them better able to survive. He
published his theory ‘ On the Origin of Species.’ It conflicts with Bible and mostly all the
Scriptures and caused a havoc in the world of religion . But it has to be
accepted by all the reasoning persons as a true account of the way species
evolve. It is in direct conflict with the legend of the origin of mankind so
far much-adorned in the world of so many
religions of the present and past. It
tells us that our next ancestors are chimpanzees and not Adam and Eve.
It is also a great setback to the “ Paradise Lost”
of Milton who has tried “ I may assert Eternal Providence/ And justify the ways
of God to men”. How beautifully this verse has clothed the scientific theory
about life and death.
“
Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And than is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.”
{
unparalleled portrayal of life in
English Literature by Shakespeare}.
Religions and
secular thinkers: Life and Death.
There are so many religions in the world, but among them four
are dominant and forceful to mould and reshape lives of the major populace of
the world. They have been affecting
human’s culture, habits and civilization immensely since the pre-historical
period.
This school of thought
believes in the blind faith: they believe firmly that there is supra-natural
power who has created the universe and is controlling and interfering in lives
of people and the running of the world and the universe. The adherents of
‘blind faith’ staunchly assert that this universe and life in it is divine
phenomenon.
“ There’s a
divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them
how we will” [Shakespeare]
“ There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow”.{
Shakespeare}
The other school of thought takes this world a biological
phenomenon and considers the essential principles and laws of nature are
managers in the functioning of world and the universe. It is their firm believe that there exists no supera-natural
power to interfere in the happening of events and in the lives of the
people. It is only on account of dynamics
: phenomena are the results of natural
forces acting upon each other. The universe is the outcome of the BIG BANG
explosion.
“ Man is a rational animal, and to have blind faith in
anything itself exiles him from the species of human beings”. [W. K. Clifford].
“ God is dead, God remains dead, we have killed Him”
[Nietzsche]
It is very important to see Life and Death in the teachings
of these prominent religions, and find the views of the rationalists who
contradict the verdicts of these religions.
Hinduism
Death, according to Hinduism, is a series of changes through
which an individual passes. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad describes thus the
passing of a soul:
‘ When the soul departs from the body, the life-breath
follows: when the life-breath departs, all the organs follow. Then the soul
becomes endowed with particularized consciousness and goes to the body which is
related to that consciousness. It is followed by its knowledge, works, and past
experience. Just as a leech supported on a straw goes to the end of it, takes
hold of another support, and contracts itself, so does the self throw this body
away and make it unconscious, take hold of another support, and contract
itself. Just as a goldsmith takes a small quantity of gold and fashions another
- a newer and better - form, so does the soul throw this body away, or make it
unconscious, and make another - a new and better - form suited to the Manes, or
the celestial minstrels, or the gods, or Virat, or Hiranyagarbha, or other
beings. As it does and acts, so it
becomes; by doing good it becomes good,
and by doing evil it becomes evil - it becomes virtuous through good acts and
vicious through evil acts.
From the point of view of Hinduism, dying may be compared to
falling asleep and after- death experiences to dreams. The thoughts and actions
of the waking state determine the nature of our dreams. Similarly, after death
the soul experiences the results of the thoughts it entertained and the actions
it performed during its life on earth. After-death experiences are real to the
soul, just as a dream is real to the dreamer, and may continue for ages. Then,
when the soul wakes up after this sleep, it finds itself reborn as a human
being. According to the Hindu scriptures, some souls after death also may be
born as human beings without going through the experiences of heaven or hell.
There is no real break in the spiritual evolution of the soul toward
Self-knowledge. Even the soul's lapse into sub-human birth from human life is a
mere detour. A dying man's next life is determined by his last thought in the
present life. The Bhagavad Gi’ta says: "For whatever objects a man thinks
of at the final moment, when he leaves the body - that alone does he attain, O
son of Kunti, being ever absorbed in the thought thereof." And the
last thought of the dying person inevitably reflects his inmost desire. These
different courses after death have been described to warn people against
neglecting the path of Self-knowledge, which alone can confer immortality and
eternal peace and happiness.
Buddhism
Death and the impermanence of life
In the
teaching of the Buddha, all of us will pass away eventually as a part in the
natural process of birth, old-age and death that we should always keep in mind
the impermanence of life. The life
that we all cherish and wish to hold on.
To Buddhism,
however, death is not the end of life, it is merely the end of the body we
inhabit in this life, but our spirit will still remain and seek out through the
need of attachment, attachment to a new body and new life. Where they will be
born is a result of the past and the accumulation of positive and negative
action, and the resultant karma (cause and effect) is a result of one’s past
actions.
This would
lead to the person to be reborn in one of 6 realms which are; heaven, human beings, Asura, hungry ghost, animal
and hell. Realms, according to the severity of one’s karmic
actions, Buddhists believe however, none of these places are permanent and one
does not remain in any place indefinitely. So
we can say that in Buddhism, life does not end, merely goes on in other
forms that are the result of accumulated karma. Buddhism is a belief that
emphasizes the impermanence of lives, including all those beyond the present
life. With this in mind we should not fear death as it will lead to
rebirth.
The fear of
death stems from the fear of extinction of
foothold in the world and losing one’s identity. We see our death coming
long before its actual arrival, we notice impermanence in the changes :
we see the approaching of old age and the suffering due to losing our
youth. Once we were strong and beautiful, as we go to our final moments
of life, we begin to realize how fleeting such a comfortable place actually
was.
Karma
According to
Buddhism, our lives and all that occurs in our lives is a result of
Karma. Every action creates a new karma, this karma or action is created
with our body, our speech or our mind and this action leaves a subtle imprint
on our mind which has the potential to ripen as future happiness or future
suffering, depending on whether the action was positive or negative.
If we bring
happiness to people, we will be happy. If we create suffering, we will
experience suffering either in this life or in a future one.
This is
called the Law of Karma, or the Law of Cause and Effect. Karmic law will
lead the spirit of the dead to be reborn, in realms which are suitably appropriate to their karmic accumulations.
Christianity
Christian beliefs about the afterlife vary between denominations and
individual Christians, but the vast majority of Christians believe in some kind
of heaven, in which believers
enjoy the presence of God and other believers and freedom from suffering and
sin.
Views differ as to whether those of other faiths or none at
all will be in heaven, and conceptions of what heaven will be like differ as
well.
A slightly lesser majority of Christians believe in the
existence of hell, where
unbelievers or sinners are punished. Views differ as to whether hell is eternal
and whether its punishment is spiritual or physical. Some Christians reject the
notion altogether.
Catholic Christians also believe in purgatory, a temporary place of punishment for Christians who have
died with unconfessed sins.
For more specific Christian views about the afterlife,
following are doctrinal statements from several different Christian
denominations and organizations on the afterlife and brimstone, which is the
second Death. We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. We believe that the
punishment of the wicked and the blessedness of the righteousness shall be
everlasting, according to the declaration of our compassionate Redeemer, to
whom the judgment is committed, "These shall go away into eternal
punishment, but the righteous into eternal Life."
Lutheran Church [ Augsburg
Confession [1530]
Also they [Lutheran churches] teach that at the Consummation
of the World Christ will appear for judgment, and will raise up all the dead;
He will give to the godly and elect eternal life and everlasting joys, but
ungodly men and the devils He will condemn to be tormented without end. They
condemn the Anabaptists, who think that there will be an end to the punishments
of condemned men and devils. They condemn also others who are now spreading
certain Jewish opinions, that before the resurrection of the dead the godly
shall take possession of the kingdom of the world, the ungodly being everywhere
suppressed.
Islam
Probably no religion deals in such graphic detail as does Islam with the
creation, death, “life in the tomb,” and ultimate fate of humankind. Yet the Quran,
the holy book of Islam, itself provides no uniform or systematic approach to
these problems. It is only in its later parts that problems such as the
relation of sleep to death, the significance of breathing, and the question of
when and how the soul leaves the body are addressed in any detail. Popular
Muslim beliefs are based on still later traditions. These are recorded in the Kitāb al-rūḥ (“Book of the Soul”) written in the
14th century by the Ḥanbalī theologian Muhammad ibn Abī-Bakr ibn Qayyīm
al-Jawzīyah.
The basic premise of all Quranic teaching concerning death is
Allah’s Omnipotence: he creates human beings their life span, and causes them
to die. The Quran states: “Some will die early, while others are made to live
to a miserable old age, when all that they once knew they shall know no more
(22:5; i.e., sūrah
[chapter] 22, verse 5). Damnation and salvation are equally predetermined: “Allah leaves to stray whom he willeth,
and guideth whom he willeth” (35:8). As for those whom Allah leaves astray,
the Quran states that “for them there will be no helpers” (30:29). Allah has
decided many will fail: “If We had so
willed We could certainly cause proper guidance to come to every soul, but true
is My saying ‘assuredly I shall fill Jihannam’ ” (32:13).
In this perspective the individual’s fate (including the mode
and time of death) appears inescapably predetermined. The very term Islam, Arabic for “surrender,”
implies an absolute submission to the will of God. But what freedom does this
allow those predestined to continue in the path of error, or to reject God’s
will? And if there is no such freedom, what sense was there in the mission of
the Prophet Muhammad
[sm] and his appeal to people to alter their ways? It is hardly surprising that
arguments about free will and predestination broke out soon after the Prophet’s
death. The ensuing tensions dominated theological controversies within Islam
during many centuries. Questions concerning the meaning of life and the nature
of the soul are dealt with patchily in both the Quran and the Ḥadīth. The Quran records that, when
asked about these matters by local leaders of the Jewish faith, the Prophet
answered that “the spirit cometh by command of God” and that “only a little
knowledge was communicated to man” (17:85). Humanity was created from “potter’s
clay, from mud molded into shape” into which Allah has “breathed his spirit”
(15:28–29). A vital spirit or soul is within each human being. It is
associated, if not actually identified, with individuality and also with the
seat of rational consciousness. Death is repeatedly compared with sleep, which
is at times described as “the little death.” God takes away people’s souls “during
their sleep” and “upon their death.” He “retains those against whom he has
decreed death, but returns the others to their bodies for an appointed term”
(39:42–43
According to dogmatic
belief of Muslims two angels coloured blue and black, known as Munkar and
Nakīr, then question the deceased about basic doctrinal tenets. In a sense this trial at the
grave is a show trial, the verdict having already been decided. Believers hear
it proclaimed by a herald, and in anticipation of the comforts of paradise their
graves expand “as far as the eye can reach.” Unbelievers fail the test. The
herald proclaims that they are to be tormented in the grave; a door opens in
their tomb to let in heat and smoke from hell, and the tomb itself contracts
“so that their ribs are piled up upon one another.” The period between burial
and the final judgment is known as al-barzakh. At
the final judgment, unbelievers and the god-fearing are alike resurrected. Both
are endowed with physical bodies, with which to suffer or enjoy whatever lies
in store for them. The justified enter Gardens of Delight, which are described
in the Quran in terms of prevalent, but essentially masculine, tastes
(37:42–48). At the reception feast on the Day of Judgment unbelievers fill
their bellies with bitter fruit, and “drink down upon it hot water, drinking as
drinks the camel crazed with thirst” (56:52–55). They then proceed to hell,
where they don “garments of fire” (22:19) and have boiling water poured over
their heads. Allah has made provision against the annihilation of the body of
the damned, promising that “whenever their skins are cooked to a turn, We shall
substitute new skins for them, that they may feel the punishment” (4:56). Pleas
for annihilation are disregarded. Although this is sometimes referred to as the
“second death,” the Quran is explicit that in this state the damned “neither
live nor die” (87:13).
A special fate is reserved for the martyrs of Islam; i.e., for those who fall in a jihād (“holy war”). Their evil
deeds are instantly expiated and the formalities of judgment are waived; they
enter the Garden
immediately. Similar dispensations are promised to “those who had left their
homes, or been driven therefrom, or who had suffered harm” in the divine cause
(3:195).
A gentler strand in Islamic eschatology produced, over the
centuries, a series of reinterpretations or adaptations of the original
doctrine, some of whose tenets were even claimed to have been only
metaphorical. These tendencies, which stressed individual responsibility, were
often influenced by the Ṣūfīs (Islamic mystics).
Life and Death
Impressions
The close study of the four prominent religions that are
swaying over the hearts of a major section of the humanity has explicitly
support the assertion that there is a wide gulf between the thinking of
religious people and the rationalists with reference and context of Life and
Death.
From scientific point of view life is a biological
phenomenon with no purpose and design while the romantic approach to life and death
is that it is divine performance with a purpose. The spread of rationalistic and scientific ideas since the 18th century has
undermined many aspects of life and death, The clerics, moreover, although still seeking to
exert its influence, has ceased to dominate civil life in the way it once did.
Religion that supports life is a Gift of
God is no longer the pivot of all social relations as it once was in ancient
Egypt and still is in some Islamic countries. The decline of the church is epitomized
by the fact that, while it is still prepared to speak of the symbolic
significance of the death of Jesus Christ and of human death in general, has
ceased to emphasize many aspects of its initial eschatology and to concern
itself, as in the past, with the particular details of individual death. In the
age of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the elaborate descriptions of heaven, purgatory,
and hell in Dante’s Divine Comedy,
while remaining beautiful literature, at best raise a smile if thought of as outlines
for humanity’s concern.
At the sixth stage of Shakespeare, I am driven to think that the sages of the
ages, temporal or spiritual, have made
life too complicated to be understood easily and be enjoyed as a right of human
beings. We should not much bother about
whether it is a biological phenomenon or divine contrivance, we should rather make it better and still more better.
The vehement emphasis on the issue what is life has already accrued a
tremendous loss to mankind. We should
eschew from interfering in the matter of religion and other ideology and let
the atmosphere of tolerance and harmony be prevailed among the different
societies having different views about life and death. If one believes or does not believe in the
life and death, as described by a certain faith or science, leave him to his
sweet will. It is still a challenge for scientists and philosophers and religious
leaders to define life in unequivocal terms. Defining life
is difficult - in part -because life
is a continuous process.
Is man independent in carving his destiny
In this context there are two prominent views about
the independence and dependence of activities of an individual in the course of
his life.
Some philosophers believe that man is independent
in the sphere of his activities, the other believe that man is fettered from
its very conception in the womb of his/her mother: A man never chooses his place of birth, his parents
and his belief. He is helpless in the
selection to have a certain DNA and a certain womb to grow. And these two things play very pivotal role
in the building of his/her personality and character. He is not free to select his surroundings,
schooling and trainings: to select his country/city, teaching place, and
friends. These make environment, and environment has a determining role in
shaping the character of a man.
Behaviorists give more emphasis to the environment than supporters of
genetics theory. The close observation
life reveals that from any point of view, leaving the religious and mythical
tales asides, we can, without any fear of contradiction, come to the conclusion
that man is an emulsion of myriad compulsions within and without.
The couplet of Mir, is
best to illustrate and elucidate the theory of Pre- destination and Fatalism.
‘Ghalib kuchh apni as’I se lahna nahin mujhe
Khirman jale,agar na[h] malkh khae kisht ko’
Ghalib has very superbly infused the same
concept of life in this verse.
Translation:-
Ghalib, there is little
to gain from my endeavour;
The lighting burns the
harvest if it is not already eaten by the locust.
Fatalism
Fatalism, doctrine that all events occur according to a fixed and inevitable destiny that individual will neither controls nor affects. Fatalism frequently is confused with determinism, the doctrine that events are determined by the events that precede them.
Fatalism, doctrine that all events occur according to a fixed and inevitable destiny that individual will neither controls nor affects. Fatalism frequently is confused with determinism, the doctrine that events are determined by the events that precede them.
According
to fatalism, preceding events have no causal connection with the events that
follow. A fated event takes place not according to a natural law but in
accordance with some mysterious decree issued by some mysterious power, perhaps
ages before.
Determinism
explains that every event has its determining conditions in its immediate
antecedents, which may include the human will, is consistent with a belief in
the efficacy of the human will, but fatalism is not.
Fatalism appeared among the ancient Hebrews,
Greeks, and Romans and today is particularly prevalent among Muslims.
Allama Iqbal views on the subject.
Allama Iqbal views on the subject.
The message of this verse of Iqbal is the best elucidation of the theory
of Free Will.
Free will : power
or ability of the human mind to choose a course of action or make a decision
without being subject to restraints imposed by antecedent causes, by necessity,
or by divine predetermination. A completely freewill act is itself a cause and
not an effect; it is beyond causal sequence or the law of causality. The
question of human beings’ ability to determine their actions is important in
philosophy, particularly in metaphysics and ethics, and in theology. Generally,
the extreme doctrine in which freedom of the will is affirmed is termed
libertarianism.
Life of a man is independent or dependent.
Impressions.
We
see that these big minds except the scientists and artists have created
problems of manifold, and confusion which had engulfed simple peoples of this
unfortunate planet. We should not pay attention to these labyrinths of
metaphysics and mysterious interpretations of the world. Best life is a simple life. When we do not
know certainly where from we come, then we should not worry where are we to go
after death. It is reported that Mao Tse
Tung, a great leader of China once said, “ Volumes and volumes of theories have been written
about what is life, forget what is it; make it better”. This saying contains great wisdom, and practice
of it can save us from so many entanglements in ethical, moral and
philosophical quibbles which had destroyed the taste of life. All isms and ideologies should be exiled from
the land of mankind except the Humanism which is in philosophy, an attitude that
emphasizes the dignity and worth of the individual. A basic premise of humanism is that people
are rational beings who possess within themselves the capacity for truth and
goodness.
Conception of God.
God, the centre and focus of religious faith, a holy being or
ultimate reality to whom worship and prayer are addressed. Especially in
monotheistic religions, God is considered the creator or source of everything
that exists and is spoken of in terms of perfect attributes—for instance,
infinitude, immutability, eternity, goodness, knowledge, and power. Most
religions traditionally ascribe to God certain human characteristics that can
be understood either literally or metaphorically, such as will, love, anger,
and forgiveness.
Many religious thinkers have held that God is so different
from finite beings that he must be considered essentially a mystery beyond the
powers of human conception. Nevertheless, most philosophers and theologians
have assumed that a limited knowledge of God is possible and have formulated
different conceptions of him in terms of divine attributes and paths of knowledge.
A range of types, each shading into the other, can be abstracted from a survey.
In the monotheism of Judaism and Islam, Holy Being is conceived at its most
transcendent and personal level. In the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, an
attempt is made to synthesize transcendence and immanence. In the Asian
religions attributes of immanence and impersonal nature of Holy Being are
stressed.
Ancient civilization
and the concept of God
{From rational point
of view}
Whosoever yearns to gratify his curiosity to know how the
concept of God emanated and passed through the evolutionary stages
and reached us in the present position,
is desired to study human history which reveals that supernaturalism has been pervasive in every
society, and the concept of God conceived and grew in the womb of superstition and different societies
gave the concept its own hue and ting : To the primitive men all experiences
were supernatural : it appeared in
different forms and manifestations in accordance with the different civilizations of the clime and
climate of the respective country.
According to the scientific research and the knowledge of anthropology
the conversion of animals to human beings took about 30 hundred thousand years
through evolutionary process ; there are two important periods in the primitive history of
mankind. The first period is called Stone Age, when man used tools made
of stone to get his food and other necessities of life to sustain his
existence. It was the period when man began to conceive and feel the
environment, the conversion from animal to man had been complete, initiation of
awareness of the surroundings began to grow. With the introduction of the use of
Iron, man became more sophisticated and
he started to think about the manifestations of nature in different forms. He could not understood the nature and
function of the objects of nature, and therefore
surrendered to them .Questions in his mind were:
[a] What is the character and general structure of the
universe in which we live?
[b] Is there permanent element in the constitution of the
universe?
[c] How are we related to it?
[d] What place do we occupy in it, and what is the kind of
conduct that benefits the place we occupy?
These questions occurred in the mind of the primitive
man. When he could not find any
satisfactory answers, he created gods, and goddesses to satisfy his passion of
curiosity. It is very interesting that
in Neolithic Period of his evolution he had more interest with Mother Earth
because it provided him with the necessities of life.
We find the earliest thought of religion ranging from one lac
to 35 lac, in Iraq, China and in some
parts of Europe. One section of these
earliest human beings were called Neanderthal, their places of burial reveal
their beliefs which concerned mostly with death. It signifies that they
believed death as a threshold for the next world, and this has been the basic
belief of a religion.
Fifty thousand years ago the Paleolithic Period emerged with
its inhabitants called Homo Sapiens, and there were so many female statues from
which we get an idea of “ Great Mother” which implies the beginning of life.
It strengthens the idea that in the earliest period of the history of
mankind the concept of goddess was in vogue. It is evident from this, the first
experience of man was that woman is the only source of birth, and consequently
the other all producing means would be female.
On our planet the Ice Period ended 1000 years B. C. and from 8000 to
6000 B.C. man had learnt the art of cultivation in Near East, and after some
thousand years this art spread in Europe, Asia and Africa. This period is known Neolithic Period. The introduction of cultivation created a
revolution in the norms and religious life of man. Human history remembers this
period with the name of Bronze Age. In
this era there appeared big settlements on the banks of rivers. The great Empires of classical religions grew
up and nature in different forms and manifestations were being worshipped. The sun was considered the chief god because
it is the chief source of life. We have
failed to find, in the primitive history, the concept of God as the present
religions present.
Religious ethics
exhibit equally striking differences.
Some are world-affirming [Confucianism] or world –denying
[Buddhism}
In the perspective of
history of mankind, present religions seem a newly born children when compared
with the span of man’s life : the birth of present religions is a recent
phenomenon of nature. It drives us to think that either man for million years
lived without the necessity of religion or his life had no affiliation with the
present organized religions. The
classical religions are essentially linked with the belief in multiple gods,
holy kingdoms, forceful theocracy, and sometimes the existence of
Scriptures. During this period the
worship places were built, and the believers started to worship in the small
worship places. Dozens of kingdoms grew at the non coastal area.
Every city has its own chieftain the chieftain himself was the god. In the early stage the administration was in
the hands of the elders, and it took the form of kingship later on.
A large part of their activities was devoted to the service
of ecclesiastical duties. The king
occupied the highest position among the clergymen.
Origin of Man.
Scientific point of view.
In
this connexion the theory of evolution is very prominent and popular. The core
of the term’s meaning is that of rolling out, unrolling or unfolding and thus
the term comes to denote movement of an orderly nature which is productive of
change of a novel kind. More specially,
it denotes the process of change through which something new is produced in
such a continuous way as not to violate the identity or individuality of the
original entity.
In
strict usage, the term implies organic evolution, viz the interaction of a
living organism and its physical environment.
In rudimentary form the idea had its roots in classical times. e.g.
Heraclitus; but before the hypothesis, now inseparably associated with the name
of Darwin, could win general acceptance, certain conditions were necessary. It
was necessary to supplant the conviction of the immutability of all organic
species, based on the theological belief in an act of independent
creation. The idea required for its
conception, elaboration and verification of an alliance between science and
history. It was necessary both to construct a classificatory system of types,
and to provide an historical explanation of the course of actual development.
Darwin. elaborated his hypothesis in
‘”on the origin of species”. Referring
to the origin of species by means of natural selection, he argued :
(a)
that the different forms of life had a common ancestry from which they had
gradually evolved, and
(b)
that the survivors in the struggle for existence would be those best adapted to
the task of obtaining nourishment and avoiding competitor attacks.
The
Spirit of philosophy is one of free inquiry.
It suspects all authority. Its
function is to trace the uncritical assumptions of human thought to their
hiding place, and in this pursuit it may finally end in denial or a frank
admission of the incapacity of pure reason to reach the ultimate reality.
Mr. Zia Shah [a friend on internet] has very comprehensively
given an account of the origin of man. It has attracted my attention. It is
presented for study to the readers. It
is given below.
The Creation of Man. In the 19th century Charles Darwin put
forward a theory that man into being through a long
process of evolution and not all of a sudden in one stroke as stated in
the Bible. He concluded that the evolutionary process which produced man in his
present form probably took millions of years. The second main point in Darwin's
theory is that man evolved from lower forms of animal life. In the beginning
there existed only small types of animals which during the course of time were
followed by larger and larger ones. Eventually one of these kinds of animals
developed into man as we know him but it has now become extinct although it can
be maintained that a better form of that animal, the missing linkage is
represented by the monkey. This theory is based on the fact that ancient human
skeletons which have been unearthed in various places show remarkable
differences from one age to another in the size or
structure of the bones or skull. This is taken to indicate that there has been
a slow development and progress of the species from era to era. It is also
argued that the embryo in the womb, at different stages of its development,
successively resembles a number of lower animals such as a rabbit, fish or
something else. This is taken to furnish ground for the conclusion that the
stages which the embryo passes through represent, so to say, the stages which
man has passed through from a lower animal to that of a human being. A further
argument advanced in support of the theory of evolution is that there are a
number of similarities which seem to indicate that man and these lower animals
are one and the same thing and that the structure of the human body is not an
exclusive feature of the human species as it has evolved from the bodies and
structures urea such as those shared by the apes.
The second point in Darwin's theory was that man and apes
developed from a common link which is now extinct. The basis of the argument is
that certain kinds of monkeys have a striking resemblance to man. Darwin
surmised that in this chain one link is missing as indicated by the gulf which
should not have otherwise existed between man and the apes on one side, and the
apes and animals on the other. Since there is a remarkable degree of similarity
between man and the apes, and since, on the other hand, a gulf seems to
separate the apes from other animals, it appears that some link has disappeared
which bridged this gulf---the link from which man and the apes have evolved
during the process of time.
Haeckel, after Darwin, was of the opinion that the missing link
was an animal which he called Linotile which has become extinct leaving no
trace behind it. If this animal, or its remains, could be found then the
missing link which breaks the chain of continuity would come to hand and leave
no vagueness or uncertainty about the theory of evolution. Thinkers of this
kind believe that the gorilla and chimpanzee stand in the line of human
ancestry.
Darwin's theory was subjected to criticism by many thinkers
who pointed out that the wide gulf separating man from the apes precluded a
common ancestry for both. In these differences, however, Huxley found further
support for the theory of evolution. He pointed out that the difference found between
different kinds of monkeys was greater than the one found between man and the apes.
In spite of the wide differences between varieties of monkeys, all were taken
and accepted as monkeys. Huxley argued that when differences between different
species of monkeys were so wide then why could not man have also traveled a
long way from the ape during the course of time? He concluded, therefore, that
this gulf did not stand against evolution but on the other hand tended to
support it.
More recent research which is supported by Professor Jones
and Professor Osborne, tends to conclude
that although man has developed through an evolutionary process he branched off
from other animals at a much earlier period; and during that time he developed
on independent exclusive lines as compared with other animals. In other words,
man did not branch off from some kind of ape, as Darwin believed, but a long
time before that during the development of animal life.
Archaeologists and anthropologists have found that human
civilization has passed through very distinct stages. In the Stone Age man took
his first step towards culture and civilization. Since that time he had evolved
into a state of only the most rudimentary human existence and, in contrast with
other forms of animal life, he did not have the advantage of claws and fangs,
he used stones as weapons for offense and defense. Then came the Bronze Age
when man made use of this metal. This was followed by the iron age. As a result of excavations
archaeologists are agreed that all the stages of his life man has been a bearer
of culture of one kind or another.
QURAN ON THE CREATION OF MAN
First I would like to refer to the following passage from the
Holy Quran:
“What is the matter with you that you hope not for greatness
and wisdom from Allah? And He has created you in different forms and different
conditions. See you not how Allah has
created seven heavens in perfect harmony, and has placed the moon, therein a
light and made the sun a lamp? And Allah has caused you to grow out of the
earth as a good growth. Then will He cause you to return, thereto, and He will
bring you forth a new bringing forth.” (71:14-19)
A close paraphrase of this passage would be:
O, you human beings!
What is the matter with you that you fail to understand that Allah does not do
anything unless there is wisdom and purpose underlying it? You yourselves are
not ready to accept the assumption that you do things with no aim or purpose in
view. Why do you therefore assume that Allah, the Most Wise and All Knowing does
things without purpose? Why do you jump to the thoughtless conclusion that He
created man with no purpose in view? Why do you fail to grasp the evident truth
that your creation has not been the result of a sudden meaningless impulse? It
was the result of wise planning and deliberate execution in a succession of
stages from one point to another. Do you not see that Allah has created the
seven heavens in perfect harmony with each other and similarly the sun and the
moon? Also that the earth was one of the stages through
which you passed in a process of slow growth to the point of perfection?
This is the description of the origin and emergence of man
given in the Quran. The law of evolution working in the universe which Europe
claims to have discovered was clearly defined in the Holy Quran more than
fourteen hundred years ago that man was not created in an instant in the form
in which he is today. God did not make a model of clay and breathed life into
it to become the first man. No! Man has reached his present stage after passing
through many intermediary stages. Man originated from and on this earth---Allah
caused you to grow out of the earth as a good growth.
It is particularly distressing to note, however, that the
present day popular Muslim belief has lost sight of the two crucial points that
man's creation and emergence did not take place in an instant. He was created
from the earth and on the earth. Popular Muslim belief has come to have it that
man was created in paradise from where he was put down on earth. It is also
believed by a large section of Muslims that God has a bag of souls which, from
time to time, He releases singly to become human beings. In view of the
prevalence of such foolish fancies that the popular Muslim mind, through some
irony, is peculiarly bent upon holding views contrary to the clear teachings of
the Holy Quran.
The Quran tells us that the creation of man took place in
gradual stages, the underlying wisdom being that through this slow development
defects should be eliminated from his constitution and nature.
FIRST STAGE
The next point revealed by the Quran in connection with the
creation of man is that the first stage was a condition of non-existence. A controversial subject. The view of the Arya
Samajists is that matter from which the
universe has been shaped, is eternal. God did no more than to bring the soul to
matter together into a close relationship and so man was created. This belief
is repudiated by the Quran which teaches that matter is not eternal but it is a
creation of God and that man was created. God says in the Holy Quran:
“Does not man remember that We created him before, when he
was naught?” (19:68)
Human birth now takes place from the seed of the male. This
verse refers to the first original creation of the species, or the first
man; it should be carefully noted that
the Quran does not say that existence was created from non-existence. It says
that prior to the stage when matter and other things came into being, there was
a stage when nothing existed. We say that a chair can be made from a piece of
wood; or we say that a chain can be made from a piece of iron. Here we have
matter in one form which can be utilized to make another article.
Atheists often raise the objection that it is not possible to
shape out anything from nothing. This, however, is not what is meant by the Quran.
What is meant is that prior to the creation of the universe there was a stage
when nothing existed. Then came creation and the creation of man. God has not
given knowledge to man as to how this came about, possibly because it is beyond
the comprehension of man to grasp. If man could visualize how creation took
place then he would be in a position to create man himself.
SECOND STAGE
It appears from the Holy Quran that the second stage in the
creation of man was a state of existence when the human body was there but the
brain or its active faculties which distinguish a human being from the lower
animals were not operative and active as they came to be later. There was, so
to say, a human body which was not yet a human being or, in other words, there
was the physical human body minus the evolved and perfected human brain or
mind. We are not in a position to say whether in this state he was a kind of
rock formation or a kind of plant. We can say, however, that he was not yet an
animal. The Quran says: There has certainly come upon man a period of time when
he was not a thing spoken of. In other words, there has been a stage in the
history of man when it was not madhkur, i.e., it was not aware of itself,
lacked consciousness at the time and was not capable of recognition. He was a
form of being without consciousness and intelligence, not aware of himself or
of other things.
THITD STSGE
The third stage in the evolution of man was reached when he
attained to a state of being where the production of the species began to take
place through the seed of the male planted in the body of the female through
sexual intercourse. From this point onwards occurs the almost infinite variety
of individual human temperaments. Among animals there are varieties not
characterized by sex. God says in the Quran that a stage came in the course of
the evolution of man when he developed into an animal characterized by sex,
divided into males and females, when his procreation began to take place
through the seed of the male which is a characteristic of the higher forms of
animal life. His procreation began to occur from a nutrition amshajin, from the
male sperm drop embracing a combination of a number of elements. God says in
the Holy Quran:
Indeed:
“We have created man
from a mingled sperm-drop, that We might try him, so We made him hearing,
seeing.”
From this stage his procreation began to be compounded from
many elements because his role in the universe was to be many sided which
necessitated that he should possess a wide range of qualities.
Fourth stage
The fourth stage came when the human brain reached perfection
and characterized by a highly developed form of awareness and intelligence.
From having the capacity of hearing and seeing which are qualities also to be
found in the lower animals, he became capable of exercising his intelligence to
a point where, through a sustained spirit of inquiry and search, inference and
invention came within the range of his faculties. Here he rose one very distinct step higher than the
other forms of animal life, an animal capable of sustained thought and speech.
These links in the chain of the evolution of man are the
initial links of the various stages, The intervening periods between the
emergence of these links have not been clearly brought out by the Quran for it
is not a scientific treatise on the subject. The Quran refers to these matters
which were necessary for bringing out a point of moral spiritual truth, leaving
the filling in of the gaps to the human mind.
From Rumi and Iqbal point of view, the origin of man.
“Man
saith : “ What ! After, O a, dead, shall I in the end be brought forth alive?”
“Doth man bear in mind that We made him first when he was nought”? {19:66:67} “
“It
is We who have decreed that death should be among you”. “Yet are we not thereby
hindered from replacing you with others you likes, or from producing you in a
form which ye know not ! Ye have known
the first creation” will you not reflect”? {56:60-2}
“How
did man first emerge? This suggestive
argument embodied in the last verses of the two passages quoted above did in
fact open a new vista to Muslim philosophers.
It was Jahiz who first hinted at the change in animal life caused by
migrations and Brethren of Purity” further amplified the views of Jahiz. Ibni-Maskwath however, was the first Muslim
thinker to give a clear and in many respects thoroughly modern theory of the
origin of man. It was only natural and
environment generally. The association
known as the ‘ perfectly biological evolution, and not a problem to be decided
by arguments of a purely metaphysical nature, as of evolution, however, had
brought despair and anxiety, instead of hope and enthusiasm for life, to modern
world. The reason is to be found in the
unwarranted modern assumption that man’s present structure, mental as well as
physiological, is the last word in biological evolution, and that death,
regarded as a biological event, has no constructive meaning. The world of today needs a Runi to create
attitude of hope, and to kindle the fire of enthusiasm for life. His inimitable lines may be quoted here:”
“
First man appeared in the class of inorganic things,
Next year he passed therefrom into that of
plants,
For years he lived as one of the plants,
Remembering
nought his inorganic state so different;
And when he passed from the vegetated to the
animate state,
He had no remembrance of his state as a plant,
Except the inclination on he felt to the world
of plants,
Especially at the time of spring and sweet
flowers:
Like the inclination of infants towards their
mothers,
Which know not the cause of their inclination
to the breast.
And the great Creator, as you know,
Draw man out of the animal into the human
state,
Thus man passed from one order of nature to
another,
Till he became wise and knowing and strong as
he is now:
Of
his first soul he has now no remembrance,
And he will be changed from his present soul”
{ Rumi – translated by Iqbal}.
Allama
Iqbal and Jannat.
After
a long discussion on the subject, Allama Iqbal arrived at the conclusion that “
I am, therefore, inclined to think that the ‘ Jannat’ in the Quranic narration
is the conception of a primitive state in which man is practically unrelated to
his environment and consequently does not feel the string of human wants, the
birth of which alone marks the beginning of human culture.”
“Thus we see that Quranic legend of the Fall of Man
has nothing to do with the first appearance of man on this planet. Its purpose is rather to indicate man’s rise
from a primitive state of instinctive appetite to the conscious possession of a
free self, capable of doubt and disobedience.
The Fall does not mean any moral depravity: It is man’s transition from
simple consciousness to the first flash of self- consciousness, and a kind of
waking from a dream of nature with the throb of personal causality in one’s own being. Nor does the Quran regard the earth as a
torture hall where an elementally wicked humanity is imprisoned for an original
act of sin. Man’s first act of
disobedience was also his first act that is why according to the Quranic
narration, Adam’s first transgression was forgiven. Now goodness is not a matter of compulsion;
it is the self’s free surrender to the moral ideal and arises out of a willing
co-operation of free egos. A being whose
movements are wholly determined like a machine cannot produce goodness. Freedom
is thus a condition of goodness. But
to permit the emergence of a finite ego
who has the power to choose, after considering the relative values of several courses
of action open to him, is really to take a great risk; for the freedom to
choose good involves also the freedom to choose what is the opposite of good.”.
[ Reconstruction of Religious Thought in
Islam ] Can our religious leaders, Maulana
who are described by Justice Kayani.’ are
persons who know less but cry more,’
digest this view of Iqbal about episode of Jannat and Adam and Eve’?
About well known views about man, as ‘a Masterpiece
of Nature.’
Has anyone seen a group of dogs, train and prepare
themselves for a good fight with the other group of dogs living in another
locality to snatch and extort their livelihood.
But this scene we have been seeing since man has got awareness of the
objects of nature round him. The achievements of his ugly efforts are Holy
wars under the head crusade wars, attacks on grand Mundar of Hindus, named
Soomnath in India. Massacre and bloodbath at the time of
partition on the sub-continent. And in
the present civilized world the atomic bombs drops on two famous cities of
Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the occupation of Iraq by America and a big loss
of lives in Afghanistan are boons of civilized society of today.
And still we say that man is a masterpiece of
nature. It is strange for a man who has
some knowledge about the meaning of civilization. Perhaps Swift is right when
he says, “ I hate and detest the animal called man.”. In consonance to the ground realities
referred to above there seems no exaggeration in the saying that Man is
the worst piece of nature. It needs further explanation. The readers should
decide themselves the validity of the statement,
[a] Man is the masterpiece of nature. [b] Man is
the worst piece of nature.
Religion.
Definition of religion.
Religion
as understood by the people who have scientific attitude to life may be
described:- Religions are systems of
beliefs, practices and organizations which shape an ethic manifest in the
behaviour of their adherents. Religious
beliefs are interpretations of immediate experience by reference to the
ultimate structure of the universe, its centre of power and destiny; these are
invariably conceived in supernatural terms.
Any one set of religious beliefs usually includes a cosmogony and a
philosophy of history, a psychology and a sociology. Belief in the supernatural entities of a
religion is, emotionally, highly charged: the believer imputes a special
quality, sacredness, to them and this extends to the directives for behaviour
imputed to the supernatural or deduced from its existence. Ritual may include adoration, supplication,
and attempts to control the supernatural: the distinction between religion and
magic is difficult to maintain. Ritual, further, provides a codex of behaviour
about which the believers may organize.
Religious
ethics exhibit equally striking differences Some are world-affirming
(Confucianism) Chine philosophical and ethical system based on the teaching of
Confucius {551-479 BC} Chine philosopher who taught the need for high moral
standards, esp. goodness, justice,
loyalty and respect for parents and ancestor, others world-denying. Some seek the immediate transformation of the
world others disparage the world as a transitory phenomenon, still others
justify it as the best of all possible one.
Christianity has encompassed, at different places, a number of
contradictory ethical attitudes. The relationship of the religious organization
to other social structures is, of course, the single most decisive factor in
the development of an ethic from the other components of a religious system.(
N. Birnbaum}.
Freudian
Views about Religion.
‘During
the process of our adjustment to our environment we are exposed to all sorts of
stimuli. Our habitual responses to these
stimuli gradually fall into a relatively fixed system, constantly growing in
complexity by absorbing some and rejecting other impulses which do not fit in
with our permanent system of responses.
The rejected impulses recede into what is called the ‘subconscious
region of the mind,’ and there wait for a suitable opportunity to assert
themselves and take their revenge on the focal self. They may disturb our plans of action, distort
our thought, build our dreams and fantasy or carry us back to form of primitive
behaviour which the evolutionary process has left far behind. Religion, it is
said, is a pure fiction created by these repudiated impulses of mankind with a
view to find a kind of fairyland for free unobstructed movement. Religious
beliefs and dogmas, according to the theory, are no more than merely primitive
theories of Nature, whereby mankind have tried to redeem Reality from its
elemental ugliness and to show it off as something nearer to the heart’s desire
than the facts of life would warrant.
That there are religions and forms of art, which provide a kind of
cowardly escape from the facts of life.”
Religion
from Allama Iqbal point of views
“Religion
is not a departmental affair; it is neither mere thought, nor mere feeling, nor
mere action; it is an expression of the ‘ whole man’. Thus, in the evaluation
of religion, the philosophy must recognize the central position of religion and
has no other alternative to admit it as something focal in the process of
reflective synthesis”.[Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam]
Religion
from Professor Whitehead point of views.
“
A system of general truth which have the effect of transforming character when
they are seriously held and vividly apprehended”.
Religion
from Bertrand Russell’s point of views.
The
entire conception of sin and damnation, and of just and omnipotent God, is
traditional and inconsistent, for no ‘sinner’ deserves to be punished for what
a good at all- powerful God permitted him to do. As Russell says : “ If everything happens in
accordance with God’s will, God must have wanted Nero to murder his mother,
therefore, since God is good, the murder have been a good thing. From this argument there is no escape”.
Religion
from Joosh Meelia Abadi
Reverent Joosh Meelia Abadi is one of the most
distinguished figures of Urdu literature : his article in brief without any
comments is presented for the readers’ perusal and consideration on the
subject. It is so epigrammatic and terse
that it is not possible for a common student of literature, like me, to
translate it in English. However, I will
try to give the pith of the dissertation.
‘ There is no one who can prove this universe
could not come into existence without the Omnipotent. It seems that the present concept of God is
the figment of a person who first of all made an image of Him. It is our whim that we cannot live without
His discretion. The thought that God is the helper of mankind is squarely on
account of the propaganda of the religious dissimulators. These spiritual simulators excavated Him from
the earth and fed Him with the mystery of Nature and made Him the most superior
with the help of their poetic flight. It
is not hard to comprehend the motivation behind it for which these hypocrites
had brought Him from the solitude and whispered in His ears that you was
God. Was He not God before their
hinting. If the man is born sycophant by
nature, and God is obliged to hear these stupid sycophants. How foolish it is to define or restrict the
infinite within the circumference of characteristics. It is common understanding among the people
that God makes the others the means of our profits and losses. It is also common understanding among the
people that the ruler who shed his responsibility of bad deeds is hated and not
loved. But it is strange phenomenon that
we think God the most just and compassionate in His nature, kneel down before
Him for blessings. The horrible tug of war to snatch the substance of the
others is waged since the man has gained awareness, and the poor and the weaker
have been being inhumanly exploited by the stronger, and the creator, the
master, and the lord of these creatures is looking this spectacle with
satisfaction without providing rectification of this wrong prevalent for
millions years. He at the same time is considered and worshipped as Just and Compassionate,
it is strange and stupid syllogism . In confusion, the people who are
determined to prove the existence of God at all costs, define and give Him the
nomenclature of Nature. But they at the same time forget that Nature is cruel,
immoral, and indifferent, while God, as they preach with emphasis, is all
loving, just and incarnate of all virtues. Have not
this come into the notice of God, who is Omniscient how many his blessed people
are exploiting his name and looting the poor honest people. Is He sleeping in the heavens where the cries
of the exploited do not reach or He is enjoying this woeful tamasha.
This seems that the religious dissimulators have
been auctioning the name of God and His all belongings in the open market with
heavy price and the ignorant and the feared who want to win Paradise are
offering their bids according to their desires and financial capacity.”
( for further study pl. consult Tasavaray Khudah by
Arshad Muhmood, Page N0,181)
This reminds the saying of Karl Max, “ Religion is
the product of fear and greed”. He further said,” Religion is opium, who tastes it remains
under its intoxication.”
There have been assiduous attempts in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam to
make Blind Faith compatible and workable in the changed circumstances. Many innovations and renovations were
engrafted with the original philosophy of religion, but the modern inventions
and the new avenues of knowledge in the sociology, psychology, science and
technology have defeated all such adventures to sustain the zeitgeist of the
middle ages, the golden days of the supera natural forces.
Movements
launched to make Hinduism workable are Jainism and Buddhism but failed to get
desired results.
Movement
launched to make Christianity in operation is Protestantism but failed to get desired results
In Islamic world there are so many movements
to make it workable and friendly with the changed circumstances but here also
the results are discouraging : rather
the latest movement launched by Osama bin Ladhum is a great menace to the
civilization and peace of the world.
Here under are given the prominent efforts to make prevalent traditions,
conventions and rituals of Islam sustainable in the new circumstances.
Rationalist
Movement
It appeared in the
church of Islam during the early days of the Abbasids, bitter controversies raised about the conservative dogma of the
eternity of Quran. Rationalists
denied it because they thought
that this was only another form of the Christian dogma of the eternity of the
World; on the other hand the conservative thinkers whom the latter Abbasids, fearing the political implications
of Rationalism, gave their support, thought that by denying the eternity of the
Quran the Rationalists were undermining the very foundations of Muslim society.
Nazzam, for instance, practically rejected the traditions, and openly declared
Abu Huraira an untrustworthy reporter.
Thus, partly owing to misunderstanding of the ultimate motives of
Rationalism, and partly owing to the unrestrained thought of particular Rationalists,
conservative thinkers regarded this movement as a force of disintegration, and
considered it a danger to the stability of Islam as a social polity. Their main purpose, therefore, was to
preserve the social integrality of Islam, and the structure of their legal system as
rigorous as possible.
Manhdavi
Movement
The laxity and un-Islamic practices among the
Muslims created a great concern among the Muslim thinkers in the sub-continent.
Sayyid Muhammad of Jaunpur who claimed to be the Mahdi ( one who restore Islam to its original position). came forward and stated that his aim was to insist
upon the performance of religious duties and avoidance of that has been
forbidden in Islam. The movement led by
him was known as the Manhdavi Movement.
The orthodox Muslims did not recognise his claim to be the Mahdi and
condemned his teachings as heresy. His
movement acquired much strength through Sheikh ‘Alai, one of followers of him. Due to his efforts a large number of people
came in the fold of the Mahdi doctrine.
But he was put to the sword at the Fatwa of Sheikh Mukhdurul-Mulk and
the death stood as a bar to the growth and development of the Manhdavi creed.
Shah Waliullah’s
Movement.
The history of the Muslims in the 19th
century is the history of struggle for freedom.
Since the loss of independence, the Muslims were not only hovering in
the domain of uncertainty but also many un-Islamic ideas which sapped their
moral strength were taking its place in the minds of the Muslims. It was at that time that some Muslims
thinkers thought that unless the Muslims were brought back to the teachings of
the Quran and Hadith, it would not be possible to save the Muslims from the
impending ruin: they started movement throughout the country
in order to raise the moral strength of the Muslims and thereby to prepare them
for political make-up. One of the
earliest reformers who led the movement in the 18th century was Shah
Waliullah’s. The early movements were
religious and political in nature.
Faraizi Movement
of East Bengal.
The founder of this movement was Hajji Shariatullah
who was deeply moved at the prevailing conditions of the Muslims of
Bengal. He dedicated himself to reform
the cankerous social evils and to improve the conditions of the Muslims. The aim of his life was to establish the
ideal of Islam and to awaken the political consciousness in the minds of the
Muslims.
Main features of the movement. He forbade Tazia on the occasion of Muharram
and dancing and singing at the time of wedding ceremonies. His movement was also directed against the
oppression of the zamindars. He declared
the country as Darual Harb ( the land of infidels) where Eid and Friday prayers could not be offered. The movement was a direct Jihad against
the then religious oppression and superstition.
It infused a new life and brought a great agitation among the Bengalese
Muslims.
The Movement of
Wahhabism.
Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, was the disciple of Shah Abdul
Aziz and the founder of reilgio- political movement known as Wahhabism was the
first popular political leader in this sub-continent. It has become the subject of controversy
regarding the origin of this movement
in Indo-Pakistan. W. Hunter and other
writers are of opinion that Sayyid Shahid derived his doctrines from Muhammad
Bin Abdul Wahhab of Arabia who in order to save the Muslims from the moral and
spiritual degradation started a movement in Arabia in the later part of the 18th
and the first part of the 19th century. This argument is not tenable in the face of
facts. The teaching of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid differ considerably from those of
Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahhab, from whom Wahhabism derived its name. Sayyid Ahmad Shahid had already formulated
his ideas of reform before his departure for Arabia. However, the Wahhabi had been dislodged from
Hejaz before his arrival in Mecca. He might have come across the Wahhabi and
Wahhabism but the movement as a political force was at the lowest ebb while he
was in Arabia. So it is wrong to say
that he was influenced by the Wahhabism of Arabia. Over and above, there were many important
points of differences between the two schools of thought. The Sayyid’s moderate view on Taqlid and his
attitude towards Sufism may be cited as examples. The former flowed middle
course regarding Taovesid and Sufism while the latter rejected both absolutely. The teaching of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid may be
classified into four heads:
Fight against corrupt practices and innovations.
Attitude towards Taqlid and Ijtihad.
Sufism.
Political Aims and Object
This movement had an indigenous origin. He was
influenced in his ideas by Muja did -Alif- -Sani and more particularly Shah Waliullah’s
of Delhi and his school.
Quadiani
Movement.
Mr. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad tried to introduce
innovation in the religion of Islam, but the conservative religious leaders of
Pakistan revolted against this moment in 1952 and tried to force the regime to
declare the followers of this movement as Kafirs. But the government being impartial in the
matter of religion crushed the insurgency with iron hand. Then all of a sudden in the regime of Mr.
Bhutto, again this movement started mostly by the elements who were against the
creation of Pakistan.. The prominent
among them were Jama’tay Islami and Jometul-ullma’y Islam, of Mufti Muhmood . This movement brought great destruction of
lives and property. The prime minister
proved to be a coward man, and yielded to the demand of these religious leaders
and political acrobats and made a legislation declaring the followers of Mirza
Ghulam Muhammad as infidels.
Henceforward the clergy of Pakistan began to get weight in politics of
Pakistan. It proved a watershed in
promoting the influence of the conservatives in Pakistan : it gave a massive
fillip to domestic fanaticism and extremism.
The rationalists and liberal in the religious quibbles were defeated and
the antiquated explanations made by the clergymen won the battle.
The latest
and the more forceful endeavour to restore the glory of Islam is Iqbal’s poetry
and his famous book “ The Reconstruction of Religion Thought in Islam.” There had been so many attempts for the revival
of Islam, but it is not time to
mention them here on account of the scanty space and time. However I must
confess that all the leaders of the different movement described above were
honest, assiduous, sincere and committed to the their faith, Islam, but influence of the
illiterates and ignorant clergymen on the illiterate and emotional public
successfully defeated the sincere enthusiasm of the leaders of these movement. It is not perhaps irrelevant to mention here
that in this fight between the liberal and the conservative Mirza Ahmad Sb. had
to undergone more tortures because of his more pragmatic attitude in the
innovations of the injunctions of Islam.
Achievements of
Religions.
In Hindu
social set up is based on caste system which is the worst discrimination among
the humans. In this system society is
fragmented in four classes, and in this way hierarchy is strongly
established.
In
Christianity :- Spanish Inquisition are the worst slur on the name of religion.
The
Inquisition [Holy Office] appointed by the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages to discover and punish heretics, This is
a black spot on the name of religion.
Superstitious and Religious ideas very often become
cloaks for evil passions. Best examples
can be found in the resent killing of the different sections of the same
religion in Pakistan and of different religions in India. The story of Babri Musjid in Judia, India, is
terrible for its elimination of so many lives and huge destruction of
property. More phenomenal terrifying
story of killing of human life and the huge destruction of property at
the time of partition of sub-continent is the worst of its kind.
The notorious battles of
Crusades and the seventeen attacks on Soomnath Mander ( one of the biggest
worshiping places of Hindus) are black spots on the human history. All these humiliation of mankind and the
destruction of civilization were allowed on the sacred name of religion. All these inhuman and stupid activities are
possible because of the different approaches of the different groups of peoples
to the concept of God. Different
sections of mankind have different concepts of God to pay homage to Him , and fight like dogs to
justify their own concept of God., and
perhaps to please Him. He is pleased or not but the result to please God
is horrible and disgusting.
The infamous terrifying figures of the history are
the products of the distorted shape of the religions because all the leaders of
the religions never thought inhuman behaviour in any fields of life. They were rather the great preachers of love
and services for the poor section of humanity regardless to the faith of the
individual. For example Christ says, “ Love thy enemy”. Holy Prophet Muhammad
used to do chores of an old ailing woman who was deadly against Islam. Further
religion of Islam emphasizes on “ no compulsion in religion”. It asserts that
the murder of a man is tantamount to
Bin Laden.
Probably the most infamous part of Bin Laden’s
ideology is that civilians, including women and children, are legitimate
targets of Jihad. Bin Laden is
anti-Semitic, and has delivered warnings against alleged Jewish conspiracies :
“ These Jews are masters of usury and leaders in the treachery. They will leave
you nothing, either in this world or the nest.
Shia Muslim have been listed along with “Heretics America and Israel, “ as the two principal “
enemies of Islam “ at ideology classes of bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda
organization. In keeping with Wahhabi
beliefs bin Laden opposes music on religious grounds, and his attitude towards
technology is mixed. He is interested in
“ earth-moving machinery and genetic engineering of plants” on the one hand,
but rejects ‘” chilled water” on the other.
His viewpoints and methods of achieving them have earned for him the
title of a “ terrorist”.
My
impressions
There
is an awful difference of views between scientists and religious personalities
about the genesis of man and his rights and duties on the earth. The core point is that religious believe in
6th sense [intuition]. Its whole edifice is erected on it whereas the
scientists do not believe in the 6th sense.
They believe only in perceptual knowledge. I am neither a scholar of religion
nor science, and therefore I am not in
a position to give any opinion on it.
However my impression is that these clergymen of the great religions
have distorted the quintessence of their respective religion and mislead the
illiterate public. They have made the religions more and more complicated and
entangled ones. They bring religion in all the pursuits of life. The infamous
terrifying figures of the history are the products of the distorted shape of
the religions. The founders of all the religions are great preachers of love
and services for the poor section of humanity regardless to the faith of the
individual. For example Christ says, “ Love thy enemy”. Holy Prophet Muhammad used to do
chores of an old ailing woman who was deadly against Islam.
How
man would have felt rapture engrossed in the charming and captivating phenomena
of nature. These supreme moments in life
are the real essence and cream of life.
Both the scientists and the clergymen
have only robbed man of his most precious assets of life and thrown him
in the labyrinths of infinite discussions and quarrels. The endless discussions
against and in favour of religion and metaphysics only waylay the living heart
of man and robs of the invisible wealth of life that lies within.
The
wasteful discussion on a shameful topic “ Padded Bras” is enough to prove that the clergy of
today is quite indifferent and insensitive to the problems the country is
facing. The country is facing acutely the problems of load shedding,
unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, corruption and nepotism. The anarchy, target killing and suicidal
explosion is rampant in the country, and our Council of Islamic Ideology which
is the highest forum to represent the values and significance of Islam is
heavily engaged teaching ‘Islam’ to the Muslim women, especially the young
girls. The valuable and the most important message to the Muslim girls is given
below :-
“Padded Bras are Devil’s Cushions” says Council of Islamic Ideology
|
Lahore-- The
Council of Islamic Ideology met last night as scheduled in light of the
protests held last month by JUI and other religious parties against the increasing
import and eventual use of padded and colorful bras. The Council also invited
shop owners who were in the business of importing and selling female underwear.
The Council advised the shop owners to bring lingerie samples, so that the
council could see about what the protesters were angry.
Last month the protesters gathered outside an outlet inside
Park Towers and occupied the entire floor and chanted slogans against padded
bras. They asked the government to put a ban on the import and sale of padded,
vibrant, colorful bras and demanded legislation that would outlaw the purchase
of any underwear that is not white or beige colored.
“Padded bras are evil as they make the breasts look bigger and perky”, said one of the protesters. “Only devil women show off private parts. Muslim women should be as humble about them as they can. In fact they should be ashamed of their breasts, both of them.” Another protester said that the purpose of underwear is not to accentuate the curves. “…especially of a woman’s body the breast should not look like they belong to a non-virgin even if she happens to be married.” he added.
“Those lacy bras? They are an abomination! Do you even know how they’re made? They’re made in China by underfed and underpaid children. That’s how they’re made.” said a placard that was held by a protester. They chanted slogans as the Mall security stood and watched helplessly while three female customers and two employees locked themselves inside the store. The third employee of the store who was on a break before the protest began, joined the protesters and was cheered up on by the crowd after she announced, “I will not wear these sinful, men-attracting padded bras that make my jugs look juicy.” She then ripped out her bra and threw it on the ground where the protesters stomped on it repeatedly. She was later thrown anabaya by someone in the crowd.
After the meeting of the Council was over, the recommendation was released to the media that says, “Padded bras are Devil’s cushions and he likes to rest of them. The Council of Islamic Ideology is recommending that Pakistani Muslim researchers should try to invent a bra that makes the female chest area unnoticeable.”
Zakir Naik, one of the leading Islamic scholars commented on the situation that if the Pakistani government approves of the funding grant for this research and if Pakistan is successful at making such a bra that makes the chest of women unnoticeable, Pakistan might become the biggest exporter for Shariah compliant underwear. He said that he’d personally sign and send the first of these Shariah-bra to Veena Malik and Ali Saleem.
“Padded bras are evil as they make the breasts look bigger and perky”, said one of the protesters. “Only devil women show off private parts. Muslim women should be as humble about them as they can. In fact they should be ashamed of their breasts, both of them.” Another protester said that the purpose of underwear is not to accentuate the curves. “…especially of a woman’s body the breast should not look like they belong to a non-virgin even if she happens to be married.” he added.
“Those lacy bras? They are an abomination! Do you even know how they’re made? They’re made in China by underfed and underpaid children. That’s how they’re made.” said a placard that was held by a protester. They chanted slogans as the Mall security stood and watched helplessly while three female customers and two employees locked themselves inside the store. The third employee of the store who was on a break before the protest began, joined the protesters and was cheered up on by the crowd after she announced, “I will not wear these sinful, men-attracting padded bras that make my jugs look juicy.” She then ripped out her bra and threw it on the ground where the protesters stomped on it repeatedly. She was later thrown anabaya by someone in the crowd.
After the meeting of the Council was over, the recommendation was released to the media that says, “Padded bras are Devil’s cushions and he likes to rest of them. The Council of Islamic Ideology is recommending that Pakistani Muslim researchers should try to invent a bra that makes the female chest area unnoticeable.”
Zakir Naik, one of the leading Islamic scholars commented on the situation that if the Pakistani government approves of the funding grant for this research and if Pakistan is successful at making such a bra that makes the chest of women unnoticeable, Pakistan might become the biggest exporter for Shariah compliant underwear. He said that he’d personally sign and send the first of these Shariah-bra to Veena Malik and Ali Saleem.
I feel shamed to read such disparaging and offensive
discussion , argument and counter arguments in favour and against the
proposition. The decision of the worthy council Padded
Bras are Devil’s Cushions is most flagrant against the respectfulness of
the fair sex. The Mullahs should think
hundred times before giving such
shameful verdict. Zakir Nail who
claims to be a true representative of the Muslim thought at the
international platform is also revealed .
Impressions
To the best of my
knowledge and experience I can say without any fear of contradiction that our
religious scholars are ignorant of the modern knowledge and inventions. Their learning and grooming has been done in
the environment where the luminosity of the modern knowledge and technology is
not allowed to sneak a look in it. They are spiritually intoxicated and are
fascinated by the Idea of Paradise [ reward] and fearful from the idea of Hell
{punishment}.
Narcissism has also
affected their behaviour strongly. They are not corrigible by teaching or
preaching the ground realities, because they do not live in this world. This world is a threshold for them for the
eternal world after life of this world. The recent suicidal bomb blasting are
flagrant examples that they are brain washed creatures. However time is a great healer, and with the
spread of scientific knowledge the next generations will certainly find the
world with more objective eyes.
It is my considered
opinion that these ignorant Maul’vis consciously or unconsciously exploit the
hostile conditions against the rights of women and distort them in favour of
male sex. For example after and before the dawn of Islam women were thought to be
sub-human creatures. The system of keeping 4 wives and countless keeps and the
practice of slavery were so prevalent that that were impossible to exile them
altogether from the fold of Islam. The
Holy Prophet gave all possible emphasis to discourage both of these plagues. With the passage of time under the
thoroughly changed circumstances these maladies should have been swept away in
the embrace of Islamic jurisdiction, but for ignorance and the wish
of our clerics to live in the Middle Ages,
these problems are still unsolved in Islamic world.
In this connexion I feel
anguished to quote the antagonistic attitude towards delicate sex of Maulana
Ashraf Thavi ‘s famous book ‘Behisti Zawar {P.235}
“ If a
wife refuses for three times to extinguish the sexual fire of her husband for
any reasons, the angels start condemning the wife till dawn. This refers to two things,
1.
The
justification of the inhuman behaviour of a man towards delicate sex.
2.
The respect of a woman in ignorant clerics
heart.
How disgusting these
thoughts are of a famous religious scholar.
A very sacred and important duty is assigned to angels is v. fantastic.
Mysterious impact of nature on man.
The primitive man was very simple. He lived on main instincts only such as
hunger, thirst, sex and self-preservation.
As time rolled on, he became more and more sophisticated. It is a common phenomenon that Nature does
not distribute its gifts equally among its tributaries. We find small, big and very big apples on the
same tree and even on the same branch of the same tree. How it happens. It is very mysterious process. Somehow or the other the big ones receive
more food and enjoy more suitable circumstances, such as sunlight, shadow
etc. Similar is the case with man. Some men are born weak physically and
mentally while other are born strong both physically and mentally. All great
men: spiritual leaders, scientists and
artists are born stronger than the
others. It is common observation that the
weight of body/ brain of born babies are sometimes very much different. Further
Genetics and circumstances are the main features in moulding and shaping a man
personality and physique.
These great men can be classified into scientists,
artists and moralists. In this classification the necessity of the
time plays a great role. If we cast our gaze
on the world history we very easily find there in the world great men according
to the need of that country. The
greatest examples can be quoted of Arabia and Greece. There was great need of a
mighty man to reform and build a good society by removing the evils from the society
and further to inject a new blood to make it violable and energetic. We find the result of it. Thus when the whole
of Arabia was groaning under the oppression and torture, injustice and cruelty,
vice and superstitions Muhammad the great (Sm) appeared as a morning star on
the dark horizon of the Arabs and illuminated the whole world with his great
zeal, devotion and the strength of his character. His strength of moral and
intellectual character made miracles never seen by the human race before the birth
of this unique personality.
Similarly we find Socrates Plato, Aristotle, Zeno and so many other
philosophers, physicians and scientists in the Greek society before the Birth
of Christ. The Greeks and Romans were at
that time much advanced in science and arts, and therefore their land produced
scientists and philosophers and not spiritual leaders that the land of Arabs
and sub-continent produced.
The big men have deeper perception and conception
of the natural phenomena. They conceive
and perceive things differently from common men, and their every action became
miracle for common men.
Here under are given for study and judgment of a
keen student of Psychology, Mr. Ijaz, on
my views,
“Mysterious impact of Nature on Man”
Date:Tue,5Apr201117:15:48-0700
From:ijaz_shahid@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Regards..NATUREANDMAN
To:shakespearebutt@yahoo.com;arshad45@yahoo.com
Dear Butt sahib.
From:ijaz_shahid@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Regards..NATUREANDMAN
To:shakespearebutt@yahoo.com;arshad45@yahoo.com
Dear Butt sahib.
I am a humble student of psychology based
on the new discoveries of natural sciences, especially of biology. you
have made an analogy between the variant sizes of apples of one tree and the
difference among the qualities of human beings. Though This is a vast
subject and always needs more research but things are no more
mysterious as you see them, especially new discoveries in genetics and DNA help
us to make some substantial conclusion . a simple analogy of different
sizes of apples of a tree would perhaps not explain the complex
phenomenon of degree of difference of talents between different members of specie
called humankind.
Though the barbarian man lived a simple life
on the instincts but not differently as we live on them today, animals live also on the same instincts. This
is very important to see where evolution drew the line between mankind and the
animal kingdom. Unless this vital difference is earmarked, the whole phenomenon
of human development can’t be evaluated. Of course it was human brain
whose evolution brought the change. One faculty that brain gestated through
countless centuries was faculty of creativity. A faculty that empowered
him to change his environment and
surroundings. The best of
‘mental’ activity that animals do is the adaptations to live according to their
available natural and bodily resources. They can’t change their natural
environment to their instinctive needs. With this prime quality of human brain,
man was no more left for his existence and survival merely on the vagaries of
nature and his surroundings. All sophistication of life that we enjoy today
owes to this faculty; to be able to change
the environment. Creativity contributed towards the better means of
gratification of these instincts. Our barbarian ancestors and we are
equal as the centre of all our activities are the satisfaction of our
four instincts; hunger, sex, self-preservation/survival and
leisure/enjoyment. All indicators of human development and
sophistication, without exception are meant for direct , subsidiary or
indirect gratification of these human[ animal] instincts. [I try to define
instinct in a simple way; an instinct is an inner drive that takes the control
of body [bodily resources i.e. organs] for its satisfaction without any
external guidance or knowledge. The method of gratification needs not to be
taught. As an infant needs not to be told, how to lick the mother’s nipple or
which are the hands that ferry the message of safety and comfort. And to
tell him what will make him, laugh, sooth and smile. [an example of
three instincts; hunger, security and leisure]. Similarly at a certain
age [different for different people] the instinct of sex take the control of
body without being told or taught to get attracted to the object of his
satisfaction.
My question is, is the development or
‘sophistication’ of human life because of which we strut on the earth ,as
better than animals, owes to those few individuals, as you cited, that
contributed to one specific field of human knowledge? My answer is no. you look
around and take any man-made thing , a ball-point or computer, is not an effort
of any individual. Millions of peoples sided with this achievement. Nobody
knows who, and how many anonymous men contributed to it, with their creative
faculty , howsoever small it looked at their times. we don’t even know the
names of scientists who with their creative faculty made changes to make
a simple calculating machine to present day’s the- most- sophisticated-
gadget called computer.
Butt sahib. This, the fraternity of
scientists [you named none of them in your list of great people] is solely
responsible, from the creation of wheel or any improvement to the billions of
modern things in all field of human use. If you want to give any credit, it
goes to these common, countless peoples who were ordinary in all respects but
great as they were humans. by virtue of being human every member of specie is
endowed through evolution with this creative faculty but unfortunately our
knowledge of ‘man’ is lacking to recognize its presence. Simply because we don’t see every man to show up this
potential. The answer is simple .most of us are not fortunate enough to have
access, exposure or chance to our specific and unique arena of creativity.
Majority of us even don’t and can ‘t know, under the urgency of bread and
butter and social obligations, what the real potential we have. We seem to have
been born for pursuing blindfold gratification of our immediate mundane
desires , perhaps contributing and making use of a shred of our creativity in
entire of our life span. Rarely lady luck knocks at the threshold of
some ordinary peoples to put them in their arena of taste and passion for
which their brain were wired genetically and then they were acknowledged great
people with their miraculous achievements. Have we had exposure to our
passions and tastes and conducive environments, what miracle would have
not been performed by us , the ordinary people.
Let us wait for the time when like other human
rights, presence of unique potential and creativity is acknowledge in every
human as the basic one and I am sure the
phenomenon of great people would not remain a mystery any more. just imagine if
this right is accepted as basic right, like others and we evolved a strategy to
exploit it in every human being [the ordinary people] the leaps of
human development would know no bounds .
The grand built of human society is not limited
or based on men of letters or intellect . it has its roots on
billions of creative men who contributed in the field of science, changing the
material world around them, the only demarcation, between human and animal
kingdom. Science is a continuous process, while the best of philosophy of any
time becomes reservoir of stagnant ideas. All scientists base their work on the
already known knowledge of earlier scientists. So works of every scientist
is proved an added brick to the construct of edifice of human development.
But Butt sahib , I am sorry to argue that
all philosophers, with the exception of Marx in one way only, who acknowledged
that his ideas would be irrelevant one day, everyone was captive of his
eccentric dispositions, declaring them to be final for all times, for all
humanity. They understood the world with their limited perspective of unique
and individual selves bounded by their peculiar social conditions. That
is why we have hardly two philosophers agreed on solutions of any question.
Their solution starts and ends considering themselves as the centre of the
universe. Their peculiar natures made them different even with their teachers.
The different interpretations of one theory by different school of thoughts is
not some divine revelations or strength of logic but an indications of specific
nature and interests of that individual at his times . Those who gathered power
wreaked havoc on humanity to assert their philosophies declaring
themselves the holders of ultimate realities. What else is history of mankind
but the wars and disasters in the name of ‘ the best philosophy for the sake of
humanity’; disguising the mundane interests [plundering the resources for their
instincts]. To me the relevancy of these philosophers was well defined by
Bertrand Russell in his biography;
‘’ In his last years he spent much of his leisure
in writing a book on philosophy…’’
‘’Philosophy seemed to me great fun, and I
enjoyed the curious ways of conceiving the world that great philosophers offer
to the imagination’’
‘’I take refuge in intellectual activity, which
has always been the nature of a dissipation and opiate to me’’.
We all have our own moments of leisure and
enjoyment. To find these moments in literary or philosophic readings or
discussions is great way to have it, like the men of letters had it
but suggesting human development indebted to these philosophers is another
thing.
One can be a creative philosopher if like
scientists he can raise himself above his biases and ego, beyond his liking and
disliking for certain groups or communities. A scientist’s work is always for
the benefit of all mankind. And scientific philosophy is that , that does not
divide humankind in compartments of any sort i.e races, religions, classes or
groups….it is meant to understand and solve the problems of mankind…taking them
as one unity……as the science does; through scientific thinking
[Ijaz]
Mr. Ijaz’s comments on my article “The Impact of
Nature on Man” are illuminating and comprehensive. But he has ignored completely the importance
of men of great potentials and gave altogether emphasis on the collective
endevaours to build the social norms and zeitgeist of the society in a certain
epoch. I admit the collective efforts of
humans are paramount in shaping and reshaping the culture and civilization of a
people. But the importance and
contribution of the great figures of the history cannot be ignored
completely.
There is only one Ram in the history of India.
There is only one Buddha to desire a society :
Classless, Casteless and Godless.
There is only one Muhammad who changed the living
and thinking style of the inhabitants of Arab Peninsula and left deep imprints
on the modern civilization.
There is only one Newton.
There is only one Einstein who explored the
theory of Relativity.
There is only on Galileo.
Etc etc
Hence we can say without any fear of
contradiction that nature produced great intellects to change the present
atmosphere because nature is dynamic.
Both the collective efforts of the common men and the individuals combined together have made the present
civilization, and we cannot ignore one for the other.
The incentive for virtue
is vital with reference to evil and virtue :
The majority of religions to promote the incentive for
virtuous life create fear of God and temptation of luxurious life after death.
This strategy might be workable for the ancient man, the awareness of the man
of today is so cultivated that such negative expedients and temptations have no
impact on him. We cannot erect edifice of permanent moral values on the basis
of fear and greed. Fear kills the capabilities of man to think correctly and
leads man to the path of hypocrisy. Fear
and hypocrisy impel such people to adopt
double standard in their lives. This is the reason that most of the believers
only give lips service to their faith and in normal life they do as the
circumstances demand them for their personal benefits. Another result of fear
and greed is that the people begin to hoodwink their own creeds. They give more stress on the aspects of
religion which are more convenient and profits yielding. They believe that they are exempted from the
fear of God after worshipping Him and performing some religious rituals and
reserve their rights for luxurious life in heaven. It is a common phenomenon
that in the name of sacredness of a religion many pleasing myths have been knitted which the believers accept them as truths
without any testimony, inquiry, and impartial analysis. In such situation who care to test these
stories of the past. In the name of religion,
therefore, fake, based on ignorance stories that grimace the wisdom and
awareness are presented in such a way that even the educated people sometimes
accept these fabrications as truths because there is no liberty to object to
any traditions and practices of the
religion. In this context it is strange when there is a problem between two groups of believers , they get support of
logic and reason to defeat the standpoint of the other but in reference to
their own faith they ban logic and reason to enter the discussion as these are
‘forbidden tree’.
The family tree of the failing is that the relation between
God and man has became commercial as the result of greed and fear. It is
evident that the objectives of prayers is not to become pious and righteous but
to collect ‘ virtues and good deeds’ so
that these may be cashed for luxuries of life after death. The pious relation of love and closeness between God and man which springs from core of the heart becomes shallow and mechanical when tinged with the
philosophy of paradise and hell. The real passion behind the prayers should be love and not fear. Fear only takes place when we fail to
understand fear- inspiring thing. And
when you understand it, the fear flies away itself, and a new relation of
comprehension begins. To make God a
bugbear and distributor of reward and punishment is neither convincing nor desirable. On this subject the advice of Rabia Busri’s
approach is appropriable and appealing :
“ One day, she was running through the streets of Basra
carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. When asked
what she was doing, she said," I want to put out the fires of Hell, and
burn down the rewards of Paradise. They block the way to God. I do not want to
worship from fear of punishment or for the promise of reward, but simply for
the love of God."
The Decline and Fall
of Muslim World.
There are so many causes for the decline and fall of Muslim
world. Here under are given the most
outstanding that caused the decline and
fall of the most imposing edifice of the Muslim World.
[a] The
generosity and fair mindedness of Abdul Mutalib won for him an undisputed
position among the Quraysh who recognized his over lordship. Bin Harb, the
son of Umayyad, refused to accept his
supremacy. The decision of the judges
again went against him as it did in the case of his father. Thus, there sprang
up a jealousy :
[b] Old
Rivalry between the most prominent dynasties : Omayyad and Hash mites.
[c] The great tragedy of Imam Hussein.
[d] Transferring of state authority to one or
the other dynasty : the end of relationship
of the state authority and the public,
[e] The religious leaders became engaged in
most non serious discussion such as
whether Ablution dhela should move from
the bottom to top or top to bottom.
[a]] The enmity between the Hash-mites
and Umayyads constituted one of the main causes for the fall of the
Khilafat. The tribal jealousy and
rivalry existed even before the birth of Muhammad[Sm]. But the teachings of the great Prophet kept
them in check. Abu Bakr and Umar did not
belong to any of the parties and as they were engaged in wars with the foreign
powers, the tribal jealousy could not raise its head. But the peaceful reign of Uthman allowed the
dormant rivalry to raise its head. When
the Umayyad supremacy under Uthman was going to be established, the Hash mites
could not tolerate. They tried to undo
the influence of Umayyads in the empire.
With this end in view, they sided with the enemies of Uthman. Had the Hash mites and Umayyads been united
at that critical time, the Arab faction which challenged the authority of
Uthman would have been crushed. But the
enmity between the two had encouraged the enemy and was ultimately responsible
for the murder of the Khalipha. With the
assassination of Khalipha, the unity of Islam was lost and the gates of civil
were opened.
[b] Murder of Imam Hussein
in at Karbala was a great tragedy and it created an unbridgeable gulf between
the Muslim Millet. Whole the nation was so sunk in the sea of religious
quibbles and indifference to the defence of the boundaries that when Baghdad was under attack of the
Mongols, religious leaders were engaged in the most frivolous discussion whether the ablution dhela should move from
bottom to top or top to bottom. ‘ It is
just fiddling of Nero the emperor of Roman when the Roman was burning into
ashes.’
2. Narcissism and superiority complex
“The malady I,e. narcissism is
civilizational because the thought process of Muslim society everywhere is
based on certain misconceptions. For
example, the imperialistic impulse to rule the world is not just visible in the
subcontinent; it was felt in the earliest parts of Islam, in the first period
of caliphate, when it was given out to the world that we are the best people,
ordained by divine authority, to rule the world.
There are the two basic concepts of identity
that the Muslim civilization preached to its believers----the tribal and the
Ummah identity. These two identities do
not allow for an analytical or critical thought process. It was the intention of the rulers who
conquered the world to keep people less informed and less critical. And
therefore the tribal authoritative tradition became the Ummah tradition
in which there is no questioning of the elders or rulers or superiors. In such a sate, naturally, narcissisms sets in. The
subjugation of mind allows a certain pride to compensate for intellect. The rulers as well as the public are made to
believe that they are superior, they need not think or question their identity
and should go on aspiring for a world empire as a civilization. This civilization as a whole, ideological as
it was, believed that it was very superior, had a right to rule the world, had
a duty to wage war whenever there was an opportunity. Unfortunately, in the present day world there
is little opportunity and we do not understand that. We are in the habit of thinking that the
world is ready to be conquered.”
Allama Iqbal Views. [ Sufism]
The rise and growth
of ascetic Sufism, which gradually developed under influences of a non-Islamic
character, a purely speculative side, is to a large extent responsible for this
attitude. On its purely religious side
Sufism fostered a kind of revolt against
the verbal quibbles of our early doctors.
The case of Sufyan Sauru is an instance in point. He was one of the acutest legal minds of his
time, and was nearly the founder of a school of law; but being also intensely
spiritual, the dry-as-dust subtleties of contemporary legists drove him to
ascetic Sufism. On its speculative side which developed latter, Sufism is a
form of free thought in alliance with Rationalism. The emphasis that it laid on distinction
of zahir and batin [ Appearance and
Reality ] created an attitude of indifference to all that applies to Appearance
Reality]
This spirit of total other-worldliness in latter Sufism
obscured men’s vision of a very important aspect of Islam as a social polity ,
and offering the prospect of unrestrained thought on its speculative side it
attracted and finally absorbed the best minds in Islam. The Muslim state was thus left generally in
the hands of intellectual mediocrities, and the unthinking masses of Islam,
having no personalities of higher caliber to guide them, found their security
only in blindly following the schools.
On the top of all this came the destruction of Baghdad – the
centre of Muslim intellectual life—in the middle of the 13th
century. This was indeed a great blow,
and all the contemporary historians of the invasion of Tartars describe the
havoc of Baghdad with a half suppressed pessimism about the future of Islam. For fear of further disintegration, which is
only natural in such a period of political decay, the conservative thinkers of
the Islam focused all their efforts on the one point of preserving a uniform
social life for the people by a jealous exclusion of all innovations in the law
and Shari’at as expounded by the early doctors of Islam. Their leading idea was social order, and
there is no doubt that they were partly
right, because organization does to a certain extent counteract the forces of
decay. But they did not see, and our
modern Ulema do not see, that the ultimate fate of a people does not depend so
much on organization as on the worth and power of individual men. In an over-organized society the individual
is altogether crushed out of existence.
He gains the whole wealth of social thought around him and loses his own
soul. Thus a false reverence for the
past history and its artificial resurrection constitute no remedy for a
people’s decay. “ [Reconstruction of religious thought in Islam
]
Muslims of today in
vies of S. Abul A’la Maududi:
“ The Quran came to grant them dignity and
power. It came to make them real vicegerents
of God on the earth. And history testified that when they acted
according to its directions, it demonstrated its power making them Imams and
leaders of the world. But now for them
its utility is confined to keeping it in the house in order to drive away
demons and ghosts, to inscribe its verses on paper and hang it round the neck
or wash it in water and drink it, and read the contents unintelligibly to get
some blessing. Now they do not seek
guidance from it in the affairs of their life.
They do not consult it to know what should be our beliefs, what
should be our deeds, how should
we conduct transactions,
what law should we follow in contracting
friendship and making enmity, what are the rights on us of our fellow-beings
and of our own selves, what is truth for us and what is falsehood, whom should we obey and whom to disobey, with
whom should we maintain relation and
with whom not, who is our friend and who is our enemy, wherein
are honour, well-being and benefit for us and wherein lies disgrace, failure and loss? Muslims have given up ascertaining all these
verities from the Quran. Now they ask
these things from unbelievers, polytheists, misguided and selfish people and
from the evil force in their souls, and follow what these elements advise. Therefore what invariably happens on ignoring
God and following the precepts of others, happened to them too, and they are
reaping it today in Hindustan, China, Java, Palestine, Syria, Algeria, Morocco
and everywhere”. {Fundamentals of Islam P.No.17-18}.
The awareness about the
world scenario of the clergymen is faithfully mirrored in the Munir Report. Not
to speak of the common Muslim scholar, even the extinguished thinkers of Islam
project a gruesome picture of Islam:-
“ A telling comment was
made by Maulana Maudoodi who, when asked whether he would permit Hindus to base
their constitution their own religion replied : “ Certainly I should have no
objection even if the Muslims of India are treated in that form of government
as Shudras and Malishes and Manu’s laws are applied on them, depriving them of
all share in the government and the rights of citizens”.
The Ulema questioned by
the Munir committee were not even able to define a Muslim, which judges to
observe. “ Keeping in view the several definitions of a Muslim given by the
Ulema, need we make any conclusion except that no two learned divines are
agreed on this fundamental?”.
The constitution of an
Islamic state has to e based on the Quran, but as early as 1952 the late A. K. Brohi,
wrote, “ It is not possible to derive from the text of the Quran a clear
statement as to the actual content of the constitution of any sate”. The Munir
Report concludes that “ the phantom of an Islamic state has haunted the
Musalman throughout the ages, and our politicians should understand that if
Divine commands cannot make or keep a man a Musalman, their statutes will not,
and not will an ‘Islamic state. “ This was also what Jinnah believed. { I.
Iftikhar Murshed – News-papers}
Every thought inherits its decay if not ‘reconstructed’ with
new knowledge. [tajad’did].
It is established that there is no such thing as finality in
philosophical thinking. As knowledge
advances and fresh avenues of thought are opened, other views, and certainly
sounder views than those prevalent
emerge to take the place of the
old. In philosophical language it may be
elaborated with the help of dialectics:
‘ it proceeds with a statement called thesis, the
imperfections of which are sought to be corrected through studying its
opposite, called the antithesis. A new
view is then proposed in which the best features of the thesis and the
antithesis are harmonized. This is known as the synthesis. This synthesis is further refined by
regarding it as another thesis, expounding its antithesis, and so on.
To further elucidate the point the help of Spenser would be
beneficial. He wrote ‘ that all organic
matter originates in an unified state and that individual characteristics
gradually develop through evolution. The evolutionary progression from simple
to more complex and diverse states was an important’ process of nature .
Therefore the thing which does not fall in the domain of human’s comprehension
at present will certainly become understandable through the process of evolution.
Impressions
It is regrettable to find that Muslim world is reluctant to
learn any lesson from the history of the Europe. They like to live in the ‘ Middle Ages’ and
conveniently ignore the earth shaking changes that science and technology are bringing
in the life of humans. They are not
going to innovation in any field of life. They even are not giving attention to
the thinker of Islam, Allama Iqbal who advised the Muslim to “ reconstruct “ ‘
their religious thought’. The
conservatives do not believe in the adoption and adjustment with the changed
circumstance. For them time is stagnant in nature, and all events are destined
to surface in a fixed time. All the
movements to ‘ reconstruct ‘religious thought in Islam’ miserably failed owing
to the obduracy of the clerics who wished to remain in the of Middle Ages
because it was the glorious period of Islam. It is romantic,
essentially backward looking and a menace only when it embarks on disseminating
sectarian antagonistic emotions. The
nations that delay in adopting the new circumstances lag behind.
The study of Islamic history shows that
up to 10th century the religion of Islam remained strong and forceful in all
fields of life. It produced scholars, technicians and scientists. They loved to
get more awareness and explore new avenues of knowledge. The potentials and dynamism of the Muslim
world were strong and robust so far. But gradually with the passage of time
these virtues began to wear and tear away.
It is unfortunate that the ascendancy of the trite rituals and hackneyed
traditions over passion for the service of mankind and the thirst for more
knowledge in all fields of life which were considered in the early days of
Islam the pearls of the religion were smashed into smithereens by the forceful
muscles of the Mullahs.
Philips Hitti eulogized the achievements of the Muslim Spain by
explaining the glory of the Capital
city: “ It enjoyed miles of paved streets illuminated by lights from the
bordering houses, whereas “ seven hundred years after this time there was not
so much as one public lamp in London,” and “ in Paris, centuries subsequently,
whoever stepped over his threshold on a rainy day stepped up to his ankles in
mud”. Whenever the rulers of Leon, Navarre or Barcelona need a surgeon, an
architect, a master singer, or a dress-maker, it was to Cordova that they
applied. The fame of the Muslim capital
penetrated to the distant Germany, where a Saxon nun styled it “the jewel of
the world”.
But with the passage of time the vitality
of the religion began to sink into the abyss of oblivion because of the
persistent denial of our religious scholars to adjust themselves in the changed
circumstances. They refused to accept the significance of the new horizons of
knowledge opened by science. They even do not feel hesitant to evince their
intensive repulsion for the modern technology and knowledge because they think
that these efforts of scientists are a direct interference in the sovereignty
of God. They are ever ready to issue religious verdicts against every new
thing. Their verdicts against Loudspeaker, Watches of all kinds wearing of tie
etc are a part of our history.
Allama Iqbal
Iqbal in my view :- Allama Iqbal is neither a genuine poet nor a
genuine philosopher but a genuine preacher of the Muslim World.
Definition of a poet:- “A Writer of poems”.
Definition of a poem: “A piece of creative writing
in verse, esp. one expressing deep feelings or noble thoughts in beautiful
language, written with the intention of communicating an experience”.
[Oxford Learner’s Encyclopedic Dictionary] The
stress is on “ creative.”
A poet is an artist who creates something new with
the help of words and phrases.
Before commenting further on his poetry, it is well
advised to see the true nature of poetry and other forms of art. It is admitted fact that all great literature
should be essentially based upon ethical views.
But at the same time it is also true that the artist should not be
deliberately didactic or blatantly ethical.
Further to elucidate : the cult of art for art’s sake cannot hold
water. The purpose of art is aesthetic,
but the effect is moral in the true sense.
Although literature does not aim at making us moral, it profoundly
influences our moral nature because it quickens our capacity to realize the
hopes and sorrows of our fellowmen as intimately and poignantly as we do our
own. By sharpening our finer sensibilities
it changes the entire orientation and character of our lives. The imaginative, emotional and moral aspects
of our life are closely connected not only with one another, but with our ways
of reflecting upon life. Our self ought
to be an integrated whole. The
renovating power of literature lies in its being able to move and transform our
entire nature. The literature of the
highest order frees us from torpor and hardened prejudices, rouses our finer
emotions and sensibilities, and dilates our imagination by endowing us with the
power of getting beneath the skin of others.
The moral needs not be a life limited by codes or conduct. It is a life that creates its code of conduct
as it moves towards progress and perfection.
The end of poetic art is not to preach but to give
aesthetic pleasure. There is the other
side of the picture of art which is based upon the concept of morality. We do not mean a system of metaphysics. In the artist’s region, we find no doctrine
or injunction. Art helps us with
motives, not by indoctrination. The
artist conveys the tone and philosophy of our life rather than the systematic
logic contained in the book of philosophy.
He does not preach directly. He
does not argue and discuss; he simply reveals the facts and exalts them by his
magnetic ego. Further morality in art is
different from dogmatic religion. In
dogmatic religion all questions are directly answered and all doubts are
endeavoured to be removed. The term morality in art does not connote
didacticism, a teacher, a preacher, in the real sense of the word. In fact he is a creator, revealer and an
exhibitor. He has the creative bent of
mind which can approach truth through its joy, in creative effort. In other
words, the artist does not force the reader to particular dogmas. The reader
may accept his cult by the spell of his personality which indirectly convey the
deepest and profoundest thought of humanity. But the artist is not like an
escapist to shirk humanity He repeats,
arranges and he clarifies the lessons of life.
He disengages us from our experiences and show us the rich realities of life to lead us to the path of
eternity. According to Stevenson, a
piece of art is “ not as we can see it
for ourselves but with a singular change—that monstrous consuming ego of ours,
being, for the none, struck out” In other words, the artist’s morality is not
ready made. Chesterton feels that the
bad fable has a moral, while the good fable is moral. In this manner, we can differentiate between
Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Pope’s Essays on Man.
While the former is moral, the latter has a moral. It is now quite apparent that morality in art
does not imply a systematized metaphysics or logic of dogmatic religion or
didacticism. Hence morality in art means an insight into the reality, into the
mystery of life and into the divine essence.
And in this sense that all great art is moral and all great artists are
moralists. And in this sense that Goethe, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Milton,
Virgil, Wordsworth, Keats, Tolstoy, Minto, Parveen Shakar and Mir Taki Mir, Ghalib
are moralists. Iqbal does not come up to this standard
because he sings the virtues and excellences of a certain faith, creeds with
the dearth of the deepest and profoundest though of humanity, when a genuine
artist is the property of mankind. We do not hear the “sad music of humanity”
in Iqbal’s poetic art.
In the vision of the above cited discussion, I do believe that Allama Iqbal is a
tremendous genius of his time. He has
deep understanding of Eastern and Western knowledge. Perhaps he is the solitary example of his
time in which a Muslim scholar have
Eastern and Western knowledge and used it successfully. At the same time I painfully admit
philosophy, science and poetic art demand free inquiry, independent from all
sorts of prejudices of faiths, convictions, creeds , likes and dislikes. Free and unbiased investigation in search of
truth whether it is physical or psychological is considered the pre-requisite,
and without it, any struggle to find truth, in the language of science and
philosophy is false and therefore unreliable.
Though it is painful, yet it is factual that if Iqbal’s works is
fathomed by this yardstick, he is neither a poet nor a thinker because both
poetry and philosophy require free
flight, not tinged and hued with personal trends. Of course he has written beautiful musical
compositions in Urdu and Persian. His
supporters feel anguished to find him on most occasions landed in the land of a
certain faith and trite conventions and traditions. He has blind faith and ruthless devotion to
some thoughts founded on divine authorities quite against physical and
psychological truths discovered recently by the great figures in the domain of
science, philosophy and humanities. He
was born a Muslim, remained a Muslim throughout his life and died a Muslim,
though like Milton who in his famous book “Paradise Lost” sometimes
strayed from his favourite trodden path:
“Iqbal is of
the opinion that the object of his faith is the implementation of a balanced
social order based on fundamental human rights which ensures that no one can
exploit another. It is precisely for
this reason he rejects both Capitalism and Communism as extremist viewpoints
and endeavours to achieve the ideals of equality, brotherhood and justice,
through the Quranic social order i.e., Iqtisad (moderation) of the Welfare
State of the Middle Class”. ( Javid Iqbal’s Ideology of Pakistan).
The opinion and advice in connexion with the
Communism and Capitalism is visible in the following extract from his famous
lecture he delivered in his address to All Indian Muslim Conference.
“The Faith which you represent recognizes the worth
of the individual and disciplines him to give away his all to the service of
God and Man. Its possibilities are not
yet exhausted. It can still create a new
world where the social rank of Man is
not determined by the caste or colour or the amount of dividend he earns, but
by the kind of life he lives; where the poor tax the rich, where human society
is founded not on the equality of stomach, but on the equality of spirits,
where an untouchable can marry the daughter of a king, where private ownership
is trust, and where capital cannot be allowed to accumulate so as to dominate
the real producer of wealth”.
“But one may asks : Who does not know that
according to Shari’at the rights of a Christian subject are other than those of
a Muslim, or those of a slave other than those of a free man, that women as
witnesses must be two instead of one man etc”.
( Annemarie Schimmel).
Iqbal’s Narcissism and Chauvinism.
Taking into consideration that a poet is the property
of mankind, and not an asset of a section of humanity, Iqbal shocked the lovers
of poetry by soaking and tingeing his poetic talents in the cauldron of a
particular philosophy. More regretful aspect of his poetry is that it became
the medium of Chauvinism and Narcissism in the place altruistic passion.
Sheen is a
symbol of a Muslim having perfect faith in God} : Superman in the language of
Nietzsche and Mar’d-e mo’mun in the language of Iqbal. We find a flagrant
Chauvinism in the verse cited above. This is regrettable in the world where
there is hue and cry for the equality and freedom for every man without the
distinction of race, religion and coulour. It becomes more undesirable when we
see a black man the President of America, the most powerful country of the
world is elected by the citizens of America believing equal political and civil
rights for every person without any distinction of religion, race or
colour.
Narcissism
Read:“O
Lord! These bondsmen have set out in Your path for Jihad. They are the seekers of Your good
pleasure. They are mysterious as well as
the keepers of mystery. Their true
state and position
is known only to You. You have taught
them high-mindedness and, now, they will not settle for less than
world-leadership and Divine Rule. These proud men listen or yield to no one.
Save them.”
Revive, once again, in the heart of the
Momin,
The lightning that was in the prayer of
‘Leave Not’
Wake up ambition in the breasts, O,
Lord!
Transform, the glance of the Momin
Into a sword.
In his epic poem Tariq Ki Dua, Iqbal has heightened
the beauty of the Tariq’s prayer by adorning it with the rob of poetry. The
poem has read:
“ O Lord! These bondsmen have set out in Your path
for Jihad. They are the seekers of Your
good pleasure. They are mysterious as
well as the keepers of mystery. Their
true state and position is known only to
You have taught them high-mindedness and, now, they will not settle for
less than world-leadership and Divine Rule.
These proud men listen or yield no one. Save them
The unwholesome effect of Iqbal passion for the
revival of Islam through violence is conspicuous in the Osama Bin Ladhum and
his organization Al Qaida.
In the perspective of the facts and figures as
detailed above it can be concluded that either I a common reader could not understand
Iqbal or he is confused, vague and indefinite, rather self-contradictory.
Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the following period.
There is no doubt the greatness of a nation depends
upon its men, especially upon its heroes. “ Society is founded on hero-worship,
“ says Carlyle. The bright star of the
history of Pakistan is Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
It was the will of Allah that the physically weakling son of Poonjah
Jinnah would one day be the founder of Pakistan. He was born in Karachi on December 25, 1875.
After matriculation, he was sent to England for
higher studies. He distinguished himself
over there as a keen and upright student.
He qualified from the Lincoln’s as a brilliant Barrister. On his return to India he joined the Indian
National Congress. He was the ardent supporter of the Hindu-Muslim unity. But the narrow vision of certain Hindu
leaders disappointed him. He decided to
join the Muslim League after realizing the deep rooted prejudice against the
community of Muslims of some of the powerful congress leaders, among them the
most prominent is Petal .
He inspired the Muslims of India with his glorious
vision. He worked hard with unwavering determination for a separate homeland
for Muslims. The odds were against him. The Hindus, the British and a section of
Muslims who claimed the religious leaders of the depressed and repressed
community were hostile to him, They called
him Kafir and the Pakistan as Karfarsatan ( the land of infidels). Among them
the most prominent was Maulana Abul A’la Maududi the head of the Jama’tay
Islami. But his penetrating eye led him
to the right path, and he grappled with every problem. His aim was high. He soared like an eagle. He organized a Party. Muslims rallied round him. The hostile forces had to beat a retreat.
August 14, 1947, was the day of his triumph. Pakistan appeared on the map of the world. He
took oath of the office of the first Governor General of the new country. Muhammad Ali was the true Quaid-e-Azam in the
true sense of the word. His health had
been breaking down under a heavy pressure of work. He died in Karachi on
September 11, 1948. But founders and
heroes like him never die. Do they?
The most important
aspect of the State of Pakistan was clarified by Quaid Azam in his
famous presidential address to the Constituent Assembly:-
“ You are free; you are free to go to your temples,
you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this
State of Pakistan. You may belong to any
religion, or caste or creed—that has nothing to do with the business of the
State. We are starting with this
fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of a
state. Now, I think, we should keep that
in front of us as our ideal and you will
find that in the course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in
the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but
in the political sense as citizens of the State.”
It may be noted that this address was delivered in
the Constituent Assembly, Constitution making body, and not in a public address
in which most of the things are poured out for the public consumption. The place is most important, the situation is
most serious and the audience is consisting of the cream of the nation. Hence this speech may be taken as policy of
the newly born state of Pakistan. This
can rightly be taken as the nucleus and hub of the constitution of Pakistan
insinuated by the father of the nation.
The focus and
core of his address is:-
The State of Pakistan will not be a theocracy
because in theocratic states there are distinction of religion. The vision of the father of nation is to see
Pakistan immune from such diseases as racial, colour and religious prejudices.
He was born in an educated family, nurtured and
grown up in a modern society in a posh area of Karachi and groomed in the
Western culture to lead a nation that was depressed, illiterate bankrupt in
right thinking and Maulvi ridden badly. He firmly believed in humanism and
justice to ever body without any distinction of race, colour, caste and
religion. I do believe that his love of
freedom, betterment and prosperity of the public was dominant in his struggle
in creating a new country. Justice for every one irrespective of caste and
religion was embedded in his psyche. I
also do believe that he would have showed the same zeal and enthusiasm to free
any depressed, deprived and downtrodden community in India. That is why he agreed to leave the demand of
separation if the congress leaders would have been a little more liberal to
accept the demand of the Muslims to give them 33 percent representation in the
federation. But the stalwart leaders of
the congress refused to give that just and established concession to the
minority. It is my opinion that one of
the causes of the partition of the Sub-continent is the bigotry and prejudice
of some of the Hindu fanatics but powerful in the Congress. And Muhammad Ali Jinnah rightly understood
that the hegemony of the Hindu majority who was already more advanced and
active in every walk of life would certainly crush the Muslims minority which
is backward, ignorant and beset with the internally religious conflicts. He was
a humanist more than anything else. His
life style bespeaks his vision for Pakistan.
He desired Pakistan a modern welfare state.
No doubt there are some speeches of Quaid-e- Azam
that contain his announcements that the constitution of Pakistan will be
Islamic, and this contradicts with the policy statement delivered in the first
session of the constituent assembly of Pakistan. It probably implies that his announcements
delivered in Public meetings were chiefly for the public consumption. However if we suppose that he desired that
the new state of Pakistan would be an Islamic state, even then it is not
obligatory upon the citizens of this country to materialize his desire against
the demands of the time. Everywhere, and
all over the world there is a demand of secular philosophical systems in all
walks of life. Let us see this matter in the vision of his address in reply to
a question as to what would be the economic policy of Pakistan in an interview
to a representative of the foreign Press, on 8th November, 1945, he
said ;
“ You are asking me to interpret what the
Government will do. But personally I
believe that in these modern days essential key industries ought to be
controlled and managed by the State.
That applies also to certain public utilities. But what is a key industry and what is a
utility service are matters for the lawmakers to say, not for me”. In this
address the Quaid-i-Azam recommended to nationalize the key industries and ‘
certain’ public utilities.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1970 nationalized key industries, some utilities and we saw the complete
destruction in these departments. The
policy of industrialization of key industries and utilities proved a tragic
event for the health of Pakistan. Its
bad effects are still felt in every walk of life. It may be noted that the Quaid was not an
economist. He did his matriculation
and went to U.K. for studies of law.
No doubt he was intelligent, diligent and possessed all qualities of a
good lawyer and politician but it is fact he did not study economics and we
cannot take him an expert in economic policy for the betterment of the
country.. The living nations go with the march of time
and do not tread inevitably the path chosen by their ancestors. Every age has
its own requirements and we must adopt ourselves according to the circumstances
in order to make nation progressive and
country viable.
The best example
can be quoted of China.
In the mid fifties, the quotations of Moa Se Tung
were the best guidance for every citizen of China. People even copy the dress of their great
leader. Moa firmly believed in labour
and denied the importance of capital, because he thought that natural recourses
were the property of the nation. The
core point and vital strength of communism is the theory of surplus value which
totally denies the role of capital. And
the most attractive slogan of the socialists was “ to very body according to
his needs and from everybody according to his capacity”. Is it not true that these things have been
buried since long and the new generation had altogether banished the quotations
of their great leader to meet the requirements of the time. The sagacity of new leaders welcome the Western investment and the culture of the
West against the wishes and policy of
their great leader. They succeeded to
get prosperity and strength because they know the march of the world. Life is dynamic and we must be active to
accept the new demands of the changed circumstances.
But our leaders are beating the same drum and
sounding the same slogans; they are entangled in the labyrinth of so many
thoughts, religious and worldly. We
cannot see clearly our path of progress because we are prisoners of hackneyed
systems and time bared philosophy. Our
daily assignment is to recite the old glory and achievements of the Muslims of
Middle Ages. We are blind and deaf to see the wonders of science and hear the
call of future. We have altogether
forgotten that it is the age of computer and unbelievable changes have
occurred. We are still driving the horses of our ambitions. In this situation we should follow the path
carved by the developed nations without any mental reservations. The prosperity of the country is more
important than futile discussion
of Hoodooed Ordinance, Islamic Economy, Islamic Bank ,
Islamic Bomb, the defence of the boundaries of Ideology of the country
and Pakistan the fort of Islam. Such catchwords and strategy were designed and
tailored by a dictator on the advice of the fanatic religious leaders who were eager to wreak revenge on the
patriots who loved Pakistan more than
their lives. They exploited the
emotional attachment of the people with Islam and tried to impinge upon the
rights of women. The discussion on the
merits and demerits of equal rights of men and women is to soil the fair name
of mother, sister, wife and daughter.
It should be condemned strongly and the advisers of the dictator should
be punished for misleading the ignorant and tyrant, Zia.
Pakistan.
It is a
country situated in Southern Asia between India and Afghanistan, official
language Urdu; capital Islamabad; unit currency rupee. The border is
mountainous, and most of the population lives in the main agricultural region
in the valley of the Indus. Agriculture, esp rice and cotton growing is the main economic
activity. Pakistan became independent in 1947, originally as E and W Pakistan,
the two main Muslim areas of the Indian sub-continent. In 1971 East Pakistan became Bangladesh. At present
its population is 180 millions.
Is Pakistan a
Republic country?
Republic means ,
“ a ( country with a) system of
government in which supreme power is held not by a monarch but by the (elected
representatives of the ) people, with
elected President. [Oxford Adv. Ency.Dictionary]. The emphasis is that
the people or the representatives of the people of a country enjoy sovereignty.
The best example of it can be quoted of British Parliament. It is said, “
King in parliament can do each and every thing that is physical
possible.” Is our parliament sovereign : can
it make any legislation against the injunctions of Quran and Shari’at. No, it is fettered to do it. No law can be made by our parliament which is
repugnant to the injunctions of Islam or Sunnah of the Holy Prophet. The irony of the character of the parliament
of Pakistan is that “women rights” bill introduced by the Government is still
held in abeyance because of the strong opposition of the opposition parties which
consist of religious parties and some conservative members of the
parliament. Hence by these parameters
Pakistan is not a republic.
Moreover a democracy defined by Abraham Lincoln,
the 14th President of United States of America, is “ the government by the people, of the people and
for the people”. Is it not a fact that
since the birth of Pakistan, every parliament is greatly dominated by some
houses hailing from the family of big landlords of the country. Elections are
designed with the device of Hobson’s choice to attain the desired results. After three or four years there is a
rehearsal made of the same drama by the high profile ranks in the armed
forces.
Is Pakistan an
Islamic Country.
According to the claims of religious leaders, Islam teaches
us brotherhood, tolerance, compassion, good behaviour, the rights of neighborhood
and all other virtues that help build a good character. Does, with the exception of v. v. few, the
overwhelming majority of Muslims enjoy any characteristics of the above
mentioned virtues. The daily bomb blasts
in the places of worship of the other sect are being reported . The factories, in the Musjids and Ammam
Baras, are being established where the brains of the youth of Pakistan are
being washed to slaughter the leaders and followers of the other sect. Has Pakistan not become notorious for
producing saboteurs throughout the
world. The bomb blasts in any place of
the world is attributed to Pakistanis. The Ulema are
fighting like dogs over the religious quibbles.
The most high profile office representing the Islamic character, the
‘Islamic Council of Pakistan’ is over busied in making religious verdict
whether wearing Padded Bras is legal or illegal in an Islamic society. The
present scene of violence presents the pandemonium of Hell as described by John
Milton in his famous Book “ Paradise Lost. It seems that in Islamic country of
Pakistan Paradise [peace and harmony] has lost.
Everywhere there is terror of bomb blast in the name of religion. It is
all on account of designating the country as a Islamic country and the Fort of
Islam. The religious devotees, the most
distinguished among them are Talibans and Al, Qaida’s volunteers are right in a
way. They maintain that in an Islamic
country, the injunctions of Quran and the prevalence of Shari’at should be
secured and guaranteed. They desired to make Pakistan a second country of
Afghanistan in culture. They want to put it in the Middle Ages in its colour and character when the
glory of Islam was recognized. It is a
tragedy that the most modern man with a liberal vision, Muhammad Ali Jinnah,
carved a new country on the glob of the world and the conservatives are hell
bent upon to destroy it in making it the Fort of Islam.
Mr. Bhutto and his Legacy
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and his family left a deep impact on the politics,
social norms and economy of Pakistan.
Bhutto, Zulfiqar
Ali (1928-1979), president and prime
minister of Pakistan from 1971 to 1977. Bhutto was a charismatic leader who
charted a foreign policy of nonaligned neutrality for Pakistan in the 1960s and
1970s. He was ousted from power in a military coup and subsequently convicted
of murder and executed. Bhutto was born near Lārkāna, in Sind Province . He was
descended from a long-established family of Muslim landlords and politicians.
His father, Shah Nawaz Bhutto, became a major figure in Indian colonial
politics, receiving knighthood for his work with the British government on
issues of Indian self-rule.
Bhutto grew up in Bombay, receiving
his secondary education at the elite Doon School. At age 13 he was married to
his cousin, an heiress. As a student, Bhutto met Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the
future founding father of Pakistan, and participated in the movement to
partition India in order to create Pakistan as an independent state for Indian Muslims.
From his new position outside the
government, Bhutto began to publicly attack Pakistan’s military for mishandling
the war. He also criticized the presence of continued restrictions on
democratic institutions in Ayub Khan’s government. In 1967 Bhutto formed the
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to oppose Ayub Khan’s regime. He adopted a
uniform similar to those worn by China’s Communist Party leaders and called for
the introduction of "Islamic socialism" in Pakistan and the
commencement of a "thousand year war" against India. Using the title
"Leader of the People," Bhutto launched a nationwide tour, agitating
against the military dictatorship. He was arrested in connection with these
activities in November 1968 and detained for three months. The movement he
helped unleash in West Pakistan (coextensive with the country’s current boundaries),
in conjunction with agitation for greater autonomy taking place in East
Pakistan (now Bangladesh), forced the resignation of Ayub Khan in March 1969.
The Pakistani population was
divided in its opinion of Bhutto. While a significant segment of the population
viewed him as a demagogue who deserved his fate, the majority of the population
supported Bhutto’s populist and nationalist programs and viewed him as a martyr
for democracy. After Zia died in an airplane crash in 1988, elections brought
the PPP back to power, led by Bhutto's daughter, Benazir
Impressions
Bhutto a great intellect with a hazy outlook
Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto,
came into power on the slogans of Rooti, Kapra and Makan: food, clothing and
house to live. But he forgot his words
pledged with the poor section of the society and began maneuvering to become
the leader of the Muslim world. He in connivance with the eunuchs, the monarchs
and other weak persons of the weaker countries held the summit to fight against
the West and America. He kicked out his
true comrades who were socialists from his party and inducted in it sycophants,
the landlords of the poor country.
Mr. Bhutto was a great intellect
and might be a precious asset for the poor nation if he honoured his pledges
made with his nation during his election campaign. After wielding power, he began to play a big
game on the chess of world politics. He
began to live in fools’ paradise. He was
like Shelley a restless soul,’ beating his wings in void’, and was always on
the fight of his imagination to become more and more powerful and famous. He planned to become the leader of the
Islamic world and launched a move to make the country more and more powerful by
manufacturing Atomic bomb which latter on was branded as Islamic bomb. He held Islamic Summit to get political and
financial strength and to make himself prominent in the Islamic world. In my view it was his great blunder. His efforts in this respect made West and
America to think him a suspect and menace to their hegemony over the
world. He could not comprehend that the
real strength of a nation does not lie in its weaponry. He could not see USSR miserable plight in the
face of Japan economic power in the world.
The strength of a nation was fast shifting from military hardware to
economic prosperity. In my opinion after
Kashmir the manufacture of Atomic Bomb has given us the greatest loss in the
field of economic progress and political imagine making in the comity of
nations. His staunch policy for fighting
1000 years to get triumph in Kashmir through war seems childish. China a great force in the world is still
non-violent to get a considerable part of his country, Taiwan.
Mr. ZAB was a tremendous intellect
but his intellect became hazy to understand the might of the Western World and
America. His common malady of being a
Muslim is narcissism and superiority complex which drove him to his ruination.
Moreover he was born landlord with
domineering psyche : It is fact “ Nature
gets the best of Art”. In my views if he
remained adhered to his loud and clear promises “ Rooti, Kapra and Makan, no
force on the earth could even touch him. His deviation from his declared policy of the
state made him suspect among his so many of his supporters, and this is the
latent strength of PNA and his foreign foes.
Everybody saw distinctively there was no big protest against his
gibbet. He had already kicked out or
humiliated his true comrades who emphasized to honour his pledges with the
people. And his toadies who were
inducted in his governance and party kept acquiescence to save their skin.
The assassination of Bhutto through fake court
trial under the sway of dictator Zia is a tragedy without any fear of
contradiction. But this tragedy may be
named Shakespearean tragedy because it is embedded with Bhutto’s flaw of misconception of the
strength of the America and , the wickedness and hypocrisy of his toadies who
deserted him in the lurch: Mr. Bhutto speeches after the coup evinced explicitly that he was given
understanding that his party leaders
would get him released with the native and foreign pressure on Zia.
Benazir Bhutto
Bhutto,
Benazir (1953 ), Pakistani political leader, who served as prime minister
of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996. Bhutto was educated at
Radcliffe College in the United States and at the University of Oxford in
England, where she was the first Asian woman to be elected president of the
Oxford Union. The daughter of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (1971-1977),
she returned to Pakistan in 1977, planning on a career in the foreign service,
only days before General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq staged a coup that unseated her
father. Following her father’s imprisonment in 1977, Miss Bhutto and her mother,
Begum Nusrat Bhutto, assumed the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party
(PPP). The ruling military regime placed Miss Bhutto under house arrest and
then in prison. Released in 1984, she went into exile in Britain until 1986,
when martial law in Pakistan ended and political parties were legalized.
Supported by tumultuous crowds, Benazir Bhutto again called for fresh
elections, resulting in another short prison term that same year. She also had
to contend with internal dissension among the anti-Zia forces.
In 1988 Zia was killed in an
airplane crash, less than three months after announcing that elections would
take place. In the November elections the PPP gained a huge plurality in the
National Assembly, and in December 1988 Benazir Bhutto became prime minister of
Pakistan, the first woman to hold this office in any modern Islamic state. In
August 1990, however, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed her, charging her
with incompetence and corruption. Her party was soundly defeated in the
elections that followed, and Benazir Bhutto became an opposition leader in the
parliament. As opposition leader, attempts to oust the ruling party caused her
deportation to the city of Karachi in 1992 and she was temporarily banned from
entering Islamabad, the federal capital of Pakistan. In October 1993, following
the resignations of Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto was
again elected prime minister. However, in 1996 her government was once again
dismissed amid allegations of corruption by the president. New elections in
1997 brought only a small number of seats to the PPP, ruining Benazir Bhutto’s
chances of regaining her former position. In 1999 the high court in Lahore
found Miss Bhutto guilty of taking payments from a Swiss company in exchange
for a contract. In addition to a fine and a jail sentence, Miss. Bhutto faced
disqualification for office and loss of her seat in the parliament, pending her
appeal to the Supreme Court. Miss. Bhutto’s autobiography, Daughter of Destiny, was published in
1988.
Impressions
Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari
[ Bhutto Legacy]
I could not find out
any reason in the marriage of an well educated lady such as Benazir Bhutto and
a blackmailer-vagabond of cinema tickets such as Asif Ali Zardari. And I also feel anguished to ind
such an educated lady a plunderer of wealth of a poor nation. It seems the President of the immortals has
tricked her to make her plunderer of the wealth of the poor nation. Her big deposits in foreign banks are an
enigma to every educated person.
Why the fate maker did play sports with such a
delicate lady? Whenever I see her picture I remember Desdemona, who is
destroyed by jealously of Iajo, the villain in famous drama of Shakespeare :
OHELLO. Miss. Benazir was ruined by the
evilness and iniquity of her husband, Zardari.
He fell a victim to a
religious fanatic who shot her dead because he thought her Kafir. Her husband Asif Ali Zardari and his
accomplices, who are considered by the majority of the people the murderers of
Benazir Bhutto exploited the embarrassingly emotional attachment of PPP
electorate with her and won the general election.
The period of Zardari
is notorious like him, for plunder, favouritism, nepotism, corruption, price
hike, load shedding and bad governance. He played well on the chess of politics and
defeated many seasoned politicians in acquiring the seat of President.
Why the common men of
Pakistan are poor and backward. The main
cause of poverty and backwardness of common people is owing to the corruption,
nepotism and greed of the politicians, elite, beau racy white and khaki. Pakistan is full of the wealth of mineral,
intellect and labour force. It is pity
that the politicians in league with the civil and military elite have plundered
our beloved country ruthlessly and beefed up their bank accounts in the foreign
banks.
It is strange that the
elite of Pakistan do not pay income tax and accept other obligations. For
example: Hafeez Sheikh, the finance minister who claimed that he would forced
the rich to pay income tax etc, but he himself has not paid a penny in context
of income tax. More surprising is that
our Prime Minister has shown in his returns at the time of election that he is so poor that he cannot afford to
have a personal care. The article of an
prominent journalist faithfully reflects the financial and mental corruption of
the ruling junta.
Arshad Ahmed Hakani is
a prominent journalist who wrote an article in Newspaper ,”Jang” which faithfully reflects the miserable
plight of common men in Pakistan. He very correctly earmarked the causes of the
poverty and backwardness of a big section of the society of Pakistan.
Arshad Ahmed Hakani
The insensitiveness of the people of
Pakistan is rightly reflected in the photo given below.
The corruption in the higher officialdom and
the aristocracy is so deeply rooted that perhaps God could only redress it
taking pity on the plight of the common men of Pakistan.
Every politician boasts about the country being a nuclear
power is strong enough to face any aggression from outside forgetting the fact
that the primary threat to its security is internal, and emanates from pangs of
economic deprivation and scourge of terrorist violence which is not susceptible
to nuclear prowess. It is chilling to
remember the emerging international system finds Pakistan more isolated in an
increasingly precarious regional security environment. PPP government in stead
of taking this woeful situation seriously and rationalize its policies based on
emergent realities is since its inception engaged to save the looted money of
the President in Western banks. The other recreation of the incumbent
government is to get more and more strength in the Parliament by hook or crook.
“ However, the elections have been marred by reports of open vote buying and
selling, with fingers being pointed at the PPP
for being at the forefront of the dubious transactions”.{Editor- The
News- dated March 4, 2012- Senate Election}.
Parliament of Pakistan. It is pandemonium of the chiefs of different
tribes, Landlords, retired civil & military beau- crates. They are so insensitive about the real
problems of the common men that it is absurd to hope and expect anything good
from them. They are wrangling with one
another for promotion of their interests.
On 28th of
April 2008, every Pakistani is shocked
to hear the news that a large procession of Muslim League (n) leaders
reached Dubai to meet and convince the co- chairman of PPP Asif Ali Zardari to
agree upon some political matters, when a poor noble person hanged himself because he could not
bear the torture from the Bank for nonpayment of a little loan .
A woman in an open bazaar of Multan is selling her four sons
because her husband is suffering from cancer and she cannot feed her
children. The photo of an old woman who
is lying on the Mall Road of Lahore in the opening because she is lonely,
helpless soul in the Islamic country when
billions rupees are being robbed in the name of Zakat and a huge foreign exchange is being wasted
to hold meeting in foreign country to discuss the local problems. The common men in the country are fed up with
life because of price hike, injustice and corruption prevalent everywhere,
while our leaders are engrossed in the luxuries of gossip that has nothing to
do with the common men. The true
character of our Parliament.
The members of the
Parliament of Pakistan are not real representatives of the inhabitants of the country. Everyone knows that more than 95 percent of
population of the country is worried about the next meal, the education of
their children and medical care. The
price hike of the commodities of daily use has made the life of common men
miserable. In such situation it is not possible at all for a common man to fight
election for the seat of National Assembly or Provincial Assembly because, it
casts billions of rupees. The election
has become only a ‘ show’ of democracy. In fact there never have been any
genuine election. Our election of National and Provincial Assemblies emerge
with Hobson’s choice in the real sense of the word.
The situation is forged sentimentally in these elections in
which a person must accept what is offered because there is no alternative
other than taking nothing at all. Every citizen knows that election has become
in Pakistan an industry. Most of the political leaders have palaces in foreign
countries. They keep their money, mostly looted money, in foreign banks.
Benazir deposits in European Banks and her palace in U.K. had been main
headings of the print media. Mr. Sharif is not also behind in this Sharaft (nobility).
In the perspective of the political history of 62 years of
Pakistan, our politicians and elite white and khaki have become so devilish
that they have tarnished the fair name of democracy. In their dictionary,
democracy can be defined as ‘ the government off the people, far the people and
buy the people’. About independence, on the name of which, these dacoits have
been looting the country for the last 62 years, I would like to give the
opinion of Liaqat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan on the subject
of independence.
“ That freedom means freedom only from foreign domination, is
an outworn idea. It is not merely
governments that should be free but the people themselves who should be free;
and no freedom has any real value for the common man or woman unless it also
means freedom from want, freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance. [ Address
in America]
In perspective of expressions of Liaqat Ali Khan about the
freedom and independence of the common citizen of Pakistan we stand now where.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-
Part II
I wrote
the under given articles on different subjects to my friends of Internet in
response to their E-Mails. These
articles give a glimpse of my views on different topics and also help to
understand more Part I of the book ‘Impression’. It may be noted that I mostly
represent a common man of this society who is born, grew, nurtured, educated
and groomed in the society which is infested with all kinds of evils. It may
please be remembered that Scientific Explanations are given on different
subjects that came under discussion and
divine side of life is not touched.
The ‘ glory’ of our culture is to make fair sex sub-human beings. Their witness is half. Their share in
property is half. If a wife refuses to extinguish sexual fire of her husband in
the bed for certain reasons, angels
begin hurling curses upon her till break
of the day {Behisti –Zawar : Maulana Ashraf Thanwi}.
They are not fit for an important position in the government
offices. They are inferior, and cannot enjoy the bed of more than one person,
while a man can enjoy the warmth of four delicate sexes with the addition of
his maid salve countless. In our culture the glory of a woman is in having the
status of an animal, remaining within the four walls of the house, and being a
machine for procreation of babies. What more is left with our culture to
humiliate the half of the humanity. Do my friends tell me?
The instances of some women in the fold of Islam who enjoyed
esteem and exaltation are irrelevant because their veneration and honour are
not owing to their own entities, rather it credited with some high profile
personality. The under given precedents strengthen the views that all the
extinguished female figures of Islamic history have borrowed their respective
distinction and excellence from some prestigious male sex.
Women did not get better status in
Islam. If girls were buried alive before Islam, where did khadija{ra} and hind
and every man's mother came from ?
You are not suggesting that men were
giving birth then?
Only few people killed daughters
after birth, like done in India today and Pakistan.
Aisha RA did not have good status due
to being a woman. She had good status (to a certain degree) in spite of it.
She was Benazir of her time. Her status was due to her father Hazrat Abu
baker.
Point is not that Aisha led a war.
Point is that war was against Ali RA and Fatima Zahra Ra. point is that they
killed each other. Prophet Mohammad pbuh's immediate relative killed each
other.
Hazrat Usman was killed by Hazrat Abu
Bakar's youngest son Mohammad bin Abu baker.
Then Mohammad bin Abu Bakar was killed by
followers of Ali RA. { his corpse was burnt by them in anger, not sure how he
died}
They were all relatives. They killed
each other. and they killed each other for power. Not for Allah.
That is a fact and any yelling or
argument is not going to change that fact.
Yes, no religion, including
Christianity, treats women equally.
Pakistan treats women like trash. You
guys have seen only respect of your " mothers". only you respect
them. No one else in the society respect your mothers. However there are some
Muslim thinkers who encouraged reasonable attitude about tender sex. ” To see God in woman is more perfect than
seeing the Divine in any other form “ {Ibn-Arabi}.
It reminds us Shelley’s optimism, “
The trumpet of prophecy ! O, Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
………………………………
Islam and its influence/ the
achievements were not of religion. The
reveries of the present Muslim leaders.
Using my rights of difference with
your opinion, I strongly disagree with your views that the religion of Islam
made many achievements by bringing a sizeable part of the world under its
domination.
Of course up to the early period
of 3rnd Caliphate, there was visible influence of the teaching of the Holy
Prophet. But the great tragedy of the Kabala abundantly established that the
proceeding achievements in the reign of Umayyad and Abbasids were worldly
achievements and religious failures. If
this account does not win over you, how would you explain the assassination of
the esteemed Usman, the fierce battle between revered Ali and Mu’awiyah and between exalted Ali and respected Ayesha
and the great tragedy of Karbala.
In India and Spain also the great achievements
fall in the lap of the Umayyad and Mughal dynasties. Our close study of history loudly and clearly
reveals that there was no Islamic authority during these glorious periods. Rather some periods of Muslim rule are
notorious for anti-Islamic injunctions, especially the glorious period of Akbar
the great.
In the vision of the above it can
be inferred that genuine influence of the religion of Islam and Holy Prophet
has been twittering only on lips, and the quintessence of the religion of Islam
began to wither after 50 or so years. For further study please consult S. Abdul
A’la Maududi’ Fundamentals of Islam Chapter “Who is a Muslim”.
The next period may be called the period of Muslims and
not Islam.
“When Mu’awiyah, the 5th caliph
of Islam, announced his decision in the court to nominate his son, Yazid, as
his successor, “the courtiers rose, one after the other, to second and support
Yazid as the heir to the Caliphate. There were some murmurs of disapproval,
whereupon a man rose to his feet, drew his sword a hand-span from the scabbard
and said, 'The Commander of the Faithful is that one!' and he pointed to
Mu’awiyah, 'And if he dies, then that one!' and he pointed to Yazid. 'And if
anyone objects, then this one!’ and he pointed to his sword. Mu’awiyah said to
him, 'By God, you are the prince of orators." The nomination was confirmed.”
The sway of Islam and Shari’at has been being vigorously texted in Pakistan
since the devilish rule of the most hated president of Pakistan, Zia, and the
fall out is obviously chaotic.
Day dreaming of present Muslim
leaders.
The distorted position of Islamic
teaching are well exhibited in the statement and practice of the present
leaders of Islam.
The exhortation of Osama bin
Ladhum to the Muslim world is to destroy the prevalent civilization and
culture. Al-Zawahir the next great leader of Al-Qaeda projects his actual
scheme of things in which Pakistan become a marginalized and weak component of
a caliphate without borders, and certainly not a not ‘a Central Asian power’ or
a ‘bastion’ of the Islamic world as he professes in his deceit –saturated
messages to Pakistan nationals. In this
vision of an Al-Qaeda empire, it will be a Saudi or Egyptian caliph who will
control Pakistani nuclear assets and over see the country’s governance.
………………………………….
Secularism is not
against religion.
Let us first see the meaning of secular from authentic
authority.
" Secular in its most universal usage in social science the
term refers to the worldly, the civil, or the non-religious, as distinguished
from the spiritual and ecclesiastical. The secular is that which is not
dedicated to religion ends and uses. This is the meaning employed in phrases
such as ' separate secular schools' and orientation to the secular world.
Secular has also come to be used in a way that does not place it in contrast
with the religious only. In supporting this usage H.P. Becker writes: the
secular is not synonymous with the profane, unholy, infidel, godless,
irreligious, heretical, unhallowed, faithless, or any similar terms. Thus
culture is secular when its acceptance is based on rational
and utilitarian considerations rather than on reverence and veneration. {
page 625-- A dic. of the Social Sciences/ Editors Julius Gould & William L.
Kolb/ Complied under the auspices of The United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization}
Secularism: " the belief that the state, morals,
education.etc, should be independent of religion.{page 1331--Chamber English
Dictionary}
Secularism : belief that morality, education, etc should not
be based on religion {Oxford Adv. Learner's Encyclopedic Dic page 820}
In the vision of the facts and figures given above, we can infer
without any fear of contradiction that in the positive sense a Secular State
means a state which guarantees religious freedom to every citizen and which,
without distinction of religion or race, endeavours to promote the material
advancement and welfare of all its citizens.
"The most important aspect of the State of Pakistan was
clarified by Quaid--Azam in his famous presidential address to the Constituent
Assembly on 11th August 1947, when he proclaimed :
“ You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to
your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of
Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, or caste or creed—that has
nothing to do with the business of the State.
We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are
all citizens and equal citizens of a one state. Now, I think, we
should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in the
course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be
Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each
individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”
It may be noted that this address was delivered in the Constituent
Assembly, Constitution making body, and not in a public address in which most
of the things are poured out for the public consumption . The place was most
important, the situation is most serious and the audience is consisting of the
cream of the nation. Hence this speech may be taken as policy of the
newly born state of Pakistan. This can rightly be taken as the nucleus and
hub of the constitution of Pakistan insinuated by the father of the nation.
I feel persuaded to request my dear friend Brig not to bring religion in each and every pursuits of life. It will open the Pandora Box, every one asserts his creeds are true : Every sect wishes to build its own Musjid. There are so many sects in the religion of Islam and consequently there are countless explanations of the verses of the holy book and Shari’at . The question is whose explanations are valid or invalid. Hence let everybody enjoy his civil and moral liberty remaining in his own domain of freedom.
………………………………………
Political democracy is meaningless without social democracy
To
the best of my knowledge and experience the politicians in the backward
countries are acrobats and always seem fretting in a state of flux. However
they do not miss any opportunity to exploit the hyper sentiments of the
people with Islam. They are very
nimble to gain maximum of the ignorance of the masses. In the name of democracy
they hoodwink the public. In perspective of the feudal and ecclesiastical hold
over our society political democracy is meaningless without social democracy
because the electorates do not the know the weight of their vote. Only for this
reason Allama Iqbal was against Western democracy because in this political
system men are counted and not weighed.
Real ‘democracy is a government of the people for the people and by the people’.{Ibrahim Lincoln} But cast your gaze at the democracy in Pakistan Corruption, Nepotism, Price hike and beefing up the Foreign Banks are the ills of this kind of democracy. There is a big gulf between the income of common men and the big guns. There are suicides of the empty stomachs on the one side of picture, and the other side presents more horrible scene where the dogs of the rich are suffering from indigestion . The gift of pseudo democracy in Pakistan is that the whole nation is so sunk in the sea of religious quibbles and indifference to solidarity and prosperity of the state that it is just fiddling of Nero the emperor of Roman when the Roman was burning into ashes.
Real ‘democracy is a government of the people for the people and by the people’.{Ibrahim Lincoln} But cast your gaze at the democracy in Pakistan Corruption, Nepotism, Price hike and beefing up the Foreign Banks are the ills of this kind of democracy. There is a big gulf between the income of common men and the big guns. There are suicides of the empty stomachs on the one side of picture, and the other side presents more horrible scene where the dogs of the rich are suffering from indigestion . The gift of pseudo democracy in Pakistan is that the whole nation is so sunk in the sea of religious quibbles and indifference to solidarity and prosperity of the state that it is just fiddling of Nero the emperor of Roman when the Roman was burning into ashes.
In
backward countries like Pakistan, a few families enjoy authority in political,
social and economic domains. Hence in
this zone, democracy means: democracy off the people, far the people and buy
the people.
The champions of democracy vigorously maintain that only democracy can provide freedom of thought, speech and action. Keeping this into consideration as prime parameters of a democracy, the democracy should conform to the freedom as described by Liaqat Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan.
The champions of democracy vigorously maintain that only democracy can provide freedom of thought, speech and action. Keeping this into consideration as prime parameters of a democracy, the democracy should conform to the freedom as described by Liaqat Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan.
"
The freedom means freedom only from foreign
domination, is an outworn idea. It is not merely governments that should
be free but the people themselves who should be free; and no freedom has any
real value for the common man or woman unless it also means freedom from want,
freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance. Do we find any
semblance/image in the democracy of the four families in Pakistan.
Remember, in underdeveloped country such as Pakistan, democracy and such catchphrases are a concern of well-heeled not the under fed. The heart of the problem of a poor man in Pakistan is 'freedom' from pangs of economic deprivation and scourge of terrorist violence. The landed gentry and corrupt politicians have joined hands to exploit the ignorance of the public. Whenever there is a danger for the overthrow of their rule, they raise hue and cry of international conspiracy against the existence of the country. I believe there is no international conspiracy against Pakistan. We are not that important an international player to merit that kind of attention. Our system is infested with corruption, lawlessness and deceit. Shrinking economic opportunities made the youth vulnerable to fall into trap of depravity, frustration and bleakness.
Remember, in underdeveloped country such as Pakistan, democracy and such catchphrases are a concern of well-heeled not the under fed. The heart of the problem of a poor man in Pakistan is 'freedom' from pangs of economic deprivation and scourge of terrorist violence. The landed gentry and corrupt politicians have joined hands to exploit the ignorance of the public. Whenever there is a danger for the overthrow of their rule, they raise hue and cry of international conspiracy against the existence of the country. I believe there is no international conspiracy against Pakistan. We are not that important an international player to merit that kind of attention. Our system is infested with corruption, lawlessness and deceit. Shrinking economic opportunities made the youth vulnerable to fall into trap of depravity, frustration and bleakness.
What
are ground realities with reference to the poverty and corruption rife in the country,
are well portrayed in the following photo of an old man and an article of a
famous journalist.
“Women’s
Day Observed”
An old woman lies on a City road,
Photo by Mohsin Raza
The corruption in the in the higher
officialdom and the
aristocracy is so deeply rooted that perhaps God could only redress it to take
pity on the plight of the common men of Pakistan. Here is given an article of a well known
political analyst, Arshad Ahmad
Hakani.
After
reading this article, every sensible man cannot help but pray for the
rectification of the corruption prevalent in the higher ranks of officialdom. God bless this poor country and save us from the clutches of
the foxes and cannibals.
There is no compatibility
between Science and Religion
{Scientific
Explanation}
On
science depends the progress of the
world. At least with the
scientific method we can understand a part of truth and apply it to life. In fact we cannot live without science. We must adopt the scientific approach and
temper for the welfare of mankind. The
rejection of that does not admit of proof and the revision of ideas and
theories about facts means a hard discipline of mind. The scientific approach and temper will
liberate man. Science concerns itself
with possible knowledge. The more we understand life and nature, the less we
trust in supernatural and blind creeds.
It is woeful that we are partially emancipated so far from the blind beliefs of irrational kind, and still
irrational traditions and creeds hold a sway over in the minds of a large
section of society. Scientific outlook
gives the objective outlook which totally discard bias and prejudice.
On the
other hand, irrational activities are concerned with the idiosyncrasies, whims
and caprices of the mind. Moreover, it
is directly related to human emotions, passions and sentiments. Blind faith
does not inculcate the scientific bent of mind.
It is based upon the personal whims of the believer. Thus, if we take
these two spirits apparently, they are poles asunder.
It
Is evident in order to perpetuate your creeds it is imperative to vitalize
blindness with caution so that facts could not reach the people. It is a weak and scornful aspect of man that
he finds redress of the sufferings of his life in pleasant myths. The faith in supernatural entity and the
myths associated with Him perpetuate because it provides a believer with
consolation. A believer flares up when
one differs with him on the matter of creeds. Punishment is given, censorship
is imposed and limited and twisted state education is imparted to keep on the
creeds. Once there was a time when to
have belief in “ the earth is flat” was
reasonable. Then this belief does not
bring bad results, but today such belief
epitomizes madness. If you think
that your belief is levelheaded, you have to prove its validation with logic
and nor with coercion and oppression.
Further you should be ready to leave your blind belief if it goes
against the reasoning. In case your faith is based on creeds, you will feel
logic and reasoning are preposterous and you will use force. The believers in the name of faith brainwash
the immature minds of the youth of a nation.
The behaviour of creeds ridden people is very sheepish because they take
advantage of the fact that immature minds are vulnerable to defend themselves. Unfortunately this is in vogue in all the
illiterate and backward societies. Rationalists emphatically declare that the
world needs scientific truth and not creeds tinged and drenched in belief of
supera natural entity.
We cannot ignore the truth
“ Man is a rational animal, and to have blind faith in anything itself
exiles him from the species of human beings”.
Let us a brief look at Allama Iqbal views on the subject. He
gives utmost stress on the reason in ’Reconstruction of Religious Thought in
Islam’ to give fresh blood to the old explanations of the Quranic verses and
Shari’at to meet the challenges of the age of science. He is deadly against
blind faith. He espoused whole heartedly
the spirit of reasonableness in all fields of life. His famous Lectures on” Reconstruction of
Religious Thought in Islam” are a living testimony to the fact that Allama
staunchly opposed blind faith.
Iqbal preaches that intellect should be a
watch dog of the world of heart to check it from straggling. He lays emphasis
on intellectual test to get the veracity of an intuitive and religious
experience.
According to it:-
“ A proposition to be true,
“Should be consistent with some chosen
“Corpus of proposition”. :
…………………………….
Muslim
leadership is infested awfully with the malady of romantic idealism:
The
Muslims are in habit of day dreaming and often they become successful in
realizing their aspirations in their reveries, and then suddenly are awaken from their slumber to find all has lost
in the goblet of their desires and longings.
There are hundred and one examples of such spectacles, but I deem it apt
to give hereunder only a few taking into consideration the scanty time and
space .
1.
Muhammad bin Tughluq, is a prominent figure in
the history of sub-continent. He was
considered four centuries ahead of his time. He, being an romantic idealist,
did not realize the importance of the difficulties of the time in
transportation, and ordered to shift his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad.
2.
Introduction
of Token currency. Thomas described him “ Prince of Moneyers”. The prevailing scarcity of silver and gold in
that period prompted him to issue token currency.
3.
He
embarked upon the expenditures of Khurasan
and Qarachil when he was already in troubled waters at home on account
his Idealism in the affairs of the state.
4.
Our
great leader and father of the nation’s ambitions still echoes in our mind in
context of Kashmir “ Kashmir is in my pocket”, and we will demand “ a corridor from Lahore to Decca through India.
5.
Colonel
Nassir, the president of Egypt, declared at the public platform that there
would be no Israel on the surface of the earth within 36 hours in 1967.
6.
Our
Field Marshal, President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan attacked occupied
Kashmir with the hypothesis that India would not cross the international boundaries, a romantic idealism.
7.
The
first elected prime minister of Pakistan, Bhutto also dreamed to become the
head of the Muslim world, and hosted the second meeting of the Organization of
Islamic states with a vision that the labour and technology of this land in
conjunction with the overflowing funds of the Middle East would change the
balance of power from West to the Muslim world. An aggressive idealism.
8.
Our
most hated president Zia took the onus upon his shoulders to introduce Islam in
the country. Legend has it that he used to visualize himself the Caliph of the
Muslim world after the defeat of USSR with the weaponry and economic strength
of the West and America.
9.
Osama
bin Ludlum is the biggest and the latest example. He invited the president of America to come
in the fold of Islam, otherwise the Western culture and civilization would be
ruined.
10.
The
local print media reported on March 21st that in a vides released on
jihadist web forums, Khorasani announced that his group sought to overthrow the government, impose Shari’at, seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, and
wage jihad till Caliphate is established across the world.
In
Al-Zawahiri’s actual scheme of things Pakistan would become a marginalized and
weak component of a Caliphate without borders, and certainly not ‘ a central
Asian power’ or bastion of the Islamic world, as he professes in his
deceit-saturated messages to Pakistani nationals. In his vision of Al-Qaeda
empire, it will be a Saudi or Egyptian Caliph who will control Pakistan’s nuclear
assets and over see the country’s governance
The idea of Promised Messiah
has played a role in promoting Narcissism,
Chauvinism and romantic Idealism. And the repercussions are before us.
The holy teaching of Allama
Iqbal to the youth of the Muslim world is a slur on the fair face of freedom
for humans without discrimination of race, religion and colour. Iqbal, the poet
of Millat sings the mantra of his religious robust Chauvinism.
In
his epic poem Tariq ki Dua, Iqbal has heightened the beauty of the
Tariq’s Prayer
by adorning it with
the robe of poetry. The poem :-
Read:
“O Lord! These
bondsmen have set out in Your path for Jihad.
They
are the seekers of Your good pleasure.
They are mysterious as well as the keepers of mystery. Their true state
and position is known only to You. You
have taught them high-mindedness and, now, they will not settle for less than
world-leadership and Divine Rule. These proud men listen or yield to no one.
Save them.”
“Revive, once again,
in the heart of the Momin, The lightning that was in the prayer of ‘ Leave Not’
Wake up ambition in
the breasts, O’ Lord! Transform, the glance of the Momin into a sword.”
Tariq’s ki Dua, is a
passionate Narcissism of Iqbal for the renaissance of the Muslim world. What a
true Muslim can yearn except that other nations should live under burden of the
yoke of the believers of Islam because other peoples are inferior to the Muslims
Two
nation theory / Pakistan and Jamatay Islami.
Invincible defence of Pakistan.
What
are the contents of two nations theory, or the rationale of the creation of a
separate country for the Muslim of India.
1.
Hindu
were 300 millions in number and Muslim only 100 millions. After the independence, the Hindu majority would
dominate Muslim minority. In these circumstances independence from the British
rule would not mean independence of the Muslims of India, it would only mean
the change of masters.
2.
It was
apprehended that in case the Muslims did not have their own an independent
country, Hindus would dominate their culture and civilization. Further as the Muslims were already backward
economically, educationally and industrially, they would become more backward
under the yoke and burden of Hindus majority in a democratic system of
government where men and women are counted irrespective of their worth of
excellence of mind and hear.
3.
The
Indian sub-continent is so vast that it could easily be divided into two
countries, India and Pakistan. The majority areas of Muslims could form
Pakistan and the majority of Hindus and other smaller communities could form
Hindustan.
In Pakistan the Muslims are in
overwhelming majority, and the utilities and philosophy of two nations is an
invitation to the minorities living in Pakistan to demand a separate country to
save their culture and religion from the onslaught of the fanatics of Pakistan.
They can adduce the same arguments with cogency as did the Muslims of India
before Pakistan.
After a little more cogitation on
the hue and cry of the fanatics, we will come to the conclusion that they are mostly people who belong to the party which opposed the
creation of Pakistan. They have now
invented three catchphrase to bedevil the country with multifaceted
problems. The most prominent of them
are:
1.
S.
Abdul A’la Maududi the father of the Jama’tay Islami and
2.
Jummeetul
Ulma of Pakistan.
They
are still enemy of Pakistan because the core of their policy is that United
India is more suitable for the promotion and progression of the Milletay Islamia.
They do not give importance to the boundaries/regions because they believe only
in one nation/ Millet. They are antagonist to the modern theory of state, that define a state
is, consists of four things: territory,
population, government and sovereignty.
To them only religion is ascendant in the formation of a state.
They in
connivance with the other factions which are against the existence of Pakistan
are trying their best to undo our beloved country. They have changed their
strategy with the changed circumstances. They know well that the most poisonous
thing for the country is poverty and deprivation of the modern knowledge. They
standing on the rooftops are beating the drums of national pride and dignity
when the masses are feeling pangs of economic deprivation and scourge of
terrorist violence. They have discovered
recipe to ruin the state by chanting the following catchphrases:-
Invincible
Defense,
The
defense of Ideology of the country,
The
fort of Islam.
The Invincible Defense
we have seen in the death of Osama bin Latham and in Navy Camp in Karachi. The
Defense of Ideology is well being exhibited on the Western borders of the
country where Muslims are fighting like dogs to enforce Islam according to
their own interpretations. The fort of
Islam is being smashed into smithereens in the worshiping places by declaring
pagans hailing to the other sect.
These slogans are
chanted to deceive the people. With some heinous purpose the currency
has been given to the stereotypical thought of the conservatives that
there is an international conspiracy against Pakistan. The fact is, there is no
international conspiracy against Pakistan. We are not that important for international players to merit that
kind of attention. Why should our foe do any effort to destroy us, when we are fragmented within.
The ground realities
overtly and covertly indicate that they have designed and tailored the policy
to weaken the sinews of the nation and eventually it will die its own death
proving that they were right in the opposition against the creation of a new
country for the Muslims of India, and that the undivided India would have been
more better for the Muslims. They know
very well that in the world of today economic backbone should be strong for the
progress and prosperity of the country, whereas heaps of arsenal are useless
for a country with weak economy. They
know it better, and have found it in the destruction of USSR, and are using it
to wreak their revenge on the patriots of Pakistan.
………………………………….
More the seclusion more the sexual corruption.
I
simply requested for the comments/feedback on the proposition " More the seclusion, more the sexual corruption”. I gave my views
gleaned from the fragments of my study and experience during my stay in a
certain province which in my view is more bedeviled with the sexual corruption
on account of strict observation
of Purdha. In its response, I feel flabbergasted to find ‘ a comprehensive
lecture of Islamic studies in the messages of my friends, especially that
of Janab Wasti sahib. I would be much obliged if my revered friend
Janab Wasti Sb, or any other give me a cogent and relevant rationale to improve
my knowledge on the subject. The references from Quran and Shari-at are not asked as the acquaintances of
such references a Muslin has from his childhood. The response should be measured and
weighed on the touchstone of logic and cogency.
The discussion
should remain in the ambit of reasoning, and the religion should
not be invoked in all pursuits of
life, otherwise Ahmedi , Sunni, Wahabi etc will begin to shim
the bells of their own churches.
The
traditions, conventions, practices and precepts of all the segments of Muslim
society are converged on one point that there is stick Purdha in the religion
of Islam. The observation of veil meets the requirements of the time or not is
another matter. It is a common phenomenon that in the religious families
the second menses of a girl are felt undesirably. There is another
question whether we should load a girl of 12/14 with the burden of pregnancy
and satchel.
My next
question is: should we stop teaching our half the population. I hope my friends
will give me a all-embracing reply based on logic and reason avoiding the
temptation of putting forward a sheaf of quotations of the
divines and references of the holy books. I wish to find a logical
response, and not a religious one because it is not discussion on any religious
problem. Some prominent Muslim scholars do not approve strict observation of
Purdha in the changed circumstances.
I am giving my experience about the ‘ the more
seclusion, the more sexual corruption’.
It is as
I observed.
Comments on Western culture Criticism.
We are criminal as well sinful.
‘ Anthropology tells
that ‘ human nature’ differs widely in various communities, for example in some
communities the lending of one’s wife to guest is considered an indispensable
part of hospitality. Infanticide has been prevalent in many countries. Even Plato recommended it as a remedy against
overpopulation.
It is v. easy to
criticize other persons, their beliefs, their civilizations and their opinions,
but it is difficult to find the same ills in oneself, one's creeds, one's life
etc. You have v. easily narrated the ills in the Western culture, in your
opinion, but you eschewed to refer to the scourges in our culture and
civilization.
Aristotle, a great Greek
philosopher recommends the theory of Catharsis to get rid of mental
disturbance. In this backdrop there seems no harm if the women and men of
Western culture adopt catharsis to get wholesomeness for their mental and
physical health. What we do for catharsis
in our lives, you know it well : Mostly the unmarried at the age of 20 or so
use artificial means to ventilate/
gratify their sexual tension.
More seclusion, more sexual
corruption. I have observed it during my stay in different Provinces as
Principal of Govt: Commercial
Colleges. My pen does not allow me to
give description of the heinous activities of men and women of sexually
surreptitious corruption in both the sexes. It is sneaky but ubiquitous in the
whole society. Two of my lecturers I found fighting to win a beautiful young
boy. They appeared to me the true descendents of the community of Prophet loot
who desired to fuck angels leaving the beautiful lasses offered to them by
Loot[ sm]. Women in our society are not
more than sub-human beings, to say the least;
they mostly fall victims to male sex.
The thorn entrenched in the society is very haphazard for the mental
growth and physical health. In Western culture sexual outlet is permitted by the law of the country to avoid mental
disquietedness. They may be sinner from
our moral point of view but not criminal at all. If the Western are sinners, We
are criminal as well as sinners.
The ‘ glory’ of our
culture is to make fair sex sub-human beings.
Their witness is half. Their
share in property is half. If a wife refuses to extinguish the sexual fire of
her husband for certain reasons angels begin to fling curses upon her till
break of the day. Women are not fit for
an important position in the government offices. They are inferior, and cannot
enjoy the bed of more than one person, while a man can enjoy the warmth of his
four delicate sex with the addition of his maid salves countless. In our
culture the glory of a woman is in becoming subhuman within the four walls and
a machine for the production of babies.,
What more this culture has left to humiliate the half of the humanity. Would my
friend like to tell me?
………………………………….
Justice : God/Nature and Man
1. Mr. Bhutto loudly and clearly displayed his complete
faithfulness to his boss president of Pakistan, general Ayub Khan. He enjoyed the pleasure of the president very
much. He was considered as a right hand
of the president. President trusted him
very much. But Mr. Bhutto did not feel hesitant to exploit waves of sentiments
of the mob against the president after the cease fire. Mr. Bhutto became dead enemy against his”
daddy” to get the maximum gains from confused situation. He very adeptly made
the people to believe that the president had compromised on the solidarity and
sovereignty of the country etc. But he could not get the cat out from the bag
when he became prime minister of the country. It remained so far in the bag.
The theory of conspiracy proved wrong. Moreover he did not honoured his pledges of Rooti, Kupra and Mukan with the
public. He kicked out his old and faithful comrades. In few words he betrayed his benefactor and
his public by becoming disloyal and got punishment because God/Nature does not
like unfaithfulness/infidelity.
2. Mr. Zia proved more
unfaithful to his benefactor Mr. Bhutto who ignoring the seniority promoted him
on the highest post in the arm forces. God/Nature could not tolerate perfidy
and he was blasted in the air.
3.Miss Benazir remained taciturn on the assassination of his
brother for her personal interests, and kept her very kind and loving mother
away from politics because Miss. Nusrat wished her son to be the chairman of
PPP. God/Nature felt annoyed on her unfaithfulness and Benazir was murdered
through the conspiracy of her of her near and dear ones.
I believe God/Nature is ready to get this most perfidious
person to visit Gibbet. Remember
God/Nature is Omnipotent. It remind me the saying of Holy Prophet,” Do not
vilify time, for time is God”.
……………………………………
My dear friends,
I am sending my views on the subject “ The dilemma of creeds” to you for feedback to improve my knowledge
on the subject. Further I request you
that you should avoid the temptation to quote divine authority against my
views. Your comments should be based on
logic and reasons. Thanks
The
dilemma of creeds
Russell in his book{ Human Society in Ethics and
Politics} writes “ we all claim our creeds are right and the creeds of other
dangerous. But I want to emphasize on
the point that all creeds are definitely harmful. We may define faith as it is firm creed on a
thing which does not have evidence because a thing which is supported by an
evidence needs no ‘faith’ or ‘creeds’ for its life. : for illustration, we cannot say that two
and two make four is my faith or it is my faith that the earth is round. Established facts need no faith or
creeds. We feel the need of faith when
we substitute emotions with evidence.
The exchange of emotions with proof certainly triggers disputes and
quarrels among individuals. A creed
cannot be protected by reason, its defence is propaganda and in some cases
fight. In the regime of believers the
authority imbibes certain creeds in the immature minds of the children and burn or ban the books
which are against their creeds.”
A great event in
the history of world substantiates its truth :
In 642,
Alexandria was captured by the Muslim army of Amr ibn al `Aas. Abd'l Latif of Baghdad (1162–1231) states that the library of Alexandria was
destroyed by Amr, by the order of the Caliph Omar.
The story is also
found in Al-Qifti (1172–1248), History
of Learned Men, from whom Bar Hebraeus copied the story.
Amr writes to Omar for
instructions, and Omar replies: "If those books are in agreement with
the Quran, we have no need of them; and if these are opposed to the Quran,
destroy them.
Rationalists
strongly rejects the thought that a religious is the messenger of peace
and safety. Theocratic governments are always war maniac and promote
militancy. It maintains that there is no truth that religion
creates cohesion in a society. We find
no precedent that a crusade did any positive role for the betterment of
mankind. History affirms that religious wars only yield hatred
among the followers of conflicting creeds. An article published in The Jan dated 28.3.1990, of Major Muhammad
Saed Tawana reveals heart rendering holocaust of sacred wars :-
“ Khalid bin Walid took an oath and said “ I will bleed the blood of my enemy over the
river provided God grants me victory.”
He silted the throats of 70,000 to fulfill his oath. Groups after groups of the enemy were
brought and were ruthlessly slaughtered
in the river with the catchword ‘ God is great’. If you want to return your home as a winner,
be relentless. Khalid bin Walid followed
this guiding principles.”.
It Is unmistakable, in order to carry on your creeds, it
becomes imperative to vitalize blindness
with caution so that facts could not reach the people. It is a weak and scornful aspect of man that
he finds redress of the sufferings of his life in pleasant myths of his
religion. The faith in God and the myths
associated with Him perpetuate because it provides a believer with
consolation. A believer flares up when
one differs with him on the matter of creeds. Punishment is given, censorship
is imposed and limited and twisted state education is imparted to keep on the
creeds. You have to be unreasonable if
you have faith in the Scriptures or Das Capital. And if once you become unreasonable, you will
feel inclined becoming unreasonable in other matters. You can say that to believe in God is not so
harmful. The theologians love to lose themselves in the labyrinths of disputed
explanations of the Scriptures. It is
not nice here to get entangled in quibbles.
It is manifest that its harm corresponds to doubts and it creates in you about the health of your
creeds. Once there was a time when to
have belief in “ the earth is flat” was
reasonable. Then this belief does not
bring bad results, but today such belief
epitomize madness. If you think
that your belief is levelheaded, you have to prove its validation with logic
and nor with coercion and oppression.
Further you should be ready to leave your belief if it goes against the
reasoning. In case your faith is based on creeds, you will feel logic and
reasoning are preposterous and you will use force. The believers in the name of religion
brainwash the immature minds of the youth of a nation. The behaviour of creeds ridden people is very
sheepish because they take advantage of the fact that immature minds are
vulnerable to defend themselves.
Unfortunately this is in vogue in all the religious countries.
Rationalists emphatically declare that the world needs scientific truth and not
creeds tinged and drenched in belief in supra-natural entity or any other ism.
………………………………….
The Decline and Fall of Muslim World.
The Decline and Fall of Muslim World.
There are many and manifold causes of the decline
and fall of Muslim world. Here under are given the most outstanding
events that triggered nosedive the most imposing edifice of the Muslim World.
[a] The
generosity and fair mindedness of Abdul Mutalib won for him an undisputed position
among the Quraysh who recognised his over lordship. Bin Harb, the
son of Umayyad, refused to accept his supremacy. The decision of the
judges again went against him as it did in the case of his father. Thus, there
sprang up a jealousy :
[b] Old
Rivalry between the most prominent dynasties : Omayyad and Hashemite.
[c] The great tragedy of Imam Hussein.
[d] Transferring of state authority to one or the other dynasty : the end of relationship of the state authority and the public,
[e] The religious leaders became engaged in the most non serious discussion such as whether Ablution
dhela should move from the bottom to top or top to bottom.
[a] The enmity between the Hash-mites and Umayyads constituted one of the main causes for the fall of the Khilafat. The tribal jealousy and rivalry existed even before the birth of Muhammad[Sm]. But the teachings of the great Prophet kept them in check. Abu Bakr and Umar did not belong to any of the parties and as they were engaged in wars with the foreign powers, the tribal jealousy could not raise its head. But the peaceful reign of Uthman allowed the dormant rivalry to rear its head. When the Umayyad supremacy under Uthman was going to be established, the Hash mites could not tolerate. They tried to undo the influence of Umayyads in the empire. With this end in view, they sided with the enemies of Uthman. Had the Hash mites and Umayyads been united at that critical time, the Arab faction which challenged the authority of Uthman would have been crushed. But the enmity between the two encouraged the enemy and was ultimately responsible for the murder of the Khalipha, Usman. With the assassination of Khalipha, the unity of Islam was lost and the gates of civil were opened.
[c] The great tragedy of Imam Hussein.
[d] Transferring of state authority to one or the other dynasty : the end of relationship of the state authority and the public,
[e] The religious leaders became engaged in the most non serious discussion such as whether Ablution
dhela should move from the bottom to top or top to bottom.
[a] The enmity between the Hash-mites and Umayyads constituted one of the main causes for the fall of the Khilafat. The tribal jealousy and rivalry existed even before the birth of Muhammad[Sm]. But the teachings of the great Prophet kept them in check. Abu Bakr and Umar did not belong to any of the parties and as they were engaged in wars with the foreign powers, the tribal jealousy could not raise its head. But the peaceful reign of Uthman allowed the dormant rivalry to rear its head. When the Umayyad supremacy under Uthman was going to be established, the Hash mites could not tolerate. They tried to undo the influence of Umayyads in the empire. With this end in view, they sided with the enemies of Uthman. Had the Hash mites and Umayyads been united at that critical time, the Arab faction which challenged the authority of Uthman would have been crushed. But the enmity between the two encouraged the enemy and was ultimately responsible for the murder of the Khalipha, Usman. With the assassination of Khalipha, the unity of Islam was lost and the gates of civil were opened.
[b] Murder of Imam
Hussein at Karbala was a great tragedy and it created an unbridgeable gulf
between the Muslim Millet. Whole the nation was so sunk in the sea of religious
quibbles and indifference to the
defence of the boundaries that when Baghdad was under attack of the Mongols, religious leaders were engaged in the most frivolous discussion, whether the ablution dhela should move from bottom to top or top to bottom. ‘It is just fiddling of Nero the emperor of Roman when the Roman was burning
into ashes.’
defence of the boundaries that when Baghdad was under attack of the Mongols, religious leaders were engaged in the most frivolous discussion, whether the ablution dhela should move from bottom to top or top to bottom. ‘It is just fiddling of Nero the emperor of Roman when the Roman was burning
into ashes.’
2. Narcissism and Chauvinism : “The malady i,e. narcissism is civilizational
because the thought process of Muslim society everywhere is based on certain misconceptions. For example, the imperialistic impulse to rule the world is not just visible in the subcontinent; it was felt in the earliest parts of Islam, in the first period of caliphate, when it was given out to the world that we are the best people, ordained by divine authority, to rule the world. There are the two basic concepts of identity that the Muslim civilization preaches to its believers----the tribal and the Ummah identity. These two identities do not allow for an analytical or critical thought process. It was the intention of the rulers who conquered the world to keep people less informed and less critical. And therefore the tribal authoritative tradition became the Ummah tradition in which there is no questioning of the elders or rulers or superiors. In such a sate, naturally, chauvinism sets in. The subjugation of mind allows a certain pride to compensate for intellect. The rulers as well as the public are made to believe that they are superior, they need not think or question their identity and should go on aspiring for a world empire as a civilization. This civilization as a whole, ideological as it was, believed that it was very superior, as a right to rule the world, had a duty to wage war whenever there was an opportunity. Unfortunately, in the present day world there is little opportunity and we do not understand that. We are in the habit of thinking that the world is ready to be conquered.”An other malady of the Muslim is that they suffer acutely from Narcissism. They are always dreaming the glorious period of Islam, the Middle Ages.
3 Allama Iqbal Views. [ Sufism] The rise and growth of ascetic Sufism, which gradually developed under influences of a non-Islamic character, a purely speculative side, is to a large extent responsible for this attitude. On its purely religious side Sufism fostered a kind of revolt against the verbal quibbles of our early doctors. The case of Sufyan Sauru is an instance in point. He was one of the acutest legal minds of his time, and was nearly the founder of a school of law; but being also intensely spiritual, the dry-as-dust subtleties of contemporary legists drove him to ascetic Sufism. On its speculative side which developed latter, Sufism is a form of free –thought and in alliance with Rationalism . The emphasis that it laid on distinction of zahir and batin [Appearance and Reality ] created an attitude of indifference to all that applies to Appearance Reality]
This spirit of total other-worldliness in latter Sufism obscured men’s vision of a very important aspect of Islam as a social polity , and offering the prospect of unrestrained thought on its speculative side attracted and finally absorbed the best minds in Islam. The Muslim state was thus left generally in the hands of intellectual mediocrities, and the unthinking masses of Islam, having no personalities of higher caliber to guide them, found their security only in blindly following the schools.
“On the top of all this came the destruction of Baghdad – the centre of Muslim intellectual life—in the middle of the 13th century. This was indeed a great blow, and all the contemporary historians of the invasion of Tartars describe the havoc of Baghdad with a half suppressed pessimism about the future of Islam. For fear of further disintegration, which is only natural in such a period of political decay, the conservative thinkers of the Islam focused all their efforts on the one point of preserving a uniform social life for the people by a jealous exclusion of all innovations in the law and Shari’at as expounded by the early doctors of Islam. Their leading idea was social order, and there is no doubt that they were partly right, because organization does to a certain extent counteract the forces of decay. But they did not see, and our modern Ulamas do not see, that the ultimate fate of a people does not depend so much on organization as on the worth and power of individual men. In an over-organized society the individual is altogether crushed out of existence. He gains the whole wealth of social thought around him and loses his own soul. Thus a false reverence for the past history and its artificial resurrection constitute no remedy for a people’s decay”. [Reconstruction of religious thought in Islam] The verdict of history,” as a modern writer has happily put, “ is that worn out ideas have never risen to power among a people who have worn them out”.
because the thought process of Muslim society everywhere is based on certain misconceptions. For example, the imperialistic impulse to rule the world is not just visible in the subcontinent; it was felt in the earliest parts of Islam, in the first period of caliphate, when it was given out to the world that we are the best people, ordained by divine authority, to rule the world. There are the two basic concepts of identity that the Muslim civilization preaches to its believers----the tribal and the Ummah identity. These two identities do not allow for an analytical or critical thought process. It was the intention of the rulers who conquered the world to keep people less informed and less critical. And therefore the tribal authoritative tradition became the Ummah tradition in which there is no questioning of the elders or rulers or superiors. In such a sate, naturally, chauvinism sets in. The subjugation of mind allows a certain pride to compensate for intellect. The rulers as well as the public are made to believe that they are superior, they need not think or question their identity and should go on aspiring for a world empire as a civilization. This civilization as a whole, ideological as it was, believed that it was very superior, as a right to rule the world, had a duty to wage war whenever there was an opportunity. Unfortunately, in the present day world there is little opportunity and we do not understand that. We are in the habit of thinking that the world is ready to be conquered.”An other malady of the Muslim is that they suffer acutely from Narcissism. They are always dreaming the glorious period of Islam, the Middle Ages.
3 Allama Iqbal Views. [ Sufism] The rise and growth of ascetic Sufism, which gradually developed under influences of a non-Islamic character, a purely speculative side, is to a large extent responsible for this attitude. On its purely religious side Sufism fostered a kind of revolt against the verbal quibbles of our early doctors. The case of Sufyan Sauru is an instance in point. He was one of the acutest legal minds of his time, and was nearly the founder of a school of law; but being also intensely spiritual, the dry-as-dust subtleties of contemporary legists drove him to ascetic Sufism. On its speculative side which developed latter, Sufism is a form of free –thought and in alliance with Rationalism . The emphasis that it laid on distinction of zahir and batin [Appearance and Reality ] created an attitude of indifference to all that applies to Appearance Reality]
This spirit of total other-worldliness in latter Sufism obscured men’s vision of a very important aspect of Islam as a social polity , and offering the prospect of unrestrained thought on its speculative side attracted and finally absorbed the best minds in Islam. The Muslim state was thus left generally in the hands of intellectual mediocrities, and the unthinking masses of Islam, having no personalities of higher caliber to guide them, found their security only in blindly following the schools.
“On the top of all this came the destruction of Baghdad – the centre of Muslim intellectual life—in the middle of the 13th century. This was indeed a great blow, and all the contemporary historians of the invasion of Tartars describe the havoc of Baghdad with a half suppressed pessimism about the future of Islam. For fear of further disintegration, which is only natural in such a period of political decay, the conservative thinkers of the Islam focused all their efforts on the one point of preserving a uniform social life for the people by a jealous exclusion of all innovations in the law and Shari’at as expounded by the early doctors of Islam. Their leading idea was social order, and there is no doubt that they were partly right, because organization does to a certain extent counteract the forces of decay. But they did not see, and our modern Ulamas do not see, that the ultimate fate of a people does not depend so much on organization as on the worth and power of individual men. In an over-organized society the individual is altogether crushed out of existence. He gains the whole wealth of social thought around him and loses his own soul. Thus a false reverence for the past history and its artificial resurrection constitute no remedy for a people’s decay”. [Reconstruction of religious thought in Islam] The verdict of history,” as a modern writer has happily put, “ is that worn out ideas have never risen to power among a people who have worn them out”.
Muslims of today in
views of S. Abul A’la Maududi: “ The Quran came to grant them dignity and
power. It came to make them real vicegerents of God on the earth.
And history testified that when they acted according
to its directions, it demonstrated its power making them Imams and leaders of
the world. But now for them its utility is confined to keeping it
in the house in order to drive away demons and ghosts, to inscribe its verses
on paper and hang it round the neck or wash it in water and drink it, and read
the contents unintelligibly to get some blessing. Now they do not seek
guidance from it in the affairs of their life. They do not consult
it to know what should be our beliefs, what should be our deeds,
how should we conduct transactions, what law should we follow
in contracting friendship and making enmity, what are the rights on us of our
fellow-beings and of our own selves, what is truth for us and what
is falsehood, whom should we obey and whom to disobey, with whom
should we maintain relation and with whom not, who is our
friend and who is our enemy, wherein are honour, well-being and benefit for us
and wherein lies disgrace, failure and loss? Muslims have given up ascertaining
all these verities from the Quran. Now they ask these things from
unbelievers, polytheists, misguided and selfish people and from the evil force
in their souls, and follow what these elements advise. Therefore what
invariably happens on ignoring God and following the precepts of others,
happened to them too, and they are reaping it today in Hindustan, China, Java,
Palestine, Syria, Algeria, Morocco and everywhere”. {Fundamentals of Islam P.No.17-18}.
The Idea of Hell and Paradise. The idea of Hell [
Punishment] and Paradise [Reward] has so strongly imbibed by our
religious leaders in the mind of the members of the Muslim society that
this has embedded with the DNA at the conception of a baby in a
Muslim family. Punishment breeds fear and reward creates
greed. The result is that most of Muslim leaders are greedy and fearful.
For instance Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a great leader of the nation was
suffering from paranoia : He was a great
intellect no doubt, but he succumbed to the threats of Fanatics
because he was paranoid by
nature. When he became a powerful, elected prime minister of the country,
he began daydreaming to bring Renaissance of Islam across the Muslim world. To
achieve his mission he held the submit conference of the Muslim countries. Narcissism one of the chief features of
a Muslim began to heave in his boson.
Every idea inherits
its decay : hence natural effect of downfall, It is established that
there is no such thing as finality in philosophical thinking. As
knowledge advances and fresh avenues of thought are opened, other views, and
certainly sounder views than those prevalent emerge to take the
place of the old. In philosophical language it may be elaborated with the
help of dialectics: it proceeds with a statement called thesis, the
imperfections of which are sought to be corrected through studying
its opposite, called the antithesis. A new view is then proposed in which
the best features of the thesis and the antithesis are harmonized. This is
known as the synthesis. This synthesis is further refined by regarding it
as another thesis, expounding its antithesis, and so on. To further
elucidate the point the help of Spenser would be beneficial. He wrote
‘that all organic matter originates in a unified state and that individual
characteristics gradually develop through evolution. The evolutionary progression
from simple to more complex and diverse states was an important’ process of
nature . Therefore the thing which does not fall in the domain of human’s
comprehension at present will certainly become understandable through the
process of evolution. But alas! The Muslim could not learn lesson from the
history of Christian Church which as long remained in power, the prosperity and
advancement of the West stayed behind. With the dawn of Renaissance, the
refulgence of the Church began to diminish, and the recognition of the new
vistas of knowledge make the progress and prosperity of the West
self-confident.
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A big deception
Our political leaders and military high profile ranks have
been beating the drums for the non compromise on the matter of country
sovereignty, dignity and self-respect. As for as my knowledge of English and
Political Science helps me, they either do not know the meaning of
sovereignty and independence of a country or they befool the public
purposefully.
Sovereignty may be defined: “ pre-eminence : supreme and
independent power : the territory of a sovereign or of a sovereign state”.
{Chambers English Dictionary}
The ground realities.
{a} A considerable part of
annual budget owes its life and health to the contributions of the donors and
loans from the foreign agencies and banks of the country. It denotes the
economy which is considered the backbone of a country is not strong enough to
bear the burden of the country. And still we cry we will not compromise our
sovereignty, is a very strange claim.
{b} A sizable part of the country is under the control of the insurgents hailing to natives and foreigners. Not to speak of the nebulous boundaries of the country, the writ of the government is not visible even in Karachi, which is the biggest and the hub of the country. It denotes these areas of the country are out of the fold of our sovereignty of the state of Pakistan. The latest statement of the worthy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that there is a fall of constitution in the Province of Baluchistan is scary for every Pakistani. In the presence of these facts and figures the claims of our leaders that they will not compromise on sovereignty of the country, seems ridiculous.
Independence of the country:-
{b} A sizable part of the country is under the control of the insurgents hailing to natives and foreigners. Not to speak of the nebulous boundaries of the country, the writ of the government is not visible even in Karachi, which is the biggest and the hub of the country. It denotes these areas of the country are out of the fold of our sovereignty of the state of Pakistan. The latest statement of the worthy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that there is a fall of constitution in the Province of Baluchistan is scary for every Pakistani. In the presence of these facts and figures the claims of our leaders that they will not compromise on sovereignty of the country, seems ridiculous.
Independence of the country:-
Grounds
realities.
With reference to the independence of the country, I would
like to make the leaders of the country understand the meaning of the word
independence in the light of the address of Liaquat Ali Khan, the first prime leader
of Pakistan.
" That freedom means freedom only from foreign domination, is an outworn idea. It is not merely governments that should be free but the people themselves who should be free, and no freedom has any real value for the common man or woman unless it is also means freedom from want, freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance." Our leaders are building freedom of the country on the empty stomachs of the common men and women.
Dignity and self-respect of the nation
" That freedom means freedom only from foreign domination, is an outworn idea. It is not merely governments that should be free but the people themselves who should be free, and no freedom has any real value for the common man or woman unless it is also means freedom from want, freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance." Our leaders are building freedom of the country on the empty stomachs of the common men and women.
Dignity and self-respect of the nation
Ground
realities
We are branded
beggars among the comity of the nations.
Our rulers are often seen from country to country carrying begging bowl for donation, charity and
loans. Our rulers have forgotten the blessings of a well known proverb,” Cut
your coat according to your cloth”. And “
Honesty is the best policy”. They are hell bent upon to plunder the
wealth of the poor country and beep up their accounts In the foreign banks.
When they are out of government, you will find them on the rooftops beating the
drums of holy catchphrases ‘ service of the people, poverty elevation,
elimination of ignorance, rooti, kapra and mukan, but as soon they wield power
of the state they start filling ‘ their
stores of hunger.’ Pakistan is a strange country where huge buildings are being
built, long and luxurious cars jamming on the roads among the groans of empty
stomachs. In such situation the word self-respect and dignity appear outrageous
from the mouth of our rulers.
Our pride in
our achievements:-
Groundrealities
We always beat the drum of our [a] invincible defense of the country [b] Pakistan fort of Islam [3] Defence of ideology.
We always beat the drum of our [a] invincible defense of the country [b] Pakistan fort of Islam [3] Defence of ideology.
About the invincible defense of the country.
It is chilling to see
the truth of this claim in the light of the recent catastrophe: The Invincible
Defense we have seen in the death of Asama bin Latham and in Navy Camp in
Karachi.
The Defense of Ideology is well being exhibited on the Western
borders of the country where Muslims are fighting like dogs to enforce Islam
according to their own interpretations of holy book and Shari’at.
The fort of Islam is being smashed into smithereens in the
worshiping places by declaring pagans hailing to the other sects.
International conspiracy
International conspiracy
These slogans are chanted to deceive the people. With some
heinous purpose the currency has been given to the stereotypical thought of the
conservatives that there is an international conspiracy against Pakistan. The
fact is, there is no international conspiracy against Pakistan. We are not that
important for international players to merit that kind of attention. Why should
our foe do any effort to destroy us, when we are fractured within, and are
going to meet our ‘destiny’ for our own misdeeds.
Intoxication of democracy.
The sleeping pills are being given to the illiterate public
in the shape of democracy. The corrupt politicians, elite, white and khaki and
‘mollycoddled ’ intellectuals are crying hoarse to save democracy from being
encroached upon by the empty stomachs. Let us see what sort of democracy is in
the Pakistan:-
“The ruling PPP politicians don’t tire of claiming
parliament’s supremacy over all other institution; never mind if many members
of parliament were elected on forty-percent bogus votes and fraudulent degrees Simply, could a person known for
money-laundering and accumulation of illegal wealth ever become either prime
minister or president of India/ That’s
high standard of accountability and rule.” { Writer is freelance columnist
based in Lahore. The News. Iftekhar A. Khan. Sep.1.2012.}.
The price hike of the commodities of daily use has made the
life of common men miserable. In such situation it is not possible at all for a
common man to fight election for the seat of National Assembly or Provincial
Assembly because, it casts billions of rupees. The election has become only a ‘
show’ of democracy. In fact there never have been any genuine
election. Our election of National and Provincial Assemblies are Hobson’s
choice in the real sense of the word. Four families rule the
country. In the light of the above
mentioned parliament, we can infer the essence of the democracy in Pakistan :
It is a democracy off the people, far the people and buy the people. Is
it to be our fate that only the tainted and smeared will rule over us. Remember our whole structure is one of
gradation---one class over another. The
millions at bottom are exploited by and had to bear the weight of all those at
the top. And the at the top took care to
perpetuate this system and to keep the power for themselves by not giving
opportunities of education or training to these poor people at the bottom of
the ladder. How beautifully Voltaire prophesied the ‘ soul and boy’ our
politicians : “ They [politicians] have discovered in their fine politics the
art of causing those to die of hunger who, cultivating the earth, give the
means of life to others”.
“it is the bureaucracy which has been
pivotal in devastating this country. It paved the way for generals and
politicians to loot and plunder.” [ A friend of internet].
In reply to the above message received
on internet:
The history of Pakistan reveals that
politicians in connivance with bureaucrats have been plundering the wealth of
the country. I do believe bureaucracy
plays a role in the ruination the moral, economic and other ethical values of a
nation. But at the same time I do
believe, on the strength of my experience that the preponderant onusfalls on
shoulders of the politicians. Let us
find the truth in pages of the history of Pakistan.
1. Who made concentration of
Urdu speaking refugees in Karachi, the capital of the country. This has been
creating confusion in the politics of the country. It was Liaquat Khan.
2. Who inducted Ayub Khan in
the civil cabinet. A politician or
general.
3. Who made country a
pandemonium in the early days of
Pakistan : Khan Sahib the brother of the Ghofar Khan {Sarhundhy
Gandhi} , was the chief minister of the West Pakistan. He refused bluntly to decorate his office
with the portrait of the father of nation, because he was still suffering from
venomous feelings against the creation of Pakistan. This situation was maligned
by the politicians. This shows that the woeful situation caused the imposition
of marshal law in the country.
4. The achievements of Ayub
Khan are unprecedented in the whole history of Pakistan. Ask the Koreans who
came Pakistan to know the secrets of development in all fields of life. I was
in technical education, and am a living testimony to it.
5. Who befooled public by the
catch words of Root, Kapra and Mukan, everyone saw the dire consequences of
befooling of the public. Destruction of economy, education and moral code of
life of the people. Who declared 1000 years war against India. Who ordered to manufacture Atom Bomb which
proved a heavy obligations on the public exchequer and distorting the image of
the country. Who said,” Here we, there
you”, and fueled the inimical susceptibilities of the East Pakistan, that
culminated in the division of the country.
It is a general, or a politician.
6. Who “ gifted” us with the
legacy of the present plague in the
shape of PPP government. In the
perception of Dr. Kader, the father of nuclear bomb of Pakistan, Mr. Zardari
should be awarded a degree of PhD in dirty politics. The regime of the civilian has become
notorious for corruption, nepotism, steep surge of all items of daily use,
sinking the whole country in darkness and beefing up the foreign banks. Who are responsible for a large scale
unemployment, empty stomachs ready for suicide, and violence, lawlessness,
generals or politicians. Who first ordered bombing on the tribes of the country
in 1972.
Bureaucracy by nature is conservative [a friend
on internet] Who declared
an educated section of the society non Muslims, introduced Friday a holiday and
imposed ban on hot drinks. It was liberalism or conservativeness. Who is
that, a general or a politician.
It is chilling to remember that Pakistan is ranked third
most dangerous place for women in the world. Afghanistan and Congo are our
companions. Is this observation of civilian regime or that of a military
dictator.
Remember , sovereignty, democracy
and other such deceiving phraseology is a concern of well-heeled not the under
fed, and taking the verity of this statement, I can say without any fear of
contradiction that politicians are more devilish in the activities of
plundering and looting the wealth of our
nation.
The hue and cry of some of our mollycoddled
‘intellectuals’ contains some truth that beau racy is responsible for the
endemic corruption, nepotism and all other scourges that has bedeviled the whole fabric of society but it is hard
for me to be convinced that our political and religious leaders are innocent
and conscientious, committed and purified from all sort of evils, temporal and
spiritual. I firmly believe that the
tree of evil is politicians and religious leaders who have planted the country
in the quicksand of all kinds
risks.
The electorates of the country sent their
representatives in the legislative assembly to ameliorate their bad condition
of life. It is simply a lame excuse that they are fettered to do any positive
work. If they are not in a position to deliver good to the public, what are
they doing, to enjoy themselves with the prodigal privileges and prerogatives
of exalted positions.
I will be much obliged if “the intellectuals” tell me who gave
birth to our most woefully miserable “ intelligent and mischievous” figure in
the history of humans, in the form of PPP leadership, generals or politicians.
…………………………..
Confederation with India or Bangladesh
I agree with
the author’s assertion that “If Germany can express its regrets over the
Holocaust and international figure like Willy Brandt can kneel down before
Poland then why can’t Pakistan admit its mistake and apologize to Bangladeshi
people”.
But the whiff of the intention of the author to
write this lengthy essay seems to me that he ardently desires to form a federation
with Bangladesh which is neither advisable nor pragmatic in the scenario of the
present world. The causes of separation
of Bangladesh referred to above are not more potential than the causes inherent
from the very birth of Pakistan. Please find it from the resolution of Pakistan
1940, which reads:
“ No
constitutional plan would be workable or acceptable to the Muslims unless
geographical contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so
constituted with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary. That the
areas in which the Muslims are numerically in majority as in the North-Western
and Eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute independent states
in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.”
Keeping in views the importance of the distance between the two federating
units of Pakistan and Bangladesh, cultural and linguistic differences of the
existing realities federation will remain always vulnerable to all sorts of
windstorms.
But some of the zealous members of
Muslim League could not understand the ground realities and desired one state,
and passed a revolution in Dheli amending the previous one, and this remained
inherent flaw in the constitutional set up of the country.
It is my considered opinion that the confederation with India is more
advisable and beneficial from many points of views. In the matter of advisability and feasibility of my suggestion, I reproduce my
article for readers and request their candid comments on it to enhance my
awareness on the subject.
Federation of Pakistan and
Bangladesh/or confederation of Pakistan and India.
One
of the intellectuals of my internet friends has suggested to revive the federation
of Bangladesh and Pakistan to make both the countries to progress and get a
high position in the comity of nations.
According to him, this is the best recipe for strengthening and
progressing of both the countries.
Some
of our intellectuals are too poetic to see the ground realities. I think some
of them met uncle Ghalib. Assessing
their desires and longings of the visitors Ghalib read out to them this
couplet:-
hazaron kh[v]ahishen aisi kih hark h[v]ahis pe dam
nikle
bahut
nikle mere arman lekein phir bhi kam nikle
[A
thousand such desires that upon each one I would rather die,
Though many of my longings were fulfilled,
many so remained.]
Let
us see impartially the probabilities of confederation in the vision of the
following facts and figures and come to the conclusion whether this suggestion
of federation of Pakistan and Bangladesh is workable or a mere flight of a
crazy man with a burning desire to see a larger Islamic State in the world.
A
nation may be defined as a large aggregate of people united by common descent,
history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.
[a]
According to the above definition of a nation,
Bangladeshis and Pakistanis
cannot be a nation because we have different language, culture and
different boundaries of territories.
[b]
State has four components.
[1] Has space or territory
which has internationally recognized boundaries.
[2] Has people who live there
on an ongoing basis.
[3] Has a government which
provides public services and police power.
[4] Has sovereignty. No other
state should have power over the country’s territory.
There is no commonality of
territories which is essential to unite a nation. This has already proved in
the 1971 war.
In Pakistan we do not have
sovereignty because in a considerable area of the country the writ of the
government has been challenged. Moreover
most of the articles of the constitution are not working in the area which is
called Azad territory. They have their own laws to regulate the affairs of the
inhabitants.
The other most antagonist attitudes to the
sovereignty of the country is that a considerable part of our annual budget of
the year owes its existence on the charities and loans from the foreign
countries. For this purpose we have to
pledge our sovereignty with the donors and lenders. It suggests that heavy
loans which have become an essential part of our budget for a long time entails
a compromise with the sovereignty of the country. The proof of this is that we cannot go ahead
with our programme designed and tailored for the welfare of the people. This is
chiefly because of the tragic fact that our elite do not pay income tax etc,
and the government from head to the toe is buried in corruption. We due
apology, I am impelled to conclude that consciously or unconsciously the author
of the article wants to drag the peaceful nation of Bangladesh into the mire in
which we are sinking day in day out because of the corruption and misgovern ace
of the government.
Confederation is a loose
alliance between two or more countries for some purpose. Traditionally Foreign
policy, defense and currency are the subjects of the federal government and the
rest of the subjects rest with the confederating units. The residual
legislating authority usually also rests with the confederating units. In such alliance the culture, all kinds of
faiths and other such in heritage are guaranteed and secured.
In the present political,
social and economic scenario it is more advisable and beneficial to make such alliance
with India,
{a} to get ride of a war which is a Damocles’
sword over the two countries.
{b} To break the backbone of
creeds mafia.
{c} In stead of wasting
resources to nourish and flourish revenge and enmity among the 1/4the mankind,
there would be singing of mantras of love, brotherhood and peace.
{d} A chunk of national revenue
is spent on defense and to mitigate the influence of India which is considered the first enemy
of Pakistan. By saving a large amount we
can exploit it in the furtherance of education and civic amenities. On the
contrary we cannot obtain deliverance from the strong shackles of conservatism
imposed by the coward political leaders of the country by surrendering to a
small section of society
The paramount and wholesome impact of the confederation with India is to
redeem the conceited strategy of adventurism as expressed in the following
catchphrases.
[2]
The defense of ideology.
[2]
The invincible defense of Pakistan.
[3]
Pakistan a fort of Islam
In light of the facts and
figures the wish of with Bangladesh is a poetic thought and should remain so to
please the conservatives of both the
countries. The slogans that we are Uncles of Islam, have to be abandon for the
progress of the country. We should make our country secular to accelerate the
speed of progress. Only secularism makes the country a welfare state. Secular state means a state which guarantees
religious freedom to every citizen and which, without distinction of religious
or race, endeavours to promote the advancement and welfare of all its citizen.
Elegy of the champions of democracy
in Pakistan.
“elected governments in Pakistan,
despite mandate, light or heavy, from the people of Pakistan are forced to function
under stringent conditional ties imposed upon them by the Pakistan army.”
Could the
author on honesty and justice say that there had been elected governments in Pakistan since
its birth. Is it not true that all the civil governments
are fake, conglomerate of four families
and rigging of results of the elections.
The declaration of Nadara
that more than 40 percent are
fake voters, is not an eye-opener for the champions of civil government in
Pakistan. I can
say without any fear of contradiction that all the general elections
held under the sway of civil governments were
true illustration of Hobson choice.
I do agree
with the author:
“The
present government adopted a policy of
complete subjugation to the military and left no stone unturned to please the
men in uniform”.
But why it
is so. It is because the present
government is not a genuine government.
It came into power : {1} through world’s notorious NRO {2} selling the blood of Benazir {3} with the
slogans to fulfill PPP stereotyped
promises of Root, Kapara and Makan . Had Bhutto honoured his pledges
with the public no one could dare cast
an evil eye upon him. Mr. Bhutto was hanged because he dishonored
his pledges with the poor and paved the path for military forces. History of Pakistan stands testimony to the
fact that in civil governments of the country
our political, economic and administrative system become more infested with corruption,
lawlessness, deceit and economic malaise due to the lust of the ruling dacoits
such as PPP leadership.
I have
noted carefully adventurous story of the author about the activities of Military in Baluchistan. It contains some
facts but does not explain truly the history of the corrupt politicians. I was a lecturer in government Commercial
College Quetta and I still relish the
peaceful and juice aura of the city in General Ayub Khan era. Hence I do not
think it apt to give my comments on it.
However I feel it appropriate to reproduce my previous e-mail to make
the matter more clear.
Anthropology tells us that ‘human nature’ differs widely in
various communities, for example in some communities the lending of one’s wife
to a guest is considered an indispensible part of hospitality. Infanticide has been prevalent in many countries. Even Plato recommended it as a remedy against
over population.
Have different trends in different people living in different
geographical position and in different clime and climate may be taken as
essentials of human nature. Therefore,
in perspective of the past 60 years in the domains of politics, economics and
social logy, we can conclude without an fear of contradiction that Western
Democracy may be suitable and beneficial for the literate, advanced and creeds
free society but it is poison for the health of the nation of a backward,
illiterate and creeds ridden society.
The contents of the most
E-mail and views given in different channels denote that some of our
intellectuals are hell bent upon defaming the defense of Pakistan for the reasons
best known only to them. Certainly they are intentionally or unintentionally
espousing the efforts of our foes to disintegrate Pakistan and proved the
strength of Indians’ old claim of “ One Nations Theory”. They are singing the mantra of democracy day
and night. They are so intoxicated with
the word ‘democracy’ that it has become their belief that the worst democracy
is better than the best dictatorship.
They do not know that the common man has no interest in the form of
government, rather he believes “ let the
fools contest for the form of government, that government is best that does
best. Remember, sovereignty is a concern
of well-heeled not of the under fed.
Whole the nation has been sinking in the sea of corruption, nepotism,
load-shedding and price hike but some of our pseudo intellectuals are crying
save democracy of the four families. It
seems that democracy in Pakistan is a beautiful lass and her modesty is being encroached upon by the have-nots,
and it is the duty of every citizen to save this lass from being kidnapped and
molested. I do understand that
dictatorship is a slur on the fair name of our country but our fake democracy
which emerges from Hobson’s choice is more poisonous for the health of the
nation. For example at the departure of the dictatorship rate of $ was 60 Rs,
but now the rate is more than Rs.91. Moreover the profitable institutions such
as Railway, PIA Steel Mill and WAPADA were giving profits, whereas in the
democracy they are going into a sudden nosedive. The plain and simple truth is that ppp
government of Pakistan prefers to tread the primrose path of dalliance rather than
the steep and thorny way that beckons to the prosperity and betterment of the
masses.
I reiterate that I abhor and detest dictator in my beloved
country, but the history of these two main parties, Muslim League[n] and PPP
emanated from the womb of dictatorship is not encouraging to say the
least. Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was
introduced to the president Ayub Khan by
Sakander Mirza. And Mr. Sharif is an
abortive child of dictatorship of Zia.
I firmly believe democracy is the best form of government in
the Western Country which are welfare states.
But in Pakistan it is more than a deadly poison, and it has been tested
and proved a shaving blade in the hand of a monkey. The history of developing
countries, such as China, Korea etc reveals that Western democracy does not
suit to the backward, poor and illiterate society. We should adopt the political system of China
for the progress and property of the country and amelioration of the
downtrodden.
……………………………………………
The history of the
Muslims’ psychology is replete with evidences that they worshiped " the dead" at the cost of living
ones. Their other prominent feature is to erect their political,
religious and social edifice on the bones of their forefathers .They make them
martyrs to buttress their objectives without thinking the significance of
sacred term as described in Quran and Shariah.
These days the
largest political party of the country PPP after delivering scourges of hike
price, monster of load shedding of electricity and gas, the ghost of corruption
and stripping off democracy, is digging out its pseudo martyrs from their
graves to help them against
the wrath of the common men. They are disturbing the souls of their ‘
forefathers’ by imploring them to come
to the world to assist them in the troubled waters they have created by
themselves with their misdeeds.
Now the question is whether
the martyrs of the Pakistan are genuine martyrs or counterfeit. As
far my knowledge of Islamic history helps me, the word martyr and martyrdom are
very sacred and exalted. Let us see its significance and dimensions in the
light of the religion of Islam:
The shahid is considered one whose place in Paradise is promised
according to these verses in the Qur'an:
Think
not of those who are
slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their
sustenance in the presence of their Lord;
They rejoice in the bounty provided by Allah: And with
regard to those left behind, who have not yet joined them (in their bliss), the
(Martyrs) glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor have they (cause to)
grieve.
The emphasis is on “ who are
slain in Allah’s way ”. In order to form any opinion whether
our martyrs are genuine or fake, we should first of all get ourselves abreast
of the activities and deeds/misdeeds of the martyrs of Pakistan.
1. First martyr.
{1} Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan, the
first Prime Minister of Pakistan : His credentials in respect of his foreign
policy and his behaviour with the father of nation, Quaid-Azam have been under
severe criticism. There is a nasty story of bad performance of the
prime minister during illness and at death of the father of nation, the Quaid.
His first address to the American
on his tour to the United States of America has been under tirades of his
critics as they thought pro American policy entangled the country in the
quandary between the two supper powers. It is unfortunate that between the two
“great” {USSR & USA} Pakistan fell upon evils days. Pakistan was drawn on
the horns of a dilemma due to one track foreign policy adopted by the
government of Liaquat Ali Khan.
He was short dead while he was
addressing a public meeting to strengthen his political position in the
forthcoming election. His assassination is, of course, a sad event in the
history of Pakistan. But we cannot named it martyrdom by any parameters
determined by our religion. He was not “slain in Allah’s way”,
rather was assassinated in the game of politics.
2. Second martyr
[2] Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a tremendous intellect with hazy
outlook. He betrayed his political father President Ayub Khan, whom he
called ‘daddy’. He played with the emotional attachment of the
public with their country. He successfully grappled political power by
means of Machiavellian trickeries. He befooled the public with the
catchphrases of ROOTI KUPRA MUKAN, but immediately forgot it after wielding
power. He began visiting the dreamland and seeing himself the champion of
the Muslim world. He held summit of the leaders of the Muslim world for this
purpose. He kicked out his socialist comrades from the fold of his party, and
inducted in it his toadies. He proved disloyal to the common poor men of the
country and to his benefactor Ayub Khan who has exalted him against the
opposition of his colleges.
God/Nature does not like faithfulness and was therefore punished for his ‘deeds’.
3. Third martyr
[3] Mr. Zia, the most
hated and detested person also proved faithless to his benefactor, Mr. ZAB who
had exalted him to make him Chief of Army of Pakistan ignoring the seniority
list. He maneuvered to get his benefactor be hanged to save his
position. He exercised his influence on
the judiciary and got his benefactor/foe visit gibbet through ‘ court’s trial
murder’.
God/Nature did not lik disloyalty and he was
blasted in the air. He was not “slain in Allah’s way” and therefore cannot be
called a martyr.
4. Fourth martyr
[4] Benazir Bhutto was a great lady. A
sympathizer of the destitute of the country. She devoted her
energies and youth against the dictatorship. But when she became Mrs. Zardari
she said farewell to her virtues. Now she was one of the notorious
cheaters of Pakistan. There was a pregnant silence in her
leaving the case of murder to the winds. She kept her very kind
and loving mother away from politics because Miss. Nusrat wished
her son to be the chairman of PPP.
God/Nature felt annoyed on her
unfaithfulness and Benazir was murdered with the conspiracy of PPP leadership. She was not “slain in Allah’s
way” and therefore
cannot be called a martyr.
I
believe God/Nature is ready to get this most perfidious PPP leadership, to
visit Gibbet
Remember God/Nature is Omnipotent. It reminds me the
saying of Holy Prophet,” Do not vilify time, for time is
God”. Time is eternal, when every thing of this
world is in flux and unreliable.
In light of the above facts and figures sponsored with
references from the holy book and divine personality, I feel free to state that the martyrs of Pakistan are fake,
camouflaged under the ignorance and blind faith of their devotees.
………………………………………
Romance.
My experience tells me that fair sex is very sweet, charming, captivating
and enriching life. Up to the silver jubilee of life, it is very energizing and
elevating, but as life proceeds towards its final goal, the thrills of romantic
activities begin to fade away. However
it left indelible pleasing treasure to enjoy in the noon of life.
Love.
Love is a sacred passion. It deals with serious
aspect of life. It has depths of oceans and heights of Himalaya. Tennyson says’” It is the greatest folly of life. But life is incomplete without it.” Jalaluddin Rumi describes in a different
way. He says that “Through love burning
fire becomes pleasing light. Through love stone becomes soft as butter”.
sab kahan, kuchh
lala{h}-o-gul men numayan ho gai’n
khak men, kya surateh
hongi kih pinhan ho gai’n {Ghalib}
Translation:-
‘Not all, only a few have
become evident as tulips
and roses;
What images may lie in
the dirt that remain hidden from us? ‘
Life and death.
We see that these big minds except the
scientists and artists have created problems of manifold which have engulfed
simple peoples of this unfortunate planet. We should not pay attention to these
labyrinths of metaphysics and mysterious interpretations of the world. Best life is a simple life. When we do not
know certainly where from we come, then we should not worry where are we to go
after death. All isms and ideologies
should be exiled from the land of mankind except Humanism which is in
philosophy, an attitude that emphasizes the dignity and worth of the
individual. A basic premise of humanism
is that people are rational beings who possess within themselves the capacity
for truth and goodness.
Religion: “ A system of general truth which
have the effect of transforming character when they are sincerely held and
vividly apprehended” { Pof Whitehead}.
“ Religion is not a departmental affairs; it
is neither mere thought, nor mere feeling, nor mere action; it is the
expression of the whole man” .{Iqbal.
Politics: “ They[politicians] have discovered
in their fine politics the art of causing those to die of hunger who,
cultivating the earth, hive them the means of life to others”.{ Voltaire}