Why am I so confused?----Part-2

I had an eye operation in April 2008. Last week, my eye surgeon, Dr. Shakaib Anwar , a very fine surgeon, who listens to his patients carefully, and a very fine man, advised me three test to be conducted at the Shifa Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi. I was fascinated by the electronically operated equipment both at the doctor’s clinic as well as at the hospital.  The results containing measurements, which were Greek to me, were given by hand within two hours. I showed them to the doctor the next day. The entire experience was fascinating for me. I wished that the inventors were Muslims.

Inventions viz. fiber optic, television, the internet made in the west have brought the world in to the living room. One can read the newspapers of the world or shop over the internet. However, for Pakistanis, they can shop against cash only because they have cheated again.

My previous essay ‘Why am I confused ‘and this one are not meant to cast adverse reflection on individual Muslims. Indeed, there are many individuals who do good deeds without anyone else knowing. It is a small effort to make the Muslims realize that many bad customs and human failings that have crept into our society are totally alien to the spirit to Islam. And we care more about Haqooq ul Allah than Haqooq ul Abad. 

As regards inventions, there was a time when the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) was conferred Prophethood, he started his mission among the pagan Arab . However, at his death, Muslims became scientists, academicians, mathematicians, astrologers, astronomers, philosophers. Diplomats visiting the courts of great emperors like the Roman Empire and the Iranian Empire. They learnt to live by  following the Holy Quran. The presence of the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) played a vital part in this transformation. 

I have repeatedly told my friends or my readers that I am a cynic and I do not trust anyone: extended family and friends; nor the successive Governments. Many have deceived me or played foul with me. A couple friends and family members behaved positively rude with me. Both are loyal till their interest demand. Friends are fellow travelers going in the same direction up to a limit.

Imagine driving thirty kilometers in each direction to Rawalpindi to meet an old class fellow only to be told that he was busy in reciting the Holy Quran. Thus he could not meet me. Similar incidents happened again with me twice.

A noted news columnist was telling the compare in a TV talk show the other day that each person from a population 180 million has his hand in the other person’s pocket. To which I add, or in the till. I cannot justify our claim that we are Muslims with reports of various sources that Pakistan is one of the most corrupt countries across the globe. Yet I was amazed when I see innocent faces of young girls on the Universities’ campuses. 

I do not want to write on politics in the country. However, despite my ardent wish, I have to perforce write on it. I have been frequenting the Parliament since my joining the Government as a public servant. Hardly had the quorum been full. Oh yes; when the bill for perks and privileges of the Parliamentarians, the quorum was always full. I cannot reconcile this with the Caliphate of Hazrat Umar (May Allah be pleased with him).When there was a famine in Medina, the Caliph vowed not to eat meat till the famine was over.  And yet we claim that Pakistan is a citadel of Islam.

Pakistan had two parts; east and west Pakistan. What happened to the Eastern part is history. But in the war of 1971, atrocities were allegedly committed by the Pakistan army, a Muslim army. The world media graphically portrayed these .We were rudely awakened when I read on the internet the Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission Report  to know the truth. We are rudely awakened what is happening in Karachi where Muslims are killing other Muslims. And what happened to two teenagers in Sialkot? What happened to Sarfaraz Shah? What is happening in the courts in Pakistan, in the markets, or the educational institutions where the poor and innocent fell prey to exploitation. I cannot justify these. And yet we are all Muslims. I can’t imagine these.

When the first part of the essay was posted on Facebook, a reader referred to the Holy Quran which provides salvation. I wrote back that given the literacy rate in Pakistan, imagine the required time for full literacy. We venerate the Holy Quran by keeping on high place .We recite it by rote without understanding and practicing it.

I recommend reading Allama Iqbal’s ‘Jawab e Shikwa’ to know what I mean. I also recommend an Urdu book ‘Talaash’ (Search) written by Mumtaz Mufti .The theme of the book was the author’s search for Allah and the truth . I disagree with parts of the book .

Despite our tall claims that we are the chosen people of Allah because we are Muslims, the world sees us differently particularly during the past few years. The world sees us as illiterate, boorish, crude, barbarians especially killings in suicide bombings and the repeated blood baths in Karachi. Undoubtedly terrorists have no religion. But how do we explain to the world when those who are responsible for these acts of barbarity bear Muslim names. 

For the last years, Pakistan passports are looked down upon. After one bad experience at Jeddah, I prefer to travel abroad on non PIA airlines. And after another bad experience, I have stopped to travel on domestic PIA flights.

While travelling in Saudi Arabia once, I frequently heard that the people of Pakistan are lies and cheats. An example of cheating is the kunda (hook) connection for stealing electricity in Karachi. Stealing office stationery for children is a common phenomenon in Pakistan Government offices. Similarly there are massive misuses of petrol, electricity in Government offices. Water taps once opened are seldom closed unless there are in their private homes. We can making an enormous savings by using those resources discreetly.  

I drove to my office in my own car while my junior used an official transport which he parked in his house. He never missed any prayer. Office drivers submit inflated repairs. When a minister of General Musharraf’s Government wished for a new seven seater sofa set for his office, it was made by a firm located on Murree Road, Rawalpindi at a price of Rs 35000/-  whereas I got a similar seven seater sofa set from the same shop at Rs 24000/-.When I challenged the concerned officer, he made lame excuses. Admittedly this amount is notional. But sin big or small is a sin.

I was overworked once. I had to prepare four or five summaries or briefs for the Minister or the Secretary to be submitted the same day. I waited uptill eleven for my junior to share a part of the work. At that time, I learnt that he had gone to a religious congregation which was being held in town. Many years have passed since, I could not reconcile with this kind of behaviour.

Mahfooz ur Rahman

rahman.mahfooz.pk@gmail.com

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Why am I so confused?----Part-1

We are taught the basic principles of Islam both at home and at school. But when I grew up and started looking around, I began to realize that there is a wide dichotomy between what we were taught and our deeds. I am not talking about the world, this essay is confined to Pakistan, the land of the pure .. We are taught that there are two kinds of obligations:

• Obligations of man towards His Creator, and
• Obligations of man towards his fellow human beings.
  
  

I read somewhere an incident in the life of Hazrat Hassan Basri (May Allah be pleased with him). Once he was trying to persuade a Jew to embrace Islam. The latter promised to let the former his decision on the morrow. The next day the Jew came to Hazrat Hassan Basri and announced that he would not become a Muslim. The latter asked him why? The Jew replied if Islam meant what Hazrat Hassan Basri was following, it was difficult for the former to practice. If Islam meant what the others were doing, he was better off being a Jew.

Once I was discussing with my Mathematics Professor (the late Mr. M.H.Siddiqui) at the Cadet College, Hasan Abdal that we were taught at school about King Arthur and his twelve knights, each knight representing a particular quality eg. humility, bravery. I asked my honorable teacher why is it that these qualities were not found in the society. I put the same question to some others, including one of my bosses, retired Brigadier M.A. Abbasi, a very fine gentleman. But they could not give me a satisfactory reply.

Indeed Islam has answers to all my questions. The qualities read about King Arthur’s knights were found in deeds of valour in lives of the early Muslims eg. Hazrat Ali , his sons , his progeny, in Hazrat Saad bin Abi Waqqas, Hazrat Khalid bin Walid (May Allah be pleased with them). Indeed, Islamic history is replete with such examples.

However, I am talking about modern Pakistan. I was talking with a neighbour, a retired senior officer of the armed forces. He was telling me that for every work dealing with the public, he has kept a portion of his income for giving it as haram ka maal otherwise no work is done. I referred him to one of my cases which is pending. He replied that my work would not be done according to my wishes unless I grease the palms of the concerned authorities. All persons working in departments which deal with the public are Muslims.

We have been taught that Allah may or may not forgive us for neglecting our obligations to Him. But He would not forgive us for neglecting our duties to humanity. But be they butchers, or milkmen, or grocers, or fruit sellers, they are liable to defraud the innocent by their cheating. For eg. there are often news reports of butchers selling meat of dead animals or dog meat. The foodstuff sold in the markets have impurities, including deadly chemicals, injurious to health. The poor innocent consumer is paying through his nose. An overwhelming majority of Pakistanis are Muslims. I find it difficult to reconcile that.

Islam teaches us humility. But we find that we are proud and aggressive. Even some clerics are not free from this disease. We find them vain and conceited. We have before us the Holy Prophet’s (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) example and the example of his blind companion. Imagine his patience and perseverance with the pagans of Mecca and hypocrites and the Jews of Medina. Again Imagine we were living and one of us approached him with a problem. The Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) would have listened to us patiently and tried to solve our problem to our satisfaction. Again I find it difficult to reconcile the preachings of the clerics with their vanity.

Once I attend a memorial service in the Jubilee Hall of Gordon College, Rawalpindi for the father of two class fellows, brother and sister, who were my dear friends. I saw plenty of grey heads sitting; a triple PhD, a double MSc. etc. But I admired their humility while was at the college. Each person spoke in Urdu for the benefit of those not knowing English.

Many of us tend to sell our souls to the devil for fame, for promotion and other worldly pleasures. While we are at it, we forget the pure teachings of Islam.

In the west, every shop from super markets to the smallest shop arranges sales from October to April so that everything is within of the meanest to enable everybody to enjoy the Christmas, Easter and the season’s pleasures. Whenever I get an opportunity, I do my shopping there. While in Pakistan, sales are meant to sell the condemned things at a higher price.

Already the prices of foodstuff are beginning to rise before Ramazan to enable the shop keepers to harvest a windfall. This happens every year. And yet they are all Muslims.

Imagine driving on Murree Road, Rawalpiindi. The road from one end to the other are covered by shops. But hardly any of the shopkeepers are tax payers. In the west the people don’t cheat on their taxes. No wonder the west is advanced.

We, in Pakistan , have customs that are vile and alien like honour killing, vani , child marriages, domestic violence that are abominable to Islam . But that is because of a lack of knowledge of Islamic teachings.

Pakistan is a place where nuisance value reigns regardless what a person does for his vocation or otherwise. Again I am referring to the west where society strives to make life easier for the people regardless their income. Despite the fact that Islam teaches to make life easier for the citizens of an Islamic state irrespective of their religious learning, the Pakistani society has yet to learn the fundamental precepts of obligations towards mankind . We have all kinds of Islamic books and more are being published annually, but the west has learnt the secret of bringing the good governance at the door step of the meanest person in society without a conversion to an Islamic way of life.

Mahfooz ur Rahman

rahman.mahfooz.pk@gmail.com

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Maryam Jameelah’s Open Letter to Her Parents

Maryam Jameelah (Margret Marcus), born in New York to a Jewish family explored Judaism and other faiths, converted to Islam in 1961 and emigrated to Pakistan. She is an author of over thirty books on Islamic culture and history and a prominent female voice for Islam. Below is her letter that she wrote to her parents from Pakistan:


“Dear Mother and Father,

I have now been living in Pakistan for more than twenty years during which time you have acquired an entire additional family of loved-ones there, adding much to your happiness. You have reached a ripe age, thank God, living longer in good health than I had ever expected. You have read all my books and Islamic literature I have sent you with a broad and open mind. Therefore you need no introduction to the subject I wish to discuss with you now and nothing I have to say will seem strange and new to you.

I wonder if you realize fully how very fortunate you are. So long as you can keep in reasonable health and are able to take care of yourselves, you can continue to enjoy a pleasant life. But do you ever think of the tragic faith of those hundreds of thousands of other older Americans, the victims of chronic illness and infirmities, who crowd to over-flowing hospitals and nursing homes (which are really charnel houses), the old-age homes and the senile wards of mental institutions? And do you ever think of those still greater numbers of older people who are widowed and live their lonely lives confined to their dingy rooms in constant fear of muggings, physical attacks and robberies by juvenile delinquents who prey on the old and infirm with no remorse or fear of punishment? The maltreatment of older people is a direct result of the collapse of the home and extended family. Does your elder sister – my aunt Rosalyn, a great-grandmother lovingly sheltered in a close and adoring family and a happy home, ever think how lucky she is and how few of her advanced age in America are left like her?

You must know that society in which you were brought up and have lived all your life is in a state of rapid disintegration on the brink of collapse. Actually the decline in our civilization was evident as far back as World War I but at that time few people except some intellectuals and artists were aware of what was happening. But since the end of World War II and especially during the last two decades, the rot has reached such a stage of advanced decay that nobody can any longer ignore it.

The moral anarchy in the absence of any respected, fixed standards of behavior and conduct, the obsession with perverted sex over the entertainment media, the mistreatment of older people, the divorce rate which has climbed so high that among the new generation, an enduring, happy marriage is becoming rare, child abuse, the destruction of the natural environment, the prodigious waste of scarce and valuable resources, the epidemic of veneral diseases and mental disorders, drug addiction, alcoholism, suicides as leading cause of death, crime, vandalism, corruption in the government and contempt for the law in general – all of this has a cause.

The cause of this is the failure of secularism and materialism and the absence of absolute, transcendental theological and moral values. Deed does in the final analysis depend upon creed because if the intention is wrong, the work always suffers.

No doubt that it may bore you to read this. You will protest that if you are not theologians, philosophers or sociologists, then why bother about such “deep” matters when they do not seem to be of any direct concern to you? After all, you are happy and content living just as you are. You only wish to enjoy life right now, live entirely in the present and accept each day as it comes. If life is a journey, is it not foolhardy only to be concerned with pleasant and comfortable accommodations along the way and never to think about the journey’s end? Why were we born? What is the meaning and purpose of life, why must we die and what will happen to each of us after death?

Father you have told me more than once that you cannot accept any traditional religion because you are convinced that theology conflicts with modern science. Science and technology have indeed given us much information about the physical world, provided us with abundant comforts and conveniences, increased efficiency and discovered remedies for many diseases that used to be fatal. But science does not and cannot tell us about the meaning of life and death. Science tells us “how” but it never answers the question “why”?. Can science ever tell us what is right and what is wrong? What is good and what is evil? What is beautiful and what is ugly? And to whom are we accountable for what we do? Religion does.

Today America is in many ways a repetition of ancient Rome in the terminal stages of her decline and fall. Thinking people know that secularism has failed to be a sound foundation of our social order. They are anxiously searching in other directions for a solution to the crisis but do not know yet where to find it. This is not of concern only to a few sociologists. The disease of national disintegration directly affects you and me and each one of us.

During its most critical period, ancient Rome adopted Christianity as its salvation and henceforth the Church dominated Europe for more than a thousand years. This put an end to many of the worst social and moral evils of decadent Rome and greatly raised the moral and spiritual standards of the people. Unfortunately during the formative period of its history, the Church compromised with paganism and secularism, adopting an elaborate priesthood and incomprehensive theology which could not resist the impact of the renaissance, the revival of the natural sciences and the radical secularism of the French Revolution. While Christians in Europe and America have deserted their faith wholesale leaving the churches almost empty, the missionaries continue to represent the vanguard of western imperialism and exploitation in Asia and Africa.

After Christianity, the Jews comprise the second largest religious group in America who dominate politically, and economically, as well exercising considerable control over the media. But Judaism has always been parochial and tribal, seldom welcoming converts. It is not and has never been a universal faith. The Zionist movement which resulted in the establishment of the state of Israel, is the secular expression of Jewish nationalism and tribalism. The dreadful atrocities committed by the Israelis in occupied Palestine, the unprovoked aggression in Lebanon and adjacent areas and attempted genocide of the Palestine Arabs, depriving them of all human and political rights, is the logical result of this same narrow parochial outlook. This is the reason why even the most orthodox of the rabbis refuse to believe that Israel can do any wrong and uncritically support everything she does. These glaring moral and spiritual defects automatically disqualify Judaism as the faith of the future.

The Muslims comprise the third and fastest growing faith in America today. No longer is Islam confined to remote regions of the deserts and jungles of Asia and Africa. No longer is Islam foreign to the American scene. There are more than three million Muslims in America today and their numbers are increasing fast. There are thousands of students from all Muslim countries studying in American universities, and well-educated, highly-trained Muslims are busily at work in all professions. In the last two decades, hundreds of native-born American converts have swelled their ranks. At first most of the converts were black people who found in Islam, dignity, honor, self-respect and racial brotherhood as did Malcolm-X, but in recent years more and more white converts of European origin, searching for guidance in all the affairs of their formally chaotic lives, have also embraced Islam, making many sacrifices and enduring much hardships to do so. Few of them are fortunate as I am to have loving parent like you. Most of them suffer severe frictions with their non-Muslim parents and relatives. Today churches and synagogues are almost deserted but the newly-built mosques and Islamic centers, springing up in every important American city and town, are attracting rapidly growing numbers. Most of the new Muslims in America are young, intelligent and well-educated. What attracts so many young Americans to Islam?

Americans today, both young and old, are desperately searching for guidance. They know from bitter experience that the personal freedom and opportunities they as Americans enjoy are meaningless and self-destructive without reliable guidance, direction and purpose. Secularism and materialism are powerless to provide any positive or constructive moral values for Americans either individually or collectively. That is why after Christianity and Judaism have failed them, more and more people in America today are turning towards Islam. In Islam as new Muslims, they find a sane, healthy, clean and honest life. And for Muslims, everything does not come to an end at death. They look forward to an Eternity of bliss, peace and perfect happiness (in the Hereafter).

This Guidance found in the Holy Qur’an and the recorded words and deeds of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, is not only for foreign races in some far-away corner of the East, centuries ago. Here are to be found the solutions to all economic, social, moral and political problems which face us right here in the West today. Furthermore, Islam is not cold, remote and impersonal. Muslims have complete faith in a very personal God who not only created, sustains and rules the universe but also loves and deeply cares about the fate of each of us. The Holy Qur’an tells us that God is nearer to everyone of us than our jugular veins!

Since the Holy Qur’an is divine revelation, it cannot and will never be changed. Because it is perfect, it cannot be improved, revised or reformed. Since Muhammad, upon whom be peace, is the final Prophet, his guidance can never be superseded by any other. The Qur’an and Sunnah are addressed to all peoples, in every country of the West as well as the East. Since it is relevant for all times, in all places, it can never become obsolete or out-of-date.

You are both of very advanced age and there is so little time left. Yet it is not too late if you act now. If your decision is positive, your ties with your loved ones in Pakistan will not only be by blood but also in faith. You cannot only love them in this world but be all together with us forever in eternity.

If your decision is negative, I am very much afraid that your happy, comfortable and pleasant life will very shortly come to an end. As soon as the inevitable occurs, it is too late for remorse and regrets. The punishment will be terrible from which there is no refuge and no escape.

It is as your daughter who loves you and hopes to the end that you will be spared this fate. But the decision rests entirely with you. You have complete freedom to accept or reject: Your future depends upon the choice you make now.

All my love and best wishes.

Your devoted daughter,

(Maryam Jameelah).

Source: My Bit For Change

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Our Angels and Our Society

Just before I was about to leave the gas station, I had to put my foot on the brakes of my car. Next to my car was standing a little boy, age would be 12 years maximum. He was holding a drum which is usually used to keep edibles hot or cold. Before I would have had said anything to him, he came to me, knocked my window, I moved it down.

Do you want to buy a warm boiled egg? I kept staring at him, he was trying to convince me it`s very cheap and weather is cold, maybe you need it. The way he said this, had unexplainable effect on me. I felt like I was breaking from deep inside, a voice of breaking glass from thousand miles away. I had in my eyes the picture of my younger brother, who is his age. In a nano- second, I had an unintentional comparison between this child and my brother.

I still remember, that it was night time, around 10`o clock. I asked him how many eggs do you have to sell? He proudly told me that he has sold 20 and now has 5 left. I bought some of them and advised him not to beg for anything in his life, just hard work and you will get everything you want. I encouraged him and his eyes were sparkling. I will never forget those eyes.

Some days ago, a similar thing happened to me again on a signal, where a little boy of 10 or 12 years of age came and requested to clean my windshield. I allowed him, he cleaned it but I didn`t have change, I promised him  that I would pay for his services and took my car to service lane, but he said, don`t bother, its fine and smiled.

The reason I am telling you this is not my personal projection; rather, there are some strong messages in these incidents. Let me put these in front of my readers.

How would you compare the behavior of these children with whom ruling our country? These little children work hard, sell stuff which costs us like next to nothing. They face hard weathers, unknown fears, fight with society and earn little just to feed their family and themselves. On the other hand, our ruling class travels in the convoy of 98 official cars, all fueled with our tax money. Unlike these hardworking children, they earn much with bribe, commissions and kickbacks. These children feed their families but our rulers make families die from taxes, inflation and worse law and order situation. BUT these little angels have a self respect, which our rulers don`t have, they earn while our rulers beg. They live legitimate but rulers make marry on our taxes. I don`t know how much respect we have for self respect but little children have self respect which our rulers lack.

Next thing, who is responsible for such a situation? If you ask me, I would always say, it`s us, who are responsible for the situation, we always elect incapable persons as leaders, we elect them so that we can use them in our personal affairs, like getting jobs, transfer postings etc. we never thought that by doing this, how are we contributing in slaughtering our own future with our own hands. Yes, such elected representatives do help us but in individual way, they never thought about a nation, which comprises of all parts of our society, including these small children. Our destruction consists of a simple cycle, we elect incapable people and they destroy us, we cry and cry and become victims, but at the end of the day, prioritize our personal interest over national interest and re-elect the same. I`ll not talk about remedies, we know each and everything, I am just elaborating our general behavior.

Last but not least, how should we take care of this delicate but neglected part of society. These children have lost their childhood, when our children play with toys, they walk on roads to find customers, when our children think of some outing and picnic, they think of the big problems which they try to solve with their innocent little minds and weak body and small hands. When our children don`t have any medical or security issues, we mobilize all public and private resources, but when these angels face these, they have no state assurance standing by them. We are together by our social status while they are alone. Our children go to schools and they stand out of schools selling pens and pencils. But still we don`t know whom we should call  double faced.

We spend much money on useless things, but why don`t we have a generous heart to buy a pen or an egg from these angels. Please don`t make them watch dreams of living like our standards, because there is no one to fulfill their dreams, neither our state nor us. They cannot be us, because we would never allow them to be. Just help them to live and eat. Please buy their stuff, but do not give them money in shape of charity, otherwise it will take away from them a last worthy and precious thing, self respect.

Photo Credit: WikiMedia Commons

Syed Talal Hassan Bukhari
talal.hassan5@gmail.com

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You Can Achieve Anything Your Heart Desires

Nothing in this world is unachievable. There are thousands of examples to justify this fact. In life, there is always reasonable room for improvement. To achieve your target goals, you should be motivated and consistent. You don`t have to listen negative comments, but if you do, just let them pass through your mind.

When you are in any profession, you have to set aside your emotions and your professional life is a different dimension than the life that is full of emotions. The successful man is one who contains both these aspects of his life successfully. Every dimension of your life teaches you some lesson, but the one who gains a difference is he who learns that lesson and this requires deep observation.

In your life, there are many people around you, but among them there are a very few who understand you. You face different remarks and comments all the time from these people around you. Often I see that many of us get pressurized or depressed by these remarks. We can avoid the situation by answering some rational questions; who is commenting on you? Why he is commenting? If someone is sincere to you, even he or she is giving you wrong advice or criticizing you; you should understand that he takes your problem seriously. And those who want to lower you down just forget them. It is obvious that when you stand for a goal, you will have to face hardships.

These are some common problems which almost all professionals face, but I am more concerned about students. For students it is important to identify your goals. Friends are very important, but more important is your friend selection. There is a well known saying

"Work with all but tie with few"

A working relationship is necessary, but it must not distract you from your goals. A good test of friendship is that, whether your friend helping you in achieve your target goals or not?

Do not expect! Structure your relationship on sincerity and you will find that sincerity does not want return. When you eliminate expectations from your relationships you have resolved 70% of your relationship issues. Trust is another factor that influences your relationships and decisions. Some people habitually act in a hurry to place their trust which sometimes harms them. Basically these two are the key factors that play an important part in controlling your behavior.

Difficulties in one`s life is like a furnace which purifies gold. We should take these difficulties as training, a training that will help you to hunt down problems or to deal with them in future.

These are my views, my experiences that I tried to share with you. It is my goal that hopefully one person will benefit from it.

Syed Talal Hassan Bukhari

talal.hassan5@gmail.com

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Is Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child Still Effective?

It is not the times of Thomas Arnold and his son, Mathew Arnold. In the age of Charles Dickens and the Arnolds, a second saying also was practiced. That was ‘children may be seen not heard’. Brute force was used then. However, in the 20^th century, a gentleman, a colleague, had a set up time in which are children may see their father.

One day, my late father was basking in the sun in our lawn. He saw a young lad about 14 was running towards the commercial market followed by a bearded man. When that man reached the lad in front of our gate, the man laid the latter on the ground, picked up a brick and starting the boy’s ear onto the brick. My father rushed to rescue from the clutches of the man. He explained to my father that the boy was running away from the madrasa. My father scolded the man saying teach the young through love, otherwise, the children would run away.

I saw beatings of lesser mortals a few times. Once I saw a father beat his son by throwing the latter onto a cement floor again and again totally oblivious of my presence. The son was asking more pakoras which his mother was frying. 

I was lucky both at home and at school. My late father’s weapon of mass destruction was scolding at which I had more than my share. At school, I was a timid boy and I did my homework regularly. Besides, I used to come to the school punctually .So I gave no complaints to the teachers. However, sometimes my luck ran out and I was at the end receiving. Once I committed an error in solving an Arithmetic sum. Mr. Siddiq Akbar, the teacher, gave me a blow with his heavy hand on the back of my neck. It was not a painful blow. But whenever I am reminded, I could feel the impact of the blow. 

Once again, in the Cadet College, Hasan Abdal, my English teacher caught me talking to Mr.Tariq Ikram, a former State Minister and the Chairman, TDAP. He hit me at the back of my head with a thick book of comics that I was holding.   

However, I felt the impact of capital punishment when my class teachers were Father Mccain and the late Mr. Mushtaq Rasheed in the Saint Mary’s Cambridge School, Murree Road Rawalpindi. In this School, most teachers, foreigners and local, were kind. However, once the latter caught our class makes a noise. He called the class monitor and gave me three kicks in his back and three blows on the scruff of his neck alternatively in front of the class. I was trembling in my shoes.

There were two Father Mccain in our school: Father Mccain Senior was kind .However, Father Mccain Junior was very rough with boys.  He was altogether a different cup of tea. I felt that he had a great dislike for the café au lait of our complexion. He wielded the cane like a machine gun and fired a burst of fifty or sixty blows per second. At School, the caning was called benders. Once a boy was beaten mercilessly that he could not sit down on his seat the whole day. He attended the class while standing. 

When we were informed about my selection to join the Cadet College ,Hasan Abdal , I begged my father to pay all dues to the School at once to enable to stay at home for the of fifteen or twenty days prior to my joining to escape Father Mccain .    

That was the situation in one of the most prestigious public schools in Rawalpindi. Neither the parents nor the children dared to protest. However, in Singapore four boys were caught damaging somebody’s private property and were punished with ONLY four blows of a cane. Matters became worse and a diplomatic row between the Governments of Britain and Singapore erupted.  

Once in Cadet College, Hasan Abdal, I got 58 out of 100, two marks less than the required percentage of 60%. A dear friend of mine, Aftab, had 59 %. Together we were called by the Principal, Mr. Hugh Catchpole, at his house situated on the campus at 4 PM that day. We both thought that we had been invited by him for tea. His house was the last one. I was the bolder of the two .I knocked at the door. A servant appeared. Now I realized that the servant was aware of the purpose we had come for. Many others came and went through the same portals .He bade us to sit in the drawing room .In the drawing room; there was a small glass paneling in the opposite wall through which everything was visible. It was through this glass panel I saw what turned out to be my greatest fear that the Principal was choosing a cane to beat the poor boys. I was watching his every action from my vintage point. He raised his right hand and I could see the glistening cane in the late afternoon sunlight. And then a yell “ahh” pierced the daylight out of me.

That done, Mr. Catchpole appeared in the doorway to beckon me. When I entered the Principal’s study the other boy had vanished into the air. The same routine was followed and the cane was chosen to hit my derriere. He threw a biscuit on the carpet and asked me to pick it up. I bent down. The cane hit my bottom with a lightening speed and I was only able to exclaim “ahh“.  He again told me to pick the biscuit. Again the rod hit me. He was well satisfied that he did not need me further. He opened the other door to let me go warning me not to tell the others what happened to me.  

At least Mr. Catchpole had the realization not to hurt the boys self esteem. However, brute force is used with the students irrespective what age group they belong elsewhere in Pakistan. Now that the media is free, more and more incidents of violence are appearing regularly. I am reminded of an incident, which took place at the Islamabad Model College for Boys, F-8/4, Islamabad. A boy, my friend’s son, challenged the pronunciation of the teacher when he pronounced the name of ‘New Guinea’ as ‘New Guineaa’. His teacher got offended and beat the poor boy black and blue. 

The topic is debatable. However, no Government regulations can force the teachers or parents to cease applying violence. However, sanity may prevail with more Education.

Mahfooz ur Rahman
rahman.mahfooz.pk@gmail.com

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A Self-Analysis: Why Isn’t The Spirit Of Islam Permeating Our Souls?

I  do not know how the Muslims in other countries live and the pattern of behaviour is in their lives and how they conduct themselves in various fields of  human activity for example in homes, in the courts, in the markets, or the airports. However, two incidents happened in the space of a week. The first incident happened when a senior diplomat posted in Saudi Arabia told me on my visit there that the Saudi hosts told a trade delegation which he then was escorting that the people of Pakistan are liars and cheats.  I underwent a similar experience in Jeddah.

The other day, my son, Saad, and I bought quality mangoes at a higher price. But when we tasted them at home, they were mostly mixed: some of them were sweet and some were sour and inferior. Lying and cheating has been the usual pattern of our lives since the country’s Independence.

I am not a scholar of Islam. I am an honest, upright and straightforward Muslim who values his integrity above everything less. I have no means of estimating the number of people who read, understood and followed the Quranic Injunctions. Suffice to say that given our tendency to be dishonest in everyday life, not many people adhere to them. Of late many reputed Islamic scholars decried this waywardness in an Islamic society particularly when it gained Independence on an Islamic slogan.

Two prominent Islamic scholars Mufti Nazeer and Mufti Zubair with the host Aneeq Ahmed were discussing a similar topic, which is very close to my heart, in a programme aired by the Dunya TV the other morning. Mufti Zubair counted many failings in our society, both of them agreed that:

1. Islam does not mean only prayers (Namaz or salaat), fasting, giving zakat or other forms of charity laid down in the Holy Quran.
2. Islam does not mean wearing a cap or any headdress to offer prayers and its removal when leaving the mosque.
3. Islam also means the way we conduct our daily lives: the way we deal in the markets as sellers and buyers, in the courts as judges and lawyers and as litigants etc.

Those Islamic scholars referred to the appropriate style of governance and the people governed in the west and compared to us.

In the recent past, I have written a series of articles on the topics namely:

• “Why Am I Confused Part I?”
• “Why Am I Confused Part II?”
• ”All Art Is A Mirror To Society.”
• “The True Spirit Of Islam Somehow Escapes In Everything We Do; Pakistan, A Place Of Many Contradictions“

The next day following the night of Laila-tul-Qadar, a man mentioned to me how he enjoyed that night. I told him that a year has 365 days and for a devout Muslim each night is a special night. However, I told him that a society steeped in sin of which they do not know or do not care as adulteration in food, how is that when entering a mosque pangs of conscience do not prick them.

Prayers or Namaz (Urdu) As-salaat (Arabic) are means for avoiding evil. However, for the last sixty five years we have been praying for Divine Guidance. Allah is perfect. His Prophets are perfect. His Quran is perfect. His Prophet and His last Messenger (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) are perfect. His Injunctions contained in the Holy Quran are perfect. What are imperfect are man and his way of doing things.

There was a time when kings ruled the countries in Europe. Battles were fought by the kings or in the name of the king. The kings and their noblemen lived in luxury while the populace lived in misery. Robin Hood, William Tell and others were such folk heroes who struggled against the oppression of the gentry. The rise of fall of Oliver Cromwell and his Puritans in England and the French Revolution in France led to democracy in their respective countries. Of course, much blood was shed in the process. However, a process of evolution in the form of the Industrial Revolution was simultaneously taking place not only in those two countries but elsewhere in Europe. However, a reading of authors of that time for e.g. George Eliot’s “Adam Bede” and Charles Dickens’s “David Copperfield”, Thomas Hardy tells us that education was not common, Ordinary people could not read even The Bible. However, gradually educational institutions of renown such as Oxford, Cambridge, Eton and Harrow were established. European writers of the time, Voltaire, Rousseau, Carlyle, Mills, Ruskin and Locke helped to mould public opinion as did Sir Syed Ahmad and Allama Iqbal in India in the past centuries. Whereas Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Nadeem Qasimi, Ahmed Faraz, Dr. Wazir Agha and Ashfaq Ahmed Who lived and died in our age. Now the present generation of thinkers like Orya Maqbool Jan, Bilal Qutab and Zaid Hamid are molding public opinion.

However, gone are those days when kings and nobility were powerful? After the end of the Second World War, a new thinking has taken over. Peace and cooperation has replaced wars. Initially there were six members of the European Common Market at various stages of economic development with Germany leading and Italy at the end. However, the fruit of economic development was visible in a few years to the six members of the ECM.

I am sorry for this detour in the realms of European history and literature. But I wanted to show that society in the west has evolved to the extent that an age of reasoning and enquiry has set.  Education, health, quality of food and living standards are high. Licenses of doctors and lawyers are cancelled if they do not treat their clients properly.

The only charge that is leveled against the west is that of promiscuity and lewdness. That is the prevailing social norm. East is east and west is west. The twain shall never meet. Be it as it may, there is a method in the madness. All laws are meant to be followed whether the laws are governing personal laws or the laws of the state. If President Nixon or Clinton lies to the American people, they cannot escape punishment irrespective of the weak social norms.

We say that Islam is far superior to any religion whether revealed or man made. In this age of enquiry, we cannot even prove it practically unless we have glorious examples like the Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) and his companions (May Allah be pleased with them) and his immediate followers. We have no such living example in Pakistan. In the Holy Quran, a mention has been made of major sins such the association of anything with the Unity of Allah. At the time of the Conquest of Mecca, 360 idols were found and destroyed. It is said that Hindus make ‘gods’ of anything which is powerful than them. We also make idols from the President of the country, to the USA and down the line.

A mention has been made in the Quran of the Scriptures which Allah, in His Divine Mercy, handed over to the Prophet Moses. These Injunctions are common to every religion, revealed or man made, Read it and compare its injunctions viz.a.viz. The situation in Pakistan since independence. ‘Human failings’ are going by leaps and bounds in every field.  You just name it and it is found. Ego satisfaction, arrogance, conceit, adulteration in food and medicines, back biting, lies, stealing, perfidy, larceny, deceit, division of society from initially West and East Pakistan and later into provinces, cities, tribes, castes, have and have not feudal lords and serfs, the latter live in sub human conditions. Their situation reminds one of the conditions before the French Revolution. Everything Allama Iqbal in his Jawab-e-Shikwa warned us to avoid is going on in the country made in the Glorious name of Islam. Everything which Islam forbids is taken place.

TV channels and newspapers in Pakistan devote much time and space to fashions. Seeing the fashion shows it is difficult, for me at least, to decipher whether the dresses and models wearing those dresses, are made for the Pakistani market which is conservative. Ladies are posting their pictures on media channels such as Facebook which boggles the mind. It is difficult to reconcile the act with Quranic Injunctions.

Allah coineth a similitude: a township that dwelt secure and well content, its provision coming to it in abundance from every side, but it disbelieved in Allah’s favours, so Allah made it experience the garb of dearth and fear because of what they used to do.

Isn’t it time for all of us to seek Allah’s forgiveness and His Guidance?

By Mahfooz ur Rahman

Email: rahman.mahfooz.pk@gmail.com

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