I’ve just tried to put a little light on whats going on in today world and what really means Muslims…!
Aslam had just walked out of the mosque after his Friday prayers. Upon reaching home, he found his wife talking to a man at the door selling combs. Her face was not covered. Seething, he slammed the door on the ma’s face and slapped her hard, shouting at her never to open the door again. And Aslam was known as a devout Muslim.
Why is it that people do not take their religion as seriously as they are supposed to? How conveniently do they ignore the teaching of Islam all the while preaching others what they themselves not do. A Muslim is supposed to respect other people. But that’s not a norm in Pakistan these days. It doesn’t really matter whether you slap your wife, or take a bribe once or twic, or lie to save your own skin. It really doesn’t matter because after all, we do pray and give alms and stay awake all night on Shab-e-Barat asking forgiveness for our sins - the sins we commit the following day and so on.
If we were all such good Muslims, then I would like to place a question that comes in my mind. How many of us actually follow what we preach? Consider Aslam’s example. He had just come home after praying, but as soon as he had reached home, he slapped his wife not giving her a single chance to explain which was an incredible act of injustice. What then was the point of him praying? Does Islam teach us this kind of behaviour?
Throughout the year all over Pakistan there are sectarian killings and violence all because people disagree with each other on religious issues. What kind of religion are we following? Is it right to kill people who think differently, and is it right to label another person a non-Muslim or a non-believer simply because he belongs to a different sect? In the month of Moharram, so many Shias are killed expecially in KArachi. Even in the holy month of Ramazan, there are people who are killed in mosques while praying. These people call each other Muslims when there are Shias killing Sunnis and Sunnis killing Shias, even when Islam teaches peace and not war? How is it that the people, who follow Islam the lkeast, call themselves good Muslims? How do they have the audacity to call themselves that?
There are so many of us who indulge in sin and commit crimes everyday. We lie, we cheat we are dishonest. There is corruption and nepotism starting from the so-called educated aristoctats of our society to the feudal lords. People steal and bribe and still think that by offering their prayers, they can get away with anything. That is not true and theyknow that too. Who are they trying to fool? God, or themselves?
As far as human rights are concerned, Islam emphasises that all human beings have equal rights and everyone should be treated equally whether they are Muslims, or not. Everyday when we open the newspaper we see so many innocent people being killed. There are women killed for Karo-kari on account of the family’s honour, There are young girls married to the Quran. On top of it all, the ones who are beind these acts of cruelty say that they are doing so in the name of God.
People just talk about human rights but no one does anything about any injustices or about people who are being mercilessly killed by the hands of religious fanatics. What is anyone doing about those eighteen Christians that were gunned down in Bahawalpur recently? But it is all in vain talking of respecting another’s religion, because we ourselves cannot even treat people of our own religion properly let alone another religion. In fact, strictly speaking, sectarianism is banned in Islam, and here we are taking Islaimc sects for granted. This is wrong. Sectarianism is striclty prohibited in Islam and even in the Prophet’s time there were no sects.
It is very easy to instruct other people about religion, but how many times have we opened the Quran and read the translation and tried to understand it. How many of us truly understand what we are actually following? Do we know the meaning of our religion or is just a blind faith that we follow only because it has been passed down generations so we just end up being Muslim. Maulanas in mosques, all prepare children for the Quran. They train them to read Arabic, but do not teach them Urdu. How can one expect these children to understand the meaning of their own religion, what kind of Muslims will they tuen out to be?
How many of us abide by the rule of keeping our surroundings clean? Islam emphasises on cleanliness and purity. And here we are with rubbish and dirt thrown all over the sidewalks and outside our houses. Then again there are poeple who are sweet to everyone, but when it comes to treating poor perople than they treat them no less than filth. I have seen pople talk so rudely to servants and at the same time be exceedingly nice to people around them. Perhaps it gives them an ego boost to know that they have more benefits than those poor people. So then, there is no use of them being agreeable to other people either…!
Arif Nawaz
Na jane konsa asaib basta hai dil mein
Ke jo bhi thehra, woh makaan chor gaya…