I wonder why it is sometimes so hard in this big world to make someone understand your point. The curse of being misunderstood follows me every where. Generally, I like to keep away from arguments among Pakistanis. Sadly, we Pakistanis love to argue without being neutral and unbiased. We usually tend to do every effort to prove our point bringing in religion, society, old age prejudices,and our own thinking. I have often found myself in situations where every sane argument is thrown out of the window and bias decides who is the winner. Today is one of those days I am fed up. Where is the dispassionate, out of the box thinking we desperately need as a nation? Why are we still so blindly prejudiced by sect, caste, religion and the system? Why do we love to harass and ridicule any one who dares to differ?
It is not to say that every one is like this. However, I am alarmed by the growing intolerance in all sections of our society. I am not talking about extremism but our general attitudes. We Pakistanis, lack the patience to stand in queues, we do not agree to give any other our way on the road; we refuse to budge on our position on societal issues; we refuse to appreciate an opponent's view even when he is right; we love to distort history and questions any one's patriotism when some one points out the error and I have not even started on how people manipulate religion to suit their needs. The list is never-ending.
This kind of behaviour irks me, specially when I find it among well-educated people. Why do we always tend to divide society among "liberals" and "conservatives"? Why do we have to prove our adherence to religion, to people instead of God? As a society, this kind of questioning and bias is not going to do us any favour. Every one of us must learn and implement the core concept of Islam; it is a "Deen" and not only just a religion. It is a way of life. A Muslim is a character; not a mere figurehead. The virtues of patience, justice and tolerance are highly valued in the Quran not only because they are good but because they serve a purpose.
Iqbal saw this duplicity long ago when he differentiated between "Kirdaar" and "Guftaar" ka ghaazi. This is the irony; we all say we love Islam but do we? If we loved it, we would have entered into it with our heart and soul. If we feared God, we would have feared hurting His creation. if we knew what fasaad was, we would have stopped being "liberals and conservatives" and start being human. How saddening and ironic.
Faroha Liaqat
http://avoiceforislam.blogspot.com
spot on... this is the basic reason for our downfall. in pakistan we everybody wants to have two sets of laws, one for themselves and one for the rest. e.g. muslims in pakistan want to be respected in the rest of the world but are not ready to extend the same courtesy to non-muslims living here. same is with ethnicity and everything else... unless we learn how to respect others and tolerate others, there is no hope :(
ReplyDeleteVery right. There will be no change unless we stop being hypocritical and live life the hard way, i.e. act as we think; do unto others what you would have done unto you.
ReplyDeleteRight, actually, there are 3 kinds or types of Muslims, let me narrate them in Urdu for better understanding:
ReplyDelete1. Aik wooh jooh ALLAH kooh mannay.
2. Aik wooh jooh ALLAH keah mannay.
3. Aik wooh jis keah ALLAH mannay.
The last level is related to selfesteem which is well quoted by our poet Allam Iqbal in his poetry like that:
Khudi Ko Kar Buland Itna Ke Har Taqdeer Se Pehle
Khuda Bande Se Khud Puche, Bata Teri Raza Kya Hai
Rather than expecting change from others, first we have to change ourself. We have to attain 3rd level, nevertheless atleast 2nd level, and I think this is the solution for the mentioned blog.
Right, actually, there are 3 kinds or types of Muslims, let me narrate them in Urdu for better understanding:
ReplyDelete1. Aik wooh jooh ALLAH kooh mannay.
2. Aik wooh jooh ALLAH keah mannay.
3. Aik wooh jis keah ALLAH mannay.
The last level is related to selfesteem which is well quoted by our poet Allam Iqbal in his poetry like that:
Khudi Ko Kar Buland Itna Ke Har Taqdeer Se Pehle
Khuda Bande Se Khud Puche, Bata Teri Raza Kya Hai
Rather than expecting change from others, first we have to change ourself. We have to attain 3rd level, nevertheless atleast 2nd level, and I think this is the solution for the mentioned blog.