| Of hypocrites and religious fanatics in Pakistan | ||
In my column of January 6 titled ‘ Ummati koi nahin’ (No one is a believer), I had given reference of Abdullah bin Abbi and called him Munafiq-e-Azam (the chief of the hyopocrites) but one of my well wishers linked this reference to Hadhrat Abu Talib and circulated it through SMS all through the country. I was called a rascal and abuses were circulated against my family members. Now what can I say on this idiocy ? I did not mention the name of Hadhrat Abu Talib nor did I give any reference to him but a section thought that I wanted to malign the character of Hadhrat Abu Talib. So in this way I turned out to be a blasphemer against him by the evening. From this incident you can gauge the extent of the misuse of laws in Pakistan and the faith of people. You can guess how people start abusing one another without giving one the opportunity for clarification. You can understand what will happen to a person if an individual or an organisation makes him a target through SMS and spreads the rumours that he is a blasphemer. -- Javed Chaudhary (Translated from Urdu by New Age Islam Edit Desk)
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Of hypocrites and religious fanatics in Pakistan By Javed Chaudhary (Translated from Urdu by New Age Islam Edit Desk) Abdullah bin Abbi was a hypocrite and was a popular personality among the tribes of Yadhrib (Madina) before the arrival of Hadhrat Muhammad( pbuh). His (PBUH) arrival eclipsed the popularity of Abdullah bin Abbi and he became jealous of the Prophet (PBUH) and started hatching conspiracies against him(PBUH). To camouflage himself, he even converted to Islam but his heart remained a kafir (infidel). He even built a mosque for munafiqs (hypocrites) called Masjid Zarar. When Abdullah Bin Abbi died, the Prophet (PBUH) offered his kurta as his burial cloth. He (PBUH) also joined his namaz janaza (last prayers) and even prayed for his redemption after the namaz. On this occasion two verses of Surah Tawba (Verse No.80 and 84) were revealed and Allah prevented him (PBUH) from praying for their redemption of hypocrites. When I read about this incident, I had wondered why the Prophet (PBUH) had shown so much kindness towards Abdullah bin Abbi whom the history remembers as the greatest munafiq (hypocrite). At that time I could not realize the wisdom in it. But over time I came to realize that there were two reasons behind this kindness. First, faith is such a relationship between man and God which is not shared by anyone else. If he (PBUH) had not shown kindness to Abdullah Bin Abbi, we today would declare anyone a munafiq and refuse to join his last prayer praying for his redemption and would also refuse to allow him to be buried in a Muslim graveyard. We would even kill him and his kin. Therefore, Hadhrat Muhammad (PBUH) saved the ummah from a dilemma by showing kindness to Abdullah Bin Abbi. Secondly, Abdullah bin Abbi had lent his kurta to his (PBUH) uncle Hadhrat Abbas (R.A.). By giving his (PBUH) kurta for his burial, he (PBUH) returned his favour. In my column of January 6 titled ‘ Ummati koi nahin’ (No one is a believer), I had given reference of Abdullah bin Abbi and called him Munafiq-e-Azam (the chief of the hyopocrites) but one of my well wishers linked this reference to Hadhrat Abu Talib and circulated it through SMS all through the country. I was called a rascal and abuses were circulated against my family members. Now what can I say on this idiocy ? I did not mention the name of Hadhrat Abu Talib nor did I give any reference to him but a section thought that I wanted to malign the character of Hadhrat Abu Talib. So in this way I turned out to be a blasphemer against him by the evening. From this incident you can gauge the extent of the misuse of laws in Pakistan and the faith of people. You can guess how people start abusing one another without giving one the opportunity for clarification. You can understand what will happen to a person if an individual or an organisation makes him a target through SMS and spreads the rumours that he is a blasphemer. I am a supporter of the blasphemy laws. When Allah has declared sanctity of prophets a part of the faith, there remains no option. Nonetheless, I request the ulema to form some principles on the law as they cannot leave this law to the mob, the people and the lay man because if they leave the law to the common people, they will kill innocent people on the streets on the basis of false SMSes, annoucements and wrong information . And even if a single innocent man is killed in this manner, his blood will be on the neck of the educated, the scholars and the religious leaders of this country and Allah will hold all of us accountable for it. I have been writing columns for the last 15 years. I have written without any fear of repercussions about what I felt was right. If I found anything good in the liberal section, I recognized it; I appreciated if I observed something positive in America and Europe and also wrote openly about the virtues and merits of the Islamic world and the Islamic history. I wrote about the positive aspects of Bush and Taliban too. But today I am scared of writing. I think ten times before writing and sometimes am forced to suppress my feelings because now our society has been divided in different sections and each section has become a thekedar (owner) of some ideology and these thekedars consider every kind of violence from gali ( abuses) to goli (bullets) to protect their power. The civil society of this country claims its monopoly on moderateness; the lawyers claim monopoly over the judges, courts and the law; the members of assembly claim monopoly over the Constitution; politicians have monopoly on democracy, the Pakistan People’s Party has monopoly over Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto; Pakistan Muslim League-N and Mian brothers have monopoly over the system, Hadhrat Ali and his family have become the property of the Shia community (perish the thought), Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddique, Hadhrat Umar, Hadhrat Usman and Hadhrat Aiysha have become the property of the organisations like Namoos-e-Sahaba; the rights to mysticism or sufism have gone to the gaddi nasheens and the rights to speech have become the property of multinational companies. Therefore, in these circumstances, independent writers like me have become a victim of confusion and fear. Now I cannot take the names of Hadhrat Ameer Muawiya or Yazid as the Shias might get angry with me or the Sunnis may call me my mother’s or sister’s names. I am also apprehensive of taking Imam Hussain’s name as some thekedar might declare me kafir. I am scared of going to any mosque as all the mosques are in the custody of one or the other thekedar and might declare me Wahabi, Bareillvi, Deobandi or Shia. I offer my namaz in hiding as some thekedar might put my way of namaz in some or the other category. I cannot even protest against the atrocities committed against the Taliban in this country as the civil society does not like it. I cannot mourn the death of school students and ordinary citizens in suicide bombings as the Taliban will get angry. I cannot call Salman Taseer innocent as the supporters of the prophet’s sanctity get angry. I cannot support Mumtaz Qadri because the people lighting lamps around Salman Taseer’s photograph will get angry. I cannot even write an article on the life of Hadhrat Aysha (R.A.) as the Shias will start sending me abusive SMSes. I cannot condemn the attacks on the places of worship of the Qadianis as after that my hajj and Umras will be declared hypocrisy (munafiqat). I am also scared of writing against the corruption, misappropriation of funds and dishonesty of our politicians as after that I might be declared an enemy of the system and democracy. I cannot even write against the political compulsions of the Muslim League-N as I will be declared to be on the payroll of the PPP. I cannot criticise the government as I might be declared on the pay roll of Pakistan Muslim League-N. Believe me sometimes I get so confused that I am scared to take the name of Allah as I fear that someone will stand up and grab me by the collar and say, “ Allah belongs to me alone, how can you take his name?’ Now I take Hadhrat Muhammad’s (PBUH)’s name in my heart only as I fear that some thekedar will say, ‘Huzoor ( PBUH) belongs to me alone, who are you to take his name?’… In this atmosphere, I think how long I will write out of fear. Please tell me what use is it writing in a country where a man has to think ten times before writing something and the readers didctate the writer and where people start abusing you before you can make any clarifications. Therefore, I am seriously considering stopping writing and taking to some other profession instead of journalism as at least I will not have to listen to abuses and my faith will remain protected against the thekedars. Source: Daily Express, Pakistan URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamUrduSection_1.aspx?ArticleID=3915
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11:04 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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