By Aziz Ali Daad, Tr. New Age Islam 14 March 2024 The Syrian Muslims celebrate Christmas and Easter Main Points: 1. In Syria, blasphemy killings are unheard of. 2. They sing songs in praise of Jesus Christ. 3. In Syria and Lebanon, killing for blasphemy is considered un-Islamic. ------ During my school days, I used to think that all the Muslims of the world are like Pakistani Muslims. But as I came into contact with Muslim and non-Muslim societies, I gradually realised that my perception was wrong. My perception about the Pakistani Muslims has drastically changed. I am compelled to say that nowhere in the world you will find crazy Muslims like the Pakistanis. I have not developed this opinion of Pakistanis as a result of occasional tours but as a result of my long stay in Lebanon and Syria and my exposure to other Muslim societies. I got an opportunity to observe their behaviour and to interact with the common people there. The most difficult task that I faced was to explain the Pakistani Islam and Muslims to them because the issues that were a matter of life and death to us had no importance with them. I will present some examples. A few weeks ago, I tried to explain to.my colleague that in Pakistan, we spent a lit of time and money to persuade the parents to allow their children, particularly, girls to get education. My Syrian colleague asked why the Pakistani parents needed to be convinced to educate their children. I replied that our countrymen are against education. He asked why? I replied that they say that education, particularly, girls' education was prohibited in Islam. For that reason, people even set schools on fire. He was flabbergasted and wondered what Islam it was. I had a tough time explaining to him the context. So I said I could not explain. He was surprised and said that it was strange that I could write about my country but could not explain it. Any way, before the civil war erupted, the literacy rate in Syria was 90 per cent and there was not much difference between the literacy of men and women. Co -education was common there. During a gossip with a friend in a famous cafe on a weekend, the issue of blasphemy came up. I told him about the blasphemy laws of my country and the killings of Muslims and non-Muslims over it. He was shocked. He wondered how, in the presence of the state, the people in the street could kill in the name of religion. Here in Syria Muslims live along with the followers of other religions but there are no Islamic laws like this. Indeed defaming other religions is prohibited and religion-based political parties are not allowed. I said that I could not explain this too. He said that in Syria, the imam of a mosque did not have the authority to issue fatwas and that the imam was an employee of the Waqf department of the government. Similarly, when the issue of honour killing came up during a conversation with a lady, she could not understand the legitimacy of the tradition. I was surprised to see Muslims celebrate Eid Milad al Majeed (Christmas) and Eid al Fasah (Easter).To be honest, at first I even doubted that they were Muslims in the first place because here they did not choke the roads and streets for Friday prayers. One could not make out who was going to offer Namaz and who was not. In our country, people keep announcing since the morning that we have to offer Friday Namaz. Similarly, people here do not understand how administering polio doses is linked to Islam. In short, I have not been able to explain the idiosyncrasies of the Pakistani Muslims to them On a Christmas in one December, an Arabic hymn sung by a Lebanese girl became viral. Many Arabs posted comments praising her voice and art. But those making hate-filled comments were only Pakistanis. A Lebanese acquaintance drew my attention to those comments. The comments reflected the ignorance and madness of Pakistani Muslims. In those comments, the Pakistani Muslims told the Arabs that the lady singer plagiarised the style of reciting the Quran. Sime others considered reciting Arabic hymns in a Christian festival a blasphemy against the Quran. The Arabs argued that Arabic was a language and not a religion and the Christians also spoke Arabic. Arab culture is their common legacy. The Pakistanis should know that Jesus is praised in Arabic in the birth place of Jesus, Bethlehem. The genre of the song is called Tarateel in Arabic. The Tarateel of the famous Lebanese romantic singer Firoze are very popular. But the Pakistani Muslims are not convinced. They curse the Arabs for their un-Islamic practices (Bid 'at). I, therefore, came to the conclusion that I will not be able to explain the Pakistani Islam and Muslims to the Muslims of the other parts of the world, leave aside non-Muslims. In fact, I feel ashamed of introducing myself as a Pakistani Muslim. Only Pakistanis can issue fatwas against the Arabs for the 'wrong use' of their own language Arabic. The devastating consequences of this madness are now evident. Earlier, we observed the rush of the Maulvis to the Halwa shops ( confectioneries), but now we see mad people gather on the use of the word 'Halwa'. The other day, we observed the replay of the scenes of the age of Jahiliyya when a crowd of religious fanatics surrounded a woman because her shirt had the word Halwa printed on it. No one bothered to read the word but issued a fatwa of blasphemy against the Quran. Fortunately, a brave lady police officer saved her. Even Abu Jahl will hide his face in shame at this show of ignorance by the Pakistani Muslims. Halwa in Arabic means sweet and pretty. Arabs are very fond of sweets. That's why in Damascus, sweets shops are found everywhere. Earlier the Pakistanis would go crazy after reading Kalima, now they go crazy after reading Halwa. In the video of the police station, the woman is visibly terrified and is apologising while the faces of the Maulvis sitting there betray the feeling of victory instead of guilt. Worse, one of the Maulvis asks the woman what her 'Firqa' (sect) was. I could visualise there not Islam but the Europe of the 15th century where the priests would interrogate women in the similar fashion and burn them alive. If this kind of Islam continues to flourish in Pakistan, then I am afraid, gradually Muslims will become extinct and only mullahs will be left there. According to Ibn Insha, today in Pakistan, people are not baptised in Islam but expelled from Islam. The version of Islam the Pakistanis have been presenting is very terrifying. It is devoid of any aesthetics. Islam without aesthetics is nothing. We should remember the hadith: 'God is beautiful and appreciates beauty.' In the Lahore incident, the woman's wearing the 'Halwa dress' was an act of spreading beauty. But the mind nurtured in the darkness of hatred hates everything that is beautiful. It loves not life and beauty but savagery and death. The society in which the desire of death is dominant devours its own citizens. That' s what is called Human Cannibalism This Pakistani mindset will put out every single light of rationality and wisdom and push the society into the abyss of darkness of ignorance. The 10th century bind but visionary poet Abul Ala Al Ma'arry once said: Men are of two kinds, One who have intellect but no Deen. The other who have Deen but no intellect. It is for you to decide to which category the Pakistani Muslims belong. ----- Courtesy: Hum Sab Pakistan. URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/syrian-lebanese-muslims-religious-pakistani/d/131911 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Syrian And Lebanese Muslims Flabbergasted At The Religious Madness Of Pakistani Muslims
9:29 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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