From Tribalism to Humanism

Dear Dr.

Awesome Facts and Observations ! You are absolutely 200% Right. It is not the tragedies that kill us. It`s the messages. where in this world I can find a TV channel which give us Human News ?
thks & rgds

Think Global !
Ahad

Re: # 29
dear ahad..i agree act local..think global....sohail

#19 by kaalchakra on January 9, 2007 6:58pm PT
tolkinin # 17

That`s pure blasphemy.
...............................................
Dont shoot the messenger before even reading.....Islam has its beginning in tribalism,hashimites etc..
even today there are more different muslims Khoja,Bohra Suleimani Bohrah,Shia Sunni,Ismaili,Kurds,so many.......
Islam is never taught as an overall part of theology as i know christian and judeaism is ..that is why islamic madarssah students are obscurantist and stunted in there enlightenment

#10 Dr. Sohail

Very well said, Dr. sahib! All I can say is...

Bravo! Keep up the good work, sir!

Re: # 27
dear bj kumar....thanks for your generous words. i am in favour of education and

evolution than bloody revolution. and we all have to work together to educate our future

generations...thanks once again...sohail

drsohail

A good article by its theme but rather simplistic written by a psychotherapist.

The fact is the religion, like Islam, which is open to everyone is essentially anti-tribalist. The `Takfiri` mulla has however made even Islam worse than tribalism. Just imagine Yousaf Yuhanna, a cricketer, Choohrah Masih, can become a Muslim Musalli only by declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad an imposter and his followers Ahmadies as non-Muslims and kafirs `wajibul-qatl` and then begin worrying presently about the so called Islamic Ummah.

The problem so called Ummah face to day as epitomized so succintly in #17 below in the article by SR is,`` Will Sir Iqbal Sacranie and his ilk agree that Islam must be modernized? That would make them part of the solution. Otherwise, they`re just the ``traditional`` part of the problem.``

Re: # 24

dear teshah....in urdu poetry we call it sehl-e-mumtana....meer taqi mir was good at it

like his couple

kaha main ne kitna hay gul ka sabaat

kali ne ye sun kay tabassum kia

to express profound things in simple words. bertrand russell said...it took me fifty years

to write simple. i like to share my ideas not impress others. sorry if my style disappointed

you. i hope you agree with the content....thank you for honest comments...sohail

Re: # 26

drsohail

Thank you for your kind words.

I wonder you call yourself a Punjabi and ignore the Punjabi Poet-Sage, Bulleh Shah, the greatest of humanists, when talking of Humanism. I think he had said the last word about Humanism when he said:

``Masjid dha de, mandir dha de, dha de jo kujh dheinda
Ik bande da dil nah dhaawein Rab dillaan wich rehnda``

Again, I don`t think labels essentially cause divisions and hostility. For instance, when you call yourself a Punjabi you become near and dear to myself without creating any hostility among Punjabies and non-Punjabies, but when you call yourself a Muslim and a Pakyone at that a lot of people would get alarmed, especially in western countries. Ironically, in Pakistan you can get the lable of Muslim only by hating Ahmadies and abusing the founder of that community. In fact, the very word `Pak` seems to have become today a symbol of hatred in the global village.

Re: # 60
dear teshah...i never said that our ethnic and cultural identities are not important. it is only

when the secondary identity becomes more important than our humanity that we get in

conflict... i frequently quote bulley shah...a great mystic poet.

being a punjabi is wonderful...unfortunately my parents never taught me to read and write

punjabi...rather taught me urdu and arabic and english...

my only unfortunate experience was when i went to bangladesh and when i told bengalis

that i was punjabi...there were strong negative reactions...lateron my bengali friend took

me to a museum where i saw what pakistani punjabi army had done to bengalis in

1971...kiilings and rapes and violence and torture...that was one day i felt embarrassed to

be a punjabi and more ashamed to be part of such human community who tortues other

human beings...i never knew the atrosities done by punjabis untill that day...

sincerely sohail

Re: # 62

Der drsohail

Thank you for the kind words and prompt response to my post. In fact you carry another label also which endears you to me: The name of my elder son is also Sohail and incidentally he is also a doctor, but not a psycho one. He is a surgeon in the General Hospital, Lahore.

Now coming to the topic, I had some more bitter experiences as a Punjabi, but I think those were the result of the ongoing political conflicts and not of some deep-seated ethnic hostilities.

To narrate a few: I was in Decca in 1970 when the election fever was still going on. I had a Bengali colleague there who had worked with me at Lahore for some time. He invited me to a dinner at his home in Decca. What a Bengali hospitality it was I had never experienced in my life. But what a shock it was when after the dinner we started chatting in the drawing room. During conversation it dawned upon my friend that I was a Punjabi (He was perhaps taking me as a Pathan previously for certain reasons). He was stunned at this revelation, got red-hot and stopped talking to me. Promptly I thought it advisable to run away before he slits my throat. I do not think he will still be so allergic to a Punjabi. This I say due to another experience with a Pathan colleague in Peshawar. During One-Unit arrangement of West Pakistan the Pathans had became extremely anti-one unit and anti-Punjabi. That friend of mine was always abusing and threatening Punjabies whom he considered to be responsible for establishment of One-Unit for their supremacy. But after disbandonment of One-Unit when I happened to meet him after a long time he was all love for Punjabies and even gave me a sumptuous lunch at his home. Not even that he had become a `Mureed` of a Punjabi Peer.

So it is perhaps fair to conclude it was not a deep-rooted ethnic hostility as such but only the result of a political conflict in which the Punjabies happened to be villains.

regards

Re: # 97
dear teshah...thank you for your affectionate comments. i fully agree with you that family

and ethnic identities are to care for each other but when loving relationships become

political then we become punjabis and bengalis, shiites and sunnis, muslims and jews and

put our humanity behind and that politics can create cycles of violence that can go on for

generations. i went to medical school in peshawar and my kashmiri punjabi family always

advised me not to marry a pathan woman. how sad. i met many pathan women who were

beautiful and charming and intelligent and with wonderful character. i was taught by pathan

professors when i was doing my obstetrics training in labour room and i have great respect

for them. politics if not done with a good conscience can become dangerous for humanity.

sincerely sohail

Sohail Sahib,
I liked your article so much that I started stuttering. :) Sorry about the multiple posts.

{``As we become more aware of our unconscious tribal mentality and consciously adopt a humanistic philosophy, we will be able to rise above our differences, resolve our conflicts at a personal, social and political level and learn to live with each other harmoniously and peacefully. Loving one’s neighbor has been a part of folk wisdom for centuries—we just need to broaden the definition of neighbor and include all races in the human race and all tribes in the human tribe, as we are now, more than ever, living in a global village.``}

Sohail Sahib,
Beautiful sentiments expressed in a wonderful essay. Although I have never expressed myself as well as you, I no longer feel so lonely as a Pakistani. Thanks. Please take it as a compliment - you sound like a true Sufi.

{``As we become more aware of our unconscious tribal mentality and consciously adopt a humanistic philosophy, we will be able to rise above our differences, resolve our conflicts at a personal, social and political level and learn to live with each other harmoniously and peacefully. Loving one’s neighbor has been a part of folk wisdom for centuries—we just need to broaden the definition of neighbor and include all races in the human race and all tribes in the human tribe, as we are now, more than ever, living in a global village.``}

Sohail Sahib,
Beautiful sentiments expressed in a wonderful essay. Although I have never expressed myself as well as you, I no longer feel so lonely as a Pakistani. Thanks. Please take it as a compliment - you sound like a true Sufi.

Re: # 21
dear salim chauhan....i know you are good with words. so a praise from you is a wonderful

compliment. as a poet for me words are a means to an end....and the end is...winning

hearts is more important than winnning arguments....my ideal is a human being who has

a mind of a scientist

a heart of a poet

and

a personality of a mystic

all the best...sohail

#1 Zeemax {``#1 by zeemax on January 9, 2007 11:47am PT
I`ll read your article later ... but just from the title ... just teach me how to change my mother and my father?``}

Zee Bhai,
I can help you with 50% of your question? I am offering the same advice I gave to Ali1. The next time the Sardarji yatris arrive in Nankana Sahib, pick out a fat rich one and give him a good hugh while screaming ``Bauji, tusi kith rehnda?`` If he doesn`t accept you, then slap his ass with a solid paternity suit. :)