Headache and Heartburn

I have no illusions about my scorn for the believers. I have no desire to hide my contempt for those who hate 5/6 ths of the world population. What would you suggest I do ? Should I stand on the side and sing hymns of love for those who are follow creeds of antiquity ?

I am not talking about the Taliban or the Hamas or the Hizbollah or the Sipah Sahaba (shia killers) and their counterparts (sunni killers). We all agree their leaders and their Imams should be allowed the luxury of worshipping Allah in a jail cell. There is no argument there I hope.

I am talking about standing up to the common Muslim man and woman and family. I am talking about condemning what has permeated into the social fabric of our society. I am asking you to join us to oppose common injustices perpetuated by Islam in our homes : injustices like spousal abuse(4:34), child abuse(Book 2, Number 0494), Wali system (where parental approval is a prerequisite to marriage, remember Saima Waheed?).

People like me are asking you to join us and speak out against segregation of women in harems - denounce the veiling of women.

I am not asking doing any of the above at gun point - I am a pacifist - let us voice our concerns UNEQUIVOCALLY, let us spread awareness with flowers but we must be firm in our views : NO compromise with Islam. No words like ``oh its their religion / culture so I guess we will let them mutilate girls and children, we will let them inhumanely slaughter animals- I guess if their culture and religion demands that they slit our threats we should respect that and lie down right here on their altar and await their butchers` knives``.

Yes, I am brazen, I am abrasive, I am filled with anger I am boiling with hate. I never forget to remind myself of how bad it is - how I cannot surgically remove my emotions and become tolerant of Islam. I feel very bad about it - but I have a tough time watching this religion tormenting its own - and then watching the tormented followers turn to savage other lands.

The mistake made in the past by those who opposed Islam was : ``reform``. They were too soft - and they were wiped out mercilessly. The trouble with reform is that you cannot reform Nazism and Islam. The problem with reform is that sooner or later an apple rotten to its core will infest the whole. The answer is : treat it like you would treat Nazism. Give them the all their rights but let the world and your children know that this Islam is the most antiquated form of outright fascism (like ancient christianity , orthodox Judaism).

And yes, I repeatedly say the same things not for those who have read what I have said before - but for those who are reading what I am writing for the first time.

For Solitude:

I grew up in a small village. Right against our house was a small masjid. Every morning the old maulvi would give the azaan, beautifully voiced. That sound, clear and lilting, unmetallicised and undistorted, would wake us up in the neighborhood, as it echoed and bounced off the narrow brick walls of the alleys.

The serenity of that memory has always remained with me.

If I am moved to try to do something positive for others, it is because of the love of Islam. If I am unfair or prejudiced or cruel, it is because I have failed to live up to the teachings of Islam.

Scout:

I, too am not a writer, nor am I eloquent. But I have always enjoyed your responses in the posts - I cannot remember having disagreed with anything you have written in the past.

People appearing religious for the sake of appearance - yes, hypocrisy is an ugly thing. But I will maintain that it has nothing to do with Islam, but rather with the distortions of individuals.

As for saying prayers before various times - one does. Before leaving the house, before sex, before eating, with every breath, yes, one remembers Allah.

Religion is both inward and outward.

Inwardly we submit and remember Allah. Outwardly we maintain our religious shyness, BUT we participate in Islam.

tahmad321: Thank you - I am touched.

Lubna: Well said. Very well said.

krashid: My Urdu shairi is alas, not so good. I would have loved to have come up with some good shairi, but I can only enjoy what you wrote and say, bhai wah - mujhe bhi jo Khuda walay milay, kharabat mein milay.

Good and honest observations. Reminded me of the many such occasions I have myself been into.

Solitude,

Thank you for infusing some life and passion into this sterile chowk. You cannot change the world, all that you can change is change yourself, and that changes the perception. World is a human creation through a process of selective emphesis, accepted as given, but infact conditioned by the cultural context of the upbringing.

May be there are several worlds, there may be several frames of references that creats them.

That should be enough. Best wishes.

Jay.

City Girl:#32

Some of them are star specimens of the renegades(murtids)who reinforce among others the need to become more & more of a diehard follower.

Such specimens have been in abundance throughout muslim history....and such characters think they are suggesting something fresh!

Has it ever occured to them that they may be as,if not more,ignorant than an `illiterate` peasant in Pakistan.Writing,talking,and acting-out english is no protection.

Breakin news:Thousands of ballots have been cast by mentally deranged & infirm AND by the dead(in person!).Parcels received outside the country have been found to contain ballots never ordered.

The circus is a good spectacle.It is not the time to bring the big-top down.

Sherdil you sound like a decent human being. But do not give the creed the credit for your deeds - if you must then you must blame the creed for your misdeeds as well.
You found the azan at your dayhaath more enchanting than a nightingale`s but tell me how would you feel if you woke up one day in a ``farangi`` (foreign) village and it was full of churches and temples. How would you feel if they woke you up at 3 in the morning (earlier even than villagers expect to get up) with ``lilting`` songs proclaiming ``Kali Mata is the greatest! submit to Christ! give your money for temple-chanda! I command you to come and partake of a healthy camel`s urine! Jews are the superior race! worshipping Hitler is better than sleeping``.

Now compare that with ``as salatu khairun minan naum, Allah hu akbar, hayya alal-falah, qad qamatesalah`` etc. if you were a Muslim would you not feel lonely and alienated ? In a Muslim village as a Muslim it must have been heavenly for you - but as a human being in a Muslim village think of all the other people in this world (5 billion of them) who do not care about Islam (probably because they are and have been doing much better without it - as is evidanced by the state of Muslim countries vs. kafir countries). Would you not be sensitive to their feelings ?
Muslims have a legacy of looting and pillaging and murdering people from Spain to Indonesia and all the natives who have not been forced to convert know that (everyone from the copts to the hindus and buddhists and jews). How would these people feel when you shovel harsh arabic words (linguistically speaking if Persian and French are euphonic then German and Arabic are the harshest of languages) down their ears ?
If you like listening to your azan do that in the privacy of your home or in a village 100% Muslim. If it is not then respect others - make them feel inclusive, make them feel at home, allow them to look at you not as a Muslim but as a human being.

Solitude,

May I ask what your qualifications are? I mean, you must have spent decades studying Islam, at which point you came up with your conclusions...what`s that...Sky TV...and what else...Bart simpson...who? what the man down at the fish and chip shop....huh, you`r younger brother`s 4 year old nephew....

Or are you just another one of the tadpoles. Sorry to break the news to you but Life doesn`t just work with super love vibrations and soul grooves. You need a system. Perhaps you have a solution to these problems.

You`ve been listening to Lenin`s song too much.

Grow up.

Solitude, from personal experience I can tell you it is fruitless urging people to be human beings first and religious lemmings second. It is a waste of time...rationality rarely overpowers blind zeal...the ability to question, think and reach independent conclusions is diametric to most religious thought....the scriptures are the final word for these people. In some ways they are no different than little kids who believe in Santa Claus...problem is the innocent beliefs turn into dangerous and harmful irrationality.

You will find that in the poorest countries, it is easier to recruit a herd for a religious function than to a school offering free education.

Solitude #28:

Wow... talk about imagination - man, I`m impressed! Care to drop by our creative writing class someday and give a few tips to my students on how to utilize their imagination?

Oh btw.. I know the perfect place where you can go and work on transforming your delusions into reality. Here`s the link: http://www.moonshop.com/

Perfect place no? Away from all of us fanatics who aren`t willing to accept all those ``nice nice`` flowers you`re offering us (psst.. it`s because they`re fake and don`t smell nice). Take a couple of your followers with you and you`ll have your own community in no time! And PLEASE make sure you take that new fan of yours with you - Jay - he`s a very wise man - will come in handy. Don`t forget us mere earthlings though - as lost as we are, we`ll need your guidance eventually. So when you`ve succeeded in your mission there, come visit us with some of your leftover flowers and then maybe we`ll accept them with open arms. (Oh.. what Saint-Exupery wouldn`t have done to have had you as his little prince!) Make sure you choose an area facing the earth though - you can then wave to us every once in a while... That way I won`t feel guilty about lying either when I tell children about the man on the moon! :) So go place your order before your flowers start wilting - don`t worry about the money - I`m willing to pay for you - not much anyway. Hell, I`ll pay for Jay too! Just send me the required details. No?

On a serious note though... I know many individuals who DO NOT condone ``misogyny``, ``homophobia``, ``xenophobia``, ``crucifixions, circumcisions, chopping body parts, stoning`` and ``discriminating betw. muslims and nonmuslims`` - they see each human as simply that - a human being. However, they hold strongly to their religious beliefs at the same time - they are still ``believers``. Are you ready to embrace them then? (Keep in mind what you`ve stated in your post #33 you confused person.)

scout beta:

Have to commend you on coming up with such an apt title for this piece. Going by some of the interacts, what foresight! :)

Solitude,

While many here agree that there are grave things that require reflection and correction in terms of the practice of Islam in the world, a position as extreme as yours will garner no appreciation or support even from them. It certainly doesn`t from me.

why scoff and scorn at people at parties? Given the general rule of things, Im sure ALL present at the parties would end up writing articles similar to yours. Is enjoying yourself such a crime or a cumbersome duty? If you dont like it dont go! simple. Dont tell me you did not enjoy meeting Mr. Hamid? Was that not enough to make your evening worthwhile? Or would you rather he visit you over a candle light dinner at your place! I wish people would stop having this oh-it-was-so-boring-and-pretentious-party and look forward to outings and have a good time. Otherwise dont bother to go and most of all dont bother to write!

this article made no sense--

Re scout

``I regret to say this, but I agree with you on this.``

btw, I didn`t intend any mean tone on that.

Solitude (re.#38)

``If you like listening to your azan do that in the privacy of your home or in a village 100% Muslim.``

Granted, the will of the few should never be an imposition on the the freedoms of the most, (or even the will of the most be imposed on the few), but why is it that we are willing to tolerate such imposition in matters other than religion? 30 percent of my neighbourhood my be repulsed by the prospect of the new amusement park in my area, with all that it will mean to the environment and `culture` of my suburban locality. But of course, we will have to give in to the will of the many, backed by big business.

So why is it that we are so afraid of `imposing` values on others when they are associated with religion?

Man is a social animal, and I wonder whether to expect the law (as opposed to basic decency) to fully protect the rights of the individual against the general will, will not result in a herd-paradigm of society (instead of the hive.)

Clearly, we need to balance the rights of the individual, with those of the SOCIETY-- if we can even begin to consider the latter a political entity worthy of rights (hmmm... has anyone heard of any pol. philosophy that treats this subjects? Urstruly?)

Anyways, my point... yes, we need to enact law to stop the propagation of hate from the minaret/pulpit, but by what stretch would the aazaan be seen as offensive to any sensibilities? As a Christian brought up literally 50 feet from the mosque`s loudspeaker, I agree, something needs to be done about volume. Doing away with it altogether, however, would be to deprive the society (again, if we can see it more than the sum of its individuals) of a valuable collective `identifier` and experience.

(On a personal, I personally find the sound of a distant muezzin`s call quite umm... captivating, but then contraltos have always been my weakness :-). Still, I must say that the guttural nature of arabic in no way diminishes the beauty of a `good` azzaan.)

If I may be permitted a little analysis, Azhar, your error seems to be not so much that you present an unsustainable reading of Islam (you don`t) rather than that you choose to concentrate on the letter (or some letters) rather than the spirit, and in proper (historical) context.

Does the letter of Islam condone misogyny, tolerate slavery and encourage rapists? I think so (at least among F_K`s `educated` classes) and this is unfortunate. But there is the spirit of Islam, more ineffable, that at least once in history produced beacons of light, and examples of tolerance in an otherwise dark, hostile world.

And still produces men and women of the noblest character.

You mar argue (as I find myself doing often enough) that is a selective reading that the latter subscribe to. Maybe, but is that any less selective than your presentations?

What it comes down to is, Is it fair to judge as system by it`s (or people`s) least denominator? Maybe your answer is even `yes`, but then what does that say about man, and your faith in him?

regards,

P

re. Solitude, Fuzair and all the `revealed-religion` thrashers.

Pray tell, now, what exactly do you find so intolerant in Christianity? If you mentioned `Christendom`, with its long and chequered history of perverse popes, villanous vicars and unholy Church-state alliances, I could understand; even join the parade. But please avoid the trap of all-too-easy generalizations. It says something about where one is coming from and where one is headed.

Perhaps you`d be so kind as to enlighten me on the scriptual basis for intolerance and hate in Christianity (bearing in mind that nowhere does the Bible claim to be God`s incontrovertable Word)

regards,

Patrick Masih



Almirah, please excuse the digression. Couldn`t resist the itch! :-)

Solitude #38 aka Kala Angrez,

``Muslims have a legacy of looting and pillaging and murdering people from Spain to Indonesia and all the natives who have not been forced to convert know that (everyone from the copts to the

hindus and buddhists and jews).``

Correct me if I`m wrong but weren`t Muslims and Jews driven and killed off from Spain and Europe by Christians? Weren`t Jews persecuted by pagan Romans? Oh I agree, we all have had our share of misdeeds, but aren`t you being a bit one sided here? Who killed who during the Holocaust?

Or does your ``goray ka chamcha`` persona not allow you to criticize the other ``white`` side of ``evil?``

How does that saying go: kawa chala hans ki chaal, apni bhi bhool gaya.