A True Story
tahmed32 #19, its ME who rejected cricket, because although too late, I finally did get to know no matter how good I`ll play, I`ll always be the `chosen worse` :D
My game would automatically improve infront of female audience. I wonder if it`s a subconcious effect of reading too much Shafeequr Rehman :)

Islam in Crisis - Part 3
Remember,
Ethics and rules listed in the Koran are not a goal in themselves. They are the path to the goal, which is the salvation. This abolishes the concept of absolute ethics, and allows 1.3 billion different interpretations of Islam, all being 1.3 billion different paths to God.

A True Story
And time to reveal my real name on chowk... which is.. SOBIA!

:P

Islam in Crisis - Part 3
Re: #3 by HisExcellency

Reason may not be as important as Revelation in percepting the nature of God, but it certainly is a fundamental requirement to percept Revelation itself.

The fact that the Koran often gives logical/philosophical reasons behind the rules it dictates, depicts that God forbids sins because they are bad.

They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: ``In them is great sin and some profit for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.`` (Koran 2:219)

Osama ben Laden and 6000 deaths in NY are a perfect example of literal following of the text of revelation and ignorance of the reasoning required to percept it.

A True Story

Poor moi couldn`t even find asylem in Cricket! I was the third of the three and the youngest. The eldest would take the bat and toss the ball to his younger partner. I`d come running behind them, ``And me?``. ``You do the fillding!`` Then they`d throw the ball all over the park and I`d have to run and pick it up.

I had the chance to play a match for my city Multan in an under-19 tournament. I did pretty well with the bat, and my captain exclaimed it was surprising, because he was only playing me as a point fielder. Since then I decided that I`ll never play professional cricket again!

Islam in Crisis - Part 3



Dear Mr. Talib,
Your deep insight on these issues is remarkable. You are doing the contemporary Muslim philosophy a great favour by writing down your feelings and sharing your views with all of us.
Here are some of my own abstract thoughts:


- The beginnings of Ash`arism are shrouded in obscurity. It was a gradual shifting of attitude and there was no formal recognition of the existence of this philosophy in the beginning. It is a tendency of human mind to ascribe broad movements to single men. This is the reason why I think this philosophy has been ascribed to the name of Abul Hassan `Ali Ibne Islma`il alAsh`ari.


- Other schools of thought that shared similar philosophy with Ash`arism include Zahirism in Spain, School of Al-Tahawi in Egypt, and Maturidism in Samarqand.


- The above article does not mention a very important content of the debate between the two philosophies i.e. The relationship of attributes of God to his essence. Mu`tazilism insists that the attributes of God such as Knowledge, Power and Life are not independant qualities possessed by him apart from his essence, but are a part of his essence. Al-Ash`ari is reported to have rebutted the Mu`tazilist identification of God`s attributes with his essence in this manner, ``Abul Hudhayl Allaf says that God`s knowledge is God, and so he makes God knowledge. He must be asked to invoke knowledge instead of God, and say in his prayers, `O Knowledge Forgive Me!`.``

O Karachi
Dear Jay,


  The terrorist groups who call themselves the Jihadis do not kill for religion. The name of religion has only been used over the years to attract the middle class youth to take the frontline for them. The actual struggle has always been for what you called `gains`.

  The whole Jihad phenomenon as it is practiced today, started during the war for liberation of Afghanistan. It was the CIA who think-tanked the whole idea of using the name of religion and the term `Jihad`, in order to attract the youth of middle and lower middle class to join their fight against communism in Afghanistan. The first few of the private Islamic armies were then created and trained by the CIA who also planned the popularization of this concept of Jihad and Muslim brotherhood through the media, the clergy, and the academic curriculum.

  Upon achieving the objectives in Afghanistan, the CIA left the toilet without flushing their shitt off. The technology, the infrastructure, the weapons, the money and the proprietership of the opium business was left solely with the ISI and the religious groups.

  Every disagreement among the leaders of those religious groups gave rise to a new private army. Some planned to take over the world under the flag of Islam, others wanted to get rid of the local opposing sects first. Some took over the opium business, others found donors abroad, yet others had to resort to robbing and looting in Pakistan to generate finances. Some saw the central asian Islamic states as the next target after Afghanistan, others went to help their Kashmiri brothers pledging the fall of Delhi, yet others thought cleaning Pakistan of Shias was their foremost responsibility.

  The local armies that didn`t get a share from the opium business are now practically going for rent. The young men they hire to take the front-line are first prepared with feelings of hatred towards a certain opposing sect. Then they`re made to commit an act of terror against a target belonging to that sect for free. Once they`re into it, they are paid and/or blackmailed to kill just anyone from any sect or religion. These armies grew stronger and stronger right under the nose of the liberal governments of Banezir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. After Gen. Musharraf tried to put a check on the activities of these groups, these groups went underground for some time.

  Osama ben Laden was one of the most competent of the CIA trained Jihad personnel. After the Afghan war he joined another army, then had a disagreement with them and created his own army and called it AlQaeda. AlQaeda is the most well-financed of all the armies. It was them who had to pay the most, for Musharraf`s decision to change the policy towards these groups, after the ISI actually started picking out the AlQaeda officials and handing them over to the USA.

  They did not go underground. They had the resources to seek revenge from Pakistan. Hence the series of attacks on churches. The personnel used in these attacks, interestingly, were the Pakistani private armies that had been quietly waiting for such an opportunity. It is interesting to know that the attack on the French engineers outside a hotel, was first planned by the local terrorists, and then the blue-print was shown to AlQaeda and an Indian agency seperately, both of whom approved to sponsor it. After the recent attack on the policemen outside the American Councilate in Karachi, one of the terrorists running away from the scene was arrested. He revealed complete details of how AlQaeda financed this operation.

  Religion is only a part of this game because the CIA had thought that`d suit them in the Afghan war. Otherwise this is a game of terror between agencies for which civilians have to die, in India, in Pakistan, and in the US on 9/11. Killing is always for objective gains, Religion, Nationalism, and War against Terror, all mean the same!

My Two Pence on the W-word (¯`·._.·[ Concern of the Millenium ]·._.·´¯)



  One impact of the general anti-war sentiment and feeling of hatred towards America will be an increase in the Islamic terrorist activities, and the liberal muslims will not be left with a moral high ground that they had gained after the civilian deaths on 9/11.

  I`m already seeing that the Jihadis who actually are war-lovers have tried to mix themselves with the peace-lovers, to gain advantage of the situation. The MMA had been seen carrying out peace marches in Pakistan, while holding posters of Osama ben Laden.

  How will this extremism be neautralized? Who should think about this neautralization? Who is responsible for it?

My Two Pence on the W-word

(¯`·._.·[ Research of the Millenium ]·._.·´¯)




``Sadam Does NOT know english``
- #19 by Tipu on March 20

Salaam O Rachel* Salaam
The most peaceful way to react to this will be to crush Bush with a bulldozer.

I wouldve loved the word Jihad if the alQaeda had directed all the planes to whitehouse.

Its sad barbarians rule both sides of the globe.

My Two Pence on the W-word

(¯`·._.·[ 500,000th Article on the Topic ]·._.·´¯)





These are media-generated pseudo-humanitarian feelings.


1- Who told you 500,000 people will die? Nostradamus?
2- Why didn`t you write an article on Chowk when Saddam killed thousands of Kurds?








°o.O Politics O.o°

Dear Maryam, politics is not a cruel game. This war is taking place because sensitive intelligent peace lovers like you kept themselves away from politics, and the mediocres took over.

Pakistan The Land of the pure - A Myth or Reality
An excellent piece of literature. Is relatable at personal emotional level, should not invoke political analysis.
The question `Why was Pakistan Created?` must be asked all the time for us to focus on a direction. A nation state is different from a geographical state.

The concern for the environment is a fundamental animal behaviour. It however is not a priority concern for most people from the non-white non-middleclass background.

Over here in Pakistan, I`ve often seen environmentalism as:

i) A hobby for the elite class
This in my opinion is good. If we do have a group of people who have the time and resources to represent the rest of us, its neat!

ii) A symbol of progressiveness for private schools
Fine, they don`t produce any environmentalists, but they do produce `semi-environmentalists` who have the concern for the environment at the back of their minds.


My mother has done a couple of theatrical performances with kids relating the concern for the environment. She believes in that semi-environmentalism I mentioned. I think thats the best we can expect to happen locally in Pakistan.

Dear Aliya! Dear Syd,

Thought it noble, because it creates, and creativity is noble.

Dear Aliya!

Dear PM,

As a child when my world did not extent beyond the boundaries of my home, I thought my dad was the all-mighty. He could yell at and punish anyone. Later on when I saw the world in a broader context, I realized my dad is just a helpless grey-haired man who has nothing under his control. So the concept of God that I had all through my childhood just abolished. I was still willing to accept the existence of God, but I was not longer willing to accept the concept of God that I had been given in childhood.
Then as I grew into an adult and fell in love, I started seeing God to be similar to my beloved. This time the concept of God was about love rather than about punishment. About love, as in, a man praying all day trying to please God, but not percepting how God has been replying to it, and feeling he is being ignored.


Dear Studebaker,

That was a low IQ joke, coz Paagal ko siraf Psychiatrists samaj saktay hain! :P


Dear Tipu,

Where do you live? Hello, this is 2003! In the contemporary Pakistani society, no father has the time to tell stories to his son, or guide him about religion, or narrate history to him. Our concepts of Religion and History come from illiterate mothers. Like my own in the above compilatin of letters.

Flannelled Clucks

(¯`·._.·[ Warning of the Millenium ]·._.·´¯)
Re: #6 by rsaxena


Let me warn you if they do that, Wasim will forget how to bowl and Sachin will forget how to bat!