WE ARE A USELESS NATION!

ہم ایک بیکار قوم ہیں۔

We Pakistanis make up a pretty useless nation. I am quite annoyed at the intellectual level of our people. Our voters are dumb and our parliamentarians are even dumber. It seems like we're living in a Muslim Renaissance where religious intolerance has replaced rational discourses while political point-scoring seems to be more important than serious pursuit of truth and justice. Just look at what has happened in the summer of 2020 CE. I am going to remind y'all of a few recent events, displaying the poignant state of our nation's intellectual demise and emotional unbalance.

No Quran, no degree

Pakistani parents are very religious and are very careful about the religious education of their children along with secular one. My own parents used to send me to a local imambargah to learn to read Quran. Islam plays a central role in our education and I totally support little children growing up while reading Quran in Arabic and also being taught its message in Urdu. But, the Governor of Punjab has issued passed a horribly unique notification that has discriminated against the progress of secularism in our country.

The notification states that a student will not be awarded a degree if he or she does not study the Holy Quran with the translation.

(The News)

It is now compulsory for the Muslim university students of Punjab to study the Urdu translation of Quran. If they fail to attend the Quran classes in their educational institutes, they will not be awarded a bachelor degree. This is another step towards of religious institutionalization of Pakistan where fundamentalism has crept up in secular learning departments as well. Now, I have studied the entire Quran in Urdu and I can understand it in Arabic as well. I have read multiple hadith books of both Sunni and Shiite Islam. I am well-aware of fiqh and have translated numerous hadiths from Arabic to Urdu for personal utilization. But I don't think that you can forbid a student of physics from being awarded his rightfully-gained degree if he doesn't know his Quran. Religion is a person's personal affair. If he chooses to study Islam, then he can be compelled to study Quran in Urdu. But you cannot possibly ask a science student to finish his scripture in Urdu if he wants to get his degree. This is pure and simple definition of religious fundamentalism.

As a Muslim, my faithfulness is a private manner of mine and I don't believe the government has any right to confiscate my degree if I refuse to study my religious scripture at my university where I don't go to have an episcopal education. Only parents can compel religious education over their children and an adult must not be forced by anyone to study scripture alongside his secular subjects. A student of mathematics doesn't attend his university to study Quran. If he does well in his secular subjects (the ones he is supposed to be studying), you cannot refuse to award him his degree just because he has failed in his Quran classes. You can award him extra marks for being well-informed in religion, just like we award huffadh extra marks for memorizing the entire Quran. My only concern is that the Governor of Punjab (who is also the Chancellor of every university in his province) cannot refuse to award a student his degree for not studying Quran in Arabic. I believe that forceful education of our sacred scripture is even against the teachings of Quran.

And We have certainly made the Quran easy for remembrance; so, is there any who will remember?

(Q. 54:17)

Grave of Fatimah

Sayyidah Fatimah (alayha al-salam) - the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny) - died in 632 CE, just a few months after the unfortunate demise of her respected father Rasulullah, and was buried in Medina (Saudi Arabia). Her grave today lies in a honored graveyard called Jannat-ul-Baqi' where many Companions and scholars of Islam are resting in peace. This sacred necropolis held grate value in the eyes of Prophet Muhammad who used to frequent the graves of his fallen comrades by the end of his lifetime. The mausoleum that overshadows Baqi' al-Gharqad was first demolished by Wahhabis in the beginning of the 19th century (1806 CE) and then for a second time under the Saudi regime in 1925/6 CE by the permission of Wahhabi ulama. Shiite Muslims have always expressed their disagreement with the destruction of these buildings.

On June 10, a resolution was presented by S. Hassan Murtaza of Pakistan People's Party to diplomatically convince Saudi Arabia to rebuild the shrine of Fatimah while the government of Pakistan will pay all the expenses. This resolution was warmly appreciated and accepted with almost no opposition. Here is a picture of the resolution which you can read only if your Urdu's good.

Translation in English is as follows:

The daughter of the final prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), the mother of Hasan and Husayn, the lady of the women of heavens - Fatimah - her grave lies in Jannat-ul-Baqi' (Medina). This elected assembly of Punjab demand from the government of Pakistan to use its diplomatic influence over the Saudi government to work for the construction of a proper mausoleum of Fatima (peace be upon her) in Jannat-ul-Baqi'. If any monetary obstacles hinder the fulfillment of this fair and holy obligation, I will pay all expenses as the chief campaigner.

Now, Sindh Assembly has also passed a similar resolution. The resolution in Sindh was presented by the Opposition Leader from PTI (the ruling party in Pakistan) and supported by the Pakistan People's Party.

I don't know what is wrong with people. They are trying to construct mausoleums of their religious celebrities and even willing to pay for the expenditures. This is something quite difficult and possibly unfeasible to accomplish. But they are still passing resolutions like that. This is just an act to obtain emotional support of the Shiite Muslims from Pakistan. As a Shiite Muslim, I also believe that destruction of the shrine of Fatimah by the Wahhabi Muslims was an action filled with disgust and disrespect towards the saints and aslaf  of our ummah. Wahhabi Muslims have also attacked the shrine of Fatimah's son Husayn at Karbala (Iraq) where they looted the properties of the mausoleum and massacred thousands of pilgrims. But the Ahlul Bayt of the Prophet want us to do is to spend our money to feed the poor, dress the naked, help the homeless and serve the wretched portion of humanity. The corruption of Pakistan People's Party will not be forgiven by God if they build a shrine for Fatimah. You have to abide by the teachings of Fatimah.

As a Shiite Muslim, I find it quite alarming that the people of my community in Pakistan are more interested in emotional showmanship of their love for Ahlul Bayt instead of actually doing something out of respect for the family of Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ و الہ و سلم). The Four Books of Shiite Islam - called Usul-e-Arba'ah - which contain the hadiths of Prophet Muhammad and our twelve Imams, are still to be translated in Urdu. But you won't see a Shiite Muslim asking the government to spend money in translation of these volumes. If you want to read my translations of the hadiths of Shiite Islam in Urdu, visit my Facebook page. For starters, click here to read some of my fine work.

George Orwell's 1985

Sindh Assembly also passed a resolution to speak and write khatam al-nabiyin (Seal of the Prophets) with the blessed name of Prophet Muhammad. Just like we observed how PPP and PTI presented resolutions for the reconstruction of the shrine of Fatimah in Saudi Arabia (a resolution that is completely useless, frankly speaking), now it was the turn of the beloved MQM - the former power holder in Karachi - to display their talents of showmanship. They presented a resolution by exploiting the anti-Ahmadi sentiments in Pakistan. Ahmadis - who are not Muslims - claim to be Muslims and believe in the nubuwwah of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. So, how to harm the hypothetical progress of Ahmadis in Pakistan? The answer is simple: Write down khatam al-nabiyin every time the name of the Prophet comes up.

This resolution bears eerie resemblance to Canada's Bill C-16 which was severely condemned by Professor Jordan B. Peterson. They were compelling people to refer to trans people by their preferred pronouns. Many of these preferred pronouns were made-up words. Peterson became quite a celebrity after his criticism of Bill C-16 surfaced the internet. But he explained that he wasn't against trans rights; he wasn't actually refusing to address his trans students with their preferred pronouns. He stated: "If one of my students politely asks me to use a certain pronoun, I will do so. But I won't memorize and use these made-up words just because the government says so." So, we learn that Peterson totally respects the right of the trans people to be addressed in a certain way but he is against the government compelling citizens to use the words. Just like that, I wholeheartedly believe that Muhammad is khatam al-nabiyin and Ahmadis are non-Muslims. But I won't speak or write khatam al-nabiyin with the Prophet's name if my government tells me to. I will speak or write khatam al-nabiyin with the Prophet's name if and when I want to. The government has no right to compel me to speak or write anything. Totalitarianism and authoritarianism begins when your government tries to modify your speech (written and spoken) and/or force you to utter/author certain words in peculiar manners.

Let me translate the above-mentioned resolution for you in English:

This assembly believes that all of us Muslims are always ready to sacrifice our lives for the honor and grace of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). I present the following resolution in this honorable assembly that, being Muslims, we believe that our beloved master, seal of the prophets, chief of the apostles, chief of the prophets, mercy for the worlds, honored prophet Muhammad - the Apostle of Allah - (peace and blessings be upon him) is the final prophet of God. After him, there is no chance of any prophet, messenger or apostle to come to this world. God has closed the doors to prophecy after Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, it must be ensured  in the province of Sindh that whenever or wherever the blessed and honorable name of Prophet Muhammad comes up, the term "Seal of the Prophets" is also spoken and written with it. This assembly demands that whenever the name of Prophet Muhammad comes up in the means of mass communication such as books, newspapers, journals, magazines, textbooks, television, radio, all the official communication, internet and social media, the term "Seal of the Prophets" will be spoken and uttered with it.

First of all, they have used nabi, rasul and payghambar at the same time. Rasul and payghambar are the same thing; they both mean apostle/messenger in Arabic and Persian respectively. Well, now you can see how they are trying to enforce a modified form of speech in their province. How can they enforce such a totalitarian resolution in books, newspapers, journals, magazines, textbooks, television radio, internet and social media. Does that mean we will be prosecuted if they fail to write khatam al-nabiyin with Muhammad's name? I mean I believe that the Prophet was indeed khatam al-nabiyin but I don't like my government asking me to ensure my faith in it all the time. My faith is between me and my Lord. God knows how much I love Muhammad and respect him. My faith is none of my government's business.

We see that Prophet Muhammad wanted Muslims to send durud over him but he never asked the government to compel its citizens to do that. God revealed a verse about sending blessings on Muhammad but Quran never made it obligatory for Muslims to do that (except for in prayers). The Prophet declared: "A miser is the one in whose presence I am mentioned and he doesn't send blessings upon me." But he never made it a crime for people not to send blessings upon him. Why are Pakistani Muslims refusing to abide by the actual instructions of shari'ah but so energetic about their own made-up principles?

Books banned, books burnt

Banning and burning books is a manifestation of a culture that is afraid to face the truth. It is ignorance of the book’s message or the fear of the latter that is often the reason for someone trying to ban a book.

(Zahid Hussain)

It happened in January 2020 CE when A Case Of Exploding Mangoes was banned and its copies were confiscated because, apparently, the Urdu translation of this critically acclaimed 2008 book was considered to be a threat to our national security. Now, wonder for one moment that a North Korean dissident writes a satirical biography of Kim Il Sung and the book gets banned in North Korea. All Pakistanis will suddenly jump up to criticize the communist government and making fun of the narrow-mindedness of its dictatorship. But the same thing has just happened in our dear little country but nobody bats an idea at how PTI government is gradually silencing the voices of reason in disguise of diminishing the sources of treason. 

But my case isn't about A Case Of Exploding Mangoes. A few days ago, Lesley Hazleton's two extraordinary works were banned by Punjab Assembly because her words were felt to be disrespectful and blasphemous. In January 2020 CE, Lesley Hazleton's books were under serious scrutiny and people were suspecting that her masterful works of non-fiction would be soon banned. Six months later, these suspicions turned into reality. Now, Hazleton's The First Muslim and After The Prophet, and Mazharul Haq's A Short History Of Islam have been banned in the province of Punjab. I know why Hazleton's After The Prophet was banned. This book takes into consideration the bitter relationship that existed between Prophet's wife A'ishah and the Ahlul Bayt. This book believes that A'ishah was resentful towards Ali. Abi Talib and Fatimah. I don't know how it is blasphemous for a non-Muslim to say something like that about Fatimah. If you want to ban a book, ban Muir's Life of Mahomet or the works of D. S. Margoliouth.

Just read what this horrible and disgusting resolution - a document that has laid the foundations of modern-era attack on freedom of speech and liberty of reason in Pakistan - has blasphemed against the marvelous works of Hazleton who is a true admirer of Islam and Muhammad:

These books not only hurt our sentiments but also are an attack on our faith.

(News 18)

I believe that Lesley Hazleton loves Prophet Muhammad more than these so-called Muslims of Punjab Assembly. She has introduced Muhammad to a fearful West and has struggled to rectify the blackened image of Islam they have there in America. Reading books on Hazleton, Armstrong and Esposito, my faith gets strengthened and love cherishing for Muhammad gets refreshed. Hazleton is one of the few authors in the West who actually understand the significance of Muhammad in human history. But her services to Islam will never be appreciated by these poorly-educated, weakly-indoctrinated and meagerly-taught mullahs of Pakistan.

Punjab Assembly has also banned the publication of an Ahmadi newspaper called Al Fadl Daily. Criticizing the Punjab Assembly members, a commentator said:

It is most probable that most of the members of Punjab Assembly have not read these books (because they are in English). Therefore, prima facie, the banning the books is an action not based on rationale, but malice towards intellectual curiosity and dissent. The 'policy makers' can try 'intellectual humility' for a change.

(Dawn)

In the end...

Pakistan is an Islamic state and it was founded in the name of Mohammedanism. Our goal must be to implement shari'ah in Pakistan. But what does shari'ah mean? What is the meaning of enforcing Islamic laws in a society? I believe that the implementation of shari'ah actually means the creation of a welfare state where nobody is wronged and everyone can live a peaceful life. It doesn't mean banning certain books, compelling people to write certain words after the Prophet's name, reconstructing shrines in an alien country or refusing to award degree to a diligent student just because he doesn't want to study Quran. Islam is a religion misunderstood by both Muslims and non-Muslims. It is quite convenient to argue with non-Muslims who have misunderstood Islam. But it is really dangerous to try telling a Muslim that his understanding of Islam is on par with the actual interpretation of Quran. May Allah bless us all!