The Real Match

So Pakistan is aflame with the celebrations of winning its first match against India in ICC T20 2021. And why not ? After all, we have a trail of defeats against India and this match was also expected to be lost to India. So the Pakistanis opened their screens to watch this match only half-heartedly. Even the cricket stadium of Dubai was more filled with Indians than Pakistanis. I had some online task with my nephew in Dubai, so he told me that it had to be done before 6 pm DST because the Pak-India match was starting after that. I asked him why he was not watching it at the stadium … and he replied that because we are expected to lose !

So amidst this atmosphere of almost hopelessness, Pakistan won ! And it was not a struggling win, but a neat, clean sweep. Everyone was shocked, most of all Pakistanis themselves. And India was mad like hell. It is not easy for either India or Pakistan to face a defeat from the other under any circumstances, but the situation was worse this time, for by their recent feats over Pakistan, they had become over-confident and had been trolling the Pakistanis pre-match and boasting of their sure-shot victory. In such a heated environment of victorious expectations, the hit hit really hard, engulfing India in flames.

The Indian cricket team and their captain, Virat Kohli, on the other hand, faced the defeat very decently. He congratulated the Pakistani cricket team and gave them full credit for their game, rather than coming up with blame games. So we must give them full credit for their sportsmanship ! Both teams were quite amiable on the cricket ground and there were no spats between them. So I guess both teams were carrying the sportsmanship spirit that day.

The prayer of Muhammad Rizwan right in the middle of the cricket ground has drawn a lot of attention in the international media and a lot of applaud in the local media. This is actually a simple and straight answer to that religious crowd who piously dislike cricket or any game for that matter giving the reasoning that sports distracts Muslims from their religious obligations and prayers are often wasted than not. That’s not it. The fact of the matter is that a person who is not regular in his prayers in daily life, cannot be expected to suddenly be saying prayers amidst a game. And likewise otherwise. So its not sports which evades prayers but the person himself. If you ask me, sports like cricket are among the Islamic recommendations for sports for it includes aiming and shooting. Let that sink in …

If someone is still adamant that cricket wastes prayers and is a waste of time, well that is ironic really then ! For there are a lot of other things in our society which wastes our prayers but we are not upset about them at all. Our sleep wastes our Fajr, but we have become accustomed to it. The work load and rush at offices sometimes wastes our Zuhr, but that is all fine because that is in the holy path of earning halal rizq. Our shopping sprees often waste our Asr but hey then, what is the injunction of qaza salah for ? Our late return from the park with children does away with our Maghrib. And of course, it is not possible to say prayers in the park because … of some reason I don’t know. Serving dinner and the drag of a whole day’s work takes its toll and often sacrifices our Isha but that’s okay because after all responsibility is responsibility and we cannot shun the responsibility of a whole household just for prayers. Of course, Allah Almighty knows our holy intentions and limitations. Women especially have been stationed to serve religiously … to religiously serve in-laws, their neighbors, their relatives … crowds and crowds of them … don’t these people have their own homes ? And don’t they have any responsibilities at their homes ? Don’t they have any schedules to follow ? All prayers missed by women are carted in the bandwagon of ‘Allah Almighty may forgive His rights but will not forgive the rights of fellow beings …’ Did Allah Almighty promise us forgiveness for all prayers missed as a woman ?

Ah we have wandered far from our topic of cricket. So perhaps we can wander a bit more and touch a very critical thought regarding the Pakistan win against India. Sure Pakistan has won a game against India, but after all, its just a game ! What about the real matches of life ? What about Kashmir ? Can we really celebrate our win against India for long whence soon after the win, India started persecuting the Muslims of India and Kashmiris ? Such is their venom against Muslims and Pakistan. And such is our helplessness regarding the defence of our victory. Its alright ! We can and should celebrate our cricket victory against India, but we should soon get serious and think seriously about the real match in Kashmir !

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Discarded Heroes

So another hero gone ! Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan died last Sunday, 10th of October 2021, and was buried with full protocols by the government and the people of Pakistan. Nay ! It was not just the people of Pakistan who were swarming up to Faisal Mosque where his last prayers were due, but the clouds and the winds and the rain also paid their respect to him. The weather suddenly turned black and awesome and thundering … just like the awe we all felt when the Chaghi hill turned white on Yom-e-Takbeer !

Six years later, Dr.A.Q.Khan was accused of ‘selling’ the nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Well, what’s wrong with a sale ? Doesn’t America sell weapons to its own citizens ? Doesn’t America sell fighter jets to other countries ? Oh right, America is the super power and decides the rules. So the rules of this game are that you can sell weapons and tanks and aircrafts but not the nuclear weapon technology. Why ? Because it is very, very dangerous and a threat to the human existence. True. But this caution is meted out by the very country who is the only country which has ever dropped a nuclear bomb, not once but twice, on a military target densely populated with civilians. America and their friends are okay with it for we have never heard even a verbal apology coming out of America for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And its best friend Israel continues similar attacks to date in Palestine.

When Pakistan became a nuclear power, there was celebration all over the Muslim world. People shook hands with ad hoc Pakistanis residing in their regions of the world. The Kashmiris and Palestinians thought that finally a messiah is here who would defend them against the occupation and their atrocities. And why not ? We are one nation. Just like the Jews always identified themselves as Jews throughout history, no matter which country they lived in … they were knit together by their Faith and Holy Book into a single fabric. So is the case with the Muslims. So it should be no issue if we shared our nuclear technology with Iran and Libya, them being Muslim countries. As far as North Korea is concerned, well obeying the rules of the selected five, perhaps we should just return the money paid by North Korea and declare it a gift :)

But the sad thing is how we dealt with this issue internally. We cowered under the international pressure and put our national hero Dr.A.Q.Khan under house arrest in 2004. He fought his own case in the Islamabad High Court against the Federal Government of Pakistan and won his freedom after five years in 2009. What a shame ! A national hero versus the national government. And afterwards, what benefits did we give him or take from him in the twelve years he has lived after his release running up to 2021 ? Nothing ! Like so many national heroes wasted, he just languished away within the four walls of his home with a meagre pension while we strut around beating our chests proclaiming to be a nuclear power and undefeatable, as declared on Yom-e-Takbeer after the successful nuclear blast.

Well the irony is that this undefeatable country Pakistan, only three years after declaring itself unbeatable, surrendered to the USA upon the war-of-terror, unconditionally, and opened its gates for Pakistan to become a battle ground. It was the year 2001. Not only did we give out our land for warfare but started handing over our citizens at America’s beck and call, including the iconic Aafia Siddiqui. It was the year 2003. Then an American citizen kills our citizens in broad daylight and runs away to hide in the American Embassy and is given a very safe passage out of Pakistan by Pakistan itself to fly out to his den, America. Zooming to the year 2011, NATO forces killed twenty-eight Pakistani soldiers in a border skirmish at Salala. But because this time it were the holy soldiers, we managed to give  a teeny-weeny reaction. We blocked NATO supplylines, sulked for a meagre seven months and then patched up by reinstating the NATO war supply-lines against our own brothers in Afghanistan. Eyes roll !

I think it takes America just a handful of years to plan out and execute an evacuation plan in order to evict Muslim heroes out of their home grounds. The Afghan Jihad was victorious, supported by America itself, but then General Zia-ul-Haq was eliminated in 1988 by the exploding mangoes and General Hamid Gul politically put on the grey list. The Taliban won the civil war in 1996 but then were ousted by America in 2001. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani Muslim, graduated with all honors in 2001 but then was grounded by America itself in 2003. Pakistan proudly became a nuclear power in 1998 but then one of its founding fathers, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was convicted in 2004. 

And what are we doing ? Standing lamely at the sidelines, looking the other way, or pretending to look and agree, whilst our national heroes are being taken off ground right before our very eyes. What a lame nation we are !

Share the Sorrow

Single National Curriculum

Things started looking up when Imran Khan silhouetted on the political horizon. A smart guy with smart brains, striding into the swamp of ill-reputed politics and politicians. We all foul mouth them, the conventional politicians, but nobody dares to enter the dirty field of politics and be a befitting alternate.

So as expected, Imran Khan came up with the revolutionary idea of a Single National Curriculum in 2020. Awesome ! It was something that has been long over due; to create harmony, unity and a common knowledge base amongst the students of government schools, private schools and religious seminaries. All school students need to be religious and all madaris students need to be knowledgeable.

The Single National Curriculum would be a ‘guideline’ of course and so it was said by many authorities and analysts and sources. Obviously, the government cannot specify particular books to be taught for any subject. For example, it would be very sensible if the SNC says that all preschool children should be taught the Quran Qaidah. Now it would be up to the school to decide that which Quran Qaidah to teach … should it be the Noorani Qaidah or Qurani Qaidah or any other Qaidah … or even be presentation based teaching or Montessori material based teaching !

But it came as a shock to many of us when at the implementation of the SNC in 2021, we were told that specific books are compulsory to be taught under the SNC curriculum. So much so that schools would be inspected and any school found not teaching the specific books of the SNC would be penalized. So I jumped into my car, drove to the nearest bookstore and asked for a set of the SNC books. I opened the pages with skeptical fingers … and slumped the book shut. 

The SNC books are a good effort to improve the quality of the government schools, but unfortunately, the gap between the standard of the government schools and private schools is so huge that a slight improvement in the content and quality of the government school books is still a far cry from the content and quality of the private schools books.

Now the interesting thing is that the government officials are saying that the schools have to teach certain SNC books compulsory and following, have the liberty to teach whatever else stuff they want. With due apology, this approach is very impractical and not sensible at all. The private schools are completely and fully loaded with their own curriculum books. There is absolutely no further space to stuff in other books. But a holier question arises … if the purpose of the SNC is developing a nation on one page, why would the government allow whatever else to be taught. Suppose some school obediently teaches the SNC books and along with teaches books on atheism and homosexuality ?

Next comes the language issue. The much applauded Finland educational techniques say that if we question a student on how to make a box, he should have the choice to write it out on a page (Eastern parent’s favorite learning technique!) or verbally tell the procedure (like the much dreaded Viva in the East!) or simply craft out the box practically and show it as a proof of his knowledge (surely would be children’s favorite!). Same should be the case with the language of study. A student should have the choice to study Sciences in English, Urdu, Arabic, etc., whatever language he is able to comprehend. Forcing the Urdu-medium students to study the Sciences in English and forcing the English-medium students to study the Sciences in Urdu is an undue injustice to the students of Pakistan. Only the English language can be forced to be taught in English and only the Urdu language can be forced to be taught in Urdu and only the Arabic language can be forced to be taught in Arabic …

Speaking of Arabic, if ever any strategy needs to be developed to singularize the language of the education system of Pakistan, along with its official language, the target language should then be well … may I say it ? Arabic. Yes ! Shocking as it may seem, it is the most logical choice to singularize upon. Why ? Notice the caption on the SNC books – One Nation, One Curriculum. Charming ! But it is important to note that Allah SWT uses the word nation in the Holy Quran forty times, and each time, Allah is not addressing the Pakistanis or Afghanis or Saudis or any other Muslim locality but the Muslims in totality. In the eyes of Allah Almighty SWT, the nation is that of the Muslims, not a geographical group but an ideological group.

Unlike some, we have absolutely no problem with the Islamic content, depictions, graphics, and so on in the SNC and neither do we feel that any kind of gender discrimination is on the way. With Imran Khan at the head, it is not possible.

We understand that PM Imran Khan is trying to create a merger of the triple education systems running side-by-side in Pakistan, but for that, the quality of the private schools must not be brought down. And what are the private schools doing right now to hang on to dear quality ? They have stuffed the SNC books into their curriculum along with their own original curriculum books. How do you think the student’s brains are right now ? Just like over stuffed school bags ! 

It was the academic guidelines and defining lines of the curriculum that were important to develop the SNC, not the books themselves. The colors and flavors of the resultant books may vary like a bunch of flowers, breezing in the wind. We need to undo the compulsion of government specific books, else the education of Pakistan would be as good as the nationalization of industries in the 1970s, or as bad ?

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Blasphemy Diplomacy

Okay so before going into the heart of the matter at hands, let us do a recap of the blasphemy issue. For there is huge number of people out there, including Islamic scholars, who opine that, in the face of blasphemy, ignore! If we split the opinions of the Muslims into five categories, here are the claims. Group A says, go for the kill, even if you have to do it with your own hands. Group B says, go for the kill, but let the government do it. Group C says, protest and boycott. Group D says, just ignore so that the blasphemy would die its own death. Group E says, be forbearing and forgive, so that people could see the benevolence of Islam. And Group F says, chill, its freedom of speech!

Of course, the Group F would not be so chill if some stand up comedian stands up one day and starts cracking jokes and cartoons about their deceased parents. As for the benevolence of Islam, people have already taken it for granted. Sharing a bit of a personal episode, I once had a skirmish with a family member. At the end of it I said, ‘ Let it go, I forgive you … ’ Believe it or not, the person retorted by saying, ‘ Well, you wear the abaya, so its no big deal if you forgive … you are supposed to forgive! ’ So you see, in these times of not practicing Islam being the norm, practicing Islam has become synonymous to the Christian benevolence if someone will slap me, I will turn my other cheek for another slap which originally came to soften the hearts of the Jews which had become hard and corrupt over time in the olden times. Group D has a point, to ignore, but if you match it with the prophetic era, the Muslim community generally ignored blasphemy during the Meccan era and generally did not ignore during the Madinite era. Why? Well, its simple common sense. America arrested the Iraqi journalist who threw a shoe at President Bush, but America would not have bothered anything at all if President had been a nobody Bush. So after Prophet Muhammed SAW had been recognized and declared as a prophet and head-of-state post migration, no more nonsense would be ignored or tolerated.    

Now zero tolerance requires some ideological, political and economical strength. And that is what PM Imran Khan is talking about. That the West, mostly falling into category F and below from religion point-of-view, might make a Tom and Jerry game out of the whole issue and attempt blasphemy one country after the other, to tease the entire Muslim world. So how many embassies will we shut down? It would be like lots of Jerries popping out of different mouse holes and Tom Pakistan would be going bonkers attacking one mouse hole after another. All the Jerries, the non-Muslim countries, the Arab emirates and the desi liberals would be having a good laugh at poor Tom.

Am I trying to say PM Imran Khan is doing right? Am I trying to say that Pakistan has no choice but to continue diplomatic relations with France? Am I trying to say we have to look after our economic welfare over blasphemy? No. I think the French ambassador should have been kicked out without a second thought the night France displayed the unholy cartoons on its buildings throughout France. Even taking a time period of three months for an action was an action too late. And then saying ‘Sorry we cannot do it … ’ is unacceptable.

But the problem is, Prophet Muhammed SAW also warned us by the wisdom that our deeds shall become our leaders. So let us have a look at our deeds. Facebook committed blasphemy in May 2010 by announcing the ‘Everybody Draw Muhammed Day’. The indignant Muslim youth took Facebook by the storm and quit it. Some genius software engineers from Lahore quickly came up with a Millat Facebook as an alternate and invited everybody to join. Almost everybody did, but only for a meagre two months and then crawled back to the blasphemous Facebook. I hung around Millat Facebook to catch the Muslim crowd for about three years, only to stand there with only a handful of people. Eventually, I crawled back to Facebook in 2013 too, looking for the lost Muslim youth. Shame on and upon all of us.

Then Youtube did it too by hosting the blasphemous movies. Google is the parent company and their patronage. And we all have gmail accounts, right? And we all know that Nestle supports Israel. Coca-cola factories are on Palestinian lands and Lays chips, an American product, is not a friend of ours either. We cannot even resist eating bananas and cooking tomatoes coming from India. Poor Gourmet Cola, Oye Hoye Chips and Haleeb yoghurt are left stranded in the stands just because, ‘ Its not the same taste! ’ To hell with the taste! These foreign products are bleeding our economy and pumping the cash into wars and occupations against Muslims, and we are paying them out of our, literally, bloody pockets. And then we are angry at PM Imran Khan, that why is he thinking about the economic risk of a country of 224 million population?

Be the character that you want PM Imran Khan to be. Kick out blasphemous, anti-Islam and anti-Muslim services and products from your homes and then see where the French ambassador ends up !

Share the Resolve

Ramadan Pawri

Yay … Ramadan is coming and we will all be doing pawri now! Yes, admit it or not, but most of the excitement for most of the people in the Muslim world today is the pawri atmosphere of Ramadan. Now! I don’t want to be Aunt Polly who keeps looking for the boy who puts his hand in the jam jar, but lets at least have the honesty of the street boy Tom Sawyer who was brave enough to speak the truth and name Injun Joe at the court! A popular motivational Dawa speaker once asked, ‘Is it the month of fasting or feasting?’ If you ask me, I would say, both. Why not? For Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran,

“ Eat and drink happily but do not transgress . ” [Reference]

I would say, its not too different from the English proverb, Eat, drink and be merry! For its only fair to tell anyone that they are more than welcome to have a party in their garden but please not to get drunk and topple over the wall onto the neighbors. So that’s the point of Islam, that you have the right to party, I mean, pawri, but not to break morals or laws of any kind.

So as Ramadan approaches, the Muslim world is abuzz! Cleaning, shopping, stocking, stitching, decorations … truly sounds like a pawri, doesn’t it? Routine schedules are quickly rearranged and changed to accommodate Sehri, Taraweeh, Dora-e-Quran … no, no, no, you started off right but quickly went off track. Its Sehri, Sehri Pawries, Iftari, Iftari Pawries, and since its quite difficult to stay all day long without food, we swap our morning and evening routines. We stay awake through the night, merrily pawrying all night long and sleeping through the day, to dodge the Fasting hunger pangs. And if God forbid, we are committed to work or study in the morning, we start asking for shorter hours. And if the boss does not concede to shorter hours, we look at him in horror and despise. ‘What a bad Muslim boss he is … not giving us time off during Ramadan!’ As if we had to go home and attend a Dora-e Quran, or do Quran recitation after Asr, or stand up for Taraveeh at night. Funnily, just nine o’clock in the morning, our gait is slow, our tone is down, and if somebody may ask us, ‘What happened?’ ... we croak ‘I am fasting …!’ As if it is news in the Muslim world that somebody is fasting during Ramadan. Obviously, we all are fasting. What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that since fourteen hundred years, or lets say since Prophet Musa As’s time, or perhaps even afore, Fasting has been prescribed in all holy scriptures, but we still have an indigestion of the idea that the purpose of Fasting is to mature us spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally and to take our will power to newer heights, where we could and would work and struggle and strive despite hunger pangs in our stomach and desire pangs in our hearts. It is then that we can resonate with the Sahaba RA who set out for Tabuk despite the scorching travel heat and ripe fields at home ready to be harvested and who dug the Trench in the Battle of the Trench with stones tied to their stomachs to curb the hunger pangs.

But we want none of that. Oh yes, we want the lost glory of Islam and Muslims but none of the struggle behind it. Just like we want A+ grades without studying and by just buying readymade assignments from book shops and a few glances here and there in the exam room. And just like we want a six-figure salary without the qualifications required for it. And just like we want perks and promotions without the hard work and sweat behind it. We are happy that our ancestors met all the challenges, spread Islam and made it easy for us. We shake our heads at the fall of the Ottomans and nod in approval that Jinnah carved out Pakistan for us. Now we want to be the golden spoon children whose parents have done all the struggle and life should serve us everything in the silver platter. In fact, it seems like we are actually at the spiritual level of children, who are motivated to Fasting by promising them their favorite food at the end of the day. Was that the motivation the Sahaba RA followed? How immature can we be?

The excitement that we need to have as a runner up to Ramadan is … yes! Ramadan is coming once again, and now I am in a higher grade, or my job has become tougher, or we have a new baby in the family now, how am I going to manage all this … that’s the challenge! How exciting! I going to make myself stronger, be more resilient, increase my will power and meet the challenge! I want more time for worship? I am going to take out my free time, my entertainment time, my rest time, or cut out nonsense activities … but I will not let the quantity or quality of my work to go down ! That’s the spirit of Islam and Ramadan … to celebrate the promotion of the body and soul to greater heights. It is only then that we may make the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting and feasting … provided that we earn the feasting and not sleep through the training  and develop the courage to speak up for Aafia Siddiqui in public !

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Tissue Paper Relationships

Wow! What a girl Sana is. How she carried her love like a flag through troubles and tribulations and married her fiancé despite the fact that he encountered a terrible accident and lost both his arms and a leg. People are amazed and astounded and all applause. But the question is, how many of us would do even a ten percent of this? How many of us would allow our children to make such a decision? Had Sana been my friend and rushed to my home crashing with sorrow and horror and had narrated to me the onslaught of a terrible calamity of her life, what would I have said to her as a friend? For sure I would have said that, ‘Sana, Dawood is a nice person. I am sure you both love each other very much, but be practical. He is a cripple now. He would be no good to you as a husband. He would just be a liability. He cannot even earn for you now, rather you would have to earn for him and take care of him and take the responsibility of the whole household … ’ and then sing for her … It must have been love, but its over now …

Few of us have the character to answer in positivity to the lyrics of Michael Jackson,

In my troubles … and my tribulations … will you still care … will you be there ? 

For sure Sana is. Kudos to her! A few people are a little worried that Dawood and Sana are Christians because she was heard saying in one of her interviews the word Khudawand which is the Christian version of Khuda meaning God in Pakistan. Does it matter? The deed she has done is an inspiration to all of us Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus … to all mankind. For Allah Almighty says in the Quran,

“Another of His signs is that He created your soul mates for you so that you might be at peace with them, and has put love and compassion between you two. Verily there are signs in this for those who think.”

[The Holy Quran | Surah Ar-Room | Verse 21] 

So think! The prime purpose of marriage is peace, love and compassion, while our marriage criteria for marriage selection is a good salary, a good house and a good job. If we reverse it for the females, the criteria is beauty, housework and umm … given that the inflation is going high and we have advanced to higher levels of materialism … a good job for the girl as well. There! That’s a nice, neat, meaty marriage package. The moment money leaves a marriage, the marriage starts shaking on its foundations.

Same is the case with teachers. Yes, sorry for swerving the topic so suddenly and catching you off guard but the same materialism has penetrated education, the noblest of professions. Mother Aisha RA is reported to have said that two of the noblest of professions of the world are medical care and education. But you will see today teachers floating in and out of schools following the carrot of salary. If you ask one, ‘Why did you join that university?’ You will hardly find the answer, ‘Because I am inspired by their vision…’ But then the question is, do the universities today have a vision or they also have ventured to open the university as a ‘business’? Hearing the word business reminds me of my childhood days when parents used to be advising their children to become a doctor or an engineer. Mind you, they would not ask them ‘What do you aspire to be?’ but instruct them to become a doctor or an engineer because, they would say with raised eyebrows, doctors and engineers make very good salaries. That is why, when the salaries remain not so good, the doctors go on strike, while the patients are lying on stretchers, helpless. And helpless is the government in front of them because they had to cut down on the health budget to increase free facilities for the ministers who are already getting very handsome salaries.

So what hopeless chance does Dawood Siddiqui stand today in a world where marriages are sought not for love and compassion and character but for salary figures? But, the fact of the matter becomes that Dawood stands a very handsome man today, because he is still handsome in the eyes of Sana. And the richest and the most powerful, for having such a loving, loyal and brave girl standing next to him. Uh…oh, I have a very interesting question. What would Dawood have done if Sana had suffered the same fate? The smile on Dawood’s face is enigmatic, where Sana is feeding him with her own hands. Would Dawood have looked at her with the same love, if she had gotten crippled? Would Dawood have fed her with his hands? Would Dawood have stood against his family and married Sana anyways? Would people have allowed him to do so? And if Dawood and Sana would have been already married, at worst, his family would have suggested him to divorce her to get rid of her, and at best, lined up other girls for him for a second marriage, to console him from the trauma, which his wife was suffering upfront. In life, when a man and woman need each other all the more, we tear them apart, inside and outside, with our universally accepted and adjusted selfishness.

So where do people like Sana Mushtaq stand in today’s world ? Only in the newspapers !

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The Girl in Yellow

Enough said and talked about the girl in yellow who dared to propose in public to her university fellow, followed by a hug and an expulsion. There has been a rave of reactions to the incident, mostly cussing and cursing and a few statements of appreciation with respect to love and freedom. The advocacy has been from top class media figures who believe in being daring and pioneers. The swift response of the university management is also notable. They issued a show cause notice to the couple, who decided not to show up and hence the disciplinary committee decree a one-sided expulsion notice to the couple. 

I can understand the hurry of the university, for the incident had not just violated the university rules, religious rules and social rules of the Pakistani society, but had the parents, especially the parents of all girls, sit up in petrified horror. What? Is this what happens in universities? And soon we may have witnessed numerous withdrawals from, not just the said university, but the universities all over Pakistan. I feel that the university should have taken some precautionary steps way ahead. For example, judging by the visuals of the incident, there appears to be no dress code at the university. At least not in implementation. What? Dress code? What about freedom of dressing? Yes, don’t you know? There are dress codes in the West for every place, from offices to parties to beaches. You are not allowed party clothes in the office and not allowed sleeping pajamas at parties and not allowed the judge’s wig and gown at the beach. Going a step even prior, why are there not girl’s universities and boy’s universities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan? Or at least separate campuses for boys and girls of the same university? Although, a rise in segregated universities will also give rise to the matrimonial business in Pakistan for our aunties rarely like a girl in presence. But that is a story for another time.

What? Segregated universities? First the expulsion, and now this talk about segregated universities? Surely, the Aurat March would pick up new banners against this. For the Aurat March is all about women’s rights and freedom. And the girl in yellow did exactly that. She exercised her Islamic right to choose her marriage partner and she exercised her Aurat March freedom to say it out loud. Now what would the Aurat March do, if the girl was imprisoned for doing so? Surely they would make brand new placards, hosting her picture in duo and shout themselves hoarse demanding her release from prison. Please note that although I may not sound so right now but I am a selective supporter of the Aurat March, for they do have grounds to be marching, but a selective opponent of it as well for some of their unIslamic demands. But what shocked me through and through was when I saw a video of the Karachi Aurat March where the Aafia Movement supporters are trying to join them and are blatantly being refused to join by the Aurat March management! Why? Is Aafia not a woman? Does she not deserve freedom? In fact, she is not very different from the girl in yellow whom the Aurat March would love to support right now. I remember a video of Aafia … she was also wearing yellow and speaking out loud … at a conference in America about the women’s rights in Islam. The memory seems to have an eerie resemblance and resonance to the Aurat March and the girl in yellow today, because she was also standing up for women’s rights, dressed in yellow. But what is haunting is the fact that the Aurat March would discriminate so rashly and stand up for the rights and freedom of one girl in yellow while expelling the rights and freedom of another girl in yellow … for what reason?

Just about now, most of the far rightists of the Pakistani society and bearers of Islam would smirk and say, ‘See what a sham the Aurat March is?’ Tut, tut, they stand up for women’s rights and freedom and at the same dot moment are refusing to stand up for the rights and freedom of a particular woman, Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani and a Muslim. Really? Is that so bad? For I have some breaking news for you. Most of the religious organizations of Pakistan also refuse to speak up for Aafia Siddiqui! Can you believe that? They dodge and evade the topic and when asked point blank, ‘Why do you not speak up for Aafia Siddiqui?’ They say, ‘Ours is a religious, educational and Dawa oriented organization while the case of Aafia is a political issue. Religion and politics cannot be mixed …’ Well, let me remind you, that not so far back, only about twenty years ago, when Islam was on the rise in Islamabad, the refusers would refute by saying, ‘Deen and dunya cannot be mixed …’ to which the Islam bearers would then reply, ‘Islam is a way of life, encompassing all the spheres of life … no exclusion!’ Then what happened post 9/11, that politics was conveniently put outside the sphere of Islam? The case of Aafia Siddiqui is a clear case of a Muslim, female prisoner-of-war in captivity and holds more sanctity than the sanctity of Kabah itself. So if we are done with our tawafs and bashing the girl in yellow, can we now do something for another girl in yellow who has not seen her mother, sister or children in eighteen years ? Do we dare to pioneer her freedom ?

Share the Priorities

Why Aurat March ?

Aurat means ‘woman’ in the Urdu language, while in Arabic, it means a blemish, a fault, a shame … something that needs to be covered up. Now before you build an antagonism against the Arabic language, let me clarify that Arabic does not use this word to address women. Rather, the word that is used is Nisaa, as it comes in the title of chapter four of the Holy Quran, and it is simply the opposite of Rijaal, which means men in Arabic. Why Urdu took this particular unflattering word, aurat, from the Arabic language to address women, I don’t know, but since Urdu is a mixed language and takes its vocabulary from Arabic, Persian, Hindi and English, perhaps it took some of their ideas as well. Now I do not want to go into too much depth in here about the different cultures and how each of them views women, in the past and in the present, and neither do I want to put the blame of our doings upon others. But, what I do know for sure is that, throughout the human history, women have had to struggle hard for survival, basic human rights and the right to speak out.

Have you heard the joke where a girl gets married and on the first day, when she addresses her mother-in-law with the word ‘Aunty’, she corrects her and says, ‘Its Mother’. And then she addresses her father-in-law with the word ‘Uncle’, she corrects her again and says, ‘Its Father’. So in the evening when her husband comes home, the girl decides to be smart and says, ‘Mother, father … brother is here !’ Lol … now, now, I know I must be annoying you all by touching upon the so saintly ethical family values of our society. No doubt it is very sweet to consider his parents as your own, for that is what Prophet Muhammed Pbuh has taught us,

‘Thy have three parents … thy biological parents, they in-law parents and thy teachers !’ [Reference]

Now I have checked this Hadith with a magnifying glass but I have found no indication whatsoever that this Hadith is directed only to women, but the fact of the matter is that, our society applies it only upon women. No ? How many men have you seen or heard about who call their wife’s parents, Mother and Father?

To make the martial marital law easier to preach, they have come up with a new wonderful analogy, which I am sure they think is so very clever of them to think up. Sigh, if only they would have put their brains to bring up better boys and better in-laws ! Now listen carefully. The West says that children become adults at the age of eighteen. We Muslims, hold up our holy finger and negate solemnly, ‘No, according to Islam, children become adults as soon as they reach puberty, which is in early teens …’ They are fully responsible adults now, fully accountable by Shariah and fully eligible for adult responsibilities, to the extent that they can even get married! Tut, tut, the government of Pakistan, under the pressure of the West, have set the legal age of marriage at sixteen for girls and eighteen for boys. What a pity, that our youngsters are ready for marriage but the government won’t allow them …

What about ourselves ? Are we ready to allow a newly married girl to be in charge of her home ? Are we ready to allow a newly married girl to lead her family ? Ah! But they say that by Islam, a woman cannot lead but only a man can lead. The mother-in-law is an exemption of course ! Either she is not a woman anymore and has become a Hitler by now, or some sort of Islamic twist exempts her from the ban of leadership. For the so smart theory and advice that they to give to a newly wed girl is, 

‘Consider yourself a soldier who is entering an army camp. Consider the mother-in-law the commander-in-chief. Commit yourself to do her bidding at every beck and call. Then one day, many years later, you will also rise to the position of commander-in-chief and can enjoy the same powers …’

How disgusting ! You are actually preaching a cycle of abuse. Like the infamous picture of the little boy who grows with abuse and learns to abuse and metes out abuse to another little boy all over again. When the girl is legally responsible for her Salah and her Fasts and her Hijab … why is she legally not responsible for her home and family ? Why should she be shoved to become a subordinate once again after being qualified for Nikah and adulthood ? And I have yet to state the punchline of the martial marital law. Because the father-in-law is usually non-bothersome, non-interfering and easy-going with the daughter-in-law, the daughter-in-law should immediately and urgently distance herself from him so that the commander-in-chief mother-in-law can feel secure !   

So what happens in the story next ? The newly wed girl gets all confused by the confusing set of laws, hears about an Aurat March on TV and sets out to join it, vaguely remembering that she is supposed to be some sort of a soldier. Hence, the aurat march !

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Ustaad ka Izzat Do

I attended a demonstration at the Islamabad Press Club a few weeks back. It was held by the Private Schools Association of Islamabad. They, including I, were protesting the continued closure of schools while everything else has been opened. For example, offices, markets, banquet halls … even mosques. So why the closure on schools ? So there were two slogans being shouted … Taleem ko Izzat Do … and … Ustaad ko Izzat Do …

It kind of resonated with Maryam Nawaz’s Vote ko Izzat Do … for we all know what that Izzat actually means. In other words, it means that forget our corruption and reinstate the Pakistan Muslim League of Pakistan. P.S. Not just any PML but particularly PML-N … yes that’s right ! Now the democracy is complete !

Well, I could somewhat agree with the slogan … Taleem ko Izzat Do … but the slogan … Ustaad ko Izzat Do … had a strange ring to it. Now the interesting fact is that I myself am a teacher, and who does not desire respect for one’s profession ? But the question stands, do we, ourselves respect our profession ourselves ? Why did I choose to become a teacher ? Was I a bored housewife sitting at home with nothing to do so I decided to become a teacher ? Were our home expenses running a bit tight so my husband started nagging me to become a teacher and share the expenses ? Was I a failure in my professional career and decided to become a teacher if nothing else ? Note the word professional … that is used for all professions except the teaching profession ! By the way, have you ever heard of a teaching institute, college or university in Pakistan ? Where they would teach one to become a teacher ? None. There are budding some small departments within organizations who are conducting some short courses and workshops about teaching … but we still have a long, long way to go …

Well, why do you think there aren’t any teaching colleges ? Why do you think teaching is not considered a profession ? Even if, why do you think teaching is not respected as a profession ? The billion dollar answer is… there is not much money in it. So like all fake and façade relations of our society, the profession of teaching is also now measured upon the scales of money. If the money is good, we quickly switch to the Prophetic Hadith …

‘The prophets do not leave behind themselves dirhim and dinar but they have left the legacy of scholarship …’ 

meaning that the scholars and teachers are the heirs of the prophets.

Once the money has been secured, we now seek to secure respect as well. 

The question is, who is it who evaluates the teaching profession in terms of money ? The teachers or the society ? The answer is both. If the son says one fine day that he would like to become a teacher when he grows up … the parents almost have an heart attack. What ? School teacher ? Are you a sissy ? There is no money in it ! There you go … the first link up of education to money. Next, let us have a look at the teacher him/herself. One fine day, s/he is working as a teacher in a school, and the mobile bell rings … bingo ! Someone is calling with a job offer of a few thousands more … rap ! The heir to prophet hood drops the pens and papers and rushes out to put up  his/her resignation. It won’t matter if the school is in the middle of the academic session. It won’t matter if the final exams are just around the corner. It won’t matter if the teacher had just newly been hired and the school had just sighed a sigh of relief to have placed a teacher in the said class. It won’t matter if the students have already built an emotional connection with the teacher.  The dollar bills in the eyes blinds the teacher to ethics, love and everything.

They say love is blind ? Well, money also makes blind ... !

Another question is … is the quest for money all that bad ? Do not teachers have the right to dream of a comfortable and luxurious life ? Of course they do, like everyone else … but the issue is, who will pay that salary ? The teacher’s salary is generated from the student’s fees. Are the parents willing to pay a good fees to see a good teacher standing in their child’s classroom ? Our society is happy to pay thousands upon dinners, clothes, entertainment, etc, but if the school fee is running into thousands, they get a seizure ! So who will pay ? Will the government pay ? Our governments are happy to pay the ministers’ electricity charges, petrol tokens and medical bills from London, but when schools, teachers and education have to be funded, the national treasury is empty !

But lets imagine utopia. Our teacher’s begin to get a five to six digit salary … will they start teaching in the class ? Will they start following instructions  ? Will they start working hard ? Will they stop ignoring students ? Will they stop humiliating students ? Will they stop doing personal work during office time ? Will they stop using mobile phone during class ? Will they stop switching jobs for a few thousand more ? Will they stop ogling at the ‘free’ summer salary or step forward to work ahead ? Will they become committed to the cause and mission of educating the Muslim nation back to the Ottoman days of glory ? Well, an increment in the salaries of the government school teachers has not seen much …

The fact of the matter is that the greed for money and a materialistic mentality has corrupted the entire Muslim nation, and that is exactly what Prophet Muhammed Pbuh feared about us since fourteen hundred years. And that is why there is an allegation upon the schools and teachers that they are protesting the closure of schools not so much because they are worried about the academic loss of students but because of the loss of fees income and due salaries. Is that true ? All of us need to look within ourselves and find the truth. When we as a nation and as teachers, will start respecting education, the respect for teachers and the bounties by Allah Almighty will come by themselves.

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A Meeting at the Mall

It was a long awaited trip. Planned and broken many times. At times the weather was not good. Once Grandma was hospitalized in emergency. And then COVID19 struck. So the plan kept postponing itself. Finally, in January 2021, we made the long awaited trip to … Murree ! Lol ! Yes, that’s right, Murree. I am sure, by the long suspense built up, you must have thought we had been planning to go to the Hawaii Islands. Nope. it was just a humble trip to Murree. Actually, we had been hoping to be able to make a trip to Malam Jabba, Swat, where the real snow fun is, that is, skiing. However, after examining our pockets, we decided to settle for Murree. So at last, we finally made the long awaited trip to Murree, my husband, our three kids and I.

Our children were super excited. The excitement was more at the thought of staying at a hotel. Yes, this was our first trip whence we would be staying overnight at a holiday resort. On the way up, they kept asking about the ‘room service’ and spoke aloud if they could order like the Home Alone kid. Laughter. As we checked into the Musairi Hotel and entered our room, the younger two scrambled at the room telephone, picked it up and examined it. Of course, this is the mobile generation and they have no idea how the good, old telephone works. I politely gave them a short tutorial and I could see their eyes lighted up with the imagination of chicken roast (with the two legs sticking out), french fries and ice cream being carried in my a solemn faced waiter on an upside down hand and round tray, like in the movies !

Then I bustled around, rearranged the room a bit according to our SOPS and gave detailed instructions to the kids (and to their father), about how to use a hotel room and washroom hygienically. As we were tired and hungry from our trip, we quickly washed up, perked up and left the hotel to step onto the famous Mall Road. Or should I say infamous ? Our hotel was tucked into a little street opening right in front of the GPO. It was just a two minute walk and soon we were thronging amongst the lit up crowd of the Mall Road. We were headed straight for the Lahore Broast. My husband had quickly looked up online all the eateries available on the Mall Road as soon as we had checked into the hotel room. Since he is originally from Lahore, he decided to have his favorite, the Lahore Broast, in Murree. But since we are PTI supporters, we chose not to have it flown in from Lahore.

My little girl was more interested in shopping for her cousins and friends than food. So as the three boys headed for the food joint to place an order, my daughter and I quickly took a detour and started picking up gifts to take back home. My daughter’s eyes were round and alight by looking around at all the glittering lights around. Thank God we reached the food table before everything had been devoured. On the way back, we all bought some hot chocolate, and it turned out to be the hit item of the trip. Around five cups downed for a couple of mornings and evenings by all of us. Steaming, we strolled back to our room and smiled at each other. Of course, its Ertugral Time. So we snuggled up into the beds, with Mama Me at the center and kids on either sides. I adjusted my laptop, on my lap of course, and my eldest son, playing the DJ, located and played the next episode. It was really fun, except for the Internet speed available. That night, we somberly swore never to doubt and snicker at the students attending online classes from Murree ever again. 

The next morning, I was glad I awoke in time for Fajr. I whispered the Fajr alert to my husband and my eldest as I headed for the washroom. And scuffled a couple of toes on the way back. After offering Fajr, I looked out of the window. Would we get to see live snow ? The weather news had said so ! And I was curious how the Mall Road would look like early in the morning. Deserted and sad ? Or deserted and relieved ? I put on my coat, pocketed my mobile and looked around at the sleeping figures. Fine. I will go alone. I will just walk down the hotel street, peep onto the Mall Road, see how it looks stark empty and come back. So I did.

But I was in for a surprise and a shock. The Mall Road was alive with tourists at 7 am ! Boys, girls, families, children, babies, all packed up, either arriving or leaving Murree. I was extremely surprised. Why would they be coming and going at seven in the morning ? Normally, the check-in and check-out time is around twelve noon. And it was so cold. Intrigued and emboldened by the presence of people, I decided to take a morning walk all the way down the Mall Road. Eventually, the crowd thinned out and there was no one at the end of the Mall Road. So I turned back. As I was crossing by the church, someone said something to me. I looked around and asked, confused, ‘Did you say something to me?’ Standing there was the most innocent looking boy of around twenty. He looked as if he had lost his way. He nodded. So I asked him, ‘Yes ?’ And he whispered, ‘Lets meet up …’

I had the shock of my life. I just stared him in the face, with shock, horror, laughter, anger, sadness, all revolting inside me. I just shook my head in disgust and walked head on. So this is what Murree is all about for our youth ? How desperate can a boy be to approach a woman of around forty clad in Abaya ? Is this the youth which claims that ‘We are the ummati of Prophet Muhammed Pbuh, and will drink Ab-e-Kausar from his hands’ ? Is this the nation which will do Ghazwa-e-Hind ? Are these the protectors of the Muslim nation, whose responsibility was to defend the Naheeds of Kashmir, Palestine and China now ? Instead, they are hunting around for Zina in Murree ? Alas ! I woe to us parents … what kind of sons and daughters are we raising, who meet up for Zina in Murree and we don’t know ?

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