We, the Followers of the Prophet of Mercy (SAW)

Today is 12th Rabi ul Awwal, the birthday of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. Once again, a large number of muslims are celebrating his birthday. Many countries have announced a holiday to honour this day. Seminars, conferences and processions will be held, food will be cooked and distributed, and even cakes will be cut, to celebrate the birth of our Beloved Prophet  (SAW).

In the eyes of the enthusiasts and celebrators, those who do not celebrate this auspicious day are committing quite a sin; while on the other hand, Saudi clerics have issued a "fatwa" claiming that celebrating the Prophet's birthday is "haram!!" Not surprisingly, the issuing of such fatwas, playing with such strong words as "haram" and "halal," and condemning those with a slightly different point of view to hell is not a matter of great unease or discomfort for us.

Yet, during all this over-enthusiasm and birthday preperations on the one hand, and issuing of fatwas on the other, do we ever stop and consider HIM (SAW) who we are celebrating or fighting over: the Prophet of Mercy, not just for muslims but for the entire mankind.  The Quran says,

"We sent thee (Muhammad) as a mercy upon the worlds."

Where exactly is this concept of mercy when we are forever ready to send each other, as well as the "non-believers," to "hell" in his name?

We all remember the stories we read, from the Prophet's life, in our course books, which told us about the tolerance and compassion practiced by him, how he forgave the worst of his enemies and the enemies of Islam. There was the story of the woman who threw garbage on him every day, and one day when she didn't show up, the Prophet visited her, and seeing that she was sick, looked after her, as a result of which she accepted Islam. Then there was the story of the conquest of Makkah, when the Prophet forgave each and everyone of the Quraish, no matter how deeply they had wronged or hurt him. Were these just stories, or were we actually supposed to learn something from them?

According to the great poet-philosopher Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the spititual father of Pakistan, the Muslim Community is bound through the love of the Holy Prophet SAW. It is this love that works as a binding force between muslims and creates the collective ego, soul or consciousness known as the Muslim Community or the Muslim Nation. Each Muslim's heart is lit by this love, it is the one thing which is common between us. Iqbal says in Rumuz e Bekhudi (Mysteries of Selflessness):

He ... Made of Apostleship a magic ring
To draw around us ; the Community
A circle is, whose great circumference
Centers on Mecca’s valley; and by force
And virtue of that same relationship
Stands our Community unshakable,
Tidings of mercy to the world entire...

...The Prophet, power and strength of soul and heart,
Becometh more beloved than God Himself.
His book is reinforcement to the hearts
Of all believers; through his wisdom flows
The lifeblood of the whole Community...

... In God the Individual, in him
Lives the Community, ... his Apostleship
Brought concord to our purpose and our goal.
A common aim shared by the multitude
Is unity which when it is mature,
Forms the Community; that may live
Only by virtue of the single bond.

A nation bound by such love should be full of mercy, compassion and empathy, for each other, as well as for the rest of the world. If we claim to possess such love for our Prophet, our actions should speak louder than our words. We accuse non muslims of blasphemy every once in a while, we are protesting over cartoons and movies some sick minded individuals make about our Prophet, yet we are the ones committing blasphemy every day, by not practically following his example and showing to the world who Muhammad (SAW) really was. We judge in his name, we are ready to kill in his name; yet we are not willing to follow the message he left for us. If we spend the same amount of time trying to adopt the Prophet's Sunnah - of tolerance and mercy -which we spend putting together a hate speech in his name, we might be doing more justice to this immense love we claim to possess and are eager to celebrate. We are ready to die for him, will we ever be ready to create a new, better world in his name?

Iqbal says:

قوت عشق سے ہر پست کو بالا کر دے
دہر میں اسم محمد سے اجالا کر دے

Raise through Love all lowly and humble to greatness,
Enlighten the world with Muhammad's name!

If we, the descendants of Ibn Sina ( Avicenna), Ibn Al Haitham, Al Kindi, Al Razi, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Farnas, Maryam Astolabi, want to reclaim our lost glory, we must once again tread the lost path, the only path to our salvation, which lies in the Sunnah of the Prophet of Mercy:

کی محمد سے وفا تو نے تو هم تیرے ہیں
یہ جہاں چیز ہے کیا لوح و قلم تیرے ہیں

(To My Muhammad be true, and you shall conquer Me,
This world is nothing, you shall command your Destiny!)

APS - Grief and Hope

A year has passed and 16th Decemeber is here again. Our hearts are again sinking and our minds appear to be reliving the horror of that day.

Indeed, 16th December 2015 was a day that saw an entire nation paralysed with grief, anguish and horror - unable to grasp the reality of it all. For days to follow, streets lay empty, shopping areas deserted - a collective depression engulfed the whole nation. We forgot to laugh, we forgot to share jokes on social media. All we could share were pictures of those children, each one beautiful enough to melt the hardest of hearts.

Such a planned genocide of children had never been attempted before. It was not only an attempt to demoralise the entire nation, but more specifically to psychologically disarm and cripple the soldiers who were engaged in a military operation against these very terrorists. This horrendous atrocity was an endeavour to wipe out their future completely, to leave them nothing to fight for.

However, the innocent martyrs of Army Public School, Peshawar, did what no one had been able to do in years. They revived a sleeping nation, and the world saw that nation unite as it never had before - we finally stood together  - united in grief and united in pain, just like "a single body" referred to in the Prophetic tradition.*

Every mother, young or old, shed tears of grief - for those 132 mothers whose budding flowers were so untimely and mercilessly plucked from their bosoms; and every father undoubtedly felt the anguish of those against whom this atrocity was committed - most of them soldiers - serving or retired - some actually part of the "Zarb e Azb" - the ongoing operation against  those terrosists. There were fathers who came directly from the war front to bury their children who, in many instances, were more than one, and then rushed back with yet more conviction and resilience to avenge those animals.

The political and military leadership rose to the occasion like never before. PTI chairperson Imran Khan called off his months long "Dharna," realising the gravity of the situation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cancelled or postponed all official foreign trips. Within a week of the attack, an All Parties Conference reached a consensus on the need to devise a National Action Plan. On 24th December 2014, PM Nawaz Sharif, in a late night address to the nation announced the formation of the NAP in light of the decisions taken by the APC. The PM said,

" We have to act fast and whatever is agreed we have to implement it immediately...this agreement is a defining moment for Pakistan and we will eliminate terrorists from this country."

As a result of the NAP and the 21st constitutional ammendment which followed, military courts were established in the country, a 7 year long moratorium on capital punishment was lifted, and terrorists finally started getting the death sentences which they deserved. During all these decisions, the nation more or less stood united behind these leaders, no matter how much we criticised, and how impatient we were to see results - yet we all took up a single stance against terrorism. All our delusions were over, the veil had been lifted - there were no "good" or "bad" taliban, and all terrorists, as well as their facilitators and sympathisers, were all equally guilty.

In carrying out and collectively supporting these steps, the Pakistani nation became a "nation" in the true sense of the word. Our spiritual father, Allama Iqbal, says in Javednama:

"What is a nation? But with thousands of eyes to be ONE in vision."

In such a situation, we might not have done extremely well, yet we still did good, better then most nations would have done. Over the past year, the political and military leadership appear to more or less be on the same page, and the nation has offered full support for the military operations being carried out in the country. No one can deny that the security situation in the country had greatly improved, the improvement in Karachi is particularly noteworthy. We have a lot to be thankful for.

I believe most passionately that we are greatly, most immensely indebted to our innocent martyrs and their parents, who by making this unimaginable sacrifice redeemed our nation in a way it could not otherwise have redeemed itself. The soil fertilized with such innocent blood can never, SHOULD NEVER, be corrupted, or sold. When you read about the courage of those brave boys, how so many of them gave up their lives to save their friends, your heart swells up with pride:

یہ کلی بهی اس گلستان خزاں منظر میں تهی
ایسی چنگاری بهی یارب اپنے خاکستر میں تهی

(O that in our autumn‐stricken garden there were flower‐buds like this!
O that a spark like this, dear Lord, could be found in our ashes!)

These stories must be recounted for generations to come. Our children must know that we are indebted to the martyrs of APS Peshawar, in more ways than we can even count. They gave us the will to fight back after we were struck, and as a result, our children are still going to school, our country is still intact, and we are still a free nation - a nation with great potential and the bravest children any nation can boast of:

نہیں ہے نوامید اقبال اپنی کشت ویراں سے
ذرا نم ہو تو یہ مٹی بہت زرخیز ہے ساقی

(But of his barren acres Iqbal will not despair:
A little rain, and harvests shall wave at last, oh Saki!)





*  The Messenger of Allah, SAW, said: “The example of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.” Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim

Solidarity, Equality, Freedom - The Ideal Principles

"And when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said: ‘Yea, verily. We testify.’ Lest you should say at the Day of Resurrection: ‘Verily, we were unaware of this.’ " (7:72) (Surah Al A'raf, Verse 172)

According to various Islamic traditions, this event occurred at the time of the creation of Adam, whereby God gathered the entire future progeny of Adam - the souls of all human beings that were ever to be born, and bestowed consciousness on them, after which they all entered a covenant with God, testifying that He alone was their Lord and Master, and none other than Him are worthy of worship. This verse and incident has been quoted by Iqbal in his famous work Rumuz e Bekhudi and is seen as an assertion of Tauheed or "Unity" of God by all unborn Human souls. Tauheed is the first pillar of Islam, and is considered to be the very central concept from which the entire Islamic ideology emanates.

Iqbal says, ‘The essence of “Tauhid” as a working idea is equality, solidarity and freedom," (Lecture VI,  Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam) In Rumuz e Bekhudi, Iqbal has most beautifully and elaborately explained that these three principles spring directly from and are intricately connected to the concept of Tauhid.

SOLIDARITY

Belief in One God is the ultimate binding force which holds the community together, it creates a sense of brotherhood and kinship amongst those who are not even related by blood. As Iqbal says in Javednama:

" What is the nation, you who declare ‘No god but God’?
With thousands of eyes, to be one in vision
The proof and claim of God’s people are always One:
‘Our tents are apart, our hearts are one.’ "

An urdu verse of Iqbal depicts the same solidarity and brotherhood amongst the believers of Tauhid:

کیا تو نے صحرا نشینوں کو یکتا
خبر میں، نظر میں، اذان سحر میں

(You have united warring tribes,
In thought, in deed, in prayer)

EQUALITY

The principle of solidarity or universal brotherhood - i.e. loving one's brother as one's own self - results in the belief in the absolute equality of all human beings, before God and before the law, regardless of rank, caste or creed. This is the reason that at the advent of Islam, slaves and people of low rank accepted Islam most readily, as it uplifted them to a status of equality with other muslims, a priviledge they had never had before:

بندہ و صاحب و محتاج و غنی ایک ہوئے
تری سرکار میں پہنچے تو سبهی ایک ہوئے

( Slave or slave’s master, rich or poor, no sense of difference then felt,
For each a brother was to each when in Your Presence, Lord, they knelt)

FREEDOM

Belief in the Unity of God - and the realization that He is the Ultimate Sustainer - not only sets man free from serving worldly lords and tyrants, but also from fear and grief connected to the material world:

اپنے رازق کو نہ پہچانے تو محتاج ملوک
اور پہچانے تو ہیں تیرے گدا دارا و جم

PAKISTAN AND THE IDEAL PRINCIPLES

The concept of Tauhid is the very foundation of Pakistan, the central pillar on which Pakistn was formed. We are all familiar with the slogan raised by our forefathers during the Pakistan movement:

پاکستان کا مطلب کیا
لا الہ الا اللہ

(What is the meaning of Pakistan? Nothing but "There is no God, but God!")

If Tauhid is the foundation of Pakistan, then the above mentioned three principles should be our ideal principles, in theory as well as in practice - which may appear quite farfetched to a present day citizen of Pakistan. The truth of the matter, however, is that these principles were actually incorporated in the Objectives Resolution of Pakistan in 1949 under the leadership of Quaid e Millat Liaquat Ali Khan; however, after Quaid e Millat's assassination we were led away from these ideal principles through the indoctrination of alternate theories and principles.

Drifting away from these ideal principles is one of the main causes of the problems existing in our society today. There can be no doubt that the problems we face today are due to the discrimination, disparity and injustice caused by the absence of these principles from the socio-political system which currently prevails in our society.

Let us, for instance, take terrorism - THE biggest issue and threat we have at hand. A root cause of this terrorist and extremist behaviour, besides others, is the discrimination the common man faces due to the lack of equality in society - the denial of justice and basic necessities, together with a hostile environment, which may well induce any person, especially youth, to fall into the clutches of foreign fed and foreign bred terrorist organisations.

It is in the implementation of these principles that the solution to all our problems lies. It was what our forefathers desired and dreamed for us. The implementation of solidarity, equality and freedom, and through it putting an end to injustice and inequality, will surely help us in making Pakistan a Marghdeen - the ideal world of Iqbal.

Reflective Criticism

10 weeks have passed since 16th December 2014, the blackest day in the history of my country. Yet - the horror, the trauma, the pain of that tragedy has not faded in the very least, and continues to haunt those who will be haunted. The mind is still unable to grasp the whole of what happened - is unable to come to terms with such an inconceivable, unthinkable, unfathomable act of utter barbarism - an attempt to erase innocence at such a level - children clad in school uniforms, taking their routine classes - can't think beyond that.

This is one incident we should continue to remember and recollect. We should never, ever, ever forget. For we are a nation suffering from amnesia - nay, dimentia. We forget things fast, and permanently. And we tend to learn nothing from the worst tragedies. But this - this is one incident, one tragedy that should not be forgotten. Yet, mere remembrance is not enough. What did we learn? Did we learn anything? Or will this horror be stacked away on a cold shelf in the archives of history, out of sight, just as numerous other tragedies and disasters have been stacked away by us?

Allama Iqbal has listed history as one of the three sources of knowledge - according to the Quran - the other two being nature and intuition . The Quran gives special importance to history and treats its as one of the signs of God which contains within its folds various lessons for humankind.


There is, however, little that most of us learn from history, because we  fail to carry out what Iqbal terms as "reflective criticism" of past experiences. The Quran repeatedly appeals to the wise to "reflect" upon various signs of God. Without this reflection, or in Iqbal's words, reflective criticism, there would be nothing gained from history, the stories of grief would merely be remebered, related and cried upon, but we certainly would not grow any wiser.

In his 1908 essay, "Political Thought in Islam," Iqbal states that Muslim Political Theory was gradually and carefully developed by the costitutional lawyers of Islam through "reflective criticism of the revelations of political experience," an approach which was introduced and inducted into the first constitution of Pakistan by our founding fathers,  but was abandoned soon after the death of Liaquat Ali Khan.  What this approach means is exactly what the Quran wants us to do. Reflective criticism on past political experiences will cause the political system to evolve, correct and refine itself naturally, whereby lessons will be learnt from history, and mistakes will not be repeated. It is the evolution of the political system gained by experience.


If we had followed this approach of "reflective criticism" and learned from what was revealed to us through our past political experience, ONE 16th December would have been enough for us; we would not have repeated our mistakes, would not have had to face another, more horrific 16th December. When a nation's children start paying for its mistakes, it is time to wake up, to remember, to reflect, to analyse and criticise, to vow not to repeat past mistakes. It is time to view history as a source of knowledge and a sign of God.