As we protest...

“Muslims don’t deserve respect”. This is one of the huge numbers of responses on internet forums that have popped up after our response to the piece of garbage produced by some mindless person and directed by some senseless person. While all of us acknowledge that this is an attempt by the Zionists to demonize the Muslims and spread malice about the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) but many of us seem to support the violence which is being preperated in the name of the Prophet (peace be upon him) ‘in response’ to the video. Can we muster courage to ask ourselves the question, “Are we responding in accordance to what the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) did when some abused him?” If the answer is No, and certainly is, we need to introspect and mend our actions so that the disservice which our actions have so far lend to our Prophet’s (peace be upon him) mission may be annulled to some extent.

          Once during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him), a funeral of a Jew passed by the Prophet (peace be upon him), His eyes became moist and became somewhat sad. Upon being enquired about the reason for being sad, He replied , “Was he not a human”? The Prophet (peace be upon him) had so much sympathy for the non-believers as he was the ‘Mercy for all the worlds’. In the same pretext, can we justify the killing of Chris Stevens, US ambassador to Libya, and the inhumane way in which he was killed in the name of protecting the honour of our Prophet (peace be upon him)? By choosing the violent and outrageous way of protesting, we are only falling into the machinations of the behind-the-screen perpetrators of such blasphemous acts. And in the process, we also lose the support of the ‘like minded’ non-Muslims who would otherwise support us in condemning the blasphemous act.

          In the lifetime of Prophet (peace be upon him) there were those who cursed and insulted him openly.  Ka’b bin al-Ashraf, a Jew, in Madina, used to recite defamatory poetry about him and made explicit poetry about the women of the Muslims. This was when the Prophet (peace be upon him) was the ruler, and Ka’b bin al-Ashraf was living under his authority in Madina.  But the Prophet (peace be upon him) didn’t ask his Companions to punish his neighbors, companions, or even his family members for what Ka’b bin al-Ashraf did.  Nor did he punish the representatives of his tribe, Banu an-Nadeer, or randomly target the Jews of Madina nor did he boycott their businesses.   Instead Prophet (peace be upon him), as the ruler, dealt with Ka’b bin al-Ashraf, the one who caused that harm specifically.

          Given our recent history of responding to such acts of sacrilege and blasphemy, it is as easy as tempting a little kid for chocolate to instigate violent protests from us. Keeping this in mind, those hell-bent upon destroying world peace and shifting power balances find this an easy way to disrupt order and sink the Muslim world into the abyss of chaos and confusion. And guess what, it is only the Muslim countries which are affected the worst kind of violence, arson, murder & destruction in the name of religion than any other country of the world.

          It is worthwhile to mention here that the ‘Arab Spring’ had somewhat destroyed the old stereotypes of Muslims dictatorships by bringing forth just rulers in countries like Tunisia & Egypt which were erstwhile ruled by corrupt dictators. Now that the new rulers in these countries were bringing to fore somewhat positive (i.e. real) facets of Islam, people came up with this movie. Now, it is not surprising to see that the same western philosophers who coined the term ‘Arab Spring’ to signify a positive change are terming the recent wave of protests as the ‘beginning of the Arab Winter’. And we are cordially (albeit unintentionally) acting as pawns in the great game of the people bent to malign the great religion – Islam.

         What we are watching now is; Muslims (protestors) fighting Muslims (policemen) in Muslim regions (Pakistan, Libya, Egypt, Kashmir); the net result being loss of Muslim lives, property and above all dignity. On Friday, which is meant to be a special day to beseech Allah to send blessings upon the Prophet (peace be upon him), more than 20 people were killed in Pakistan. This in addition to the scores others killed erstwhile.  It is not that our religious heads are silent on this matter and we can blame them for all the chaos and confusion prevailing for not reaching out to the masses. They are literally ‘shouting’ but here we are, deafened by hollow slogans, unable to hear them. It is good to see Muslims, Scholars as well as common people, working their hearts out on social networks, blogs, youtube, websites asking people to adhere to the Noble ways of Prophet (peace be upon him) while ‘protesting’ against such acts of sacrilege. Messages like this are common from the Learned Scholars, “If anyone abuses the Prophets (peace be upon them), then that does not mean the Prophets are harmed due to it; rather the person (who abuses them) is harmed and he will receive the evil repercussions.” Furthermore, “Our religion is a religion of peace; our religion is a religion of goodness. Our religion prohibits assaulting others. Our religion prohibits abusing others. Our religion gives the due right to its people (whether) Muslim or non-Muslim. And that which we hold to be from our Religion is that these chaotic actions that are carried out by some of the youth do not represent the religion of Islam or the Muslim population.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself stressed upon the importance of learned Scholars and termed them as the “Inheritors of the Prophets, the inheritance being Knowledge (‘Ilm)”. The need of the hour is to implement the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) teachings in every sphere of our lives and even in the way we protest!

The above write up also appeared in the Sunday, 7th October edition of Rising Kashmir.

Follow us on facebook or @TavseefMairaj.

What did Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stand for???

Given the recently released movie/video aimed at maligning the image of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), I just want to do my bit by writing down the following lines. I don’t know who the film maker is, I don’t know what is in the film, I don’t know to what extent he went in his attempt. I haven’t seen the film because the mere thought of someone maligning the image of our Prophet (peace be upon him) sends shockwaves down the spine. We, Muslims, can’t even tolerate in our hearts even if a person says that a third person said so and so about the Prophet (peace be upon him). But I am not in any way justifying violence in this regard.

                                The following lines briefly outline what the Prophet of Mercy (peace be upon him), Mercy for ALL people, stood for;

1) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born in 571 (AD) when the world had sunk into the deepest abyss of moral and social degradation.

2) In the pre-Islamic Arabia, Girls were killed (buried alive) for the petty reason that no one wanted to be called the father of a girl. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) alleviated the sufferings of the Girl child by declaring that anyone who raises a Girl will gain the pleasure of Allah (Almighty God) and will be granted eternal bliss after death (Heaven/Paradise).

3) In the pre-Islamic Arabia, widows were treated as a bad omen. Widow remarriage was considered a sin. As such, a woman who would become a widow would have to remain as such (helpless) for the remainder of her life. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) alleviated the sufferings of widows as the first woman whom Prophet (peace be upon him) was a 45 year old widow, Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her).

4) Women were not given the right to possess property. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) declared that anyone who usurps the rights of women will have a place in the Hellfire.

5) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “You must treat your women folk well. You must treat your women folk well” & “The best of you is the one who is best to his family…”

6) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) respected all other Prophets viz. Jonah, Moses, Jesus etc. and in fact termed them as his brothers.

7) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that nothing counts heavier  than good manners.

8) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said whenever you meet a friend greet him with a smile.

9) Aishah (the wife of the Prophet) narrates that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never struck anything with his hand; neither a woman nor a servant.

10) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) treated everyone as if he loved him the most of all.

11) When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gained control of Makkah after being forced to live in Madina for many years, the people of Makkah (who had earlier afflicted harsh cruelities on the Prophet) were expecting a harsher punishment from Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). But to  the surprise of every one, he forgave everyone, even the people who had killed his beloved uncle.

12) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the epitome of a Peace loving person which is evident from various situations in which he even forgave those persons who attempted his assassination. The Treaty of Hudaibiya which was signed by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is an excellent example of Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) peace loving nature.

13) Treatment with other Religions:  Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) laid NO restrictions on the practice of other religions but did convey to them the message of Islam. 

14) By his just and sympathetic treatment of sworn enemies, many of those finally accepted his message – the Divine message affirming Unity of God and the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) i.e. The Holy Quran.

These lines were written pretty hastily. But I am sure I have succeeded to some extent conveying What Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stood for.

Thank You for your patience!

For further details check the references.

REFERENCES:

1) What do others say about him? http://www.prophetofislam.com/what_do_others_say.php

2)  http://www.sultan.org/books/muhammad.pdf

3)  Read Quran Translation http://www.islamicity.com/multimedia/radio/ch152/MalikQuranTransaltion.pdf

4)  Order a Free copy of Quran (India Only) http://www.islamhinduism.com/order-free-quran

5)  Order a Free copy of Quran (International) http://www.cpsglobal.org/content/order-free-quran

Follow this blog on facebook!

We… the chased!

The other day I got an invite from one of my friends to ‘like’ his page on facebook. The page was related to something like ‘Kashmir Parkour Freerunning Team’. This sport was new to me and I did some research as to what it was upto. Enlightened with the basics of this comparatively new sport, I sensed that it had a huge potential in this part of the world. Atleast the ‘Freerunning’ part of the name would suggest that.

          We, Kashmiris, are used to this thing for a pretty good amount of time now. Terms like chasing, running, thronging, escaping have somehow become part and parcel of our discourse. People, especially children, are chased by canines and in the subsequent freerun, they may well get entangled in the web of the wires of liberty (and freedom) also called as Concertina wires. These wires are themselves related to a different kind of freerunning and chasing. When our freerunners have nothing to do, they raise up the fists of resilience (and arrogance) and aim at the chasers who in turn chase them out of the sight. Some of those chased may even end up in the Jhelum only to be fished out at a later time. Aimed at preventing the chasers being thronged by the freerunners, these wires often cause a few hiccups in the corridors of the power where those in power have to give lengthy accounts of the procurement and budget details of these precious wires to those who are still chasing power.

          Come Ramadan, our Nafs chases us to beyond the curtain Restaurants where we chase even the Satan away with our sumptuous eating. Same holds good for any ‘good’ marriage feast where the number of dishes may well exceed the strength of the Baraat. And then Eid follows. And then everyone wants to break free and chase away all the good habits which we may have acquired in the preceding month. We plan getaways which occasionally turn into escapades to death. Why? We… the chased try our hands at chasing our fellow drivers and ultimately both of us get off the track (chased into death). Long live the freerunners! Another cycle of chasing and freerunning begins here. The Hakeems of the world supposed to be at the Shafa Khanas have escaped their way into their homes for celebrating freedom (from the bondage of the ‘Blessed month’!). Finding no one to cure the off track drivers, the freerunners again raise the fists of arrogance and chase humility, brotherhood and amity away out of the sight of even the far sighted. Damaging Hospitals, Schools, Computer centres, Offices while on the free run is what we are expert at. I guess freerunning cant have a better explanation anywhere else in the world.

          This doesn’t stop here. Drama continues….. The chasers (janbaaz sipahees) arrive and chase away the freerunners. Those who wont run and instead try to walk the path of truth, justice and amity…….walk! They walk  towards the four walled chambers of Disturbed Areas where Public Safety & Special Powers are of prime concern and no one give a serious think about who is trying to walk (through his life as a normal being) and who is on the run (perverted and arrogant).

          We do chase dreams as well! Dreams as wild as getting Justice from the ‘highest seat of Justice’ of the largest Democracy. In the process, we find some strange companions who supposedly want to help us. They even brand our ‘Ameer-e-freerunning’ as the biggest wisher of Peace. But their actions elsewhere in the largest Democracy suggest otherwise. These octogenarian companions of ours plead cases for the oppressors, fake encounter specialists, rioters and men behind the Govt. sponsored pogroms in other parts of the world and in this part of the world, do a volte-face and behave as messiahs of peace, amity and brotherhood! Strange are the ways people toy with We… the Chased.

Keep Chasing………………………….

“Long live freerunning (‘resistance’)”. They say!

                                                                           ~~~~~~~~

Epilogue:

A group of youth went to Pahalgam on Eid eve. On their return, met an accident... few of them died and few more got injured. As the injured were rushed to hospital, the staff was out to their homes, for celebrating Eid. Result: Vandalization of the hospital building and subsequent arbitrary arrests.

            Meanwhile, a prominent lawyer of India, Ram Jethmalani has expressed his wish to represent in court various Kashmiris languishing in jails. He is the same lawyer who is representing Amit Shah, one of the preperators of the Muslim genocide of Gujarat!

                                                                           ~~~~~~~~

                                                                 Criticism is welcome!

Follow this blog on facebook!