Political Dhoti

Muslim Heroes (Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah)

2010-07-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

Abū 'Ubaidah 'Āmir ibn 'Abdullāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ (Arabic: ابو عبيده عامر بن عبدالله بن الجراح), more commonly known as Abū 'Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrāḥ, was one of the ten companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad popularly known to have been promised Paradise by Muhammed himself. He remained commander of a large section of Muslim armies during the time of Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and was on the list of 'Umar’s appointed successors to the Caliphate.

Conversion to Islam

By 611 CE Mohammad was preaching the oneness of God to the people of Makkah. He began by inviting his closest companions and relatives in secret to the way of Islam. Abu Bakr was the first man to convert to Islam in Makkah and it was through his efforts that many people including Abu 'Ubaidah converted. He embraced Islam just a day after Abu Bakr in the year 611 CE.

A QURANIC AYAT ABOUT HIS ACT

In the year 624 CE, Abu 'Ubaidah participated in the first major battle between Muslims and the Quraysh of Makkah; that is, the Battle of Badr. In this battle, he was attacked by his father Abdullah ibn al-Jarrah, who was fighting alongside the army of Quraysh. Abu 'Ubaidah avoided fighting with him but eventually his father succeeded in blocking Abu Ubaidah's path. Abu 'Ubaidah then attacked him and killed him.

The following verse of Holy Quran were revealed about this display of character by Abu 'Ubaidah:

“

You will not find a people believing in God and the Last Day making friends with those who oppose God and His messenger even if these were their fathers, their sons, their brothers or their clan. God has placed faith in their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him. He will cause them to enter gardens beneath which streams flow that they may dwell therein. God is well pleased with them and they well pleased with Him. They are the party of God. Is not the party of God the successful ones? (58:22)

Appointment as Commander of the Army

On 22 August 634 CE, Caliph Abu Bakr died making Umar his successor. As Umar became caliph he relieved Khalid ibn Walid from the command of the Islamic army and appointed Abu Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah as the new commander. The was done to dispel the impression that the victories were due to Khalid. Moreover Khalid was an overtly generous person who in some opinions would often waste his money in giving gifts to his soldiers as a reward for their bravery in the battles. Moreover, Abu-Ubaida was a great and a humble person; additionally he was a fearless and a skillful fighter.

Due to different style of commands, there was a slowdown in the pace of operations, as Abu Ubaida moved slowly and steadily, in contrast to Khalid who is said to rush 'like a tornado from battle to battle'; using surprise, audacity and brute force to win his battles. The conquest of Syria continued under the new commander. Abu-Ubaida used to rely heavily on the advice of Khalid, whom he kept with him as much as possible.

Conquest of Syria

From the August of 634 CE till the conquest of Levant (the areas of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Southern Turkey) was under the command of Abu Ubaidah. Soon after the appointment of Abu Ubaidah as the commander, he sent Khalid ibn Walid to rescue Islamic army trapped among Romans at Abu-al-Quds. Khalid went there and defeated them in the Battle of Abu-al-Quds on 15 October 634 CE. Abu-Ubaida made Khalid commander of the cavalry. Which was later to became the best part of Muslims army and was given the name 'Mobile Guard' by historians.

Emperor Heraclius assembled an army to defeat Muslims and evict them from Syria at the Plain of Fahal. Muslims to moved to Fahal, the cavalry under Khalid ibn Walid's was first to arrive at the battle scence. Muslims defeated them at the Battle of Fahal on 23rd January 635 CE. After the battle Abu Ubaidah along with Khalid moved towards Emesa city, with Khalid in-command of the cavalry. Meanwhile, emperor Heraclius sent General Theodras to Damascus to recapture it as there was only a small defensive army in the city under the command of Yazid bin Abi Sufyan. Theodras met the Muslim army at Maraj-al-Rome, and moved with half of his army towards Damascus at night, while Abu Ubaidah and Khalid were engaged with the remaining Byzantine army. A Spy informed Abu-Ubaidah about this move. Khalid's cavalry was dispatched by Abu Ubaidah to defend Damascus. Abu Ubaidah defeated the Byzantine army in the Battle of Maraj-al-Rome, while Khalid attacked and defeated Theodras in the 2nd Battle of Damascus.

After a week, Abu Ubaidah himself moved towards Balaq, while he sent Khalid to Emesa. Both cities surrendered and agreed to pay tribute (Jizya). Emesa and Qinassareen city signed one year peace treaty. In the November of 635 CE, Abu Ubaidah along Khalid moved towards city of Hamaa'; it surrendered and agree to pay tribute. Later Abu Ubaidah sent Khalid to Shairzer, Afamia and Matar-al-Hamz which all surrendered. Meanwhile, the city of Qinassareen and Emesa broke peace treaty, Abu Ubaidah sent Khalid to reclaim Emesa, there he defeated the Byzantine army in 1st Battle of Emesa, Byzantines retreated to the Castle of Emesa. Soon Abu Ubaidah reached Emesa with rest of his army, and gave the command of the siege to Khalid. He defeated Byzantine once again in the 2nd Battle of Emesa and finally conquered the city in the 3rd Battle of Emesa in the March of 636 CE, after two months of siege.

Afterward, Abu Ubaidah sent Khalid to conquer northern Syria, he defeated there a small group of Byzantine soldiers in a skirmish and took many as prisons. These prisoners informed him about Emperor Heraclius's final effort to take back the Byzantine province of Syria. They told him that an army of possibly 200,000 will soon emerge to take back the lost land. Khalid halted his advance, on June 636 CE this huge army set out for there destination. As soon as Abu Ubaida got this news he gathered all his officers to decide their next step. Khalid gave suggestion that they should call all of there forces present in province of Syria (Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel) to utilize the combined forces of the Muslim army and then moved towards the plain of Yarmouk for the battle.

Abu Ubaida ordered all Muslim commanders to withdraw from the conquered areas and pay back their tribute (Jizya) to them and move towards Yarmouk. Heraclius's army also moved towards Yarmouk. The Muslim Army reached there in the July of 636 CE. Within two weeks the Byzantine army arrived to the battleground. In the mid of July there was a skirmish between Khalid's cavalry and Christian Arab auxiliaries of Byzantine army. Khalid defeated them. For a whole month there was no action in the plain of Yarmouk. On the third week of August, the Battle of Yarmouk was fought, which lasted for 6 days. The Muslim army defeated the Byzantine army.

On October of 636 CE, Abu Ubaida held a meating with his high command officers to decide future conquests, they decided to conquer Jerusalem. Siege of Jerusalem lasted for 4 months, the city finally agreed to surrendered, but only to the Caliph himself.

Umar came from Medina and the city surrendered on April 637 CE. After the victory Abu Ubaida sent his 'Amr-ibn al-Aas, Yazid bin Abi Sufyan and Sharjeel bin Hassana back to there areas to reconquer them. Most of these areas submitted without any fight.

Abu Ubaida moved his armies to Northern Syria once again to conquer them with army numbering 17000. Khalid along with his cavalry was sent to Hazir, and Abu Ubaida moved to Qasreen city. Khalid defeated a strong Byzantine force in the Battle of Hazir and reached Qinassareen before Abu Ubaidah. The city surrendered to Khalid in the June of 637 CE, soon afterwards Abu Ubaida arrived. Abu Ubaidah moved on to the city Aleppo Battle of Aleppo city finally agree to surrendered in the October of 637 CE. After this battle, Abu Ubaidah moved to Antioch, in there way to Antioch Byzantine army stopped them near a river on which there was an iron bridge, because of this the battle following is known as Battle of Iron bridge. Abu Ubaidah defeated them and the city of Antioch (Halb). After the surrendered on 30th October 637 CE.

Abu Ubaidah sent Khalid to conquer the remaining cities. Khalid, in a series of small battles conquered the cities of Lazkia, Jabla and Tertoos. Abu-Ubaida sent Khalid to conquer north-eastern Syria. Khalid conquered all the areas up to Munbij city, and finished all resistance up to the Euphrates river. After these conquests Khalid return to Abu Ubaidah at Aleppo city in the January of 637 CE. Later, Abu Ubaidah dispatched Khalid and another of his general, Ayaz ibn Ghanam with armies separately. Khalid's conquered the city of Maresh in the Autumn of 638 CE.

Drought

Later this year Arabia fall into severe Drought. People begin to die because of hunger and epidemic diseases, as a result of drought hundreds of thousands of people from all over arabis gathered at madinah soon the reserve food at madinah too finishes Caliph Umar had already wrote to the governors of his Provinces to sent help for people, one such letter he wrote to Abu Ubaidah in answer of which he wrote to him that ….

“

I am sending you the Caravans whose one end will be here at Syria and the other will be at Madinah.

”

Abu Ubaidah was first to reached madinah with his 1st supply of 4000 camels full of food Umar appointed him to distribute the Food among the people who were living around Madinah in thousands of numbers, when Abu Ubaidah did that Ummar wanted to give him 4000 Dinars as a reward but he refused to take them saying that he did all that for sake of Allah.

Plague

The drought was just finished after 9 months that the plague epidemic broke in Syria and western Iraq, it was more severe in Syria. When the news of plague broke Umar was on his way to the tour of Syria but return from the border of Syria as suggested by his campanions. Abu Ubaidah meet him there and said

“

O’ Umar do you run from the Allah’s will ?

”

Umar was shocked by this and said in sorrow may some one else would have said this other than you Abu Ubaidah and said then

“

“ Yes I am running from Allah’s will but to Allah’s will

”

. Umar return from Syria because of the saying of Muhammad that not to enter the place where epidemic is and Abu Ubaidah returned to his army at Emesa. It was then that a plague hit the land of Syria, the like of which people had never experienced before. It devastated the population. As Caliph Umar wanted to make Abu Ubaidah his successor he didn't wanted him to remain there in the epidemic region. Umar dispatched a messenger to Abu Ubaidah with a letter saying:

“

"I am in urgent need of you. If my letter reaches you at night I strongly urge you to leave before dawn. If this letter reaches you during the day, I strongly urge you to leave before evening and hasten to me.

”

When Abu Ubaydah received Umar's letter, he said, '"I know why Umar needs me. He wants to secure the survival of someone who, however, is not eternal." So he wrote to Umar:

“

"I know that you need me. But I am in an army of Muslims and I have no desire to save myself from what is afflicting them. This is the army which didn't separate from me in the battlefield and didn't betray me. How can I now betray them? I do not want to separate from them until God wills. So, when this letter reaches you, release me from your command and permit me to stay on.

”

When Caliph Umar read this letter tears filled his eyes and those who were with him asked, "Has Abu Ubaidah died" ? he replied "No, but death is near to him.". Caliph Umar sent another messenger to him saying that if you are not coming back at least move to any highland with less humid environment Abu Ubaidah moved to Jabyia.

Death

As soon as Abu Ubaidah moved to Jabyia he became afflicted with the plague. As death hung over him, he spoke to his army:

“

Let me give you some advice which will cause you to be on the path of goodness always. "Establish Prayer, Fast the month of Ramadan, Give charity, Perform the Hajj and Umrah, Remain united and support one another, Be sincere to your commanders and do not conceal anything from them. Don't let the world destroy you for even if man were to live a thousand years he would still end up with this state that you see me in. Peace be upon you and the mercy of God."

”

He then appointed Ma’az bin Jabal as his successor and order him to lead people in the prayers after the prayers Ma’az came to him and at the moment his soul departed.

Ma’az got up and said to the people…

“

O' people, you are stricken by the death of a man. By God, I don't know whether I have seen a man who had a more righteous heart, who was further from all evil and who was more sincere to people than he. Ask God to shower His mercy on him and God will be merciful to you.

”

He died in 639 A.C and was buried at Jabiya.

Legacy

His appearance was striking. He was slim and tall. His face was bright and he had a sparse beard. It was pleasing to look at him and refreshing to meet him. He was extremely courteous and humble and quite shy. Yet in a tough situation he would become strikingly serious and alert. He was given the title Amin or Custodian of Muhammad's community(Ummah). Abdullah ibn Umar once said about him …

“

Three persons in the tribe of Quraysh were most prominent, had the best character and were the most modest. If they spoke to you, they would not deceive you and if you spoke to them, they would not accuse you of Lying: Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Uthman ibn Affan and Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah.’’

”

His way of life was very simple he use to dress in a simple costume, When during the conquest of Jerushalem Caliph Umar came to Syria he saw Khalid ibn Walid and Yazid bin abu Sufyan dressed in very beautiful and charming dress, Caliph Umar dismounted from his camel and threw sand over them saying that it is not a year that you have came out of the hunger and hard life of Arabia and you have forgotten all the simplicity when saw the glamour or Syria’s Emperors ?,but he was cooled down when Khalid ibn Walid explained to him that under there these cloths they are still armed to counter any enemy any time, Abu Ubaidah who was there too was still dressed in his simple dress Umar was pleased to see him at evening when Umar went to his home he saw that Abu Ubaidah didn’t have any thing at home except one bed, sword and shield. Umar said to him …

“	‘’ O’ Abu Ubaidah may you have arranged some things of comfort for yourself at home ‘’ replyed Abu Ubaidah ‘’ O’ Umar that’s all for me ‘’ .

Our beloved "Liberators"

2010-02-20T00:18:00.000-08:00

An interesting article about Rapes and sexual assault on Women Soldiers in US Army. Please read through the attached news piece from BBC. Before you read the complete news, some points worth thinking and doing something about are:

1. The moral and social standards of the so called "Liberators", "Peace Keepers" and the pioneers of "Democracy and Freedom".
2. If this is the conduct with their own women who themselves are US Army Personnel/Soldiers, Well Trained, Armed and of course aware of their "Rights and Freedoms" then just imagine what would these pigs not do with the poor, threatened and taken over women of the lands they take over and attack. If they assault their own females at a rate over 30% in the US Army personnel (keeping in mind that a terrifying 90% of the total Sexual Assaults/rapes in US Army are not reported as per attached article) just imagine the level of "Liberation and Freedom" they are bringing to our poor sisters.
3. The subject in the attached news piece was a US Army Soldier who just laid down her weapon for smoking a cigarette while she was attacked and raped. Now imagine the plight of women whose husbands/sons/brothers were killed/taken in the name of terrorism and insurgency, whose houses and lands are ravaged in the name of war and liberation, who have no training, weapon, and a Court of Martial to appeal to, just imagine what would be happening to thousands of such women. It's not difficult to imagine what would have happened to the female inmates of Abu Ghuraib, Kandahar and Helmand. As a minor glimpse of which can be seen in case of Dr. Afia.
4. Still our governments and armies are bending their back in handing over our sisters and lands to wind up thousands of Afia Siddiquis in the bloody claws of these pigs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8511010.stm

Helena Merriman reports on a woman whose experience of sexual assault, while serving in the US Air Force in Afghanistan, turned her into a campaigner for the welfare of service women.

Marti Ribeiro was born into a military family.

Her grandfather and father were both in the Air Force - and all her life she had wanted to join the armed forces.

I put my weapon down and walked away to smoke a cigarette and that was when I was attacked

Marti Ribeiro

After she finished school she joined the Air Force Reserve and a few years later, in March 2003, she was deployed to Iraq.

While she loved her job as a public affairs specialist, from the time she arrived she was routinely harassed and called Air Force Barbie.

"I had no idea how difficult it would be," she told the BBC World Service.

"My father, who is a retired military colonel, thought the world of me for joining the military.

WOMEN AT WAR

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are the first in which tens of thousands of women have fought alongside men for prolonged periods. This week the BBC World Service is taking an in-depth look at women's stories from the frontline.

"I never saw the personality traits in him that I saw in the military - I never saw what I was getting into."

In 2006 she was in Afghanistan.

"You're supposed to carry your weapon at all times in a combat zone," she said.

"But I put my weapon down and walked away to smoke a cigarette and that was when I was attacked."

She was then dragged behind some power generators and raped.

"If I had kept my weapon maybe I would have been able to prevent it," she says.

"But if I had used it I would probably have ended up in jail."

She went to the authorities but they told her that if she filed a claim, she would be charged with dereliction of duty for leaving her weapon unattended in a combat zone - an offence for which you can be court-martialled.

So she kept quiet and the man who attacked her went unpunished.

"It would be my word over his and they are not going to take my word over his," she said.

When she returned from Afghanistan, she did not talk to anyone about what happened. She says she felt it was all her fault.

'Heartbreaking' phone calls

Congressional leaders, who have been holding hearings this month on sexual assault in the armed forces, say that more needs to be done to tackle what recent studies indicate is a widespread problem.

In 2003, in a survey of female veterans conducted by the University of Iowa, funded by the US Department of Defense, 30% of the 500 female veterans interviewed reported an attempted or completed rape.

Equally worryingly, the Department of Defense estimated in its 2009 annual report on sexual assault, that around 90% of rapes in the military are never reported.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who sits on the Military Personnel Subcommittee, successfully lobbied last year for the development of a Sexual Assault Database to encourage accountability within the Armed Forces.

"There are plenty of phone calls that come into my office of alleged assault of women by our military men," she says.

"They are heartbreaking. Some women don't want to go public with it, some have gone public with it and they've been drilled out of the military.

"I'm told that the statistics are that once you have been raped in the military you are most likely to be raped over and over."

She says that not enough prosecutions are happening and that while the Pentagon is taking it more seriously, big changes still need to be made.

"Why is it that when a woman alleges rape, the outcome shows that the man who supposedly did this was demoted or moved to another unit? I want to know why this is happening!"

Predators

Dr Kaye Whitley, Director of the US Department of Defense's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (Sapro), says it can be very hard for victims to report a sexual assault.

"We do know that being sexually assaulted takes a great human toll on an individual and there are all kinds of barriers to keep people from wanting to come forward," she says.

More and more commanders are referring these cases to court martial

Dr Kaye Whitley, Sapro

One of these barriers, she explains, is that after someone has reported an assault in the US military: "Their command knows, everyone in the unit knows, and it affects 'unit-readiness'."

For this reason there is now a new "restrictive reporting option" so that victims who are afraid of reporting an assault can get the medical care and counselling that they need, without their command having to be notified, and without having to participate in an investigation.

For those who do decide to report a sexual assault, Dr Whitley says the crime is taken seriously.

"We are finding that more and more commanders are referring these cases to court martial," she says.

"One of the things that one of our leaders recently said is that we want to get so good at prosecuting these guys that if there's anybody walking around out there that's a predator, they'll think that the military is the last place they want to end up.

"So we are working very hard on that, we think we can do better," she says.

'Cultural change'

The writer Helen Benedict has been looking into sexual violence in the military for a number of years, and has recently written a play on the subject. She has heard from women whose experiences have ranged from disrespect, to constant sexual harassment, to rape.

"There is a culture that if you report someone, you are seen as a weak soldier who failed to defend yourself," she says.

But she says this does not mean that women should not be serving in the army.

"It is the men who are committing a crime who have a problem. The military has to deal with them and not punish women by shutting them out from this career," she says.

Ms Benedict says that economics may help to bring about the cultural change that she says the army needs.

"The recession means more women are joining the military then ever before. So as women become less of a minority and rise in the ranks and get more power, hopefully the culture will begin to shift," she says.

Meanwhile, Marti Ribeiro is now trying to tackle the issue politically.

She is part of the Service Women's Action Network, which lobbies to improve the welfare of US servicewomen and women veterans.

"This is so that if once my daughter is eligible she turns to me and says 'I want to do what you did,' I can support her," she says.

"But if she asked me right now I would say 'No'."

IPL Lesson

2010-01-19T23:43:00.000-08:00

If we try to get a positive message from the incident at IPL, than it could only be “UNITY”. I assure that this could unite all Pakistani’s as well as Players. Just have to promote the thought. Encourage every Pakistani to show some patriotism and boycott IPL.

The negative thoughts which were purposely delivered to us were received and understood successfully. Now its our turn. Don’t even think that PCB or Sports Ministry will counter this. Our ministers are logically impotents. Don’t expect our players to do something special either.

Now the question is why we should react if no direct concerned is reacting. The simple answer is we are the ones who are hurt. Secondly we can give a good supportive message to our team and ministry too.

Only those Pakistanis residing outside the country can imagine what I am trying to say. Everywhere around are Indians. I daily use to talk with my Indian colleagues about cricket and other stuff. Since yesterday I have not uttered a word. Don’t know why I feel a hidden smile on their faces.

I know my this request is just a shout from a crowed, but have hopes.

Daily Close Shaves

2010-01-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

Day before yesterday my friend Umair's family had an accident while they were going to southern Punjab to attend the funeral of their Uncle. With the blessings of Allah they all were safe after the accident except his father got few bruises. 800cc Mehran, Highway, Rain, Slippery road, Brakes fail, Truck ahead ... anyone can think its a best combination for a disaster. My Friend kept his senses after realizing the brakes had failed and managed to hit the car on a sidewalk. Car turned, but still went into the truck. His parents went on to attend the funeral on a cab and he came back to home by bus. Car was in nearby workshop. That's what we call man proposes and God disposes. May Allah keep them safe from any further pain in life.

This reminds me another short incident which could had been a part of the bigger incident forward. My friend got a small verbal fight with few rikshaw drivers on bus stop, then he smoked in anger for 5 minutes and consequently got 10 mins late for the dinner at Moon Market Lahore. Allah kept him becoming the victim of that bomb blast which shook all the country. That's what we call close shave.

These two and many other examples we can see around us. These are basically lessons for us from Allah, to make us realize how much we are blessed.

Just before going to bed at night, we all must think once that, "today hundreds of accidents might had happened in our city, thanks Allah i was not among them, Many people got sick and are now in hospitals, thanks Allah i was not among them. and then keep remembering all the misfortunes of life and keep thanking Allah. You will find endless reasons to thank Allah for a single day, and will sleep with happy heart and relaxed mind.

Lectures of Molvi Makki Al-Hijazi

2009-12-29T04:00:00.000-08:00

By: Hammad Hashim

I have been listening to the lecture of “MOLVI MAKKAHI HAIJAZI” since last month on KHULFIYA_RASHDEEN. I was so much into it from the beginning because of his way of speech and also because he criticized many common “BIDATS” among MUSLIM UMMAH in humorous but logical ways…

Yesterday I reached to a part where he described the fall of Khalifat of HAZRAT USMAN…it made me really really sad…

Although it was not completely described by the MOLVI SAHB and I still have some questions in my mind but he covered somewhat complete scenario of his death. The most heart breaking or heart shaking part was where son of HAZRAT ABU BAKAR get inside the house of HAZRAT USMAN and grab his beard and push it hard…and HAZRAT USMAN ask him that if your FATHER(HAZRAT ABU BAKER) were standing here today, would he be doing this? Son of HAZRAT ABU BAKER immediately release the beard and leave the hose and after that some 3 people came inside the house of HAZRAT USMAN and martyred him.

This was the probably the starting point where Jews successfully executed their impure intension and started the breakup of Muslims.

"This Too Shall Pass"

2009-12-28T00:36:00.000-08:00

Oh I didn't know that one of my favourite sentences has so much significance and importance in history? For me it was just an encouraging sentence from my brother when i was sad on going back to hostel after long summer holidays. I still remember that was the road of Garden Town, Lahore on which we get fields of Punjab University on our right side. It was night and we were standing on a signal. wow time passes so quickly.

Today sitting idle at office made me psycho enough to search that sentence on google, and to my surprise i got its link in Wikipedia too. Wiki says..

" This too shall pass" (Hebrew: גם זה יעבור‎, gam zeh yaavor) is a phrase occurring in a Jewish wisdom folktale involving King Solomon. The phrase is commonly engraved on silver rings.
Many versions of the folktale have been recorded by the Israel Folklore Archive at the University of Haifa. Heda Jason recorded this version told by David Franko from Turkey:
One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words "Gam zeh ya'avor" -- "This too shall pass." At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.
The phrase "This too shall pass" and the associated ring story were made popular by Abraham Lincoln in his 'Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin' on September 30, 1859:

Yes we don't go for that many stupid Israeli folktales though they are very catchy. But i do have read a similar "story" for a Muslim king that he asked all Ulama of his country to get him such a Taweez or Dua or Ayat or Wird or anything like that, that on reading or seeing it in a bad or difficult situation all its worries should vanish away, else he will kill every Alim. Ulama got worried, but before the deadline they managed it. They gave the King a folded paper and told him not open unless u really feel yourself in a difficult situation. Kind said OK. After an year a neighbour army attacked and Kings forces were defeated, king ran away and enemies were on its back, he kept running and reached a jungle and after that found himself on the edge of a deep steep valley. Heard forces coming for him. He thought its his end, suddenly he remembered he has that paper given by the Alim in his inner pocket. He searched it out and to his surprise there was only written "This too shall pass". King was surprised, and was more surprised when he heard the sound of horses coming closer and then suddenly moving away at some other path. Somehow the king gathered his forces again in a year and fought back his kingdom, and when he was returning to his castle from the middle of the city, shouting and praising crowd all around, flowers falling on head and he was sitting proud on horse's back, at that moment he suddenly remembered that note "This Too Shall Pass". King immediately jump off the horse, gave up his his kingdom to his minister and spent rest of his life praying Allah.
I know its a "story" too, but who cares :)

Zaid Kahani Conts.....

2009-12-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

I would like to remind all that these are my email threads which i am sharing here, so please excuse the typos, slangs and chat styles.

first of all thanks for understanding my point and also thanks for telling me some points too.
The purpose of telling us to read, study and practice Islam was basically my answer to all these queries which we have about ZH. One could clearly distinguish between the thoughts of ZA and what Allah has told us.
Interpretation is all that matters, Dr. Israr is also a very good interpreter of Iqbal and many others are also there, we can easily distinguish the feelings and thoughts which different people extract from Iqbal's message. I say, where does Iqbal stand if we have different thoughts and interpretations on Quran which is the ultimate truth. ZH only shows us the half part of Iqbal's message. Instead ill say not the climax of every thought. He tells us, be a good Muslim, be Learned, Have vision, keep dignity, etc. etc. but never completes the thought by saying "rise against the wrong until you die trying"

I am not completely against ZH, he is a good speaker but on the other hand he is also a hidden spokesman for Army to uplift their image again. His words try to keep our thoughts around Pakistan, and after telling us the Falsafa-e-Khudi of Iqbal, he want us keep shut, sit back and let whatever is happening, not even in our country but everywhere in the world. He is trying to uplift the Moral of people only by words. Otherwise what is happening around us is clear to us.

We all are grown ups, we have learned alot and seen a lot, so there is less chance for us to get strayed. BUT the teenagers who listen to him and don't keep their own knowledge, become his fan, keeping a thought in mind that "InshAllah everything is going to be OK, Pakistan is a blessing of Allah for us so nothing is gonna happen to it. We dont have to worry, we dont have to shout, just stay back and wait for the good time"

I shall suggest you do watch that video in which he clearly says us to "do nothing, just shout loud on the internet, try to study, be good engineers and doctors and help your nation". Most people do agree with the second thought “Studying”. I say, who will stay in Pakistan or return to Pakistan when there will be that much mess in our country. I know many of my fellow engineers who think a lot about going back to Pakistan but in the end say "yaar there is no Security, No Sugar, No Flour, No Electricity, No Water, No Foreign investment hence no Multi National companies, no job opportunities, risk of blasts every moment, no justice, etc. etc." .. in short they drop the idea of coming back.
Same is the thinking of my well educated Friends in Pakistan who are trying to get out of that country asap.

I just say, our youth is our power, unless they are ignorant, lazy and self centered, nothing is gonna happen.

Allah has given us Quran to check our every deed on it. Our constitution of life is Quran and Hadeeth. We must read and understand them, then no such flattery of words can harm us, in fact we can grab good from it and will be able to cut the crap.

Zaid Kahan Conts...

2009-12-22T05:19:00.000-08:00

Yes these are from my email replies, didn't get time to edit for a post.

Dear Ammar i totally agree with you in this issue, He is just blamed to be an ally of Yusuf once, he is not blamed to speak any wrong word against Muhammad (S.W) or any word in favour of Yusuf's being prophet. I also think that it could become a bohtaan so lets leave it behind.

I shall suggest you all to read Quran with tafaseer, either Tafheem or Ibn-e-Kaseer. Read or Listen Dr. Israr, Zakir Nayak, haroon Yahya .... and must must Listen to Molvi Makki Al-Hijazi (muallim at Masjid Haram)...... must read Islamic History, its wars and reasons behind wars ... be with Tableegi jamaat .... be with Jihadi Tanzeems .... IN SHORT just try to learn Islam by reading all type of writers, and practicing Islam. You will definitely come to know about the reason of our existence ...
Zaid hamid only refers a very very small portion of Quran, and very few ayah .... i just want to ask him what do u say about Ayah 75 of Nisa?

Is waqt hum sub per Jihad Farz ho chuka hai ... we all just try to give lame excuses and define Jihad on our own terms... but Zaid sahab never ask us to retaliate against all the wrong happening around us. He just ask us to keep up hopes. how could we keep up hopes by just sitting aside and watch the drama. No Sugar, No Flour, No Electricity, No Water, Shortage of Sui Gas, huge Bills of every facility, Lots of Unnecessary Taxes, our Army killing own people, when its America or India then "negotiations are the only solution" ... but when it comes to our own people then "we wouldn't talk to them" .. WHY?? .... our Minister Rehman Malik saying "koi mai ka laal Shariat nafiz nahi ker sakta" .... SO, according to Zaid sahab we all should remain silent !! i ask why??

Above all discussion is just keeping in mind Mr. Zaid Hamid coz he is a patriot or u can say promote Patriotism. BUT, beind a Muslim we must think for all the Muslims around the world. Muslims are One Nation. We must think about Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Kashmir. Have you people noticed that our Media and people like Zaid Hamid has changed our thoughts so much that we only think for ourselves. No news of Palestine or Kashmir on media. Talk shows never talk about Palestine or discuss Kashmir issue. We all have become self centered. Why is it so?? Jazz ke call rates zaroor pata hongey lekin Muslims ka death rate perha hai kabhi? perhna bhi nahi kabhi, its too high.

Zaid Kahani

2009-12-21T00:19:00.000-08:00

His way of speech is so much catchy and full of rock solid emotions that most of us get strayed and become his Fan without giving a second thought.

Its been almost 3 years that im listening him, also believe a little bit on the yusuf Kazzab issue because as Maulana Jalal Puri mentioned that Zaid Hamid has never said a wrong or Bad word against Yusuf kazab, he will always try to scape in jungle of words and emotional sentences about Muhammad (S.W) but will never say a single word against that idiot Yusuf Kazab. I got that point 100% right as you see his email replies, his audio and video answers. I have also listened his Audio speech with Yusuf Kassab and damn the voice was so much similar.

I also wonder upon his claims (as Nauman mentioned), "hum choren ge nahin", "saari qom unko mu tor jawab de gee", "hum derte nahi hain !!", "hum ne pehle bhi hukumat ki hai aur aenda bhi karen ge", "ye qom chorey gee nahi !!" etc. etc.
cant he see the direction in which the whole Awam is going.

and Guys do notice my this thought in his talks .... The Best way to win Hearts of common people is to Bravely talk against the leaders, curse them, abuse them, call the leaders traitors openly..... and yes you can win the hearts easily, its a simple trick.

another amazing thing i heard from one of his lectures was, when a student asked "okay we agree what you say we believe it, now tell us what should we (youth) do in such circumstances? ? " ..... and can you people believe?? he simply said "use internet to spread your voice, use forums and Blogs etc. dont dont try to join any political or religious party, use the internet its the only free media" .... and he so much emphasized on his thought that i started laughing .... means we all use Twitter, Forums, blogs, community sites like facebook, my space and emails etc. etc. .... but what if on the day of judgment when we would be asked "where were you when all the Kafirs and Munafiqeen were killing your brothers in Islam, raping your sisters of islam, destroying there houses and capturing their lands ?? " and we would say "Allah mian hum Blogs per posts ker rahey thay, facebook per bhi bohat likha lekin kisi ne hamari nahi suni " hahahaha
yesterday i listened another of Zaid Hamids interview and he gave the same answer to a molvi sahab.

By the way guys have you noticed that Zaid hamid came into Media about 3 to 4 years back, when Pak Army's image had already been destroyed among Paki people. People started to hate our Army specially after Laal Masjid, Bugti Killing, letting Drone attacks, allowing Black Water to enter and then Sawat operation etc. Since then Zaid Hamid is trying to build up the image of Pak Army in our minds, and i would say he is achieving his target. Those who an year ago were against the Sawat operation and killing of our Muslim brothers through the hand of our Army has started agreeing with the operation in Balochistan and has accepted the killing of Muslims. Yes yes these American controlled suicidal attacks has also helped our people to change minds.

I dont say that whatever Zaid hamid says is absolutely wrong always, NO !! many times he analyze the things very beautifully. Specially on the topic of Iqbal his explanation is always worth listening.

But overall, i dont like him as his intentions are clearly doubtful.

Wake up Pakistan (Ep 1)

2009-11-30T21:39:00.000-08:00

Wake up Pakistan (Episode 1): A look at corruption in elite and feeling of nothingness in our public

True Mujahideen

2009-11-18T03:42:00.001-08:00

Dear All,

Its a long debate and in all these years everyone has developed its own idea and reasons about the current situation. I have been debating and trying to convince people that do not show blind faith for the Media. Its all controlled, you can sense it very well if compare the Media we have right now with the one we had 10 years back. Have u ever seen a proper Taliban representative in Media, any spokesperson??

What do you think why has America wasted a good budget on Afghanistan and aids to Pakistan? If you think its really for the "war against terrorism", u r fooling urself.

Many many reasons r behind, suppressing the only Strong Muslims in muslim world (Pathans), gaining control of Nuclear Pakistan, establish in the area of world to be a threat for China & Russia, Keeping eye on India, Iran and Arabs, Dividing Pakistan to finish Muslims last hope, capturing Balochistan for its Mineral reserves, involve all the Muslims in the issues of their own area so that America can attain their other targets for Libya and Lebanon. Oil, Arms, Geographic position and ZIONISM are the big issues too.

Now coming towards TTA issue (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan). If we talk about our political parties, we can find a big group of black sheep, but we shall definitely find few good ones too. Even if we like some party we cant declare that every person in the party has pure soul and a perfect example. Can we? No never.

Same is the case with people in Tribal areas, there was chaos everywhere after drones. If u could remember the daily news of killed children and women, destroyed houses and shops. Keep in mind that im talking about those people who develop animosity even on very minor issues like "calling names" or wrong parking etc. How could we expect that they would remain silent on brutal massacre of their relatives, and if they seek help from Government then dont get anything but laugh.

In such conditions America took help of Pakistan agencies and developed few Mir Jaffars and Mir Saadiqs. It took much time for the people their to realize who is good and who is bad.
Few Sardars at that area took privilege of the situation and grabbed a lot of dollars from both Pakistan and America, to keep running these aids they also did tricks even against their bosses (America & pak).

Few Sardars quietly surrendered for the safety of their people from drones, but few tried to fight against. Few were bribed and few were provided by Indian arms. Drones kept going all this time.

In short, a big mess had been their and other Pakistanis like us were just sitting watching Geo, mourning and pitying for the people there. Even we were not getting the complete picture and figures of death rate. To further finish this sympathy towards Afghans and Pathans so that America can further move on its agenda, suicidal attacks were planned by agencies (both American & pak). Media showed it worse and here we are. 70% of our youth now thinks that Taliban are wrong and Tribal people are fool and bla bla.

Someone ask these people, are Taliban that much in number to attack people in whole Pakistan and at the same time fight with Pak Army, NATO, America and American Allies??

Where Pakistan Army was when there were drone attacks on daily basis, wasn’t those attacks on sovereignty of Pakistan??

We all know that Black water is there, Raw is active, Expansion of American embassy, Americans found in Afghani getups, uncircumcised people found in army operation (means non-muslims), Hindu persons found in Mosques in mulim getup. These all the things we know, and media has also leaked some glimpses even being controlled. BUT still we don’t agree that Taliban has to do something if war is forced on their heads and Media has drilled the wrong vision in our brains, that if we find a clip from TTP we r not ready to accept its truthfulness.

Just suppose if we go out one day, come back from office and find our house blown down to earth and all family dead, whet shall we do. We go to police and they say “we cant help at all”, we go to Army/Gov. and they just laugh don’t even listen to us than what shall we do?? Just think, I hope we all can find the answer.

So I request you all to please don’t get all ur news from Media, specially TV and Paper, use ur own mind too and do a little research and also get guidance from Quran and Sunnah.

more about "True Mujahideen", posted with vodpod

Shanaakt 2009

2009-11-10T21:44:00.000-08:00

The Shanaakht Festival 2009, which celebrates the lives of extraordinary individuals who struggled to create this nation, is being held from Nov 9 to 11 right now in Karachi

The festival features on exhibit:

Never-before-seen photographs of dashing young men of Pakistan Air Force from 1940 and 1950s
Rare photographs of pre-partitioned Kashmir
“A man for all seasons” Hashim Raza photogrpahic tribute to one of the first civil servants of the country.
original film posters from golden lollywood era
snippets of films and songs from the Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP)
recollections of cinema-lovers
film screenings of blockbusters: Koel, Sassi and Armaan
a slice of vintage Pakistan in an exhibition of some of the most beautiful vintage cars in the country
Sheema Kirmani's thetarical performance in 'Rang Badal Lo Bhai'. a drama which shows how things change colours in our country
readings of Pakistani literature in Urdu and English by Fahmida Riaz, Haseena Moin, Ilona Yusuf , Mohammad Hanif and Musharraf Ali Farooqi
an evening of musical fusion with popular Pakistani bands joined by traditional folk singers.

The event would be open to schools between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm, while the general public would be able to attend it between 3:00 pm and 9:00 pm.

Shanaakht festival is conducted by the Citizens Archive of Pakistan or CAP. CAP is a not-for-profit educational institution and heritage centre that was established in February 2007 with the aim of strengthening the civil society and giving full rein to the creativity of Pakistanis, allowing them to explore their heritage and history. Their largest projects to date include the Oral History Project and the Government School Outreach Tours, which are part of a wider attempt to showcase Pakistan’s history and celebrate our nation’s achievements.

More info about current event and their other programs @ CitizenArchive.org

Allama Iqbal : "Falsafa-e-Khudi"

2009-11-09T04:49:00.001-08:00

Here is the last post for Allama Iqbal on Iqbal Day.

His poetry is enough to understand the Falsafa-e-Khudi...

Us qaum ko shamsheer ki haajat nahin rehti
Ho jis ke jawaanon ki khudi soorat-e-faulaad

Shaheen kabhi pervaaz se thak ker nahin girta
Pur dam hai ager too, to nahin khatra-e-uftaad

********************

Her lehza hai momin ki nayee aan nayee shaan
Guftaar mein Kirdaar mein Allah ki burhaan

Qahhary-o-Ghaffary-o-Quddusy-o-Jabrood
Ye chaar anaasir hon to banta hai muslmaan

Ye raaz kisi ko nahin maloom k momin
Qaari nazer aata hai haqiqat mein hai Quran

********************
Aaeen-e-jawaan merdi, haq goi-o-babaaki
Allah ke shairon ko aati nahin robaahi

Kaafir ho to shamshir per kerta hai bharosa
Momin ho to betaigh bhi lerta hai sipaahi

********************
Mein tujh ko batata hoon taqdeer-e-umem kya hai
Shamsheer-o-sina awwal, taaoos-o-rabab aakhir

********************
Jahaan mein ahl-e-imaan, soorat-e-khursheed jeetay hein
Idher doobay udher niklay, udher doobay idher niklay

********************

Clean the cities not HIV

2009-11-09T03:22:00.000-08:00

It just continues to amaze me that how much our people give importance to issues that are of little concern. While the real issues remain unaddressed. e.g. How much Ministry of health and other NGOs emphasize and advertise HIV AIDs prevention. Ia HIV a real problem for Pakistan? No one ever analyzed that, they jsut saw that US or India are promoting it.. and so does our NGOs start capmgains and walk against it.

HIV Virus is problem for mainly non-muslim countries where sex becomes just another form of entertainment rather than a responsiblity. Pakistan Alhamdulilah doesn't have that as a big problem. Lets go over the statustucs posted by CIA World Fact book:

Pakistan approximate population: 176,243,000. Making it 6th most populated country of world.

0.1% of population is HIV infected (5000 deaths per year)

Most infectous diseases: bacterial diarrhea, malaria, hepatitis A and E

Total overall deaths: 1,350,000 per year

Percentage of total population living in slum settlements: 74%

Sanitation provision: 59%

Did the above make any sense? For a disease that causes 5k deaths/year we have rallies. and for diseases that cause around 100k deaths/year we have nothing? A thing to note about the most dangerous diseases is that they are all those that are caused by bad quality of water and sanitation. That is why I showed the sanitation provision value provided by UN Human development report.

What our government, health institutes, NGOs and general public should be working for is a cleaner environment. Our budgets should not be focusing on HIV but on:

Proper sanitation in non-urban areas. If you check the population influx in hospitals then you will realize that most of the city hospitals are treating people from villages more than city people themselves. Nip the evil in the bud! If proper sanitation is provided in their areas, then medical facilities budget will automatically reduce to cure these common diseases.

Reduce the garbage cans street time in urban areas. Currently IF there is a garbage can provided in any city area, it remains there.. till its full and flies are flying over it.. and it fills to brim and garbage starts to fall out of it. if the cycle of picking them up is shortened then the garbage throwing areas would be much cleaner and the cans wouldn't become a house of disease themselves.

Supply of clean drinking water. Purification and disinfection of underground water, and obtaining potable water from evaporation and re-liquidification of rain water. desalination or reverse osmosis of sea water.. all of these can be used to obtain ample water reserves for drinking purpose.

Regular cleanup of city sewer system and rain water drains. Once they choke up, water stagnates on city streets, it not only deteriorates the roads, but also become bacterial hazard.

Fight for cleanliness! Our Prophet (SAW) announced it as a part of religion; and we can see the effects of it. HIV in Pakistan have been reported in: Commercial sexual workers, drug users, people from abroad and prison inmates. So, why are we giving importance to them rather more than rest of regular public? I am not saying to abandon fight against Aids.. I am just saying that everything should be given consideration as their level of vitality. The NGOs should also stop telling you about illegal sexual relations and first work on creating awareness of clean living and Islamic habits.

Allama Iqbal : "اقبال اور شاہین"

2009-11-09T02:41:00.000-08:00

اقبال نے اپنی شاعری میں شاہین کو ایک خاص علامت کی حیثیت سے پیش کیا ہے۔ اور ان کا محبوب پرندہ ہے۔ اقبال کے ہاں اس کی وہی اہمیت ہے جو کیٹس کے لئے بلبل اور شیلے کے لئے سکائی لارک کی تھی، بلکہ ایک لحاظ سے شاہین کی حیثیت ان سے زیادہ بلند ہے کیونکہ شاہین میں بعض ایسی صفات جمع ہوگئی ہیں۔ جو اقبال کی بنیادی تعلیمات سے ہم آہنگ ہیں یوں تو اقبال کے کلام میں جگنو ، پروانہ ، طاوس ، بلبل ، کبوتر ، ہرن وغیر ہ کا ذکرآیا ہے۔ لیکن ان سب پر شاہین کو وہ ترجیح دیتے ہیں۔ اقبال نے تشبیہات و استعارات میں بلبل و قمری کے بجائے باز اور شاہین کو ترجیح دی ہے۔ڈاکٹر یوسف خان لکھتے ہیں کہ
،
” اقبال کے وجدان اور جذبات شعری کو جو چیز سب سے زیادہ متحرک کرتی ہے۔ وہ مظہر ”قوت“ ہے یہی وجہ ہے کہ وہ بلبل اور قمری کی تشبیہوں کی بجائے باز اور شاہین کو ترجیح دیتا ہے۔“

اقبال کے ہاں شاہین مسلمان نوجوان کی علامت کے طور پر استعمال ہو اہے۔اقبال کو جمال سے زیادہ جلال پسند ہے اقبال کو ایسے پرندوں سے کوئی دلچسپی نہیں جن کی اہمیت صرف جمالیاتی ہے یا جو حرکت کے بجائے سکون کے پیامبر ہیں،

کر بلبل و طاوس کی تقلید سے توبہ
بلبل فقط آواز ہے، طاوس فقط رنگ

اقبال کو شاہین کی علامت کیوں پسند ہے اس سلسلے میں خود ہی ظفر احمد صدیقی کے نام ایک خط میں لکھتے ہیں۔

” شاہین کی تشبیہ محض شاعرانہ تشبیہ نہیں ہے اس جانور میں اسلامی فقر کی تمام خوصیات پائی جاتی ہیں۔ خود دار اور غیرت مند ہے کہ اور کے ہاتھ کا مارا ہو شکار نہیں کھاتا ۔ بے تعلق ہے کہ آشیانہ نہیں بناتا ۔ بلند پرواز ہے۔ خلوت نشین ہے۔ تیز نگاہ ہے۔
اقبال کے نذدیک یہی صفات مردِ مومن کی بھی ہیں وہ نوجوانوں میں بھی یہی صفات دیکھنا چاہتا ہے ۔ شاہین کے علاوہ کوئی اور پرندہ ایسا نہیں جو نوجوانوں کے لئے قابل تقلید نمونہ بن سکے اُردو کے کسی شاعر نے شاہین کو اس پہلو سے نہیں دیکھا” بال جبریل“ کی نظم ”شاہین“میں اقبال نے شاہین کو یوں پیش کیا ہے۔

خیابانیوں سے ، ہے پرہیز لازم
ادائیں ہیں ان کی بہت دلبرانہ
حمام و کبوتر کا بھوکا نہیں میں
کہ ہے زندگی باز کی زاہدانہ
جھپٹنا ، پلٹنا، پلٹ کر جھپٹنا
لہو گرم رکھنے کا ہے اک بہانہ
یہ پورب ، یہ پچھم ، چکوروں کی دنیا
میرا نےلگوں آسماں بے کرانہ
پرندوں کی دنیا کا درویش ہوں میں
کہ شاہیں بناتا نہیں آشیا نہ؟

اقبال کی شاہین کی صفات:۔

اقبال نے شاہین کی جن خوبیوں کا خود ذکر کیا ہے اور جن کے باعث وہ ان کا پسندیدہ جانور بنا ہے ان کا کلام ِ اقبال کی روشنی میں ذرا تفصیلی جائزہ لے لیا جائے تو اقبال کے تصورِ شاہین کو سمجھنے میں مزید مدد مل جاتی ہے وہ صفات مندرجہ زیل ہیں۔

غیرت و خود داری:۔

غیرت و خوداری درویش کی سب سے بڑی صفت ہے اور یہی حال شاہین کا بھی ہے اس لئے وہ مرغ سرا کے ساتھ دانہ نہیں چگتا جو دوسروں کے احسان کے باعث ملتا ہے اور نہ گرگس کی طرح مردہ شکار کھاتا ہے درویش اور فلسفی میں یہی فرق ہے کہ گدھ اونچا تو اُڑ سکتا ہے لیکن شکار ِزندہ یعنی حقیقت اس کے نصیب میں نہیں ہوتی۔

بلند بال تھا لیکن نہ جسور و غیور
حکیم ِ سر ِمحبت سے بے نصیب رہا
پھرا فضائوں میں گرگس اگر چہ شاہیں وار
شکار زندہ کی لذت سے بے نصیب رہا

فقراور استغنا:۔

فقر بھی اقبال کے نزدیک مرد درویش کی بڑی خصوصیت ہے جس طرح شاہین چکور کی غلامی نہیں کر سکتا اُسی طرح درویش شاہوں کو بھی خاطر میں نہیں لاتا۔ اقبال کہتے ہیں کہ شاہین کو چکور و گرگس کی صحبت سے پرہیز کرنا چاہیے ۔ زاغ و گرگس کی صحبت میں شاہین کی زندہ شکار حاصل کرنے کی صلاحیت مردہ ہو جائے گی اور وہ انہی کی طرح لالچی بن کر فقر سے ہاتھ دھو بیٹھے گا۔ اس طرح شاہین کی صفات پیداکرکے فقیر بھی کسی چڑیا ، کبوتر یا فاختہ کا شکار نہیں کھیلے گا بلکہ وہ فطرت و کائنات کی تسخیرکرے گا یا باطل کی قوتوں کا مقابلہ کرے گا۔

آشیانہ نہ بنانا :۔

اقبال کو شاہین کی یہ ادا بھی پسند ہے کہ وہ آشیانہ نہیں بناتا ، آشیانہ بنانا اس کے فقر کی تذلیل ہے۔

گذر اوقات کر لیتا ہے یہ کوہ بیاباں میں

کہ شاہیں کے لئے ذلت ہے کارِ آشیاں بندی

Allama Iqbal

2009-11-08T22:33:00.000-08:00

Talking about Iqbal, his Poetry and his Ideas is not a child's play.
Iqbal in his era was among those who listened to him and understood his ideas, not completely but good enough to raise a revolution. After that, instead of understanding him more we all began loosing his thoughts and got ourselves stuck in semi western and semi Islamic psyche with some topping of Indian culture. Now we only remember Iqbal as our national poet on 9th Nov. and that's too when we see his name on TV.
We can find a good example of a Sufi in his soul, a revolutionary Mujahid, an Activist, a brilliant Poet, a Thought provoking person and a Think Tank. In his words he captured all the aspects of life, all the feelings of human being and also gave the basic solutions for the problems which one might face in its personal life and cumulative contribution to society. He was so much clear and pure in his thoughts that he enclosed all the solutions in just one word i.e. "Khudi". Giving the name of "Shaheen" (eagle) to the youth he mentioned the attitude and style which our youth should follow.
Today on Iqbal Day (9 Nov), its obligatory for us to read about his thoughts and try to act accordingly in life. Now the questions arises why should follow his thoughts? what is the criteria that he was right. For answer i would say that the creation of Pakistan and revolution in Iran is enough to judge. Yes the Iranian revolution had its seed in the poetry of Iqbal too. I would request our people just try to read once his "Falsafa-e-Khudi" and your inner-self will tell you that he was right.

Beauty of Grey: Enough about NRO

2009-11-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

A common man in Pakistan is fed up of the "super-facial" activities their politicians are involved in. I being one of them.. just hate to turn on the news channel.. and all the time they are just discussing NRO, or presidential seat, or restoration of judges. WTH! is wrong with them? Does a normal man really care for that? Should 100% of your leader's time should be spent in discussing above activities.. or they should be working for the rest of nation?

Corruption has always been there.. and I can never assume that there would be a time that any government of the world would be free of it. So, let there be corrupts.. but let there be also reformers.. who work for good too. Right now in current state of the country.. even the good leaders have been under force involved in just discussing and talks rather than actual work. and thus current situation of Pakistan is more worse than any time in Pakistan history.

will NRO solve my problem? will the corrupts be contained via it? NO!!! that's why we call them corrupts.. as they always find a way around the system and save their neck. So, LET THERE BE CORRUPTS. The good leaders shouldn't be fighting against corrupts.. they should dedicate their efforts on public work. At least that way the normal public will still get some benefit.

That is what is called as the shade of grey. There are hearts that are black and white. and in your leadership lobby there cannot be just white.. so let them mix with black. and I would be happy to have a shade of grey. That is why from politicians of my time I always liked "Shahbaz Sharif". He may be corrupt and laundering money for his own family business but at least he gave something back to the country too. Just look at main roads of Lahore, the motorway.. how much benefit we have of those. So, i am happy that he may have stolen my taxes.. cuz he at least spent some of it for our betterment too. unlike pure black hearts.. who sit there for 5 years and nothing good ever comes out of their tenure.

So, I request the media and all my fellow bloggers... STOP DISCUSSING NRO! and start highlighting the real problems of country: food, education, power, security and value of life. There never existed "Pure clean" politics, so why expect it now? Accept the shades of grey!

The perception that divides you from him
Is a lie
For some reason you never asked why
This is not a black and white world
You can't afford to believe in your side

This is not a black and white world
To be alive
I say that the colours must swirl
And I believe
That maybe today
We will all get to appreciate

The Beauty of Grey

(Song by band: LIVE)

Sunny Side: Faraz Raknuddin (Electric car)

2009-11-07T03:25:00.000-08:00

I will also be posting in a regular section called "The Sunny Side". It will be a series of news / life profiles / contributions by Pakistani youth; that will show that not everything is gloomy in Pakistan. And there still really is hope and good people on individual level.. away from the dhotti's of politics. Its saddens me that our Pakistani youth and media know more about Meera's husband rather than guys like these which i will introduce in this section.

First up in the series is "Faraz Rakunuddin Khan". So, just to give a brief introduction:

He is a graduate from Cornell University
He runs his own open source consulting firm called Emergon Consulting
He created an open source enterprise mangment software Zivios
He is a member of OffRoadPakistan.com and thus a big car enthusiast
He has made Pakistan's first electric car under the name of Elektra Automotive

And today rather than his other other accomplishments I am just gonna focus on his latest achievement... Pakistan's Electric Car than his news about a independetly made Electric car made in Pakistan which he called Elektra-1.

He modified an existing Mehran took out all the engine, mechanical clutch, filters, carburetor, spark plugs etc. and then custom fitted everything he needed to couple an electric motor and batteries to power the vehicle. And now the car is in fully working.

The advantages of shifting to electric powered vehicles have grown immensly in outside world as it is more environmental friendly. Currently Faraz has run tests on the car and the economy of running Elektra in Pakistan is : RS. 1 per KM. Interested? He is thinking of commercializing it for 5.5 lac per car.

And this is not the end for his work. Faraz has already start to work on his next Prototype which will be able to travel 160km on a single charge. Use local Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries for better economy. 70 HP motor. It will easily go up to speed of 110 km/h speed. Its efficiency will be attained by custom built dent proof fiber glass body with airconditioning and custom dashboard.

Lets see where his this endevaours take him. May Allah make up successful in this. Proud of you to be a Pakistani!

Taliban: a new agenda, an old name

2009-11-06T22:10:00.000-08:00

Taliban history is well known, they started off as a U.S. supported group back in Afghanistan to fight against Soviet Union. From 1996 to 2001 is where laid the real history of Taliban.. and I am not going to explain the history in this post. This post is what happened afterwards...

In 2004.. a reformed group emerged.. which only call themselves Taliban. I will not call them by that name, for they disgust the name. The media called them Taliban.. just because they were of Pashtun origins. A name represents an ideology, and their agenda or cause is neither as noble as Taliban nor based on any Islamic law.

These new formed "so-called-taliban" are bombing civilians, attacking civil protection agencies, banning education and portraying an image which is nothing Islamic in the name of Islam. It is like their agenda is to degrade Islam and do instability in Pakistan.

We can be free of a guilty conscious and blame it on "external" factors like RAW or CIA to fund and fuel these "wars". But the blaming will not solve anything. Both the image of Pakistan and Islam has already been badly damaged. If I quote from Newsweek..

Today no other country on earth is arguably more dangerous than Pakistan. It has everything Osama bin Laden could ask for: political instability, a trusted network of radical Islamists, an abundance of angry young anti-Western recruits, secluded training areas, access to state-of-the-art electronic technology, regular air service to the West and security services that don't always do what they're supposed to do. (Unlike in Iraq or Afghanistan, there also aren't thousands of American troops hunting down would-be terrorists.) Then there's the country's large and growing nuclear program. "If you were to look around the world for where Al Qaeda is going to find its bomb, it's right in their backyard," says Bruce Riedel, the former senior director for South Asia on the National Security Council.

So, this is the image we are left with... an ideal home-ground for terrorists. So, the question is what can be done? and the biggest questions in that is that as an individual who has no authority or power or money or resources... what can be done by you.

Stop calling these suicide bombers.. "Taliban". Taliban (once) represented an Islamic movement. Just calling these new hot heads taliban, just puts it in mind of everyone that these are some "Islamists", whereas that is not the case. So, even in your general discussion with friends, collegaues, family... if someone mentions them as "Taliban" stop them and correct them..
Support mudrasas (Islamic schools) and stop blaming all of them for terrorist activities. Once again when some school is closed by calling it "Mudrusa" we shame our religion; as it puts in mind that maybe all that is taught in any school with islamic name is "suicide" and bomb blasting.

The fault is not with school.. it is with parents. It actually becomes dangerous when parents stop takign interest in what their children are learning. If they rely 100% on schools .. then even a high profile English medium school is worse than a suicidal mudrasa; where your kids will learn to smoke, disrespect women and parents and become someone who knows how to fluently speak english, but doesnt know a thing about being a good human being.
Become pro-Islamic and pro-Fundamentalists rather than shying away. Yes these days if you stop being Islamic supporter.. then you already made the terrorist win. Their objective of degrading Islam is successful. Cuz now not only the exterior world.. but the Pakistani Muslims and its youth themselves started to turn away from the real message.

Our Islamic Fundamentals are our root.. be a Fundamentalists who believes in Quran and Hadith as guiding light.. promote them! Its an era of psychological warfare. Instead of going away from Islamic beliefs and calling them "un-modern", become a representation of true Islam in modern era. A Good or bad image decides the fate of the war... not swords and sticks.

Police-Gardi in Pakistan

2009-11-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

I do have all the sympathies with the police of Pakistan for their tiresome duties in middle of the roads, cluttered with sand and blazing sun. They are also one of the targets of suicide attacks, serves on the Holidays like and running through a bad bad time these days. These all reasons are enough for a man to become rock solid in his attitude and to loose feelings, BUT the video below also speaks the truth and i am happy that this man in the video got what he deserves. This also shows that spirit in our people is not dead yet.

Rest of the work is of our Media, we shall wait for the feedback ... but should not carry much hopes, after all she is a child not our heroine meera.

and we call it Islami Jamhuria ..... ??

2009-11-04T07:27:00.000-08:00

The 8 years of Musharraf government planted numerous poisoned seeds in the soil of Pakistan. One of them was "Fahashi" (nudity) in the cover of Enlightenment. Somebody tell me is it this what we wanted our kids to be?? and Media took wrong privilege of its freedom ...

Revolution Destined to Youth

2009-11-04T04:10:00.000-08:00

Although Pakistani youth has stuck into the forced western charm by our controlled media, but the results have drawn a clear line between thoughts.
Some has gone way into the catchy terms of modernization and liberation while the rest has become serious about the current situation of Pakistan. The revolution depends on the second category mentioned.
We just need to unite on one platform, need a leader, straining out a good one from the existing leaders is near to impossible. Combining patriotic thoughts and Islamic thoughts is another issue. Getting agreed on a single vision seems unimaginable.
Anything could be near to it but not completely impossible, we had done this 62 years back and can do this again. Keeping faith is the first step.