In
Pakistan We Have Selective Islam
My Generation grew up at a time when
colonial hang up was at its peak. Our older generation had been slaves
and had a huge inferiority complex of the British. The school I went to
was a similar to all elite schools in Pakistan, despite becoming
independent, they were, and still are, producing replicas of public
school boys rather than Pakistanis. I read Shakespeare which was fine,
but no Allama Iqbal. The Islamic class was not considered to be serious,
and when I left the school I was considered amongst the elite of the
country because I could speak English and wore western clothes. Despite
periodically shouting Pakistan Zindabad at school functions, I
considered my own culture backward and Islam an outdated religion.
Amongst our group if anyone talked about religion, prayed or kept a
beard he was immediately branded a Mullah. Because of the power of the
Western Media, all our heroes were western movie or pop stars. When I
went to Oxford already burdened with this hang up from my school days,
things didn't get any easier. In University not just Islam but all
religions were considered anachronism. Science had replaced religion and
if something couldn't be logically proved it did not exist. All
supernatural stuff was confined to the movies. Philosophers like Darwin
who with his half baked theory of evolution was supposed to have
disproved the creation of man and hence religion. Moreover, the European
history had an awful experience with religion. The horrors committed by
the Christian clergy in the name of God during the Inquisition had left
a powerful impact on the western mind. To understand why the West is so
keen on secularism, one should go to places like Cordoba in Spain and
see torture apparatus used during Spanish Inquisition. Also the
persecution of scientists as heretics by the clergy and convinced the
Europeans that all religions are regressive. However, the biggest factor that
drove people like me away from religion was the selective Islam
practised by most of its preachers. In other words, there was a huge
difference between what they practised and what they preached. Also,
rather than explaining the philosophy behind the religion, there was an
over emphasis on rituals. I feel that humans are different to animals
whereas the later can be drilled, humans need to be intellectually
convinced. That is why the Quran constantly appeals to reason. The worst
of course, was the exploitation of Islam for political gains by various
individuals or groups. Hence, it was a miracle I did not
become an atheist. The only reason why I did not was the powerful
religious influence wielded by my mother on me since my childhood. It
was not so much out of conviction but love for her that I stayed a
Muslim. However, my Islam was selective i.e. I accepted only parts of
the religion that suited me. Prayers were restricted to Eid days and
occasionally on Fridays, when my father insisted on taking me with him.
If there was a God I was not sure about it and certainly felt that he
did not interfere with my life. All in all I was smoothly moving to
becoming a Pukka Brown Sahib [Totally Anglicized Pakistani]. After all I
had the right credentials in terms of the right school, university and
above all, acceptability in the English aristocracy, something that our
brown sahibs would give their lives for. So what led me to do a lota
[turn your back to] on the Brown Sahib culture and instead become a Desi?
Well it did not just happen overnight. Firstly, the inferiority complex that
my generation had inherited gradually went as I developed into a world
class athlete. Secondly, I had the unique position of living between two
cultures. I began to see the advantages and the disadvantages of both
the societies. In western societies, institutions were strong while they
were collapsing in our country. However, there was an area where we were
and still are superior, and that is our family life. I used to notice
the loneliness of the old-age pensioners at Hove Cricket ground (during
my Sussex years). Imagine sending your parents to Old Peoples' Homes!
Even the children there never had the sort of love and warmth that we
grew up with here. They completely miss out on the security blanket that
a joint family system provides. However, I began to realise that the
biggest loss to the western society and that in trying to free itself
from the oppression of the clergy, they had removed both God and
religion from their lives. While science can answer a lot of questions,
no matter how much it progresses, two questions it will never be able to
answer: One, what is the purpose of the existence and two, what happens
to us when we die? It is this vacuum that I felt created the
materialistic and the hedonistic culture. If this is the only life then
one must make hay while the sun shines-and in order to do so one needs
money. Such a culture is bound to cause psychological problems in a
human being, as there is going to be an imbalance between the body and
the soul. Consequently, in the USA, which has shown the greatest
materialistic progress and also gives its citizens the greatest human
rights, almost 60 per cent of the population consult psychiatrists. Yet,
amazingly in modern psychology, there is no study of the human soul.
Sweden and Switzerland, who provide the most welfare to their citizens,
also have the highest suicide rates; hence, man is not necessarily
content with material well being he needs something more. Since all morality has it roots in
religion, once religion was removed, immorality has progressively
escalated since the 70's. The direct impact of it is on the family life.
In UK, the divorce rate is 60 per cent, while it is estimated that there
are over 35 per cent single mothers. The crime rate is rising in almost
all western societies, but the most disturbing fact is the alarming
increase in racism. While science always tries to prove the inequality
of man (recent survey showing the American Black to be genetically less
intelligent than whites) it is only religion which preaches the equality
of man. Between '91 and '97, it was estimated that total immigration
into Europe was around 520,000, and there were racially motivated
attacks all over, especially in Britain, France and Germany. In Pakistan
during the Afghan war, we had over four million refugees, and despite
the people being so much poorer here and in the NWFP, they suffered a
considerable loss in their standard of living as a result of the
refugees yet, there was no racial tension. No wonder, last year in
Britain religious education was reintroduced in their schools. There was a sequence of events in the
80's that moved me towards God as the Quran says: "There are signs
for people of understanding." One of them was cricket. As I was a
student of the game, the more I understood the game, the more I began to
realise that what I considered to be chance was, in fact, the will of
Allah, the pattern which became clearer with time. But it was not until
Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses that my understanding of Islam began to
develop. People like me who were living in the western world bore the
brunt of anti-Islam prejudice that followed the Muslim reaction to the
book. We were left with two choices: fight or flight. Since I felt
strongly that the attacks on Islam were unfair, I decided to fight. It
was then I realised that I was not equipped to do so as my knowledge of
Islam was inadequate, Hence I started my research and for me a period of
my greatest enlightenment. I read scholars like Ali Shariati, Mohammad
Asad, Iqbal, Gai Eaton, plus of course, a study of the Holy Quran. I will try to explain as concisely as
is possible, what "discovering the truth" meant for me. When
the believers are addressed in the Quran, it always says, "Those
who believe and do good deeds." In other words, a Muslim has dual
function, one towards God and the other towards fellow human beings. The
greatest impact of believing in God for me, meant that I lost all fear
of human beings. The Quran liberates man from man when it says that life
and death and respect and humiliation are God's jurisdiction, so we do
not have to bow before other human beings. As Iqbal puts it, Wo aik
Sajda jisay tu giran samajhta hai, hazaar sajdon say deta hai admi ko
nijaat. [The bowing that you despise is such that it will free from
bowing down before millions.] Moreover, since this is a transitory
world where we prepare for the eternal one, I broke out of the
self-imposed prisons, such as growing old (such a curse in the western
world, as a result of which, plastic surgeons are having a field day),
materialism, ego, what people say and so on. It is important to note
that one does not eliminate the earthly desires, simply that instead of
being controlled by them, one controls them. By following the second part of
believing in Islam, I have become a better human being. Rather than
being self-centred and living for the self, I feel that because the
Almighty gave so much to me, in turn I must use that blessing to help
the less privileged. By following the fundamentals of Islam rather than
becoming a Kalashnikov-wielding fanatic. I have become a tolerant and a
giving human being who feels compassion the under privileged. Instead of
attributing success to myself, I know it is because of God's will, hence
humility instead of arrogance. Also, instead of the snobbish Brown Sahib
attitude towards our masses, I believe in egalitarianism and strongly
feel against the injustice done to the weak in our society according to
the Quran, "Oppression is worse than killing." In fact only
now do I understand the true meaning of Islam, if you submit to the will
of Allah, you have inner peace. Through my faith, I have discovered
strength within me that I never knew existed and that has released my
potential in life. My education programme that I intend to announce is
far more ambitious than the cancer hospital project. I feel that in
Pakistan we have selective Islam. Just believing in God and going
through the rituals is not enough one also has to be a good human being.
I feel there are certain western countries with far more Islamic traits
than us, especially in the way they protect the rights of their
citizens, or for that matter their justice system. In fact some of the
finest individuals I know live there. What I dislike about them is their
double-standards in the way they protect the rights of their citizens
and yet consider citizens of other countries as being somehow inferior
to them as human being, e.g. dumping toxic waste in the Third World,
advertising cigarettes that are not allowed in the west and selling
drugs that are banned in the west. One of the problems facing Pakistan
is the polarisation of two reactionary groups. On one side is the
westernised group that looks upon Islam through western eyes and has
inadequate knowledge about the subject. It reacts to any one trying to
impose Islam in the society and wants only a selective part of the
religion. On the other extreme is the group that reacts to this
westernised elite and in trying to become a defender of the faith, takes
up such intolerant and self-righteous attitudes that are repugnant to
the spirit of Islam. What needs to be done is to somehow
start a dialogue between the two extreme. In order for this to happen,
the group on whom the greatest proportion of our educational resources
are spent in this country must study Islam properly. Whether they become
practising Muslims or believe in God is entirely a personal choice; as
the Quran tells us that there is "no compulsion in religion."
However, they must arm themselves with knowledge as a weapon to fight
extremism. By turning up their noses at extremism is not going to solve
the problem. The Quran calls Muslims "the middle nation", i.e.
not of extremes. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was told to simply give the
message and not worry whether people converted or not, therefore, there
is no question in Islam of forcing your opinions on any one else. Moreover, we are told to respect
other religions, their places of worship and their prophets. It should
be noted that no Muslim missionaries or armies ever went to Malaysia or
Indonesia. The people converted to Islam due to the high principles and
impeccable character of the Muslim traders. At the moment, the worst
advertisement for Islam are the Muslim countries with their selective
Islam, especially where the religion is used to deprive people of their
rights. In fact, a society that obeys fundamentals of Islam has to be a
liberal one. If our westernised class started to
study Islam, not only will it be able to help our society fight
sectarianism and extremism, but it will also make them realise what a
progressive religion Islam is. They will also be able to help the
western world by articulating Islamic concepts. Last year, Prince
Charles accepted that the western world can learn from Islam during his
speech at the Oxford Union. But how can this happen if the group that is
in to best position to project Islam gets its attitudes from the west
and considers Islam backward? Islam is a universal religion and that is
why our Prophet (PBUH) was called a mercy for all mankind. The Death of Lady Diana was very
touching and was felt by all races and religions. As far I would like to
comment on the subject goes that she had a great interest and admiration
for the religion of Islam. She would always be inqusitive about it.
After my marriage to Jemima she saw the wonders of Islam and how it had
reformed Haiqa. As I hope, it has made the world realise that marriage
to Dodi was not to be by the Grace of Allah. Maybe it would have been a
great threat to the West of Lady Diana reverting to Islam, or even
carrying an Islamic name, as she would have still been a mother of a
future King. Only Allah knows the Truth, but all I can say is that she
like Prince Charles had a great Interest in the religion. And the
probability of Lady Diana reverting were excellent.
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