Shamim writes of the Islamic moral hypocrisy in its
application to Pakistan religious minorities, especially Pakistani Christians.
JRH 3/1/17
***************
I Beg to Differ
By Shamim Masih (Mahmood)
Sent 3/1/2017 8:53 AM
ISLAMABAD: Various cities in the upper parts of
Pakistan were jolted by earthquake tremors on Tuesday, February 28, 2017. I
heard one of my friend saying that God is angry with us and thus there are
earthquakes and other natural disasters etc. It is common practice in
Pakistani society; especially Muslim prayer leader decry in Friday prayer
sermon counting the possible reasons why God is angry and reasons of natural
disasters. The major reasons quoted are: selling alcohol, committing adultery
especially during Ramanza [aka Ramadan], Women going out for shopping in the markets,
co-education system and youth using mobile phones and latest technology. These
are botched up priorities and it is very painful to see the priority list of
do’s and don’ts of the Moulanas.***
[***Blog Editor: As an American blogger, I was not
certain what a “Moulana” was. Google-America was not cooperative. That search
suggested alternative spellings. In the context of Shamim’s paragraph I am
going to guess two Google alternatives: Maulana and Mawlānā.
Maulana
(The Free Dictionary):
n. Islam
1. A Muslim man respected for his religious knowledge or scholarship.
2. Used as a courtesy title for such a leader or scholar.
Mawlānā (/mɔːˈlɑːnə/; from Arabic مولانا,
literally "our lord/master")[1] is a title,
mostly in Central
Asia and in the Indian
subcontinent, preceding the name of
respected Muslim religious
leaders, in particular graduates of religious institutions, e.g. a madrassa or a darul uloom, or scholars who
have studied under other Islamic scholars. ***]
Looking analytically, what is agonizing is when mentioning
sins, the sin of telling a lie, cheating, hypocrisy, bribery, killing poor and
innocent people, injustice from bottom to top, child abuse even in Madrisas
(seminaries), the religious leadership and elders of the society conveniently
overlook adulteration of foodstuff and medicines. I am not a supporter to those
mentioned above but we can realize that selling wine would be one or few
persons, the rest are teetotalers. Fornication would be an individual act. So
how comes so grave a sin in the whole society? These could be sins but major
sins are overlooked and moulana sahib [Islamic titular veneration]
straight away jumps to mention drinking, dancing, modern dressing and using
cell phones etc. etc.
For those who believe, God is actually unhappy because of
our botched-up priorities. Bribery is now accepted as norm, people give false
testimony in sensitive legal cases like blasphemy and then proudly mention it
to others. (It is pertinent to mention that in giving testimony usually an oath
is taken on Religious books) Telling lies has become a regular affair and being
truthful and righteous is considered a weakness. Discrimination and inequality are
against a special segment of the society. And thus, God is unhappy and keeps
warning us to sort out our priorities.
A Superiority complex and forced imposition have made this
world hell. There is no peace, stability, security and equality in the society.
Freedom of speech is merely seen in papers but claimed all over. The poor are
becoming poorer and rich are more rich. Thus, poor especially religious
minorities are at risk. Hundreds of individuals have been falsely accused
because of property disputes or personal vengeance. Blasphemy laws put
Christians and other religious minorities at risk. Discriminatory laws have restricted
minorities’ representatives to grow in all avenues of life. Touching the Quran
or any other book of Islam, expressing or publishing atheistic opinions and
preaching of other religions are consider as crime in Pakistan. Christians are
often falsely accused of participating in these activities, but in and of
themselves these laws are unjust constraints on religious freedom.
Christians and other religious minorities should be free to
exercise their religion without fear of unjust persecution. This has to end, we
must not rest until there is peace, security and equality for Christians and
other religious minorities in Pakistan. This creates a stigma which condemns
religious minorities to live under the permanent threat of death. The lives of
the poor hang on a very thin thread.
Be Blessed,
Shamim Mahmood
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__________________
Edited by John R. Houk
Text embraced brackets and
source links are by the Editor.
© Shamim Mahmood
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