Change we really need (Part I)

Wake-up call

They ask thee to hasten on the evil in preference to the good: Yet have come to pass, before them, (many) exemplary punishments! But verily thy Lord is full of forgiveness for mankind for their wrong-doing, and verily thy Lord is (also) strict in punishment. Verse # 6, Surah 13. Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder)

We all saw history in making when the almighty Wall Street came down. Maybe I make it sound more dramatic than it actually was but whoever thought that such giant corporations would come down like houses of cards. To me, fall of Wall Street giants and the subsequent recession that followed is certainly a catastrophe of biblical propitiations. We may not admit it as a global catastrophe because there was no death-toll attached to it but natural calamities have only regional impact while this catastrophe touched almost all or us in one way or the other, whether it is a lost job, or lost sales or a lost opportunity.

And now that it has happened and shouldn’t we consider this as a subtle wake-up call from God but do we listen? Subtle it was indeed, because God is certainly capable of much more. The Lord works in mysterious ways and the Empire of Greed came crushing down.

The Resurrection

See they not how many of those before them We did destroy?- generations We had established on the earth, in strength such as We have not given to you - for whom We poured out rain from the skies in abundance, and gave (fertile) streams flowing beneath their (feet): yet for their sins We destroyed them, and raised in their wake fresh generations (to succeed them). Verse # 6, Surah 6. Al-An'am (Cattle, Livestock)

The concept of resurrection tells us about new beginnings and of starting over. So the Wall Street went down and the after shocks took down countless giant corporations all around the world. These corporations were also the extensions to the same Greed Inc.

Now that we are all set to starting over and for sure this change will bring countless opportunities to many. This change has now created a huge vacuum which will usher in a new generation of entrepreneurs to the helm of affairs. These men and women will now have a chance to bring their innovative ideas to work. How these men and women will fare, only the future will tell us but we now have a fair idea of the real change we need in ourselves and in our societies.

To continue……….

Our purpose in this world

Many times I have pondered on this question, “for what purpose we have been sent in this world” and the answer doesn’t come easily, I tell you. First, I turned to my religion which tells me that we have been sent here to serve God. This doesn’t explains much, “are we here to serve His ego by dutifully going through this hardship called life?”, I asked myself that and the answer came back as “no”. So I was back to square one. The answer, rather, came in bits and pieces and I shall try to explain.

Globalization is a dirty word, I know, but can we escape it? No, we cannot. Globalization isn’t necessarily all that bad, I tell you. This world keeps getting smaller and technology plays a vital part in this globalization. So I publish a post and the whole world can see it in 2 minutes and this process will get shorter and shall pave way for newer, better technologies. Now consider a world of tomorrow where you can go anywhere in 10 minutes (like Startrek, beam me up Scotty). Will we have our respective governments in that world? Would we need visas and passports then? No, governments will become obsolete in the future it has been written.

Technology is also opening borders and more people have started voicing their concerns and opinions, which is again good. We are now seeing people rather than citizens of another country and I feel amazed to learn that somebody in Alaska has issues which are similar to mine. The world is opening up on the wings of technology and this is bad for politicians who are being exposed. People, it seems, are taking over this world and they continue to join hands.
Through technology we are also seeing similarities we have. We continue to learn that all the religions have many things in common only things have been labeled differently. We also learn that people who do not believe in God point to nature, etc., in order to explain things as they see it.

The whole point of the above was to explain that we, as a human race, are actually going in one direction, whether we like it or continue to resist it. And that is the whole point of my essay. Yes, we have been sent in this world with a mission to serve God. To me, the purpose of sending us in this world is to become one. When the whole of humanity will join as one, this purpose will be served. This may take time and generations may pass but this will happen.

So how do we serve God? You may be asking. By serving humanity we are actually serving God, I can say for sure. By serving humanity, I do not mean that we should take up charity work. Rather, being considerate to others we are also serving God.

Serving God or humanity doesn’t necessarily means undertaking a big mission in life. We need to understand that by giving a simple smile we are also doing God’s work.

America as I see it

Recently much has been written on America’s role in Pakistan’s politics. One school of thought in Pakistan suggests that America should stop its interference and withdraw is forces from Afghanistan immediately. These people point to American policies of past and suggest America cannot be trusted. This argument has some truth in it and same was admitted by Mrs. Clinton during her various discussions at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meetings. The other school sides itself with Mr. Obama and his promise for change. These people are forward looking and are willing to let go of the troubled past. I, on the other hand, have a slightly different perspective which I shall try to explain.

To me, America is truly a great nation not because of its economic, political or nuclear power but because of its people and for the values which they hold true. History tells us that the American nation had its share of troubles on which they had to take very painful decisions but the people of America always took decisions as dictated by their conscious and which proved them right. If we go through America’s history we will learn that they fought their independence way back when the British were still trying to establish their hold on the Indian subcontinent. The proclamation of Fist Amendment and the Civil Rights Movement are just a few examples and there are many others.

One recent example of these great decisions is the election Mr. Obama for presidency. I do not praise American people for selecting the man; Obama, for his promise of change but I praise them for electing a man whose race was brought to America as slaves not so long ago. This can only happen in America. Although, our religion Islam tells us not to discriminate on the basis of color or caste but we, the Mulims, are not morally strong enough to take such a step. Obama has promised much and he may or may not make good on his promises, we the Muslims have yet to see that and so does the Americans. Still, even if Mr. Obama fails there would certainly be many many “Obamas” to come, that is what I expect of the American nation. I do not expect a smooth ride on this hopeful thought but progress of mankind has always been a two-step-forward-one-step-back process but that’s the way God works.

In the end, Mr. Obama may fail and I may get lynched for writing this but I have already decided to place my bets with the American people because they are the ones who truly understand the meaning of the words, freedom and democracy.

Who let the Dawgs out?

"Yesterday I was a dawg. Today I'm a dawg. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dawg. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement." - Snoopy

All is still not lost I say to ye, my fellow dawgs and if you tend to agree with Mr. Snoopy Dawg, you may consider yourself as an enlightened dawg. Every dawg is allowed one bite, as the saying goes and this dawg is willing to take his chances before his dawggy day comes. We are told almost every dawg-gone day not to respond to a barking dawg but I am fed up of getting the same ol’ dawggy biscuits. So I’m no mo’ a mister nice dawg. I know, that you all will be gearing up by now to bark at me but lets just consider the Chinese saying, ”one dawg barks at something, the rest bark at him”, and that’s the way of us fellow dawgs. You may also wanna give this dawg a bad name and hang him but lately I consider myself a dawg on some days and on others I’m a hydrant. “Are you gonna bark all day little dawggy, or are you gonna bite?”, I know you must be getting impatient by now, you dawg!

Dawgs are getting bigger according to a leading dawg manufacturer and this poses a direct threat to our masters. Fortunately, our dawg-gone world is still a leaderless ground (err no, Snoop Dawg is not our leader, he is just an entertainer). So I consider this an opportunity, because if we dawgs ever take over the world, and we chose a king, we should not just go by size, because I bet there are some little dogs with some good ideas. So I remain an optimistic and a democratic dawg.

Indeed most of us dawgs don’t like to read because we cannot find time in our dawggy lives but just consider the following what is being written about us dawgs:

"Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is how dawgs spend their lives”…. "Like dawgs in a wheel, ambitious men still climb and climb, with great labor, and incessant anxiety, but never reach the top”….. "[My dawg] can bark like a congressman, fetch like an aide, beg like a press secretary and play dead like a receptionist when the phone rings"….. "The dawg is a yes-animal. Very popular with people who can't afford a yes man"….. "If you pick up a starving dawg and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dawg and a man”….. "No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dawg does”…. "I love a dawg. He does nothing for political reasons”….. "They say a reasonable amount 'o fleas is good fer a dawg -- keeps him from broodin' over bein' a dawg, mebbe"…… "You learn in this business: If you want a friend, get a dawg"….. "My dawg is usually pleased with what I do, because he is not infected with the concept of what I "should" be doing"….. "If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not barking dawg, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain”…. "If dawgs could talk, perhaps we would find it as hard to get along with them as we do with people"…… "A dawg is a dog except when he is facing you. Then he is Mr. Dawg"…."Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice dawggie!', till you find a rock"…."Dawgs have more love than integrity. They've been true to us, yes, but they haven't been true to themselves"…."Know yourself. Don't accept your dawg's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful"….."One reason a dawg is such a lovable creature is his tail wags instead of his tongue"….."My goal in life is to become as wonderful as my dawg thinks I am"….. “Happiness to a dawg is what lies on the other side of a door”….”Like a dawg, he hunts in dreams”…..”It is the way of a dawg that if he is hit by a stone, he bites a fellow dawg”….. “Our dawgs will love and admire the meanest of us, and feed our colossal vanity with their uncritical homage"…… “If a dawg's prayers were answered, bones would rain from the sky”…..”Money makes dawgs dance”……."When a man's dawg turns against hime, it is time for his wife to pack her trunk and go home to momma"…."Every boy who has a dawg should also have a mother, so the dawg can be fed regularly”.

Awww, my poor little dawggies, did I made you cry? This is degrading, you must be saying, afterall dawgs are people too. I know that from a fellow dawg's point of view, his master is an elongated and abnormally cunning dawg but our masters don’t know yet that a dawg wags his tail, not for them, but for their bread. “Beware of a silent dawg”, I say to you. Yes indeed, we are told repeatedly that is a dawg-eat-dawg world out there but actually dawg does not eat dawg, remember that.

I know there are some good dawgs of all sizes out there and one barking dawg sets the whole street barking. Till now, our masters have only heard our “yelp” but now the time is at hand that they should hear our growl as well.

"Life is like a dawg sled team. If you ain't the lead dawg, the scenery never changes." - Lewis Grizzard

My beef with spiritualism

Actually my “beef” is not with spiritualism itself, it has to do with how it is preached and practiced in Pakistan. Some of you may recall my previous essay on this topic under the heading “Lost Sufis of Pakistan” on which I got a lot of flak as usual. But that essay was intended for another audience altogether and in this essay I will try to explain the basis for my skepticism against the various popular forms and shapes of spiritualism / Sufism / mysticism in Pakistan. I will also try to shed light on some popular myths on this subject matter which I find contradictory with the teachings of the Quran.

One of the comments I got in the last essay that spiritualism has to be actually “felt” from within and Allah gives guidance to whomever He chooses. Now the first part of this statement is quizzical to me, it implies that guidance is for a selected few who can actually feel it, for those of us who cannot “feel it” are destined to be doomed without any hope of salvation? Islam is not a religion for an enlightened few; it is for the whole mankind. Indeed, Allah gives guidance to whomever He chooses but we must not forget that there is a prerequisite to it; we have to seek guidance first. Come near to Me and I will come towards you, the Quran claims. Allah does not give salvation to those who do not seek it.

In the Quran Allah says that He is all seeing and all hearing. He also says that I am nearer to you than your own jugular. Now when He actually says that, is there any space left for any intermediary to convey our grievances and prayers to Him? Here, you may also claim that prayers are more potent when conducted through the pious ones, if I accept that for a minute then, there is actually no need for Allah to say the above, He could have said the same in the Quran thus leaving no ambiguity whatsoever.

Yet another popular belief is that the student of spiritualism has no right to question his teacher. He has to obey his teacher without any shadow of doubt. Again I say, when the Quran is telling us to think and open our minds then why are we being told the contrary? People should also realize that by not questioning these pirs and faqirs, we simply handover a blank cheque to them and they gleefully play havoc with our money and our minds to say the least. Do we not read of rape and plunder by these so called pirs and faqirs almost everyday in the newspaper?

Once again I would like to clarify that I am not at all against spiritualism. Who am I to refute it? Spiritualism is indeed found in different forms in almost all regions practiced in this world. It is my belief that first we have to act upon the “physical” aspect of our religion and by striving to attain that Allah shall give us guidance to the next level; the spiritual level. Why do we always have to go for short cuts in all aspects of our lives including the religion?

I would like to end this essay with a quote from the Quran which, I hope, some of you will find meaningful:

“And the Day whereon We shall gather them all together, then We shall say to those who did set partners in worship with Us: "Stop at your place! You and your partners (whom you had worshipped in the worldly life)." then We shall separate them, and their partners (so-called gods) shall say: "It was not us that you used to worship."

"So sufficient is Allah for a witness between us and you, that we indeed knew nothing of your worship of us."

There! Every person will know (exactly) what (all) he had earned before, and they will be brought back to Allah, their rightful Lord, and their invented false deities will vanish from them.

Surah # 10 Yunus (Jonah), Ayat 28-30

We must realize that much of what is being taught today as a Sufi way is actually not what these Sufi’s actually said. I say again, it is for us to seek the truth for ourselves.

A Man Called Dawg!

A man comes home at 8:15 pm. Greets his wife and kids. His wife tells him that he needs to go to the market and so he goes. Comes back and its already 9 pm. The family has their dinner together and then he plays with his children for a while. Its 10:30 now and he sends his children to bed. He switches on the TV and watches news. There is a war going on, TV tells him. He watches and says nothing. It now midnight, and he goes to bed. His wife gives him a roundup of today’s events, he listens, says nothing. He sleeps.

He wakes up at 8:30 am from his dreamless stupor. Children already left for school. Takes a bath, eats his breakfast. Wife hands over the electricity bill to him. He notices a 30% increase in it despite severe loadshedding. He puts the bill in his pocket, says nothing and heads towards the office.

It’s now 9:30 am and he is already late for work. His boss calls him into his office and gives him the usual hell. He listens quietly and then goes to his seat. Tea is served and he chats with his colleagues. During the grapevine, he mentions the electricity bill, his colleague tells him that he needs to pray more. “Yeh sub qayamat ki nishaani hai” (the Day of Judgment is upon us), he is informed. He goes back to his seat.

It’s now 11:45 am and he gets a call from the accounts department. Tax slab has been raised, he is informed, and his salary will be taxed accordingly. He grumbles and hangs up the phone. Tax matters confuse him. He goes back to his work.

After the lunch hour his boss for calls him again. Due to the bad economic conditions we have to let your subordinate go, he is notified. He opens his mouth to say something but stops when informed that it’s either him or the subordinate. He goes back and breaks the news to his colleague. Better him than myself; I have a family to support, he thinks and resumes his work.

It’s now evening and he prepares to go home. On his way back he notices two armed men snatching cell from a motorist. He looks and he hurries on. No concern of mine, the government should take care of these goons, he thinks.

He reaches his home and notices a big pile of garbage right next to his door. The government does nothing, he thinks. He opens the door and the clock tells him that its 8:15 pm.

Pakistani Textiles: Condition Red!

The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) recently released the export figures for the month of May. These numbers paint a very grim picture for the largest industrial and employment generating sector of Pakistan and for the economy as a whole.

For the 11 months of the current fiscal year (Jul-May 2009), the textile sectors’ exports decreased by US$ 931 million, a fall of 9.6% compared to the same period last year. Almost all the sub-sectors are in red now especially the made-up sectors i.e. the bedlinen and the garments, which declined by US$ 184 million (10%) and US$ 331 million (11%) respectively. Only two sub-sectors i.e. towels and raw cotton, are showing a marginal increase. Towel exports increased by US$ 16 million (3%) while raw cotton exports surged by US$ 18 million (28%) during the 11 months of current fiscal year. It is worthwhile to mention here that increase in export of raw cotton is not a matter to rejoice because raw cotton is a commodity which sells very cheap and saps the down-stream value-added industry of valuable raw material.

Implications of the above figures can be felt far and wide in our economy. Couple of months back there was an article in the largest English daily which claimed that more than 300 textiles units have so far been closed rendering more than 700,000 people unemployed. But as there are no updated official figures on employment the figures would actually be much higher than what is claimed.

It is really alarming to know that despite this grim picture, the government has yet take single step to stem the faltering textile sector or the economy. The anticipated trade and textile policies are yet to be unveiled despite news that it is being given final touches for the past couple of months now. In any case, seeing the performance of this government in the past year, it can be claimed with certainty that these policies will not contain anything radical and so we should not be too optimistic. The ineffectiveness of this government can be gauged from the fact that the only demand put forward by the industry was a duty-free import status from USA and EU considering the tight financial conditions in Pakistan, even this demand has not been taken up properly despite Pakistan being a key ally in war against terror.

Only the government alone is not to be blamed for this whole scenario and the industry should be criticized here also. The industry is still running without any sense of direction or vision despite Pakistan being a cotton rich country. The industry has only managed survived on subsidies and doles handed down by the successive governments in the past. The industry has concentrated on taking only without giving anything back to Pakistan.