Musings

As I sit and think about
The people who are dead and gone
I think of their possessions scattered
I think of their sons gone away
I ask them in my mind
Where are the castles that you built
Where are your talks and your plans
Where are your triumphs and failures
Your good deeds remain behind you
In somebody's memories today
But if you left behind only evil
Nobody remembers you today
Your sons have gone to live away
Your spouses may have remarried
The world doesn't stop for anyone
And everyone is replaceable
And then I think of the futility
How much this world is a waste
It charms us with its glamour
But one day it will fade away
If I leave behind a good deed
It may benefit me in hereafter
Other than that whatever I do
Will be blotted out forever
If I save my soul with some goodness
I may think of some salvation
But this world is just a trial
To get out of it as safe as I can

End FGM

A young 17 year old has lost her life due to excessive bleeding during an illegal female circumcision in Egypt. While Egypt has made female circumcision illegal way back in 2007, such practices continue illegally even today. Female circumcision is a cultural practice in Africa and some parts of Asia to ensure fidelity of a woman. In some parts it is mandatory before marriage. This cultural practice has forced itself into religion in African countries and is now treated as a religious practice. Female genital mutilation is not a religious practice and has no benefit to any person. It is a tribal practice to keep women under male dominance. Along with the breast pressing practices of Africa, it comes as a false way of dominating a woman and restricting her choices. Female genital mutilation prevents a woman from leading her life to her full potential, adding pain, suffering and increased chances of infections. Though a number of women and activists are coming forward against such barbaric practice, the instant case clearly shows that the law against it is ineffective and it requires greater efforts in preventing it. Even though the particular hospital has been closed, it makes apparent the fact that there might be many other hospitals during illegal procedures. There is a need for greater scrutiny of hospitals and healthcare professionals, of educating young women about their rights and of easy access to law enforcement agencies for preventing such activities. Female genital mutilation is an evil that needs to be curbed by a combined domestic as well as international effort.

A baby

As I watch my baby sleeping
I saw the pictures of another baby
Cradled in the arms of a rescuer
Sleeping an eternal sleep
Nobody knows who he was
Or who his parents were
Floating on water by a drowned boat
He was an angel gone
Fled to find a safe haven
Only to find rest in death
He calls us to end the wars
To keep other children safe
As tears roll down my cheeks
I wonder how to make this world safe
A safer passage for refugees
A place of dignity when they land
The end of wars so every child has peace
Schools and playgrounds and medical aid
A place where there is no more hunger
No more thirst, no more despair
A place where there is no more pain
But only peace and progress
My Lord please bring about peace
For every baby born or to come

Why this barbarism Egypt?

Just because a Christian man has a relationship with a Muslim woman, is no reason for his old mother to be stripped and paraded naked and houses of seven Christian families be looted and burned. A mob of armed 300 men did this shameful act just because two people chose each other. Every person has a freedom to choose his partner and society and religion has no part in it. Moreover, under any circumstance an armed mob has definitely no role in it. It is shameful that a 70 year old woman was targeted. It is disgusting that houses were burnt and looted. It is a very shameful incident and it is high time to sit back and reflect upon it. This barbaric act clearly shows that the woman had made a better choice, the peaceful community that did not retaliate is better than the hooligans who have no shame and regard for others. Under Islam, it is the duty of Muslims to protect the Christians and have got no right to hurt or abuse them. This act of vandalism is against all human rights as well as all religious tenets.

Islam and racism

Racism is a fact that is present around the world. While both the international and the domestic laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race or color, nonetheless, instances of such discrimination are a day to day happening. Islam from its very beginning attacked racism and racist tendencies. Quran came out and said that mankind was made into different races and tribes so that people may know each other, meaning thereby, to associate and marry with each other. We have the example of Bilal, the black man whom the Holy Prophet (pbuh) made his moazzin, the prayer caller, instead of the Arabs. Further, we see that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said that a white man has no superiority over a black man nor a black man any superiority over a white man, except in his piety and also that whoever practices racial discrimination or it is exercised for him has taken off the collar of belief from his neck. It means that a person who has racist tendencies is not a believer and will not be treated like one on the day of judgment. Thus, Islam from its very first attacked racial discrimination and advocated the equality amongst all men.

Misplaced priorities

Recently I was reading an article about urban poverty and was more than confused about the concept. To say that a person holding a job, earning a salary that entitles him to be in the tax paying category, is poor just because he spends all his money on luxury items and hence is unable to afford necessities is too far fetched. There is a difference between what are necessities and what are luxury items. A person is poor if he cannot afford the basic necessities, he is not poor if he cannot afford the luxury items and definitely not poor if he is unable to get necessities because he has spent all his money on luxuries. The real urban poor are the slum dwellers, the individuals who are earning than Rs33 a day, who do menial jobs to get their ends meet. The twenty-something who have jobs and are trying to copy the high end lifestyle are not poor. Not eating proper food in order to buy branded clothes and phones or cars is not poverty, it is stupidity. It is being blind to the world. There used to be an old saying of not spending more than what you earn and there is merit in it. Now on social media, one gets to see posts saying what is so middle class. Reusing and recycling things is not so middle class, it is being socially aware and environmentally concerned. And if it is middle class, then everyone should have middle class values. Wasting food at a buffet is insensitive, it is not a matter of pride. There are people who are really poor, who need help. But the bunch of young people who are engulfed in things so vain are not urban poor. They are, if anything, a poor judge of things and lack the basic skills of resource management.

Marriage in Islam

Marriage is something that has many jokes written on it, it is something that people don't understand completely or correctly. It is a very important relationship, in fact, it is the backbone of the society. Commonly, it is perceived that a person marries for love, sex or companionship, which reflect the physical aspect of marriage. But Islam also talks about the spiritual aspect of marriage, raising it to a form of worship. In Islam, marriage is not a right but an obligation. Quran says that spouses are like an apparel to each other, meaning that they have a duty to protect, beautify, defend, cover each other from the whole world. They are not to criticize each other to the whole world but defend and keep each others' honor. They are bound to help each other stay on the guided path and improve each other's piety. Islam says don't marry someone for their looks or wealth but for their piety. It emphasizes on the importance of marital relationship and to stay together. Islam says that true love leads a person towards the remembrance of Allah. This is the kind of love that Islam emphasizes on. People who are married to each other, Allah brings their hearts together, and shaitan tries to separate them by showing them outside temptations. Islam teaches that the person outside is nothing special when compared with the person one has married. It says come together in mutual love and respect and it judges a person's character by the way they treat their spouse. Marriage in Islam is a guidance, a source of spouses leading each other towards the way of righteousness.