Since everyone’s coming up with their own manifesto for whatever reason they believe in, I’ve decided to put forth my own because I am, much to my disappointment and irritation, surrounded by rishta zombies. Now let’s clear one thing before I even start: It’s not just the aunties. I see tweets on Twitter and status updates on Facebook bashing elderly ladies and claiming that they’re the sole reason why our society is obsessed with marriage and other gimmicks but guess what?
I used to sketch some time back.. in the days when life was really easy. I gave it up when more important things came around and took my time. However, I never painted, except the one and only time when I painted my bag. Anyway, as starters, the teacher told us to make the Colour Wheel using poster colours. Here is the picture of what I came up with. Not good, but not bad either, considering it is my first work with paints (on paper) ever!
Ready to be kicked!
My parents gave me alot and I know I can never thank them enough or pay them back for it. Yesterday, on my birthday, I didn’t ask my father for anything because I realized that he has already given me the best thing in the entire universe; the understanding of religion.
I grew up listening to him saying, ‘Do not believe (in the matters of religion) what one says until you research for it.’ He told me to discover what religion is, all by my own. I was free to read about any religion and free to listen to any scholar. What I learned all along was the fact that this World hardly has any so-called-scholar who knows what he is talking about. I don’t talk about religion usually, as it is a really sensitive issue for everyone. But after yesterday, I couldn’t stop myself.
Note: This post is not directed towards any religion, it is directed towards the so-called-Muslim sects.
Yesterday was February 5th, 2012 of Solar Calender making it 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal of Lunar Calender.
Popularly, Muslims believe that 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal was the day the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was born, which isn’t actually proven and none of the recognised Islamic scholar believes it nor any Muslim who actually studies Islam. However, as Muslims are divided among many sects, the main two being Shia and Sunni, a further division of Sunnis believe that 12th of Rabiul-Awwal is the confirmed date of Prophet’s birthday.
So things really don’t seem bad till now, but somehow, this same class of Sunnis is very much against Shias, which again doesn’t really sound bad as every sunni, even if he/she doesn’t show it, doesn’t count Shias as Muslims. The reason is the fact that Shias openly claim that Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was chosen a Prophet ‘mistakenly’ (indirectly saying God made a mistake, right?) and that the Khulfa-e-Rashideen did not deserve the status they were granted and.. I can write more than 50 pages of how different their beliefs are and the fact that they never talk about it with Sunnis as the Holy Book Qur’an does not say a single word in accordance with what their Imams say.
To be honest, I don’t even care about what Shias say, believe or do. To me, what matters is what Sunnis are doing as it affects and irritates me. Now I don’t know where he heard/read it but my brother said:
‘Kisi se itni nafrat mat karo kay wo nafrat tumhe bhi usi jesa bana de.’
‘Do not hate someone so much that the hatred could make you do the same thing you hate them for.’
The above saying goes perfectly with what that particular class of Sunnis, Barailvis, are doing in their hatred towards Shias. From Musical naats to the free lemon juice/kashmiri tea to the lightening and flags. The only difference is that of the colour. Shias wear and make everything in Black and Barailvis use the colour Green for doing the same things. Sunnis are fine with whatever anyone believes in as long as they don’t do BS (sorry, didn’t have any other word) in the name of Islam. Sadly, this is exactly what Barailvis are doing. They are competing with Shias in the Shia-way. They have turned it into a war. The Shia-Sunni war. The Blacks versus the Greens, while they are all the same: biddati (inventors of new things in religion which are not part of it).
It saddens me. Islam is not about lightening/darkening your streets or singing for God. Its about living life in the limits He had decided for the mankind. Its about praying to Him silently and not brag about it. Its about giving to others in such a way that if you’re giving something with your right hand, then your left hand shouldn’t know. Its about being good to your ownself and others. As for the celebration on 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal, it makes me sick. A bidatti is a bidatti. It doesn’t make a difference if he wears a black turban or a green one.
The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said:
“Allah kisi Biddati ka Roza, Namaz, Sadqa, Hajj, Umrah, Jihaad, Farz, Nafil (Gharz koi bhi Naik Amaal) qabool nahi farmata, Woh (Biddati Shakhs) Islam se is tarah Nikal jata hai jis tarah baal aatay se nikaal diya jata hai.”
“Allah does not accept the fasting, praying, charity, Hajj, Umrah, Jihaad, Farz, Nafil (or any virtue) of a bidatti. He (bidatti) is expelled from Islam just as a hair is excluded from flour (grains).”
(Ref: Ibn-e-Maaja, Hadees #49, Kitaab-us-Sunnat, Riwayat: Hazrat Huzaifa RaziAllah Tallah Anho)
This is the first time I’m writing fiction. I always wanted to but was scared. All thanks to Yatin to introduce me to this Friday Fiction thing and Madison Woods for welcoming me in it.
The title for this Friday is ‘Fire On The Mountain’ and this is what I came up with:
The forests on the mountains of Gilgit (Northern Pakistan) have been burning for twenty hours. Being a journalist, I was here to get photos of this natural disaster. The fire had been termed an effect of the Global Warming. Though forest fires were not uncommon in the United States and I had heard of them occurring recently in some Australian forest too, it was a huge difference between watching them on TV/Internet and looking at them from a distance of twenty-five to thirty meters.
I was scared to take photos from a helicopter. My eyes were burning due to the intensity of light. I asked my fellow journalist and friend, Ali, if we could get down and take photos from a distance. My idea was to take photos of the fire from the view of the other part of the forest. Somehow, the fire was burning in a horizontal line. It could have been explained by a geologist. I asked Ali if he had any idea. Ali was a local resident. He had grown up between these mountains and trees. On his suggestion, we had climbed down the helicopter much farther than I had wanted. I have been working here for three months and still had a difficult time walking on the steep hills. Ali knew it was not really dangerous to be on the top of the mountain but he didn’t want to take any risk with a city-girl on his side.
February started and for me its bringing two new things.
First, I’ll be twenty-one this month, the age of party and fun. Everyone has been asking me, ‘Any plans for birthday?’ and I’m like, ‘Nooooo. Why?’ Yes, I’m not going to turn twenty-one ever again but still, I don’t want to celebrate it. I would like to not do any work that day though and wear a new dress and have that yummy caramel chocolate cake that I love and have McDonald’s chocolate shake in lunch and shrimps fried rice in dinner and if I could, watch a movie at Atrium munching on those caramel popcorns (yes, I eat a LOT!). I cannot think of a better birthday.
Second, I’ll be joining university again. I joined it two years back to study pharmacy but couldn’t take classes as my mother wasn’t okay. She died at the end of the year and I quitted university. I needed my time to get myself back together and sort out other issues. I learned a lot too. At the end of the year, I took the test for media sciences. I passed it and my classes are starting just after 5 days.
A close friend asked me if I’m excited to join university. My answer was again, ‘Nooooo. Why?’ He counted many things that could be the source of excitement. Sadly, I couldn’t agree to a single one.
Life rarely provides second chances. I know I’ve been lucky. I believe that its because of my mother’s prayers. The best way I see I can thank God for it and make my mother happy, is by utilizing it to its last drop. May be becuase of this approach, I see excitement only in learning. I’m looking forward to improve my writing and drawing skills and getting to learn new things I don’t know now. It’s not that I’ve become a serious (Kristen Stewart-faced) kind of a girl. I’m very witty, sarcastic and dirty minded, much more than I was two years back. Making friends, having fun, university life, seems nothing to me. I know I’ll make new friends, I know I’ll have fun too, but I’m not excited about it. I’m seeing this as an opportunity to improve myself, as an opportunity to have much more to write about and to be able to write longer paragraphs.
I read somewhere: ‘When we are happy, we go to the one whom we love the most. When we are sad, we go to one who loves us the most.’ When there is nobody, there is Him. And when we have Him, we don’t need anybody else. I’m not a good muslim, I don’t even stand on this prayer mat regularly, but I believe in Him more than anything. In Him, is all my faith and all my hopes.
