winds of change - volume 2 issue 1

8/6/2019 Winds of Change - Volume 2 Issue 1

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CENDTRANSVol. 2- Issue 1 Februar y - Apri l 2010

Winds Of


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Moral Uprightness4

By Anem J. Nawaz

In The Hearts O Green Birds6

By Yousu Raza

Birds And Bicycles8

By Hassan Baig

Verbal Accountability10

By Syeda Asheen Perwaiz

The Man And The Cocoon12

Story shared by Shia Student Society

PDA 13By Dr. Ali Tayyab

Respect: Commands, Not Demands16

By Uzair Mushahid

The Head Scar Martyr18

By Vajiha Javed

Psychological Warare20

By Ali Ahsan

Qur'an And The Natural World24

By Dr. Muzzaar IqbalWinds O Change

26By Ahmed Malik

Combatting Whispers33

By Muhammad Raza

Nojabi To Hijabi36

Anonymous

Hardening Your Resolve37

Story shared by Shia Student Society

Being Guided Among Misguidance 38By Abdur-Rehman MirzaRevelation And Reason

40By Syed Ahmed Faisal Nahri

Uthman bin Afan44

By Dr. Waqas Ahmed

A Ray O Hope48

By Emad Ati Ahmed

What Is Our Excuse51

A silent message by Shia Student Society

Table Of


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The Muslim world today is strife with countless tribulations and transgressions.Focusing on Pakistan, the turmoil of our nation can be described in few waysbetter than the distressing fact that you will be hard-pressed to nd an individual

who has not been affected signicantly by terror. Even more depressing is the sadreality that it is Muslims who are killing one another. The alarming gap between richand poor along with the abysmal lack of concern towards those beneath us is anotherpainful example of the corruption of our materialistic souls.

Our actions when searching for answers to these problems only illuminate how heedlesswe have become; when the time for blame comes, many of us unquestioningly skip

from one perpetrator to another, blindly following what the mass media spurns out.Rather than giving seventy excuses to our brother, we immediately suspect him on theslightest whim. These trivial obsessions, along with a plethora of entertainment outlets,deprive us of time needed to remember Allah and reect on our inner states. Withjust an iota of pondering, we would surely despair at our many aws.

Our negligence of the Prophetic teachings, not the doings of any terrorists or outsideinuences, is the reason for this immense turmoil. And the ramications of this are byno means limited to our performance as a nation. The Pakistani family unit is crumbling;most of our youth lack even the most rudimental basics of Islamic character, and aredisillusioned in both worldly and spiritual realms. It is thus undeniable that change isneeded; however in order to even dream of changing the nation, we must rst examine

ourselves closely. How do our honesty, justice, and piety compare to that of previouslysuccessful nations like that of Uthman bin Affan?

It is only once we amend our personal aws that we may begin to piece together thescattered fragments of our Ummah.

Fortunately, some degree of revitalization is already taking place. The number ofIslamic conferences is on the rise, and organizations have shown commendable resultswith their creative and contagious ideas. Take out the Trash by Zimendar Shehri(Responsible Citizens) has cleared massive areas of trash and is just one exampleof the upbeat, positive undercurrent present amidst the chaos. However, this level ofactivity is embarrassingly small. Everyone can participate in improving the state around

him or her. Allah says, So whosever does good equal to the weight of an atom shallsee it. Truly if everyone, for example, picked up a piece of garbage, the effort taken byeach person would be miniscule, but the impact of the cumulative actions on the nationwould be profound.

We implore you to realize that it is an obligation for everyone to participate in bringingabout this change; if not in their society as a whole, one must at least improve themselvesand their family.

Amidst this feeling of hopelessness, this issue of Transcend is a humble attempt to fanthe Winds of Change.

Umar Ashfaq Shuaib

Chief Editor

Editor's

AnemJ.Nawaz

MuhammadRaza

Um

arA.

Shuaib

AhmadYasin

AhmedMalik

AliAhsan

AsadMehmood

EmadA.

Ahmed

HibaKhan

JaveriaNaveed

RishtyaM.

Kakar

SamarKhan

UbaidKha

n

VajihaJav

ed

YousuRa

za

Dr.AmirNazir

Dr.KaziZulkadar

Dr.MuzafarIqbal

Dr.MuhammadAmin

Dr.NaseemAnsari

Dr.WaqasAhmed


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4

Should a friend be asked to ll in aproxy to cover ones absence from theclass? Should a beaming ambulance

be given the right of way? Should the doctoron duty be vigilant enough to give attentionto every arriving patient irrespective of his

social status or political clout? Should afaulty product be sold to a fellow citizen?Extending the argument a little further;should a businessperson continue hoardingstocks of sugar or our while the poor aredesperately looking for some?

These situations are thrown at us almostevery day, and require our judgement. Whilewe do make these judgements, they areoften hasty, and we are quite unaware of theprocess and factors that assist us in making

these calls.

If we investigate this black box a littlefurther, we nd that certain decisions aremade based on strategic, intellectual andbehavioral reasoning, some are mood-dependent and emotional, and most are ad-hoc in nature. Collectively, such situationsand our subsequent judgement calls may beknown to some as morality. Bernard Gertof Dartmouth College denes morality as acode of conduct put forward by a society (areligious group or otherwise), or accepted byan individual as a guide for his or her ownbehavior.

All religions and cultures hold morality inhigh esteem. Morality holds a prominentplace in the message of Islam. Theunderlying theme of morality in Islam is thereversibility checkenvisioning oneselfin somebody elses shoes before makinga decision. Many of the above situations,

like proxying attendance, can very easily be

handled if viewed based on moral principles,with clear avoidance of double standards.Islam also instructs its followers to berespectful of others (especially elders), andto demonstrate honesty and integrity withoneself and others. It promotes equality of

all humansirrespective of gender, color,race or socio-economic status, and takingcare of the orphans and the poor. Islam evenaccords special consideration for women,the elderly and children, and even animalsand plants in war-zones. It forbids behaviorssuch as stealing, adultery, gambling, takingfalse oaths, abuse, cheating, hypocrisy,greed, usury, murder, violence, tyranny andoppression. As is obvious, morality hasmany facets, yet one of its most signicantaspects is to practice what one preaches.

In the Holy Quran, an ayah in Surat Al-Baqarah reads, Do you exhort the peopleto be righteous, while forgetting yourselves,though you read the scripture? Do you notunderstand? [2:44]. This is a rhetoricalquestion to the Bani Israel because they usedto tell others what was right and wrong but didnot practice it themselves. In order to ensureadherence to the high values of morality, theHoly Quran commands the believers not topreach what they do not practice. ProphetMuhammad made special emphasis onmaintaining high values of morality. This wasthe reason that even the worst enemies ofthe Prophet were compelled to call himby the title As-Saadiq and Al-Ameen (thetruthful and the trustworthy, respectively).It was due to this moral superiority, morethan any other virtue, that the Prophet succeeded in bringing about the greatestrevolution humanity has ever witnessed.

Discussing morality, Islamic scholar Abul

Moral

UprightnessAnem J. Nawaz - 3rd year MBBS student at Shia College o Medicine

(Head o Publications, SSS)


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Ala Maududi once wrote, Man has beenblessed with an innate sense of morality,which has served to guide him through theages, enabling him to distinguish betweenright and wrong, and good and evil. Thevirtues such as bravery and truthfulness havealways elicited praise. In contrast to this, wend that at no time in the history of man have

qualities such as dishonesty and breach oftrust ever been upheld or regarded as worthyof praise. Dignity, restraint, politeness andamiability have always been regarded asvirtues as opposed to snobbery, arrogance,and discourteousness, which have neverbeen recognized as good moral qualities.

If we look into our surroundings, it would beeasy to reach the conclusion that most ofour ills today are due to moral bankruptcyat all levels. Our political leaders, who aresupposed to be custodians of nationalwealth, are the worst plunderers. Thecourts are generally found compromisingon justice, the administration is corrupt andinefcient, religious leaders are often foundcompromising with the evils of society, andbusinesspeople are involved in hoardingand in the black-market. Last but not least,national leaders are advocating simplicityand austerity but when it comes to theirown lifestyle, they amass luxuries not even

accesible to the US President or to 10Downing Street.

This is the reason our society is perplexedtoday. We condemn the drone attacks, butquietly accord permission. We condemn thearmy action of 1971 in then-East Pakistanand the massacre of people in Baluchistan,but hail the killings in Swat and NorthernWaziristan. We teach our students that thesuicidal attack of Joan of Arc was greatmartyrdom, but when the oppressed people

in Kashmir, Afghanistan, or Palestine use the

same tactic against the occupation forceswe condemn them as terrorists. Moralbankruptcy, however, is not only conned toone geographical location or another.

MITs renowned linguist and philosopherNoam Chomsky in his book, Pirates andEmperors, narrates the story of a pirate

who is captured and brought to the court ofAlexander the Great. The latter asked, Howdare he molest the sea?How dare you molest the whole world?The pirate replied. Because I do it with onlya little ship, I am called a thief; you, doing itwith a great navy, are called an emperor.

For the establishment of a just society, Islamdemands from every believer adherence tobasic morality. By adopting Islamic morality,that is practicing moral principles, not justpreaching, we would be able to create ajust society, where rule of law would be theguiding principle. The society, then, would befree of corruption, nepotism, cronyism andplutocracy, and would enshrine an egalitariansociety with no marginalization due to socio-economic, political, gender, or religiousreasons. This would ensure social justice,not just criminal justice, and would ultimatelyhelp bridge the ever-increasing gap betweenthe rich and the poor. A society thus built on

Islamic morals would be free from terrorismand extremism as well, since practicing thesevalues would spread tolerance. The rightsof every individual would be ensured by thesociety through a broad based fraternity; noone would be compelled to resort to violenceand extra-judicial measures. Islam has, infact, practically demonstrated this type ofsociety when Medinah was established,under the guidance of the Prophet , asthe rst Islamic State of the current MuslimUmmah on this planet.

5

The pirate replied to Alexander,Because I do it with only a little ship,I am called a thief; you, doing it with a

great navy, are called an emperor.


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In TheHeartsOGreenBirds

6

Friday, our Prophet told us, is the bestof days. It was on this day that our fatherAdam was created; it was on this day he

was allowed to enter intojannah;it was on thisday that he was expelled therefrom; it is on thisday that life on earth will come to an end andthe Day of Judgment shall be established. And itwas on Friday, the 4th of December, 2009, thatSaad Sadiq and 36 other Muslims, in the courseof their Friday prayers, attained the honor ofmartyrdom (in shaa Allah).

At the ripe age of 18, with an outstandingacademic record, a promising future, a plethoraof devoted friends, and a very loving family,nobody expected Saads sojourn in this worldlylife to end so abruptly. Some would say he was inthe wrong place at the wrong time. Some wouldcall it an atrocity of fate and use it as an example

for how unjust this world is. But thats not ourperspective. Our perspective is not limited tothe realms of this worldly life, but extends waybeyond that; we believe in an eternal after-life.Indeed, for someone with a restricted view of life,a view which only considers the 60 odd years ofthis world as life, such events are irreconcilablecatastrophes. But for a true believer, death isbut the beginning of another stage; the stagewhere we shall reap that which we sowed inthis short yet important worldly life. This is not tobelittle the distress that overtakes a family at thedemise of a loved one, for indeed the Prophet ofAllah himself shed tears at the death of his sonand attributed it to the mercy Allah has placedbetween humans. Rather, from this belief stemsour satisfaction with the decree of our Lordand our desire to struggle for the reward in theeverlasting afterlife.

With that perspective in mind, this is perhapsone of the best ways to pass from this stageto that. Some will pass away in a hospital afterstruggling through debilitating diseases, somewould go quietly in their sleep; very few get the

honor of attaining martyrdom and leaving thisworld in a state of prayer. Subhan Allah!

But does this justify the preposterous acts thatbrought about this martyrdom? Most certainlynot! Just as surely as the martyrs will behonored, the murderers will be punished. Allah says: Or should We, perchance, treat thosewho surrender themselves unto Us as [Wewould treat] those who remain lost in sin? Whatis amiss with you? On what do you base yourjudgment [of right and wrong]? [68: 35 and 36].

The Prophet told us, as reported in SahihMuslim, that there will be a group of extremistsamongst our Ummah, who will appear to be veryfervent in acts of worship, so much so that theywould put the majority to shame. But, they willhave left the fold of Islam like an arrow leaves

a bow. These murderers are the Khawarij ofour time. If the reports are to be believed, andthey are very devout Muslims, the fact remainsthat they have joined hands with the enemies ofIslam and are bent upon putting our deen intodisrepute. They ght and kill innocent Muslimsin preference to others, and thereby t thedescription laid down by the Prophet when hespoke about the Khawarij.

Having labeled the victims as noble martyrs andthe perpetrators as Khawarij do we go on with

our lives as usual? The aforementioned beliefsare not meant to numb us into inaction. Islam isnot, as Karl Marx thought, another opium of themasses. If anything, its a mild painkiller that ridsus of debilitating pain, without inducing sleep,and allows us to contribute positively towardssociety.

So how do wecontribute positively in a time likethis? A time, as predicted by our Prophet, wherethe killer does not know why hes killing andthe killed does not know for what crime he waskilled. The newspapers are rife with examples

Yousu Raza - Final year MBBS student at Shia College o Medicine


7/49

which suggest that we are living that prophecytoday. Do we stop going to the masajid out offear? Shed our Muslim identities out of shame?Become apologetic and adopt the innocentwestern identities? Sadly, that is a path manyMuslims have started taking. Everything, fromnames to attires, is changing so that we becomemore acceptable in the sights of the afuent

west. We seek to be recognized as beingprogressive even if it means compromising thecommandments of our Lord.

When we consider the Taliban this is whatwe see: A group of fanatics, sporting beards,brandishing SMGs, blowing themselves andinnocent civilians up; all, they allegedly claim,to enforce shariah law in the land and opposethe un-Islamic Western lifestyle. So, simpletonsthat we are, we see the obvious wrongs in theirsuicide bombings and conclude that everything

else that they promulgate must be wrong aswell. Thus we scamper to western lifestylesat the cost of our own Islamic values. Justbecause they claim to be following Islam, wehave to present a watered-down version thatwould appease our western masters, so theymay accept us. In doing all this we convenientlychoose to disregard the notion that these so-called Taliban are being funded by non-Muslimforeign agencies, the very same we are lookingto appease!

Does this conclusion make any sense? Is it fairto judge, and deem outdated and inhumane, thecommandments of Allah and His Messenger, justbecause a few fanatics miss-interpret them andseek to force them onto the entire world? This,my friend, is what they call throwing the babyout with the bathwater. There is denitely a needto dump the poisonous bathwater that inundatesour society but why throw out the baby?

In acting thus we have allowed ourselves and

our nations to be occupied. Our religion andculture lie ignored as we seek to appease ourwestern masters. The same people who haveleft no stone unturned to conquer our minds andlands, we beg to feed us their crumbs!

My point here is not for us to shun everythingwestern. We should seek to be progressive in thetrue sense of the word but without compromisingour religious values. Simply put, we need toadopt that which is good and benecial butwith a critical approachmaking sure that ourown religious values are not sacriced. Most

importantly, we need to muster the courage tocall a spade a spade and stand up for what webelieve in.

If we do not, then we will have allowed thesacrices of people like Saad Sadiq andcountless martyrs before him to go to waste!

As we struggle through our mostly self-inictedmiseries, Saad and his fellow martyrs residein the hearts of green birds ying around inParadise, as related by Masruq :

We asked Abdullah Ibn Masud about this verse:And do not regard those who have been killed inthe cause of Allah as dead, rather they are alivewith their Lord, being provided for(3: 149). Heresponded: We asked the Prophet the sameand he said: Their souls are in the insides ofgreen birds having lanterns suspended from the

Throne, roaming freely in Paradise where theyplease, then taking shelter in those lanterns. Sotheir Lord cast a glance at them and said: Doyou wish for anything? They said: What shallwe wish for when we roam freely in Paradisewhere we please? And thus did He do to themthree times. When they say that they would notbe spared from being asked [again], they said:O Lord, we would like for You to put back oursouls into our bodies so that we might ght forYour sake once again. And when He saw thatthey were not in need of anything they were letbe. [Sahih Muslim].

7

Is it fair to judge,

and deem outdated

and inhumane, the

commandments

of Allah and His

Messenger, justbecause a few fanatics

miss-interpret them

and seek to force them

onto the entire world?


8/49

As I sat at my desk a few days back, Istared out the window and saw a fewbirds in the sky. I remember thinking

to myself, Hey, these birds seem so happyand free, no cares, no worries. Too bad Imstuck in my room studying for the upcomingexam. I gazed into the sky a few momentslonger, then nally pushed the thought asideand continued my work. I got an SMS from afriend; he usually sends me random thoughtof the day messages, jokes, or newsupdates. Todays thought of the day was ahadith: The reward of deeds depends uponthe intentions and every person will get thereward according to what he has intended.So whoever emigrates for worldly benets orfor a woman to marry, his emigration will befor what he emigrated for [Bukhari]. Thatsan interesting spin on things I suppose. I let

the text drift in my mind for a bit, then shovedit aside and began my work again. Yet, as Iwas counting how many more pages wereleft, I got distracted once more by a memoryof my days living in Colorado which Ill sharewith you.

I was riding my bicycle one day. You see,Colorado is known as the ttest state,everybody is active and loves the outdoors.So I joined the trend also. Picture this: ayoung, good looking lady-killer speeding

down the block on a pair of wheels. Whowouldnt turn their heads at such a wonderfulsight? Well, all of this was in my head anyway.As I was riding down my street, I passed bya few of the neighborhood girls standing onthe sidewalk. One of them waved at me.Heh, Im good, I thought just look at me.All eyes on me. Who wouldnt wave at me?I turned to look back, then due to a strongwind or bump in the road (not any fault of myown, of course), I lost my balance and fell.This time, when I looked back, the girls werepointing, chattering, and probably laughing

at me. So I got up and cycled home.

Back at the desk, counting those pages,the thought of the day oated back in mymind. I started to realize its meaning. Onthat bike ride, I imagined myself on the topof the world. Me, by myself, number one! Iwas so caught up trying to impress othersthat I had forgotten the most important goalin life: getting closer to God. Every time thisbicycle story comes into my mind, I alwayskeep thinking-where is God in all of this. Imbothered that there was no place for God inthat incident. He simply doesnt t in to thisstory. I have left no space for Him; its just meand my self-righteous thoughts. It dawnedon me that my worldly goals and pursuit toget married (ahem) had actually made meproud. How? After getting a wave from that

girlachieving a worldly pursuitthe senseof accomplishment made me believe thatthis whole incident was possible becauseof my persona, my glory. So if I strive forworldly things, all Ill get in the end is afeeling of pridemy emigration will be whatI emigrated for. I would have missed the realgoal of lifes journeybuilding a relationshipwith God.

After this revelation, I took a break from thebooks and got up from my desk. I went to

the kitchen for a snack. My mother was alsothere, and she asked me to put some breadcrumbs outside for the birds when I was doneeating. I obliged because I wouldnt want tomiss an opportunity to watch those care-free birds. The birds ocked in at the sight offood, and I went back inside. While I walkedto my room, the bicycle story came intomind again, but this time I was questioningwhat my status was with God. Have I servedHim properly? Have I given Him thanks foreverything? Have I sought refuge with Him?I sat down on my chair, glanced at my notes,

irds

BB

and

icycles

8

Hassan Baig - 3rd year MBBS student at Shia College o Medicine


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and was about to read them when anothermemory consumed my mind.

First year medical school had started, and Ihad no clue what was going on. What booksto get? Whats the schedule? Why is thewhole school in a single corner of a building?And whats this ragging business? For me,

these were all minor problems as comparedto trying to cover all the coursework in time foran exam. My summer break before medicalschool was quite long, about 6 months, so Iwas completely out of touch with reading, letalone studying a book. I couldnt cope with it.People always used to tell me that medicalschool is hell, and I nally got to share intheir experience. Late nights, no sleep,constant worries, no time. Do I know it? Whyam I here? I should have been a businessmajor These were my only thoughts for therst few months, and they led to the creation

of a gripping anxiety which latched onto mymind. I didnt eat much, avoided going out,and didnt talk much to people at school.As I searched for a way to pry this anxietyoff of me, I found talking to my mother andsister helpful. They told me that if I work withmaximum effort everything would be ne; dowhatever you can do in the time given and

forget about the tension of not knowing. Thisreassurance granted me some relief fromthe grasp of the anxiety. Yet in these fewmonths, I particularly remember somethingmuch more effective that acted like a crowbarwhich could rip away anxietys hold: prayertimes. This was the time I could offer up myconcerns and worries, throw them up to God,and just be free: catharsis

After staring at the words Chapter 8 forsome time, I looked up as my mother cameinto my room. She needed the brush on my

dresser, and on her way out she asked howthe prep was going. I said it was ne butthere was still a lot to do. She answered withthe same reply shes been giving me sincerst year: do whatever is possible and forgetabout the rest. I nodded, and she left theroom. Alright, lets do it then, get it done, I toldmyself. With this thought, something came

to me. I realized this new-found motivationcame from what my mother had said, fromthe reassurance she gave me. I assume thisis why we usually seek out family and friendsin troubled timesto nd comfort, relief, andthe strength to move on. Before I could divedeeper into this revelation, I was interruptedby the chirping of birds outside my window.They seemed agitated, probably hungry. Allof the food I had put was gone. Then I sawmy mother go out and put some more foodfor the birds. They gathered around andseemed content. So where was I? Reectingback on rst year again, the reassurances Ireceived helped somewhat but the tension ofnot knowing and uncertainty still remained.Prayers also gave me ease but I couldntunderstand exactly how this workedhowdid my interaction with God help? The answerwas right in front of me, outside my window.The birds chirped, and my mother broughtfood. I asked for relief, and God granted meclarity of mind and understanding in the long

run. These days in third year, I dont have thatsame gripping anxiety. I have been releasedfrom its clasp. In this instance, God is theOne I sought refuge in, unlike my bicycleincident in which I sought refuge only in myown grandeur. God is the Granter; obviously,nothing can be done without His Will, and soit is His Will which should be followed. Wemust become His servants and fulll whathas been given to us: duties to ourselves,our family and our society. Sure, seeking adecent social status and getting married can

be goals as long as they remain secondaryto the primary goal: fullling our duties toGod.

It was quarter to three in the afternoon. Twomore chapters remained. Its enough time.Lets get focused now. As I picked up mybook, another thought jumped into my mind.If a bike ride had taught me about prideand birds taught me about God, how muchcan this textbook actually teach me aboutmedicine?

9

But this time I wasquestioning what

my status was withGod. Have I served

Him properly?


10/49

Gossip, or chit-chat, is one of the cheapestforms of entertainment, which is usedby almost everyone around us. Have

you ever wondered how costly this cheapentertainment can be for us on the Day ofJudgement? If not, let us analyze somethingcalled verbal accountability.

Allah has gifted us with a tongue, whichis a means for us to communicate, to teach,to recite the Quran, to perform the dutiesof a daee, among many other things. Yet,our tongue can also be one of the mostdangerous tools, if we opt to misuse it inour daily lives. This is when our verbalaccountability begins.

Our Prophet said, A Muslim is the onewho avoids harming Muslims with his tongue

or his hands. [Al-Bukhari].Mention of the tongue before the hands, inthe above hadith, serves to caution us of theadded risk and consequences of its misuse.

In another place, the Messenger of Allah says that people will be thrown into thehellre on their faces or on their noses dueto what their tongues have earned for them![At-Tirmidhi].

On the Day of Judgement, no one will beable to hide his or her misdeeds by an actof deception, like he or she might have donein the world, as every organ we possess willpledge against us. Allah warns:

On that Day when their tongues, their hands,and their legs will bear witness against themas to what they used to do [24:24].

Allah is All-Aware. Looking at our bodywe notice that our tongue is safe inside ourmouth; rstly, it is secured by the teeth, and

then by the lips. Is it because it is so precious?No. According to scholars, the tongue is sodangerous that it has been given two locks,and yet, we wilfully chose to unleash themonster hidden behind these two locks.

Uqbah ibn Aamir asked, "O Messenger ofAllah, what is salvation?" He said, "Controlyour tongue, keep to your house and weepover your sin [At-Tirmidhi].

We can control our tongue by:

Not telling liesFalsehood leads to transgression andtransgression leads to the Hell re. Aman continues to speak falsehood till heis recorded with Allah as a great liar [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Not spreading rumoursIt is enough for a man to prove himself a liarwhen he goes narrating whatever he hears[Muslim].

Avoiding insensitive and abusivelanguageA true believer is not involved in taunting,frequent cursing (of others), indecency orabusing [At-Tirmidhi].

At another instance, the Prophet said,Whoever believes in Allah and the LastDay, let him speak good or remain silent.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

How beautiful is this rule of Islam: eitherspeak well or remain silent. Can you imaginehow many problems one can avoid by simplyremaining silent? So many ghts, so manyangry moments, so many arguments, allof which can easily be avoided if only weremain silent.

erbal

ccountability

0

Syeda Asheen Perwaiz - 3rd year MBBS student at Shia College o Medicine


11/49

And the justication to speak good or elsekeep silent is the belief in Allah and the LastDay! Can there be anything more seriousthan that?What do we end up doing, instead of speakinggood or remaining silent?

We talk more, and listen less, even though

Allah has given us two ears and just onetongue. Tell me, how many times would youshufe unnecessarily in your seat if youknew you were being recorded on a videocamera for TV? And tell me, how many timeswould you speak unnecessarily if you knewwhatever you said was being recorded by anaudio recorder; probably 75% less? So letus all keep in mind the ayah of the Quranbelow:

Not a word does he (or she) utter, but thereis a watcher by him ready (to record it)[50:18].

We backbite more, andapologize less, eventhough Allah says,

Neither backbite oneanother. Would any ofyou like to eat the eshof his dead brother?

You would hate it(so hate backbiting).And fear Allah. Verily,Allah is the One Whoforgives and acceptsrepentance, MostMerciful [49:12].

We waste time inchit-chat, and recitethe Quran less, eventhough the Prophet

said, There are twoblessings which manypeople do not makethe most of, and thuslose out on: good health and free time [Al-Bukhari].

Brothers and sisters, verbal accountabilityis an essential subject that we all need toponder upon. Yet, in our busy lives, we tendto indulge in gossip, lying, and backbiting.The harm that we cause a brother or a sisterwith our tongues is a dreadful sin and we

should hasten to ask forgiveness for it.

The Prophet said, He who has donewrong aficting his brothers honour oranything else, let him ask his forgivenesstoday before the time (Last Day) when hewill have neither a dinar nor a dirham. If hehas done some good deeds, a portion equal

to his wrong doings will be subtracted fromthem: but if he has no good deeds, he willbe burdened with the evil doings of the onehe had wronged in the same proportion [Al-Bukhari].

And due to the wrong deeds done by ourtongue, the whole body will bear the burdenof it.

The Prophet said,When the Son of Adam wakes from hissleep, all of his body parts seek refuge from

his tongue, saying:Fear Allah with regardto us, for, indeed, weare part of you. So ifyou are upright, thenwe will be upright andif you are corrupt, thenwe shall be corrupt[At-Tirmidhi].

Therefore, we all needto think before we letour tongues loose, andwe should talk only thatwhich is necessary. Idletalk not only wastesvaluable time, but italso bears greateraccountability:

Do not talk muchwithout remembering

Allah, for, indeed, toomuch talk, without theremembrance of Allahhardens the heart. And

indeed, the people who are farthest awayfrom Allah are the ones who have hardhearts [At-Tirmidhi].

May Allah give us the strength to controlour speech while we can, and save us fromhumiliation on the day when our tongues willnot be in our control, Ameen.

11

According toscholars, thetongue is so

dangerous that it

has been giventwo locks, andyet, we wilfully

chose to unleashthe monster

hidden behind

these two locks.


12/49

A

man found a cocoon of a buttery. One day a small opening appeared.He sat and watched the buttery for several hours as it struggled to

force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop makingany progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it couldgo no further. So the man decided to help the buttery. He took a pair ofscissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The buttery then emerged easily. But it had aswollen body and small, shriveled wings. The mancontinued to watch the buttery because he ex-pected that, at any moment, the wings would en-large and expand to be able to support the body,

which would contract in time. Neither happened!In fact, the buttery spent the rest of its life crawlingaround with a swollen body and shriveled wings. Itwas never able to y.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that therestricting cocoon and the struggle required for the buttery to get throughthe tiny opening were Allahs way of forcing uid from the body of the but-tery into its wings so that it would be ready for ight once it achieved itsfreedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If Allah al-lowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us.We would not be as strong as what we could have been. We could nevery!

I asked for Strength ...And Allah gave me Difculties to make me strong.

I asked for Wisdom ...And Allah gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity ...And Allah gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked for Courage ...And Allah gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked for Love ...And Allah gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked for Favours ...And Allah gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted ...I received everything I needed!

2


13/49

You are at the airport to receive your mother.You have not seen her in a while; lets saya couple of years. What do you do when

you see her? If I were in your place, Id run, jumpand give her a big hug.

Now replace mother with your cousin (of theopposite sex and similar age. If she is good-

looking, all the better), if your response is thesame (run, jump and a hug), then people wouldprobably cry bloody murder!

Why is public display of affection suddenlyunder so much scrutiny? You can thank avery charged student of Lahore University ofManagement Sciences (LUMS). After seeing alot of objectionable display of affection at herschool, she decided enough was enough. Shewrote to the school administration, which, given

the prevailing circumstances in the country, gavein pretty easily. They sent out a memo sayingthat public display of affection (PDA for short)is no longer acceptable on the school premises.So much so, that the majority of newspapersprinted this clarication from the administration(and not in an obscure location either)!

Before I go on ranting about this, I am going toexamine how acceptable PDA is worldwide.

I am going to start with the United States of

America, the capital of sin and the root of all evil,to some. From what we see on television (serialsand movies), it seems as if American kids willhave problems digesting their food if they dontpractice PDA, in at least some manner. Thisperception is probably not entirely correct.Notice I said entirely. Many junior (classes 5-8roughly) and senior high schools (classes 9-12)do prohibit display of affection. They do thisso that students focus on learning. Unofcially,though, it is done to promote abstinence.

In most of continental South America, things are

much better depending on how you look at it.Objecting to displays of affection is equivalent tointolerance.

Moving on to the Middle East, conditions arevery diverse. On one hand, you have placeslike Lebanon, which is open to displays ofaffection. On the other, we have Saudi Arabia.

I am sure I do not have to explain what goeson (or, more correctly, what does not go on)there. In the middle, are places like the UnitedArab Emirates. They are a tolerant society to anextent. Once you cross a certain line (as did oneBritish couple), though, you are in trouble. Soas long as your are holding hands, hugging, andmaybe a peck on the cheek, no one is going toarrest you (they might not like it, but they arentgoing to say much about it either, not openly, atleast). Once things get more physical, expect

to be physically handled!

In India, the Supreme Court considers PDA badtaste and denes such behavior as unacceptable.Again, the culture they export via their moviesand serials is not exactly in line with the law ofthe country.

Coming back to where we started from,Pakistan, I am going to rewind the clock, sayabout 25 years, to the good old days. We didnot know much about the outside world. There

was no readily available satellite television here.Dupatta-clad ladies on Pakistani Television dideverything from reading the news, to sleepingin bed, to appearing in shampoo ads while stillwearing them. The school I used to go to (Ithink this was grade 7) had a very unique wayto separating boys from girls. We used to sit inbenches of three, a boy in between two girls. Theboys, if I remember correctly, could select wherethey wanted to sit. Before your imagination getscarried away, nothing ever happened; not evensomething as innocent as holding hands.

13

Dr. Ali Tayyab - Ophthamologist at Shia College o Medicine


14/49

So why am I going on, and on, when nothingactually happened? It is exactly because ofthat! Nothing happened. I did not have twogirlfriends. The boys hardly ever talked to thegirls. Once my partner err.. the girl sittingnext to me scribbles this message for me onthe desk: This boy (whose name I cant recall)wrote to this girl (also whose name I cant recall)

I love you. Why, you may wonder, did nothingactually happen? The reason being, becausepassing on messages like this was considered ataboo and against society norms: thus the levelof anonymity. Out of fear of societal scorn, thiswas as far as it went. Boys who gathered in frontof all-girls colleges like Kinnaird College wereconsidered the scum of Earth. In essence, thesethings were looked-down upon by the society asa whole including young people.

Fast forward to the present time: I recall an

acquaintance (who, by the way, happens to be agirl) fretting over her four year old son for callinga fellow student in his class his girlfriend. Hisargument, and quite correctly, was that a) she isa girl and b) she is a friend. So is she not my girlfriend? Perplexed by the look on his mothersface, the child quickly said, Mama you are mybest girl friend.

These days, nothaving a girl friend is more of aproblem than having oneboth for girls and boys.

If you are a girl, you are probably not noticeableenough to catch a boy. If you are a boy

Recently, a girl had to get psychiatric helpbecause her friends teased her, as she did nothave a boyfriend (notice did not). She was soconfused between what her parents taught herand what the world was telling her to do.

Once we are in girlfriend/boyfriend mode, we arenot too far from PDA. What was once connedto cars with tinted windows, hotel rooms, and

dimly lit deserted streets, is commonplace. Ifyou hang around with a friend who happens tobe of the opposite sex, (and not your sister oryour mother, but your age and good-looking)two things are bound to happen:

1. You will be attracted to her (you dont need toread Freud to gure this).2. You will want to show your attraction to her.This is where our friend, PDA, steps in.

This happens to girls as well, who are morereluctant at rst, but are more willing in the long

run. Everything begins with holding hands. Afterthat, the sky is the limit.

This is where the girl from LUMS steps in. I amsure she had seen a lot before she blew her topoff. There is a level of tolerance involved herefrom holding hands to hugs, to pecks to fondling,to the ultimate display (over rated at that). Public

displays of affection usually turn to displays ofattractions and, nally, to a display of your basicinstincts.

The question is, was she right to intrude, whenshe herself was not a target of PDA? Was seeingboys and girls having a good time enough tojustify her actions?

She was right, as what she saw disturbed her,because it went against the very foundation ofour society. Remember, this country is called theIslamicRepublic of Pakistan. There is a goodreason for including Islamic in the mix. I am notgoing to preach religion or explain the reasons.Everyone knows them and just about everyonewho does not agree with her disregards them.

Why did this become acceptable to us? Whydid we go from regarding having a friend ofthe opposite sex as a bad thing to regardingit as something we need, to be normal? Thereasons are literally in front of us: the second-

hand reection of the Western and Easternculture. The apparent glitz and glamour thatcome with having boy- and girlfriends, being inthe in-crowd, and being normal are so openlyshown, that we take them as the nal word.Throw internet into the mix, especially in acountry where parents dont know anythingabout internet content ltering, and you havea certain recipe for the perfect pseudo imageprojection of a culture that is neither ours norexactly theres

Our frustrated, deprived youth suddenly hadan excuse. Hey, if our parents can enjoy scantlyclad girls dancing and wooing guys, why cantwe? If its on television in an Islamic country itmust be okay. If they can do it, so can we.

When everyones son and daughter are outdoing it, it is easy for parents to give in. I haveheard parents say, zamana badal gaya hai. It isnot possible for us to control our children. Evento the extent that some of them do not mind iftheir sons (or, conversely, their daughters) visitfriends of the opposite sex to study all alone,

4


15/49

and, at times, with the door to the study roomlocked.

Just to add salt to an already very deep andhurting wound, is the mood of the government.Enlightened Moderation, the slogan of one ofthe most popular and, at the same time, mosthated president of this country, did little to

quell an already raging pool of emotions. Justwhat is Enlightened Moderation? It is a phrasedeveloped to calm the west, which was taken abit too literally here. When you send out mixedsignals from the top, things are bound to getconfusing. You demolish an illegal mosque(nothing wrong with this), but why dont youraid illegal party houses and nightclubs wherepeople sit and openly do stuff that people do inthe dark. The message that many, I know, gotfrom Enlightened Moderation was that religionteaches fanaticism and being together is very

natural.

So from the very publicthe President of the

Islamic Republic of Pakistanto the veryprivateyour TV screen and local TV channels(dont need foreign intervention for this)themessage was the same: Dump religion, pick agirl (or a boy as the case may be).

Opponents of conservative society talk of lockedup emotions and frustration. What I question is,

would a phrase like conservative society haveever come up, if there was nothing to compareit against? Were humans not the same duringthe time of Prophet Muhammad ? Did we nothave similar emotions? Why were people happywithout PDA? This is because they did not havea projection of immorality (which is even scornedat and illegal in regions where we get it from)and the term Enlightened Moderation had notbeen coined yet.

Hats off to the young woman at LUMS. At least

she had enough courage to get up and dosomething about what was wrong to begin with.

15

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world.

Recommended Readings:


16/49

Always respect your elders. Thats whatyou always hear during your childhood.But what exactly is respect? Does

it mean that you come up with atteringwords to convey to the other person that heis regarded highly in your eyes? Perhaps.Does a powerful man deserve more respect?Does it also mean that one who is older ismore deserving of respect than one who isyounger? Maybe. I had these ideas, but Irealized that its not only these criteria thatmake a person worthy of respect. I havea very small (some might even say idioticand mediocre) example to illustrate myunderstanding of the concept of respect. Iam not giving a denition of respect, for thatyou can consult a dictionary.

My dad is in the army, and his membership

of an army sports club allowed us to use abadminton court. The problem was that itwas always crowded and hoarded by otherarmy ofcers. Most of them were Colonelsand Majors, and they would always occupythe court. The most annoying thing was thatsince they were senior ofcers they wouldkeep on playing, taking other peoples turnsand no one could do anything about it.

Beta, I have to go in a little while so let meplay another game with Major Sahab. A

Colonel would say after he lost a game to aMajor. If my friend or I ever had the courageto say that we wanted our turn, we would getthe reply, Beta! Dont you have any respectfor your elders? Is this anyway to speak tosomeone senior to you? Go and wait for yourturn, we are playing now.

My friend and I would then have to waittill their games were over, then we had towait for the other ofcers to take their turns(regardless of the fact that we were rst inline) and nally when they were done, we

would get our turn to play. Unfortunately, thiswas close to closing time and we got to playonly ve to ten minutes.

One particular day I was sitting on thebleachers with my friend, waiting for our turn.Now we had become wise enough to arrivelate because we knew we would only get ourturn at around closing time. We noticed thatthere were two lieutenants sitting next to us.They seemed young and full of energy. Theywere apparently good friends, chatting awayabout politics.

I pointed them out to my friend and said Lookman, these guys are going to take our turn,lets just leave now. We were about to leavewhen one of the lieutenants addressed us.

Salam. Where do you guys come from?We told him where we came from. Then heasked us about our school. Just then theColonel announced, Okay, does anyonewant to play before they close up, the courtsfree. My friend and I got up to leave. Thelieutenants were ofcers and naturally theyhad the right to play.

Stop you guys! The lieutenant stopped us,dont you want to play?

No, you can play. I said, you guys aresenior.

Nonsense. You guys should play, well playsome other time. And they got up and left.

Me and my friend played badminton to ourhearts content. We had a lot of fun thatday, not just because of the game but alsobecause of the humble character of thelieutenants. We learned a very valuablelesson that day in a (seemingly) very trivial

commands, notdemands

6

Uzair Mushahid - 1st year MBBS student at Shia College o Medicine


17/49

and light manner. Respect is earned throughyour actions and attitude, not from yourstatus and authority. Our Prophet told usthat we should respect our elders, but in thesame hadith he also told us to be kind toyoungsters. Most people assume that sincethey have acquired a certain title or that theyare older or that they are powerful membersof society, people are obliged to respectthem no matter what their actions are. Thereis no doubt that there is an obligation to referto your elders with respectable words (thatis also the beauty of the Urdu language, ithas a polite form of you) and to give themcertain privileges in society. However, if youreally want to inspire respect in the heartsand minds of the people around you, thenyou cannot do it without being kind andrespectful to them. Your every action andsentence conveys your feelings to the otherperson who will grant you respect based onthat and will automatically try to reciprocateyour kindness; otherwise he might justappear respectful to your face while he iscursing you in his heart. After all if you givepeople a reason to dislike you then Allah may not forgive you until the people forgiveyou.

Therefore I believe that we should keepin mind that just because we have a titleattached to our name or people refer to usin a respectful manner does not necessarilymean that they fully respect us in theirhearts. How many times have you had ateacher who doesnt know how to teach,who is arrogant and who is despised by hisstudents yet is still addressed respectfully.You can only gain true respect by youractions and your attitudes. You might ask,What sort of attributes or attitudes I shouldadopt in order to be respected? The answeris that one should adopt those attributes andperform those actions that are in accordancewith correct principles. Principles are inborninstincts in humans and a person knowswhen he goes against them. These principlesare also explained extensively in the HolyQuran and the traditions of the Prophet .When one follows these principles he can besure that not only will he be pleasing Allahbut also other people and he will always berespected (in the true sense of the word).After all, respect commands, not demands.May Allah give us guidance to follow correctprinciples and gain respect in this world andthe Hereafter.

17

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Recommended Websites:


18/49

8

Vajiha Javed - 3rd year MBBS student at Shia College o Medicine

T he H ead S car f

M artyr

In August 2008, Marwa Ali El-Sherbini, an

Egyptian Muslim woman, was living peace-

fully in Dresden, Germany, with her husband

and two year old son, unaware that a simple

trip to the playground would be a turning point

in the life of her family. On that day, Marwa

and her young son were enjoying a blissful day

at the nearby public playground, and she was

pushing her son on the swing when suddenly

a shadow appeared. The shadow belonged to

a man named Alex Wiens. Alex began quarrel-

ling with Marwa over the use of the swing by

his niece and Marwas son. He then changed

the argument and started abusing Marwa for

wearing the Islamic headscarf, the symbol of

modesty and morality for all Muslim women

as ordained by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. To

Marwas astonishment he tried to pull off her

scarf in public. She was called Islamist, ter-

rorist and according to one report, slut. A few

bystanders tried to intervene but Alex contin-

ued the verbal abuse for several minutes until

the police were called to the scene. A trivial

issue of the use of a swing had become a seri-ous police case simply due to an individuals

hatred for religions and values other than his

own.

However, this issue was not nearly over. Mar-

wa led a case against Alex and he was found

guilty of defamation and was penalized 330

and, when he continued to deny his guilt, the

judge raised the ne to 780. The public pros-

ecutor decided to appeal the verdict, aiming at

a custodial sentence, due to the openly xeno-

phobic character of the incident and the per-

sistent statement by Alex about Marwa: You

dont have the right to live here.

At the appeal hearing on July 1, 2009, Marwawas present as a witness for the prosecution,

and her husband and son as observers. No

security personnel were present and no se-

curity searches were carried out.After testify-

ing, Marwa began to walk out when, without

warning, Alex viciously attacked her with a

seven-inch-long blade, which he had brought

into the courtroom in his backpack. He inicted

at least sixteen stab wounds to Marwas up-per body and arm; while, in an attempt to pro-

tect his wife, Marwas husband Elwi Ali-Okaz,

was also stabbed at least sixteen times to the

head, neck, upper body and arm. A police of-

cer was nally called to the scene to intervene,

but mistook Elwi for the attacker and shot him

in the lower leg. Even their three-year-old son

was not spared and was injured while being

ushered to safety.

Marwa died at the scene. At the time of her

death, she was three months pregnant with her

second child. Alex was arrested on the scene.

Elwi, critically wounded in the attack, was in a

coma for two days. He was subsequently treat-

ed for several weeks in a hospital.

Alex was formally charged with murder, at-


19/49

19

tempted murder and grievous bodily harm by

the public prosecutors ofce. He was found

guilty of the murder of Marwa El-Sherbini and

the attempted murder of her husband Elwi Ali

Okaz, and sentenced to life imprisonment with

a minimum of eighteen years.

On July 6th 2009, at Marwas funeral in Alex-

andria, mourners referred to her as a martyr

of the head scarf, the symbol of modesty for

a Muslim woman. And say to the believing

women that they should lower their gaze and

guard their modesty. [24:31].

Writing in The Guardian, Anja Seeliger com-

mented that, the German media initially re-

ported the case at the back page, and only

in the light of the vociferous protests by thou-

sands of Egyptians in Cairo did the German

federal government, which had kept silent for

nearly a week, issue words of sorrow. Stephan

Kramer, the General Secretary of the Central

Council of Jews in Germany also deplored the

largely unchecked hate propaganda against

Muslims. Writing in the opinion section ofAl-

Ahram Weekly, Abdel-Moneim Said called on

those who mourn for Marwa El-Sherbini not

[to fall] into the same morass of bigotry and

hatred that killed her, but to create Arab-Mus-

lim-European fronts, together with other faiths,

to stand up against fanaticism, bigotry and dis-

crimination on both sides.Although there was

no ofcial statement from the government in

Pakistan, the Pakistani media did report thekilling.

Now I would like to emphasize the responsi-

bilities of two parties. First, regarding the in-

ternational media such as CNN, BBC, CNBC:

why was the issue not highlighted by these

news channels? Why was the Western main-

stream media so slow in catching up with this

heinous crime committed by a Christian, when

they are so fast to pick up crimes committed

by Muslims from any corner of the world? Is

it because they did not nd out about it or is it

that they did not want the world to know about

it? If there had been a Christian or Jewish vic-

tim, they would have broadcasted it to as far as

their inuences reach. Why is it that the mediaitself, which proclaims freedom of speech,

obscures certain issues from their audience?

The second responsibility is one that we Mus-

lims need to step up to. What did the Muslim

news channels across the globe do regarding

this incident? One of our Muslim sisters was

stabbed to death during her pregnancy and we

as the Muslim Ummah did not have the cour-age to even raise our voices against this act

of brutality? A Muslim sister, a daughter, an

innocent wife and a proud motherall lost in

the blink of an eye and yet we do not shed a

tear. Why do we sit back so comfortably while,

in another part of the world someone is being

punished for following what has been enjoined

upon them by their religion? Not one among

us is willing to answer any of these questions,but instead we ask, What were we supposed

to do? Do you not see the irony?

We see American and European media creat-

ing false propaganda against Islam and the

Muslim Ummah along with bluntly calling Islam

a religion of terrorism and yet, we continue

idealizing their cultures, their dress, their val-

ues, and their language.

There will not be another prophet coming to

take us out of this spiritual lethargy. It is our

time to act in a positive direction, to understand

our religion and to implement the Holy Quran

and Sunnah in our daily lives. The power lies

only in our hands: the power to change our-

selves and the power to change our society.


20/49

How did an article on psychologicalwarfare make its way into this Islamicmagazine is what most readers may

think. But believe it or not friends and foes,this element of warfare is so critical, solethal and so subtle that you are continuouslytargeted by it without even knowingnot onthe battlefront of course, but in your owncomfortable cosy lounges. Our views, ourvalues, our culture and our priorities aremanufactured every day by the westernmedia, and this is exactly what makes thistopic pertinent. Unfortunately we are allunaware of this fourth generation warfare.This article is a minute attempt to lift theblinds. May Allah guide us all.

The U.S department of defence denes psy-chological warfare as

The planned use of propaganda and otherpsychological actions having the primarypurpose of inuencing the opinions, emo-tions, attitudes, and behaviour of hostile for-eign groups in such a way as to support theachievement of national objectives.

Pause for a second and read that denitionagain. Reect. Who is hostile towards them?Think about what their objectives are. Are

their objectives in line with what we, theMuslims, stand for? Novus ordo seclorum?For those who say yes, take a walk.

We are bombarded by a propaganda machine(read television) every day, by various cableTV channels, whether it is drama channelslike Star Plus, Sony TV, FOX TV, NationalGeographic (yes, National Geographic) ornews channels like CNN, BBC, Sky News,FOX news, Geo News (yes, Geo). I am nottalking mumbo jumbo here; I have examplesto support my argument, which all of you

are encouraged to verify individually beforepassing this on to others. Here we will talkabout psychological warfare, focusing main-ly on the media aspect, yet there are manyother aspects of its implementation, throughgames, movies, and more.

Allah says in the Quran:

O you who believe! If a faasiq (sinner, liaror evil person) comes to you with any news,verify it, lest you should harm people in igno-rance, and afterwards you become regretfulfor what you have done. [49:6].

Allah commands all Muslims to veri-fy any news or information they hear froma faasiq. If this is the case, then a great re-sponsibility lies on us to verify any news that

we hear from these media channels, as weare not aware of the character and credibilityof the people running the channels.

This is the crux, the whole essence of thisarticle: do not fall for the lies and deceptionsof the western news and media web, whosesole purpose is to create an environment ofdisinformation and confusion through whichthey indoctrinate and impose their ideas onus; and whether one likes it or not, we em-brace their ideas with open arms. Keep in

mind that concealing critical information isone of their methods of psychological war-fare. The following examples are just a fewdrops out of an ocean. Im sure each andevery one of you can come up with some-thing better, just give it a try, and think for 5minutes. Do it.

Halabja poison gas attack1.

This incident, which some dene as an actof genocide, occurred on March 16th and 17th,1988, during the closing days of the Iran-Iraq

Psychological

Warfare20

Ali Ahsan - 2nd year MBBS student at Shia College o Medicine


21/49

War. Chemical weapons, supplied by theAmericans, were used by Iraqi governmentforces on the Kurdish town of Halabja in IraqiKurdistan. Indeed Saddam Hussein targetedhis own people because the Kurds were re-bellious against him and sympathised withthe Iranian cause. Let me be very clear here,the Americans fully supported Iraq in this war

for it was in American interest to quell the Is-lamic Iranian revolution.

In the United States, Halabja was mentionedin 188 news stories in 1988. But then it wasreheated by the Bush administration as par-

tial justication for his forthcoming invasionof Iraq. Halabja was remembered and criti-cised severely by American journalists 145times in February 2003 alone. According tostatistical analysis by Robert Fisk in Con-quest of the Middle East, when Americanreputation was at stake:

188 mentions in 10 months = 19 mentionsper month

However, when it was in American interest:

145 mentions in a month alone = 145 men-tions per month

This blatant bias and the manufacturing ofpublic opinion are obvious enough for evenfor the blind to see.

Lahore has fallen- false BBC re-2.port

For those who lived through the 1965 war,there is no need for any reminders for thisback-stabbing incident to say the least.This news was a shocker! India violatedthe international border at Wagah and hadovercome the small Pakistani force deployedthere, and was within striking distance ofLahore city. But that in no way, whatsoever,

implied that Lahore had fallen. In the wordsof Brigadier (Retd) Shaukat Qadir, who isthe founder and Vice President of IslamabadPolicy Research Institute (IPRI), While theIndian offensive continued to make someheadway, but it was neither very deep, northreatening Lahore, even though all IndiaRadio and the BBC announced on theevening of September 6th that Indian troopshad entered Lahore. This propaganda isperfectly normal coming from the Indians,but not acceptable coming from the Britishwhose stance was apparently neutral. Thiswas without doubt a psychological tacticused by the British against the Pakistanisto demoralize them and make them losehope, for where there is no hope, there isno will, and where there is no will there isno way. The effects of this false report wereimmense. But Alhamdulillah we prevailed.

The Masjid al-Aqsa deception3.

In order to understand the importance of theMasjid al-Aqsa and of Jerusalem and its en-virons to the Israelis, it is necessary to lookat this region through Zionist eyes. Radicalpoliticized Jewish belief asserts that the pe-riod beginning with Zionism will culminatewith the coming of the Messiah. To realizethis goal, however, radical Jews believe thatthree important events must occur. First,an independent Israel must be establishedin the Holy Land and its Jewish populationmust increase. The migration of Jews to theHoly Land has been systematically realizedby Zionist leaders since the beginning of thetwentieth century. In addition, Israel becamean independent nation-state in 1948. Sec-ond, Jerusalem was to be captured, which itwas, in 1967 during the Six Day War and de-clared the eternal capital of Israel in 1980.

The third, and only condition still to be met,is rebuilding the Temple of Solomon (Sulay-man), which was destroyed nineteen centu-

ries ago. All that remains of it is the Wailing

21

Allahcommands all

Muslims toverify any newsor informationthey hear from

a faasiq.


22/49

Wall. Today, however Masjid al-Aqsa standsthere. In order for radical Jews to rebuildthe Temple, this religious site has to be de-stroyed. This is not a hoax, but in fact is rec-ognized by the Hizbullah Secretary GeneralSayyed Hassan Nasrallah along with manyother leaders who are in direct clash withthe Zionist agenda and are giving them a

ght. In the words of Hassan Nasrallah, Ifthey decided to destroy this mosque, thenthe nation of this mosque will destroy all ofthe Zionist entity with the blood of the greatmartyrdom attackers. There is a deliberateattempt in the western media to falsely por-tray al-Sakhrah mosque(Dome of the Rock ) asMasjid al-Aqsa. When-ever there is mention ofal-Aqsa mosque in thewestern news channels,be it BBC, Sky News,CNN etc, they focus onthe golden dome of thedome of the rock delib-erately. It is proving tobe effective in the waythat now many peoplepicture the dome of therock whenever masjidal-Aqsa is mentioned.Pause and think for a

second. If the true Aqsawere to be damaged ordestroyed, uninformedpeople like you and Iwould not know of itbecause the false onewould remain unscathed. A massive arrayof confusion would result. How convenient.I hope that one is able to connect the dots(please refer to the pictures). To be honest, acouple of months back, I too was a victim ofthis propaganda and whenever the word al

Aqsa was mentioned, I tended to visualisethe Dome of the Rock.

The Iraq war intelligence failure4.

Now I couldnt say goodbye without bringingthis up. The worrisome part that must be re-alized however is that we all gobbled up whatthe westerners fed us. Weapons of MassDestruction (WMDs) in Iraq is what showedup on the front page of every newspaper,

magazine and in all the headlines. We wereall constantly bombarded by this phrase andunfortunately most of us bought the idea.Yes indeed our minds, our thought process-es were being conditioned by the media inorder to comply with western interests. Onthe 20th of March, 2003 the coalition of thewilling (read The Coalition of the Coerced,

Bribed, and Intimidated Idiots) invaded Iraqunder the pretext of eliminating WMDs. Yes,no WMDs were found. They deceived us andlater dubbed it as an intelligence failure.Now please do not buy this term. Think! TheCIA, the MI6, the Mossad, the German intel-

ligence, the Frenchintelligence and theGod-knows-whoseintelligence, withthe most sophisti-cated standard ofprocedures, whosebudgets if summedup build to morethan a hundred bil-lion dollars, all pro-duced independentreports that sup-ported the idea thatthe insane Saddam(note: former ally ofthe US) possessed

WMDs that posed athreat to the world.All of these appar-ently independentreports proved false.

This only proves onething: That all of this was orchestrated andthat all of these intelligence agencies hadmade deals under the table because thereis no other way that such a blunder couldhave occurred. The media played its part insynthesizing public opinion to convince them

that their tax money was being put to gooduse. After all, nothing happens without pub-lic support. But the fact of the matter is thatthese people have wiped out an entire civi-lization, an entire culture, precious Muslimhistory, and massacred countless womenand children; some heads should roll on this.I know some of you are still inclined towardsthe idea that this was an intelligence failureand that there is no such conspiracy, so letthe following quote be the last straw on thecamels back:

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I am aware how almost impossible it is in thiscountry to carry out a foreign policy [in theMiddle East] not approved by the Jews.....terric control the Jews have over thenews media and the barrage the Jewshave built up on congressmen .... I am verymuch concerned over the fact that the Jew-ish inuence here is completely dominating

the scene and making it almost impossibleto get congress to do anything they dont ap-prove of. The Israeli embassy is practicallydictating to the congress through inuentialJewish people in the country. [Former Sec-retary of State John Foster Dulles].

This was the situation approximately 50years ago. Imagine the strings attached tothe news corporations today.

The West won the world not by thesuperiority of its ideas or values or religionbut rather by its superiority in applyingorganized violence. Westerners often forgetthis fact, non-Westerners never do. [SamuelP. Huntington].

Id like to speak my mind here. In additionto these overt violations, there is somethingvery sinister, very dangerous, happening be-

hind the curtains which all of us are slightlyaware of but have a hard time digesting. It isthe clash of ideologies; ours versus theirs.Remember they will always try to distortyour ideology through the indoctrination oftheir ideas which is primarily done by theTV channels, not to mention the vast collec-tion of games released in the market whichalways portray Muslims as the bad guys andthe Americans as the saviours. This is bla-tantly seen in games like Call of duty andCommand & Conquer Generals. Innocent,

young, fertile minds are being indoctrinatedby their views of the Muslims and we all knowthat they are prejudiced about it.

Now lets look at the bigger picture. Peopleask why Muslims cant coexist with peace.What they have to reect upon is that it isnot Afghanistan that invaded America, it isnot Iraq that invaded America, it is not Pal-estine that invaded Israel, it is not Chechnyathat invaded Russia, and it is not Pakistanthat invaded America. It is the Muslim landsthat are being occupied by the non-believers

and it is the Muslim people who are beingruthlessly massacred. It is only because oftheir complete monopoly over informationand our eagerness to accept what they sayunquestioningly are they able to conceivesuch absurdities. The reality of the situationis that if they want to live in peaceful coexist-ence then they should leave our lands. If not,

then we will ght and defend, in shaa Allah,on any battleground whether it is physical,cyber or psychological.

"If you know yourself and know your enemy,you will win every battle." [Sun Tzu, ChineseMilitary Strategist].

Know how your enemy operates on everyfront. Unfortunately the psychological partgoes unnoticed. First it was Afghanistan,and then it was Iraq. Who's next?

So do not become weak (against yourenemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior(in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers.[3:139].

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Although the three Abrahamic monotheisticreligions Judaism, Christianity,and Islam share a certain degree of

commonality with respect to belief in one Godand certain aspects of creation, their conceptsof the natural world and its relationship to

humanity has considerable divergences (Nasr1996, 53). In the case of Islam, the Qurnic viewof nature is characterized by an ontological andmorphological continuity with the very conceptof Goda linkage that imparts a certain degreeof sacredness to the world of nature by making ita Sign (ya, pl. yt) pointing to a transcendentalreality. However, just as the Qurn presents the world of nature to humanity as a sign, it alsocalls its own verses yt. This semantic linkage isfurther strengthened through various Qurnicdescriptions and modes of communication.God communicates, according to the Qurn, bysending His yt. As Izutsu has noted,

on this basic level, there is no essential differencebetween linguistic and nonlinguistic Signs; bothtypes are equally divine yt the meaning ofthis, in the sense in which the Qurn understandsit, is that all that we usually call naturalphenomena, such as rain, wind, the structure ofthe heaven and the earth, alternation of day andnight, the turning about of the winds, etc., all

these would be understood not as simple naturalphenomena, but as so many signs or symbolspointing to the Divine intervention in humanaffairs, as evidences of the Divine Providence,care and wisdom displayed by God for the goodof human beings on this earth." (Izutsu 1964,142143).

Thus science, as a systematic study of nature andas it developed in Islamic civilization, could nottreat nature and its study as an entity separatefrom Islam. Furthermore, the Qurn viewsnature as a vast system pregnant with movementrather than an inert body. Nature accepts

and acts upon Divine Commands, like all elsebetween the heavens and the earth. This viewof nature grants it distinct metaphysical qalities.Rather than being self-subsisting, autonomous,or random, nature is described by the Qurnas a sophisticated system of interconnected,

consistent, uniform, and highly active entities,all of which are ontologically dependent on theCreator and exalt Him in their own specific ways(Q. 24:41). The seven heavens and the earthand whatever is between them sing the gloriesof God, an oft-repeated refrain of the Qurntells us. It must be noted here, however, thatthis dependence and subservience of natureto God is not a haphazard matter, since Godsways and laws are unchanging (Q. 33:62), andthus the entire world of nature operates throughimmutable laws that can be discovered through

the investigation of nature. Since these laws areboth uniform and knowable, and since naturepoints to something higher than itselfindeed,to the Creator Himselfit follows that the studyof nature leads to an understanding of God, andis in fact a form of worship.In understanding these relationships drawnby the Qurn, it is important to recall that theQurn is considered by Muslims to be the actualspeech of God, imparted to the heart of theProphet by the Archangel Gabriel. The Prophet

then conveyed it as he received it. The text of theQurn thus becomes the actual Divine Word,not retrojective inspirational transcriptions, andso its conception of the natural world is (for theMuslim) grounded in immutable faith.It should also be noted that, according to theQurn,

"human beings were created by God as Hisvicegerents (khalifa) in the physical world lyingwithin the finite boundaries of time [and] the very principle of Gods vicegerency also madethem His servants (abd, ibad) who werebyvirtue of a Primordial Covenant (mithaq) they had

And The Natural World

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Excerpt rom The Making of Islam and Science by Dr. Muzzaar Iqbal -

Founder and President o Center or Islam and Science, Canada


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affirmed, and a Trust (amanah) they had takenupon themselves in preeternitythe custodiansof the entire natural world. Humanity was thustranscendentally charged not to violate the duemeasure (qadr) and balance (mizan) that Godhad created in the larger cosmic whole." (Haq2001, 112).

The Qurnic view of the relationship betweenthe world of nature and God on the one handand between the world of nature and theprogeny of Adam on the other is thus highlyinterconnected.

"Adams superiority over other creatures andhis regency over nature arise in a contextthat is highly complex, with its interdigitatingmetaphysical, moral, and naturalistic dimensions:the conceptual setting here evidently being verydifferent from that of the Old Testament andthe Evangel." (Haq 2001, 112).

Another aspect of the Qurnic view of natureis intimately linked to the Divine Name al-Rahman, the Most Merciful (one of the twonames of mercy to be found in the basmala, the verse of the Qurn placed at the head of allbut one of its chapters: In the name of Allah,the Most Merciful, the Most Beneficent). It hasbeen frequently noted that, in the totality ofthe Qurnic teachings, Gods Mercy and HisOmnipotence are inseparable (Haq 2001, 118),and that these two perfections are the two poles

of divine action, at the same time contrasted andcomplementary (Gardet 1987, 30). Accordingto the Qurn, the very act of bringing intoexistence from nonexistence is an act of mercy.Furthermore, the Qurnic view of existence notonly involves this first act of mercy but also theidea that the continuous existence of things isentirely due to their being sustained by God,one of Whose Names is Rabb, the One Whonourishes and sustains. Thus, according to theQurn, not only the act of creation but also theact of providing sustenance for the continuation

of existence is also an act of mercyand, sincenature is an expression of Gods Mercy, all thatit contains is by its sheer bountiful existencean undeniable sign of Gods existence (andMercy).The theme of Mercy is especially relevant toour subject. In a chapter of the Qurn entitledal-Rahman, a vast range of phenomena of thenatural worldthe sun and the moon, rivers,oceans, fruits, cattleare mentioned as being somany divine favors and blessings. The Qurnthen asks, in a powerful refrain occurring thirty-three times in this chapter, which of the favors of

your Sustainer will you then deny? In fact, onecan say that the whole thrust of the Qurnicview of nature and its relationship with God andhumanity is underscored by three interconnectedconcepts: Tawhid (Oneness of God) and the various associated concepts arising out of themanifestation of divine attributes; the Amr(Command) of God in the operational realm;

and the intertwined presence of Qadr (Measure)and Mizan (Balance) in the material world (Haq2001). These three Qurnic concepts are notonly central to the teachings of Islam but they arealso of immense importance for understandingthe relationship between Islam and science. Although Islam, like Judaism, Christianity,Hinduism, and many other religions, hasdeveloped numerous schools of thought [suchas] theological, philosophical, scientific, andmystical, dealing with the order of nature (Nasr1996, 60), these three concepts remain centralto all schools of Islamic thought. Given theseinherent relationships between God, humanity,and nature, it is impossible in Islam to conceive ofnature as an independent, self-subsisting entity.Likewise, scienceas an organized enterprisethat studies and explores the natural worldcannot be conceived as a separate entity whichhas to be somehow externally related to Islam.In fact, the much-touted lack of separation ofstate and religion in Islamic polity is applicableto all other domains, as Muslims believe that

Islam is not merely a set of commandments andrituals but a complete way of life, encompassingall domains of knowledge and human activity.This worldview is based on an uncompromisinginsistence on Tawhid, the Oneness of God,a ubiquitous concept in Islamic thought thatunifies all realms of knowledge, making thembranches of the same tree. Difficult as it maybe for the modern Western mindaccustomedto regarding religion solely as set of personalbeliefsto understand this aspect of Islam, it isimpossible to construct a relationship between

Islam and scienceor any other domain ofknowledgeas a relationship between twodistinctively separate entities.We need to understand this relationship like thatof a mother and a child, in which a particularbranch of knowledgescienceemerges fromwithin the greater body of knowledge dealing withthe world of existing things, a world conceivedas created by and ontologically dependent uponthe Creator. It is a relationship that is inherentlyinseparable from the well-articulated concept ofnature as a Divine Sign.

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The monk, relying on a strictly scholastic

approach, gave a damning verdict:

nothing can be done; a person who

has killed so many people can never make up

for his sins. It was a genuine urge to amend

his ways that had brought him to the deeply

religious monk. Upon hearing this, though, the

self-professed murderer impulsively gave the

monk his own nal verdict, adding one more to

the list of 99 killed. Yet, again, he felt the push to

seek redemption. He had now killed 100 people

in his town and wanted to know what to do to

cleanse himself from something he was told was

unforgivable. Finally, he was informed to seek out

a certain religious andknowledgeable mana

scholarin the town. The scholar comforted

him and after considering his situation told the

man that in order to amend his ways he must

move from his town to another town. A change

of setting was required; he needed to repent to

his Creator and move to the other town because

deeply devout people who could inuence him

to change his ways inhabited it.

With his sense of hope once again revitalized, theman set off to do as the scholar recommended.

He gathered his belongings, walked out of his

town, and began the journey to the next town.

On the way, he met his appointed time of death.

Remember, there are two groups of angels that

come along with the Angel of Death, or Azraeel.

One group bears glad tidings and the most

pleasant fragrance; the angels in this group have

beaming faces and greet the departing soul if it

has been successful in the test of this life, with

greetings of salaam. The other group bears

stern faces. The angels in this group are rm in

their resolve to beat out the departing soul, which

is intensely clinging to this life because it has no

goodness to anticipate, and ask it, Did not there

come to you a warner? So both these groups

came with the Angel of Death to get hold of the

soul of this man, who had been a self-professed

murderer in search of redemption. As a result,

the two groups of angels began debating as to

who would take the mans soul on the journey

to the next life. The rst group claimed that he

was repenting and wanted to change his ways

and so should be welcomed with the greetingsof salaam; the other group of angels argued

that since he had killed 100 people and had not

done any good, they should pull out his soul in

disgrace and admonish it for its evil ways.

The mans Creator had not forgotten the man

and sent an angel in the form of a man to the

arguing angels to present a solution to them. He

told the angels, measure the distance betweenhim and the town that he had left and the town

he intended to enter. This seemed a fair and

logical way to resolve the dispute. As the angels

proceeded to execute the solution, the all-

knowing, all-able Creator commanded the earth

to shrink so the distance between the man and

the town he intended to enter decreased and the

distance between him and the town he had left

increased. The angels measured the distances.

26

Ahmed Malik- Final year MBBS student at Shia College o Medicine

Winds Of


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The group with angels of beaming faces and

bearing the most pleasant fragrances then took

charge of the mans soul. They greeted him with

glad tidings and salaam.

This story is derived from the true words of

our beloved Messenger, may the peace and

plentiful blessings of our Creator be upon him, as

mentioned in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

This man, who in modern terms may have

been known as a serial killer, realized his error,

accepted his fault, and

made a relentless and

genuine effort to bring

about a lasting change

in his life. As a result,

our Creator forgave him

and accepted his efforts

even though he had not

yet reached the nal

destination on the road to

repentance in this life. What

a true blessing it was for

this man! He only just set

out to correct his wrongs,

and the Most Noble, Allah

, met him with His Mercy

at much more than half the way. Looking at just

this one hadithof the Prophet , we learn how

to bring about a similar change in our lives and

how each individualan ordinary member of

society, a dai(one who invites to Allahs way),

and a scholarneed to contribute to the changeof the society as a whole.

Firstly, the Prophet presents to us the case of

a man who has killed such an immense number

of people that it may almost seem as though

murder should now be an instinct of this man.

However, the man still realized that the path

he was on was evil and he felt a dedication to

change. To begin the journey to change, then,

an ordinary member of society desiring to

change must rst admit that the path he or she

is on is not acceptable to the Creator and only

true Lord, Allah. Subsequently, he or she must

become dedicated to bringing about a change,

as this man was when he asked a monk to help

him. When the monk told him that there was nomeans for his repentance, he killed the monk as

an indication of frustration, but instantly regained

his desire to repent to the Most High, Allah, and

amend his ways. So, he went further to seek

out a scholar, a person of

knowledge, to nd a way to

repent. Eventually, when he

learned what he had to do

to become truly repentant

to Allah and to change

his ways, he did what the

scholar had recommended

without any hesitation. This

is exactly what Allah has

also advised us to do: ask

people of knowledge if we do

not know (16:43 and 21:7).

He has also advised us

to actually do what we say

(bring our words to action)

because it is gravely disliked by Allah that we

say things we do not do (61:2-3). Finally, when

the man se

winds of change - volume 2 issue 1

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