Two Religious Men

This morning while waiting for my train on a cold bench at Amroha railway station, I observed something strange. A man wearing a white kurta-payjama, having well trimmed clean beard and a skull cap was running towards another man. The other man was sporting a big red tilak on his forehead and a beard. He was walking in front of me towards the other end of the platform wearing knee length saffron dhoti. By their looks it was clear that the first man was a Muslim and the second was a Hindu.

When the Muslim man came closer, I observed he was having a few coins in his hand. The other man wasn't begging but he looked poor, he was probably a saint. He gave a blank expression when the Muslim man stopped him. The Muslim man smiled and offered him the coins. He accepted them and smiled back. I was watching them curiously. Later, both of them moved on to their business.

I felt good after observing this inspirational gesture by a human for another human. I also felt that this is the idea of a true secular country, a Muslim helping a Hindu, and vice versa. I regretted that I couldn't capture that moment on camera.

I also tried to analyze why such a small and normal incident stirred me so much. I realized its because of the communal tension we are facing in India now a days.

Internet is full of Entertainment

At one conversation about "Religion vs Science", someone commented:

"Can you show me a software? Can you show me gravity? Can you show me electricity? You would just show me the effects. So, why do you want to see a soul to believe in it?"

There is lot more entertainment over internet than we can ever imagine. hmm... Yes, knowledge too exists.

The Idea Of A Perfect Weekend Morning

A Saturday morning:

 I got up and immediately searched my phone on my bed. I remembered, I left it here-somewhere last night. I wanted to be sure its not on my bed, to get out of warm sheets that covered me and land on the cold floor. Finally, I found it below my pillow and pressed the big semi circular button at the bottom of its screen to light it up and check the time. It was 6:15 A.M. I covered myself again and closed my eyes. But before going back to sleep I realized, still there are 20 minutes left for Fajr and I am missing it continuously for months and preferring sleep over namaz(and within few seconds I traversed through all my knowledge of hell and heaven). Still, it took me about 5 more minutes to gather all my courage and defeat shaitan. I got up and worn a shirt, hanging nearby, on top of the T-shirt I was already wearing. It was while returning from the toilet I realized, I was wearing my newest shirt.

After performing Fajar a few seconds before the announcement, “Hazraat Fajar ka waqt khatam hua.. Qaza namaaz 20 minute baad ada karein”, I felt too fresh and satisfied(the guilt of not going to mosque remained).

Photo Credit: Will Keightley on Flickr

Although, getting up at 11 A.M and having a freshly baked Sheermal, a steaming hot tea and an omlette while unfolding the newspaper is also my idea of a perfect weekend morning.

Today’s morning was perfect too. After namaz, reading a few pages of Quran and understanding them, followed by freshly prepared Poori-Sabzi and later enjoying weekend newspaper with a mug full of steaming hot tea have no comparison.

I Want More Social Pressure

Today I am not surprised to realize that I am living my life in a particular way which is very common. This is the way life have to be in my world. This is how everyone lives here in my society. My problem is that I think I am different and I should not live like this. The most obvious and immediate questions are:

• What is wrong living this way?
• What is my way of living, if there is any?

Answers:

1.

Good grades in school. Respecting parents and other elders. A Bachelor’s degree from a well known institution. A well paying job. These are the social expectations till early twenties. Your neighbors and relatives create lot of pressure on children for good grades. They destroy your teenage life by constantly asking about your percentage, admission and later placement.  After you achieve all this. Later they want you to marry a girl of your parents choice. Then you are supposed to keep earning  good amount of money and keep your family happy. Even a slight deviation from this path may attract severe criticism. I am fine till here. But what doesn't matter now a days is how you are bringing that “good amount of money” home. These ideal social characteristics can be relaxed to any extent if you are rich. Is all the pressure I faced since childhood was only for money?  There is no emphasis on being a good human. Everybody even pretends to be religious. Though no religion teaches you to be only rich. No one is ready to sacrifice. All great people were selfless and some even sacrificed their life to teach us. Today even donation is for the sake of showing off.

2.

I haven't developed any new way of living. But I just want to live like what I have read in books since childhood. Our society is full of double standards. I was made to learn so many chapters of moral,social and environmental sciences for scoring good grades. But now when its time to implement those concepts. I can easily follow the opposite path. I don’t feel any social pressure. I am not a superhero nor I am a saint. I still need those relatives and neighbors who should stop me from doing anything wrong and push me for doing good work.

Some more Questions:

• Why some people have to be poor and their life full of problems in society?
• Why not these poor and rich settle among themselves and let middle class people like me live in peace?
• I am not doing anything so why can’t I become a little more selfish and stop even thinking all this?

No Place to Die Peacefully

Death sounds like the end of everything. All thoughts, aspirations, feelings everything. But there is one thing you should not expect even after death. Peace. Especially if you have spent all your life in the middle of chaos in a modern Indian city and you die there.

You must have struggled whole life to find a decent place to live. But you will also need a place to get buried. Some space in a nearby graveyard. And if you think you will get that space easily and will sleep there till the Day of Judgement, you are wrong. Even after death you are not supposed to sleep.

If you live in one of many overpopulated localities in Delhi like Jamia Nagar. Let me tell you that there is just one graveyard which is already full. Whenever a new grave is dug now a days, its found to be already occupied by someone else's bones. So people try at some other place and even there they find bones. Then after repeating several times they find a place with no bones or maybe a place with only few bones which they hide in a corner.

Modern expectations after death:

• So even if you find a place near the boundary of the graveyard. Please expect children, from the locality next to the boundary, playing on your grave. And don't think you can scare them by making strange sounds and pretending to be a ghost from inside your grave. Now a days nobody is scared of ghosts. 

• Please expect loud music because humans are also living nearby. And if you want you can go and dance in their functions too. You can easily mix up with ladies with excessive makeup. Just make sure to take a deep bath in mud(to look similar) if you are lying in grave for more than a decade.

• Please do not mind if people dig your grave every few months and hit your old decaying bones with a hoe or shovel. Actually they are just trying to adjust one more person in the graveyard.

• And please do not get annoyed if people slowly acquire the graveyard land illegally and build their house on the top of your grave. And even I expect you to repair their sewer pipes if they pass through your grave or they are nearby. Come on! You were human once.

I Protest Against Insult of our Beloved Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)

Being a muslim I believe there is one God and Prophet Mohammad(PBUH) is his messenger. As I believe I try to obey what Allah had ordered and spend my life the way Prophet Mohammad(PBUH) did. So he is my ideal and I try to copy him in every aspect of life. And this is also true for all the muslims around the world. Now when someone disrespects him it is obvious that every muslim feels offended. Disrespecting an ideal is as if you are insulting all his followers. This is clear racism. They keep doing it, again and again, and still call their society civilized.

However I am also against these violent protests that are in progress in many countries in Asia. Many innocents are loosing their lives which is strictly against Islam. Even when the Prophet(PBUH) himself was targeted by locals in Taif and his legs started bleeding. An angel appeared and asked him if he want all of them to be crushed between mountains. He simply refused the punishment and even prayed for them. So, how can we justify these violent protests?

We must understand that some people can use us for their political ambitions. People are really sensitive to religious sentiments. So, some politicians find it a best time to gain popularity without caring about the lives of those innocents who become victim of violence. Its time we use our brains and follow the religion. Stop getting influenced by the West and our own selfish leaders.

May Allah grant all of us true guidance and wisdom.