Return to Earth

Assalam-o-alaikum!

Alhamdolillah, this Saturday, I returned from Hajj... and what a trip it was! I had never thought one little week could pack such a variety of emotions and events. I visited new places, met new people and learnt some good lessons for life. It may all sound bookish but really, I think, everything about Hajj this year was extra-ordinary!

Alhamdolillah, each and every step of the Hajj itself went smoothly and each has many stories attached with it... I can't wait to get started on the details. As a result of my Hajj this year, I've got much advice for those intending to perform next year... and for the general public, I've got this to say: If you're intending to perform Hajj anytime soon, you'd better go for it now, while you're strong and healthy. Don't wait for your bones to creak because, believe me, it takes a sound and healthy person to perform Hajj. I always marvelled at the stamina and spirit of elderly men and women, leaning on their walking sticks, and walking miles upon miles during Hajj.

Right now, I'm packing because I'm leaving for Karachi in the evening, inshAllah. These past few days were all spent in sleeping and fighting off flu germs and throat infections so I didn't feel like writing anything. InshAllah, from Karachi, I'll be telling you about my Hajj. Interestingly, I kept a journal but as soon as we reached Mina to start Hajj, I found no time to keep up with it.

Really, it's an out-of-the-world experience... literally! You forget that there exists a world outside the Haram area (Makkah, Mina, Arafat... etc.), you forget about world events and the people you share your tent with become almost like family.

Time to leave Tabuk again... Assalam-o-alaikum!

Labbayk! Allahumma labbayk!

I remember a time
When I was small
Trembling in step
Two feet tall

But now that I have
Grown to strength
I raise my head
And question God

Have I forgotten miracles
All around me
And of which
I too was?

My purpose is not life
Nor to give life itself
Nor to serve man
Or to serve myself

All these I do
When I worship God
In my surrender to Him
I am of service to all

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Assalam-o-alaikum!

It’s finally here. The day we leave for Hajj is finally here, Alhamdolillah. We’ve been busy packing all day, putting together necessary things at the last moment. It’s weird how important things keep popping up when you’ve got your hands busy with a dozen different things. In fact, my sister wrote about it too at her blog, Milk-n-Cookies!

The fact that we’re going by road makes preparation for the journey a little easier because our car (a remodeled 1986 Mercedes station wagon) can pack most of the tiny ‘bits and pieces’ associated with travel. Thus, taking along spare blankets and mats isn’t much of a problem.

My journal will be with me at all times, inshAllah, to record every step of the journey and when I return, I’ll try to post them here as soon as possible. Although I have already described, in short, the changing landscape between Madinah and Tabuk, I’ll probably do it again… every journey on that old road feels like a first to me.

We’re leaving in the morning, as soon as my father comes back from Fajr prayers. We hope to be on the highway when the sun begins to peep out from behind rolling sand dunes. From Tabuk to Madinah where we intend to stay the night, and on Saturday morning, inshAllah, it’s off to Makkah in Ihram.

I must also add here that I’ll post the second part of my previous post (The New Pakistan) after I return next Saturday, inshAllah. I was surprised to see much reaction and it is true, Faraz Ahmed, that discussion on such a topic is impossible at a blog. However, I am not expressing hatred for the sake of hatred but I wish to shed light on a matter that, like it or not, truly goes against the tenets of Islam. Like Faraz bhai said, what good is our faith if we squash our conscience and trample over our morals in search of progress?

On that note, I’m off. The journey that most Muslims dream of all their lives is right before me, Alhamdolillah. I do not know what this week will bring except that it will certainly be the experience of a lifetime. InshAllah, I hope to return with a clear vision for the future and a blank slate of deeds! Remember me in your prayers as I remember you in mine.

Assalam-o-alaikum wa rehmatullahi wa barakatohu!

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A sad incident was reported on TV today. A hotel building in Makkah collapsed shortly after Zuhr prayers. It was thought, at first, that a helicopter had crashed into the building but the last news makes no mention of a helicopter. The facts will, no doubt, unfold in the coming time. There have been several deaths, mostly
Egyptians. The victims were all pilgrims… may Allah grant them Paradise! Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon! To Allah we do belong and to Him is our return!

The New Pakistan: Part I

Is it just me or has the Pakistani media gone completely insane?

At first, I was surprised, then faintly worried. After sometime, I really got angry. Now, I just watch in helplessness and resignation.

I change the channel. Again. And Again.

Pervez Musharraf, polishing Pakistan’s image abroad with such confused theories as ‘Enlightened Moderation’, has taken it upon himself to ruin our younger generation. Fine, let me not be as narrow-minded as to blame Musharraf alone. But then, I don’t want to waste time talking of the hidden motives and agendas. I’m more concerned with the effect of such ‘liberalistic’ policies.

Pakistani media, particularly TV, has seen a weird revolution over these past three to four years. I’m narrowing myself down to this time frame because that’s the period in which things blasted forward. Any low-level ‘modernizing’ effort being carried out suddenly got a power boost and the result is before us all today.

Through the ‘90s, the primary TV channel in Pakistan was state-run PTV (Pakistan Television Network) and some associated networks. Drama serials of 13 episodes ran from time to time with popular actors and actresses playing decent roles. The plots were intriguing and Pakistan was a great fan of those drama serials. Western movies telecasted on PTV were censored, and they had good content.

Come 2001 (*cough*September*cough*) and soon, Pakistani media was seeing a change, a revolution of sorts, now that I see what has become of it. There was the news that new private channels were to be launched. Of course, at that time, I was totally unaware of anything negative such channels might bring along.

To cut a long story short, Pakistan saw the launch of new channels between 2003 and 2005. First came Geo TV, launched at 12:00 am 14th August 2003. It came with the slogan of ‘live and let live’… with the word ‘Geo’ being taken in Urdu, meaning simply… ‘Live!’ You can, of course, derive a zillion meanings from that. Geo brought along a host of new dramas, programs and talk shows. Everything seemed fine enough. They put in one or two ‘Islamic’ shows too, to woo the Pakistani audience.

Over the past year, new channels… Hum, Aaj, Geo News, ARY Digital, The Muzik, ARY One World, Fashion TV Pakistan have flooded TV. To the Pakistani government and the general public (especially the middle and upper classes), this is true progress. This is what everyone was waiting for. This is what Pakistan needed. In two to three years, we’ve taken off our ‘madressah’ and ‘radical’ image and taken up the banner of ‘enlightened moderation’.

So what is this ‘enlightened moderation’? What was Pakistan waiting for?

Check any of the abovementioned channels for yourself and you’ll see ‘enlightened moderation’ being lauded and advertised magnificently. As usual, women’s issues top the list. What liberation our new vision has given the Pakistani woman! It’s okay for her to let go of anything Islamic because it’s the 21st century and who needs dupattas, scarves, sleeves and full trousers now? The men of today are civilized! Well, there goes everything! Patches of clothing started disappearing… the midriff, some around the legs, necklines took a dive… I hate writing this but that’s how things are.

Today, the modern Pakistani woman, liberated and free (not truly, even according to the Government’s criteria), can be seen walking the ramp with minimal fabric, or hosting a TV show in a Western style dress (no sleeves, knee length… etc.) or taking some ‘Survivor’ type challenge in the hills of the Himalayas. The same woman will also be found dancing to a medley with her relatives and friends at her sister’s wedding.

I’m not ignorant of the facts. Ever since Pakistan’s creation, there have been Muslim women who chose to wear un-Islamic dressing. Just look at various actresses and singers but then, these were very few and, almost always, elites.

Today, the average Pakistani woman is being depicted on TV with shrinking trousers and tops. Models are idolized and admired by the population such that people, steeped in an inferiority complex, have decided to imitate them in every sense. Go to any birthday party, or Eid dinner, or wedding reception… and you’ll see the average Pakistani woman transformed into a comparable copy of the models.

If you believe that, by and large, the modeling and acting profession is still considered shameful by people, then you’re right (though only barely, because women’s eyes spark up at glimpse of these models and actresses in malls and markets… easily impressed!). However, that might be the case for years but then where is the source of this degeneration?

It comes from a gradual brainwash, a continuous propaganda, an attempt to instill into our minds the glittering images of the ‘modern woman’ through seemingly harmless dramas and movies. What is most harmful is that these things are being carried forward in the name of Islam. A few days ago, a famous TV-actress, dressed in a sort of nightgown, sat interviewing her friend on Aaj TV. Both women continuously praised the ‘recent progress and development seen in the fashion industry’ while frequently saying ‘InshAllah’ and ‘Ma’shAllah’!

A singer of much repute, Najam Sheraz, ever since joining a modernistic-Islamic organization (Arrahman-arraheem.com), starts off his concerts with a Hamd or two. Later, his usual songs are blasted at full volume with un-Islamic lyrics. It isn’t surprising why so many media people have joined this organization… where else would their professions be legalized and recommended with such a big ‘Islamic’ stamp?

I wonder what the world is coming to? Examples I have got a million… consider the recent Lux Style Awards in Karachi, or the Sahara Sangeet Awards in San Francisco… you can see how Pakistan represents itself.

We’re letting go of anything that had remained even remotely Islamic. Enlightenment is the motto of the day and ‘moderation’ is our lifestyle. Come Ramadan and we’ll take flimsy dupattas on our heads and pray for more and more of everything. We might even try to recite the Quran… but an English translation is easier, and that is what ‘enlightened moderation’ means. A few fasts missed, but hey, we’re Muslims, Allah is forgiving! And what about the earthquake? Oh no, it wasn’t a reminder from Allah to right our ways! How could you be so backward as to say such a thing? Allah loves us, and He has given us an opportunity to add to our good deeds by servicing mankind. That is the only truth. That is ‘enlightened moderation’. And that is Islam… I think.

Ahh... my old, creaky bones!

Yesterday, as I got out of the car with my family to go to a store, a weird thought came into my mind: what have I done in my life?

Wait, before you go away, let me explain. I meant that I suddenly felt I was towards the end of my life… or that I’d spent all there was so spend in the manner of life.

As soon as the thought came to my mind, I shook my head in disbelief. Why did I feel I was an old woman?! I just turned nineteen about two months ago and I’m wondering about my life?! At first, I was confused, then I tried to derive some sort of reason.

First, I put it on my parents because I felt they talked much about having grown old and not finding this or that interesting anymore. That might be part of the reason but, as I realized later, definitely not the real cause.

It’s because I am no longer interested in or impressed with the latest fashion trends (disappearing fabric) displayed by models, or famous TV actors and actresses. In fact, I’ve even cut myself off from music that I liked… that played a big role. My mind is trying to focus on a serious reality, trying to discipline fantasy while retaining my own identity, my creativity. I try to observe and move with caution, rather than play my way through life without caring for the consequences.

The youth of today experiences such thought and change of focus after thirty, even forty. That’s probably why I can’t consider myself as part of that crazy, carefree youth anymore and the only logical category is the ‘above forty’ bloc.

True, I didn’t like the feeling of oldness that I experienced for a second. But now that I’ve analyzed the cause, I feel much better. My faith and my opinions are not to blame and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The blame lies with me for thinking myself as old. Perhaps in relation to my fellow teenagers, I judge myself as old and wrinkling. I differ in thought and automatically, I differ in age? That should not be so.

Hehe, it’s quite funny too, in a way. Maybe I’m over-reacting and it’s just because of the cold winter and silence in Tabuk. Maybe it’s because our friends in Tabuk have all gone on to other places and we’re the last ones to move. The rooms in our apartment echo with past laughter and memories of a sweet childhood. When we drive around the city, familiar landmarks, old parks and markets remind us of times… of friends who moved on. Perhaps it really is time for us to go too. Perhaps this parting from a secure place is like death to me. Perhaps I feel I’ve grown old and my time is come.

It was a sweet, wonderful life, with the good and sad moments all together. Now that I’ve spent it, it seems like a very small period.

Already I understand how people will feel about their life on the Day of Judgment! A day or a day-and-a-half at the most!