DEMONS Rising

Someone recently shared through whatsapp a VDO showing torture on about an year old human babies. This VDO started when an offender who was using his one hand to hold recording device( due to which his face could not be seen though through features of children and Arm sleeve of the offender gave impression of Tamil Indian or Bengali origin of VDO)) started slapping the children through the other hand to make them cry and then he threw them on floor and one child started bleeding. The VDO ended when the camera focused on a child’s eyes and the offender started strangling him.

This was not the first VDO of such nature which different people had shared but other VDOs were about slapping or kicking children of various ages or throwing them roughly on bed. Different people who shared such content requested to forward for creating awareness but my first concern is that the more we would share the more acceptable such content would become and secondly I suspect that number of interested viewers for such sort of VDOs is rising and this is what concerns me the most.

“V” the humans seek knowledge to grow above animals but with the passage of time “V” are falling below them so it cant be just knowledge which differentiates us from beasts. To me too much fulfillment (may it be of wealth, Knowledge, resources, Access to different types of entertainment or of any other sort) pushes towards such direction when “V” start crossing nature’s boundaries. I think solution is following religion according to its spirit. Firstly it brings self-control and restraint and secondly our own pleasure and satisfaction for animal needs becomes secondary. Some people say that religion is the largest contributor to loss of human lives since start of mankind but I think it is not religion rather its followers who failed to grasp the spirit of God’s orders and who did not use their gift of emotional intelligence.

I think “V as parents while raising kids should be putting a greater emphasis on teaching values and should reduce our obsession with academic grades. Apparently buyers of such shows (at Dark web where people are tortured at viewer's order)are FINANCIALLY stable and successful people but MORALLY dead."V" should also try to slowdown such demonih entertainment to come to surface/common content sharing platforms.

Note:Title picture used is not an image of mentioned VDO.

Character

Like any other Pakistani, I feel frustrated with the way this country is being managed. Because of having access to media, I can compare my country with other countries and make a contrast in terms of Political, Social and Economic systems. One thing discussed less is our own national character i.e. How do the common people behave? I feel that the mess in this country is not just because of incompetent and dishonest politicians but because of Incompetent and dishonest people(Politicians are not the cause rather are the effect of the way "V" behave). I see shortage of

Honesty
Tolerance
Discipline
Faith
Entrepreneurship
Creativity and innovation


As these elements build and define national character, we need to take following measures.

Education: Shift focus from Post graduate programs to Skill development programs .Improve pay and incentives for Technicians as compared to Engineers/Doctors as they are needed in larger numbers. This would improve employment and workers would not feel frustrated being over qualified .Better earning reduces justification for dishonesty and friction between socioeconomic groups
For higher education, financial incentives should be given to people studying BIO TECH,MATH,PHYSICS,ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE,GENETIC ENGINEERING and some sort of disincentive should be used for people studying finance so that we produce more researchers and scientists rather than experts of Casino economies who currently have better job opportunities but who contribute a little to well being of society.

LAW Enforcement: Divide police into three separate divisions
Monitoring and Reporting
Investigation
Operations

These separate departments break concentration of power at operational level police. These divisions can coordinate through coordinators and IT setup .Police is first line of defense for civilians. Feeling secure can reduce level of frustration which is reflected on roads and at public places.

Entrepreneurship: Bulk of management training institutions are offering MBA degree after simple graduation. It should be made compulsory to have a technical degree like in Furniture making or Food processing before registering for MBA programs. Such people are more likely to use Management degrees for Business in their respective field. Short courses of Business management can be introduced in Urdu and Punjabi to encourage women/undergrads/People with basic education for self-employment.More effective Micro Finance and financial assistance needs to be offered to small scale/young enterprises.

Religion: As a nation we spend a lot of time showing/expressing concerns regarding how wrong others are rather focusing on are we right? Any degree for religious qualification should not be without comparative study with at least one sect and religion and along with compulsory courses in IT and English. This way religious leaders would stay in touch with what is happening around and would also have a realistic view of modern world. There should be reasonable pay for them so that they don’t try to over emphasize on few incidents/events and elements to play with public sentiment rather give a broader and realistic picture of religion.

Sports:"V" need to expand focus from few sports and treat Sports as an Industry.This would help us become more competitive.An average citizen while seeing its national team winning against teams of developed world would start feeling confident during global interaction.

At the end anyone can ask that who would bring these changes?

A simpler answer can be 'The Government' so participate in electoral process.
A tougher choice can be to take initiative at individual level so that eventually many honest and tough individuals encourage others to be like them. I think great nations rise by following footsteps of great and guiding individuals . “V” the Pakistanis need to create such individuals at home!

Peeling the pimples (and Stitching the gaps!)

It took me about 30 seconds to sync into the news of Junaid Jamshed’s death when my mother woke and told me. After about two hours I had seen half an hour coverage of the plane crash, I felt the urge to share and comment on the News and that was when I discovered split emotions in General public about Junaid’s Death.

Majority of the people were discussing his transition from being a Pop Icon to a prominent Preacher but some people were discussing circumstances of his death as a sign of God’s reaction towards his comments about B.B Ayesha(In a preaching session he had discussed holy prophet’s wife B.B Ayesha ‘s conduct as of a typical possessive wife). Since last couple of months I have come to know about discussions against Maulana Tariq Jameel , Professor Ahmed Javed,Javed Ahmed Ghamidi ,Professor Rafiq Akhter. Reason for this post is to develop understanding of the impact when religious sentiments based dislike becomes hatred and this hatred is promoted and shared with other people.

Why "V" should not discuss?

1: Most of us do not spend time in studying religion so our knowledge is limited to what we have heard from someone(that someone’s true knowledge,bias and intentions are rarely known) so logically “V” cant be sure if our sentiments are due to facts or fiction.

2: Our discussions about religion are generally related to those topics which do not restrict us to perform our routine duties as Muslims like should there be Milads/Religious concerts ? so such discussions are least likely to improve our religious discipline.

3:Such discussions are based upon proving how wrong the others are rather than why we are right so very soon in discussion ,Arguments are replaced by scolding between people who actually are very forgiving for themselves when it comes to avoiding strict religious discipline and they just pick a discussion for self assurance of being right without regularly and honestly searching for truth.

4:When “V” follow religious leaders on the basis of sect rather than logic and conduct than “V” tend to become over forgiving for our own leaders (Stitching the gaps)and unduly critical towards other sects(peeling the pimples)without realizing that in spite of difference of opinion about post Prophet incidents and events,our binding element is Allah’s Sovereignty which should make us a lot more united than how much “V” actually are.

5:When “V” generously make it known that “V”can become loud and violent at disagreements than “v” actually reduce our ability to inspire non-muslims rather “v” push them away from betterment.

6: Media/Political parties/Religious leaders exploit disagreements and this is what they all feed on. ”V” get distracted and lose track while ignoring the basic and simpler things which can get us closer to God/Allah like being regular with prayers,Doing our jobs honestly for Halal/Lawful earning, Restricting ourselves to Permissible sexual relations, Helping poor etc.

Common topics of our religious debates and why they are not important for discussion:

• Who should have been the next leader after holy prophet’s death?(rather than practically doing anything for bringing honest leadership now)
• Was Karballah incident religious or political?(in any case holy prophet’s family chose to sacrifice lives but “V” are not even willing to sacrifice foreign entertainment,brands and culture)
• Is acknowledgement of Holy prophet’s family’s status part of religion?(How would it effect our lives in year 2017 and later years?)
• Do “V” need to use a reference while praying to God?(in both cases eventually its God "V" ask from so it actually does not question our faith)
• Can a prophet make normal humans like mistakes like forgetting, having feelings etc ?("V" are answerable and accountable for our own conduct because “V” cant deny having a conscious in either case)
• Is image of a shoe which existed 1400 years ago sacred?(There are many things with more obvious significance like reading translation of Holy Quran and its explanation in mother language so why to spend time on shoe related discussion?)

Being Mulims "v" should be concerned about current challenges and above mentioned discussions dilute our focus from current and real issues:

• “V” still worship idle Gods but their shapes and forms have changed from being of Stones and Clay to being wealthy and Powerful (Just like old times “V” find other sources than God/Allah for getting things done easily.
• Birth of a girl is not welcomed(similar excuse of financial burden)
• Interest based economy exists
• Might is right
Heros from different fields are created,discussed,praised and idealized to make us believe that Personal Glory is worth all of our mind,heart and body efforts.

Due to these real and collective issues it becomes painful when "V"make differences among Muslim sects more known and spread hate about other sects.I feel differences based on practices( for common and shared Islamic beliefs )Can be and should be ignored.

God..Faith....Survivors!

With the passage of time I have realized that Islam for us the Muslims has two functional areas or sections :

A: Worshiping
B: Conduct

Generally 'V' the Muslims are more concerned about those activities which connect a person directly with God like offering prayers or reciting the holy Quran but 'V' tend to show lesser concern about those acts which connect a Muslim with other Muslims,Non Muslims and other living creatures like animals etc.

At this age when I am almost 38,I have started feeling that "IF" not more than at least equal(to have a connect with God) in importance is our conduct with other people and living beings. In fact 'V'can never really feel God's presence without feeling love for its creations.
However once God's presence is felt then sooner or later Faith upon him is tested.

When you start believing that:

Giving money to poor people or financially helping them actually increases your own wealth than suddenly you start experiencing financial setbacks or losses.

God has picked the right person for you as a life partner ,you start feeling tempted for other options.

Daughters blessed to you are as lovely as a son could have been and you get another daughter.

You have developed enough patience for your very old parents but they become even more childlike.

Offering prayers is a compulsion but you start getting busier.



During these and similar tests of Faith 'V'need to remember these words by Stephan king "If the Devil is real than God must be real too (If living is hell than Heaven after living must be real too!


God could guide us through a Book (Quran)only but he also used a person(Sunnah) to show that how living in tougher circumstances and protecting Faith can become a source for progression towards purity and God.