i have this unsaid rule of not discussing religion, politics and music with one and sundry, reason being ‘they’ just don’t get it and it’s just not worth it with me arguing ‘with the energy of thousand storms’ proving islam isn’t only about jihad or islam isn’t sexist or islam doesn’t propagates terrorism (or whatever bull crap it has been associated with) …overtime these things transformed in to something very sacrosanct and personal to me, benchmarked against my very own set of yardstick
…but once in a while i like to be my 13 year old self and pose annoying questions ( as in the title) to ammi; and ammi being ammi always ended up explaining with terms like “kabeera gunah, jahannum, neeyat, aqeedah keena, Yawm al-Qiyāmah, sawn-salaah, kufr, hukukul ebaad…” interwoven into one another
let me clarify that i am not questioning here the fundamentals of islam which teaches one what it is like ’being human’ cos everyday i try to up my game in being one, it’s the multiple versions i am exposed to and how i smile at everyone’s definition based on ‘degree of convenience’, when you stop being an individual and start being an entire religion...
one of my favourite writer hanif kureshi says:
islam is “what it was for people when i was a kid — a quarter of their lives,” he says. “you’re a soccer fan, you go shopping, watch tv and you’re a muslim.”
the way bhai takes it;
stop your over intellectual debate on what’s islamic and whatsnot, simply offer your prayers five times or atleast the fajr prayers you will be transcended as a good enough muslim, try doing that first and we will discuss other detailing later (cos he believes the conviction required to perform fajr prayers regularly is hard to come by, i agree it is)
the way chotu is:
he performed his hajj and umrah at the age of 22 and is one of the most namaazi individual i have ever known (for his age, mashaAllah) but he is also a big hit on the party circuit, his caller tune rings loud when you call him ”rabbanaa aatena fidduniyaaa…” but goes gaga over some hideous numbers about ‘kaala chashma…’ and ‘jinne mera dil lutiyaaan…oh ho (i always sang the oh ho bit with him) along with punjabi translations….and yeah he also share those cheesy slogans “ek chai do khaari, ek miyaan dus pe bhaari” (i am in love with these corny lines and unwarranted display of loyalty and often myself chant these at the most unexpected of places :P)
i call him lucchhha maulanaa :) (…but i appreciate his punctiliousness for namaaz, alhumdulillah, credit where credit due, he will inshaAllah get there)
the way the ‘broad’-minded aunt does it:
“naah we can’t get our daughters married in that family, they are too religious…we need someone more liberal and broad minded” (whoa really, and who actually eased the limits for you and rewrote the tenets) you know the category of people who all believe in almighty so conveniently and are all so easy-going about religion, who celebrate eid without the month long fasting, the baseless opinions on hijab as if they are a symbol of struggle against the patriarchal oppression threatening to overthrow their out of focus feminist ideology (the real war isn’t against patriarchy girls, relax…we will take that on some other time, please don’t mix it up with religion) or those parents preaching to others about self-righteousness under the islamic garb but are too blind to the non-mentionable exploits their kids are into day in-day out, sorta chill, cool, hip, islam, seriously, very very sufi style.…who think being fundamentalist is out-of-fashion…i abhor this lot the most cos there is not an ounce of effort to change the status-quo or the grace to accept the fact that what they are doing is downright inappropriate, moderate muslims? bloody hell…hypocrites sounds better!
a piece of advice, get a life – like right now!
the way the uncle practises it
those who have the balls to talk about ones duty towards ones parents, who define how an ideal father, brother, husband, son etc. should be (from shari’ah perspective) but has himself failed miserably in all the roles, the rush to offer ‘jama’at se namaz’ but cheat one’s own in property/money matters
the new age 'awakened' couples
who are under constant pressure to send their kids to a madrassah and make them study islamiat and proudly present them in front of relations to parrot off those fav verses from the quran, but ofcourse these kids are their ticket to jannat….and the very same parents won’t give second thought before plucking those eyebrows, indulging in geebat, discriminating attitude, backbiting, slander, lying, cheating, treachery, pride, anger, sloth, greed galore and all of the other catastrophic merits of beastly humanity
the guru
“i am spiritual not religious” (realllly??? do me a favour, go fly a kite)
the others
who consider it a fashion statement to be an atheist, agnostic, logic-hunter or whatever conniving terminology you can come up with etc.( i am not going to waste my time on the non-entities)
we are anyway a massively polarized society and creating more sub-divisions and definitions only adds to the existing chaos…i know human beings revel in chaos…cos it gives them the license to ease the guilt…but we need to understand as a community the society has some very juvenile image (anyone in an abaya or a beard is a jihadi, you gotta be kidding me) and the melange of our very own variation is no help either, we are anyway not a very tolerant society for anyone, really.
why can’t things be simple and we let one belief prevail that the only right way to live is the sunnah of the prophet (pbuh). cos every other way, no matter how much it appeals or tempts is erroneous, because the almighty himself educated it to the prophet (pbuh) and no man can think of coming up with something better, or even close, ever.
as ibn ‘ata-illah eloquently states “god is not veiled from you by some reality existing apart from him, since there is no reality outside of him: what veils him from you is but the illusion that there can be a reality apart from him”
i know it is tough, i have been trying really hard, i myself often ask the biker when in self-doubt “you think i am a good muslim?” and he says “you are honest, you don’t have any ill-feelings for anyone, you are performing your fardh steadfastly, you are away from any form of kabeera gunah and for the rest we are trying every minute to be a better ‘practising’ muslim” the catchword here is ‘practising’ no sweat, we will get there….may Allah-subhantuallah forgive me for my ignorance
i am not questioning or defending faith as i am no expert on the same and i have genuinely stopped indulging in the debate. i just go on living a life like a moral human being and follow the path of sunnah, that’s what’s gonna be my take on religion, live and let live, each to his own…but just try to keep the chaos down by not playing religious scholars and interpreting the religion according to your ‘degree of convenience' and trust me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with following ones fundamentals…please don’t let expediency win over principle
for my sake and yours, i really hope and pray that’s the case
the lord giveth, the lordtaketh away,
nothing personal, its just business
:)
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