I was recently approached by some young lad from some organization, trying to convince me that dialogue is no good and that America was bad. He added that I was not a good Muslim because even though he did not know me, yet he saw my photos in the US and concluded that I was not following the message of Mohammad (peace be upon him).
It reminded me of a saying of the fourth caliph of Islam, Hazrat Ali (on whom be peace), "A person who finds only faults in others is like a housefly, who leaves the whole beautiful body of a person and just sits on his wounds".
The reason why I do not like to explain myself to such people is, because they will always see what they want to see. I could tell that this young lad had no idea of what Islam was all about. I have been wasting my time for the past seven years trying to educate such individuals on what's right and what's wrong. Now I realize that one should never argue with a fool, because the onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.
What I observed in the United States was that those people (citizens) seemed to be following Islam. They seemed to be living Islam everyday. Islam as in "peace". They had respect for the elderly, they had love and compassion for the challenged individuals, they had rules and laws that seemed to be picked right out of the Holy Quran. If you see wrong, it is right inside your own head. Whatever is inside you, echos back to you. What I see in others is what I am myself. Any haters must think about this before they say anything. :-)
One more thing that I would like to mention here, before I talk about "peace", is the real face of a "people" and that which the media shows us. They are two different things. I come from Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, and my culture is Pashtoon. If we look at the Pashto cinema, and if someone thinks whatever they see there represents us; they are terribly mistaken. Our cinema is not us. We and our cinema are worlds apart. Same goes for the fabricated and twisted facts on the news channels. Now put another country and culture in your own position in this regard and think. This is the same for everyone. Media is only media. Hollywood is just Hollywood and Lollywood is just Lollywood. They are not real as in they do not truly represent the values and culture of a nation.
A society that has compassion for their sick and needy, for their elders and who do so much to help each other, how can they be bad?
The Quran says, in chapter 42 (Consultation, Ash-Shura); verse 30, “Whatever calamity, misfortune or disaster befalls you, it is because of what your (own) hands have earned, and (yet) He pardons most (of your faults)."
Whatever misfortune has befallen my country, is it not what their own hands have earned? I know how much I have suffered at the hands of these so-called Muslims. Do they even know what a Muslim is? Do they even believe in Allah, or is Allah just a myth for them?
If America does not fear Allah, America fears the Law. What is their Law? Their Law helps their citizens live an honorable life. Do we have any Laws? I visited their government as well as non-governmental organizations. I studied their police departments. I studied so much and I studied their people. Their love for their own country was evident everywhere. They follow traffic rules. They love humanity. It seemed as if they feared Allah. Do we do all (the good) that they do? They keep their wars and battles way away from their borders. We are at war with each other. Our governmental organizations and our officials, our shopkeepers and our businessmen, just think about who here is honest and true to Pakistan? Do not blame others (neighbouring countries or other nations) for your misery. I mean, all the good things that they do, do we do all those good things for our people? Does our government do all that for us? Do our Laws protect us? Do we know what Laws are and do we know Laws are for us for our own benefit? Are we even aware of our rights? How do we treat our women? Do we know Mohammad (peace be upon him) said, "Fear Allah in regards to women!" (Sahih Muslim)
Do you not think Allah hates the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people? In the light of the teaching of the Quran about how a misfortune befalls a nation, I am beginning to think that we are a nation of sinners. In Pashto they say, "Khuday pa zaan akhta karray dee". Allah has made you chew upon your own flesh. Your government official are corrupt, your bureaucracy is corrupt, you are corrupt. You still expect Allah to have mercy on you because you recite a few words from the Quran in Arabic, as a ritual and have no idea what it means?
Let me burst your bubble and tell you what the Quran says about this, in chapter 62 (Friday Al-Jumua) verse 5 of the Holy Quran, Allah talks about those who carried around Allah's book wrapped in beautiful covers, who did not comprehend what they read and did not act upon it. They carried the Book with extreme reverence, but did not undertake the responsibilities it imposed on them. The Quran says that such people are like a donkey laden with books. A donkey can never go on the right path, just because the books containing the distinction between right and wrong, are laden on its back.
Unfortunately our so-called Muslims just read the Quran without understanding its meaning and making their lives better with its help. Mohammad (peace be upon him) says, “Whoever completed the reading of Quran in less than three days did not understand anything” (Tirmizi-Abwabul Qirat)
Mohammad (peace be upon him) said, “Allah will raise many nations by this book and will lower many”. (Sahih Muslim)
The fourth Caliph of Islam, Hazrat Ali (on whom be peace) said, “The world is darkness; knowledge is light; but knowledge without truth is a mere shadow.”
The Holy Quran says, in chapter 10 (Jonah - Yunas) verse 57, “And it is healing for the diseases which are in the hearts.”
Muslih-ud-Din Mushrif ibn-Abdullah Shirazi (Sheikh Saadi), a Persian poet of the medieval period says,
"However much you study,
you cannot know without action.
A donkey laden with books is
neither an intellectual nor a wise man.
Empty of essence, what learning has he—
Whether upon him is firewood or book?"
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