There is an old saying, “The genie is out of the bottle.” It is only now that its true meaning is becoming clear to us with all its dreadful implications. For years, we had been deliberately nourishing some genies with the delicious diet of conflicting beliefs and sects and with the sweet drinks of ethnic, linguistic and regional prejudices. For years, we had remained busy singing to them hateful songs, to make them expert in the dance of death. There was a time when under the shadow of their straightened guns, loud slogans were chanted in support of our fiery orators. But now, after breaking open their bottles, all those genies are standing right in front of us. As soon as such genies come out of their bottles, they instantaneously grab the necks of their own masters and take full possession of them.
These people love to cool down their inner fire with the blood of their rivals and for them, the difference of life and death ceases to exist, when they frequently carry the coffins of their dead to the graveyard. They are possessed and dominated by the single passion of hateful revenge. This is exactly the situation existing in our country today. Pointing to this situation, the Prophet (peace be upon him) once told Hazrat Ali that a time would come when the flag of upheaval and mischief would be seen fluttering over the roof of each and every house. This is among the many signs of the age of trials and tribulations near the Day of Judgement. We have already entered this period, which will eventually be followed by the golden age of Muslim domination all over the world. Allah alone knows for how long this present period of trials will continue. For the moment, our responsibility is to save ourselves from all those mischiefs and trials which have penetrated into our cities, towns, streets, markets and even homes. We are under a ferocious attack from all sides by the powerful armies of Gog and Magog. But unfortunately, we don’t have the slightest realisation of it. All sections of the Muslim society, including the scholars of Quran and Hadith, the lovers of the Prophet’s family and the devotees of his pious companions, are utterly oblivious to the fact that the bitter sectarian divide of the Muslims and their ruthless killing of one another are the signs of our dire punishment from Allah, instead of being the outcome of the rhetorical speeches and bulky books of our religious scholars or the heroic struggle of our valiant fighters. When this type of divine punishment descends upon some people, they lose sight of reason and become forgetful of the concept of peace and reconciliation. All Muslim scholars must have read verse 65 of Surah Anaam, in which Allah has mentioned three forms of punishment for the nations. “Say: ‘He hath power to send calamities on you, from above and below, or to cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of mutual vengeance – each from the other.’ See how We explain the signs by various (symbols); that they may understand.”
This is exactly the case with us today. Bitterly divided into factions, we are fighting against each other and are thus, attempting to taste each other’s strength. Allah clearly states in the Quran that in case of a dispute between two Muslim groups, sincere efforts should be made to make peace between them. But quite contrary to these instructions, our religious scholars have their own strange logic. Some of them describe it as the war of faith, while others call it a mischief on earth or another manifestation of Kharijite mentality. There are even those who think it to be the process of purging and purification of religion. The speeches of these scholars are always a source of astonishment for me. The example of Hazrat Abu Bakr’s war against the people who refused to pay the Zakat is cited by those who in their speeches openly allege that his caliphate was unjustified. In the same way, following the footsteps of Hazrat Imam Hussain, the call for Jihad is given by those who are not ready to believe that his martyrdom in the battlefield of Karbala was an act of Jihad. Even our scholars are not aware of this dire state of our punishment. In a most hypocritical manner, they love to describe their opponents as infidels, heretics and terrorists and wish to use full force of the state to crush them. Their carefully worded and calculated public speeches give the impression that they are extremely sincere in resolving this issue. But when they are within their narrow sectarian circle, they make emotionally charged and highly provocative speeches, which incite their listeners to die and to kill. They tell their audiences how to attain glory and success in this world and how to achieve eternal salvation in the life hereafter. They have laboured for several years to prepare their enthusiastic militant followers who are ever ready to fight for the glory of their sects in a highly emotional atmosphere. In this atmosphere of terror, when people start slaughtering each other in the name of faith and sect, even the scholars who had orchestrated this scene, cannot remain safe and quite often, their bodies are also riddled with bullets. They find themselves stranded in a blind alley, unable to retrace their steps even if they so desire. The genies which they themselves had imprisoned in bottles are now out and will not let their masters take a u-turn. They are now, within the firm grip of their own genies and are left with no alternative but to describe others as terrorists and miscreants and to compel the government, state and the armed forces to crush them by the use of brute force, so that they themselves may be relieved from the gruesome business of killing their adversaries. They include all those people whose first and foremost desire is to keep the government and security agencies of Pakistan engaged in futile blood bath. They are found throughout the world and include all those governments, intellectuals, writers, international analysts and think tanks, who are spending all their energies to keep the Muslims bitterly divided and locked in mutual quarrels. Their soul ambition is to ensure that Muslims continue to fight against each other. This fighting may be in the form of sectarian killing or armed struggle against some government or state. At times, it is a bloody dispute between minority and majority or a bitter row between two rival factions, one of which is armed and funded by outside forces.
The horrific events taking place in Syria, Egypt and Iraq are the glaring manifestations of such abominable conspiracies. In most cases, both warring factions are able to get huge supplies of arms and ammunition from their backers. In Syria, for instance, all global powers including Russia and the United States are busy consolidating the government of Bashar-al-Assad, who represents only ten per cent of the country’s population. Muslims are being killed and rendered homeless in such deplorable conditions that the Muftis have been forced to issue the Fatwa that to save themselves from starvation and death, these displaced and disgraced people may eat the flesh of dogs and cats. In Egypt, after toppling the democratically elected government, army has been brought back to power. Both Sunni and Shia scholars must have read in their books the prophecies about these events made by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Even then, they have turned a blind eye to them and don’t have the least desire to do something to change the situation. They fire the guns with their own hands. But if the situation so demands, they feel no hesitation in placing their guns on the shoulders of others and urging them to push the trigger. It is in spite of the fact that in the 9th verse of Surah Hujurat, Allah has prescribed the strategy for handling all such situations. “If two parties among the Believers fall into a quarrel, make ye peace between them: but if one of them transgresses beyond bounds against the other then fight ye (all) against the one that transgresses until it complies with the command of Allah; but if it complies then make peace between them with justice and be fair: for Allah loves those who are fair (and just).”
In the presence of these clear-cut instructions, there is no need for any other policy or planning to be discussed and approved by some APC or cabinet meeting. But the problem is that we like to recite the Quran but are in no mood to accept it as our guide. As a natural consequence we are being battered by the divine punishment in the form of our bitter rifts, divisions and quarrels.
We are witnessing signs of the age of trials and tribulations near the Day of Judgement. We have already entered this period, which will eventually be followed by the golden age of Muslim domination all over the world
This is exactly the case with us today. Bitterly divided into factions, we are fighting against each other and are thus, attempting to taste each other’s strength. Allah clearly states in the Quran that in case of a dispute between two Muslim groups, sincere efforts should be made to make peace between them. But quite contrary to these instructions, our religious scholars have their own strange logic. Some of them describe it as the war of faith, while others call it a mischief on earth or another manifestation of Kharijite mentality. There are even those who think it to be the process of purging and purification of religion. The speeches of these scholars are always a source of astonishment for me. The example of Hazrat Abu Bakr’s war against the people who refused to pay the Zakat is cited by those who in their speeches openly allege that his caliphate was unjustified. In the same way, following the footsteps of Hazrat Imam Hussain, the call for Jihad is given by those who are not ready to believe that his martyrdom in the battlefield of Karbala was an act of Jihad. Even our scholars are not aware of this dire state of our punishment. In a most hypocritical manner, they love to describe their opponents as infidels, heretics and terrorists and wish to use full force of the state to crush them. Their carefully worded and calculated public speeches give the impression that they are extremely sincere in resolving this issue. But when they are within their narrow sectarian circle, they make emotionally charged and highly provocative speeches, which incite their listeners to die and to kill. They tell their audiences how to attain glory and success in this world and how to achieve eternal salvation in the life hereafter. They have laboured for several years to prepare their enthusiastic militant followers who are ever ready to fight for the glory of their sects in a highly emotional atmosphere. In this atmosphere of terror, when people start slaughtering each other in the name of faith and sect, even the scholars who had orchestrated this scene, cannot remain safe and quite often, their bodies are also riddled with bullets. They find themselves stranded in a blind alley, unable to retrace their steps even if they so desire. The genies which they themselves had imprisoned in bottles are now out and will not let their masters take a u-turn. They are now, within the firm grip of their own genies and are left with no alternative but to describe others as terrorists and miscreants and to compel the government, state and the armed forces to crush them by the use of brute force, so that they themselves may be relieved from the gruesome business of killing their adversaries. They include all those people whose first and foremost desire is to keep the government and security agencies of Pakistan engaged in futile blood bath. They are found throughout the world and include all those governments, intellectuals, writers, international analysts and think tanks, who are spending all their energies to keep the Muslims bitterly divided and locked in mutual quarrels. Their soul ambition is to ensure that Muslims continue to fight against each other. This fighting may be in the form of sectarian killing or armed struggle against some government or state. At times, it is a bloody dispute between minority and majority or a bitter row between two rival factions, one of which is armed and funded by outside forces.
The horrific events taking place in Syria, Egypt and Iraq are the glaring manifestations of such abominable conspiracies. In most cases, both warring factions are able to get huge supplies of arms and ammunition from their backers. In Syria, for instance, all global powers including Russia and the United States are busy consolidating the government of Bashar-al-Assad, who represents only ten per cent of the country’s population. Muslims are being killed and rendered homeless in such deplorable conditions that the Muftis have been forced to issue the Fatwa that to save themselves from starvation and death, these displaced and disgraced people may eat the flesh of dogs and cats. In Egypt, after toppling the democratically elected government, army has been brought back to power. Both Sunni and Shia scholars must have read in their books the prophecies about these events made by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Even then, they have turned a blind eye to them and don’t have the least desire to do something to change the situation. They fire the guns with their own hands. But if the situation so demands, they feel no hesitation in placing their guns on the shoulders of others and urging them to push the trigger. It is in spite of the fact that in the 9th verse of Surah Hujurat, Allah has prescribed the strategy for handling all such situations. “If two parties among the Believers fall into a quarrel, make ye peace between them: but if one of them transgresses beyond bounds against the other then fight ye (all) against the one that transgresses until it complies with the command of Allah; but if it complies then make peace between them with justice and be fair: for Allah loves those who are fair (and just).”
In the presence of these clear-cut instructions, there is no need for any other policy or planning to be discussed and approved by some APC or cabinet meeting. But the problem is that we like to recite the Quran but are in no mood to accept it as our guide. As a natural consequence we are being battered by the divine punishment in the form of our bitter rifts, divisions and quarrels.
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