Time To Zero The Clocks !

My dear friends today I embark on a very sacred journey towards salvation.................towards redemption........or/and perhaps towards resurrection of my soul. I'm leaving for HAJJ to perform one of the most divine and oldest rituals of human civilization. It is said that performing HAJJ and other rituals is no walk in the park and certain limits will be tested but that is what precisely required if one wants his soul to be cleansed from all the evils one did in one's past. In my last post I wished I could get unstained like a child's heart and I guess my wish is about to come true if my HAJJ is accepted. Honestly writing I don't deserve to go on such a blessed journey but ALLAH knows best why he has blessed me to be his guest this time around. So I guess it's time to zero the clocks and come back with a new beginning and a meaningful meaning in my life............perhaps the meaning lurking in the shadows of my heart, waiting for a long time to be unleashed!

Everyone do pray that my and my family's HAJJ is accepted and that we return home safely. May ALLAH be pleased with you all! Ameen

"Here I am O Allah, (in response to Your call), here I am. Here I am, You have no partner, here I am. Indeed all praise, grace and sovereignty belong to You. You have no partner"

Innocence Lost

Well it feels like ages since I last wrote but that's alright since it's better to be late than never. I've been blessed with a thinking machine (although a bit rusty of late) and my absence had nothing to with lack of thoughts but rather lack of will.

There are many questions whose answers remain suppressed to my ignorant mind and one of such is regarding the impeccability of a child. Most people love to kiss and hug children tenderly because of their adorable nature and behavior. I like to do the same and one of the reasons I do so is to feel reborn and unstained which I once was long time back. I once saw this baby at someplace and I was reminded of the shear immaculate nature of god. The best part about children is that their hearts and minds are free of contamination unlike ours. They don't posses any sort of evil and everything about them is pure and more. But the ugly truth is that some/most of these children grow up to be murderers, rapists, prostitutes, junkie and worst of all.........heartbreakers. It's true people make their own choices and everyone chooses to be what he/she wants to become hence I can't help but feel sorry (sometimes gutted) that what was once pure and simple turned out to be the ugliest monster on the face of this planet. I just feel let down to know that the child I'm hugging and kissing just might choose to be the scum of the earth. It just seems so cruel on their god-gifted innocence........sigh........so I'm left with no choice but to feel their innocence..........while it lasts.

Book Review: The 8th Habbit

Following are some important wisdoms listed from The 8th habbit by Stephen Covey:-

1. What is personal is most general.

2. We are free to choose and this power and freedom stand in stark contrast to the mind-set of victimism and culture of blame so prevalent in society today.

3. Humans act, animals and human"robots" react.

4. Any time your emotional life is a function of someone else's weaknesses, you disempower yourself and empower those weaknesses to continue to mess your life up. 

5. What is now proved was once only imagined.

6. Most powerful is he who has himself in his power.

7. Setbacks are inevitable, misery is a choice.

8. Enthusiasts believe that the best way to predict the future is to create it.

9. The key to creating passion in your life is to find your unique talents and your special role and purpose in the world.

10. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

11. No other success can compensate for failures at home.

12. Greenleaf Whittier "For all the sad words of tongue and pen , the saddest are these: It might have been". But someone else taught," It's never too late for us to become what we might have been."

13. Albert Einstein: "The significant challenges we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were when we created them."

14. Leadership is communicating people's worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves.

15. Leadership is a choice not a position.

16. When we listen with the intent to understand others, rather than with the intent to reply, we begin true communication and relationship building.

17. With people, little things are the biggest things.

18. We are product of our decisions, not our conditions.

19. Good intentions do not compensate for bad judgement.

20. Be a model, not a critic.

Endnote

1. Listing is not based on priority.

First Reform Yourself !

"Revolutions are ought to be genuinely flared up inside people's hearts and minds first. The rest will systematically follow itself"

In the words of John F. kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. I believe majority of our people are unaware of this notion. Those who are reject it vehemently because of the perception fed by our principle-less society. Nevertheless major part of blame still resides with us and us only. I see people in many circles of life complaining and criticizing the government whenever they have some time to waste and they enjoy it too and why wouldn't they because it’s the most fun loving activity on god's green earth. People want our government not to cheat, not to be corrupt, be honest with everyone, help the poor, not to be involved in sinful (haram) activities, be rigorous at work all times, speak nothing but the truth .Well I have a question for myself and 190 million population of Pakistan that do we possess the same and other required qualities within ourselves consistently?

My country just witnessed the end of a long march in addition to 3 days sit-in which claims to plant the seeds of revolution and a new beginning. It also claims to put an end to unislamic and nefarious practices in Pakistan. Its claims victory!!! Well I just checked the status of our country and not surprisingly we are still slaves to an interest-based economy. We still live in a society where alcohol is part of norm and our youth consumed by drugs and dishonorable behaviors. We still live in a society where the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer. A society marked by ignorance and injustice. We are still an Islamic nation only in theory and not in practice.........What Victory?? Such long marches can perhaps positively impact us in the short run but not in the long run. Quick fixes don't bring revolution as per my understanding. Our beloved Prophet (P.B.U.H) verily identified many years ago that "Like people, Like government". In the light of this I'd like to suggest that it's not the government that needs to be purged first.....it's YOU and I. Our societies collectively need to rise first in terms of integrity, passion, competence and wisdom. Reforming the government is equivalent to reforming the symptom whereas it's the disease that needs to cured.........and the disease is regretfully us!

The government does not fall from the sky or imported from developed countries but rather it comes from the 190 million population and I believe all its decisions and actions in domestic and international level are replicates of our decisions and actions in our own lives. I have witnessed vast majority of my countryman involved in betrayal, drugs, fornication, profiteering and many more and yet YOU WANT JUSTICE FROM THE GOVERNMENT!!

It’s a no-brainer that our government has persistently failed over the years but by criticizing or demonstrating won't matter in the long run. Every single reform you want from your government must come with a consistent/habitual reform with yourself first. One should not abandon faith because it’s not a matter of days. It's like going at war with your impulse everyday. Every individual should focus and execute his moral authority and raise his/her intellect to a higher level. Remember that good intentions can never compensate for good judgment therefore acquiring knowledge, skill and wisdom is of paramount importance along with integrity. This way an honest society will emerge bringing the kind of leaders you want. Only then you can exercise legitimate audacity to criticize and complaint about those in power or perhaps.............. you won't have to.

Endnote

1. Long march was not the motivating factor behind this post.

Hello fate! We meet atlast

We all look at this world and our lives with a certain lens. It's basically a paradigm which enables our mind to form perceptions and thoughts. It ultimately forms our sense of reality. I've been wearing a lens of "choice". This lens shows me that we are free to choose whatever our mind tells us to. I've always been fascinated by the concept of choice because it makes me believe that I am in total control of my life and that I can steer my life in any direction I want. I also believe that the power of choice is more paramount than thousands of atom bomb because all such bombs in the entire world are created by choice and not by accident. Like any other love story, my such story with "choices" took off in an incredible manner but then we finally met our much heard nemesis..........fate.

Fate has many forms but my first conscious encounter with it came recently in the form of death. While I was driving my car in the middle of night at high speed, suddenly a man appeared from no where and evasively tried to cross the road with his child before I could pass through. His plan seemed satisfactory.....the choice was made.......but fate had other ideas. As soon as I laid my eyes upon him crossing the road, I tried my best to avoid any misfortune but to no avail. Regretfully the person panicked and he landed himself right in the middle of my car and after couple of hours, the accident insured his demise. His child escaped unharmed.

Taking many factors into consideration for hindsight, I truly believe that it was an act of fate. He died in the exact way it was decided. I would have exercised many other choices if that incident didn't took place but  it turned my world upside down and I was thrown at the mercy of gloom and sorrow. Knowing that because of me that man's family was emotionally and financially torn apart and fearing that my happy days may be over gave me at least 48 hours of mental torture. 

Regarding my condition and situation, I believed then and I believe now that ALLAH gave me that test for which I had the ability to clear. Also the crisis could have been a million times worse for me but ALLAH my savior was there to protect me like he always has been my entire life. 

After the incident I've come to understand that fate will always try to meddle with our lives from time to time. It may slow us down and distract us from our mission but now I understand the words of Stephen Covey that "fate may influence us but it cannot determine us". Fate brought death infront of me but whether to run away after the accident or to take him immediately to hospital which i did was a matter of "choice". Our religion,culture,ethics and principles have laid down the correct choices for us to make and if fate tries to endanger those right choices, never let it do so and never falter! I also believe that our entire lives is all about the choices we make in every context and it is these choices that will define our legacy in this world and after.

Endnotes

1. A settlement is established with the deceased family and a case launched at police station is closed permanently.
2. May ALLAH provide heaven to the departed and may ALLAH permanently heal the emotional and financial wounds of his family as soon as possible.
3. I thank all my relatives and friends who supported me in my troubled times and may ALLAH also heal all your wounds. My Special gratitude to Sameer tariq, Hina khan, Farah munawar and Hina shaukat. My misery would have been 4-fold without your company.