Thank you for such a detailed and scholastic response. Conversely, it did not answer to my quest. I’m not very good into these matters but one aspect that I’ve learnt out of my exposure in life is that we should act as judges and develop any good or bad opinion to any other individual. Everyone has right to do well or bad according to their beliefs and this is also the reason that Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) spent more than twenty years to rationally convince the people of Makkah. Our Prophet (P.B.U.H) followed and preached one principle that there is no force (Jabar) in religion!

Once again thank you for the references and I’ll look into these books.

I firmly believe that Capitalist society and its freedoms are a curse for mankind. Just look at how so very few women can cook now in the west and just how these nations are getting more and more dependent on processed foods. On the other hand organic foods are a rarity that the average person can’t afford. All of this benefits nobody but the capitalist. If you further examine this scenario, and you see what the impact of maximum human capital exploitation has had then you will learn how, families where both parents work, the upbringing of the children is largely ignored. Hence the family unit is becoming weaker and weaker. There are still no old people’s home largely throughout Asia and Middle-East. Why is this? There is a huge population of senior citizen throughout the west that live cold and miserable lives at a time when the Asian Daada Daadi, Naana, Naani spend their final days playing with their grandsons.

Why is it that divorce rate are the highest in the West? I once worked at news agents in my days of college, My western female co-worker who worked up to 40hrs a week and had three children would also go home and do the Ironing and cleaning and cooking every night. She bought her husband a watch that was worth more than two weeks of her wages, on one occasion. A few weeks later her husband left her for another woman.

What really hurts me is to see when Pakistanis seem to copy every Sunnah of the west to the rejection of every Sunnah of Rasulullah STAWS, without examining its cause and effects.

I am deeply stressed over the deterioration of Pakistani culture that has taken place over the last 8 years. Urdu has almost disappeared, Our cultural dresses have disappeared and many more things are at risk. Most anchors that do speak Urdu often make silly mistakes.
I have always argued on this forum whenever relevant that the Sunnah of The Prophet STAWS is a symbol of His love. If you see what’s happened over the last 8 years in Pakistan, this can be illustrated very easily.

Musharraf introduced and delivered the internet and its infrastructure without a possible filter that would block unsuitable content. This was a requirement of his masters with destruction of the youth in mind. I have witnessed teenagers in net cafes doing exactly what they do. Any Muslim who would justify this is simply a no Muslim.

His purpose of allowing freedom to the media by way of opening access(deregulation) was also to allow all sorts of Islamic and non Islamic content in order to deliver that “modern enlightenment”. Cable has also been used for this widely. Either we are a Muslims or we’re not. There is no middle ground on this subject. This is why Allah SWT says in the Quran “Ya ayyuhallazeena aamanoo Udkhiloo fiss silmi kaaffah” (oh Muslims entre Islaam completely)

My statement that triggered your response was at Faizah’s appearance. Women can work in Islam if economic condition of the family warrants that. Although, if twaqqul and taqwah is displayed then thats better but there is no compromise in pardah. Why can’t she wear a head scarf or a shawl while she works? For people who argue personal freedom in this matter, are influenced by western agenda of extraction of Imaan because there isn’t the kind of flexibility in Islam that these people are looking for.
Allah’s order on pardah for Men and Women can be read in Surah Noor. My dear freind if you ever get a break from your studies and you feel like studying your religion then one starting point could be Surah Noor.

In this Surah amongst other things Allah tells the men and women alike, to lower their gaze. What is Allah SWTA asking them to lower their gaze from? I’m sure you can work that out.
Allah Also asks the women to cover their bosoms with an extra cloth and Allah says cover all your beauty. The only exception is that even when you have made an attempt to cover your beauty then what still shows (the loose figure) then that is permissible. A lot of ‘modern’ and ‘enlightened’ women argue that the hair is not covered under these orders. The scholars are yet to discover a woman who feels that the feminine hair is not part of a woman’s beauty.

The birth of the enlightened media that is free from any sharam o hayaa, the pop groups, the singers, the TV shows, is all based on the template of the west. I was nine when I left Pakistan. I am now a father of three.
There are certain programmes on Pakistani channels that are exact replicas of western shows. Their sole aim is to export the sexual freedoms of the west. This template of western media was specifically launched to take away the next generation from our Asian/ Pakistani culture of Sharm o Haya. Thu,s proving that your Iman is succeptable to your environment. And whatever you love you, associate to and whatever you associate to is what you love.

It seems as if the Pakistani nation thinks that the answer to all our solutions is this modern enlightenment, a western import. How can any Muslim condone this Idea when Allah says your only hope is in following my commands and the commands of My Prophet?

I want to quote just a few hadith from the many hundreds on this topic.

The Prophet STAWS said;

Haya is half of your Imaan

Your faith depends on your company (without debate this implies to your environment too)

Another hadith, The sight is a tool of the shaytaan, if you guarantee me your sight I will guarantee you Iman that I will instil in you, and you will feel the sweetness of this Imaan in your heart.

Iman is a tangible commodity that can be felt. When you reach that elevated state of Iman, every good deed that you do, even if you say Allah once, you feel its direct impact on your heart. This is the state that the Sufis of Islaam have attained. This feeling is a powerfull snsation beyond explanation. But this is only achieved through sincere practice of Sunnah.

Sins on the other hand, according to hadith, darken your heart. Hadith says that when a person commits one sin he gets a black dot on his heart. Every time he commits a sin this dot expands until it covers his heart and when a person reaches this state his heart does not accept any good. The hadith says that Salaat ( namaaz ) is a way to wash this blackness.
So my friend, Imaan is not just a belief, it is a tangible commodity that can be seen on the faces of sincere Muslims and felt in their hearts by them. And sins can increase and decrease that commodity. This is why the prophet of Allah said: when you meet a friend of Allah, you will think of Allah (his personality will remind you of Allah). Im not talking about Personalities of Musharraf era, such as Molana Diesel, I’m talking in the general context of things.
The people who insist on personal freedoms and do not give any regards to religious constrains never actually think about their Iman. They never think what the level of thier Imaan is. These people have practically rejected Allah even though they believe in him on paper. Nobody ever said practicing Islam would be easy. As a matter of fact practicing Islam is the most difficult thing we face in this world and it is thus that this life is a test and that there will be the eternal life of jannah for us in the hereafter. Practicing Islam is difficult because we have an enemy that is very powerful. Allah SWT warns us of this enemy in the Quraan again and again. This enemy is the Syataan. He is a physical being that walks on this planet every day. It is possible that we may have even crossed paths with him or his disciples on occasions without realising. Just like our Iman is not fully established on the day of judgement and Life after death and just as we lack understanding of Iman, good and bad deeds through lack of our effort in understanding Islaam, We also lack belief in this greatest enemy of our Imaan. We think of him as a creature of the past or as someone who would not be targeting us because we are just another ordinary person. But every person on this planet is his target. He walks on this plannet issuing commands to his Jinn and Human disciples in many different forms. The important things for us Muslims to know is that we can only defeat this enemy by becoming close to Allah through FIRST understanding Islaam from those who allready have attained that elevated status of Iman through understanding and practicing because these people have defeated the shaytaan and know his methods of attack and then we can practice our understanding.
My dear friend, you are studying for PHD, I hope Allah brings you all the success that you and your family want. I’m sure you have very proud parents and brothers and sisters. Secular education cannot be separated from Islaam so good luck to you. But, is it not also a duty up on you to study Seerah and the Quraan too. Please bear in mind, I acknowledge your efforts as Pakistani academic who is studying much hard and so you should, but you have worked so hard for the material betterment but do you not owe it to yourself to study for your faith too?
So, when you get some time off and you feel the need to sudsy Allah’s book, I recommend:

‘Tafseer Zia-Ul-Quraan’ and Serah book of ‘Zia-Un-Nabi’.

Written by a scholar who was the first to introduce secular education in a madrassah in Pakistan (early 70s) at much criticism of those who now admit their mistake. He completed his education with the modern scholars of Al-Azhar (Egypt). These books are truly neutral and examine most of the issues of modern society.
The author Justice Muhammad Shah Al-Azhari has great, in-depth knowledge of the encyclopaedia Britannica, comparative religious texts and in-depth knowledge of the orientalises movement.

So, in the end, good luck with your studies. I hope you do yourself and your family proud and if you ever find the time, look in to the above mentioned books. Obviously, you are entitled to your own opinion after you’ve read them but I couldn’t find anything better.

Apologies for such a long post.

Thank you for sharing your kind thoughts with me.

With lot of respect and apologise, I do know one thing that as a Muslim or by conscious that as a human, I’m no one to judge that what Allah (SWT) will do to any other human. According to my very poor understanding, this Hadith is an ultimatum for men and woman as to respect each other and be faithful to each other. This is more for men as they should understand the sensitive nature of women and respect their emotions and fulfil their needs accordingly. The best we can do for ourselves or others are that we simply watch to ourselves and be ready to answerable to our deeds and people who are associated with us and avoid making such bigger claims about any other creature of this world.

And I also want to stop this discourse here as I’m running short of time and have to catch up with my studies.

Once again thank you for your guidance.

sorry that should read EXCEPT and not accept….

typo

Here you go; an ode of love and passion…. left me nauseous!

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=102395

Quote:

“It saddens me to think that we have marginalized our army to such an extent that it seems to be the enemy.”

We have, Ms Odho??

Or he has, your angel of love and all things sweet and divine…..

Quote:

“Pervez Musharraf is a very practical, sensitive, patriotic and extremely special man. A man who loves his people and his country perhaps much more than he himself realizes. Throughout the conversation he spoke of his nation like his family and spoke very little of the family that he has had to force into the background for the well being of his nation.”

hmmmm Ms, Odho… force into the background ay?? like the CJ’s family, his young handicapped child, his daughter, dozens of other judges packed and sent home….forced into the background – yes: the constitution of Pakistan; the state institutions of Pakistan (accept his own);

Occasionally the kind and loving man sends in heavily armed troops into federal capital mosques to weed out young children (orphans); helpless women and their infant boys and girls [ yes madam Odho.. was LAL MASJID an act of kindness and benificence???].

Please send your comments to the News. This is just too much.

Omer on March 22nd, 2008 1:33 am : Yes, Ahmed Quraishi is disgusting. ISI sponsored.

Here it is:

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=102395

/Saqib

>seems like she is in love with toad….a fairy tale no doubt….

Does anybody have a link to the article?

Now the speaker, his wife talks about democracy and rule of law and deparate for working for the poor. All bloody drama.

look at the remaining supporters of mushie kutta

Qayyum
Shujaat
This idiot Budha (Chaos Jee)
altaf kalia

what a dream team…what a wonderful team