Category: Islam

A woman had a good business back in old days. She had workers but she needed a man to handle all her trades and financial matters honestly, locally as well as abroad.

Then she heard of a man who had a reputation for honesty and integrity. She asked him to manage her business. The man agreed and she hired him.

He took charge of his new job and managed it with utmost honesty. He was not only honest with his employer but with his customers too. If a product was faulty or had some defect, he would tell the customer before making a sale.

Gradually, the business flourished even more. The businesswoman was so happy and impressed by the man that she fell in love and proposed him. The man accepted the proposal and together they made a beautiful story of an ideal couple.

That is a love story we all know. Yet, we all hide it somehow. An empowered and businesswoman? A male subordinate? A woman proposing a man? A woman 15 years elder than him?

An eternal love story.

The woman was Khadija RA.

The man was Prophet Muhammad PBUH.

Then, we became the followers, and we messed up all the concepts of love.

Mocking of religion – any religion – is wrong and disgusting. Critic of religion is fine (people may disagree with that too) but mocking and insulting is not.

Even if you are atheist or agnostic, religion cannot be made fun of as sentiments of millions and billions are attached to it.

India – under Modi and BJP – is into the dirty business of one religion’s supremacy, which never is achieved. Different religions tried to win the world at different times, but none remained to rule forever. Times change. And, obviously, religion is not to rule.

Again: religion is not to rule.

Religion is not to create fear, chaos, violence, or hate. If it does, then you are being played in the wrong hands. India being one ugly example at the moment.

The disrespect of Prophet Muhammad PBUH is wrong. There was no need for Nupur Sharma to fall that low for some rating. It’s not about India losing business from Arab countries or the international backlash they are facing, it is about 220 million Muslims of India, who have been disowned. Again and again.  

Freedom of speech has its limitations. Every freedom has limitations. And must have. You may dance to music all night, but your neighbor must not be disturbed by the noise. Your music is his / her noise.

Lastly, for the oppressed side: learn to ignore. You cannot shut every mouth in the world. Your religion has survived and will survive. Remember to practice as it was practiced by the Prophet Muhammad PBUH Himself.

Be civil and exemplary.

Breathe without air. Beat without blood. Feel without pain. Hear without sound. Cry without tears.

Happy Eid!
But who has it happy?

Broken people, broken dreams; some with health issues, some breeding cancer deep inside, and some just having another Eid but nothing like the previous one when that particular loved one was around and sitting right across the sofa. Where do they all go?

Where has the father gone? Where is the mother? Open the old cupboard and sniff and try to get that one shot of their scent. Long and slow breaths and you will travel through the time frames to a hug that you have been missing. Smell has a memory. We don’t realize it until the perfume is gone.

Where is the aunt? The uncle? And the old man who used to sit at the bus stop?

And where are the kids? Sons? Daughters? Eid Mubarik? The parents who lost their parenthood cannot be happy for a moment. They can be seen laughing and smiling but they are not those laughs and smiles. No eid or happiness can bring back their joy of life ever again.

Only kids can have a happy Eid till they are carefree and clueless. But not all kids. Naru cannot have a happy Eid. His mother died in pursuit of his father who is missing… like other missing people… in the deep hell of this deep state.

So many holes. So many pains. Yet, we stand and embrace and hug each other like we are actually smiling with happiness. Maybe we do! After all, we are all born with hypocrisy. I know. Wrong word.

Some are financially weak and Eid makes them even more vulnerable. The better-off offering more Eidi to the kids and the weak ones being exposed around. Happy Eid!

And those old folks who made us, and the old lady who kept us warm in her belly for nine months, and the sofa with a missing spot and the cupboard with the scent, and the bricks in the house, and the leaking tap in the bathroom… everything has a missing. Everything has a missing point.

Some of us run away from the bricks and the cupboards and the sofas as we don’t want to travel through time while time itself is sneaking away right through our hands like a fistful of desert sand. Mirage! This is all a mirage. Tell me, how many years since 2018? I can count to 2. See! We are a missing point.

Anyway.

This is how we are supposed to carry on the burden of legacy and humankind. Evolution. Reproduction. Death. Decay. Without a choice. Without consent.

So, Eid Mubarik! With all the pains, nostalgia, time travels, and missing points. The Sofa across you is empty today. Your sofa will be empty tomorrow. And you think you two will meet afterwards when both the sofas will be empty and that’s the point where…just kidding. Let’s not open the pandora box today.

Not today Zarathustra!

Greetings!