Holy month of Ramzan is nearly one third past. Whereas we can see marked improvement in attendance in masajid and streets going empty at iftar time. We also see and appreciate people offering iftar to passersby at various squares and round abouts. People from rural areas coming to cities and getting enough zakat and charity to keep them going for rest of the year. Considerable number of people attend Taravih prayers and listen to Quran, but it is recited so fast, that even those people who know Arabic a bit, are barely able to grasp a few words, what to speak of understanding and extracting guidance for day to day life.
On the Internet we get a flood of mails. But these are the same procedural guidelines that we have learnt in the childhood, about fasting and prayers. Everyone who can cut and paste is coming up with instructions on fasting, iftar and sehar. But if you look for secondary or tertiary guidance and code of conduct, you hardly find any. In plain words, people fast and pray, but are hardly able to apply the discipline in their day to day lives.
When you go to market, you will find the shopkeepers competing with each other in profiteering. When you see doctors, they are as busy as ever, hardly sparing any time for you, but quick in charging high fees and prescribing due and undue medicines for you. Recently case of a public hospital was brought to light. The doctor would throw an expensive injection intact after injecting it to his patient. The ward boy would than collect all the syringes to sell it to a fake medicine company, which would use it to make fake injections for selling it to interior of Sindh. This was simply manslaughter. What was the compulsion on well to do doctors of a government hospital to become a party to this heinous crime? Are we human, not to speak of being Muslim?
Why our ulemaa and thinkers do not think and ponder what ails our society? Our belief is not firm! We hear occasionally about Islamic morality, but we hardly ever practice it. In any Masjid you will find imams lecturing on minor matters for hours, such as need for covering head while praying, the necessity of keeping a beard and most often, keeping length of shalwar or pant above ankles. But no scholar or Aalim will ever deduce laws based on Islamic beliefs. For example, according to a hadis, a Muslim must be well wisher of comman men. He should like for others what he likes for himself. If I want to buy good commodities, in full measure, at reasonable profit, I should also behave in a manner which facilitate only permissible profit taking. There is a limit to profit making. Ten percent profit is a norm and twenty percent is the maximum that is allowed. But most firms and trading houses operate at 70% or above. In normal times it remains unnoticed, but during the period of shortages as are common now a days, overcharging the customers might result in deprivation of low income groups, of their essential needs. Even government is taking undue advantage of rising oil prices. Instead of fixing duty and sales tax ad voleram, it has based taxes on value, causing people to suffer. In the absence of government owned transport, people have been thrown at the mercy of greedy transporters, who increase the fare more than proportionately than the price rise. The running cost of a bus is not wholly based on cost of fuel. But it has driver and conductor salaries, depreciation of the vehicle and repair and maintenance of the buses etc. But every time corrupt transport ministry accepts bribes and allows increase in fares more than proportionately. These are only a few examples, but corruption is becoming a norm in the society.
long time ago, I had read a short story in an Indian magazine. The father of the bridegroom maintains proudly that though his son is a lowly employee in a government department, but he earns considerable extra bucks by other means. I felt deep anger and resentment, that being non Muslims they have accepted bribery as a norm. For Muslims, I thought bribery is haram. Our beloved prophet had categorically declared: ” The payer of bribe and the taker will both be in Fire”. So no Muslim in his right mind would ever accept bribe, because it is as bad as meat of swine or alcohol. 30 years ago, there was a few bad characters who accepted bribes, but most people did not accept it or would hate to be seen accepting it. But now the situation has reversed. There are very few people who can keep themselves from accepting illegal gratification. It has become norm rather than the exception.
There is a great need to create conditions conducive to leading a pious and dedicated life in our society. This should have happened yesterday, meaning that we can no more wait to see it in place. Whereas Pakistan is the gift of Almighty Allah and He is sufficient to protect, time may be running out for our generation. In the holy Quran, Allah SWT has said that it is not difficult at all for Him to replace one generation of a nation with another people, so let us sit back and think. Can we afford another earthquake ?
Muhammad Javed Iqbal
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