Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Eid Mubarak

Ever since I have joined Facebook and its other networking variants I am amused to observe  how much goodness  there is in the virtual world ....

No one seems to be endorsing violence or corruption and everyone seems to be on the side of peace and togetherness.
It is heart warming to see Eid , Holi , Diwaali , X'Mas , Gur Parab , Pongal , Navroz and an infinite number of other festivals being universally celebrated in the cyber space
Also  birthdays , wedding anniversaries , birth of a grand child , wedding/engagement/other festivities in the family etc are all celebrated with joyous and heartfelt greetings :-)
And as if this is not enough  there are birthday and anniversary celebrations almost every day on one or the other group and we see a long chain of cheerful wishes flowing through from across the globe  :-)

Yet in a surprisingly ironical real world people are not as accommodating , respectful and  polite  ...
There is wide spread  (almost unchecked) corruption which in turn results in barbaric terrorist activities  happening under one or the other pretext ... There is a glaring lack of tolerance and an alarming rise in intermittent acts of violence...
There is mud-slinging and name-calling  , there is heart break and depression , there are calls to "avenge injustice"  and oath-taking to "teach the other a lesson "
There is so much rigidity as though human hearts have turned  into stone ...

Everyone is entwined and entangled  in this demoralizing scenario and usually people choose their side of the fence as per their background and philosophy considering their circumstance at that given present time

Incidentally, this year  in the Holy month of Ramzaan , from having sermons on the benefits of Yoga and Namaaz ,  and  the warnings about how a "wrong " pronunciation of Arabic words could lead to blasphemy by Urdu speaking believers of Islam ,  to the mindless killing of one sect of believers by another sect  in a mosque  have left the ordinary followers of the faith speechless and confused.

A religion that is said to be preaching universal peace and brotherhood is being put to disgrace by a few of it's  "followers" misleading  an entire world of people who are at a loss to perceive the "compatibility" between peace and violence


Meanwhile Ramzaan is moving at a fast pace .... The intezaar for Eid has already begun ... I wonder kis ne kitney Qur'an padhey aur kitney sajde karey ...... ?
Who did it right and who did it wrong ?
Whose ibadat will be accepted by God Almighty ?

But the biggest of all questions is a thought that nags the mind :
Is this the kind of "ibadat" that one should be satisfied with ?
What is the purpose of such rituals ?
Should the customs that have religious sanctions not be evaluated and updated from time to time ?
Ramzaan , or for that matter any time of the year is not just for the followers to spend nights and days reading Qur'an , offering namaaz and reading some duas ( that have been "standardized "  and circulated over various internet groups )
As we talk of spirituality and find ourselves among a mind boggling maze of rituals the question of "har yug mein badaltey dharmoN ko kaisey aadarsh banaaogey .... " is of great importance

If we can just learn to stop being judgmental and also stop counting the good deeds of a person in relation to his/her roza and Namaaz , if we can respect the creations of God Almighty for what they are , and learn to ALSO  PRACTICE  what we so fervently preach on the social networking sites , we would go a long way in living up to the spirit of Ramzaan .... and perhaps be able to imbibe the truthfulness and depth of God's message better

So while we prepare to bid this year's Ramzaan an affectionate  Khuda Hafiz , and get ready to eat our sheer-khurmaas and qeewami sevaiN, let us spare a thought for the larger message of God , which is universal in whatever name/form it comes to us , shunning discrimination of all kinds :-)

Happy And Mubarak Eid to all
God Bless