The Message
December 7, 2011 at 4:02 pm 2 comments
“Iqra”, READ. This is the first word of the Quran Surah Al-Alaq 96:1 .
“Seek knowledge by even going to China, for seeking knowledge is incumbent on every Muslim” Jalal al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr al-Suyuti, al-Jami al-Saghir min Hadith al-Bashir al-Nadhir(Damascus: Maktabat al-Habuni, n.d.), 1:43 ( In those times travel was extremely hard and going to China was not easy. The Prophet Muhammad used this example to emphasize the importance of learning and literacy.)
“Whosoever kills an innocent human being, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.” Quran 5:32
“You shall have your religion and I shall have my religion” Quran 109:6.
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And what have Al Qaeda and Taliban been doing? Burning schools and killing innocent people.
To the misled, the self-proclaimed guardians of faith, no, no this was not the message.
The message was and is very clear, spread the light of knowledge, peace and tolerance.
To the true followers of the faith and of all faiths, the victims of hatred by the ignorant and the misled: Seek knowledge, let there be no confusion and no misunderstandings and understand the enemy. These are the enemies of all faiths and all people including the Muslims, yes the Muslims. In fact these are the real enemies of Muslims. Look around, it is the Muslims they are killing every day in the dozens and hundreds.
You are all in it together. Do not let the enemy divide you. Be united to fight your common enemy. And do it with a sincere and clear goal to protect and preserve life and peace TOGETHER so that no single innocent has to suffer or lose life again, because every life is precious.
Moving back to 1947, quotes from Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Founder of Pakistan:
“Pakistan needs America. America needs Pakistan more than Pakistan needs America…Pakistan is the pivot of the world, as we are placed…(on) the frontier on which the future position of the world revolves” ~ Muhammad Ali Jinnah , interview with Bourke White, Life Magazine 1947
“Our object should be peace within, and peace without. We want to live peacefully and maintain cordial friendly relations with our immediate neighbors and with the world at large”. ~Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Moving to present times, quotes from Senator John Kerry, Chairman US Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
“The road to peace was never going to be easy. The past year has been especially trying for the U.S.-Pakistan relationship. Despite our many frustrations and setbacks, both sides must remember what is at stake here and that we have more to gain by finding common ground. We have to take a collective deep breath” ~Senator John Kerry NY Times 2011
“Ultimately, the only way to move the ball forward is to focus on areas where our interests align and where we can really make progress. Our two countries need each other.” ~Senator John Kerry NY Times 2011
The visionaries of the past and present remind us just how important it is to work together and with real understanding, mutual respect and cooperation. We cannot afford to err on this because the cost of doing so will be too much.
-Myra Chaudhary, USA
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1. Seema Arif | December 7, 2011 at 8:41 pm
Well done dear. It is inspiring and motivational as always!
Great nations make smart choices…and how do they decide..whom they take as an enemy and/or friend…will decide about their future.
Quran says in Surah Asr…”Time is a great churning machine”.. and it tests the sustainability of everything by checking the integrity and sincerity of people in their causes and relationships.
The integrity demands those who were standing with us in good times must be with us in difficult times as well.
the popular proverb says: a friend in nedd is the friend indeed.
Pakistanis are large hearted optimistic people. They have survived many opressions and crises related to foreign insurgence in past. How to deal with it is coded in our DNA…
Presently our vision is not clear…so much gunsmoke and blood has clouded our eyes and shdowed the surroundings. Skepticism is high. Its time to revaluate and come to new term to reality.
I hope it is done on rationalism to redeem the past and not on rut emotionalism from the past. I pray we choose our friends more judisciously.
Al-Qaeda is friend to no one. It has hurt Pakistan more than any country in the world. No one is seeking friendship or protection with Al-Qaeda in our country. All we want is freedom. We don’t want to be chaproned any more. We want to make our own decisions and live a peaceful life as we were living before cold war begun.
2. Shad Masood | December 21, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Dear Myra ! it is a thought provoking & even more heart touching than your blogs in the past. We are followers of Islam – which means peace & our prophet Mohammad (PBH) was kind, gracious, true, honest & very tolerant person. He pardoned his those enemeis who tortured him severely & martyred his very dear relatives ruthlessly at the time when he had won the whole territory.. We Muslims dont follow the teachings of Quran about character building though we read it daily.
Taliban are butchers, they are not even human beings what to speak of being Muslims. They dont know the teachings of Islam. They dont know that after victory of Badar,our prophet (PBH) asked educated prisoners to teach illiterate people of Muslim community, they also don’t know that preachings of Islam are all about tolerance, endurance, sympathy, kindness, compassion, serenity & love for every living being.