Like life, the dance has many steps. In each step is an immeasurable passion. The body swaying as if in a gentle breeze and now bent and contorted as if torn asunder in the fierceness of a storm. Will we then condemn this dancing girl because of some fanatic’s obsession that recognises neither beauty nor the undulating of the human spirit. Or shall we make her body a passion play locked in some drawer of our memory. Must we then chain sensations in cages hidden from the light of life. Each step of the dancer is an augury of hope, of pain, of remorse, of triumph, of love, of hate, of betrayal, of incitement, of bewilderment, of discovery, of excitement, of desolation, of forgiveness, of temptation, of prayer. These different steps make the dance whole. Allah has given us reason to examine all these steps so that we may find our way to Him. We can only distinguish between the steps that lead to temptation from the steps that lead to enlightenment if we can understand all the steps.
The Holy Quran teaches us in Sura Rahman in Ayats 7-9:
“And the Firmament has He
Raised high, and He has set up
The Balance (of justice).
In order that ye may
Not transgress (due) balance.
So establish weight with justice
And fall not short
In the balance.”
And further in Ayats 19-23:
“He has let free
The two bodies
Of flowing water,
Meeting together:
Between them is a Barrier
Which they do not transgress
Then which of the favours
Of your Lord will you deny?
Out of them come
Pearls and Coral:
Then which of the favours
Of your Lord will you deny?
And in further in Ayats 60-61:
“Is there any Reward
For Good—other than Good?”
“Then which of the favours
Of your Lord will you deny?”
The miracle of the sweet water and the salt water is before those who can see. Just as the mountain stream that in the frenzy of the river reaches for the ocean it cannot change its form to the salt water of the great ocean. Sweet water and salt water embrace in a passion of unity, yet they remain distinct and individual. Though they touch and kiss yet they cannot become one. They retain their individual identities. The thin barrier between these two wildly thrashing and uniting waters cannot be removed by man. The sweet water of the mountain stream will meet the bitter water of the ocean. They will find a meeting place, a tryst of nature, a lover’s abode but no more. They can never become one. The same is true of good and evil. They come close to that bitter sweet embrace. But they cannot become one. It is for the individual conscience to discover the good. No human being has the right to decree what is good unless Allah has so ordained. Human order is subservient in all respect to the all embracing Order of Allah. No where has Allah said that you chain little boys to teach them His way. Fanaticism is the worst form of hypocrisy and needs to be confronted openly at all levels.
In the Sura Ahzab or The Confederates, we are told in Ayats 7 and 8:
“And remember we took
From the prophets their Covenant
As (We did) from thee:
From Noah, Abraham, Moses,
And Jesus the son of Mary:
We took from them
A solemn Covenant:”
That (Allah) may question
The (custodians) of truth concerning
The truth they (were charged with):
And He has prepared
For the Unbelievers
A grievous Penalty.”
Islam respects all religions. The history of mankind is caught in the prism of thoughtfulness and righteousness that is Islam. We negate terror. Islam respects all mankind. Islam does not distinguish between colour or caste. All those who believe in the One and Only Allah are blessed. Our Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) taught us love, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, charity among other innumerable attributes of goodness. Fanaticism in all its terror is repugnant to the ideals and precepts of Islam. The conniving mind of the devil that sows hatred among men and divisiveness among the followers of Allah is to be abhorred and guarded against. In this constant struggle, good must protect itself against evil.
In the Bustan of Sadi (translated by A. Hart Edwards) there is the following interesting story:
“Tukla, King of Persia, once visited a devotee and said: ‘Fruitless has been my years. None but the beggar carries riches from the world when earthly dignities are passed. Hence, would I now sit in the corner of devotion that I might usefully employ the few short days that remain to me.’
The devotee was angered at these words. ‘Enough!’ he cried. ‘Religion consists alone in the service of the people; it finds no place in the rosary, or prayer, or tattered garment. Be a king in sovereignty and a devotee in purity of morals. Actions, not words, is demanded by religion, for words without action are void of substance.’”
Our people are sick of the artifice of the illusory word. Education, clean water, unadulterated food, jobs, electricity and gas at affordable rates, a home to live in, sanitation, health services, security and peace of mind are foremost among the needs of our people. They want action. Words and promises and promises and words have rent the soul of our people. They have rent the generosity and wholeness of our people. The growing fanaticism born of no education and despair will give rise to a revolution that will cost millions of innocent lives and lead to the fragmentation of Pakistan. We have to counter this fanaticism with actions that bring immediate relief to our people and bring them out of the subsistence of starved animals to the enlightenment of humans that form any decent society. Religion edifies. Religion purifies. The religion of the fanatic is an anachronism. It destroys truth. Islam tells us not to “transgress balance”. Islam tells us “so establish weight with justice”. Fanaticism so weighs down the balance that it ends hanging itself on the noose of mindlessness. Reason is destroyed. The mind ceases to exist. A demonic cult order takes over. We must not allow this to happen. Let the earth sing and dance in the praise of Allah. Let us rejoice in the glory of His Bounty and His Gift which is life.
We must not allow a nightmare where the individual, the family, the village, the town, the city, and entire nations become targets of fanatics whose understanding of religion is nil and whose obsession with the demonic will to hate and destroy is so great that they see life not as a dance of rejoicing but as a denial of all human happiness and fulfillment.
By this earth that breathes a million times and more a day without our knowing, by the rain forests of this earth that shield our planet, by the ozone layer that protects our life, I say that the fanatic nature of man is evil. It springs from the subterranean depths of hell and wages a constant war of attrition till the human mind breaks and sees no reason. A zombie takes over who is a clone of the devil and spreads death, disaster, and torture on human beings. Hitler was this zombie. Milosevic was this zombie. Allah is the giver of all life. Allah is the Allah of all mankind. Allah is the One and Only Allah of all the worlds and the universes. Who is this fanatic who dares to defile the mercy, the compassion, the Love of Allah for all His creation that distinguishes not between man and man and blesses all creation? Islam forbids fanaticism. Islam is based on forgiveness and charity. We have to take care of the weak and the oppressed. We are taught to love all mankind and thank Allah for all His Creation. The bee that gives us honey, the cow that gives us milk, the fish that gives us sustenance, the dates, the figs, the “manna” of the earth are all blessed. There is no room for hate and anger. Retribution for those who kill and commit oppression is again repeatedly tempered with forgiveness. Peace for all mankind is the ultimate goal for those who follow Islam.
For my regular readers, I have the following lines to offer:
The words danced on the sitar
As his fingers played with the strings
To release song from
String and hand held too long
In the captivity of a culture
That banned all song
And hid its music from the world.