Islam, Marathons and Choice

To everyone who gave encouraging comments or constructive criticism, my sincere thanks. To those who refuse to give people with opposing viewpoints their space, you folks need to go colonize another planet because when you hold entire nations or religions hostage to your one-way or bigoted viewpoint you make us all look like idiots.

As I mentioned in my piece, my intent is not in any way to malign Islam or even your personal interpretation of what it means to you. I am just asking people to give some breathing room to another person`s alternate interpretation. I think one of the biggest problems with how Islam is disseminated to the people is this scary, fear-mongering saga of how we are all sinners and we will all be punished by God. How can a message based on the word ``peace`` and whose early proponents practiced love, kindness, honesty, and patience create so much fear in people? Why fear the Most Compassionate, the Most Forgiving, the Most Just and Almighty God?
I read the same Book and find a message of forgiveness, of no compulsion in religion and the inevitable fallibility of the human race. You follow certain principles and stay away from a certain number of things, and then pray that the rest of your actions are worthy of you entering the Promised Land. No where does it say that Maulana so and so is absolutely correct or Mr. X is the perfect translator and must be followed otherwise you are destined to hell for eternity.
So my fellow compatriots, who take a more conservative view of the word of God (which you have every right to), please allow the rest of the people the courtesy of their own interpretation. There should be no force involved in making someone agree with your interpretation as long as no physical harm is being perpetrated. Why waste so much national energy on the nuances of who can run and who cannot? Doesn`t this country have so many other pressing problems that we can help resolve? Let everyone seek their own nirvana/Promised Land/jannat.
May God show everyone the right path. May the best team win the current cricket test match :)

pakis are all fcuked up !

........ on our recent trip to the motherland we were stopped at a traffic light in islamabad, listening to some breezy girls on fm radio discussing the pros and cons of women smoking in american accented urdlish and trying to ignore the beggar banging on the window with his arm stump ........ while we stood at the red light, as others whizzed past honking their horns and giving us dirty looks, my daughter remarked:

``abu, pakistanis are so fucked up !`` ...........

``why ? just because they can`t differentiate between green and red ?``......

``no, no... that`s fine .... actually that is good; i wish we had so much freedom in michigan ..... i`am talking about these silly girls on the radio and the way some of the girls dress and act around here ......... did you see the blouse aali was wearing at dinner last night ?...... here i am, wearing loose fitting kurtas over my jeans to show deference to the local culture and here they are, flunting their bosoms in skimpy sweaters and shaking their butts in tight fitting jeans ...... and all this while their mothers are running around in hijabs and jilbabs and lecturing people on islam - don`t you see the dichotomy ?``............

`` ding, ding !... that`s a big word !... no i don`t see the dichotomy because, as you so astutely observed, we are all fucked up !``.............

`` does that mean it is okay for me to wear my kings of leon t-shirts instead of these silly kurtas that everyone insists giving me?...... how come their own daughters don`t wear this stuff ? .......you see a lot of girls in jinnah super wearing stuff that would simply kill the aunties in michigan `` ............

``sure, if you don`t mind being ogled``...........

``on second thought, forget it - the men in pakistan are like, like so creepy ...... a bunch of perverted lechers !`` ................

just then the dj put on a song by some obscure indie rock group and my daughter`s face lit up, ``this is so cool - they don`t play this kind of music even in michigan ........ pakistan rocks !``

............. yes, but it is still fucked up !

scout #33 - ``don`t know why you`re bent upon portraying manto as anti-Islam simply because he criticizes extremist views.....``

Scout, two things: I am not really ``bent upon`` it, and secondly manto does not just critcize extremists - he IS an extremist. I am all for the eradication of extremism from this world, whether it is from christians, jews or muslims.

I am simply doing my job of exposing a bigot for what he is: a tin pot bigot. It turns out that he feeds off of the most narrowminded interpretations of Islam. He then uses those narrowest of the interpretations to build his case against Islam. In fact, he would love for the interpretations to be as narrow as possible, otherwise it does not really suit his agenda of clubbing Islam till the cows come home. When I challenged him on his interpretation of adultery laws on unplugged, he claimed ``abuse`` and ran away from the board.

atif2,

don`t know why you`re bent upon portraying manto as anti-Islam simply because he criticizes extremist views.....

and in that vein, what do you think of the hudood ordinance and people fighting against it?

I have also seen the documentary about Kyrgyzstan on Public Television. The tradition that you mentioned there is not limited to Muslims in the region. This is common to all the people in that region. Please do not single out Islam in this case.

LAHORE MARATHON

Some pictures from the Lahore Marathon

F 2manoy,
nice reading .
why mulla is like this ?
press women down in every field goes back to many centuries.Prophet was the only person who gave high esteem to women and rest of his companion , from the begining were harsh to their wives and daughters.Mulla think such activities will make women confident .
why dont they not think of honor killing, marriage with Quarn and hudood ordinance.
They are satan.

ranjit,

Not just Muslim women but all Pakistani men and women (the first Pakistani was a christian- Waris Masih) all Indian men and women can also participate in Lahore Marathon... Last year some 50 or so Indians participated.

Thank you for your wishes.

Yasser

Re:manto#9

Manto, that was an impressive letter. Keep it up!!

Hope someday not just muslim women, but Indian women can also participate in the Lahore marathon.

And ignore fanatics like Atif2.

Harimau,

Well said...

The focus here, however, was Atif2`s lack of English comprehension.

What I pointed out in my response, that in Islam hardly anyone can be convicted of adultery given the stringent law of evidence- ``four pious Muslim men``

Apparently saying that equals an Ahmadi conspiracy against Islam.

Reaf Mantolives #24

[... have seen them up close and most Ahmadi pagans are as rigid as any of you Sunni pagans ... ]

Listen up, Yasser, dear boy: WE are the pagans. We are getting the party ready with a whole bunch of scantily-clad babes and lots and lots of beer and Scotch. Sunnis are NOT pagans and are definitely NOT invited to the party. Sunni women in burqas are NOT welcome either unless they come unaccompanied by their mehrem and are willing to shed their burqas upon arrival.

Zamanov. Not a real surname is it? Worried the MMA shall come knocking?

Atif2,

Seriously yaar- now you are losing it. Not everything is an Ahmadi conspiracy ...

Infact the criticism that I have levelled is the criticism I would level against the Ahmadi community even more vociferously. I have seen them up close and most Ahmadi pagans are as rigid as any of you Sunni pagans ...

I dont know what ``bites`` you refer to but yes my Islam consists of some sound bytes- equality, fraternity and justice.... Also, since your personal abuses have gotten out of hand, you`ve been on my ignore list on Unplugged... so if you want a response to any issue... please contact me here.

rsridhar,

Ofcourse I would mention minorities in that article.

re:#9 by Mantolives
Manto,
I am glad u did mention minorities in that letter. It would have been better if u had protested more transparently against the kidnapping and forced conversion of hindu women that has been happening in Pakistan and that has gained prominence oflate.
Sridhar

No reference:
It looks pindi express will indian team out of misery . Indian team has no chance again management failure of Indian captain.