Mohammad Yousuf: A tribute

I think juhi is very cute :)

Zeemax, I knew him well and last talked to him a few days before he died. I am not putting a shadow on his murder but just saying that what has followed is tragic.

His daughter is now married to a Green Turbannned and his brother Noel tells me that is Ex wife is rumoured to forgive the assasins.

Selling and buying properties is what the non business class does to make quick money. Though I would agree with the notion of dubious dealings, no one was ready to trace him once he went missing. PLEASE READ ONE OF MY ILOGS.

It was much later that his body was found in a drain.

#76 by ijaz_gul,

Ijaz, I met Deryk Cyprian about two weeks before the incident. Please don`t put a shadow over his murder because it had nothing to do with power politics. He was involved in dealings with dubious business men to get their jobs done with the Govt etc .. and he perhaps couldn`t deliver after having taken money from them .... it was a mob style execution.

#71 by ana

Ana, because the Christian community in Pak was a very vibrant community before Zia days, but now most have moved abroad and Pak is deprived of their talents. Yousuf should have shown it is worthwile, still, in Pak for any community to progress.

Take the example of Cecil Choudhury. He can`t even think of immigrating and stays put with his unrelenting service to his community and his country, despite his personal cost.

Re: # 76

Yes, Yes dog ate my homework as well.

Its not a Christian leaving the community. One could be a Christian and yet lack the Christian Spirit. `Man does not live by bread alone` Its the deeds that count, and if he now behaves as a better human being, so much the better for him. But coming to the point.

As members of the community in Pakistan, we left no stone unturned to glorify him and give him an ICON status within the community for the youngsters to follow. He was decorated, made Chief Guest and showered with lots of poor donated money. In return he just could not reciprocate even with a gesture.

What has rather happened is that his inclusion in the team was considered enough of minority representation. Now, his action blocks more Christians moving into the reckoning eg there is a very fast bowler from a Christian Village near Burewala, who just cannot make it beyond the Academy lest he converts. The boy is under lots of pressure. There are a few batsmen and all rounders who are totally frustrated. And it is not just with Christians but also with other players who dont subscribe to the Raiwand School.

In contrast, there are many people who have chosen to sacarifice vertical mobilisation and careers to stick to their beliefs. Cecil is one who despite performing heroically in 1965 and 1971 never got promoted. There are bureaucrats, military officers, bankers etc who were not allowed to run the full distance. Very recently Deryk Cyprian, once considered to be a finance minister was gagged and drowned to death and the what has followed is tragic.

So much for now

#73

And what you need to do is get over your arrogant attitude and your own presumptions, sir. Where did I say that I was pissed off that Yousaf converted to Islam? I would like for you to point that out to me. My not giving a damn what religion anyone converts to does not translate into being pissed off.

Yeah, lots of Christians might be leaving the faith, but Muslims are killing lots of Muslims as well. Explain that one to me. On second thought, don`t bother. . .

Happy Holidays.

This man, Yousaf Yuhanna, a Baalmiki-turned-Masih - turned - Musalli, suffering from extreme inferiority complex, used religion and cricket, everything he could lay hand on as a spring-board , to allay his inferiority complex and in turn degraded evrything he touched. Of all the Paky team he presented the most ugly and unsportsmanlike spectacle on the crease presenting a nauseating `bad-duaa or `bad-rooh` for the bowler. He degraded Islam by using it as a camouflage against the bowlers in an un-Islamic Satanic game. He is the fittest target of the Quranic curse `Faweilul lilmusalleen-(107/4)` (Barbaadi he musallion ke lie), but the cricket being a satanic game is ruled by Satanic forces and values.

Re: # 71

Yo all need to get over and stop whining already. Offcourse the writer thinks that his religion is better than ur`s if he didnt he would have been christian already just as you think that christianity is better than islam thats why u r still a christian. We all think (well the one`s that give a shit anyway) that our respective religions are ``truer`` than everyone else`s, thats why we are follwoing them.

You are just pissed of cause you lost one more player from ur team just as you loose about 20,000 every year in usa alone. I am not gloating but the fact of the matter is that we the muslims have a better product to sell thats why theres a queue. Your primary cleintale comprises loosers who are willing to sell their soles for US immigration or poor people that dont have food in africa and you give them food if they accept Jesus (PBUH) as their saviour. Your frustration with the author is ill-directed, you need to be pissed of at the reality on ground.

DoubleC:

Congratulations, mubarakaaN to you and your wife and the family. I just haven`t been to Chowk very much because quite honestly I`m sick of where the discussions go here, and the actions of some of the interactors, but I`m still transitioning between cities in Amreeka. Will send you an email soon. Do you still have the same address?
Once again, the very best, what a lovely gift for the season. LaRka ya laRki?
love, ana

The more I read this article, the more problems I see in it, and I for one cannot possibly think of giving it any more attention than I already have, frenzied or not but I will make one last comment here:

No, the writer cannot imagine what it is like to live in a tight-knit poor Christian family, as part of a minority community, when he is from the majority. What the writer puts down as threats from Yousaf`s Christian family are also threats that families and people from the writer`s own faith community give their own when they convert to another faith. The writer moves from making his family sound like tyrants, to the freedom once he is finally free of them and the Christian faith. He talks about the emptiness that Yousaf must have felt being a Christian and how Islam has liberated him and this liberation is what has improved his cricket skills even more. The writer then preaches to other Muslims about how they need to improve their lives on the basis of this wonderful improvement. There is no presumption here. This is all within the article.

I don`t know quite how my fellow Christian readers or other religionists find this, but while the writer is driven by his own faith to write something like this, there is this subtle implication of Islam`s triumph over Christianity (or any other faith), that I for one don`t appreciate, as I find triumphalism in religion abhorrent. Intentional or not, it is there. A conversion to, or a rejection of a faith altogether is a personal choice, that person`s choice, in this case Yousaf`s, and I am glad that he is happy. Malcolm X converted to Islam for very different reasons, as did Yusaf Islam, and you cannot lump all these together and imply that there is an emptiness in their faith. It is their personal choices that drive them towards faith. I have read about and looked into other faiths, and as I have said once before, I have considered conversion to Islam, but when I began to participate more, to pay more attention to what I was baptized as, I didn`t find it lacking anything that other belief systems contain. Personal choices.

And Zeemax, why should Yousaf have done something for the uplift of his community simply because he was a celebrity or ``token`` Christian? Do all Muslim cricket players do something for the uplift of theirs? Or all Muslim celebrities period? I am more likely to believe that Yousaf was a Christian in name rather than in action (although that is tantamount to a judgment on him), because a devout Christian would not have given it all up, coercion or no, just so that he could be ``liberated`` and have more recognition. And that is what some or at least one of the Christian commenters has suggested here. Wishing he had not converted from Christianity, is really no better than someone wishing he would not convert to Islam, or from it.

Re: # 68

With all due respect, if his belief and understanding is that he will burn in eternal hell-fire if he doesn`t convert than what makes you think he or anyone will give a rats ass about what you or even his parents or community would rather have him do. Just as you & I do things in our lives according to our wishes, aspirations and understanding in the same manner yOusuf or anyone else has that same right. Could we be anymore vain that we think that Yousuf should accomodate us and insteaf of converting to Islam, elevate his community because WE think thats a more apt course for him. Last time I checked Yousuf wasnt our slave.

RE: Harishoaa_hyderabadi

I once read in an Indian paper/TV channel during (not sure about where I read it and the exact year so please don`t ask me to produce it here) in which harish hyderabadi said that he was gay and he was also sorry that he has to drink cow piss every freakin day because if he doesnt gaoo mata will be ferociously pissed off. Harishoa also said that he thinks its bull crap and he doesnt really believe that harmless cow is able to do anything but he still does it because it takes a man to actually stand up for his real belief and harishoa knows that he is no real man.(not sure about where I read it and the exact year so please don`t ask me to produce it here). I also read that Harishoa is nothing but a bigot and he hates everything that is pakistan and pakistanis for the mere fact that they are better looking than him. (not sure about where I read it and the exact year so please don`t ask me to produce it here).

I hope harishoa that you get what i am saying although i wouldnt be surprised at all if u didnt.

#68 by zeemax

He doesn`t HAVE to do it as most Muslim players don`t, and suffice with wave of the bat. He appears to do it out of genuine faith. Why? I for one have no answer.

I once read his interview to an Indian paper/TV channel during Pakistan`s tour to India in 2003/4 (not sure about where I read it and the exact year so please don`t ask me to produce it here) in which he said he was being sidelined by the media in Pakistan because he was a Christian. He also said the other Paki players were earning more through endorsements than he was because they were Muslim.

It is actually quite confusing. I for one do not believe that Islam improved Yousaf Youhanna`s performance. Some people have pointed out that it may have been because of peer pressure which once relieved, gave a boost to his cricket ... but the way he prostrates on the ground doesn`t appear to be because of pressure. He doesn`t HAVE to do it as most Muslim players don`t, and suffice with wave of the bat. He appears to do it out of genuine faith. Why? I for one have no answer. Perhaps he really found something there.

Personally, though, I feel Yoususf, instead of converting, should have done something for the uplift of his own community when in a celebrity position; a community which was an extremely valuable and talented part of the pakistani social fabric but now fading; and which has produced numerous eminent patriots such as Cornelius, Cecil Choudhry, and not the least, the huge musical talent of the Benjamin Sisters .... who took this country by storm.

I would rather Yousuf had remained Christian and done something for his community. That would be the same as accepting Islam.

#58 Ijaz,

So true. I`ll be the first to accept this from my section. However the family in Pindi is doing good as mostof them went throught St. Mary`s.

E-mail me as i would like to know about your big revival project.

Ana,

same to you and your family as well. Where have you been?

I received my Christmas present early (became a father :)

#62 by teshah,

I think you and i are seeing eye to eye, however i did not agree with your earlier post. Anyway it Advent and let`s forgive and forget and enjoy the season.

Happy holidays.

Dear Writer,
Mohammed Yusuf (MOYO) has truly rediscovered his lost mojo. A phenomenal performance from a truly great player.

Yusuf Yuhana (now MOYO) is the same player who started off so wonderfully then fell into a state of inconsistent and lacklustre performances. Reason is clear and you have alluded to it in your article, a poor christian boy was hounded by the Mullah centric cricketing buddies to convert. I cannot even imagine the mental agony Yusuf must have experienced which effected his cricketing performance. Thus dear writer, it is my opinion that Pakistan was robbed of three to four years of greatness by Islamo fascists in their blind endeavour to make everything Islamic. Yusuf Yuhana or Mohammed Yusuf, he was always a great cricketing talent irrespective of his religious beliefs.

A very good article, ( if i have to say it in terms of its overall literary usage, i`ll add ``in huge patches``)...though the comment of ana seems driven by a touch of frenzy where he/she made some presumptions, which is not my job to point out anyway....but yeah, i found it weak when you said that `` ...if u believe in an after life`s existence..then religion must play a vital-role...`` it was one-dimensional for the sheer fact where it might suggest that probably a gut-feeling for an `after-life`s existence` is what drives u towards a religion...whereas religion has, and obviously must have, a far more wholistic concept to it..it gives answers, it advises, it resolves, it inspires and it guides a person through all of his questions and doubts and the course of action he takes and finally, the result and feedback for his actions.....starting from the birth of an atom to the future of the universe, from the birth of intuition to the guidance for logic and understanding, from the explanation of the feelings in a person`s insides to the myriad complexities that result out of it all the way through, for relationships and human interactions, for what prayer is and means all about, for the need and the outcome of the magical word, character!......and yeah, to give the `reason` why the universe, and in it, `me` exists?.....
..and i know i have gravely missed out and overlooked a lot more...

..the most beautiful line of your essay, which instantly appealed to me was the..``In our quest to become “Intellectual” some of us make Islam so confusing and complicated that only a brain-surgeon can figure out how to get salvation``...this sentence has potential in the way it can be extended beyond Islam and related with the whole of humanity...a lot of times if we deeply look into the `intellectual` stuff and strip it to the bottom layer...we realise it is a shallow base layered under equivocating abstractions, to be crisply precise n `real`...and this is where the message of the religion that you have pointed out gets beautiful, for the simple reason that its the other way round!...its the profundity of an ocean(though i am being restrictively finite) ..which keeps on defining a more clearer facet to it each time u live through it...hidden behind simple words...