US MIlitary "Ready to Go'

US GETS READY TO STRIKE!

I watched in horror, my eyes glued to the screen, listening but not hearing anything as a heaviness descended upon my heart.
I heard the news about US getting ready to strike Syria if the order comes and my senses went numb. So, finally, it has come to this, I thought! 

For sometime now, I've been hearing calls for and against US involvement. The recent use of chemical weapons on civilians including children has the whole world in uproar including Iran who has publicly condemned it.

All said and done, who let all this happen?
For months and years we are all watching the devil wreck havoc in Syria. No matter who is working for whom. It is the civilians and innocents that are paying the price with their lives. Who was supposed to be their protector? Who was supposed to be their leader? The whole country is in turmoil. Who was supposed to contain this situation?I hear some blame the external forces. My question is that who let those external forces to sneak in, find root and find strength?

Every country is vulnerable at some level and that is why the institutions like leadership, military, army, security and such, are founded. What is the use of financing such institutions if they cannot handle and manage their own internal affairs? Isn't the sole purpose of their existence the guarantee of peace, safety and protection of the civilians. What is their job and function if the civilians are suffering such cruelty? Before you blame the governments, please tell me if the people in government do not belong to the country as well! It is not as if they come from outside to rule these places. Why are they not sincere to their own roots? 

WHY?

Don't Play That Blame Game

While Humanity Moans

I see the Muslim world in turmoil.

There is wide spread suffering everywhere!

Media is making money on footage after footage of horrific stories but no one is really doing anything to stop this reality show!

I learn about the protectors killing their own dependents.

I witness the humanity's humiliation at the hands of humans and I think of who is to blame?

My heart says that the main source of all evil is Satan.

So, I think of him!

Satan asked God for respite to allure as many humans as he could till the Doomsday. Even Satan acknowledged the sovereignty of Almighty God. The most Merciful God granted him the respite and clearly told him that many would follow his footsteps in the world and would burn in hellfire with him in the hereafter but there would be those who would resist all temptations and follow the righteous path and these would be the ones who would find eternal bliss in the Heaven. 

Of course there would be some who would give into their weaknesses and would wander off from their straight paths in the direction of his allures. Some of them would stay on the misleading path forever and join Satan's group while there would be others who would repent and correct their mistakes. The latter would join their brethren in Paradise.

Satan knows his fate. He is simply given respite. There is no turning back for him. The fires of hell await him. He did not ask forgiveness, instead he asked for respite. His insolent self wanted to take revenge on humanity, wanted the cause of his fall to suffer along with him.

Humans were warned by the Messengers chosen by God what awaits them depending upon their actions. Choice is entirely theirs. No one can carry any one else's burden. Each will be rewarded or punished according to personal deeds and conduct. The judgement will be so just that every body part of that human will bear witness to the act it was involved in and the human will be absolutely convinced of the justice. 

On the day of Judgement, Satan will not be punished for the sins of other, though they performed those acts under his influence. They all knew, along with Satan himself, that Satan's final destination was Hell. The sinners will be punished for acting upon their wrong choices they deliberately made ignoring all those warnings sent by the loving God. They chose to follow Satan in life and that's what they will have to do in the hereafter...follow him into the fires. They will not be punished for Satan's acts but for their own sins.

The humans who restrained themselves, paid attention and strived to live lives according to the laws set by their Creator, which basically means avoiding Satan's temptations with every living breath, will be rewarded accordingly for their individual efforts and deeds.

This is what Islam teaches us and all Muslims believe.

If so, then I do not see any room for the blame game.

No matter who allures who, or who acts on whose behalf or who is whose puppet, the bottom line is that everyone is free to make their own personal choices and thus responsible and accountable for those choices and accompanying actions. 

Oh, the shame!

It reminded me of my SHAME!

Imran khan lost the election in May 2013. 

There was a huge uproar in the intellectual class and youth of Pakistan who were all rooting for him. They had not even remotely considered the possibility of a defeat thinking victory was their right as majority of them were casting their votes for the first time and deserved the applause.

I do not participate in Politics. Politicians and politics repulse me with their dirty antics but it does not mean that I do not care. I do cast my vote as a responsible citizen and have my opinions. In general, I prefer to stay neutral but the situation in Pakistan often break my resolve not to speak up.

I watched the hysteria spread like wildfire among the educated class in Pakistan as the election results were finalized. I had earnestly prayed for my fears to be baseless and my secret predictions to be false. I did like Imran Khan and considered him a better candidate among others although a bit inexperienced and found his dreams unrealistic. But unlike the educated masses, his failure did not surprise me. Neither did the accusations of a rigging during vote casting that followed.

I wanted to scream at those so called educated class as to why were they surprised? I wanted to actually tell them that it was their own doing. They were accusing the system, the people in power, the people in positions, the people with money, etc. I wanted to tell them that no one else was to be blamed but they, themselves. The fault lied with them. They were part of the same system they were trying to blame. Yes, they were trying to bring out a change, but they were changing a face, not the system. They were not changing themselves.

They talk about rigging!

Let me tell you about rigging!

I was in my masters.

Pakistan was my homeland but foreign to me as I grew up abroad and had recently returned there for higher education.

Our junior class was planning a farewell party for the seniors.

Almost ninety percent of my MS class was male and my female peers made up a small minority. Although there was no segregation, the female students always sat at the front, keeping distance from the opposite gender.

None of the female students wanted to be part of the farewell party preparations. Their excuse being that they came from very conservative back grounds or that they were not comfortable being on or near a stage.

Although I grew up in a very strict and segregated country, I had no reservations working with boys. I knew that I could hold my own among both genders. I gladly accepted the responsibility of being the program host on the stage.

Everything seemed to be going fine till the very last minute. Everyone had gathered and were seated  in the grand hall. I was about to go on the stage to start the program when the lead organizing boys stopped me and handed me a piece of paper with three names written on it. They told me to announce those names as the winners when a drawing would be made at the end of the program. I was stunned beyond belief!  Never in my life before I had ever done or even come close to any such thing. It was absolute cheating. I refused and tore down the paper.

I felt self elation on the righteous act and prided myself on putting sense into them and stopping those boys from committing a wrongful act. The program went smoothly. The time for the drawing came up. A boy held the jar full of slips with the names of all the seniors while another boy made the draw and brought the slip to me. Enthusiastically I looked at the paper he had placed on the dice in front of me and horror hit me! Like an expert conman, he had switched the paper and the slip that faced me had not one but three names written on it! The same three names with the numbers one two and three written to indicate the order!

I felt paralyzed. Part of me wanted to disclose to the whole audience the con. I looked up at the upturned faces and the realization hit me. If I decided to reveal the treachery, no one in that audience was going to be surprised. They all expected to be cheated, lied to and made fool of. It was the system and they were part of that system. I was only going to bring out their contempt for me if I dared ruin the evening for them.  May be it was this realization or may be because I felt like an absolute stranger in my own homeland but my strength failed me and I announced the first name in a trance. 

The remainder of the evening was spent in a daze. I watched myself role play from a distance while my mind, logic, and thoughts refused to cooperate with me. Inside, I felt like dying of shame. The shame of being part of such treachery. My heart and mind were screamingly asking me only one question; If universities were training grounds for grooming minds for a bright future of a country, just how were these young adults going to be a bright future of Pakistan?