Category: Thoughts

September 6, 2011 Pakistan, Thoughts Post a Comment

How long can we wait (A view from over there)

Pakistan needs to be liberated, either by hook or crook, in my opinion either the Libyan style rebellion or a saner solution which I think is Imran khan. There is a lot of talk about Imran khan right now; his popularity is increasing much to the dismay of Zardari-Sharif and Co. But there are many who still doubt his leadership and qualities. You can always find plenty of articles or news segments about him in negative light from various news outlets, some call him a Taliban Sympathizer or some call him outright Fundamentalist. I won’t get into these discussions as it is fruitless.

Imran Khan is miles ahead of any political Leader currently aspiring to lead Pakistan, be it the usual suspects of PML (N and Q), PPP or ANP. These parties over the last many decades have proven one thing only, “they are not fit to lead Pakistan”. PPP and PML (N) have been tested twice, PMLQ has been tested once with Musharraf, all these parties have one thing in common, ” they are opportunist and prefer to make the masters happy and the public sad”. Imran Khan on the other hand is a fresh mind and a new experience, he has been on the sidelines for too long and this has worked to his advantage. This time has been a blessing in disguise, it has helped him formulate his policies and sharpen his thoughts about how he wants to lead the country out of its current mess. Rather than making deals he has stuck to principles (much to the dismay of many) and stayed clear of situations where he would have ended up like every other political leader (Lotay is my thought here). He is the only leader who can boast about truly helping the real Pakistanis, From Namal University to Shaukat Khanam, from his time as MNA from the district in Mianwali to PTI’s programs for the poor. Imran doesn’t represent himself; he is the front man to a party which is full of people like Imran Khan. It is the senior leadership and the party workers; they all aspire to be like Imran Khan, who has done everything to make Pakistanis proud. He has been successful in every thing he has been part of, World Cup Cricket, Best Cancer care hospital in Asia and Higher Education for everyone (Namal University). Imran Khan is not alone in this; PTI is full of people who think along the lines of what Imran Khan thinks.

I am currently outside Pakistan; I look at Pakistan from a different perspective than how people might view it from inside Pakistan. Overseas Pakistanis do feel strongly about Pakistan and its future. It is not comfortable to see where Pakistan is heading. The view from over here is not very pleasing and this decent into the darkness needs to stop before we cross the point of no Return. Imran Khan is the only choice for Pakistan. If we miss this chance then we will forever be sorry to our future generations.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Imran Khan but above all i have had a chance to meet members of PTI’s Central Executive Committee. These people are extraordinary folks; they are professionals in their field, patriot Pakistanis and above all normal people who care. They care for the common Pakistani, the everyday laborers, the folks who can’t afford bread at the end of the day, the kids who can’t get admission into the university, parents who can’t provide medical care of their family. They want to make a change that will benefit the future generations of Pakistan, benefit Pakistan and stand up for Pakistan when it is threatened. I met some of the CEC members in America, although i have seen how the political leaders from other parties come and go in luxury, the servants of the servants of current government ministers get to spend the tax rupees on luxuries that we in the west cannot think of, on the other hand Every PTI official i have met in USA including Imran Khan and CEC members, they all travelled humbly and without any pomp and show. They talk about Pakistan and exist for its better future.  I would invite you all to go online to insaf.pk and read about PTI, its manifesto, ask questions on forum and if you think Imran Khan will make a difference then convince your friends, family and relatives to join PTI and make a better future for our future generations.

 

June 27, 2011 Thoughts Post a Comment

Intelligence not required

I am a bad exam taker; I have had times when I have left exams without writing a single word on the paper because I couldn’t BS my way through it. I have always been in awe of people who are able to do exams and score well. I don’t know what my problem is but it surely is a problem. I have been struggling with a preliminary exam for some time. This December the window into that exam will close also and might never open again. If I fail that exam then I am done with the PhD or lets say that the school is done with me (I wouldn’t give up that quickly).

I remember the days during FSc exams in Pakistan, people would spend less time and effort but master the technique of copy paste onto the paper materials from the book, and on the other hand I would make sincere efforts to understand the materials. The outcome was that I couldn’t get admission into any university. Well by gone be bygones and I am not worried about it anymore but this PhD exam is killing me, the fear of failing it and losing that opportunity at the PhD has kept me awake at nights and even made me fear the exam so much that I don’t want to take it anymore. I know I have to but in the back of my mind I know that I will fail it.

I don’t consider myself a loser or bad at learning, in fact I absorb a lot of information every day, reading/watching and exploring everything from everyday life to internet. I would even consider myself more informed than an average person and even quite a few PhD’s I know or knew. Maybe the problem is that I love to learn everything and can’t just give them up to focus on one thing. Take today for an example, from reading about the Boston mob boss who got arrested last week to mayhem in Libya, Sony cancelling start wars galaxy to some physicist make a glorified jack hammer to create fusion for greener times and so on. I even sometimes make the effort to go on Wikipedia and read and learn about things that I might have read as part of something else. But I guess these are all the tasks of normal people and not the super smarts that do PhDs. If that is the case then I can’t help it. I am fine with a masters but if it not then I should find a way to pass this Damm exam.

I guess while I am on the page of ranting or complaining let me ask this question

“Why everyone talks about the over achievers, why no one talks about the rest of the people like anyone who is not a Ivy league graduate, born to the rich parents, spoon fed their careers and jobs …”

What about the rest of us who are trying and living everyday? I guess we will never know 🙂 Well as far as the exam is concerned Inshallah I will take my best shot at it and if I don’t pass it then it is the loss for the PhD program 🙂

Will write about it after I am done in December with the exam.

 

June 7, 2011 Islam, Thoughts Post a Comment

Friday Prayers

Every Friday I goto Friday prayer alhamdulillah, but I have been seeing something that I feel is so important and we don’t talk about it. We all already know that Friday is the most important day of the week, there are numerous hadith about this and some are below.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah and Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with them) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah led those who came before us away from Friday. The Jews had Saturday, and the Christians had Sunday. Then Allaah brought us and Allaah guided us to Friday. So there is Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and thus they will follow us on the Day of Resurrection. We are the last of the people of this world but we will be the first on the Day of Resurrection, and we will be dealt with before all others.” (Muslim)

It was narrated from Aws ibn Aws that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best of your days is Friday. On that day Adam (peace be upon him) was created; on that day he died; on that day the Trumpet will be blown and on that day all of creation will swoon. So send a great deal of blessings upon me, for your blessings will be shown to me.” They said, “O Messenger of Allaah, how will our blessings upon you be shown to you when you have turned to dust?” He said, “Allaah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets, peace be upon them.”  (Abu Dawood; Classed as saheeh by Ibn al-Qayyim in his comments on Sunan Abi Dawood, 4/273; and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 925.)

It was narrated that Abu Lubaabah ibn ‘Abd al-Mundhir said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Friday is the master of days, and the greatest of them before Allaah. It is greater before Allaah than the day of al-Adha and the day of al-Fitr. It has five characteristics: on this day Allaah created Adam, on it He sent Adam down to the earth, on it Allaah caused Adam to die, on it there is a time when a person does not ask Allaah for anything but He gives it to him, so long as he does not ask for anything haraam, and on it the Hour will begin. There is no angel who is close to Allaah, no heaven, no earth, no wind, no mountain and no sea that does not fear Friday.”  (Narrated by Ibn Maajah; 1084; Classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, no.  2279)

Some years ago, when I had started working at a university, I was asked by my manager to go troubleshoot a desktop computer in the university president’s office. I went along with my manager and once we entered the office, for some reason we were on our best behavior, Not to make any slight mistake or say something improper. This somehow kicked in and it was due to the fact that the office was of the president and the president was the President of the university. He was the top of the top in the management, him having issue with his computer was a problem for everyone in IT. This could have been similar to anyone where the person could be the president of a company I might have worked for or the director of my division. I realized that when I went to see someone higher up or some customer (who for some reason controlled the company’s main contract) or a customer visiting the office or going for an interview, we are  expected to dress up and be on our best behavior, be presentable (which could mean that you have you have the proper attire, suit with tie, , hair nicely done, no foul breath, mouth wash used, mustache trimmed and beard nicely kept and even your nails are dealt accordingly, so you don’t seem like a person out of a jungle).

There is a hadith about cleanliness being half of the Iman (faith).

Narrated Abû Mâlik Al-Hârith bin Âsim Al-Ash’ari: Allah’s Messenger said, “Cleanliness is half of Faith; the utterance of Allah (Al-hamdu lillah – all praise belongs to Allah) fills the scales of good actions; the utterance of Allah (Glory be to Allah and all praise belongs to Allah) fills the space between the heavens and the earth, and Salât (prayer) is light; and charity is the proof of Faith; and endurance is a light, and the Qur’ân is a plea in your favour or against you. Every person begins the morning ready to strike a deal with his soul as a stake; he either ransoms it or puts it into perdition.” (Muslim)

Now what does this got to do with Friday prayer. Well it has to do something with Salat in general. When we pray, we are infront of Allah. Who is Allah, he is the lord of the worlds, the creator of everything, the owner of our souls and owner of everything between heavens and earth. He is all in all of everything, much more than a president of a university, director of a company, CEO of multi billion dollar company, bigger and important than anything and everything.

So when we go infront of the almight to pray, to beg and to ask for forgiveness, we are usually dressed up like bums. We are not at our best behavior or even presentable, we are wearing dirty clothes, pajamas, sagging pants, long shorts that are not long enough, smelling bad or of smoking, sometimes i have seen people just come out of bed and show up at the moque, sometimes jeans, Tshirt combination, gym clothes or just anything casual that you wouldn’t wear to work at all. Well I can understand people do this at home but for Friday it is a different story. I usually see people on Friday enjoying Casual Fridays at work, I can understand wearing business clothes all week might seem like a burden and casual Friday is an escape from those superficial clothing.

Lets see what we are actually doing, we are dressing up every day for this duniya, to make up points at work, impress the bosses, abide by the dress policy or just because you see customers or are expected to wear those clothes. On Friday we take a step back cuz the expected fact is that Friday is the casual day but while trying to enjoy the life in duniya we end up forgetting that Friday is the best day of the week, like Eid everyweek for us. If we put a little bit effort and think of the day when it is the best day of the week, you are going to be in presence of other Muslims, be closest to Allah during sajda, then you should dress up accordingly. Don’t show up at the mosque like it is a basket ball match or your going for a BBQ.

“O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salaah (prayer) on Friday (Jumu‘ah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allaah [Jumu‘ah religious talk (Khutbah) and Salaah (prayer)] and leave off business (and every other thing). That is better for you if you did but know!” (Al-Jumu’ah 62:9)

Tomorrow if you are told that you are going to meet the president of the country, I doubt anyone would show up in jeans or jogging bottoms and a Tshirt. Why do we then think differently for Allah, when Allah is much more important for us than anyone else. Just remember that we need him and he doesn’t need us.

It is only Shaitan (Satan) that suggests to you the fear of his Auliya’ [supporters and friends (polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger, Muhammad pbuh)]; so fear them not, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers. (Surah 3/Ayah 175)

There is a hadith also but cant find it in Tirmidhi for now

Ibn Hibban narrated “Whoever will seek to please Allah by displeasing men, Allah (The Glorified and The Exalted) will make him independent of the help and favour of men and He Himself will become sufficient unto him, and whoever will seek to please men by displeasing Allah, Allah (The Glorified and The Exalted) will give him in the charge of men. And peace (be with you)!” (Tirmidhi)

April 28, 2011 Islam, Thoughts Post a Comment

Bahrain (a thought)

 

This is a very confused rant which I put down in writing, I just didn’t know how to gather all facts and write them. So just read it.

Initially I had been very much appalled by the news of the crackdown on the Bahraini Demonstrators; I thought, here was another regime that was trying to put down dissent. I was actively posting stories about how bad it was on my face book profile until I decided to take a step back and look at the whole geo political situation. Talked to some of my father’s friends who were working in intelligence in Bahrain and came to the conclusion that this had to happen, otherwise there would be a bigger issue of stability and security in the region.

No one can deny that Iran has some sort of hand in this whole mess up. I was even told and later in the news the same thing came up that there were individuals who were trained by Hezbollah, this is an alarming fact and cannot be taken lightly. Having Bahrain fall in the hands of the Shia run Iranian regime would cause more than just concern. Coming back to Bahrain, there were solid progress being made in the last couple of years about addressing the concerns of the citizens who felt that they have been left out of the economic progress of the country, The crown prince is very forward looking and would have worked to ensure more rights and reform, but the protest put an end to any future hope of such actions. Further killing of policemen and then targeted attacks on South Asians just because some of their countrymen work for the police or are part of the Security establishment further proved that the people behind these were not looking for resolution to their concerns about jobs and housing but were trying to  further destabilize the region so there could be a need for Iran to get involved.

It seems that the demonstrators initially might have had some legit concerns but after a few days, it was just a mob of people who wanted to cause clear harm to Bahrain’s reputation, security and stability. Whatever the outcome will be  in the coming days and any outcry that will result due to the government’s actions will be the doing of the demonstrators. The death sentences handed out today are a clear indication that the government takes very seriously when law and order is challenged and I don’t blame them.

I remember from my time in Bahrain (back in the 90s) that there was another set of demonstrations and riots and they were put down by the government, I had realized how biased the demonstrators were, when we as high school kids were cautioned and scared of going into certain areas as Pakistanis were constantly attacked for being Pakistani (majority of the police is Pakistani). It didn’t come as a surprise what happened this time also.

Whatever the case now, Bahrain is now in a very delicate time period. The people will get some benefit out of this but maybe the steps taken towards reform might be rolled back and will take another decade to be at the point where they were before all this happened. It is now to just wait and see what happens, after all the terrorist elements are cleared up, I am sure the government will take positive steps towards reform but until then don’t expect the government to give in to demands posed by the Iranian establishment through their proxies in Bahrain.

 

 

March 31, 2011 Thoughts Post a Comment

Friends

Spending my life in parts has left me with no true friends I think. I lived in Pakistan until I was eleven and left all my school friends to move to Bahrain. Then spent my teenage years in Bahrain and made friends there. When it was time to move again, I had to leave all that. I moved back to Pakistan to a new adventure, without Email/Skype/Facebook during those days meant that those friends had better things to do.


Leaving all behind in Bahrain was especially hard as all I knew and learned was in Bahrain. But in Pakistan I did make friends and good friends, but once I settled in and had a social life, I had to move again, this time to USA, to unchartered territory.


USA was specially a different game; I didn’t know anyone or anything. Learning the ropes of life on my own for the first time was hard and kept me busy though. Friends in USA is a different scenario, it was especially along the lines of friends who were opportunist. This meant that whoever became a friend was a friend for a little while until his or her opportunity or personal gain was fulfilled. Then it was off to other people. Also one thing here is that people do tend to move all over the place, so someone you know today might not be in your area for long and might move somewhere else due to job, family or education. This means that they were there for a little while and what you thought was a friend was an acquaintance actually. I can’t think of any true friends that I can fall back on; I do have some friends that I am proud of but they are not here in USA.


I did make one friend who I thought that was a true friend (literally thought that), who I could rely on in my bad times, sadly in my bad times he was the first one to dump and run away from me. It was harsh and hurting, it still hurts but I can say this that he helped me a lot in life so not holding a lot against him. Although I haven’t forgiven him, if I was at fault then that doesn’t matter but if I wasn’t, then I will see him on the day of judgment Inshallah, I am glad he did abandon me as I would have otherwise trusted him with my life, my family and most probably would have been surprised and shocked to see his actions, if I needed his help in worse Times.

Allah is my Lord, my friend, mytrustee and everything at this point but sometimes it is nice to have someone who you can call or sit down to talk to and open your heart. As of now that doesn’t exist and I doubt it will ever be. Time for such friendships have come and gone, it would have helped to stay in one place to have such luxuries. Lack of true friends, cousins or family sometimes truly sucks.


All I just can say

hassbunallah wa ni’mal wakeel

‘Allah is sufficient for us, and how fine a trustee (He is).’

November 13, 2010 Thoughts Post a Comment

First meeting

It was a Friday and I was getting ready to go for Jumah Prayer. This was five days after returning from Pakistan and I was all excited about life ahead. As I worked and the prepared to leave, my company President showed up in my room, I knew him very well and had some serious discussions on religion with him. He came to me and said “Rubeel I want you to meet someone”. He took me the office of the VP, by this time I was very naive about what was going on. As I approached the room, I realized that why would the president want me to meet anyone. Again, I dismissed the idea of some foul play and walked in the room.

There were two men inside the room who asked me to sit on a chair. As my company’s president left the room, I realized that the chair I was being asked to sit on was a corner chair and I cannot walk out of the room even if I wanted to. As this thought flashed in my mind, the two men flashed their badges and introduced themselves as Special Agents with the FBI.

Rest is history 🙁 ……

October 15, 2010 Thoughts 1 Comment

Hate mail and me

Today i received hate mail from some one who i don’t know ofcourse. I have never received any hate mail but the experience is not very nice. It was not a very fun reading of two lines but i have to give it to the person who went through the effort to create an email address with the alias rubeelsux@yahoo.com.

They must really hate me cuz otherwise you can just create an anonymous email address and get done with it but they went through the extra effort to create a custom email address.

October 15, 2010 Thoughts Post a Comment

Politics (A rant)

When i came to the USA some 10 odd years ago, i witnessed the first election in 2000; it was closely fought and very controversial. I looked at the election from a distance as i was working odd jobs and trying to make a living. From what i saw from far was a noble system that was working so well for the people. I would think then that this is the way Pakistan needs to be at, with elections held and results handled so well (although the results that year were decided by the supreme court very much in USA (Gore vs. Bush))

Muslims were very happy with the results, Gore had chosen a pro-israel politician to be his running mate and when bush defeated him, it was all cheers.

Well i am not going to talk about Muslims and USA or anything but coming back to my original point about the noble electoral system, i was fascinated. Later on i got a job where i had to commute 1 hour every day and i would listen to CSPAN Radio every morning. This was in 2003-2004 election season. By this time i have had some time and learned about the political system. As the election got closer, it became clearer that the system was as dirty as i had left behind in Pakistan. Politicians don’t work for their constituents, but they work for the party. Right or wrong, the party line was used to vote on critical issues and decisions that impacted citizens every day.

Attack campaigns and much uncivilized manner of political wrangling, use of lobbyists and many more dirty tricks were used to win elections, defeat bills and play the politics game. It is very interesting for me that in the last 10 years or so, i have seen the American society disintegrate into religious and liberal groups. This division was never this clear before but now it is clearer than before. The ads on TV now a day are based on lies, deceitful statements and religion. Is this is the United States of American or United States of Christian America?

Recently reading a book on a troublesome event in the history of Muslims, Siege of Mecca was about taking over the holiest place for Muslims by extremists, the author in the end had emphasized that after defeating the terrorists/extremists, the Saudi government gave in to their demands and adopted what they wanted to force on the society. It seems that after defeating the confederates in the civil war, the US government had adopted a lot of their extreme agendas and defeating them was nothing but a makeup with the extreme right. I think the reminiscence of those extreme are now part of Republicans.