(Please note that it is not appropriate in Islam to wish anyone happy New Year or to celebrate it as this is the practice of the pagans and other non-Muslims and has no root in Islam hence we should strictly stay away from such innovations.)
As the clock strikes twelve on the night of 31st December, we all start wishing each other a “happy new year”. We hear fireworks and gunshots in celebration of this glorious moment. But is this moment really all that auspicious, all that glorious? After all that happened in 2011 we still have the audacity to wish each other a happy new year! Instead of going about wishing everyone and watching the fireworks did we even stop for a second and think about how 2011 was exactly? Or that what did we achieve this year? How many times did we say the right thing and stand up for what was right? But, hey, all that is really not important is it? The only thing important is that it’s a new year despite the fact that we wasted like the last 21 years or so of our lives. That’s really no big deal, because we have gotten another year and let’s just hope that this will be better than the last one because the last year could have had been SO much better. We actually just shut our eyes and update statuses on facebook and wish for the year to be a better one but did we do ANYTHING, anything at all, to make it better?
“What is done is done and cannot be changed. Why live my life worrying about the past and why not enjoy the little things in life?” This is one of the many optimistic approaches taken up by people. In fact, they are not completely wrong in thinking that way either, because really what is done is done. The lives that were lost are lost. The people who lost the right track have really stayed off the track. And the lies that were not exposed have stayed hidden. The things not set right out of fear of authorities have created an insurmountable anxiety and further deteriorated the low faith. What could I have done anyway? I am just one person. But weren’t all the people who initiated a change individuals themselves? How can we expect change from Imran Khan or any other political leader for that matter when we aren’t ready to change our own selves?
We have become so lazy, so de-motivated, so selfish, that we watch the news, we see each day more people dying, more people becoming a victim of a horrific vicious cycle and yet we go on about our lives celebrating events that our not even a part of our own religion! So eager are we to celebrate events and enjoy life because we can’t always think about the miseries of our country. But do you know why we can’t always think about it and why we need avenues to divert our attention? It is because we have not been the direct victims of all that we see in the television and all that we so enthusiastically debate about. It’s easy to go about our own businesses when we are not the ones suffering, the only tragedy is that while we thank God (only hypothetically of course, not all of us have the time to thank God either) that we are safe and sound in such conditions, we fail to realize that the people dying are our own people. When we turn a blind eye to our own people being killed then we are as much blameworthy as are the authorities that we so boldly accuse.
Coming back to where we started from; what exactly did we do all year round that we are so happy about? My own daily routine would be a good place to start from. I would sleep a lot, then waste time over the internet, do some university related work, apart from that most of my time would be spent at university while I moved from one class to the other, in between hanging out with friends, and then of course food and entertainment were also a big part of my routine. How productive was I? Did I improve as a person over the year? I doubt so. Did I make anyone happy at the cost of my own happiness? Just the very sound of it is funny. So where do I stand? I stand at the edge of a cliff from where I only look up not realizing that I’ll fall if I take a wrong step, not realizing that there was a reason I was sent up here in the first place. And that I wasn’t sent here to just stand and enjoy myself but was sent here for a reason. There is a much higher purpose for us being here than being deluded by meaningless festivities and finding pointless reasons to enjoy ourselves.
But what do I do? I keep wondering. I keep thinking. I keep procrastinating. I keep sleeping with this intention that may be tomorrow I would wake up. May be tomorrow would be a better day. May be tomorrow would not be that bad after all. I wait and wait and wait. There is just this fear though, that there may come a point from which there is no return. What would I do then? Would I just forfeit then and give up my life? Or would I break all the barriers and stand up for what is right? Every second that I wasted flashes right in front of my eyes now. Maybe I could have said something better. Maybe I could have dealt with that particular situation in a better way. Maybe I could have spoken the truth rather than feeling guilty later. Maybe what my mother advised me was really for my benefit. Maybe all the times she scolded me; she was really trying to make me a better person. If only I knew.
But I know now and I will remember all of it hopefully. Would tomorrow be a different day then, or would it be the same day but just a different year?
P.S.: Time to go to sleep again. Tomorrow is another day.
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If only we knew what the cost of everything is that we so easily forego: monetary, social, societal and religious. If only I knew. I wanted to learn Arabic. I was too lazy to do so. I wanted to memorize the Qur’an. I hardly learned a few verses. I wanted to serve my religion. I stayed at my home, made myself feel cozy, updated awe-inspiring statuses on facebook; was that not enough? After all I was doing the right thing and calling people to Islam while not even leaving my bed. How very convenient? It is sad really the situation of US Muslims today. No I am not talking about the Muslims in the U.S.A. but I am talking about us Muslims; I’m talking about me and you. We are in a despicable position and the worst part is that we are proud of it!! If we cursed someone today and made him feel bad, we are proud of it. If we can mimic someone behind their backs, we are proud of it. If we waste a lot of time while sleeping, on facebook, or just doing random stuff then we are proud of even that. What we are not proud of is the fact that we are Muslims! We are ashamed of talking about our religion when we are in our group of friends. Yet we enjoy all sorts of vulgar stories and childish jokes each and every time. They never get old, do they? All of this is so disturbing that it’s actually not even funny.
We love talking about change and how we are so up for it. Oh look how we are the proponents of change and how we would like to end the miserable situation of this state! But did we care to stand up, leave our homes, and take a look at our very own neighborhood? Did we care to leave our home for the house of God to ask from Him? Did we even bother asking our Creator, the Sustainer, the Lord of the entire universe, and the Provider of all to remove us from this miserable state? Did we ever care to do that? We love complaining to others about our sorry state but did we just even once disclose our worries to our Loving God. Did we, despite having the means to, improve the life of the beggar across the street by providing him with food and/or shelter? Did we EVEN approach him with a smile and greeted him as if he was a human being? Did we do that? Or did we just go past him like he was some object lying on the street? It is sad really the situation we are in; the situation I am in. We call ourselves Muslims when we are not even deserving of being called human beings.
We call ourselves crème de la crème. Fancy name, isn’t it? But do we even justify our worth? What are we? What am I? What are you? Aren’t we all created from that very same fluid that was so impure it would make impure anything it landed on and yet God gave us this beautiful shape? Why exactly then am I better than anyone else? Is it because I have more knowledge than the one who cannot afford it? Oh yes I am well educated am I not? I just happen to lie though, cheat in my exams, copy stuff for reports/assignments, speak in a loud voice with my parents, indulge in frivolous and vulgar talks with friends, waste my time on the internet, tv, and cell phone; I am more educated though mind that! I can put my shades on, wear branded clothes, put on perfume, and walk on the face of the Earth with pride. Who are you to stop me from doing that?
I just wonder why the companions of the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) then had such a tough time after his demise? Why did they have to leave their homes in Medina to start their journey to the rest of the world to call the people to Islam? Why would they leave their homes for 30 years, to come back and not even be able recognize their own sons? Why would they set out to cross the oceans to inform them of the purpose of life? Why didn’t they just sit at home and make poetry, just like I am writing this article, and read it out loud to those around them? Wouldn’t that have sufficed? Well maybe it was just an injunction on THEM, right? And all of that is not for me.
And aren’t there people in the Masjid who have the same responsibility, so why should I bother then? Interestingly I was born a Muslim and raised up in an educated Muslim family, Alhamdulillah! But did I choose that for myself or was this just ONE of the many amazing blessings of Allah (S.W.T) on me? Or is the person who is born handicapped is so because he was at some fault? Did that illiterate person earn the anger of Allah and hence he’s poor and illiterate? For me this life is a blessing and for those in difficulty it is a test. What if I was in their place? What if I was born handicapped, mentally retarded, and with no parents to look after me? What would I do then? Wouldn’t even I beg for a living, having no other means to survive, and then wouldn’t I be rebuked as well and be told not to do such a horrific thing (just like I tell the beggars not to do so now)?
2012 COULD be the year of change and I desperately wish it is! I wish for it to be the year that I change for the better; the year that I speak the truth and invite others to do what is good and stop them from doing what is bad. I wish this to be the year that I make a deliberate effort to serve my religion, the year in which I am concerned about my brother just like I am concerned about myself, the year about which I can really say that yes this was the year I had been waiting for all my life and the year that builds the foundation for the rest of my life till I pass away.
