Pakistan ka matlab kia? La Illaha Illallah?

This was one of the slogans used by our great grandfathers, and perhaps their fathers as well, at the heart of the partition and making of Pakistan but somehow down the line these words got lost in time itself. Or perhaps we lost sight of their essence and were left wandering around in this now sad and corrupt land.

To say Pakistan is the land of the pure, is like turning a blind eye to everything that Pakistan stands for in this time. This does not imply that Pakistan is completely deprived of people who do good but simply that as a nation we are sadly a lost cause. With like a thousand different sects each fighting for their own version of Islam, we have forgot that there is only one version of Islam and that is the version our Prophet (S.A.W.) preached us.

To start off by naming who is on the right way or who is astray is not my job nor is it anybody else’s. Our job is only to correct ourselves and the people under our influence, the blame game has been going on for too long and it is about time it stopped. The question now is where did we go wrong? I have heard stories about my own great grandfather both maternal and paternal that depict personalities I have rarely had the fortune to witness. They were people of taqwa and their faces shined with “noor”, and these are just a few of their qualities that I have found out through what I have been told about them.

But what happened from their onward? Who does the blame go to for us being so divided, so corrupt, so distressed, so selfish..? Is it the fault of our parents, our schooling or what? I believe that it was a combination of factors which can be used to explain the condition of our society now and not just one factor alone. However, the fact that most of us have went so far away from our religion is the biggest factor for our distress. A man wouldn’t steal if he knew that his rizk has already been written for him and by no unfair means that he uses will his rizk increase except by Allah’s own wish, poverty would be an unknown and unheard of concept if everyone paid their due zakat and if people were always conscious of Allah and had faith then our society would be rid off of corruption.

So what do we do now? Or what is it that we CAN do now?

We need to reignite our souls and reignite the slogan! Understand and feel the essence of these words: laillahailAllah. There is no such thing as “Pakistan sab se pehle”, there is only “Islam sab se pehle”. Had Islam not been the common factor between punjabis, sindhis, muhajirs, pathans, balochis and siraikis then there wouldn’t have had been any struggle, any will or for that matter any Pakistan. If we have had the fortune of being born into Muslim families and a so called Muslim country then we need to make the most of our situation. Practice Islam and spread its teachings, live by it as it is the best way to live. It is a guideline to make us victorious in this life and in the life hereafter.

So it is now the duty of each and every one of us to make this country the country it was envisioned to be. And make the slogan and the dream a reality- Pakistan ka matlab kia? La Illaha Illallah.