Homeschooling: Why and How!

Pakistani ExPats are ashamed but not for reasons they should be!

“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”, so said the same Joseph Goebbels who’s linked to the famous quote “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it”.

Despite West’s claim of despising the Nazis, they’ve fondly adopted the standards set by Hitler’s propaganda machine, and they’ve improved it to near perfection. Over the course of the last decade, the western media have trumpeted with untiring consistency a claim that has now taken its root in the minds of not only the general public in the west, but also the victims of that claim!

The claim? “Muslims are terrorists”… Ok not all Muslims are terrorists, but those that we call are definitely them, so say the west. This lie has been repeated with such focused concentration and in so many different formats and versions – through movies, news, novels, social media- that it is now accepted as fact. So much so that whenever a new terrorism incident takes place, Muslims, especially Pakistanis, are the first to condemn it and after finding out the accused was indeed a Muslim brother or sister, start alienating him from the global Muslim brotherhood. In essence, before the trial is even begun, the accused is convicted by his own people and actual case proceedings remain only a formality!

This behavior is most evident in the recent case of Faisal Shahzad, the Time Square bombing “suspect”. Ever since it was reported that he could be the major hand in plotting probably the biggest car bomb in recent history, internet was exploded with apologies from Pakistanis across the globe. Pakistan’s most watched channel was angry that this person has brought shame to the entire Pakistani nation and his own family. Most of the blogs and their commenters rued the fact that he threw away his carefully built “American Dream” just like that. Pakistani ex-patriots feared even more strict vigilance over them, while believing this “fanatic should be jailed for life”. All in all, their verdict is, guilty as charged!

However, one felt there’s something missing from this whole story, the other side of course! Even though Faisal Shahzad can now boast a wikipedia page , that’s probably not for reasons he’d have liked himself. That page is full of stories mentioning different facets of the case- some claiming he dumped his documents in the home he had abandoned quite a while ago- but they didn’t, even for a single line, give a piece of what Faisal Shahzad says. It’s totally one sided. And to put it mildly, that stinks! But somehow this fact is missed by all involved. There has been absolutely no access to him by our government or by other Pakistani coummunity members, at least not publicly available.

The report that his documents were found from his “abandoned” house is so ridiculous that it shouldn’t have made it to the press in the first place. What would a person, allegedly looking to bomb his way into FBI’s most wanted list, be doing in his old house is beyond logic and beats a level headed reader. Other claims are that he had gone to his birthplace Peshawar on his recent visit ; started wearing all blacks and remaining serious while stealthily walking across his backyard, that’s neighbor’s reports, he was seen posing on Times Square was also a claim. That his documents had cards from someone wishing him well were also pertinent for some reports. Huffington post even attempted to sneak into his Facebook profile only to put the blame on another Faisal Shahzad. Such is the state of electronic media and citizen blogs. Whatever happened in Pakistan is another matter.

When I asked a few Ex-Patriots, their opinion was that it’s an open and shut case – he plotted a crime, failed, got arrested, gave up his rights and admitted! I was amazed, appalled really to see how much faith they have in “their” media and government is saying, otherwise any Pakistani knows how people can be made to confess under duress. Besides, in most laws, confessions under custody weigh nothing unless they’re given in front of legal authority. If an accused declines to testify on his confession it may be called a mistrial.

I invite you to put yourself in Faisal’s shoes. You’re an average Pakistani living in the US trying to consolidate your career there. You’re very apprehensive of any indication of extremism from any of your acquaintances. You try to live by the sidelines. You’re boarding a flight to Pakistan; suddenly you get arrested, finding you’re on TV across the world. Authorities give you two choices, confess the crimes handed to you and face some years in Guantanamo Bay Prison or get ready for trial find yourself guilty as charged and still go to Gitmo facing life sentence. You’ve heard of water boarding, you’ve heard of electric shocks, you’ve heard of stories of blood hounds in Abu ghuraib jail. You’re an innocuous, in fact scared, person. You’re left with no choice but to admit the crimes which you didn’t hear before that day. Under duress, any scared person would do what he did.

For most people my theory would seem laughable but Dr Shirin Mazari also smells a rat in this whole story. I don’t trust American justice system and for good reason. It’s discriminatory! It has been discriminating on grounds of race, religion and color. This is not a matter of today, it’s been happening since the first day an Italian set foot on this soil. America bombs more Pakistani civilians daily in drone attacks then it has lost soldiers in Afghanistan. Pakistani blood, Muslim blood is so cheap that even thousand Muslims don’t equate an American life. Is that justice? My apologies to US lovers but any country who had laws legalizing lynching only 50 years ago and has killed more people than Hitler and Halaku combined has to do a lot more than just lip service to gain Muslim’s confidence.

Lastly, Pakistanis living in America shouldn’t be ashamed of Faisal. They should be ashamed of themselves. Their brothers and sisters, fellow compatriots are facing one-sided trials in front of their own eyes. Faisal Shahzad and Dr Afia are only two of hundreds detained in Gitmo without proper trials. Still, Pakistanis in general are happy to live their lives with the convenience of their families, fearing any voice against these cases might land them into trouble. What’s shameful is this behavior, not getting framed by corrupt authorities. It’s their pathetic submission to this unjust system that has led the Americans to believe that all Pakistanis would give up their rights if paid enough. They’re feeling shame alright, but one feels it’s for all the wrong reasons!

For those who ponder

The modern age is the age of professionalism. This is the age when being workaholic is not a disorder but a demand. People now cannot tend to their most basic needs because they haven’t the time to do so. Being ahead from their peers in the rat race remains the ultimate desire of every individual. So much so that to be ahead in life they forsake their basic rights, right to be happy, right to be content, right to be with the family, right to be religious etc. Today’s civilization seems like a giant web which has tied us in invisible strings where we’re supposed to do only three things: Go to work, go home, and prepare to go to work. Even our recreations are a way of supplementing this schedule.

But there are times, when destiny laughs in our face and makes us feel so helpless that we’re left wondering if we had any power all along. It’s at such times that our monotony comes to an abrupt halt. One such instance is when we’re witnessing the funeral of a loved one. At such a time, none of our “most important and most urgent” errands are so much as important as the grief of losing our loved ones. Work can wait then, because we’ve humbly submitted to our destiny.

The same hand of destiny is currently holding an entire continent- who is the flag bearer of atheism in the world- in a state of paralysis. Europe’s air travel has come down to an absolute halt due to hot toxic ash oozing from a glacier.

(Boston Big Picture)

I couldn’t help but laugh at the remark from an acquaintance that “isn’t it ironic hot lava is coming from Iceland!” The volcano, Eyjafjallajökull (Pronounced something like Aiya-fjadla-yeugdul), is a veteran of centuries and since the time of its reawakening last week, has spewed enough fumes and toxic ash into the atmosphere to have spread over almost all Europe.
(BBC News)
That’s why all flights coming in and out of Europe have been seized, leaving hundreds of thousands of commuters stranded at airports, airlines incurring daily losses of over 200 Million USD for accommodating customers, even Germany’s Chancellor has had to make her trip back home from Italy via car. Those who could afford are opting for the Intra-Continent train system, and some have opted for the fairy, converting one industry’s misery into another’s pleasure. The majority of people are those who are left stranded. People who were supposed to be on urgent assignments abroad have had to realign their schedule, they couldn’t have done otherwise. No matter how badly the airlines and the passengers want these flights to take off, conditions are absolutely not favorable for flight and there is high risk of plain crashes with ash blocking the engines. Worse, the glacier is still exhuming its contents and there’s a fair chance it could continue to do so for a month or even more. Worst, it could trigger other volcanoes which are somehow quite abundant in Iceland.

Our businesses run on the premise of predictability. We hope that the world wouldn’t come to end tomorrow. That’s why we leave our loved ones behind everyday to work because we believe that we’ll come back in the evening to see them again. This predictability comes from the laws that ALLAH (swt) has embedded in the universe: law of gravitation, law of entropy, law of aerodynamics, law of surface tension, law of aging etc. ALLAH (swt) declares this tranquility in the Quran as one of His Ayaat.
In Surah Faatir it is mentioned:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُمْسِكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ أَن تَزُولَا ۚ وَلَئِن زَالَتَا إِنْ أَمْسَكَهُمَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّن بَعْدِهِ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًا

خدا ہی آسمانوں اور زمین کو تھامے رکھتا ہے کہ ٹل نہ جائیں۔ اگر وہ ٹل جائیں تو خدا کے سوا کوئی ایسا نہیں جو ان کو تھام سکے۔ بےشک وہ بردبار (اور) بخشنے والا ہے

Lo! Allah graspeth the heavens and the earth that they deviate not, and if they were to deviate there is not one that could grasp them after Him. Lo! He is ever Clement, Forgiving. (41)

On another place it is mentioned in Surah Shoora:

إِن يَشَأ يُسكِنِ الرّيحَ فَيَظلَلنَ رَواكِدَ عَلىٰ ظَهرِهِ ۚ إِنَّ فى ذٰلِكَ لَءايٰتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبّارٍ شَكورٍ

اگر خدا چاہے تو ہوا کو ٹھیرا دے اور جہاز اس کی سطح پر کھڑے رہ جائیں۔ تمام صبر اور شکر کرنے والوں کے لئے ان (باتوں) میں قدرت خدا کے نمونے ہیں

If He will He calmeth the wind so that they keep still upon its surface – Lo! herein verily are signs for every steadfast grateful (heart). – (33)

In Surah Room it is mentioned:

وَمِن ءايٰتِهِ أَن يُرسِلَ الرِّياحَ مُبَشِّرٰتٍ وَلِيُذيقَكُم مِن رَحمَتِهِ وَلِتَجرِىَ الفُلكُ بِأَمرِهِ وَلِتَبتَغوا مِن فَضلِهِ وَلَعَلَّكُم تَشكُرونَ

اور اُسی کی نشانیوں میں سے ہے کہ ہواؤں کو بھیجتا ہے کہ خوشخبری دیتی ہیں تاکہ تم کو اپنی رحمت کے مزے چکھائے اور تاکہ اس کے حکم سے کشتیاں چلیں اور تاکہ اس کے فضل سے (روزی) طلب کرو عجب نہیں کہ تم شکر کرو

And of His signs is this: He sendeth herald winds to make you taste His mercy, and that the ships may sail at His command, and that ye may seek his favour, and that haply ye may be thankful. (46)

As it is clear from the above mentioned verses, the laws of nature, no matter how predictable, are subject to ALLAH (swt)’s will. It’s not just that the universe was created by ALLAH (swt) and triggered in a self-perpetuation state. No. ALLAH (swt) is well and truly at the helm of His eternal kingdom. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, cyclones, tremors, and epidemics like dengue fever, cholera and plague are not signs of chaos, but the exceptions that prove the rule. They are but just a way to remind human beings that they’re not left unanswerable and that they’re not indispensable. There were much mightier civilizations than the current one which have been swept clean from the face of this earth in such catastrophes. As if they never were.

For those affected by this current debacle, and for those who’re witnessing it happen, maybe ALLAH (swt) has given a chance to ponder in his Ayaat. We’ve got to take the time out of our busy schedules to look into ourselves and in the universe. Human being has become lonelier and lonelier but the solitude that lets us think about our Creator is still a rare commodity. We should relish this chance. Any calamity that makes us closer to our Lord is not a calamity, it’s a blessing. And smart and practical people grab blessings with both hands!

May ALLAH (swt) makes us one of his dear ones. Ameen

Quranic references from:

Quran Media Player

Quran Explorer

Tanzil.info