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46. ON CLEANLINESS
Why are we so unclean? You can fight , debate , dispute
with me . Undoubtedly Muslims bathe and more than once in summers and clean
themselves before prayers . Islam has
taught that cleanliness is half of faith. There are many Ahadis about it if we care to read them
. None the less the Pakistanis like to keep their environment dirty . But it is a fact . Look at the rubbish bins
scattered around Islamabad , the capital of the Land of the Pure . Less
garbage is in the bin and more scattered around it , including things which are purely private . Such garbage is an eyesore to the
onlookers. But I am writing about the clean heart and soul besides personal hygiene . Is it not true
that we throw our garbage at the neighbour’s door ?
It is said that Emperor
Babur had written in his book “ Tuzke Babari “ that the people of India were
dirty and that they built their houses not facing the rivers but the rivers
were behind their houses . Clean
environment is , undoubtedly , not our cup of tea. Look around , you will find
eyesores after eyesores . Take a look at our parks , our workplaces , our buses
, trains ,our playgrounds ( if you find
any) , cinema halls . Islamabad , a modern city built in the 1960s , have no
lawns inside the newly built sectors because of greed to cover any available
space so that the houses , if rented out , fetch the maximum profits . The
houses so built have been designed in such a manner that the owners did not
sufficiently care for proper ventilation and lighting . From Khyber to Karachi
, nasty messages are written on both sides of the roads . Cures for all
diseases are written on walls as if the entire Pakistan is suffering from
physical , moral and mental ailments of a grave nature . The joke is that many
a gullible person approach them for treatment . Nasty remarks are written on
the back of seats on buses , the walls
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and doors of bathrooms of
hospitals or coeducational institutions .
In this regard I am reminded of an incident.
In the mid seventies , an Englishman ,
David Stanley , who was one of the crew of a “ Book Ship” and which was
berthed on the sea near Karachi Port ,
approached me for the grant of an Import Permit to enable it to enter the port
and berth . . He came daily or three days while the case was being processed .
One day a discussion erupted with him as to who was cleaner . He said that he
was cleaner by virtue of the fact that he was a Christian . I told him that I
was cleaner as a Muslaman . Neither side admit defeat . However , each day when
I travelled around the city of Rawalpindi , I am greeted by the filthy Leh
Nullah on which my short essay had been published by the “ Pakistan Observer “
a couple of years ago . In it , I referred to the cleanliness exercise
conducted by the authorities of the German city of Wuppertal where Bayer
Pharmaceuticals had a plant . Beginning from the late seventies , the western
countries and Japan started combatting pollution . In this respect , the authorities compelled the plant , which had been spewing chemical waste and dumping to the river
dividing the city , to install
suitable mechanism to keep pollution to a minimum . At the same , the
Plant also installed a feat of engineering : a suspended railway system which
covers half of the city . I was fascinated when I stepped on the train . I had
a feeling that I was on a boat .
Throughout my life , from
the stage of my childhood when my blessed mother used to take me in her lap
while she recited the Holy Quran particularly Surah Rahman ( one of my
favourities) . till today , I have been visualizing the pristine picture
of Islam . In this unalloyed Islam , the companions (May Allah be pleased with
them ) of the Holy Prophet ( Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him ) emerge
, from a life of
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paganism to becoming
trustworthy servants of Allah , noble in their bearing , thoughts , words and
action , prepared to give the sublime sacrifice in Allah’s way . Mercy was
their creed .
Till this day , I have
never met a person who resembles the companions (May Allah be pleased with them
) of the Holy Prophet(Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him ) nor do we have
unalloyed Islam . On the contrary and I quote Maulana Azad , the generations
after generations of Pakistanis have become disenchanted from this way of life.
However , it is not the fault of those generations but they have no living
examples to follow neither at home nor elsewhere .
We quote the Holy Quran or
Ahadis profusely . But we don’t look at ourselves or analyse what is wrong with
ourselves . Some gentlemen I have known bring the Holy Quran in most
discussions while the ladies of their families dress in jeans or pant suits . I stare at them in amazement and I say to
myself “ Am I missing something?” . Or they post the pictures of their ladies
on Facebook , not an Islamic magazine by any stretch of imagination .
I wish to interview all
thousands of Americans who have embraced Islam particularly after 9/11 as to
what attracted them to Islam .However , my reading reveals that two factors
were instrumental in it
The reading with
understanding of the Holy Quran, and
The last Sermon of the
Holy Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him ).
In Europe in the past ,
gentlemen fought duels to protect their ‘ words of honour ‘ . In Islamic
history , people who gave their word
even to the pagan of Mecca , fulfilled
their promises at the cost of their lives . Many were spared when their
captors impressed by their honesty and truthfulness and embraced
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Islam . Indeed , the early
Muslims endeared themselves to their enemies and the latter became Muslims .
This was the major reason why the disbelievers became everywhere the Muslims
went whether it was Persia , Iraq , India , Malaysia or Europe .
Mahfooz ur Rahman
Islamabad
February 01 , 2014
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