Category: Religion

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Shams-ul-Iqbal Shams: Pakistani Artist and Calligrapher

Last week was the second time in a year that I had the pleasure of visiting the old campus of International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI). On both these occasions, I was there for an academic conference, and while there was able to view the most exquisite work of Sham-ul-Islam Shams.

Originally from Saidu Sharif, Swat, Mr. Shams was born in 1958 and works as an assistant in the Swat revenue court. In his spare tome, however, he creates masterpieces of contemporary Islamic calligraphy. Mr. Shams comes from a distinguished Muslim family and his father, Fazl-ur-Rehman Faizan, was an author of over twenty-five books including Pashto translations of Sa’adi’s Gulistan and Bostan. All that I have learned is from “my father and the artist M. M. Sharif” says Mr. Shams, in his modest manner, when asked about the progression of his work.

An avid scholar himself, with an extensive collection of rare books in Pashto and other languages, Mr. Shams displays his art freely and has never sold his work for profit. He also has quite a few students in Kabul and usually bears the expenses of his exhibitions out-of-pocket.

Mr. Shams is an expert on all major Arabic scripts including Kufi, Nasta’aliq, Diwani, Shikasta and others and mostly uses natural media (leather, stone, leaves, bones etc.) to produce his works of calligraphy.

Besides his calligraphic art, Mr. Shams also writes poetry in Pashto and has  appeared in various public and televised poetry readings and poetry shows. He is influenced by the works of Rehman Baba and mostly writes Sufi poetry. His father was his firstt poetry teacher.

Mr. Shams is also teaching his art to his two children and hopes to establish a calligraphy institute in swat. “There is not a lot of work being done in this area and not many teachers are available” says Mr. Shams.

Let us hope that his work will be more widely recognized nationally and internationally and that he will be able to pass on his skills and vision to the next generation of Pakistan in general and swat valley in particular.

 

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Hamza Tzortzis – Pervez Hoodbhoy debate on Reason and Rationality in Islam

English: Pervez Hoodbhoy
Image via Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background:

Tzortzis (Greek, lives in London) converted to Islam and is now hugely popular among young Muslims.

Pervez Hoodbhoy received a doctorate in nuclear physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and currently teaches physics and political science

at LUMS (Lahore). He previously taught at Quaid-i-Azam University for 36 years and was head of the physics department.
Unfortunately, the debate ended badly. The whole thing is pretty entertaining…this was the only challenge Tzortzis received at a Pakistani university.

The Debate

The Facts after their Debate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu0njkYqgFQ&feature=related

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Commentaries Politics Religion

Pakistani Blasphemy Laws: Resources

The coat of arms of Pakistan displays the nati...
Image via Wikipedia

(From Citizens for Democracy)

Religion or Politics?: Tracing the history and origin of 295-B and C, the most misused sections in the chapter on Offences Related to Religion – by Farieha Aziz, Newsline, Feb 27, 2011

No punishment for blasphemy in Quran – detailed study by the eminent scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, downloadable pdf file

Blind Faith: A short documentary film about the blasphemy law in Pakistan by Sara N. Haq

How Should We Deal With Blasphemy? By Dr Khalid Zaheer (from his blog)

Release Aasiya Bibi, Repeal Blasphemy Laws, Abolish Shariat Court | Baaghi

The non-reform of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws tells a wider story about Zardari’s failure to foster true democracy – By Ali Dayan Hasan in OpenDemocracy, Dec 30, 2010

Overcoming ‘blasphemy law’ hype – Beena Sarwar « Journeys to democracy, Dec 30, 2010

The blasphemy law by I.A. Rehman, Dawn Nov 25, 2010

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Commentaries Religion

Pakistani Ulama and Their Rhetoric (9): Maulana Muhammad Nawaz

(From Mashal Books)

Speaker: Maulana Muhammad Nawaz
Location: Jamia Masjid Ahle Hadith Chanchalwal, Faisalabad
Sect: Ahle Hadith
Language: Punjabi
Time: June 2010

Audio:

[audio:http://www.thepakistanforum.net-content/uploads/2011/02/Maulana-Muhammad-Nawaz11.mp3|titles=Maulana Muhammad Nawaz1]

Transcript:

Don’t go near a place declared out of bounds by the Prophet PBUH. And when he orders you to do something act on it with all your heart. This is kalima, this faith and this is obedience. This is also the faith of Islam.

Abu Daud in his collection of Hadith says that the Prophet PBUH taught double azan and double takbir (double call to prayer and start of prayer) Azan has 19 phrases and takbir has 17. Now I ask you who acts on double azan? Only Ahle Hadith. Other sects should tell me how many mosques they have in Pakistan? Has anyone observed double azan in your mosques? If someone does it by mistake he is actually criticised. If you argue with me then prove that the hadith about double azan is wrong. If you can’t prove the hadith wrong then I will tell the people of Chanchalwal that the clerics are false and are in disobedience of the Prophet PBUH.

I will say obey the prophets and obey the apostles. I will add also obey say the Companions and Family of the Prophet PBUH. Hazrat Ali says the Prophet PBUH told him that if a grave appears to be high then take the earth from it and make it even with ground. In the Hadith collection of Abu Muslim it says that the Prophet PBUH disallowed the making of a concrete grave. And he disallowed the affixing of tablets on them announcing the name of the dead. And don’t sit on the graves like hermits. And don’t build structures on top of the graves to make them like tombs with domes.

We are Muslims and obey the Prophet PBUH but you turn your face away. The Ahle Hadith acted on the word of the Prophet PBUH and stopped making concrete graves. And stopped placing tablets on them and building tombs. Allama Ehsan Elahi Zaheer Shaheed (assassinated) had challenged the country from Lahore saying bring one hadith which allows concrete grave and we will make all your graves concrete by collecting funds. Today I too challenge you to show one hadith like that, strong or weak.

If you believe in the Prophet PBUH why do you make concrete graves? If you say you obey the Prophet PBUH then why do you disobey him? Shah Ismail is often quoted by the other sects as saying that apart from Allah don’t obey anyone. But this translation of what he said was wrong. He had said accept as god no one except Allah. This means Shah Ismail believed in obeying the Prophet PBUH.

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Commentaries Religion

Pakistani Ulama and Their Rhetoric (8): Maulana Muhammad Mukhtar

(From Mashal Books)

Speaker: Maulana Muhammad Mukhtar
Location: Jamia Masjid Anwar Madina, Narang Mandi, Sheikhupura
Sect: Barelvi
Language: Urdu
Time: June 2010

Audio:

Partial Clip: [audio:http://www.thepakistanforum.net-content/uploads/2011/02/Maulana-Muhammad-Mukhtar1.mp3|titles=Maulana Muhammad Mukhtar]

Full Audio Clip: (Follow this link)

Transcript:

Says Abu Bakr Farsi Shafei: the punishment for the insulter of the Prophet PBUH is death. There is no other punishment for such a man than death. The Prophet PBUH himself made the insulter of the Prophet stand between the fountain of Zamzam and Muqam-e-Ibrahim and had him killed. Hazrat Anas Bin Malik narrates than a man used to curse the Prophet PBUH. After Makka was won and the man realised that he would now be called to account for his insults and that Muslims will kill him he ran and took refuge in Kaaba and clung to the cloth that covered the Kaaba. The Prophet PBUH was informed that his insulter was standing clinging to the Kaaba. The Prophet said go and bring him to me and then sever his head in front of me. The Prophet, after the victory of Makka, forgave all but did not forgive the man who had apostatised himself by turning away from Islam and the man who had insulted him including the one who used to pay the prostitutes to sing songs against the Prophet PBUH. Now you know what the punishment for the insulter is. The punishment for blasphemy is death.

After the conquest of Spain by Muslims, a Christian priest began an organised campaign of abusing the Prophet PBUH. Listen to this carefully because this was the beginning of the plot. The fact was that the Christians of Spain had begun to embrace Islam in large numbers and the Church became worried. On this the priest prepared a team of blasphemers. His philosophy was that Christians will achieve salvation through pain of the body and since blaspheming will lead to Muslims stoning them, the consequent pain will give salvation. Thus will the soul of the blasphemer be purified, according to the Church.

Thus in Spain Christians began to publicly abuse the Prophet PBUH. One Christian woman Flora abused him. Her father was Muslim while her mother was Christian. After the death of her father she and her mother began to live near a Christian priest. Flora went to a Qazi and said she wanted to embrace Islam. The Qazi was pleased and asked her to recite the kalima but she began the kalima by abusing the Prophet PBUH. The Qazi instead of flying into a rage took pity on her and said your age is too young, but when she would not stop abusing, the Qazi hanged her. After that, another Christian named Isaac did the same sort of thing in front of the Qazi. Many others too did this, and the Court hanged them all.

Britannica says the campaign went on for two years and only in two months 57 people were hanged. From this you can realise how Christians hated the Prophet PBUH and campaigned against him. Today also when a case of blasphemy comes before the court in Pakistan there is pain felt in America because America sympathises with the blasphemers. This has always happened. This rubbish was first found in Europe. During the era of Salahuddin Ayubi someone abused the Prophet PBUH. The man lived in 1181 and was known for looting caravans of Muslims and for trying to conquer Makka and Madina. But when this Christian invader came to Makka from the sea the Muslims arose and put his army to the sword. In 1186 he again looted a caravan. And said to the Muslims: if your Muhammad PBUH is so powerful get him to save you. When Salahuddin Ayubi heard this he swore that he would punish the Christian marauder-crusader.

The Crusade was defeated and one of the prisoners of war brought before Saladin was this blaspheming crusader. When he became sure that Saladin will kill him he began to tremble. But Salahuddin killed him with his own hands. So we know that even Salahuddin was sure that the punishment for blasphemy is death. All sects of Islam are agreed on this.

But after the British conquered India they left no law here that would punish the blasphemer. Here too blaspheming books began to be published. One Hindu called Krishan wrote Rangeela Rasul meaning that the Prophet PBUH was given to sensual pleasures, marrying young girls. Publisher Rajpal printed the book after which there was an uproar against it. The book was banned and the publisher was given six months of jail sentence. Hindus went to High Court and chief judge Shadi Lal acquitted the blaspheming publisher. But the Muslims could not bear to see Rajpal walking around In Lahore free after insulting the Prophet PBUH.

An inhabitant of Yakki Gate Lahore named Khuda Baksh Kashmiri went out looking for Rajpal in order to stab him to death. He assaulted him in Anarkali but Rajpal escaped. Khuda Baksh was brought before the Court but he looked to Rajpal and said you have escaped me this time but I swear on God next when I get a chance I will put you to death.

Commentary:

To follow

Categories
Commentaries Religion

Pakistani Ulama and Their Rhetoric (7): Maulana Muhammad Yasin

(From Mashal Books)

Speaker: Maulana Muhammad Yasin
Location: Jamia Masjid Ahle Hadith, Chakwal
Sect: Ahle Hadith
Language: Punjabi
Time: June 2010

Audio

Partial Clip:[audio:http://www.thepakistanforum.net-content/uploads/2011/02/Maulana-M.-Yasin1.mp3|titles=Maulana M. Yasin]

Full Audio Clip: Click Here.

Transcript:

At the time of the Battle Uhud, Khalid bin Walid was not yet a Muslim. He was a clever military commander. Khalid said to his army, when the battle is over people usually start looting, but you should tell me if the men the Prophet PBUH had stationed on the top of the hill are still there. If the men are gone in order to loot then this is the time to strike and take revenge.

When Khalid learned that the men the Prophet PBUH had stationed on the hill had run away to loot, he attacked the Muslim army and martyred 70 warriors. The dead body of Hazrat Hamza was cut to pieces. The face of the Prophet PBUH was wounded and he lost two teeth. The Muslims became worried. One problem was that the Kafirs began to say that they were finally even with the Muslims because in the earlier Battle of Badr the Muslims had killed 70 of theirs. The Prophet PBUH said it not even at all: the 70 you lost went straight to Hell while the Muslim dead have gone straight to Heaven. But the Kafirs had had their revenge. Why did the Muslims lose at Uhud?

Allah punished the Muslims for not obeying the Prophet PBUH (by looting). If you don’t obey the Prophet PBUH then there is no forgiving but only loss. Some people say there are more than one version or that there is another version parallel to the Prophet PBUH. There is an effort to divide the Muslim community. But let us be sure that four groups will go to Paradise. The first group are the prophets of Allah, the second is that of the Companions (Allah is satisfied with them).

You can imagine how high the Companions stand in the eyes of Allah when he says that he is satisfied with them while they were still on this earth. The third group is that of the angels because the angels are 24 hours in attendance of Allah in complete obedience, so there is no question of their going to Hell. And the babies who die in infancy go to Heaven too. Even the baby born in the home of a Kafir will go to Paradise.

Uhud happened because the Prophet PBUH was not obeyed. He had stated that during namaz the believers should remain behind the Imam and should not bow or bend before the imam had done so. Anyone doing this will have the head of a donkey. When a Syrian read this hadith he was afflicted with doubt whether the hadith was genuine. He thought he should put the hadith to test but how can a saying of any prophet be put to test? This Syrian scholar rejected the hadith and went into the bowing posture before the Imam could do so. The result was that Allah turned his head into the head of a donkey.

Growing beard is also obedience of the Prophet PBUH and shaving means disobeying the Prophet PBUH. Don’t think that your shaving daily has not brought you misfortune and that it will not happen in the future. If Allah wills the razor with which you are shaving will go into your throat and will remain there. You will not be able to eat and drink. This will be the anger of Allah on you. Any deviation from the Sunnat (Way) of the Prophet PBUH will make you deserving of divine wrath.

Once the Prophet PBUH was told that Madina had received a hundred men who wanted to embrace Islam by swearing on his hand (bayat). These men had travelled for two months to reach him. On this the face of the Prophet PBUH lit up and he at once got up from the house of Hazrat Ayesha and came to the mosque of Madina and accepted the faith of the new Muslims.

Once the Prophet PBUH was asked what was the most painful difficulty that you faced in your life? And what was the happiest day of your life? He replied that the toughest day was when I went to Taif; the hardest day was also the day I went to Taif. He said the people of Taif did so much violence to me that my shoes became full of blood. He added that after the torture I was sitting in garden of Taif caring for my wounds while Zaid bin Harith was putting ash on them. Meanwhile the owner of the garden came up and said to me that he had not seen a more beautiful face before. That was my happiest day.

Commentary:

To follow

Categories
Commentaries Religion

Pakistani Ulama and Their Rhetoric (6): Maulana Nasrullah Khan

(From Mashal Books)

Speaker: Maulana Nasrullah Khan
Location: Jamia Masjid Umar Farooq, Chichawatni, Sahiwal
Sect: Deobandi
Language: Punjabi
Time: June 2010

Audio:

[audio:http://www.thepakistanforum.net-content/uploads/2011/01/Maulana-Nasrullah-Khan1.mp3|titles=Maulana Nasrullah Khan]

Transcript:

Whoever does not acknowledge/believe in the Quran will be humiliated in this world and the Hereafter. Allah says namaz saves you from shamelessness and bad deeds. The point to ponder is why doesn’t namaz save us from lies, fraud and corruption?

Listen to this: Hazrat Umar is in the mosque and is leading the believers. A young girl is also saying her namaz behind him. She has travelled two KM to the mosque to stand behind him for the Friday prayer. She has her small brother with her. But when a young boy saw the girl his sexual desire was aroused. The boy said to her: fulfil my desire, but the girl put her own condition before him. Normally women love gold more than they love their husbands but this girl was different. She said pray behind Hazrat Umar for eight days and after that come to me and tell me your desire.

Listen to this: Hazrat Umar is on the rostrum of namaz and he is someone who speaks the language of Allah and the Quran too speaks his language. The boy said namaz behind him for a week and on the eighth day he is found praying to Allah: O Allah I am a sinner please forgive me! The youth is still crying during the Friday namaz when the girl too reaches the mosque and tells her brother to go and locate the boy. Her brother found the boy in a corner of the mosque crying. He did not listen to the voice of the girl’s brother but went on crying. The brother asked: My sister wants to know what is your desire of her? On this the boy grew angry and said go away my desire is now for Allah.

When the heart is with Allah then there is no attraction in worldly things. Once Hazrat Saad was saying his namaz when a snake fell on the chest of his infant son. He thought if the snake stays there he will kill my son but Allah looked after his favoured ones. Allah’s bounty increased and He protected the infant. When the Prophet PBUH heard this he told Saad that when you say your namaz the mercy of Allah is at its highest point. Had you gone on all night Allah would have looked after your son and the snake would have actually stood guard on him.

In our case, o People, if a fly sits on our face our namaz is ruined! Allah says: say the kind of namaz that is without shamelessness and evil. Had our women been pious they have inculcated namaz in their children.

Commentary:

To follow

Categories
Commentaries Religion

Pakistani Ulama and Their Rhetoric (5): Maulana Abdur Rauf

(From Mashal Books)

Speaker: Maulana Abdur Rauf
Location: Jamia Masjid Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat, Sukheki Mandi, Hafizabad
Sect: Deobandi
Language: Urdu/Punjabi
Time: June 2010

[audio:http://www.thepakistanforum.net-content/uploads/2011/01/Maulana-Abdul-Rauf1.mp3|titles=Maulana Abdul Rauf]

Transcript:

The man who believes in Allah is protected by Him. Anyone who humbles himself in the way of Allah will be rewarded with high stature in the same measure. Let me prove this.

Once the Prophet PBUH sent a message to the King of Rum (Byzantium) but when the messenger-ambassador entered the presence of the King in torn clothes the King was taken aback and asked him to bow before him. The messenger said that he would not bend before anyone except Allah. He told the King that he had come to him with the message that he embrace Islam. On this the King said that he could have killed him for being so disrespectful had he not been an ambassador.

The King instead of loading him with gifts put sacks full of earth on the ambassador and sent him away. On reaching Madina the Prophet PBUH saw him and was pleased to see the earth he had brought. He said: the King has given us the soil of his country meaning that we will soon conquer his country.

This proves that one day the Oneness of Allah will prevail in Pakistan and the Way of the Prophet PBUH will be upheld. It is like henna, when applied to the body it leaves indelible colour. The invitation to faith that I am extending to you has little to do with my self. I could be a bad man but this message is pure. Our prayer should be that we should remain united and that no more factions should appear in our ranks.

Commentary:

To follow

Compare:

Maulana Mumtaz Kalyar

Maulana Asmatullah

Maulana Raza Saqib

Maulana Syed Shafaullah

Categories
Commentaries Religion

Pakistani Ulama and Their Rhetoric (4): Maulana Mumtaz Kalyar

(From Mashal books)

Speaker: Maulana Mumtaz Kalyar
Location: Jamia Masjid Hanafiya, Jaranwala, Faisalabad.
Sect: Deobandi
Language: Urdu
Time: June 2010

Audio:

[audio:http://www.thepakistanforum.net-content/uploads/2011/01/Maulana-Mumtaz-Kalyaar1.mp3|titles=Maulana Mumtaz Kalyaar]

Trascript:

You who say things against Deobandi sect cannot show me scholars on your side equal to one-fourth of the Deobandi ulema. You call the soldiers of religion kafir and write pamphlets against them and accuse of them of being insulters of the Prophet PBUH. O Muslims of Jaranwala, come to your senses! I will not quote from books but these Barelvis have scholars who have written books that show them as kafirs.

Founder of Barelvism Ahmad Raza Khan stated that Islam will not be found in the Quran and Hadith but in the books that he had written. You tell me if anyone says that his religion is not found in the Quran and Hadith can he be called Muslim? The Quran has called such Muslims as munafiq (pretender) and kafir. You call me Kafir and I don’t care what you say but you have also called the Companions as kafir which is unforgivable.

Hazrat Abu Bakr believed that Allah was present but not the Prophet PBUH. Umar, Usman, Ali, Talha and Zubair believed that Allah was present in life but not Muhammad PBUH. This is the belief of Husain Ahmad Madni. The saint Abdul Qadir Jilani whom the Barelvis take as their saint and celebrate the date of his anniversary also believed the same. But the Prophet PBUH did not believe in returning abuse for abuse. If Abu Jahl abused him, he returned not abuse but hope that the enemy would convert. If Abu Lahb was interested in throwing stones at the Prophet PBUH he was returned the gesture.

We believe that from Adam to Christ and from Christ to the end of the world no one is bigger in greatness than our Prophet PBUH. If Shah Waliullah was not a Deobandi then what was he?

Shah Abdul Qadir and Shah Rafiuddin who wrote the hadith and exegesis of the Quran were all in fact Deobandi. The prisoner of Malta Shaikhul Hind Mahmudul Hasan was a Deobandi too. Similarly, Imam Bukhari the collector of hadith and Maulana Ghulamullah Khan and Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi were all Deobandis.

Commentary:

To Follow.

Compare:

Maulana Asmatullah

Maulana Raza Saqib

Maulana Syed Shafaullah

Categories
Commentaries Religion

Pakistani Ulama and Their Rhetoric (3): Maulana Syed Shafaullah

(From Mashal Books)

Speaker: Maulana Syed Shafaullah
Location: Jamia Masjid Muhammadiya, Phalia, Mandi Bahauddin
Sect: Deobandi
Language: Urdu
Time: June 2010

Audio:

Partial Clip: [audio:http://www.thepakistanforum.net-content/uploads/2011/01/Maulana-Shafaullah1.mp3|titles=Maulana Shafaullah]

(Go Here for Full Audio Clip)

Transcript:

Allah told His Prophet PBUH in the 14th section of the Quran: O Prophet PBUH to you the message of Allah is that you will follow the religion of Abraham. Therefore we Muslims are bound to walk the path of Abraham. When Allah explained the high status of Abraham He explained the tests Abraham was put through. When Abraham succeeded in all of them Allah told him that he was the leader of the coming nations of Muslims. And those who come after you will have to follow the way you will show. So Prophet Muhammad PBUH too was told by Allah to tread the path of Abraham.

We call ourselves Hanafi. Some people allege falsely that the Hanafis instead of Quran and Hadith follow only Imam Abu Hanifa. There is no Hanafi in the world who will ever say that he does not follow Quran and Hadith. The truth is that we accept Imam Abu Hanifa as our Imam and follow his teachings in imitation (taqleed) because compared to other imams he has understood better the tradition of Abraham.

I will refer to just one case. Imam Hanifa used to say if you go to the mausoleum of the Prophet PBUH then you must say darood (blessing on Prophet) and namaz and ask for blessings but while doing so never face the mazar which you should keep either to your left or right. This you must do to indicate that you are not asking directly from the Prophet PBUH instead of Allah. Pray facing the Kaaba instead. This is the message of Imam Hanifa. The exegesis titled Ruh Al Maani says that other imams say darood and face the mazar of the Prophet PBUH but not Imam Hanifa. The Hanafis believe so intensely in the Oneness of Allah that no one will ever think that he is asking for something from the Prophet PBUH.

The Hanafis form the nation of Hanafis which could be called also Haneefis. And this nation or millat is the millat of Ibrahimis. And the belief of the Hanafi is that once someone is dead and buried he can’t hear and can’t give you anything you ask. When someone goes to the tomb of a saint he asks in very low voice; and that is traced back to a hadith which tells us that Prophet PBUH called on Hazrat Saad and said Salam Aleikam to which Saad replied with Wa Aleikam Salam meaning that he will open the door to let the Prophet PBUH in. But the Prophet PBUH would not enter because did not open the door – till this was done three times.

After three times the Prophet PBUH turned around and began to walk away. On this Saad opened the door and said O Prophet PBUH why are you walking away. He replied because you did not reply and did not open the door.

Hazrat Saad the great Companion did this to prove that even a living Prophet cannot hear a low voice across a wall, how can he listen to the supplication of a visitor to his tomb?

Commentary:

To Follow

Compare:
Maulana Asmatullah
Maulana Raza Saqib