Medieval Women

Note: This article strictly refers to Asian Pakistani women, it may match some other women out there but its mainly intended for Pakistani women.

I dont know how many people or rather women out there will agree with this. I am basically writing this with respect to a lot of women around me and what I have seen them become. Lets look at women from olden times, mainly our mums, our khalas, our aunts etc etc. When I look at their life, it feels as if its always has been about responsibilites and duties and doing the same thing everyday. I dont understand how these women lived this way, I am not criticizing their attitudes towards life, indeed they have their own contribution in our lives, but sometimes I think that their life has absolutely no meaning. And its the same cycle being repeated all over again in my generation too.

The question taht I am asking from all those women out there is that why is it that our lives only begin with dreaming abt a prince charming, ending up with him in our 20s, taking care of children and then either gossiping, watching tv, shopping, meeting people, etc in between? Why is it that we are void of a purpose in life? Why is it that we do not think beyond in spite of having the ability? Why is it that we dont do anything for the betterment of the soceity or the world?

Now, I am not saying that the activities which I mentioned above are not of value, they are! They are of immense value, but is that the only thing in our lives? Is that the only important thing left in our vicinity? A purpose is what gives meaning to our lives, even if it does involve finding love or taking care of children or whatever. If our lives lack purpose then someday we will get bored of doing the same things all over again! For eg, if my purpose in life is to be happy, keep my family happy, ensure a good future for my children, then I will do everything possible to make this work out, this purpose will give me the energy to live!

A purposeful life is the key thing our women are missing in this era. Also its quite disturbing to see that a lot of women dont even consider a decent bachelors degree important if they get a good husband! The talents, abilities and strengths of our women remain unused and that is the reason why some people in some time of their lives are too tired to carry on because they never set their purpose straight in life.

In particular, I believe that the betterment of soceity rests on the sholders of women more than men. They should reach out and find their place what lacks in soceity, help other women instead of talking about them behind their backs. Marriage, children, family is important but so is a women’s own perspective to life, if you let that prespective die, then what is left is mere dust from sad winds.

Lending a helping hand

This story of my life is from last year, a time came when I felt that all hope was lost, I was soo immersed in worry that I had forgotten about almost everything. Every night, I slept a restless sleep. The workload was too much, yet one day when after almost finishing all my work, I wanted to take a short nap and then get back again to work. When I laid my head on my pillow, and tried to sink into the soft and cozy bed into a silent world of my dreams, a very unusual thought crossed my mind. Heres what was going on in my mind:

I am so overworked and this sleep is my only source of comfort, what if I had to sleep on a hard surface such as the floor, or what if I had to sleep on rocks or wood or the like. Damn, today my head is pounding because of my work but there are sooo many more out there who work way more harder than me and then sleep on the floor. How could I be so selfish so as to immerse myself into soo much work that I forget about the people who need my help which is way more important than my own work?  The thought made me restless and for a long time I couldn’t sleep thinking about the hunger, pain, disease and all other such calamities faced by the people in the world.

But I guess this restlessness has ignited within me a fire to help those in need and to be more considerate about the problems faced by people in life. Every time, you go sleep on that soft pillow of yours, don’t forget to think about those spending their nights on the city streets, shelter less and hungry and then get up and actually do something about it!

The unspoken word…

Nothing seemed to work anymore. Everything was turning out in turmoil. The only thing which was truly making me happy was something which my mind couldnt get enough of. Today was same as yesterday and I was sure that tomorrow would be same as today. Nothing seemed different anymore even going to the best of places, eating the best of the food, making the most of the day everyday, everything felt as if it had came crashing down in the middle of nowhere. I dint know what my heart’s desire was nor did I knew how to make my inner self feel contended with what I had with one thing which was so badly missing from the jigsaw of my life.

I wanted to cry out loud but dint found the courage to spill tears. I was doing everything to make myself happy, did everything which I once wanted to do so badly in life yet still everything felt incomplete. It felt as if no one around me wanted me anymore. As I write this, I am so immersed in my thoughts like its some deep black hole swallowing me slowly and slowly deeper into the abyss….

A part of my body revolted so badly about achieving all those things which I really want in life, but theres a part of me saying that I cant do it. With so many failures, trying to live upto people’s expectations each day, answering desperately to keep up my reputation, the part of me which says I cant has so many evidences to show me. These revolts around me have made me so numb, I cant even express myself properly even to myself. Everything in my life looked like what my room looks like : clutter. I dint want anyone to listen or to lessen my pain, I wanted order in my life, something which I havent achieved uptill now, and the worst part is that even the best of vacations dont make me happy anymore untill I get my desire.

I know that someday, I will achieve what I want truly from life because I have been brave in life, I have met struggles people cant even imagine to meet. I want more from life and from this day forward, I will get my share of happiness from life, I will get my obsession even if I have to snatch it from it. I will prove all those people wrong who think or say that I dont deserve what I truly want from life. And someday, when I look back, I’ll know that I deserved it, I deserved it more than anyone else in the world.

 

- Page from Sapphy’s diary, Dated : sometime years back….

Kun fayakun

“His Command, when He intends anything, is only that He says to it, “Be’ then (and there) it is – (Kun Fayakun)” – Al-Quran.

Allah mentions the above verse in the Quran, few days ago, I heard an excellent explanation of these words which I am about to write. Humans are amazing creatures, our minds are absolutely perfect and why wouldn’t they be, they were created by the most perfect God. The most surprising aspect of our mind is its ability to recall, for eg if we are talking about something, it gets made up in our minds, if for eg we are talking about going to school, a picture of it or anything related to it immediately comes to our minds and it doesnt even take mere seconds for that image to form in our minds, another eg of this could be, that for every person we meet, whenevr we mention this person, we form an image of that person in our minds about some of their character trait or anything else. So if humans can form images in their minds when they’re just talking about it, then it shouldn’t be doubted as to how God creates things when He just says Be and they get created!

Every aspect of ourselves reminds us of Allah and his wonderful perfection in His creations!

Where Is God?

This tale is perhaps the most understandable, indisputable and convincing about the existance of God. It goes like this:

An atheist asked Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (as),how could he convince him about the existence of God. Coming to know that the man had gone several times on sea voyages, Imam asked him “Have you ever been caught in a fierce storm in middle of nowhere, your rudder gone, your sails torn away, trying desperately to keep your boat afloat?” The answer was `Yes’. Then Imam asked: “And sometimes perhaps even that leaking boat went down leaving you exhausted and helpless on the mercy of raging waves?”

The answer was again `Yes’.

Then Imam asked: “Was not there, in all that black despair, a glimmer of hope in your heart that some unnamed and unknown power could still save you?” When he agreed, Imam said: “That power is God.”

That atheist was intelligent. He knew the truth when he saw it.

Good to know:

Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) is the 6th descendent of the Prophet (p.b.u.h). He is teacher to notable personalities in history such as Jabir Bin Hayyan, Imam Malik and Imam abu Hanifa

P.S : Although I have heard this tale in person from a great scholar, but right now I’ve copied it from http://www.al-islam.org/god-an-islamic-perspective/3.htm

Worship like the slaves

An old story dates back to the time of Arabia, when slaves were bought from all parts of the world to serve Arabs. Since these slaves were from different ethnicities and nationalities ranging from Chinese to Armenians, the masters had to give them food according to what they ate in their original home town, shelter and clothing was also given to them accordingly.

Once, an arab brought a slave and asked him, what food will you eat so that I can arrange it for you. The slave replied “You are my master, whatever food you’ll give me, I’ll eat it”

The arab then asks him again “Then tell me, what clothing did u use to wear at your old home town, I’ll give that clothing to you”. The slave replies “What are you talking about sir, You are my master, whatever you’ll give to me, I’ll wear it”

The arab finally asks him “Ok, forget about the clothing and the food, what kind of locality did you live in at your old town, I’ll arrange such a shelter for you”

The slave obediently replies “You are my master, whatever you’ll give me to eat, I’ll eat it, whatever you’ll give me to wear, I’ll wear it, whatever you’ll keep me, I’ll stay, I am only mere a slave”

The Arab then says “Today a slave has taught me how to worship the God Almighty. Wherever God wants to keep us, we should stay without complain, whatever He wants us to eat, we should eat and Whatever He wants us to wear, we should wear without the slightest of complain, He is our master afterall and we’re merely His slaves”!

This story teaches us a very important and beautiful lesson, that on the way to God, if we really want to obey him as our Creator, we should do as He says without being ungrateful. Times may be harsh but as God himself says that If you live your life in accordance to my rules, I’ll make your life just as you want it to be.

Ramadan blues

So Ramadan is finally here, the most blessed month of the year gives us another opportunity to reflect upon ourselves and work on our character and become good muslims. As a special feature for Ramadan, I’m going to post some of the good things frequently which I hear at the lectures given at my local mosque! If it develops any change within you, pray for me that I get all my prayers answered too!

Ramadan mubarak to all muslims in the world!

The road to progress

Success comes naturally to some people, who are exceptionally talented in one way or the other. But a lot of people are seemingly ordinary and have to fight their way to conquer their dreams, the dreams they have had ever since they’ve made sense of this world. Whats worse is that, people all around them may start asserting to them one way or the other thaat they wont really succeed in getting their dreams true.

Sometimes, its hard to turn a deaf ear to such people but you’ve got to somehow imprint this fact in your heart that you’ve got to go on, and it doesnt really matter what people say no matter how discouraging they may be, in the end and from the very beginning, its always been about you and never about them.Progress may be slow but it will come eventually because when you really desire something really hard, you will find the will to reach out to it and eventually conquer it. And for the rumbling, rattling people along the way, indifference is the best way to treat them with.

Vivacious Waves…

Don’t you just love the sea? In my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful blessings of God. But most importantly, I love the way it comes thrashing on the rocks, with so much passion so much energy, with so much life! Whenever I watch the waves, it immediately electrifies me with its power and it feels as if it’s energy penetrates within my soul. What if all of us put the same devotion, same energy to every task we do in our lives, wouldnt that make our lives more exciting, more lively and more worthwhile?

photo credits go to : http://www.flickr.com/photos/halikat/1398657161/

What if we struggled like the sea, loved like the sea, helped someone like the waves, believed like the sea and achieved our destiny like the waves, thrashing on our fates with utmost zeal and enthusiasm behaving as if today is the last day to be lived!

Perhaps thats what we need the most in our lives, a strong, ardent, unforgettable reason to live, whatever the reason may be, we need to advance ourselves towards it with paramount zeal so that when the time comes to die, we die with a new feeling of having lived life and not mere a life with no life in the real sense.

Don’t you have pity upon yourselves?

I was recently cleaning my drawers, when I came across a book and read these golden words. Indeed these words appeal to all time and to all ages. I havent translated into english because I thought I would ruin the eloquence. These are words that will open your eyes and spear your heart so much so that’ll bring tears to your eyes:

“Akhir kya waja hai? Tumhara mukhalif gumrahi mei rehte huwe tum se ziada sabit qadm hai. aur wo apni gumrahe ko phelaine ke liye tum se ziada daulat kharch karta hai. Is ka bas yehi sabab hai k tum dunya ki taraf mail hochuke ho lihaza tum sitam bardasht karne per raazi hochuke ho! Aur tum ne kanjoosi ko apna liya hai aur tum ne us cheez ko chor diya hai jis mei tumhari izzat o saadat hai aur jis mei tumhaare dushman ke khilaf tumhari quot hai. Tumhe na to apne Khuda ke farman ka pas hai aur na hi apni jaano per rehem karte ho.Har roz tum per zulm horaha hai aur phir bhi tum khuwab-e-gaflat se beidar nahi hote ho aur tumhari kahili khtam nhi horahe.”

- Imam Ali (as)