Daily Times

The assassination of Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab, by a religious zealot has once again initiated the debate on the role of religion in Pakistani society. For quite some time, many politicians and intellectuals have been debating the true intentions of the founding fathers in creating a state. They refer to the Two Nation Theory proposed by Allama Mohammad Iqbal, presenting Muslims as a separate nation because of their differences from Hindus in religion, language, attire, festivals, cuisine and other aspects of culture. That theory was valid in the context of the subcontinent before independence but the appeal of the message was global, which is abundantly evident from the writings and poetry of Allama Iqbal. Limiting it to a single state will be the greatest injustice done to the leading philosopher of the 20th century.

Religion, in its essence, has two competing but integral elements, i.e. spiritual and cultural. The spiritual element guides a person’s connection with God, which is always a private affair as no one can question the intentions of a person when he refers to God for salvation. The cultural part deals with rituals and collective behaviour as a community. In Muslim societies, it is evident that the cultural part has overtaken the spiritual in significance. Symbolic gestures of a person’s religion like wearing a beard, a prayer mark on the forehead, a rosary in one’s hand and wearing trousers above one’s ankles have become established icons of spiritual piety. Performing five time prayers helps in purifying one’s soul but it is the behaviour in society at large that will form the basis of judgement in the afterlife. The Quran and hadith mention it quite clearly that judgement of huqooq-ul-ibad (rights of the people) will take precedence over all other dealings of life. The requirements of huqooq-ul-ibad are even stricter for the rulers and people in authority.

Respecting all prophets, particularly Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), is an integral part of being a true Muslim. In a 95 to 97 percent majority Muslim country, it does not make sense to have blasphemy laws in place because if we need a law to protect the Prophet’s (PBUH) honour, then there is something fundamentally wrong in our society. Secondly, if laws were needed to ensure that we respect our Prophet (PBUH), then anyone abusing this law and using it for personal gain is the first person who has committed blasphemy. Some religious scholars have come out in support of the governor’s murder, referring to the emotional trauma resulting from the governor’s support for a blasphemy convict. But these same scholars have not registered any case against people who have abused the blasphemy laws in the past. Similarly, religiously motivated lawyers are eager to fight the criminal case of Mumtaz Qadri but none of these lawyers had the time or the motivation to bring cases against people who abused the blasphemy laws that are so sacred for them. It is this double standard that has put us into this dilemma.

Good civic behaviour does not require a thick book of code of ethics. It is ingrained into human DNA to instinctively differentiate good from bad but characters are built through nurturing and mentoring. The training our children get from their teachers, parents and neighbours will ultimately define their character as citizens of the state. When teachers are hired without merit, when parents engage in corruption and when neighbours break laws on a daily basis, then we are producing a nation of shaky moral standards. The erosion of standards we witness today is the result of decades of neglect to build a national character and we are all responsible for this failure.

It is a fact that most of the suicide bombers killing Muslims are fellow Muslims. They are born and raised in our society where someone from our community brainwashed them to kill other Muslims. We are only closing our eyes to the fact when we try to justify these actions, blaming them on drone attacks or government support for this or that. Mumtaz Qadri, whatever intentions he may have, killed another person in broad daylight and is a criminal by any definition of the law. Showering him with rose petals and glamourising his crime in the name of the Prophet (PBUH) cannot be blamed on external forces or justified. A mob killed two innocent boys on the streets of Sialkot and a crowd watched this crime being committed for two hours. Not a single person came forward to raise a voice, including the law enforcement officials whose responsibility it was to protect them. These are all signs for us to wake up and take stock of our society.

Why have we decayed as a society? Does it mean that our founding fathers were wrong in their struggle for a separate nation? We have to find answers to these questions ourselves. We need to stop pointing fingers outside and look inside to find solutions. We have to establish a society where a crime should not get protection from any vested interest, whether political or religious. We may disagree with a law but have to abide by it till it is amended or repealed. We need to establish a unified education system that must be conformed to by all private and public institutions, including religious madrassas. Reforms to our law enforcement apparatus, starting from prevention to execution of judgments have to be put on the top of the political agenda. Our leaders, regardless of their past, have to understand that people look up to them for an example and if they are not capable of providing it then they should step aside voluntarily before the patience of the nation runs out.

There is a global struggle going on for ideology dominance. As Muslims, our behaviour as a society is the only barometer used by others to judge the appeal of our message. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. But most conversions happen because our book Quran has unlimited wisdom in it. While new converts are embracing the book, we are taking it for granted and ignoring it in our daily lives.

The writer is chairman Council of Past Presidents, Pakistan Chamber of Commerce-USA. He can be reached at abdul.kundi@gmail.com