Daily Times

Urdu word sadiq is a qualitative metaphor used for a person who has never spoken a lie. Amin is the quality of a person who may never have breached anyone’s trust.

Can anyone among us, including those serving in civil and military establishments, claim to meet such high standards of personal probity? If the answer may be in negative, then why do we expect just the honourable elected members of the Parliament and provincial assemblies to exhibit such rare set of qualities?

Sadiq and amin were among many qualities of our Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H). Based on their character and moral fibre, the four rashidun caliphs and wives and companions of the Holy Prophet and all other prophets sent by the Almighty for different people in different times can also be counted among truthful and honest.

The Holy Prophet was a man of his word and he never resorted to deception or manipulation and not even the slightest exaggeration. As a consequence, the ardent, stubborn and rigid people of Makkah were so much impressed and influenced by his personality, character and conduct that they began to honour him with the titles sadiq and amin. The entire life of the Holy Prophet is a testament to the fact that he never abused power and showed unprecedented and unparalleled humbleness even after becoming the strongest political and military force in all of Arab.

The rationale behind writing on this particular topic is neither to criticise the honourable courts nor to encourage the incumbent political party or former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. But the truth of the matter is that we need to realise weaknesses and vulnerabilities prevailing in ourselves. How long can we remain skeptical that conspiracies are underway and are behind every major negative incident? As a nation, we have to realise that in the context of morality, we are still lagging behind in relation to various nations in the world. The interpretation of the words or perhaps titles such as sadiq and amin is very simple but applying these qualities to people of this era is sheer thoughtlessness.

It is an established opinion of political pundits and analysts in Pakistan that not only the legislators but also those heading civil and military bureaucracies cannot be deemed either sadiq or amin

The people of Pakistan and the politicians in particular must realise that clauses such as Articles 62 and 63 were merely made a part of the Constitution to uphold high moral grounds while preventing certain individuals to become part of the legislature. And these clauses should be considered to have just a symbolic presence, meaning that there is no need to interpret them in literal terms. Besides, it is an established opinion of political pundits and analysts in Pakistan that not only the legislators but also those heading civil and military bureaucracies cannot be deemed either sadiq or amin.

The recent Gallup survey published its report on August 17, revealing that 44% of Pakistanis believe that they are sadiq and amin; 18% are not sure and another 18% believe they’re neither sadiq and amin.

It is quite unfortunate that even after being an independent state for almost 70 years, we are still weak and vulnerable when it comes to moral qualities – without a doubt the lack of moral foundations in our behaviour, society, politics and daily life has severely backfired. The verdict by the Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualifying former PM Nawaz Sharif will perhaps weaken the political culture and also have a spill over effect – it may have a domino effect leading to disqualifications of other leaders like Imran Khan who has been accused of sexual harassment by KP lawmaker Ayesha Gulalai.

Besides, any major verdict must reflect the national interest and the will of the people – otherwise such decisions ultimately get challenged in ‘people’s court’.

The author can be reached at: mmab11@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, August 19^th 2017.