Reflections on Pakistan (Part VI)

Eid day...I woke up from the knocking on my room door. It was Mami letting me know that Eid prayer would begin shortly and so I was to get ready pronto. I made my way into the bathroom to carry out the shave and shower routine. It was there that I confronted the first struggle of the day: how to adjust the water temperature? It was an arduous task indeed. At first it was burning hot...then freezing cold...this process repeated for some time until I found a bearable temperature. After showering, I hurriedly put on my shalwar kameez (native apparel) and set out to find Ali Bahi (Brother). He was all ready and waiting for me. I felt burdened. I have always hated being the reason for getting others late to an important event. Unfortunately, punctuality was never my strong point so its consequences were manifesting yet again. We rushed into the car and started out for the Masjid (Mosque). It was at a convenient five minute drive from the house which was quite different from the half-hour to hour commute that is often required to get to a Masjid in the States.

After we parked the car, we walked down a muddy pathway leading to the entrance of the Masjid. I could see my breath in the air which gave testimony to the cold weather. Upon entering, Ali Bahi took me to the side and said, “Be careful where you leave your shoes. Someone may steal them”. I watched him, puzzled at what he had just said. After all, it was a Masjid. A place of worship. How could someone be so indecent as to steal from a place where God was being remembered? Well, there wasn't much be done except taking heed to the words of wisdom just spoken. I followed Ali Bahi's lead in placing my shoes in a small bin located inside the Masjid. This particular Masjid had two segments: indoors and outdoors. The indoors segment was a little crowded so we took a seat in the portion which was more exposed to the chill! I don't like when I complain, but I can't deny that the weather was making me uncomfortable. To my surprise, we had arrived early. I wondered why Mami had been rushing us, then? A question I reserved for Ali Bahi until after prayer. The Imam (leader of prayer) was giving a speech in Urdu (Native tongue in Pakistan). Unfortunately, I was zoning in and out of what he was saying. Some of me was still feeling annoyed by the cold weather which kept stealing my attention and on top of that, I wasn't feeling too spiritual. I don't know exactly why. Part of the reason, I suppose, lies in what I call my prejudice towards 'Pakistani Islam'.

'Pakistani Islam' isn't really a type of Islam but rather an understanding I developed by observing how Pakistani parents often introduce the religion of Islam to their children. Some of the key characteristics of 'Pakistani Islam' include teaching the children how to read Arabic but not understand it. It is encouraged to read and memorize the Qur'an (Holy Scripture in Islam) even if it is without an understanding of the Book one has just inscribed in his/her heart! All in all, the stress is not placed on striving to grasp the message but rather on becoming containers of the message. Too many a times I have seen individuals who have memorized the Holy Qur'an but the effect of the message is not manifest in their being. I believe that truly inscribing the Holy Qur'an within one's heart should totally transform the person. Only when the heart feels every word of the Holy Qur'an as a reality can one truly be considered to know the Scripture by heart. In any case, continuing on with my description of 'Pakistani Islam'. Another aspect of it includes sharing stories that are claimed to be from the Holy Book but end up being from a tradition or an Islamic Poem. Not to down the stories, because they often have beautiful and priceless lessons but rather to show that we must be careful to cite our sources properly. Although there is much more to this concept, I will conclude with a characteristic that really bothers me. Within 'Pakistani Islam', the spirit of reflecting and questioning is discouraged! I believe that if a person possesses the truth, then no falsehood can stand against it. There is nothing to be afraid of because as Allah (swt) says in the Qur'an “Truth is distinct from Falsehood”. In fact, reflecting and questioning one's beliefs is precisely what leads to the strengthing of faith. The only time this is not of benefit is if the community does not provide the answers to the youth or the youth are not sincerely searching for the answers. Therefore, it is important for all the members of a Muslim Community to be well versed in the teachings of and philosophy behind Islam. Nonetheless, this should suffice for an understanding of my biased towards 'Pakistani Islam'.

It was cold and I was not very spiritual as I mentioned earlier. My negative feelings towards 'Pakistani Islam' only added fuel to the fire. And so, I had to fight all this to try and reap some benefit from what the Imam was saying. This struggle within me was an inevitable result of the truth that I knew all too well: This man may be sincere and sincere speech always has a positive effect on the heart. Unfortunately, the speech was very short and in the midst of my struggle it felt even shorter. Once it ended, everyone got on their feet to congregate for the prayer. I followed Ali Bahi into the indoors section of the Masjid. There was a cardboard box next to the wall which contained Topis (prayer hats) for the people to take at will. I decided not to. I did feel left out on my decision though, because almost everyone in the Masjid was wearing one. O well, I thought...No biggie. After the prayer, the eid sermon was delivered. It is considered a neccesary part of the Eid prayer. I could not grasp much of it because it was spoken very rapidly in Arabic. It was clear that the Imam had memorized what he was saying because he was speaking without any sense of consciousness to his words. This I didn't like because even if everyone in the room doesn't understand it, it is still important to say it like you mean it. Ofcourse, he may be well intended and so I am not passing judgement on the Imam. Also, my biased towards 'Pakistani Islam' may have distorted my vision a bit. If anything, however, I had the opportunity to take lesson from what I did not like.

On our way out, I grabbed my shoes from the bin. They were right where I left them so that was a relief. We met up with Abdullah and Wajid Bahi who were both due for some eid hugs. Wajid Bahi had a mischievous smile on his face. We found out later that their family had played a trick on us to get us to wake up early because supposedly Ali Bahi is known to get late. Well, that put both of us in the same boat. As mentioned earlier, punctuality is not my best friend. We drove back home to a goodly meal. Soon after I was to leave for another adventure...