Apostasy

Here we go again. An Afghan muslim converted to christianity. As usual.. all hell broke loose. Death Fatwas galore. Hell hath no fury like a berserk muslim :p

Frankly.. I was not robbed of my possessions (jewels included) when I heard that a person has converted to another religious faith. But all the hullabaloo regarding conversion.. must be something in it. Well in fact there is...

Muslims believe that according to Sharia (Muslim Law derived from Quran and acts of Prophet Muhammad) whoever converts to another religious faith from Islam... has to be killed. Good Lord have mercy. They say that Prophet Muhammad cited the above mentioned prescription for converts.

Being a muslim, I have some "issues" as usual.

1. Islam (religion) is of God and humans are supposed to follow it.
2. Only God decides what is good and what is right.
3. Humans have no right to interpret/ explain/ issue fatwas etc
4. Even the Prophet was told to follow what was revealed to him (Quran) and not to come up with his own additions (Quran.69:44-48)

So why not convert to other religion? the person will go to hell and not heaven? only muslims allowed to enter heaven? (read my previous post of November 2005 on this).

Secondly. Judgement Day is to be presided over by His majesty and He will be asking questions regarding faith and deeds. I can understand humans dealing with deeds of other humans in this world because standards are set of what is right and what is wrong but when it comes to faith.. how can one be so sure about himself that he decides fates of other people on it? Is he correct and others wrong? Let the faith question be dealt by God..

There is a verse in Quran which states this beautifully. It says..

[2:256] Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things

Death by Kite

Kite flying is a passion in Pakistan. People of every age indulge in this activity. The festival of 'Basant' is celebrated every year especially in Lahore to celebrate arrival of spring. The sky is full of kites and colors. Absolutely wonderful.

I am not from Lahore, am from a city in North West but I remember making kites, the twine and flying! Unfortunately, this activity has taken a bloody form. The twine used to make kites fly, has become a death tool. Kite flying in Pakistan is not merely kite flying per se - its a duel between kite flyers to cut each other twines by making or coating the twines with ground powdered glass, chemical and now horribly.. using metal wire.

I remember that accidents only occurred when children fell off from roof tops flying or capturing kites or had accidents on roads. This could have resulted in unfortunate death also. But now the situation is altogether different. The twine is so lethal now that it simply slits the throats and necks! Metal twine falls on electricity cables resulting in electrocution and power failures. The death rate has climbed so much that Supreme Court had to ban kite flying all over Pakistan.

This activity is totally taking a negative spectrum. I really wish it otherwise. Some how this sport has to continue albeit without the deaths. Metal wires and chemical wires should be banned altogether. It should be promoted as organized sport played in parks so that twines remain confined to that area. This way everyone will be safe and enjoy what kite-flying is all about - Fun!

No Ports or Nukes for Muslims

"if you want to run seaports or obtain nuclear weapons for self-defence, you had better change your name to O’Reilly, Schwartz or Patel and stop turning to Makkah in your prayers."

- By Eric S. Margolis

Could not have said it better. This article by Eric S. Margolis is the actual representation of muslim sentiment.

Article in The News

America and Britain keep giving sermons to the Muslim world that they lack democracy (which they support by installing puppet regimes or military dictators), that their religion has problems which instigate violence (religion has got nothing to do with it and further... US has been terrorising the world since cold war) , that their brand of democracy is the best in the world and a perfect recipie for Muslim countries (hell with their respective culture and traditions).

A port deal by UAE was blocked by President Bush on the mere pretext that they were Arabs and Muslims! what more proof can there be about islamophobia. Hundreds of millions of dollars are invested in United States by sheikhs but creating a hysteria out of a port deal.. only islamophobia can can produce such hype.

US bombed the hell out of Iraq on the pretext that they had Weapons of Mass destruction (which they had none. Old infrastructure was provided by US to fight against Iran! hypocricy galore!)Todays mess in Iraq is total responsibility of US. Terror has increased manifolds because of acts of US. Now US is after Iran (not that I am a fan of Ahmaddin Najad, the Iranian President) Israel can have as many nukes as it can have but NO! no muslim country can have it! Nucleur Proliferation crap treaty... give it to India but not to Pakistan...

What extent this hypocricy...

The Blog Ban Gaffe

I cant access blogs hosted on blogspot from my place. How Lovely. My friend also cannot access blogs. Strange! As it turns out.. no one in Pakistan can access blogs on this particular host! Brilliant!

It becomes clear then.. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the governing body, has directed all ISPs to ban access to websites/ blogs that lead them to the blasphemous caricatures of Prophet.

One website was against President Musharraf! outta here dude! you are banned! sucker! :p

How stupid is PTA? you think that users can be stopped from accessing these websites by blocking IPs?! wake up! get real! and handle with care :p