Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy for Oscar

*bow*
You nailed it.
Hats Off.

My Blog

More than 6 years have passed since I started this blog. It certainly has changed in all these years because the scope widened for which I initially started this blog. Anyways, thought to share some snippets from my blog:


- My blog has been visited by 150 countries and territories. Visitors are not that much though in numbers. Pakistan just overtook USA as the place where I got most visitors from.

- The most viewed post has been 'Divorce in Islam - A Quranic Perspective' indicating the prevalence of this issue world wide.

- The second most viewed, is 'Urdu Word for Orgasm' - not because of the post itself but due to the search terms like 'how to get orgasm in urdu' etc. There was one search term of 'diagram of female orgasm in urdu'. The latter even interests me.

- A lot of visitors to my blog come to know whether 'female sex slaves (are) allowed in Islam' and whether 'one gets virgins when dies'. After 9/11 perhaps, lot of focus is on Islam and belief system of muslims so people want to know about these things more.

- Muslims and non-muslims want to know about 'Planet Mars in Islam' and whether there are 'muslims on other planets'. Are they not enough on this Earth?

- Some want to know whether 'Cleopatra was a muslim' or 'Nefertiti was a muslim'. Wish I knew.

- Curiosity it seems bugs some when they come to my blog searching for 'when do a muslims deeds go to heaven mondays and thursdays' and whether 'Coke Studio allowed in Islam'. A bit too much eh?

- I agree that Islam is kinda all pervasive fact for muslims and they need to find solutions for their problems but trust me Islam has no solution for this .. 'in islam solution for erectile dysfunction'.

- And what on earth is this? Can somebody explain? 'muslim nude slit'

- Lot of visitors come to my blog searching for 'nude beaches in Pakistan'. Amazing isn't it? Where are they anyways in Pakistan? and who on earth wants to come in Pakistan and be nude? to be stoned?

- Indian visitors come looking for 'Hina Rabbani Khar in jeans'. What is with Indians regarding Hina Rabbani Khar? and that too in jeans? OK I get the latter part, whats with the former?

- Indian visitors also come looking for 'postman rhymes'. I have never heard postman rhymes honestly. 'dakya aya.. daak laya'? Also, I never felt this. Too bad. 'crush on my muslim postman'

- Women Cricketers of Pakistan get more attention on my blog with search terms like 'love affairs of pakistani women cricket team'. People actually search these?

- I did a post on a teenage girl that went solo yachting across the globe 'Girl Going Solo'. I kept getting visitors on it for quite a long time intriguing me as to what is in it that interests people? Turns out, its a porn site.

All of the visitors have my respect, this was not meant to be disrespectful. I might keep updating this one.

Regards

Verse 2:223 - Women and 'Tilth'

In my previous post, 'Faith, Rationality and Consequences', I had discussed about a controversial verse of Quran in which, allegedly, the women are to be treated as 'tilth'. Antagonists argue that this demeaning verse sets the tone for blanket exploitation of women commonly visible in Islamic societies all over the world.


The Quranic verse is this.


2:223 -  Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will; but do some good act for your souls beforehand; and fear Allah. And know that ye are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give (these) good tidings to those who believe. 


Now per se, there is nothing sinister in this verse nor admirable. Things come to open when one comes to the nitty gritty of it. Three possible interpretation of this verse are as follows:

 Interpretation 1 - The verse means just as it says, your wives are a tilth for men. Good for producing only babies and nothing else. A man is to do what a bull would do in a field. 

 Interpretation 2 - Reference to 'tilth' is being given since for a farmer, the tilth is the most precious thing to cherish. It provides him with bounty and protection. Unless and until the farmer invests his sweat and blood in it, he is not getting respect from the his tilth.

 Interpretation 3 - This relates more to  the context in which the verse was supposedly revealed. Some say that people used to ask how should they 'do' their wives and in came the clarification that the intercourse has to vaginal and not anal. 'tilth', 'produce'... dig?

Now what on earth does this verse mean. If you are an antagonist, you will definitely go for the first interpretation and you would cite the issues of 'a man can have 4 wives and a woman cannot' (No you can't) and 'man is allowed to have sex slaves' (no he can not) as your arguments. Basic idea being that since Islam treats women as secondary so the conclusion of this verse is fairly easy to see.


Then there is another side of the story as well. Quran says:


30:21 - And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect. 


and...


2:182 - ... They are your garments and ye are their garments...


If spousal relationship means tranquility, love and mercy and both of them are like garments to each other, 'tilth' would make all the more sense. You can not do without each other. People argue that why the reference of tilth is given? This means that women have to be in the 'ownership' of a man, nothing by themselves and require a man to be of any good value. Further, when a tilth becomes infertile, it will be abandoned.


Quite frankly I don't know why the reference of tilth was given. If I were a God or had god-like powers, I would have been screwing around a lot instead of sending books for reforms. But then that is just me. Some might say that by just screwing around I would already be following the job description of god. The main thing, I think, is to note that its not the object in that reference that matters rather the relationship of those objects referred. Take the example for 'garments'. Both men and women are referred to being garments of each other. A garment, too, is nothing by itself and requires ownership to be of any value but when it comes to what it signifies... then it means protection, covering, privacy, intimacy etc. So tilth has to be viewed in that respect and not just object per se.


So to conclude, this verse is really open ended. I would not be surprised if the antagonists point out the meanness of this verse. Perhaps all the cruelty done to women in islamic societies is due to this verse. I on the other hand, an adherent to this scripture, see the positive side of this verse. The million dollar question being - what interpretation would you chose if you were an adherent of this scripture? Go for the compassionate verve or be a bull in tilth? The choice is totally yours. Perhaps this verse is a mirror.. shows whats inside you.


Peace.


P.S: I ain't a saint.

Faith, Rationality and Consequences

Faith, for me, is a private matter. What I have in my heart regarding myself and the God, is to remain within confines of my heart and others have no right to judge or base their acts on it. But this assumption gets tested most of the times.

Islam is different in the sense that it involves various issues that relate to society in general, for example, guidelines related to divorce, matters related to orphans, inheritance, marriage so on and so forth. This renders the border between personal faith and public display of religion in form of rites, rituals and behaviors all the more blurred. What constitutes as a matter of my personal faith and how implementation of a certain religious injunction could intrude into that personal space are topics of interest.


Why do we hate the Taliban? Because they make religion (their sect specifically) enforceable by power. Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan are testament to the brutality that Taliban inflict in the name of religion. If I offer my prayers or not, Taliban should not have a problem with that, but unfortunately, it is their problem so I will be dragged to the mosque if I did not say my prayers, will be forced to grow beard and my pants will be above my ankles because according to them its un-islamic. They will not care how good a person you may have been otherwise but if you did not fall to the crtiera they have established, you are not good.


Then there is this little interesting thing. There is an author at Express Tribune who posted in the Blog section of the newspaper titled 'Who says I can’t be a Muslim feminist?' What she was trying to say was that while being a muslim, she held feminine principles too and did not find them contradictory in their implementation. The regular comments followed. I too participated in it. The basic thrust of the arguments was against her telling her that she could not be a muslim and a feminist at the same time because both were contradictory in nature.

The discussion then focused upon a verse of Quran and what implications it might have on the people following it. This will also serve as an example to what I am trying to say in this post. Here is the Quranic verse.


2:232 - Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will; but do some good act for your souls beforehand; and fear Allah. And know that ye are to meet Him (in the Hereafter), and give (these) good tidings to those who believe.  


This is a much debated verse of Quran and antagonistic say that this verse is extremely demeaning to women, that women are to be treated like 'tilth' - they say and provides males all the powers to abuse women. I differed. I said I found the verse telling me to be kind to the women folk. (I will be writing a separate post on that verse later on why I said so, its in the comments of the news website if anyone is interested. My Post 'Verse 2:223 - Women and 'Tilth')


The nice souls on that blog were trying to make me understand what the verses really meant – and they were very mean according to them. They all worried, rightly, that if I were to follow such scripture, I would end up on the wrong front – in this case, will abuse womenfolk. I, on the other hand, the adherent to this scripture, was saying that the scripture was telling me to be nice to womenfolk. These guys were insisting, that since the verses were wrong so I had to be wrong. They said I was just 'sugar coating' the verse by offering explanations. Instead of being worried what I was deriving from the verse they were more interested in what verse really meant. If they thought it would result in my being abusive to women then I was stating the opposite. Is it not this what they wanted?


Take the case of this blog author. She says she is a muslim and considers herself a feminist. She wants to maintain her faith and be a productive member of the society. BUT she is wrong. Why? because Islam and feminism are ‘oxymorons’ to each other. So she could not be a valuable member of the society because she was an adherent of Islam. Not very different from religious bigots who say that only religion provides the moral guidelines. They think that an atheist would not be a good human being, that secular societies would be glaring examples of social evil conveniently forgetting that best law abiding societies are secular. 

In essence, one would not care whether I am a productive member of the society but more interested to know what my faith was and then trashing it. But for what? Does one argue just for the sake of argument or there has to be an outcome preferably positive from it? Whether I am a believer of a certain faith, follower of a particular religion, believer in thousand gods or just single one, whether I am an atheist and rationality is my only god - should one not be concerned with what good I do for the society and/or personally instead of what I believe in?

The only consequence should be - whether you are believer of a particular faith or your religion is only rationality and logic - be human and humane. Peace.

Death - A Tough Calling

Just met a friend of ours who lost her father. She had tears in her eyes. I imagined my daughter in her place and teary eyed.


I can not see tears in my daughter's eyes.

New Provinces in Pakistan

The call for creation of new provinces in Pakistan by a certain section of people is just the assumption that they will only be exploited by their own brethren of cast or language - instead of everyone else. It has got nothing to do with welfare for the people.

PostMan's Law of Marriage

Marriage is a reality check.

PostMan's Law of Language

Knowing and conversing in the same language is the most powerful instrument in winning you the acceptance of a person/ group.

The Thing I Love These Days...

Poking my nose in your cheeks :) and you do not seem to mind at all.
Am losing my hair and you, it seems, are getting all of them... yours are so like mine!
And you love anda paratha!
You sleep with your legs placed on me.
Tight hugs.
Happy first Birthday :)
Love.
-Your Dad-

Afternoon at Home

PostMan's Law of Female Drivers

There will be an extra pair of footwear in the car.

PostMan's Law of Parents

You realize the value and importance of your parents when you raise your own kids.

US, Haqqanis, Pakistan & I

Jeez. They are getting desperate aren’t they? What is with Haqqanis and US? Again there is a call by US to Pakistan to disengage from Haqqanis and take action against them in North Waziristan area of Pakistani tribal belt. They are getting more vociferous by the day especially after a raid by Taliban (US says Haqqani faction) attacked the US Embassy in Kabul. So much so that it has now threatened to halt civilian aid to Pakistan. In all this fury, cries and confusion - I am thinking.. what the hell is going on?


US is just acting like someone who is standing in dark and trying to fight anyone from any direction. Things are not going to improve after Haqaanis are vacated from Pakistan. But words coming out of Washington are not wise, in fact they are plain ridiculous. Here is what Mr. Leon Panetta had to say.

“The network cannot be allowed to cross the border, attack troops in Afghanistan and then cross back into Pakistan through the border.”

Imagine. He is the Defence Secretary. In effect what he is saying is that US has no control whatsoever in Afghanistan! Which quite frankly is the case. The Haqqani fighters come all the way from Pakistan, attack the embassy in Kabul and then return back! Amazing isn't it? So what were the US-NATO-Afghan army doing there? Counting chicken?


It even gets more ridiculous. Now there is a suggestion by US that ISI might have urged the Haqqanis to attack US interests in Afghanistan. I mean ‘inaction’ against Haqqanis in tribal areas is one thing… colluding with Haqqanis to attack US in Afghanistan is the most unimaginable thing for Pakistan to do right now. On top of that one gets to hear comments that make you say 'really? is is to so easy?'. Consider the following.


'Strategic Assets'


One often comes across this term while Pakistan and the proxies it supports are discussed. This states that Pakistan supports Taliban because it wants to have a strategic depth in Afghanistan in case it goes to war against India. Taliban are strategic assets since they are pashtuns so they would naturally support Pakistan.


'Strategic Asset' is a wet dream of military commanders of Pakistan during 90s. It is so last century. And it is so naive that one begs to think whether someone actually thought about it? First that Afghanistan can be used a strategic depth in case of war with India. No one has the guts to go in Afghanistan. British empire was beaten there. USSR drowned due to Afghanistan. US now is totally bankrupt due to its invasion there and people might think that Pakistan will be able to do so? Please teach me like I am a four year old.. but how is it going to take place? Secondly, if in case nobody mentions it, the fact that Afghanis hate us - whether they are Taliban or the Northern Alliance.


Third, and most importantly, the Taliban never listen to Pakistan! Whether it was the Bamyan Buddha that was destroyed or the issue of hand over of Osama to US after 911 - hey do not give a damn about Pakistan.


'India & Strategic Assets'


This is another one that one gets to hear. That Pakistan is stirring up trouble in Afghanistan so that US leaves and Pakistan is able to focus on Indian Kashmir. Notwithstanding the fact that Pakistan cant hold on to her pants when it comes to managing her own affairs, troubling a superpower in a troubled neighborhood is an idea that seems making trips to moon a child's play.


Another things important is that whatever the policy measures regarding Indian Kashmir in 90s, Pervez Musharraf during his tenure in early 2000s, greatly reduced the influence of jihadis in Kashmir - a fact even admitted by Indians themselves. That is the reason LeT and HuJI types are running amok in Pakistan - in fact they even attacked Musharraf through suicide attacks. This can be the reason that attacks on Indian Parliament in 2001 and Mumabi in 2006 occurred. If Pakistan were to 'throw out' US to gather momentum again against India in Kashmir, sadly, there is no one for them to help them out. Jihadis are against us now.


'Inertia of State of Pakistan'


There are two fundamental question that need to be answered: 1) 'What women want?' and 2) 'What does Pakistani State want?'. Sadly, it seems, we are not in luck to know the answers to these questions in near future.


But really, what is it that Pakistani State wants? Are Taliban our stooges or not? What is our policy in Afghanistan? Is there a difference between good taliban and bad taliban? If we say that Haqqanis are not given shelter in Pakistan - why not say so and let US come and deal with them? Why not deal with them ourselves and tell US to keep out? Why did not the Army act against them in Parachinar? What was Osama Bin Laden doing in Abbottabad?If he was not being protected - admit that it was a failure and seek help in better management of intelligence? I do not at all give any merit or credit to the theory that the Pakistani state protected him - they are just not capable of it. Pakistan army cant wipe their bottoms properly, as it was shown during the Abbottabad raid, and it hid Osama for 10 years? The Answers? 'Silence'. Had it been gold we would have been rich but no. The only thing, it seems, that army is capable of doing is tell the civilians how to run the government or torturing ordinary Pakistanis (in Balochistan) and reporters (Saleem Shehzad).


You might think since Pakistan is controlled by the army so it will not act against Taliban & Co. So why then the civilian administration is keeping mum on LeT, Sipahe Sahaba an Lashkar e Jhangvi? LeT is against security agencies and targeting them, the latter two are killing shias right and left. If the argument is that LeT is supported by army then the latter two are not all concerned with India or Kashmir - why not take action against them? Why let innocent Pakistanis being slaughtered by these mercenaries of faith? No answers of course.


Seems like Pakistan is this headless chicken that is roaming around the farm with no clue where to go. If anyone thinks that there is this great scheme by Pakistani establishment to somehow orchestrate all this and turn things to its own advantage - God be merciful please let me know too.


I am clueless too.

PostMan's Law of Driving Instructors

Relatives are not good instructors.

911

The unending tragedy.

The Purest Thing

... a baby's breath.

PostMan's Law on Characteristics of a Relationship

Relationship between a man and woman is characterized by one party always stating 'You have changed'.


PostMan's Observation on 'PostMan's Law  on Characteristics of a Relationship'


The frequency of utterance of this phrase increases proportionately to the increase in length of the relationship and becomes a Constant at the maturity stage of relationship's life cycle.

And After All This?

You fight. You win. You lose. You take a beating. You beat the hell out of someone. You dive in water. You dive in deep. You dive in shallow. The water is crystal clear. The water is muddy. Something sticks to you. You somehow get free of something. Something overpowers you and leaves you breathless. Something heavy just sits on your chests and leaves you frozen. Then it somehow leaves you and you are all perspiring. You are amongst people who have left this world. They come and talk to you. They make you smile. They make you cry. They make you afraid. You find something or someone that you lost. You lose something or someone you love. You are at unfamiliar place with familiar people. Sometimes you are with unfamiliar people at familiar places. Sometimes the place you know so much presents a very weird look. It is gloomy. It is dark. It is worn out. You do not want to be here.  Sometimes you see green and sometimes blood red. Sometimes its white. Sometimes its bright.  Sometimes it fireflies. Sometimes its fire works. You always wanted to be here. You inhale. You exhale. You want to scream. You want to shout. You want to cry. You want to release a cry of joy. Sometimes you do all this. Sometimes you just cannot. Sometimes you feel it. You feel it like its real. You feel it can not be fake. You see a beautiful bird. You see a hideous beast. The bird touches you. The beast comes for you. Sometimes the beast transforms in to something you do not like. Like a lizard. A spider. A snake. Something you despise. Something you dread. You do not want to be here! Oh you always wanted to be here! Oh let it continue!


And after all this, you have to wake up from the dream.

PostMan's Law of Conservation of Problem

A problem cannot be destroyed. It will just transform into another shape.

PPP and MQM in Karachi - Abyss.

Around 1300 people are dead in Karachi since January this year - and why cant this stop? because our leaders are busy making deals! Welcome to Pakistan!


Karachi is the face of Pakistan. The economic hub that makes the engine of Pakistan's economy run. Whenever Karachi sneezes, the rest of Pakistan catchers cold - for sure. Karachi has this live spirit in it as city that keeps you glued to it. People from all across Pakistan have come, still do, to Karachi making a living and diversifying the language and cultural base. Karachi truly is a mini Pakistan.


Like any metropolis, Karachi faces multitudes of  problems. Rapid urbanization, improper planned localities, illegal constructions, corruption, water and sanitation issues etc. Apart from that it has to face drug mafia, land mafia, terrorists of all sorts ranging from sectarian to ethnic and criminals. The latter is the really worrying part as law enforcement agencies including rangers and police are extremely ineffective in protecting the Karachiites.  This leaves the people of this city at the mercy of their luck - just hope that you are not at the wrong place at the wrong time because then there will be no one  to protect you.


Unfortunately for Karachi, the city is the worst managed of all in Pakistan I think. Every city, especially a metropolis like Karachi, faces problems but the administrators and leaders of the city try to somehow manage it - amidst ineffective government and corrupt bureaucracy. Somehow somewhere the administrators make the city go about its life but in Karachi, no one is interested in running the affairs of the city. All they want is the booty! To hell with the city is their motto it seems.


Amongst the ruling lot, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) an Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) run the show in administrating the city. They are joined by small time players of ANP, Jamaet e Islami, Sunni Tehreek etc. Turn by turn they take the Admin's Chair of this city and promote their vested interests. 


MQM should feel ashamed of using 'ethic cleansing' card by playing dirty politics on the deaths of innocent people, for example, Qasba Ali Garrh. People lost their loved ones on that horrible of events and MQM cites it just to gain favours? What did they gain? They are back in Govt and have the amendments in commissionarate system? and through what? Getting their demands by playing deals on the death of innocent people. Downright ugly.


Value of each of Pakistani's life is important - whether urdu speaking, pushto, sindhi, balochi or any of the regional language. Please do not do politics on the blood of innocent people. The Urdu speaking brethren should not fear any other ethnic group as their enemy - their supposed political leaders are their worst enemy.


And PPP - the less said the better. Democracy, in the current environment, has been the worst revenge. Politics of appeasement at the lives of innocent people. Horrible. What is the point of praising the President as an astute political player by chanting 'reconciliation' when all you do is trying to save your posterior for 5 years and in the meanwhile people are getting killed, economy being ruined and corruption galore? What good is reconciliation I ask? Then we have the buffoon of an Interior Minister who says that killings in the city are due to the reasons that girl friends are taking revenge from their lovers? See the audacity of this guy? He is making mockery of people who lost their lives in Karachi by suggesting so. But anyone cares? Of course not. They have to make deal my brother.


Oh we are so lost!


Related Post
- Dear Karachi