Man Has Been Created in a State of Distress

By: Shazia Yousuf

I was totally horrified when I read the article “Waiting to receive pieces of daughter’s body” published in The News. Reading about the brutal murder of Shamsul Anwar’s son by some terrorists, tore me apart. Shamsul Anwar according to that article was not an ordinary person, but a hero who risked his own life to save the lives of hundreds of people in a mosque by single handedly taking care of the terrorists who were planting a bomb in the mosque. These same terrorists, later on took revenge by murdering his eldest son, torturing the younger son, and now kidnapping his daughter.

The only thought that kept haunting me was that this world is not at all a safe place any more, where human life is a cheap commodity, which anyone could take easily, and there is no one to stop this barbarism! Even in jungle, rules prevail. But here, we observe “azadi” to the fullest. On the other hand, it was also great to see how people quickly started responding to the call for help to collect ransom money for Shamsul Anwar’s daughter and donations started pouring in even from abroad. I was anxious, and worried, waiting to find out the end result of the efforts.

The Spirit of Sacrifice Needs To Be Revived

By: Sadaf Chaudhry

Great souls are heavenly. They possess all spiritual ingredients in equal proportions. They are well built characters with great moral strength; a symbol of valorous temperament, honour, integrity and fortitude. These souls are passionate about moral courage to the extent that they portray readiness to face danger and to make brave attempt for their noble ambition. For them life without their noble aspiration is useless. This courage and passion makes them sacrifice all they have. How well has the poet said complementing my words:

Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another’s trouble,
Courage in your own!

Courage and passion work together to engender this approach of sacrifice. Countless sacrifices were made in Islamic history by great enduring souls.

Happy New Year - Happy New You!

By: Shazia Yousuf

A new sunrise, a new dawn, a new beginning, a fresh start, a new year…

The Sun rises every day, and it sets with the hope of shining on a better world, better people when it rises again the next morning. Sets again but rises…yet again, each day… every single day, with new hope, same shimmer, not decreasing in strength nor losing even a single ray of glimmer.

 

Back Then...

By: Rabia Tirmizey

Do any of you remember the candy floss man passing on the street outside your house and filling you with excitement? Were you one of those who would wait anxiously for those five minutes of your favorite Cartoons on PTV just before going to school and once more in the evening?  Do you remember fighting endlessly with siblings for your turn on the sole set of “game and watch” (the only handheld gaming device available then), a packet of Slims and a Frost juice pack making your day, or itching to finish homework and sneaking out to play on the street with neighborhood friends? Were you one of those who would know all tracks of the latest Vital Signs and Junoon albums (on both Side A and Side B) by heart? Were games like Hide and Seek, Kings and Dark Room the primary non-sport games you loved playing with cousins and friends? Did you wait for months for a dinner treat at a fast food restaurant, or a picnic at the Hawks bay?

Remembering the Birth of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

By: Shazia Yousuf

On the birth day of the greatest leader of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, let us recall his message to us as a nation:

“The creation of Pakistan has placed tremendous responsibility on the citizens of pakistan... 

It gives them opportunity to demonstrate to the world how a nation with containing many elements can live in peace and amity and work for the betterment of all its citizens irrespective of cast or creed...

Our objective should be peace within and peace without...

Let us impress the minorities by our words, deeds and thoughts, that as long as they fulfill their duties and obligations as loyal citizens of pakistan, they have nothing to fear...

We have no ambition beyond the desire to live honourably and let others live honourably..."

Igniting the Love for Urdu Language

By: Shazia Yousuf

“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.”‒Oliver Wendell Holmes

Language is not just a method of communication; it is a means of bonding which brings one closer to the culture to which that language belongs.

Youm-e-Ashura

By: Shazia Yousuf

Youm-e-Ashura marks a great calamity when the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and his family faced a tragic end. The loss was irreversible, the sequence of events extremely painful. The sad part was the fact that the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (s.m) met with such a painful fate! You need not be a Shia or a sunni to observe the youm-e-ashura or grieve over this tragedy.

Each year, at this time, we are reminded of the conspiracies and the plots that humans are capable of knitting for power, personal gains and out of jealousies. The tragedy of Karbala, was the greatest tragedy for the Muslims, but this tragedy keeps repeating in different forms till the present time.

Youm-e-Ashura repeats every now and then, when the only earning member of a family dies in a blast, or young sons of a family eat stray bullets in their chest to meet untimely death, or when women of a family are brutally massacred over petty family disputes.

It is time for us to sit and ponder whether to take this as a long weekend and enjoy, or mourn over the loss of our beloved Prophet’s grandson, or to remind ourselves of the tragedies this world keeps seeing.

The question is, will such tragedies ever come to an end?

 What comes to my mind at this moment is the following part of an ayat from the Holy Quran:  

“Khalaq al insaan a fi kabad”

[Man has been created in a state of distress]

Only When A Soul Departs

By: Shazia Yousuf

Day begins, day ends. Time is running fast; so much to do but such little time. There’s hardly time for anything. We are all the time busy in a race against time. It seems as if life would come to a halt if we stop doing all those things that we are busy with. Without even stopping for a while to realize what we are doing, we go on with that daily rut.

There are so many people around us, who we take for granted. We think we’ll talk to them tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes. We plan to visit them, but something or the other which is more urgent comes up. We do think about them, but blame the busy schedule for not being able to give them our precious time. Some of our dear ones, we don’t even find time to think about. Let’s face it, we do this.

Eradicate Hunger

By: Shazia Yousuf

Hunger – How many of us actually know what it means? I am sure none. Even when we fast, we are sure that at dusk, there will be good food, enough to feed us and eradicate this temporary starvation. But can you imagine for a while, that you are fasting but you are not sure when you will get to break this fast? This is the case with millions of people out there. Some are dying and some being killed by their loved ones out of hunger, poverty and hopelessness.

Philosophies Never Die

By: Sadaf Chaudhry

George Santayana defines philosophy in its true essence:

"Any clever man may sometimes see the truth in flashes; any scientific man may put some aspect of the truth into technical words; yet all this hardly deserves the name of philosophy so long as the heart remains unabashed, and we continue to live like animals lost in the stream of our impressions, not only in the public routine and necessary cares of life, but even in our silent thoughts and affections."

Conquering Your Fear

By: Rabia Tirmizey

If I was to list down the number of ‘my firsts’ I have thought a lot about, my first ever article would probably top that list. The reason why I kept on procrastinating seeing my name first time in print was because I wanted to see it with the most perfect article. The big question was what to write about. The first thing that came to my mind was to write about something that I am good at or have closely been working on. This was followed by the million dollar question that what is my area of expertise. By virtue of having worked in the financial industry for the last four years (probably the years that one would have been better off staying away from this industry!) I thought for a while that maybe this should be my first piece of writing. I grew excited and started penning down my take on the current economic situation, what the last few years have been like and what can be expected in the future.  Having written down a few lines, I realized that almost everyone already knows about the ongoing recessionary environment and writing about it would mean reminding them about it.

We Never Have Enough

By: Shazia Yousuf

Whatever we do, however much we earn, we never have enough. Life is a tough struggle these days. Inflation has hit us all badly. “Mehngai” (inflation) is the talk of the day. Vegetables – expensive, meat and poultry – unaffordable, bread and eggs – the prices keep increasing and the list goes on. Fuel, education expenses, electricity, gas and telephone bills are but pulse raisers! Only we know how we manage our monthly expenses! But come to think of it; though with difficulty, we do manage. Some of us might have stopped eating out at (now) expensive restaurants, but we have not given up. Some of us may have given up on wearing brands, but we still manage to buy new clothes every now and then, and especially at occasions. We may be struggling, but we are surviving!

Sometimes When It Rains

By: Sadaf Chaudhry

When I think of rain I smile to myself and start thinking of times when being a child I used to enjoy it to its fullest extent, extracting all its pleasures. For me rain is always like a magical misty impression that brings the scent of wonderment and renewal.

It’s deliverance of eternal life by nourishing the earth and quenching the thirst fascinates me a lot. For me, rain is indeed a friend with many attributes that gives inspiration to poets, imagination to artist, scintillating face to earth, quenches the thirst of deserts, revitalizes our souls and makes us to forget our worries. But along with its mercy, it can also take vengefully. All its blessings are elbowed out when it rains for days without break and causes disaster in the form of floods.

Pursuit of Happiness

By: Shazia Yousuf

Happiness – a feeling, an emotion, which can be seen on a mother’s face when she hugs her new born baby, heard in a child’s laughter when his father playfully punches or tickles him, visible in the beaming smile of a winning athlete standing up on the winner’s pedestal, in the contentment that is visible on the face of a previously hungry man, in the seemingly endless chirping of the early morning birds, in the rhythm of the pattering of rain drops, in the rainbow formed by the first streak of sunlight after rain, in the Divine presence that can be felt in the smell of the fresh vegetation. There are many shades of happiness that can be seen, heard and felt all around us.

Every individual is in the pursuit of happiness. Whether at work, or at home, or just anywhere, every action seeks happiness in return in a very subtle way. We may be unaware of this, but it adds meaning to every effort.

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's Vision of Pakistan

By: Shazia Yousuf

Addressing the nation on 15th August, 1947, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said:

6th September - Defence Day of Pakistan

By: Shazia Yousuf

6^th September 1965, a memorable day, when Pakistan’s armed forces defended Pakistan from the Indian attack and safeguarded the borders sacrificing their lives with courage and zeal. This day is not remembered just because the borders were defended and a war won; it is remembered because on that day, the Pakistani Nation stood united like a metal wall against the enemy attack and proved to be a source of courage and zeal for the armed forces!

On this day, we must observe the anniversary of the Defence Day with same fervor, and revive those spirits that are fading away. This call is not just for the armed forces, but for the Nation, especially the youth to come forward, bring about a positive change within our beloved Motherland.

Let’s be the defenders of our Homeland, let’s unite for a cause.

Let’s defend our country from the negative forces attacking it from outside and within!

Let’s save Pakistan…

This song is dedicated to the Pakistani Nation…

Let’s celebrate Eid

By: Shazia Yousuf

“Eid” - a synonym for colour, festivities, celebration, family reunions and happiness, a time when near and dear ones get together to share their joys. Women, young girls all decked up with new shimmering gota clothes, bangles, mehndi and Cinderella sandals make this day extremely colorful. Men and young boys in their traditional kurtas are no way behind in the Eid fashion parade.

Lunches, dinners and open houses, where guests keep coming in all add up to the beauty of this day. Not only relatives and friends, but families of drivers, maids, post man, the dhol wala who was apparently heard only during the last few days of the sehri are a prominent part of the guest list of every house hold. Eidi is a major attraction for all.

Traditional gourmet comprising sewaiyan, sheer khurma, mithais, cakes and lots of other delicious eatables decorate the dining tables and trolleys and everyone keeps munching on these goodies the whole day.

The Faith of a Five Year Old

By: Sumaira Hasan

I have a daughter who has recently turned 5. Lately I have been observing her faith and the level of belief she has in her God - and it never fails to amaze me!!! To be so young, but to have such a firm belief!!! It's really the simplest of things - things that you and I would never even dream of bothering our God with - but with unwavering faith she turns to Him and asks whatever her heart desires, and believe it or not, He listens and fulfills her slightest whims. 

For example, one day she found it too hot - and having been told that we have no control over the weather, and only God does - she just turned up towards the sky and said "Allah mian, I don't like it when the sun is out and it's too hot. Please don't make it so hot."

Justice and Spirituality of Hazrat Ali

Ali bin Abi Talib, son in law and cousin of the Prophet, first Shia Imam and the fourth caliph of the Islamic community. He was described by the Prophet as the ‘gate’ to the 'city of knowledge'.

“I am the city of knowledge and Ali is the gate; so whoever desires knowledge, let him enter the gate.”

Imam Ali lived physically in the shadow of the Prophet and absorbed spiritually all that radiated from him. The intimacy of the relationship between the Prophet and Hazrat Ali is summed up in one of the sermons of the Imam:

“When I was but a child he took me under his wing…I would follow him [Prophet] as a baby camel follows the footsteps of its mother. Every day he would raise up for me a sign of his noble character, commanding me to follow it. He would go each year into seclusion at [the mountain of] Hira. I saw him and nobody else saw him…I saw the light of revelation and the message, and I smelt the fragrance of prophecy…”

Here are some of the words of wisdom, spirituality and justice, that Imam Ali left for us to remember and to practice.

Starting Fresh

By: Shazia Yousuf

Mother Nature teaches so much about relationships, life, and its realities.

I had been a staunch believer of saving a plant and making every effort for it to bloom again; I had never believed in disposing off and starting fresh.

But I realized there are times when efforts don’t pay off and you cannot save a plant however much you try! The plant may live, but with decaying and infected leaves, this could even harm the other plants around. A rotting, withered plant gives a sad aura to the entire garden and may have a damaging effect overall.

All you are left with is to dispose off and start fresh – a bitter reality, but this is life!