Dear readers. Eid ul Azha mubarak to you in advance as when MAG reaches your hands and feasts your eyes while enlightening your brains and making your hearts happy (these are the words used by one of our readers about MAG) the publication will be with you just at the time of Eid.
Last night I was watching an old movie (by now you must have realised I am an old movie watcher) Qurbani, the scene in which a pathan is doing the khattak dance on the qawwali, Allah Ko Pyari Hai Qurbani, set me thinking once again (and you know anything and everything sets me thinking) about sacrifice. Its real meaning, its spirit, its importance and its reward here and hereafter. One who sacrifices is a giver not a taker. Having all the worldly possessions doesn’t give you the amount of genuine happiness that offering or better still, sharing a meal with a hungry person gives you. Try it. Believe me, you will relish and roll in this happiness that the Almighty also loves.
Eid ul Azha is all about sacrifice, giving to your brethren that you yourself cherish in the name of Allah and what more can one cherish in this fanni world than one’s own children. And this is what Hazrat Ibrahim (AS), offered to his creator on His demand by offering Hazrat Ismail (AS) his son. God accepted this sacrifice in the spirit that it was offered in, thus sparing the son and replacing him with a sheep. This is where the tradition of qurbani took root and is continuing to this day. I had initially titled this piece ‘Symbol of a Son’. The example of an exalted prophet to God towards total submission and that of a son as well through his father.
Concepts change with time. As my elders tell me, not very long ago, people used to buy a lamb or a goat kid or a calf and rear and nourish it for one full year for this momentous occasion. By then everyone in the household had developed a strong association and a deep affection for the animal. I remember, my father having bought a goat just fifteen days before Eid. We, the kids, became so attached to it that parting with it saddened us immensely. What to speak of one that has been with you for a year and what more to speak of a son that has been the source of happiness with you for many years. There is a Scottish saying, “take away a man’s son and you leave him with nothing to live for,” and Hazrat Ibrahim(AS) had the jazbaa to give away his son - but he had his creator to live for. And Allah is Just, Benevolent and Merciful.
And what’s happening today? Some are still following the old tradition of keeping animals for months and years but they are mostly in villages, in small districts and townships. The others, with ample space in their residences would not dream of dirtying their premises with the feeding and droppings of such animals while some are restricted for space. Result? Instant qurbani – buy today, sacrifice tomorrow. In this age of competition, even qurbani – a jazbaa has turned into a status symbol. Imagine, animals being sold and bought in lacs of rupees. Impressing whom? Seller’s gimmicks, “iss bakray ko barfi, qalaqand and badaam pistay par pala hai, gosht khain gay tou mazaa aa jaiy ga”! Meaning, the sacrifice will not be for God’s favour but to satisfy your own palette while adorning the crown of snob value on your head in the process and this being brazenly at a time when people are selling their children to ward off their poverty. Yes, selling their children to buy atta and sugar in order to live, rather subsist. Dread the time when there will be bacha mandis in place of bakra mandis. Would the one buying a goat for lacs give the money to the one selling his child for a few thousand? Just suggest it to him and let me know the answer. Tell him about huqooq Allah and huqooq-ul-ibad.
So why did I change the title? Our gracious, sweet looking and sweet sounding prime minister promised us austerity at government level. Now, under the dictate of our people’s president, he is going to reshuffle the cabinet. What happened to austerity, I don’t know. Regarding reshuffle, according to a news report, about our ruling party’s meeting till “wee hours of the morning, when this subject came up some faces went pale.” Why? Are these ‘faces’ not Pakistanis or are they just ministers? I, and the whole nation, would love to see beaming faces volunteering to sacrifice their posts and their portfolios for a change towards better and reduce in our, below-the-line poor people’s miseries by economising all the expenses of above-the-line rich ones’ sarkari and personal accounts. Hukumraan quam kay baap ki jagaa hotay hain, can you imagine a father feasting on chicken karahi with roghni naan while his children eat baghair tarkay ki daal with sukhi roti?
Our leaders, with big ‘respectable’ names have indulged in do sao (two hundred) arab ropay ki corruption – disclosed. Undisclosed – you are intelligent enough to calculate. Just remember the ratio of the tip of an ice berg’s dimensions to the unseen underwater mass. I was taught this in the 6th grade in my school days. You were too. Simple, very simple. NRO created for the benefit of the chosen ones actually meant naa roh (don’t cry). It was a comforting shoulder for them – not to cry on. It has come back to our people now to comfort them. Because as I said before, God is just. The time has come when our downtrodden masses will not have to cry. I’m an optimist with a very strong faith in Him, the Almighty, the one who says Kun and it happens.
And now I come to the title of this piece Sacrifice Yourself. Believe me, I don’t mean sacrificing yourself like a goat. Blood and meat never reaches God, it’s only the spirit that does. What I mean is sacrifice yourself gracefully by strengthening the initiative and spirit of your president’s and prime minister’s decision by not being booted out and about with pale faces but the process of self assessment and following the saying kaehti hai tujh ko khalq-e-khuda ghaibana kya, resign and let go of your official horses that you become so fond and accustomed of riding. Resign through your one initiative. You don’t know your own people. They will love you and adore you in no time at all and will make a hero of you. Don’t you know that we, as a people, are the emotional ones? Change your feathers, change your colours and see how the attitude of your people will change towards you. In our Punjabi films when the villain repents in the end and converts to goodness, he is more loved than the hero.
I am sure this sacrifice will not make any difference in the opulent lifestyle that you are used to. You have enough. You can, I and your very own people whom you represent, know it. Only the hirss (greed) to acquire more has to be controlled and curtailed and that can be done only through sacrifice. The demand of the time is there. The auspicious occasion is there. Take heed. Sacrifice yourself. About time someone did so. So who’s the first one?
