I wish I could say Eid Mubarak ~ Brother Syed-Mohsin Naquvi
I Wish I Could Say: Eed Mubarak
By:Syed-Mohsin Naquvi Shawwal 1426 Hijra
I went to the Islamic center this morning to attend the Eed-ul-Fitr prayers. All the friends that I am used to seeing at such occasions were there. There was Salat and there was the standard Khutba (actually two of them). Then there was the Eed Breakfast/brunch. Friends embraced each other and said Eed Mubarak to each other.
The prayer leader mentioned the victims of the earthquake briefly. However, I personally felt that the atmosphere was subdued and somber. I too embraced people. But I had difficulty uttering those words.
The word Eed is derived from the Arabic verb A’ada/Ya’udu, which means “to come back again and again.” But, I asked myself: “Did it really come back this year?”
Definitely not for the next of kin of those who perished in the earthquake– in excess of 73,000 human beings; definitely not for the two million rendered homeless in Kashmir and elsewhere.
Islam relies on human contact for every social aspect of human life. That is why the congregational prayers are so strongly recommended. The idea is that the Muslims living in one neighbourhood (at least the men-folk) would meet five times-a-day and be aware of each other’s difficulties, joys and griefs. That is why it is recommended that the Muslims living in one town should go to Eed prayers out in the open together so that they can meet at least once a year. That also is the main philosophy behind the Hajj ritual once in a life-time so that Muslims can meet with other Muslims living in other parts of the world. The main aim is human communication by personal touch. I sometimes wonder, are the Muslims using those mechanisms as intended by the law-giver?
I went to see an old friend at his place and then returned home. I was not in the mood to celebrate by any stretch of the meaning of that word.
At 6 p.m. I was watching BBC World News. General Pervez Musharraf was being interviewed. First time I saw him disappointed, dejected and helpless. He announced that he has cancelled the purchase of the F-16’s to save that money to be spent on the reconstruction and rehabilitation effort. He was disappointed that the world community had not responded in proportion to the size and degree of the disaster.
The camera then focused on the disaster area in Muzaffarabad. A local charity in association with OXFAM is distributing one month’s ration to everyone. But that is good for only those who can get to the distribution center. Then they have the problem to lug the supplies back to where they are staying. There are huge landslides which are stopping the passage of any motor vehicle to most areas. Chinook helicopters are also being used to distribute the supplies in those difficult areas. Each flight is costing 15,000 sterling pounds. That makes it the most expensive relief effort in the world. There are at least three villages (around Muzaffarabad) which are still unreachable and no one knows what has happened in those villages.
The mountains appeared so serene through the eyes of the camera, but soon the harsh winter is going to set in and things are going to turn to worse. From a distance the plastic tents look so organized and actually beautiful. But inside the camps things are really unbearable for those who are living there. The plastic tents can only save one from the rain, not from the bitter cold.
The faces of the lost children who have been orphaned, those of the old men who see their near and dear ones starving but cannot do a thing about it, make you cry with tears. There is a sense of helplessness that I cannot explain in words. Those who have died in the disaster have gone closer to Allah. But those who have survived, have to face more hardships. Here we are sitting in our warm living rooms and bedrooms watching the news in the USA, in Europe and all around the world.
I wonder what will the Zakat Fitra, or a few hundred dollars or a few thousand dollars that we will send individually, do for those hapless souls.
That is how I feel today, the day of Eed-ul-Fitr in this 1426th year of Hijra.
By:Syed-Mohsin Naquvi Shawwal 1426 Hijra
I went to the Islamic center this morning to attend the Eed-ul-Fitr prayers. All the friends that I am used to seeing at such occasions were there. There was Salat and there was the standard Khutba (actually two of them). Then there was the Eed Breakfast/brunch. Friends embraced each other and said Eed Mubarak to each other.
The prayer leader mentioned the victims of the earthquake briefly. However, I personally felt that the atmosphere was subdued and somber. I too embraced people. But I had difficulty uttering those words.
The word Eed is derived from the Arabic verb A’ada/Ya’udu, which means “to come back again and again.” But, I asked myself: “Did it really come back this year?”
Definitely not for the next of kin of those who perished in the earthquake– in excess of 73,000 human beings; definitely not for the two million rendered homeless in Kashmir and elsewhere.
Islam relies on human contact for every social aspect of human life. That is why the congregational prayers are so strongly recommended. The idea is that the Muslims living in one neighbourhood (at least the men-folk) would meet five times-a-day and be aware of each other’s difficulties, joys and griefs. That is why it is recommended that the Muslims living in one town should go to Eed prayers out in the open together so that they can meet at least once a year. That also is the main philosophy behind the Hajj ritual once in a life-time so that Muslims can meet with other Muslims living in other parts of the world. The main aim is human communication by personal touch. I sometimes wonder, are the Muslims using those mechanisms as intended by the law-giver?
I went to see an old friend at his place and then returned home. I was not in the mood to celebrate by any stretch of the meaning of that word.
At 6 p.m. I was watching BBC World News. General Pervez Musharraf was being interviewed. First time I saw him disappointed, dejected and helpless. He announced that he has cancelled the purchase of the F-16’s to save that money to be spent on the reconstruction and rehabilitation effort. He was disappointed that the world community had not responded in proportion to the size and degree of the disaster.
The camera then focused on the disaster area in Muzaffarabad. A local charity in association with OXFAM is distributing one month’s ration to everyone. But that is good for only those who can get to the distribution center. Then they have the problem to lug the supplies back to where they are staying. There are huge landslides which are stopping the passage of any motor vehicle to most areas. Chinook helicopters are also being used to distribute the supplies in those difficult areas. Each flight is costing 15,000 sterling pounds. That makes it the most expensive relief effort in the world. There are at least three villages (around Muzaffarabad) which are still unreachable and no one knows what has happened in those villages.
The mountains appeared so serene through the eyes of the camera, but soon the harsh winter is going to set in and things are going to turn to worse. From a distance the plastic tents look so organized and actually beautiful. But inside the camps things are really unbearable for those who are living there. The plastic tents can only save one from the rain, not from the bitter cold.
The faces of the lost children who have been orphaned, those of the old men who see their near and dear ones starving but cannot do a thing about it, make you cry with tears. There is a sense of helplessness that I cannot explain in words. Those who have died in the disaster have gone closer to Allah. But those who have survived, have to face more hardships. Here we are sitting in our warm living rooms and bedrooms watching the news in the USA, in Europe and all around the world.
I wonder what will the Zakat Fitra, or a few hundred dollars or a few thousand dollars that we will send individually, do for those hapless souls.
That is how I feel today, the day of Eed-ul-Fitr in this 1426th year of Hijra.
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