POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE DESIRES AND INTENTIONS

ACADEMIC SESSION FOR THE MEMBERS OF MQM PAK COLONY AND BALDIA-TOWN SECTORS

November 23, 2006

It holds true for any individual of any movement that the more resolute he is in the mission of the movement i.e. as he grows in maturity in understanding the mission of his movement the stronger he will emerge in the harnessing of the weaknesses of his character and his human desires. In every human being the instinct of wants, desires and longings takes root as it is inherent in human nature. Certain wants desires and longings are so positive in human nature that in nurturing and in striving for their achievement they are not only rewarding for ones own personal self but for their families, neighbours and sometimes even the whole society stands benefited. Such desires are termed as positive wants and aspirations; whereas certain wants, desires and longings have such characteristics that harbouring and striving for their achievement not only proves to be disastrous and flagrant (shameful) for ones own self repute but it also drags the family, neighbours and even the society into the mire.

It is no crime to nurture positive desires as they are constructive, but, if in the achievement of these desires the intent and intentions are negative then the entire process and the struggle for their achievement is negated. We can take the example of a person who has a constructive, positive desire to educate himself and acquire knowledge not only to reform himself culturally and gain insight for his personal self but to propagate it to help and to assist others. He has a longing to be associated with some educational institution to spread and share the wealth of his knowledge or to start his own institution for the purpose of teaching and training so that the money he earns can be utilized for the upkeep and maintenance of his family, to help educate the children of his family members and the less fortunate from his earnings. A desire with such a constructive intention is a positive desire and the purpose in wanting to achieve it is also positive. Yet, another individual desires to be a sportsman and wants to excel in that particular sport to play on a national level to make his country proud. He wants to reach heights of excellence in ranking and position to be able to earn better not only to support his children and family but also to be able to help the deprived and the famished. He also desires to train the younger players by sharing his experience to help them improve in that sport, such a desire and to strive for its achievement is definitely a very positive desire. In the same manner we can say that a certain individual observes suffering and affliction around him, so he wants to do something to alleviate it and then the desire kindles in him and with the intent to help the afflicted and the suffering he aspires to form a welfare centre to serve humanity. This desire and its acquisition is nothing but undoubtedly a positive desire. The same holds true for an individual who desires to become an Islamic Scholar and strives in that discipline to carry the message of Islam. He desires to gain Islamic knowledge and educate the people and tell them about the excellence and the extraordinary guidance provided by this religion, to help overcome human weaknesses and guides individuals to rid themselves of negative and passive tendencies. He has a longing and aspires to change the negative characteristics of the people into positive and worthy tendencies so that they follow the righteous path; this desire and its acquisition is a positive desire.           In the same way when a person observes that there is degeneration and the society is heading towards disaster and that there is presence of dishonesty, fraud , bribery, favouritism, injustices, breakdown of rules and regulations and the crushing and bearing down of the people who are weaker, on the basis of provincial and ethno-linguistic differences. If this becomes the order of the day then these ills, irregularities, injustices and inequalities give rise to a desire to find ways to put an end to these social ills, hostilities and blemishes. This person is then bent on the achievement of his desire for correction of these ills, irrespective of personal sacrifices required and all for the sake of humanity. Such an individual is selfless and is oblivious to his personal desires, his aspirations, his time and the money spent, to the extent that he does not deter from sacrificing his life too.

If an individual is not endowed with qualities and skills such as mentioned above which are the requirement to jump head on, in the arena but for some undetermined reasons cannot practically set an example alone by himself, to rectify the social problems, then this individual looks for opportunities to join a movement or party which is already striving to rid the society of corruption and social ills. He then joins in with a firm commitment not only to strengthen in furthering the party or movement but to practically strive with them in wiping out these social ills. The harbouring of such wishes and desires not only for oneself but for the people around you, your country, nation or society and for their collective betterment is actually an individual’s extremely positive desire. The struggle for the achievement of these desires will also be termed as a positive struggle by means of which he not only caters to his personal welfare but becomes a means or medium for each and every individual’s welfare.

On the other hand an individual may have an apparently positive desire but his intentions and intent are negative then the desire and the struggle for its achievement will be termed as a negative process. Take the example of a person who desires to be highly qualified so that he is able to earn a lot of money and because of his amassed wealth people would respect him, he would walk around holding his head up arrogantly, people would come to him begging, he would throw alms in their way thereby making them his admirers and slaves. In this case, the desire to acquire educational qualification and the means to the end is regard as a negative process because of his negative intentions. Yet another individual desires to become a sportsman but his intentions are to excel solely to get selected on the level of the national team, earn laurels for himself so that he is in a position to fix matches to amass wealth. This individual does not bother and is least pushed about the reputation and respect of his team or country even if it were to bring disgrace and dishonour. He may even have a longing and may aspire to be the chairman of the cricket board or be hired as a coach with intentions to (train the players to make them err) or (to give erroneous training) and even to the upcoming younger players but he only desires that his name be carried in the position of a coach. Such negative desires and practically striving for their achievement makes it all a negative process. In the same way an individual may desire to be a religious scholar and acquire enough knowledge to be able to impress the public by reciting a few verses of the Holy Quran and a few sayings of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and later his intentions are to start his business by making and selling ‘Taweez’ i.e. inscriptions to hood-wink the people in trouble and ill-health. He may even have the intention of misusing the verses with the help of the devil to achieve such powers such that the naïve and innocent are trapped and snared in his clutches. He may also long for power to entice the guileless and unsuspecting people who will willingly become the tool of the devil and serves as fuel to gain for him the powers of the devil. Desires with such intentions and their acquisition is termed as a negative process, even though, apparently his desire to be a religious scholar may have looked like a positive desire.

We can also take the example of the cold war between Russia and America where the so called ‘Mullahs’ clerics used the unsuspecting innocent Muslims as fuel in the war to serve the American interest. The fact that requires your attention is what was the interest of the Muslims in the cold war between the Russians and Americans? The reasoning the clerics would offer to this question is that the Russians were interested in reaching warm waters through the occupation of Afghanistan therefore the involvement of the Muslims was essential. Now the question that arises is that during that period of the cold war if the Russians did reach Afghanistan then it was the job of the Americans to stop them from reaching the warm waters. Recorded facts show that the so called Mullahs and clerics misquoted and distorted the Quranic verses and the sayings of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) using the name of Afghanistan and turned the whole scenario into a war between Kufr and Islam and termed this war ‘Jihad’ and in connivance with the Americans they preached misleading and out of context Quranic Verses and the sayings of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) thereby, highly charging the emotions of thousands of unsuspecting Muslims and trained them to fight the Russians. It was for the training of the ‘Mujahideen’ i.e. “fighters who fight as saviours of Islam” that these so called mullahs received bags full of dollars in return for their services. The Americans and the ISI were hand in glove in preparing and training these Mujahideen but it was the so called Mullahs who campaigned using the name of Allah and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) to lure people in joining the training camps. The Islamic factions misquoted Quranic verses and the ‘Hadith’ i.e. sayings of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) aiding the job of the ISI and the Americans in return for huge sums of dollars from the Americans. At that point of time the dollars so received were considered legitimate by these religious factions but after the withdrawal of the Russian forces from Afghanistan, the Americans having thus achieved their goal, the flow of bags of dollars ceased. Once again these religious factions are busy preaching out of context and distorted translations of the Quranic verses and the ‘Hadith’ to incite people, now, against America and prompting them to do Jihad because the flow of American dollars is no more in sight but funding is ongoing only, the source and coarse has changed. With the change in the source of funding of these religious factions, loyalties too have taken a turn and once again, misinterpretation of religion is being carried out to mislead the simpletons to create hatred for the Americans and do Jihad against them. Distorted versions and out of context translations of the verses of the Quran and Hadith are presented in a very convincing manner to the ingenious public. If the so called Mullahs and clerics are told to stay out of the conflict between warring parties and that they should stop interference and leave the disputes to be settled by those to whom they belong i.e. between Afghanistan, Iraq and the Americans. They promptly respond by advocating that the Afghans and Iraqis are Muslims and have their faith in Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) thus making us brethren in faith. Their interpretation is that Islam says where ever your brethren in faith face trouble it becomes our responsibility to go forward to help, hence, we are duty bound to aid the Afghans and Iraqis.

What I am trying to question is that demonstrations are held and voices are raised by the people of Pakistan in favour of Muslims from all over the world when they face problems but when Pakistan is in hot waters has any Muslim country ever raised its voice in its favour and support? May it be the 1965 war or the 1971 tragedy when did any Muslim state come forward to help Pakistan in its times of adversity? Has any Muslim country to date come forward to demonstrate for the issue and cause of Kashmir? The OIC has met and held conferences innumerable times, has any Muslim country passed a single resolution stating that if the issue of Kashmir is not resolved we will declare Jihad? There are more than 50 Islamic countries, has any Muslim country ever taken a stand to state that if the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq does not come to an end and the foreign forces do not withdraw we will declare war against them? One is forced to think about the relationship of the Muslim countries whether they enjoy closer and better relationship with India or is it with Pakistan? Do the Islamic countries favour India or do they favour Pakistan on issues raised on the floor of the U.N? The requirement here is that we make use of the gift of the commonsense and intelligence bestowed on us and by its application make our decisions deliberatively through realism rather than emotionally. Analysis of issues is required for practical application, keeping in view the ground realities and great importance be paid as regards the timing and situation. It has been common practice with the so-called mullahs to stir the people and use them for the fulfilment of their ulterior motives by raising emotional slogans using the name of Islam as its tool. These so called mullahs have misled the nation not only by defacing all that Islam stands for but they also have the audacity to distort the facts about the personalities in the Muslim history. They very proudly relate about Mahmood Ghaznavi as the hero of Islam and a valorous emperor who attacked the temple of ‘Somnat’ seventeen times and eventually succeeded in conquering it. The true fact is that Mahmood Ghaznavi never attacked the temple of Somnat to propagate Islam but the reality lies in the fact that the temple of Somnat was the biggest temple of that period and it was laden with tons of gold, therefore, repeated attacks were made to plunder the gold. If we deliberate then what would be the answer to the attacks which were made to plunder the gold, would it be termed as mugging or would it be for furthering the cause of Islam? These so called mullahs have tragically highlighted such characters and made them the heroes of Islam but such a Supreme Personality as that of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has been side lined. Can these so called mullahs who have declared plunderers and looters as the heroes of Islam and the Muslims answer the question, that did the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) ever preach plunder and ransack? Did the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) ever teach us to attack to ransack other religion's places of worship? These so-called mullahs distort and deface the image of Islam and the history of Islam. They portray plunderers and attackers of non-Muslim worship places who committed crimes and un-Islamic deeds as the heroes of the Muslims but they do not recount the unsurpassed traits, character, deeds, practices and pre-eminent conduct of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him).

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) never preached nor practiced plunder or ransack but because of his excellence of character and exemplary conduct he (peace be upon him) made room for love even in the hearts of the non-Muslims. These non-Muslims were so inspired that they embraced Islam. Had the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) ever relied on plunder “may Allah forgive me” then, would he have gone hungry even for a single day? Whereas the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) had to go hungry for many days at an end. He (peace be upon him) even tied stones on his (peace be upon him) empty stomach to ease the pain of the pangs but never ever thought of stealing; whereas, on the other hand these so called mullahs are busy plundering and stealing; and living lives of luxury and portraying plundering kings and emperors as the heroes of the Muslims. Is this a service to enhance the cause of Islam? The misfortune is that these so-called mullahs have not only misled the nation by providing defective education and erroneous historical facts but they have also presented a defaced version of Islam which has created a negative perception of Islam all over the world.

The leaders of the so-called religious political parties on the one hand declare that the casting of female votes, their working alongside males, attending co-educational institutions is all un-Islamic but on the other hand they allow their own wives, daughters and sisters in-law to be voted into the assemblies and let them sit on the benches with male members. The question now arises is, How is it, that, what they declare as illegal and un-Islamic for others becomes legal and Islamic for them? We must never be influenced by the pep-talk of these so called dubious leaders who are so malevolent and misleading, instead we must, at all costs exercise our own intellectual judgments to understand the facts. These so called mullahs and Islamic leaders misuse Islamic education to serve their own interests because in their acquiring of Islamic education they harbour negative desires and negative intentions therefore where the intentions and intents are negative, the desire to acquire such Islamic education will be a negative desire and the entire modus operandi is negative. The same holds true for an individual who desires to create a welfare organization but his intentions are to invest the funds collected for the purpose of the welfare for the construction of his own buildings and personal property then this entire process will neither be considered nor termed as a positive process.

In the same way there can be a society which is totally corrupted and where justice and equality do not exist, where the right to rule lies only with feudal lords, estate holders, the affluent and their heirs but the poor and less affluent are deprived of this right. Where the law is different for the rich and different for the poor and where certain articles of the constitution are applicable only for the poor, where as, the well-connected and the rich are exempted; where the provinces are deprived of their fundamental rights and where provincial autonomy is denied; Then how can one expect the existence of peace and dispensation of justice in such an unjust society? An individual from such an unjust society seeks to wipe-out cruelty and injustice, he seeks the supremacy of law and justice, he seeks for the rights of the ruled and the deprived, equality in the treatment of the rich and poor, presence of a fair and just system and provincial autonomy for the provinces. If an individual who nurturers such desires joins in with an ideological movement to struggle and carries the mission and purpose of the movement forward to achieve the goal not taking into account his time, money, personal desires, future plans, and if required is ready even to sacrifice his life then this entire process will be called a positive process. If on the other hand an individual joins in with an ideological movement and instead of following the procedures mentioned or the rules set by the movement he goes against them and instead of working for the achievement of the rights of the deprived masses he starts enhancing and promoting his self interests, then this entire process is not a positive but negative process.

In the light of the talk delivered each one of us needs to analyze and evaluate one’s self. It is crucial for us to find out that as a members of the ideological movement, are we working and giving time towards the achievement of the goals of its eminent mission and purpose, are we sacrificing our self interests and money or is the dominance of self interests more over-powering as compared to the collective interests. Teachings of the movement are all about the spirit of selflessness and sacrifice and to share with those who are poverty stricken and deprived. Do we still possess this spirit of selflessness and sacrifice? From day one the teaching of the movement is do not flex your muscles, be compassionate and humane, are all the companions in the movement still adhering to these principles? As an infant one is not aware of cleanliness and he wets his clothes; he does not know the good from the bad and eats anything lying on the floor but as he grows he understands to sift the good from the bad and learns about cleanliness and hygiene. As he grows he does not wet his clothes and does not eat dirty things lying on the floor. All those of you who have been associated with the movement are no longer infants or kids and but have grown and aged along with the movement, hence, you have matured. Therefore any non-ideological behaviour from your end will be considered as that of an infant who wets his clothes or picks-up and eats some dirty things from the floor. The sincerity to the movement and to its ideology lies in the fact that you devote your energies in the achievement of the collective interests rather than busy yourselves in the achievement and enhancement of individual selfish interests. Instead of getting interested and involving yourselves with factions which is a non-ideological practice you should stay steadfast with the ideology of the movement such that your association be fortified with the movement and with its ideology. Keep yourselves clear of social evils; carry on with your character building, improve practices and behaviour till it becomes exemplary and you must create an environment to be recognized as a disciplined movement. It is only through positive practices that the mission of the movement and the achievement of its goals can be declared and recognized as a positive desire.