Osama-Omar fail miserably to incite violence and revolution..
Osama letter to people of Pakistan and Jazeera coverage and authentication of that call of 'revolution' fell on deaf ears for where it was intended for. This letter was in my opinion a coded message and a planned attempt to hijack this meeting of millions pious man who wants to take an asylum from their worldly worries and happiness by devoting themselves to win the approval of the God. The letter timely ugly exploitation was aimed in my opinion to start the real troubles with million faithful gathered for annual meeting in the heart of Punjab the province that is 65% of Pakistan, the province that provides 80% of our army. He failed miserably.
Nobody raised any slogans, nor anyone carried Osama bin Laden's photographs, even though they were pasted on one solitary shop -- no body paid any attention. Similarly, there were no flags or high sounding clerics surrounded by gun-totting guards. One could not even find out who the leaders or organisers of the huge show were. The people attending were asked what is the use of simple worship when hundreds of Muslims are being killed in Afghanistan, they said this is the wrath of God that has fallen on us due to our deviant ways of life. A Muslim's first duty is to first transform his own life and then invite others, howsoever sinful they may be.
On the second day of this annual get-together, on Friday, the congregation had reached its climax attracting almost half a million people. This will continue till the final prayers on Sunday when hundreds of groups will be formed to spread the elementary message of Islam to everyone, regardless of faith or character, be they invaders or invaded, including Taliban's Afghanistan and Yankees' America.
Talking to The News, a Tableeghi, who had been to North America on a preaching mission, insisted that Taliban should have invited the Americans to Islam, rather than pick a fight. He was even worried that their sacred mission of inviting the non-Muslims to the virtues of Islam has met a setback with the September 11 terrorism. There is no room for perpetrating or harbouring terrorism, or killing innocent people in Islam, emphasised another who had come to Raiwind from Malakand Agency from where more than 10,000 volunteers have left to join Taliban in their holy war.
Unaffected by the religious edicts of holy war, the Tableeghis will keep on their non-violent, pedagogic mission, as they will disappear from Raiwind on Sunday into the wilderness of their invisible campaign.
By the way I noticed that this meeting had 65% of Pushtuns, the whole of the nation has taken a sign of relief at this peaceful event where unfortunately no one covered the 1-1.5 million over three days gathered in name of Islam but quietly praying for washing of their collective sin, that is really required by the Muslims as they have quite a bit of baggage since 11th Sept. The biggest single event after Hajj is the event that is going on right now in Lahore, to our very pleasant surprise the whole event has rejected the call of violence, if one thing I was worried about was this event reaction, by rejecting the violence of Osama and Omar the dual evil devils of modern age. I see absolutely no threat to our government. The mammoth congregation of the faithful is said to be the largest after the Hajj pilgrimage at Makkah.
Million followers of the "Tableeghi Jamaat" (Group of Preachers) begged God's forgiveness on Friday while keeping themselves strictly aloof from what's happening in Afghanistan or on the streets of Pakistan. Spread into four or five square kilometres, one could see an unending mass of people who have gathered just to offer collective prayers, feel their ground and again spread out to convey the self-assuaging message of God. The largest number, almost 65 per cent, was of the Pakhtuns with almost no Baloch and least of all Sindhis among their ranks.
Unlike jihadi outfits and religio-political parties calling for holy war, the Tableeghis, known as the pacifist pedagogues of the faith, reiterated their commitment to peaceful preaching of Islam, rather than resort to violent means.
Without calling names or finding faults with others, be they various Muslim sects or non-believers, the Tableeghis focussed on their own self-purification through continuing to pray to God and avoiding secular temptations for worldly things or gratification of politics our clerics have become so fond of.
There were no banners of holy war, nor anybody made demagogic calls for a ferocious battle against the "infidels". They, rather, insisted on spreading the message of God to those who remain ignorant of His calling.
If any one would have given a call for walk to Lahore 40 KM away and remove the government, no one could stop them, no one is ready to fire on people or roll tanks over their heads, the very reason that people are not taking advantage is the fact that silent majority is very vocal in demonstrating by not demonstrating on the streets, where everyone has to work to make ends meet, demonstrations are a luxury business. I do not expect them to demonstrate by keeping quite and going about their routine without listening to Osama-Omar daredevil acts bordering insanity is the biggest service they do to themselves.
Without indulging in any kind of polemics or accusing anyone, almost every Tableeghi underlined the necessity to pray for His forgiveness and beg for His mercy. Picking guns and fighting for power is forbidden and useless, unless we win the blessings of God, said a very senior Tableeghi.
Although mainly from Deobandi school of Islam, the Tableeghis not only differ with their original sect for indulging in politics, but also insist on the propagation of non-sectarian view of Islam on whom nobody has a monopoly or have a right to exclude any. They preach and practice very simple, ritualistic and rudimentary version of Islam that appeals to the common man and attract those who have no one to resort to but God.
Their emphasis is on Haqooq-Allah (duty towards God), rather than Haqooq-ul-Ibad (rights of the people), since they believe that all our sins, deprivations, difficulties and miseries are due to our distance from God and nothing can compensate that except a total resort to win His blessings and forgiveness.
As distinct from all other sects, including all religio-political parties, the Tableeghis do not apostatise anyone. With a firm belief in monotheist God and his last Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), they give absolute priority to pedagogy of faith and prefer to invite everybody from every faith to embrace His message for his own good. No more, no less. Their method is too simple and non-coercive.
They abhor politics, avoid worldly gratification, lead a simple life, reject consumerism and prefer to devote their energies to spread the message of God to everyone and every nook and corner of the world.
Relying entirely on volunteerism and self-dedication, they devote a part or whole of their life for the cause of spreading Islam while emphasising five essentials of Islam. Their aloofness from politics, simplicity, politeness, non-sectarian and non-violent ways attract many simplistic Muslims, guilty, sinful, and non-Muslims. The Tableeghis politely ignore all accusations against them and keep going on their mission.
However, they can be termed, in some ways, as a kind of escapists, who rather than tackling the problems faced by the Muslim masses focus on praying to God for forgiveness. This is also precisely, the escape route, that attracts most of its followers. In a way, the Tableeghis are a blessing who do not profess a creed of hate or exclusion.
In a traditional social soil of tolerance, they are more successful than all sectarian or religious-political parties put together and have succeeded in building a mass base without a clerical organisational structure. Astonishingly, they have kept their group totally non-hierarchical, despite running a massive campaign and organising largest religious gatherings in South Asia. It's a voluntary movement that has evolved its own norms and working patterns without getting bogged down under an un-palpable organisational structure.
The self-image of a Tableeghi is the image of a The Tableeghi Jamaat essentially focuses on developing a character-structure that is puritan and submitting to the will of God, rather than an open and free man.
The big city they develop each year outside Raiwind also portrays their kind of life-style that replays sixth century in the modern age with, of course, some modern cooking techniques. |
