Tragedies are Blessing in Disguise

 

Tragedies do occur, shake the nation, break it, test the mettle of a person or nation. It may destroy the nation and wipe the country off the face of the earth or take the nation and a person to the boundless success. Tragedy can be a fatal blow to the identity of a person, community, nationalities or nation.

Atom bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Germany was divided by erecting a wall between east and west Germany, west Germany was divided between, Russia, US and UK, and it was made a virtual brothel and turned it into a camp worse than  Gestapo to inflict atrocities, torture, humiliation and mayhem seeing which even Gestapo would feel shame. But these nations stood high and strong, willing to remake what was lost, shunning mourning and rebuilding past glory they once cherished, success came to them when they showed determination as Milton said in his Paradise Lost:

"What though the field be lost?

All is not lost-the unconquerable will.

..........................................................

And courage never to submit or yield."

........................................................... 

The resolve, unconquerable will, never to submit to adversity, never to yield to the tragedy but ever ready to take advantage of the tragedy by taking stock of the situation, analyzing the fault lines, pondering over the divisive issues and difference of opinions which can have serious repercussions, can frame a brighter and silver lining in that adversity and tragedy can become a complete and perfect blessings.

But........... a serious but .... we never desired to have an academic debate, sane discussion, national dialogue on the issue eroding the societal fabric.

Quoting Milton again "doing or suffering" "To be weak is miserable" the choice makes all the difference. it depends upon our choice to keep on "suffering" or to make a resolve to change ourselves by "Doing". The weak are bound to suffer. Its solely our choice to be weak as we are not prone to work and are a blind followers. our shepherd has gone astray and leading us towards the deep pit and happily we are falling in the trap bound to destroy us. If they are turning the evil into good, it is our sacred duty to foil their attempt and turn all evil into good by educated and informed decision about religion politics, business, society and follow the tenets of our religion and judge all on the touchstone of these tenet rising above the slavish, sectarian, parochial and narrow minded approach.

Man is bound to make his own hell and heaven, others can lead to hell but we are duty bound to make this hell a heaven through commitment and doing our part of the duty.

“wake, arise or be forever fallen.” this is the lesson which we need to learn and secondly 

 “War then war

Open or understood must be resolv’d.

we ought to resolve whatever have been misunderstood, settle the difference, find the culprit who is eating away the body politic, suffocating the religion, and eroding the social, cultural and personal lives of the people.

We know that "the gold has long been rusted" and shepherd has become the wolf but still we have a chance to realize this and rise and make it a livable place. We are still hoping against hope that " the priest must live a holy life if he expects ordinary people to live holy lives" but we should stop accepting it, instead LIVE YOURSELF A HOLY LIVE and MAKE HOLY PRIESTS OF THIS SOCIETY TO LIVE  HOLY LIVES. 

Faiz Mahmood 

Tragedies are a blessing in disguise

Tragedies do occur, shake the nation, break it, test the mettle of a person or nation. It may destroy the nation and wipe the country off the face of the earth or take the nation and a person to the boundless success. Tragedy can be a fatal blow to the identity of a person, community, nationalities or nation.

Atom bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Germany was divided by erecting a wall between east and west Germany, west Germany was divided between, Russia, US and UK, and it was made a virtual brothel and turned it into a camp worse than  Gestapo to inflict atrocities, torture, humiliation and mayhem seeing which even Gestapo would feel shame. But these nations stood high and strong, willing to remake what was lost, shunning mourning and rebuilding past glory they once cherished, success came to them when they showed determination as Milton said in his Paradise Lost:

What though the field be lost?

All is not lost-the unconquerable will.

..........................................................

And courage never to submit or yield.

........................................................... 

The resolve, unconquerable will, never to submit to adversity, never to yield to the tragedy but ever ready to take advantage of the tragedy by taking stock of the situation, analyzing the fault lines, pondering over the divisive issues and difference of opinions which can have serious repercussions, can frame a brighter and silver lining in that adversity and tragedy can become a complete and perfect blessings.

But........... a serious but .... we never desired to have an academic debate, sane discussion, national dialogue on the issue eroding the societal fabric.

Quoting Milton again "doing or suffering" "To be weak is miserable" the choice makes all the difference. it depends upon our choice to keep on "suffering" or to make a resolve to change ourselves by "Doing". The weak are bound to suffer. Its solely our choice to be weak as we are not prone to work and are a blind followers. our shepherd has gone astray and leading us towards the deep pit and happily we are falling in the trap bound to destroy us. If they are turning the evil into good, it is our sacred duty to foil their attempt and turn all evil into good by educated and informed decision about religion politics, business, society and follow the tenets of our religion and judge all on the touchstone of these tenet rising above the slavish, sectarian, parochial and narrow minded approach.

Man is bound to make his own hell and heaven, others can lead to hell but we are duty bound to make this hell a heaven through commitment and doing our part of the duty.

“wake, arise or be forever fallen.” this is the lesson which we need to learn and secondly 

 “War then war

Open or understood must be resolv’d.

we ought to resolve whatever have been misunderstood, settle the difference, find the culprit who is eating away the body politic, suffocating the religion, and eroding the social, cultural and personal lives of the people.

We know that "the gold has long been rusted" and shepherd has become the wolf but still we have a chance to realize this and rise and make it a livable place. We are still hoping against hope that " the priest must live a holy life if he expects ordinary people to live holy lives" but we should stop accepting it, instead LIVE YOURSELF A HOLY LIVE and MAKE HOLY PRIESTS OF THIS SOCIETY TO LIVE  HOLY LIVES. 

Faiz Mahmood 

دسمبر ۔ سیز فائر سے پشاور تک۔

آہ دسمبر 

دسمبر کا مہینہ ہر پرستار قدرت اور عشاق ندرت کا نہ صرف پسندیدہ ہے بلکہ اس مہینے میں شاعر اپنا بہترین کلام پیش کرکے داد و تحسین وصول کرتے ہیں ۔اس موسم میں بہار سے زیادہ خوبصورتی ، تنوع ، دلفریب، دیدہ زیب ، خوشنما رنگ انسانی ذوق اور جمالیات کو ایسا روحانی سکوں بخشتے  ہیں اور ایسے ایسے اسباق گرے ہوئے پتوں اور ڈالیوں  کی صورت میں ہمیں دکھاتے ہیں جو دنیا کی کوئی کتاب نہ پڑھا سکتی ہے نہ سکھا سکتی ہے۔ زندگی کی نا پائیداری اور بے ثباتی گرے ہوئے پتے اور سر سبز پتے دوسری طرف اس زندگی کے چلتے رہنے کا نام ہے جو اس دن ختم ہو گی جس دن صور اسرافیل بجایاجائیگا  لیکن کیا کروں میں دسمبر کے حسین نظارے  دیکھوں یا ان 90 ہزار فوجی جوانوں کو دیکھوں جو بے رحم سیاست کی بھینٹ چڑھ کر قیدوبند  کی صعوبتیں  برداشت کرتے رہے اور میرا ایک بازو میرے جسم سے جدا ہو گیا۔ میں گرے ہوئے پتوں کی خوبصورتی سے محظوظ ہوں  یا ان پتوں پر آنسو بہاوں جو بن کھلے،آنگن کو حسن بخشنے سے پہلے ہی کسی بے رحم درندے  کی گولی کا نشانہ بن کر اپنے ہی آنگن کے درودیوار کو خون آلود کر کے اپنوں کے خون ہمیشہ کے لئے ڈرنے کو چھوڑ گئے۔ دسمبر تو تو بے رحم نہیں تھا ۔ تیری خوبصورتی تو مجھے پسند تھی تو کیوں مجھے تارتار کر گیا۔ ؟۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔ نہیں تو نے نہیں میں نے خود ہی  اپنے جسم کو تار تار کیا۔ اس کی بوٹیاں  نچوڑیں، اس کو اپنے ہاتھوں سے درندوں کو سونپا اسے اپنے ہاتھوں سے قاتلوں کے بے رحم ہاتھوں ، خون آلود نظروں اور سفاک دل کے ہاتھوں سونپ دیا تاکہ وہ ننھی کلیوں اور ادھر کھلے پھولوں کو اپنی موت اگلتی، بے حس، ننگ  انسان بندوق سے اپنی حیوانیت  اور خون پینے کی پیاس بجھا سکے اور اپنے خود ساختہ مذہب کا نام اونچا کر سکے۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔ لیکن ہم نہ اپنے بازو کو بھولے  ہیں، نہ اپنے بچوں کو بھولیں گے۔ ہم تمیں بھی نہیں بھولیں گے۔ جب تک دنیا رہے گے دسمبر آتا رہے گا۔ اے پی ایس کے بچے ہمیں رولاتے  رہیں گے ہماری آنکھوں کا پانی خشک ہو جائیگا لیکن اے دسمبر ہم اپنے بچوں کو نہ بھولیں گے اور نہ ہم ان کے قاتلوں کو۔ 

دین ابراھیمیہ

بظاہر "دین ابراہیمیہ" ایک مقدس نام ہے مگر اس دور میں اس کے پیچھے چھپی خفیہ گھناؤنی سازش نہ صرف امت مسلمہ بلکہ پوری  انسانیت کے لیے بڑا خطرہ ہے، نیو ورلڈ آرڈر ایک پراجیکٹ ہے جو اب کسی سے ڈھکی چھپی بات نہیں مگر یہ پراجیکٹ کامیاب ہوتا دکھائی نہیں دیتا، جتنی صلاحتیں اور وسائل ہم دین کی تبلیغ پر خرچ کرتے ہیں اس سے کئی بڑھ کر دشمن طاقتیں اس کے خلاف کرتے ہیں بلکہ پوری قوت کے ساتھ ایک منظم منصوبے کے تحت اس پر کام کررہے ہیں، اس منصوبے کی واحد رکاوٹ امت مسلمہ، راکھ میں چھپی چنگاری کی مانند ہے جو ذرا سی ہوا سے بھڑک اٹھے۔

   ہے اگر مجھ کو خطر کوئی تو اس امت سے ہے

جس کی خاکستر میں ہے اب تک شرارِ آرزو

    ابلیس کے چیلے ہار ماننے والوں میں سے نہیں، اس پراجیکٹ کو ایک نئے نام اور نئے انداز سے پیش کیا گیا جو اب تک فقط ایک اتحاد  کا نام  ہے مگر مستقبل قریب میں یہ اپنی پوری طاقت کے ساتھ ابھرے گا اور پوری دنیا پرچھا جائے گا، جس کے نعرے پر بہت سے کمزور ایمان والے بھی لبیک کہیں گے، اور سادہ لو مسلمان اپنے علماء سے یہ پوچھتے نظر آئیں گے کہ "دین کیا ہے؟"،  افسوس آج بھی اس سوال کے جواب  سے ہم نا واقف ہیں۔

       15 ستمبر 2020 کو  سابق امریکی صدر ڈانلڈ ٹرمپ  کی سربراہی میں اسرائیل اور مشرق وسطٰی کے چار عرب ممالک متحدہ عرب امارات، بحرین، سوڈان اور مراکش کے درمیان ایک معاہدہ ہوا ، اس معاہدے کو تحریری شکل دی گئی اور اس کو "الديانة الإبراهيمية"  Abrahamic religions کا نام دیا گیا، جس کا مقصد  دین ابراہیم کے ماننے والوں کو یکجا کیا جائے جس میں یہود، نصارٰی اور مسلم ہیں، یہ معاہدہ اس وقت فقط اسرائیل اور انہیں عرب کے چارممالک کے درمیان ہے مگر بہت جلد یہ زہر تمام مسلم ممالک  کی رگوں میں اترجائے گا۔
       ہم اب تک اپنی  بنیادی تعلیمات کی حقیقت میں الجھے ہوئے ہیں گویا اس مدرسے کی پہلی جماعت بھی پاس نہ کرسکے، جب یہ طوفان اپنی پوری طاقت کے ساتھ  آئے گا تو اس کا مقابلہ فقط ایک ہی ذریعہ سے ہوسکے گا اور وہ ہے "علم"۔۔۔ جس سے ہم خالی ہیں۔
       شاید وقت بہت کم ہے مگر ختم نہیں ہوا، ضرورت ہے آگاہی کی اور لوگوں میں شعور بیدار کرنے کی۔
 خدارا اس بات کو سمجھا جائے کہ ہمیں کچھ نہیں کرنا  فقط تمام تر تعصبات سے بالا تر ہوکر اللہ کی رسی کو مضبوطی سے تھامنا ہوگا ۔
دعاؤں کا طالب

محمد علی بلوچ

 اس دنیا میں انسان امتحان کی غرض سے سکونت پذیر ہے خود چنیدہ امتحان میں کامیابی کا دارومدار صحیح راستے کا چناو ہے یہ چنوتی اتنی کثیر الجہات ہے کہ اگر گہرائی میں جاکر تجزیہ کیا جائے تو نجات صرف  رب کی رحمت میں ہی نظر آتی ہے۔حقوق اللّہ کو ہم نے ثانوی درجہ دے رکھا ہے کہ اللّہ معاف کریگا ۔کیسے کریگا؟ اس پر غور کی کبھی نوبت ہی نہیں آئی۔رب ہونے کے ناطے جو نعمتیں اس نے ہمیں عطا کررکھی ہیں ان کا شمار کرنے بیٹھیں تو گنتی ختم ہوجائے اور حساب کرنے بیٹھیں تو ایک ایک نعمت کے شکر پر زندگی ختم ہوجائے ۔ایک چائے کی پیالی پلانے والے کا احسان تو چکانے والے زندگی بھر یاد رکھتے ہیں لیکن رب کائنات کا ممنون احسان تو ردکنار شعور بھی شاید نہیں ہے جو حقوق اللّہ کو نہ پہچاننے کی بنیادی وجہ ہے۔

محمد آصف

Intolerance - eating away our sanity

 

Intolerance

The ailments which are eating away our society are innumerable but the one which has destroyed our social religious, cultural and moral fabric is intolerance. 

Before going further let’s see what tolerance is?  “The ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behavior that one dislikes or disagrees with. Our society – although a Muslim Society – can not be declared a tolerant society; neither religiously, nor socially, morally or politically. The incident of Sialkot can be quoted as an example of how intolerant we are. 

Morally we think ourselves so upright that we never like to listen or heed to the opinion which we have set in our minds. Socially we are so right that if anyone happens to oppose our opinion or present before us the flip side of the coin, we become angry and start thinking him/her our worst enemy. Morals are what we understand not what are present before us by others.

 Political polarization is deep rooted in our psyche; we like to defend our leader

 whatsoever he does or says; we will definitely be there to support and defend the wrongs of our dear leaders and will be there to strike hard, hurl abuses and incriminate the ones who are not in our liking – list. 

We can make our society like the society of Madina- where a real tolerance existed between Jews, Christian and Muslims despite the political, religious, and cultural differences. They dare not touch, abuse. insult, or harm anyone without the lawful authority or through the justice system. No one can take the law in his own hands. In our Muslim dominated society, everyone takes the law and becomes the lawful authority to avenge and revenge on the excuses which sometimes are concocted and fabricated. 

When judiciary and executive will be weak, and rule of law does not exist, mob justice will prevail. The only cure to such ailments is teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet peace be upon him. Unless and until we follow the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet peace be upon him, and leave the teachings of the persons and cults, we cannot get rid of intolerance. Personalities and cults provoke difference and intolerance while The Holy Quran and Our beloved Prophet peace be upon him teach us the tolerance.

 

 

Hazrat Umar the Servant Leader

Hazrat Umar (May Allah be Pleased with him)

The idea of a Servant Leader

 Servant leadership is a new theory introduced into the field of management by an American scholar Robert Greenleaf in the last quarter of the twentieth century. This theory describes a type of leadership which attracts the research of the scholars to present before the world a model to emulate by the present leaders to inspire awe and respect among the followers.  The turn of the century witnessed the leadership assessment model of Laub, and the servant leadership model which is based on the theory of Patterson (2003)   but the popularity gained by Servant Leadership Assessment Instrument (SLAI) by Dennis and Bocarnea got an immense popularity. I have chosen Umar Ibn Al-Khatab and the touchstone method used to assess his personality will be the Peterson’s theory. That touchstone as presented in the Patterson’s theory will be: constructs of love, humility, altruism, vision, trust, service, and empowerment. This article will also present a brief over view of the present servant leadership in the modern world in comparison with the leadership which the great Umar (R.A) presented the world to emulate 1400 years before. His leadership was transformational and responsible, the concept which the modern world becomes familiar with in the twentieth century. The effective leadership depends upon the effective team, again this is a modern concept but had not only been   introduced but practically adopted also 1400 years ago by the Muslims which was strengthened by the great Umar (R.A). The leader does not lead the way but prepares a team also, so did the great Umar (R.A). with a futuristic and transformational vision, the great Umar (R.A) introduced, effected and implemented those reforms which became a hall mark of 20^th century welfare state and are now called by the modern states as Umar Laws. The Great Umar (R.A) was of martinet nature but when he became a leader of Muslim community, he truly transformed himself into a true servant roaming around at nights to serve the needy and sick, carrying provisions to them, his sincerity to Muslims and Islam made him a towering personality. People of every faith had a complete trust upon him and accepted his judgment which speaks of the equality of all, without caste, color, creed, race and religion, interestingly it is a modern concept introduced by the great Umar (R.A). Dictatorship which we still witness in Arab and African countries in the 21^st century even was given away in place of division of powers and empowerment of different departments and officers of the state so much so that the Qazi could announce judgment against him. He believed in the strict accountability, a concept unheard of before the 20^th century, 1400 years ago he stripped the governor off his office on public complaint. the true welfare state concept is still a far cry in the 21^st century which the great Umar (R.A) presented and applied in its letter and spirit and gave an example to the coming times to follow and emulate.

میڈیا کا کردار اور ہماری نفسیات

نوّے  کی دہائی میں مارون گولڈ کا ایک اشتہارآیا کرتا تھا، مجھے یاد ہے کہ 1995 سے 1998 تک ہر عید کو وہ اشتہار  PTV پر دکھایا جاتا تھا،  مارون گولڈ ایک سگریٹ کا برانڈ تھا شاید اب بھی ہو، اس اشتہار میں کمپنی نے اپنی مصنوعات  کی مشہوری کے بجائے پاکستان کے تمام صوبوں کی ثقافت کو ایک ساتھ دکھانے کی کوشش کی، جس کا عنوان بھی  Rhythm of unity تھا۔ یقینًا اس کوشش میں تاثیر تھی، اس اشتہار میں ہر صوبے کے لوگ اپنے روائتی رقص کے ساتھ داخل ہوتے ہوئے ایک گھیرا بناتے  اور اسے جاری رکھتے، اسی طرح دوسرے صوبے کے لوگ بھی اس میں شامل ہوتے چلے جاتے، ہر کوئی اپنی موسیقی اور اپنے روایتی کپڑوں میں ملبوث قطار بنائے اکھٹے ہوتے چلے جاتے، مگر اشتہار بنانے والے نے اس بات کا خاص خیال رکھا تھا جو اس کا کمال تھا، ہر صوبے کے کپڑوں کی بناوٹ اس کے روایت کے مطابق تھی مگر رنگ سب کا ایک تھا، گویا ہم کسی بھی صوبے سے تعلق  رکھتے ہوں مگر"اس پرچم کے سائے تلے ہم  ایک ہیں"،  اس میں ایک منظر دوسرے منظر  میں بہت تیزی سے منتقل ہوتا چلا جاتا تھا  مگر اس میں محبت، اتفاق، اتحاد اور بھائی چارے کے عنصر کو بہت خوبصورتی سے دکھایا گیا تھا، جب وہ ایک دوسرے  کے مقابل ہوتے  دکھائی دیتے تو خوشی اور مسکراہٹ کو واضح رکھا گیا،  ایک بھیڑ کے باوجود کوئی تصادم یا بدمزگی کا عنصر نہیں دکھایا گیا، گویا سب الگ ہونے کے باوجود ایک ہی ہیں۔

اس اشتہار کو میں جب بھی ٹی وی پر دیکھتا تھا تو  اندر ایک حب الوطنی اور خوشی کا جذبہ ابھرا کرتا تھا، اس کے اثر سے دوسرے صوبے کے لوگوں سے ملنے کو دل چاہتا تھا اور جب کبھی ملاقات ہوجاتی تو ان کی زبان میں انہیں سلام کرنے کی کوشش کرتا تھا، بلا وجہ ان سے باتیں کرنے کو دل چاہتا تھا، جس سے ایک قربت کی فضاء بن جاتی تھی، پھر سوچا کہ شاید یہ احساس فقط  مجھ تک محدود ہے جب تک ایک دوست نے یہی بات نہ بتائی مجھے، پھر معلوم  ہوا کہ یہ اشتہار اور میڈیا پر دیگر مثبت پروگرامز کابراہ راست اثر ہماری نفسیات پر ہورہا تھا جس کی وجہ سے ایک بھائی چارگی کی فضاء باقی تھی، لوگ ایک دوسرے کے لیے احساس رکھتے تھے، غلطیوں کو معاف کیا کرتے تھے، ایک دوسرے سے محبت کا جذبہ رکھتے تھے۔

مگر وقت کے ساتھ سب کچھ بدل گیا اس اشتہار کے بعد مجھے کوئی پاکستان دوست، بھائی چارگی اور محبت والے  اشتہار نظر نہ آئے، اس وقت سمجھ بھی اتنی پختہ نہ تھی مگر آج ان کی کمی شدت سے محسوس کرتا ہوں، آج ہمارے دلوں میں ایک دوسرے سے نفرت، چہروں پر غصہ ہے، ضد اور حسد کی ایک  وجہ  اس میڈیا پر دکھائے جانے والے منفی کرداروں کے اثرات ہیں۔  مذہب کے نام پر، سیاست کے نام پر، ذات برادری کے نام پر، صوبوں اور شہروں کے نام پر ہم بٹھتے چلے  گئے اور یہ میڈیا اسے ہوا دیتا رہا، کہتے ہیں کہ مواصلات کی وجہ سے فاصلے کم ہوگئے مگر میرے لیے قریب دور ہوگیا ، اپنے پرائے ہوگئے، محبت اور بھائی چارگی کی جگہ ضد ،حسد و تقابل، نے لے لی۔

شاید اب بھی کہیں ہم میں ایک رہنے کی خواہش ہو، یقینًا ہوگی! اس ضد و حسد کے علاج کی خواہش ہو۔  میں یہ تو نہیں کہہ سکتا کہ آج سےسب کچھ دیکھنا چھوڑ دیں   مگر اتنا ضرورکہہ سکتا ہوں ، اپنے معمولات زندگی میں  اس بات کو بھی جگہ دیں کہ روزانہ ایک ایسی پوسٹ اپنے سوشل میڈیا پر ضرور لگائیں جس کے مثبت اثرات معاشرے پر ہوں۔

دعاؤں کا طالب

محمد علی بلوچ

Be positive.

 

With positivity Nothing can get our way

Be positive is a pragmatic approach towards the problems we face every day although the word positive has become somewhat scary nowadays thanks to Covid-19. So, try to be Covid Negative by keeping social distance, staying home and masking up but be positive for the opportunities the pandemic presented all these days and is presenting.

Covid- 19 has had a horrific and undeniable consequences on people’s lives. We observed death, sickness and unemployment everywhere on our planet earth but every cloud has a silver lining. Here are some of the positive effects we have observed during the pandemic:

Environment

The first positive effect of the pandemic is on the environment, lockdowns, shutdowns, industry closure, restricted air and road movement gave the mother Earth a chance to rejuvenate and heal from the hazardous effects of fossil fuels. The ozone recovered itself and might be smiling on the new gain health. Marine life which has suffered a lot from the cruelties of human, wildlife, and biodiversity have been returning to normal during the period of pandemic.

End of conflicts and beginning of Peaceful era

The pandemic has taught the ever-fighting humanity the need of peace and a conflict free world which can lead the human being to progress. UN secretary declared, “it is time to put armed conflict to lockdown. Similarly, the civil wars abated in many war-torn countries.

Social connectedness while keeping social distance

Man is a social animal, he needs socializing. So, in place of restaurants or clubs where a person usually meets a stranger, he started meeting his neighbors or relatives by calling on skype, WhatsApp or Messenger to those whom he has not met for years. Social media platforms provided a unique opportunity to connect and spread the word of love or care. The pandemic made him realize the need of a family which he has forgotten.

Innovation

The pandemic was a major market disruptor, as a result of the Covid-19 the businesses came to a halt. So, we heard a invigorated term Takeaway becoming more than popular. The digitalization of the business became necessary to survive in the competition and every business came online, and some used this innovation to reimagine their business model in this new normal.

Medical science has taken a leap in this field by doing the work of ten years in just a few months. The vaccines which were supposed to be rolled out in years were in the market in just a matter of few months and now a large chunk of the world has been vaccinated against the deadly virus. Earlier in 1918 Spanish Flue took away almost fifty million people but now the toll is far less from this deadly virus.

CSR: Corporate social responsibility

It takes a new turn by donating PPEs Masks, offering meals and free coffee by the hotels and chains to the health workers who have become Veterans of New War or War Heroes. The big business donated billions for the provision of vaccine research and vaccine roll out free for general public, unfortunately in Pakistan no big business came out to dole out so lavishly in empathy of the public whom they had fleeced for generations.

 Education

There is a massive transformation in education. True, most of it was not by choice. With schools closing down all around the world, many schools got digitalized and teachers offering online services to keep the educational process going, offering online education, educational games and tasks and self-led learning. Globally, Education experiences a large-scale experiment, opening new avenues and home-schooling is now has become a new normal which gave parents an opportunity to know better how their children fare in studies and what their children know and do. Universities by using state-of-the-art solutions kept the students engaged by giving them a near-life experiences to gratify their curiosity, whetting their commitment and engagement to prepare them for workplace. universities are using augmented and virtual reality to provide near real-life experiences for electrifying students’ curiosity, engagement and commitment and for preparing students for the workplace.

 Gratitude

 COVID-19 is giving us is a new sense of appreciation and gratefulness. It has offered us a new perspective on everything we have taken for granted for so long – our freedoms, leisure, connections, work, family and friends. We have never questioned how life as we know it could be if all these luxuries are suddenly taken away from us. Seeing the suffering and death daily we came to appreciate the value of health; seeing the unemployed we came to know the value of what we have in our pockets and kitchens.

All of these positive aspects come at a great price of death, sickness and a depressed global economy. As heartbreaking and frightening as this crisis is, its positive outcomes can be gifts we should not overlook. If we ignore them, all of this becomes meaningless.

The pandemic will end soon and we will be free to walk as we used to be but if we lost the lessons what we have learnt then it will be a great misfortune. The normal approaching us should be a New Normal, not a normal we used to live heretofore. We should cherish the lessons of empathy, social responsibility, greater connectivity, helping the have-nots, going beyond the boundaries to help our people, keeping the environment healthy and last but not the least keeping humanity above all and taking everyone along on our way towards healthy, prosperous, peaceful and loving a single unified world free of conflicts and wars.

 

Truth Hurts

 Truth Hurts.

The universe is made of opposites to help us distinguish one thing from other. we come to appreciate and distinguish one shade from other so that we can know the true nature of things. We know what disorder is when we have a complete awareness of what the order is? Similarly we will not be able to know what the truth is unless lie is clear to us. 

The Holy Quran has clearly presented before us the truth, half truth, and lie. The Touchstone of Truth and Lie is the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet peace be upon him. 

Truth is difficult to speak and listen to, so, generally, we prefer to listen what is not true. Personally, professionally, traditionally, we like to exaggerate everything, exaggeration is where lie resides. Truth is crisp, short, concise, without coloring of any kind. Truth demands honesty, straightforwardness, bluntness, which nobody likes. The person who always speaks the truth will have a fewer liking than the person who is prone to speak lies – a favorable to the family, friends, and colleagues. Truth is a surgeon who has to perform a dissection without having a mercy for the patient because if he shows mercy, he cannot save life of the patient. On the other hand, lie is like a beauty parlor who has to present his skill while covering the flaws in the person and present before others what he or she is not.

“Truth may hurt for a little while but lie hurts forever”. If you speak a truth, it will become a part of your past but if you lie it becomes a part of your future.” So, the choice is your – past or future. Live with a conscience prick while speaking lies or live like a free bird who soars high because of the light weight it has had. Lie is a weight which hinders your flight to the highest skies. Truth becomes a past sooner or later but lie never leave you unattended, it keeps you haunted, fearing its exposure one goes on creating new ones just to cover the earliest one.

Actually, we lie just to please other, pleasing other is a never-ending gyre and then one fine morning you find yourself in the quagmire of lies, and its tentacles have scratched all of your body, spilling blood, and is eating you away like a zombie.

If a person goes on speaking the truth, Allah writes his name in the truthful, and announces his name among the angels then the angels announce his name as a truthful person in the heart of the people so he becomes famous for his truth, people believe in whatever he says or does but if a person becomes habitual of speaking lies, Allah writes his name among the liars and announces his name among the angels as a liar who then declare him as such. People start disbelieving whatever he says or does.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ

O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) Allah and be with the true ones. (Surah Tawbah 9:119)

Truth is a hallmark of great leaders and an attribute whose dividends one can never fathom while lie is a liability which remains hanging over the head and becomes a permanent burden on one’s conscience.

The Messengers of Allah, great Leaders, who carved a permanent niche in the heart and minds of the posterity followed the righteous path of truth and lead the nation to their destinations.

We should strive to speak truth but the truth which may put a match to hostilities among people may be avoided. In such circumstances “silence is golden” is a best rule to follow. Lie to curry favor or to make people laugh should always be avoided. You cannot always make people happy or have their enduring favor with your habit of lying as these are prone to be exposed and one loses respect forever.

Practicing truth will ultimately, although slowly gets you respect while lie will fetch ephemeral respect and love which fades away as truth is bound to surface soon. So set your eyes on a permanent and lasting goal of telling truth and respect rather instant and fleeting praise earned by telling concocted and bizarre truths.

IDIOMS lecture 3