Surah Al Kahf - Ayah No 87

Assalam o Alaikum. Shab-e-Juma Mubarak. Time to connect with Al Kahf. As we go through fourth major story of Al Kahf, let's recap.

First story of Kahf Boys is about  coercive thwarting from Tauheed (Oneness of Allah) by the Roman officialdom.  We face this problem today more than ever from govts & society. Second story, 'Men of Two Gardens' is about material pursuits that cause us to forget God. We are living that story. Third story of Musa & Khizar AS is about knowledge or lack of it. We believe today that we have got knowledge more than ever before and in last Century we killed each other more than hitherto killings of entire recorded history. Last, story (our current story about Zulqarnain) is about establishing the writ of God on earth by eliminating the greatest evil of dajjal. 

Sequence of these stories is the sequence of eschatology with its finale in Armageddon. A fitting end of the story written by none other than The Master Story writer who taught imaginations of story tellers the art of story writing.

Today's Ayah No 87 is about authority rested in Zularnain to decide upon the fate of an extra terrestrial creature putting up closer to a black hole. Zulqarnain must have had a special place in Allah’s Court because it was left to him to decide upon the fate of this nation. Him being chosen one, made a very precise statement that only wrongdoers shall be taken to task in this world and the next.

Blessed Week

Arshad Sharif Shaheed

What a heartless hypocrite I am because I don't speak.

I'm a shameful coward, who worries about his old parents and young kids.

Did Arshad not have old mother and young kids?

Yes, he did. Every man dies, not every man really lives. That braveheart son of Pakistan was/is way too superior than the rest of us hypocrites.

What a heartless mob we are because we don't speak.

I love my institution so much that it hurts to see it falling  from the grace.

I can't breathe anymore, 

Not because of fear rather our utterly blatant silence and inaction at such horrendous acts. 

We are so accustomed to it that it's something we don't even speak against anymore unless it affects us in person, but this affects me at least I can't breathe anymore! 

If we are vessels for you to benefit from and dump at your disposal so be it, but we will speak of it, I will speak of it, you killed one but a 100 more Arshads will write about it, you violated few journalists many more will stand against you, you want to suppress voices I will speak, for my Balochis, for my Pashtons for my9 people because I can't breathe anymore.

And then when you can't do anything at all, you murder them with an utterly disgusting cover up, I am here and we will keep coming at you. You better have prepared loads of cover up stories, as I will speak now because when I don't I cant breathe. 

I pray Pakistan gets its real freedom. 

I pray for Allah's wrath upon those who forced exile upon Arshad. 

I pray his sipari ( سپاری) issuers and executioners rot in hell.

I pray his sacrifice pays off.

I pray he gets to live forever in the seven star heaven.

Ameen

Surah Al Kahf - Ayah No 86

Assalam o Alaikum. Shab-e-Juma Mubarak. Time to connect with amazing Al Kahf.

Today"s Ayah No 86 is 3rd Ayah of penultimate Rukuh (No 11). In this Rukuh, fourth major story of Al Kahf about Zulqarnain is told.  In current Ayah his first 'adventure' under divine instructions begins. Zulqarnain reached a point where the sun was setting. Now looking at the solar system and cosmic settings, the sun never sets. So what does this Ayah refer to? Since, translation is debatable, could this 'dark mud' be something else? May be a 'black hole'? Because black hole in the universe is only place where sun could set. But our imam  sahab wouldn't interpret it other than what has been told to him as progres in knowledge and science threatens his job.

Back to our Ayah of the day, Zulqarnain came across a nation. Could humans be found near black holes? Probably not. In which case, this 'nation' could be some extra terrestrial creatures !!!

And is it not unusual that Allah swt gave full authority to Zulqarnain to either punish them or let them go if he found goodness in them. This statement by must create few queries. What is the status of Zulqarnain? What kind of privilege is this that Allah swt had left it to Zulqarnain to decide the fate of a nation (creature)? We can only assume that those weren't normal circumstances. Not the usual story which our minds are used to perceive or imagine. Now the question is that are we ready to part ways with how we see things? Otherwise we won't make inroads into 'reality'. We might keep circling around traditional approach to Al Quran/ Al Kahf/ Zulqarnain until we continue to forcefully limit the unlimited scope and interpretations. This does not by stretch of imagination mean to disrespect or disregard the brilliant works of yesteryears rather to evolve.

Blessed weekend  

Wounded Pride

 Aitezaz Ahsan’s yesterday’s remarks set my thought train in motion. Why did he have to say this? He is from Zardari’s party. Zardari is already steering the bandwagon if not spearheading it. May be at the twilight of his sojourn, Aitezaz Ahsan for once is speaking for Pakistan. Why he accused The Sovereign? Why it has come to that? Now the spin doctors may tag him as Indian ploy or call me an anti state rogue element or eccentric youthia whereas I don’t belong to any party except Pakistan. But the reality is that there is something seriously wrong down there and there is so much polarisation on issues that people in terms of opinions are poles apart. Why in my late forties, I’m losing the plot? The story lines sold to me all my life by my institution ain’t working anymore. I hated the very existence of corrupt politicians which was sold to me and I bought it with total conviction. Why it doesn’t make sense to me anymore? Please stop kidding yourself. Mr X or Y may like to think whatever they want but Pakistan is above all of us.  Unfortunate happenings all around. Institution of Arms disreputed. Personnel disrespected. Shaheeds’ blood not honoured the way it should have been. System of governance disrupted. Faith in the entire system disappeared. Fallacious claims of producing leadership discredited. Just a resignation of a three star might have saved our wounded rather dying pride in our prestigious institution. Veterans who took immense pride in their institution were made to feel ‘us’ & ‘them’. It may take generations to regain lost trust of masses. No one could take out deep rooted love and respect of this institution from people’s hearts including our arch rival and enemy next door like recent events did. It never happened before like this. Weakness of system so badly exposed that entire system can be brought down by one man because there is serious imbalance of power. One man can sell off the country and no one can raise the voice. No questions asked. Seeing massive bail out of criminals, common people are forced to think that they are living in this country to face more and more suppression. Is there any answer to this ‘democratic fixing’ of problem wherein cost of life has gone so high that financial crunch is getting to people’s nerves. Forget about, political affiliations, orientations and inclinations and have a reality check. In past six months, has there been any sign of governance? Any thing concrete? Can someone gauge the economic loss? Can someone predict recovery from economic loss? Those who have been installed upon us are just making hay while the sun shines on their miserable selves. Except getting relief from the law by bending it, would they do anything else? How badly the country has been devastated by one man. 

IK continues to take the bait like 25/26 May, last week and so on. He continues to trust the most untrustworthy. The invisible and self proclaimed invincible cult which couldn’t protect our kids in APS Peshawar but continues to come up with sham stories of hackers, planted servants at Bani Gala & so on. Ironically, post APS Peshawar, all those sitting at important positions in that horrific tragedy got away with it. Some of them even got promoted. In fact, there is a group of untouchable men in this country who can get away with anything and everything. During my years in service, it used to amuse me how people went “out of the way” to “reach for the stars” and now it makes perfect sense why there were no limits, morals or values to hold them back. It was all about making it to that club of untouchables.  What a sad reality?

May Allah protect Pakistan. Ameen

Surah Al Kahf - Ayah No 85

Assalam o Alaikum.Shab-e-Juma Mubarak. A polite reminder to recite whole or part of Al Kahf on this blessed day.

Today's Ayah No 85 consists of short crisp words that "he (Zulqarnain) followed the way. Previous Ayah No 84 (shared below) stated, "We gave him to everything a way." Could this "way" be a portal? Could Zulqarnain be a time traveler? Following two Hadith are making a strong case for it.

1. Kâ`b al-Ahbâr (r.a.) had claimed that Zulqarnain tied his horse to a star, and he was warned by Muawiya for saying so. 

2. Ali ibn Abi Talib(r.a.) has stated that God the Almighty subjugated for Zulqarnain the clouds to carry him wherever he wished.

Likewise, could Gog Mgog (mentioned in Ayah No 94) be creatures from other planets? Are we flexible enough to part with the our traditional way of thinking and Quranic interpretations? Unless we do that how on earth could we prepare, equip and withstand Dajjal's onslaught, an enormous calamity about which every prophet of Allah had warned. Wait a second, was Dajjal not chained somewhere as per Hadith of Tameem-al-Dari? Hadith link is shared below:

https://islamqa.info/en/answers/82643/the-hadeeth-of-tameem-al-daari-about-the-dajjaal

If Dajjal was alive back then, then is he still alive or could he timetravel back and forth? Interesting, very interesting conundrums in this story. Let's see how the story unfolds in coming weeks.

Surah Al Kahf - Ayah No 84

Assalam o Alaikum. Shab-e-Juma Mubarak. Al Kahf Time.

Today's Ayah No 84 is introduction of Zulqarnain by Allah swt. Jews and Christians believed he was Cyrus, the saviour of Jews from Babylonia in 6th Century BC. Muslim accounts about Zulqarnain are anything but clear. Past research about Zulqarnain should be viewed in relation with evolution and knowledge of those times. However, world view and understanding of religion must also evolve with furtherance in knowledge and developments in science & technology. So it is natural that modern thinkers cum reformers like Sahil Adeem relate stories like that of Zulqarnain with time travel, intergalactic movement, portals and blackholes as opposed to old school mufasareen. Even the interpretations of relatively modern Quranic thinkers of 20th Century like Dr Israr and bold narrators like Imran Hussain appear lacklustre in the face of modern interpretations in line with astrology, quantum physics and their relation with time & space. Heavy isn't it !!! But unless we stop run of the mill translations and understanding of Quran, how could we revive in this world. Remember Asif from the court of Suleman AS who outshone Afreet (Most powerful jinn) by bringing throne of Queen Sheba in a blink of an eye for only one reason; he had the knowledge of The Book (Al Quran). Ironically, we have the same Book but we don't have its knowledge.

There are so many unanswered questions about Zulqarnain. Take for example today's Ayah No 84. Why Allah swt had to establish Zulqarnain in the earth if he was Cyrus (already a well established King)? The  word سببا means "way", could this mean a portal? We are in for some mind boggling twists and turns in the story of Zulqarnain & really interesting Ayahs ahead, Insha Allah.