Looking through the list of folks who follow me on twitter (i wouldnt follow myself), i came across something really interesting. Shaadi.com USA follows me, it is a troubling sign …. either they want me to get in serious trouble at home with wifey or something else.
Author: rubeel (Page 5 of 18)
There was a time when i couldn’t afford khakis from Walmart and was so happy that i was able to buy my self pants or clothes once.
SubhanAllah, there is so much that i don’t thank Allah for, his blessings are numerous and i am un thankful.
I pray to him that he makes me a better person and gives me the ability to thank him more often than i do now. Inshallah and Ameen.
everytime i come online to islamabadi.com, wordpress has moved up a full version 🙂 sad isnt it, i should be here more often 🙂
It has been 10 years and I would rather forget that day but I still do remember quite a lot of things that happened on that day.
It was a normal day for me and I was driving to work in Arlington (less than a Mile from Pentagon). While driving i got a text message from my roommate that a plane had crashed into the world trade center. I thought it must be some drunken Wall Street guy in a Cessna and ignored the importance of that event. By the time i got to work, i realized that there was a lot of activity and chatter in the office. I used to work for a Defense Contractor and quite a few ex-military and reservists used to work for the company and me being the system administrator and quasi-helpdesk had to deal with them. As soon as I entered the office, i was met by our loving HR Manager, she told me about the plane crash and i told her my assumption it being a Cessna and some guy who didn’t want anything better with life. She then informed me that it was a passenger aircraft. This kind of hit me as very unusual and scary. I went to my office which i shared with one of our web developers. Our windows were towards the direction of the pentagon. I was talking to him, when there was news that another plane had hit the World Trade Center. I tried to go on BBC website but couldn’t, I tried other news website and it wouldn’t work. The net was choked with traffic and it was very slow, finally i got to the BBC website and was able to see the pictures of the WTC with smoke, it was horrific and i just didn’t know how to process that information or react to it.
I felt some people pass by my office and saw some stares at me, i had a beard, was a Muslim and wasn’t ashamed of it and i guess some coworkers had already found me or my religion guilty of this act that was still going on. whatever the case, i started my daily tasks and me and my coworker kept discussing the situation in New York, suddenly we heard a huge explosion and the building shook, my coworker looked out his window and said “Oh My God, they have bombed Pentagon”, i looked out my window and could see smoke from the general direction of pentagon. I was suddenly scared, I was scared as this thought was in the back of my mind, “What if this was done by some Muslims?” Then there was another huge explosion, we didn’t know what it was (later one we came to know that the Pentagon building had collapsed) but we started hearing rumors in the office about State Department building getting attacked by a bomb blast and so on. There was a lot of confusion, people were generally scared and i was among them. I and my coworker decided to go to the top of the parking lot but were told by building security that no one was allowed up there and we had to go down, by the time we got down stairs i was told by my director that there was liberal leave in effect and if i wanted to go home then i can take the day off.
I decided to do that as i felt a lot of eyes looking at me in the office. I felt uncomfortable so I packed up my stuff, went to my car which was parking in front of the building, i realized that what was happening was so serious and if Muslims had any hand in this, i should avoid any public display of islam and also remove the Islamic stickers from the back of my car. I removed these three stickers from my car, turned around and tried to leave, when i saw my director running towards me. He waved me to stop and I obliged. He was a great guy, an Ex Special forces person, served with some congressmen also and a very sane mind. He told me that he saw me removing the Islamic stickers from the car and thought that he should reassure me that America was not what i was thinking. USA was a civilized place, we don’t hold people responsible for actions of other people with similar faith and i should not be scared or worried. The removing of the Stickers from the car was too extreme of an action on my part. (Boy he was wrong)
After talking to my Director, i left and went home, one interesting thing happened when I was going home, as i tried to get onto Washington Blvd right outside my office, i was cut off by a Minivan, and then it stopped in front of me, Some Soccer mom came out of the van and opened the trunked, took some jacket out with initials of some Federal Agency and a gun, told me that the road was blocked and i should go some other way. It was very odd, a Soccer mom turning out to be some sort of James Bond.
One more thing i remember was that once i got onto Columbia pike, the scene was very similar to Independence Day, the scene where everyone is leaving DC and no one is driving in, Everyone was going the opposite direction of Pentagon and the road towards Pentagon was Empty. It was quite surreal, some people from their cars turning back and taking pictures of pentagon using their cell phones. I finally got home after an hour, parked my car, entered the apartment, turned on TV and watched the TV for the rest of the day. Took the day off next day and watched TV the next day also.
Looking back, i wish my director was right, I wish i wouldn’t have had so many problems but at the end of the day things did work out. The Islamophobia is part of life now for everyone and we have gotten used to it. September 11th changed the whole world; it truly affected Muslims in the world as much as it affected non-Muslims. Hate is something we cannot tolerate, be it from Muslims or non-Muslims.
When we hit a 1000 dead then maybe we will do something about it. Until then we will just sit and watch. I don’t get it, Pakistan as a nation had become so ineffective that we can’t even fix our own house. I think the word castrated comes to mind.
Our Armed forces can’t deal with the issues of security, Pakistani people are confused about whom to ask for help, we hate American help but can’t live without it. It is like a drug addict in denial that he/she is a drug addict but keeps taking them. The nation as a whole cannot seem to decide what we need. I feel we are like ME, when I want to study, I just around topics and subjects, never able to concentrate on anything. Pakistani nation is exactly like me, they can’t seem to decide what to do. Here are few steps I think that would solve this issue.
- Instruct the Pakistani Army and Security agencies to do a full crackdown in Karachi, be it MQM, JI, ANP or anyone, they get arrested and dealt with.
- At the same time, issue Arrest warrants through Interpol for Altaf Hussein, Balouch leaders in exile.
- Increase the salary for security agencies and paramilitary agencies by double or triple of the budget, same for the staff at jails.
- Reduce the salary of the Politicians by half and also take away 80% of their perks.
- Sell off government unused property to generate revenue to cover this all for 1 year.
Then what we do are a couple of years of planning.
- Kick out CIA and backwater type agencies from Pakistan for good.
- Cut the military budget by 40 percent and put that money one year in education, then in Infrastructure and then in health. This should help in stabilizing the needs that are overlooked for the last many years.
- Start collecting taxes, once the revenues are coming in then we can spend it, otherwise World Bank is standing outside the door to make us slaves.
- Decrease the Armed forces by 20%.
- Land reforms to get rid of this Feudals, cut the maximum amount of land owned by 70%.
- Ehtesaab Bureau to be inducted under the judiciary rather than the government appointed agency.
I can keep on going talking about some common sense stuff that can be done about Pakistan but I am sure everyone can come up with these ideas except the losers who sit in power in Islamabad, they can just figure out to give awards to their supporters in national Assembly to keep the government from not working.
I know what would happen to us if these guys will stay in power. DOOMED is the word that comes to mind :(. Inshallah Allah will rid these losers of Pakistan, I can only pray and vote for Imran Khan 🙂
http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/08/isi-briefs-cj-on-parties-involved-in-karachi-unrest.html
Pakistan needs to be liberated, either by hook or crook, in my opinion either the Libyan style rebellion or a saner solution which I think is Imran khan. There is a lot of talk about Imran khan right now; his popularity is increasing much to the dismay of Zardari-Sharif and Co. But there are many who still doubt his leadership and qualities. You can always find plenty of articles or news segments about him in negative light from various news outlets, some call him a Taliban Sympathizer or some call him outright Fundamentalist. I won’t get into these discussions as it is fruitless.
Imran Khan is miles ahead of any political Leader currently aspiring to lead Pakistan, be it the usual suspects of PML (N and Q), PPP or ANP. These parties over the last many decades have proven one thing only, “they are not fit to lead Pakistan”. PPP and PML (N) have been tested twice, PMLQ has been tested once with Musharraf, all these parties have one thing in common, ” they are opportunist and prefer to make the masters happy and the public sad”. Imran Khan on the other hand is a fresh mind and a new experience, he has been on the sidelines for too long and this has worked to his advantage. This time has been a blessing in disguise, it has helped him formulate his policies and sharpen his thoughts about how he wants to lead the country out of its current mess. Rather than making deals he has stuck to principles (much to the dismay of many) and stayed clear of situations where he would have ended up like every other political leader (Lotay is my thought here). He is the only leader who can boast about truly helping the real Pakistanis, From Namal University to Shaukat Khanam, from his time as MNA from the district in Mianwali to PTI’s programs for the poor. Imran doesn’t represent himself; he is the front man to a party which is full of people like Imran Khan. It is the senior leadership and the party workers; they all aspire to be like Imran Khan, who has done everything to make Pakistanis proud. He has been successful in every thing he has been part of, World Cup Cricket, Best Cancer care hospital in Asia and Higher Education for everyone (Namal University). Imran Khan is not alone in this; PTI is full of people who think along the lines of what Imran Khan thinks.
I am currently outside Pakistan; I look at Pakistan from a different perspective than how people might view it from inside Pakistan. Overseas Pakistanis do feel strongly about Pakistan and its future. It is not comfortable to see where Pakistan is heading. The view from over here is not very pleasing and this decent into the darkness needs to stop before we cross the point of no Return. Imran Khan is the only choice for Pakistan. If we miss this chance then we will forever be sorry to our future generations.
I have had the pleasure of meeting Imran Khan but above all i have had a chance to meet members of PTI’s Central Executive Committee. These people are extraordinary folks; they are professionals in their field, patriot Pakistanis and above all normal people who care. They care for the common Pakistani, the everyday laborers, the folks who can’t afford bread at the end of the day, the kids who can’t get admission into the university, parents who can’t provide medical care of their family. They want to make a change that will benefit the future generations of Pakistan, benefit Pakistan and stand up for Pakistan when it is threatened. I met some of the CEC members in America, although i have seen how the political leaders from other parties come and go in luxury, the servants of the servants of current government ministers get to spend the tax rupees on luxuries that we in the west cannot think of, on the other hand Every PTI official i have met in USA including Imran Khan and CEC members, they all travelled humbly and without any pomp and show. They talk about Pakistan and exist for its better future. I would invite you all to go online to insaf.pk and read about PTI, its manifesto, ask questions on forum and if you think Imran Khan will make a difference then convince your friends, family and relatives to join PTI and make a better future for our future generations.
I am a bad exam taker; I have had times when I have left exams without writing a single word on the paper because I couldn’t BS my way through it. I have always been in awe of people who are able to do exams and score well. I don’t know what my problem is but it surely is a problem. I have been struggling with a preliminary exam for some time. This December the window into that exam will close also and might never open again. If I fail that exam then I am done with the PhD or lets say that the school is done with me (I wouldn’t give up that quickly).
I remember the days during FSc exams in Pakistan, people would spend less time and effort but master the technique of copy paste onto the paper materials from the book, and on the other hand I would make sincere efforts to understand the materials. The outcome was that I couldn’t get admission into any university. Well by gone be bygones and I am not worried about it anymore but this PhD exam is killing me, the fear of failing it and losing that opportunity at the PhD has kept me awake at nights and even made me fear the exam so much that I don’t want to take it anymore. I know I have to but in the back of my mind I know that I will fail it.
I don’t consider myself a loser or bad at learning, in fact I absorb a lot of information every day, reading/watching and exploring everything from everyday life to internet. I would even consider myself more informed than an average person and even quite a few PhD’s I know or knew. Maybe the problem is that I love to learn everything and can’t just give them up to focus on one thing. Take today for an example, from reading about the Boston mob boss who got arrested last week to mayhem in Libya, Sony cancelling start wars galaxy to some physicist make a glorified jack hammer to create fusion for greener times and so on. I even sometimes make the effort to go on Wikipedia and read and learn about things that I might have read as part of something else. But I guess these are all the tasks of normal people and not the super smarts that do PhDs. If that is the case then I can’t help it. I am fine with a masters but if it not then I should find a way to pass this Damm exam.
I guess while I am on the page of ranting or complaining let me ask this question
“Why everyone talks about the over achievers, why no one talks about the rest of the people like anyone who is not a Ivy league graduate, born to the rich parents, spoon fed their careers and jobs …”
What about the rest of us who are trying and living everyday? I guess we will never know 🙂 Well as far as the exam is concerned Inshallah I will take my best shot at it and if I don’t pass it then it is the loss for the PhD program 🙂
Will write about it after I am done in December with the exam.
Every Friday I goto Friday prayer alhamdulillah, but I have been seeing something that I feel is so important and we don’t talk about it. We all already know that Friday is the most important day of the week, there are numerous hadith about this and some are below.
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah and Hudhayfah (may Allaah be pleased with them) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah led those who came before us away from Friday. The Jews had Saturday, and the Christians had Sunday. Then Allaah brought us and Allaah guided us to Friday. So there is Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and thus they will follow us on the Day of Resurrection. We are the last of the people of this world but we will be the first on the Day of Resurrection, and we will be dealt with before all others.” (Muslim)
It was narrated from Aws ibn Aws that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best of your days is Friday. On that day Adam (peace be upon him) was created; on that day he died; on that day the Trumpet will be blown and on that day all of creation will swoon. So send a great deal of blessings upon me, for your blessings will be shown to me.” They said, “O Messenger of Allaah, how will our blessings upon you be shown to you when you have turned to dust?” He said, “Allaah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets, peace be upon them.” (Abu Dawood; Classed as saheeh by Ibn al-Qayyim in his comments on Sunan Abi Dawood, 4/273; and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 925.)
It was narrated that Abu Lubaabah ibn ‘Abd al-Mundhir said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Friday is the master of days, and the greatest of them before Allaah. It is greater before Allaah than the day of al-Adha and the day of al-Fitr. It has five characteristics: on this day Allaah created Adam, on it He sent Adam down to the earth, on it Allaah caused Adam to die, on it there is a time when a person does not ask Allaah for anything but He gives it to him, so long as he does not ask for anything haraam, and on it the Hour will begin. There is no angel who is close to Allaah, no heaven, no earth, no wind, no mountain and no sea that does not fear Friday.” (Narrated by Ibn Maajah; 1084; Classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 2279)
Some years ago, when I had started working at a university, I was asked by my manager to go troubleshoot a desktop computer in the university president’s office. I went along with my manager and once we entered the office, for some reason we were on our best behavior, Not to make any slight mistake or say something improper. This somehow kicked in and it was due to the fact that the office was of the president and the president was the President of the university. He was the top of the top in the management, him having issue with his computer was a problem for everyone in IT. This could have been similar to anyone where the person could be the president of a company I might have worked for or the director of my division. I realized that when I went to see someone higher up or some customer (who for some reason controlled the company’s main contract) or a customer visiting the office or going for an interview, we are expected to dress up and be on our best behavior, be presentable (which could mean that you have you have the proper attire, suit with tie, , hair nicely done, no foul breath, mouth wash used, mustache trimmed and beard nicely kept and even your nails are dealt accordingly, so you don’t seem like a person out of a jungle).
There is a hadith about cleanliness being half of the Iman (faith).
Narrated Abû Mâlik Al-Hârith bin Âsim Al-Ash’ari: Allah’s Messenger said, “Cleanliness is half of Faith; the utterance of Allah (Al-hamdu lillah – all praise belongs to Allah) fills the scales of good actions; the utterance of Allah (Glory be to Allah and all praise belongs to Allah) fills the space between the heavens and the earth, and Salât (prayer) is light; and charity is the proof of Faith; and endurance is a light, and the Qur’ân is a plea in your favour or against you. Every person begins the morning ready to strike a deal with his soul as a stake; he either ransoms it or puts it into perdition.” (Muslim)
Now what does this got to do with Friday prayer. Well it has to do something with Salat in general. When we pray, we are infront of Allah. Who is Allah, he is the lord of the worlds, the creator of everything, the owner of our souls and owner of everything between heavens and earth. He is all in all of everything, much more than a president of a university, director of a company, CEO of multi billion dollar company, bigger and important than anything and everything.
So when we go infront of the almight to pray, to beg and to ask for forgiveness, we are usually dressed up like bums. We are not at our best behavior or even presentable, we are wearing dirty clothes, pajamas, sagging pants, long shorts that are not long enough, smelling bad or of smoking, sometimes i have seen people just come out of bed and show up at the moque, sometimes jeans, Tshirt combination, gym clothes or just anything casual that you wouldn’t wear to work at all. Well I can understand people do this at home but for Friday it is a different story. I usually see people on Friday enjoying Casual Fridays at work, I can understand wearing business clothes all week might seem like a burden and casual Friday is an escape from those superficial clothing.
Lets see what we are actually doing, we are dressing up every day for this duniya, to make up points at work, impress the bosses, abide by the dress policy or just because you see customers or are expected to wear those clothes. On Friday we take a step back cuz the expected fact is that Friday is the casual day but while trying to enjoy the life in duniya we end up forgetting that Friday is the best day of the week, like Eid everyweek for us. If we put a little bit effort and think of the day when it is the best day of the week, you are going to be in presence of other Muslims, be closest to Allah during sajda, then you should dress up accordingly. Don’t show up at the mosque like it is a basket ball match or your going for a BBQ.
“O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salaah (prayer) on Friday (Jumu‘ah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allaah [Jumu‘ah religious talk (Khutbah) and Salaah (prayer)] and leave off business (and every other thing). That is better for you if you did but know!” (Al-Jumu’ah 62:9)
Tomorrow if you are told that you are going to meet the president of the country, I doubt anyone would show up in jeans or jogging bottoms and a Tshirt. Why do we then think differently for Allah, when Allah is much more important for us than anyone else. Just remember that we need him and he doesn’t need us.
It is only Shaitan (Satan) that suggests to you the fear of his Auliya’ [supporters and friends (polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger, Muhammad pbuh)]; so fear them not, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers. (Surah 3/Ayah 175)
There is a hadith also but cant find it in Tirmidhi for now
Ibn Hibban narrated “Whoever will seek to please Allah by displeasing men, Allah (The Glorified and The Exalted) will make him independent of the help and favour of men and He Himself will become sufficient unto him, and whoever will seek to please men by displeasing Allah, Allah (The Glorified and The Exalted) will give him in the charge of men. And peace (be with you)!” (Tirmidhi)
This is a very confused rant which I put down in writing, I just didn’t know how to gather all facts and write them. So just read it.
Initially I had been very much appalled by the news of the crackdown on the Bahraini Demonstrators; I thought, here was another regime that was trying to put down dissent. I was actively posting stories about how bad it was on my face book profile until I decided to take a step back and look at the whole geo political situation. Talked to some of my father’s friends who were working in intelligence in Bahrain and came to the conclusion that this had to happen, otherwise there would be a bigger issue of stability and security in the region.
No one can deny that Iran has some sort of hand in this whole mess up. I was even told and later in the news the same thing came up that there were individuals who were trained by Hezbollah, this is an alarming fact and cannot be taken lightly. Having Bahrain fall in the hands of the Shia run Iranian regime would cause more than just concern. Coming back to Bahrain, there were solid progress being made in the last couple of years about addressing the concerns of the citizens who felt that they have been left out of the economic progress of the country, The crown prince is very forward looking and would have worked to ensure more rights and reform, but the protest put an end to any future hope of such actions. Further killing of policemen and then targeted attacks on South Asians just because some of their countrymen work for the police or are part of the Security establishment further proved that the people behind these were not looking for resolution to their concerns about jobs and housing but were trying to further destabilize the region so there could be a need for Iran to get involved.
It seems that the demonstrators initially might have had some legit concerns but after a few days, it was just a mob of people who wanted to cause clear harm to Bahrain’s reputation, security and stability. Whatever the outcome will be in the coming days and any outcry that will result due to the government’s actions will be the doing of the demonstrators. The death sentences handed out today are a clear indication that the government takes very seriously when law and order is challenged and I don’t blame them.
I remember from my time in Bahrain (back in the 90s) that there was another set of demonstrations and riots and they were put down by the government, I had realized how biased the demonstrators were, when we as high school kids were cautioned and scared of going into certain areas as Pakistanis were constantly attacked for being Pakistani (majority of the police is Pakistani). It didn’t come as a surprise what happened this time also.
Whatever the case now, Bahrain is now in a very delicate time period. The people will get some benefit out of this but maybe the steps taken towards reform might be rolled back and will take another decade to be at the point where they were before all this happened. It is now to just wait and see what happens, after all the terrorist elements are cleared up, I am sure the government will take positive steps towards reform but until then don’t expect the government to give in to demands posed by the Iranian establishment through their proxies in Bahrain.
The case and the verdict in Mukhtaran Mai is very sad state of affairs of Pakistan. What is even sadder is that the judiciary is being held responsible for the failure to deliver justice. I may not be an expert but it seems people who are holding the judiciary responsible (liberals, Feminists and other judiciary bashers from the current government in Pakistan) keep forgetting that the judge can only pass a judgment on facts and evidence presented to him/her in the court of law. They have to be unbiased and fair but obey the law to the letter and not let their personal feelings come in between what is proved in the court and what others might think of the issue.
The sad aspect is that the case was originally brought up in early 2002, when Musharraf was in power. Courts took up the matter but as it became very visible internationally, the culprits were arrested and incarcerated for some time. Sadly Police didn’t do a good job at investigation, gathering facts or getting confessions, then our system of feudal took over who wouldn’t want their people get punished for whatever reason. I am not an expert here so won’t try to explain more of what happened.
The bottom line is that in a country where Supreme Court can’t enforce its own decisions will not be able to do investigation or enquiry in case. The police failed (most probably corruption to blame here) in their due diligence and presented a weak case, muddied facts and no solid facts. What is a judge got to do? He can’t read the newspapers, watch CNN, see Mukhtaran Mai get awards and decide the guilt of others but he/she can only judge based on what happens in the court room.