135 of our Army men are caught up in the avalanche, I can’t help but think about the very odd conversation I had few months ago!
''Ending up discussing religion with a Cambridge educated atheist on a dinner in a quite Scottish restaurant was the last thing I would have thought of after a tiring day at the conference. But some things are just bound to happen.
He was our host for the night, so there was no getting away as well. The conversation started at my refusal of taking his offer of the finest Scottish whisky that he had specially ordered for us from some historic brewery down in Glasgow.
‘You sure Mr Shams? I can assure you won’t find this bottle anywhere else even after spending a major chunk of your monthly pay’
‘I am fine Sir, I don’t drink’
‘Ah! Is that because of your religious beliefs if you don’t mind me asking?’
‘Indeed, I am a Muslim. So I don’t drink’
‘Fair enough, though my brother in law is also Muslim and trust me he won’t pass even a pint of ordinary beer so to say’
‘Ha! Well everyone has the right to do what they believe in I think, he’s not here so I can’t say much’
He smiled quietly and carried on pouring a glass for my colleagues. Half way through our first course and after some airy fairy discussions around business, he picked the topic again:
‘So Mr Shams, can you tell us why Muslims are not allowed to drink? I don’t think a bright man like you only avoid drinking because his parents have told him not to do so from childhood?’
‘Well, it’s a religious obligation, we Muslims are not allowed to drink by the creator of everything, Allah almighty’
‘Hmm! Agreed young man, but why you think your God didn’t allowed you to drink? When in your words he created everything in the first place? That sounds very illogical, like our company makes machines for the oil and gas industry, would it make sense to first make it and then tell the operators that please don’t use it???’ He clearly had his questions ready.
‘And what if the creator himself tells you that the thing I have created is not good for you, rather it is a test to see if you have the strength in you to stay away from few things in this world’. I was more interested in the risotto in front of me than getting tangled in a debate over religion at that time, and started staring at my plate, somewhat to pretend that I wanted to drop the topic.
‘One more thing, we as Muslims believe that Islam is a lot different from other religions. We believe that Islam is a complete ‘way of life’. Which provides you with guidance in every field of human life, politics, economy, government, prayers, marriages and eating or drinking; Islam provides a Muslim with a complete set of parameters in which one can live a good life and be rewarded by Allah almighty for leading that life’
I added a bit more with a sense of finality, I thought to myself that this should be enough for him and he won’t ask any more questions.
He shook his head slightly, his fork was stuffed with food but he didn’t raise it to his mouth, rather he was staring at me with a very blank expression.
I was pretty certain by that point that he is not going to let me have my dinner that night, so I tried my best to speed up and eat as much as I can before it starts again.
‘Rohan, you know what, I studied Islam for nearly 10 years. I’ll be honest with you; there is no better ‘way of life’ as you called it then the one described by Islam. But why do you see Muslims as living their lives in the worst possible way then? Nearly two thirds of Muslim populations live below the poverty lines, those who have money in Middle East treat humans as insects and you are from Pakistan, look at what is happening in there? How many people have died in your country in the last five years? Is that your ‘way of life’?
‘You are mixing theory with practice I suppose. If Muslims are not living good lives, it is in no certain terms a proof that there is a fault in Islam. It’s more of a fact that Muslims are only living so badly in this world because they haven’t actually followed the ‘way of life’ they are given. And Pakistan yeah the number is around 30-35 thousand I suppose, but it’s an unwanted war we are a part of, the sooner our ruling elite realises this, better it will be for our country. Besides contrary to the Western world we have a very good birth rate, we have laid 35 thousand lives, but we will have a stronger nation again in a few years’ time ’
I chuckled slightly at the looks I was getting from my colleagues who were plain bored of it, but just couldn’t resist getting my thoughts across and thought I’ll be able to shift the topic somehow with the mention of birth rates in Europe.
But what he said next completely surprised me. It was kind of a short sermon but we all just sat there and listened to him for the next 10 minutes and somehow I think it was worth it; I am blessed to have a good memory and the first thing I am doing after coming back from the dinner to my hotel room is writing down his words.
’30-35 thousand, just a number for you Rohan I suppose? But do you know what lies behind this number? Rohan each and every one of those 30-35 thousand human beings had a separate story to them. Do you know their stories? They all had something called a heart; which is my friend this life’s most beautiful creation. A human heart; you know what a human heart is made of?
Doctors might tell you it’s a pump which supplies blood all across the body. But if you look closely you will find something else, something very extraordinary!
A human heart Rohan; is born when the love of a man and women breaks the boundaries, that love is the first ingredient of its existence. Than it is nurtured by the extraordinary tenderness of a mother’s womb, she suffers all the hardships in the external world to keep this heart beating in a safe environment.
It comes in this physical world completely empty and clean as a mirror, where it is tendered by the touch of parents. That is the first feeling it feels. The feeling of unselfish love!
With open eyes the young baby starts to see everything and his heart wonders what it is? He doesn’t know any difference between food and mud, you very often see babies eating the dirt in gardens. The big quest of the unknown fills this human heart with innocence of not knowing anything! Which is another part of its structure.
It passes from the toddler years into early childhood. Where each and every toy brought to it by parents, family and grandparents fills it with joy and happiness of life. Yes the heart is now filled with happiness! A key ingredient to fight the gloomy days of coming life.
Our teen years, Rohan that is the time when our hearts start feeling the love of other hearts, we develop crushes on pretty faces, we explore the characters around us and try to find the love in material, but the pure heart is only inspired by extraordinary, sometimes sci-fi type abilities of others around it and we feel attracted to different people, places and concepts – our hearts are filled with inspirations. Inspirations to be like Superman, Batman, sport star or singer.
Then comes our youth, when the heart is filled with ambitions and desires of life! We make plans for our careers, brighter futures, perfect soul mates and God knows what else. Our heart is filled with desires to achieve everything we want and some amongst us find love in their passions, in their religions or their objectives of life! That all combines to teach our heart ambitions and dreams. Dreams which are another prominent feature of human hearts.
And then Rohan, those who are blessed amongst us have children of their own, you don’t know this yet. But the pride your heart is filled with once you first hold your own son or daughter in your hands is speechless!
At that point you feel that you have completed the journey of your heart, you have the kindness of your parents, innocence of your earlier years, joy of your childhood, inspirations from your beliefs, love of your life-partner, ambitions and dreams about your future and the pride of your offspring! Your heart feels completed, fulfilled!
That Rohan is a human heart behind all of these 35 thousand lives, children, teenagers, youth, husbands, fathers, brothers! They all might have been at different stages of the journey of heart; some might have loving parents whose kindness was taken away from them in a bomb blast. Some might have been in the middle their childhood, filling their hearts with joy which was abruptly changed into tears! Think of the love taken away from young wives, the pride taken away from children. And the desires, ambitions and dreams taken away from your youngsters!
Rohan you so easily say it now as ‘just a number’ but believe me my friend each number has a life and a heart behind it. Which cannot be replaced by just another number!’’
So 135 more….another very ordinary number for us which we all will soon forget!
''Ending up discussing religion with a Cambridge educated atheist on a dinner in a quite Scottish restaurant was the last thing I would have thought of after a tiring day at the conference. But some things are just bound to happen.
He was our host for the night, so there was no getting away as well. The conversation started at my refusal of taking his offer of the finest Scottish whisky that he had specially ordered for us from some historic brewery down in Glasgow.
‘You sure Mr Shams? I can assure you won’t find this bottle anywhere else even after spending a major chunk of your monthly pay’
‘I am fine Sir, I don’t drink’
‘Ah! Is that because of your religious beliefs if you don’t mind me asking?’
‘Indeed, I am a Muslim. So I don’t drink’
‘Fair enough, though my brother in law is also Muslim and trust me he won’t pass even a pint of ordinary beer so to say’
‘Ha! Well everyone has the right to do what they believe in I think, he’s not here so I can’t say much’
He smiled quietly and carried on pouring a glass for my colleagues. Half way through our first course and after some airy fairy discussions around business, he picked the topic again:
‘So Mr Shams, can you tell us why Muslims are not allowed to drink? I don’t think a bright man like you only avoid drinking because his parents have told him not to do so from childhood?’
‘Well, it’s a religious obligation, we Muslims are not allowed to drink by the creator of everything, Allah almighty’
‘Hmm! Agreed young man, but why you think your God didn’t allowed you to drink? When in your words he created everything in the first place? That sounds very illogical, like our company makes machines for the oil and gas industry, would it make sense to first make it and then tell the operators that please don’t use it???’ He clearly had his questions ready.
‘And what if the creator himself tells you that the thing I have created is not good for you, rather it is a test to see if you have the strength in you to stay away from few things in this world’. I was more interested in the risotto in front of me than getting tangled in a debate over religion at that time, and started staring at my plate, somewhat to pretend that I wanted to drop the topic.
‘One more thing, we as Muslims believe that Islam is a lot different from other religions. We believe that Islam is a complete ‘way of life’. Which provides you with guidance in every field of human life, politics, economy, government, prayers, marriages and eating or drinking; Islam provides a Muslim with a complete set of parameters in which one can live a good life and be rewarded by Allah almighty for leading that life’
I added a bit more with a sense of finality, I thought to myself that this should be enough for him and he won’t ask any more questions.
He shook his head slightly, his fork was stuffed with food but he didn’t raise it to his mouth, rather he was staring at me with a very blank expression.
I was pretty certain by that point that he is not going to let me have my dinner that night, so I tried my best to speed up and eat as much as I can before it starts again.
‘Rohan, you know what, I studied Islam for nearly 10 years. I’ll be honest with you; there is no better ‘way of life’ as you called it then the one described by Islam. But why do you see Muslims as living their lives in the worst possible way then? Nearly two thirds of Muslim populations live below the poverty lines, those who have money in Middle East treat humans as insects and you are from Pakistan, look at what is happening in there? How many people have died in your country in the last five years? Is that your ‘way of life’?
‘You are mixing theory with practice I suppose. If Muslims are not living good lives, it is in no certain terms a proof that there is a fault in Islam. It’s more of a fact that Muslims are only living so badly in this world because they haven’t actually followed the ‘way of life’ they are given. And Pakistan yeah the number is around 30-35 thousand I suppose, but it’s an unwanted war we are a part of, the sooner our ruling elite realises this, better it will be for our country. Besides contrary to the Western world we have a very good birth rate, we have laid 35 thousand lives, but we will have a stronger nation again in a few years’ time ’
I chuckled slightly at the looks I was getting from my colleagues who were plain bored of it, but just couldn’t resist getting my thoughts across and thought I’ll be able to shift the topic somehow with the mention of birth rates in Europe.
But what he said next completely surprised me. It was kind of a short sermon but we all just sat there and listened to him for the next 10 minutes and somehow I think it was worth it; I am blessed to have a good memory and the first thing I am doing after coming back from the dinner to my hotel room is writing down his words.
’30-35 thousand, just a number for you Rohan I suppose? But do you know what lies behind this number? Rohan each and every one of those 30-35 thousand human beings had a separate story to them. Do you know their stories? They all had something called a heart; which is my friend this life’s most beautiful creation. A human heart; you know what a human heart is made of?
Doctors might tell you it’s a pump which supplies blood all across the body. But if you look closely you will find something else, something very extraordinary!
A human heart Rohan; is born when the love of a man and women breaks the boundaries, that love is the first ingredient of its existence. Than it is nurtured by the extraordinary tenderness of a mother’s womb, she suffers all the hardships in the external world to keep this heart beating in a safe environment.
It comes in this physical world completely empty and clean as a mirror, where it is tendered by the touch of parents. That is the first feeling it feels. The feeling of unselfish love!
With open eyes the young baby starts to see everything and his heart wonders what it is? He doesn’t know any difference between food and mud, you very often see babies eating the dirt in gardens. The big quest of the unknown fills this human heart with innocence of not knowing anything! Which is another part of its structure.
It passes from the toddler years into early childhood. Where each and every toy brought to it by parents, family and grandparents fills it with joy and happiness of life. Yes the heart is now filled with happiness! A key ingredient to fight the gloomy days of coming life.
Our teen years, Rohan that is the time when our hearts start feeling the love of other hearts, we develop crushes on pretty faces, we explore the characters around us and try to find the love in material, but the pure heart is only inspired by extraordinary, sometimes sci-fi type abilities of others around it and we feel attracted to different people, places and concepts – our hearts are filled with inspirations. Inspirations to be like Superman, Batman, sport star or singer.
Then comes our youth, when the heart is filled with ambitions and desires of life! We make plans for our careers, brighter futures, perfect soul mates and God knows what else. Our heart is filled with desires to achieve everything we want and some amongst us find love in their passions, in their religions or their objectives of life! That all combines to teach our heart ambitions and dreams. Dreams which are another prominent feature of human hearts.
And then Rohan, those who are blessed amongst us have children of their own, you don’t know this yet. But the pride your heart is filled with once you first hold your own son or daughter in your hands is speechless!
At that point you feel that you have completed the journey of your heart, you have the kindness of your parents, innocence of your earlier years, joy of your childhood, inspirations from your beliefs, love of your life-partner, ambitions and dreams about your future and the pride of your offspring! Your heart feels completed, fulfilled!
That Rohan is a human heart behind all of these 35 thousand lives, children, teenagers, youth, husbands, fathers, brothers! They all might have been at different stages of the journey of heart; some might have loving parents whose kindness was taken away from them in a bomb blast. Some might have been in the middle their childhood, filling their hearts with joy which was abruptly changed into tears! Think of the love taken away from young wives, the pride taken away from children. And the desires, ambitions and dreams taken away from your youngsters!
Rohan you so easily say it now as ‘just a number’ but believe me my friend each number has a life and a heart behind it. Which cannot be replaced by just another number!’’
So 135 more….another very ordinary number for us which we all will soon forget!
