by Jonathan M.A. Ghaffar
There are times when the miraculous occurs for all to see. But when the next grisly or sensationalist event in the news shoves aside the novelty of the miraculous, it’s time to remind people that yes, miracles do still happen. And if we don’t remember them, marvel at them, thank God for them, become inspired and empowered by them, we will have lost something more valuable than the miracle itself: we will have lost our hope.
The miracle in question was the triumph of life over death, good over evil, where the best and the worst representatives of the religion of Islam met face-to-face. Only this time, what did not happen is what most always happens when armed Islamist thugs shoot unarmed moderate Muslims or others who stand up to them to denounce their evil, extremist interpretation of Islam.
Now seemingly eons ago, but only this past Oct. 9th in the Swat Valley in Pakistan, an area infamous for being controlled and terrorized by the Taliban, a teenage Pashtun girl named Malala Yousafzai was shot twice at point-blank range by a Taliban gunman. The miracle, as millions around the world now know, was that Malala did not die. (Another schoolgirl was also shot on the assumption that she was Malala, and that girl also survived — she is in stable condition and expected to recover.)
The Taliban, upon learning of Malala’s incredible escape from death, openly claimed responsibility for the attack and vowed to finish her off if she recovered. Following the shooting, she was airlifted to a hospital in England where she has been recovering quite well, thank God, with thousands upon thousands of letters of support and encouragement arriving from all over the world.
Malala’s crime is that she champions the education of girls. Now 15, she is already a veteran in the struggle in the Taliban-controlled Swat Valley, having started at the tender age of 11 by criticizing, denouncing and reporting (via a BBC worldwide blog) the many evils and atrocities the Taliban has committed since gaining political and religious control of the Valley in early 2009. And despite a Pakistan army campaign in May of that year to route them, the Taliban’s power to intimidate and murder at will in the Swat Valley (and everywhere else in Pakistan) remains unchallenged.
Under Taliban rule, the Swat Valley became a despotic enclave of religious extremism, intimidation, oppression, floggings, stoning, shootings and beheadings. The victims have been political or ideological opponents, those considered infidels or apostates, anyone brave enough to openly defy or criticize them, and women the Taliban have judged immoral, disobedient or “Westernized” and thus worthy of public punishment, often resulting in death.
In the face of all this, and despite her celebrity survivor status and renewed death threats from the rabid Islamist dogs baying for her blood, Malala vows to return to Pakistan and continue her fight for gender education equality and similar rights and protections Islam grants to women. The Taliban, in opposition to all this, has already destroyed more than 200 schools, most of them for girls — a gender the Taliban believes should remain uneducated, despite the statements by God in the Quran upholding the requirements and equality of men and women to attain civic, moral and spiritual heights, all of which require education.
The Taliban and like-minded Muslims who seek to deny women an education also violate clear injunctions by the Holy Prophet (phuh) that both men and women should be educated equally. Even Hell can be averted if a father provides for his daughters as equally as he does for his sons, including education. This also applies to the raising and education of orphan girls.
There are no shortages of examples of the brutality and senseless murder of innocents at the hands of the Taliban and similar groups. What makes the vicious and cowardly attack against a teenage girl who dared to stand up to the Taliban so different this time is that she was not martyred and then quickly buried to be just as quickly forgotten by the public in their dread and fear of the extremists. No, Malala Yousafzai is a living call for justice and equality for women in Pakistan and around the world, and she is the face of courage that prevails in the face of evil and cries out for an end to that evil.
Her miraculous survival seems to have stirred the collective conscience of the people of Pakistan, jarring some of them out of their trembling silence. We can only hope and pray that they’ve finally realized they must stand up now, at this moment, and reclaim their religion from the ignorance, fanaticism and bestiality of its Taliban abductors. It is time for the trembling silent in Pakistan to stand up and remain standing and scream for justice and demand the end of the Taliban and their brethren in hate and savagery.
Seldom has the difference between good and evil been so clearly defined and presented to the world as it was in the dichotomy of a brave and fragile girl and her soulless attackers on a school bus in the Swat Valley. Muslims in Pakistan and elsewhere have no better illustration of the choice before them.
On one hand is the Islam of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) reflected in the dreams and desires of a young girl seeking knowledge, freedom and justice – the foundations of true spiritual growth. On the other hand is the Islam of the fanatical, bloodthirsty and intolerant extremists, whose twisted worldview of hate and misogyny is world’s away from that of Malala and another young girl from the dawn of Islam named Hadhrat Aisha, whom the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) declared was the depository of fully half the knowledge of the religion; a young woman from whom, after the demise of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), the Khalifas and companions regularly solicited scholarly advice and sage counsel.
Fast-forward to the present, where the last person the Taliban would seek guidance from would be a woman – any woman – and certainly not an outspoken, educated, strong-willed and courageous woman like Malala Yousafzai. Fast-forward to the future: if, God forbid, Malala is murdered at the hands of such Neanderthalic thugs as the Taliban, it will also be at the hands of the silent Muslim majority who did nothing to stop it. In this way, they are also victims of the Taliban – they’re just not dead. . . yet.
Categories: Afghanistan, Asia, Pakistan, Taliban
“Saving Malala to save Islam” by Jonathan M.A. Ghaffar is a timely reminder of the struggle between the loving and law abiding majority of Pakistanis and the long bearded, ignoarnt idiots called Taliban – from Afganistan and in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
But please do not call these morons as; Islaimists thugs or rabid Islamist dogs or that their ideology is extremist interpretation of Islam.
Let us call spad a spad. These Taliban are hired guns by those forces who want to destabilise Pakistan by creating havoc among the innocent people. They have no clear ideology, they do not even know the meaning of the word-Islamist or Islamism and they sure have not read Quran in a language, they understand. The idea of misusing religion for political gains is all over the Middle East and has its roots in the greater conflict.
Calling them or other violent groups Islamist is a direct insult to Islam or the Muslim people. They are murderers, un-Islamic blood suckers who are acting like leeches on the sick corp of the Islamic world.
Respected Mr. Bashy Quraishy,
My only quibble with your response is where you say: “These Taliban are hired guns by those forces who want to destabilise Pakistan by creating havoc among the innocent people.” This statement echoes the standard conspiracy theorist rants which are but a thinly-veiled attempt to blame the extremist Islamist problem on unseen forces (usually spelled C-I-A or I-S-R-A-E-L) who are only pulling the strings of the brainless puppets labeled Taliban, et al. The real answer is the four decades of Saudi-bought Wahhabi/Salafi Jihadist indoctrination in madrasas. It’s those 7-year-olds who grow up to pull the triggers on those AK-47s and blow themselves up for 72 virgins. The Taliban and those like them are not hired. They are not paid assassins. The target-killings of Ahmadis are often done by hired assassins with no ideological or religious leanings, but that’s a separate issue. The people calling and paying for those target killings ARE certainly ideologically and religiously motivated. The point that needs correction is that what is being created among the innocent people is not havoc but (a) complicity by dint of agreement with the taliban beliefs and/or (b) fear of said Taliban which keeps their mouths shut. The problem of dealing with the Taliban and like-minded extremists will never go away by blaming their heinous actions on others. We must “call a spade a spade” and counter the actualized violence and underlying ideology that has been polluting Islam in Pakistan and elsewhere for neary half a century. Only then will the problem be addressed.
Dear Jonathan
I do not know how much you know Pakistan or Pakistani people, but I am educated and raised there before I went abroad to study. I have a large family in Pakistan and part of my mother’s side are Ahmadis and during my visit to Pakistan, I met many of them and listened to their side of the facts. So I am not talking hear and see.
We can discuss from here to eternity the reasons, why Pakistan is being targeted
by ignorant thugs and uneducated Talibans and who is behind these atrocities and we would still come to two different conclusions. The reasons are simple.
1. You look at the issue of sectarian violence from Ahmadi perspective and I see it from an International viewpoint. You and other commentators at Muslim Times very conveniently forget that it is not only Ahmadis who are being targeted but also other minorities as Hindus, Christians and mostly Shias. At the same time, most victims of the over all violence actually are Sunni Muslims of all persuasion. I personally do not believe in sects in Islam and even one person being killed by fanatics is one too many.
2. I have not and would never say that Saudi Arabia is not responsible for accelerating sectarian violence in Pakistan and actually in the entire Muslim world. Wahhabi/Salafi ( I would not call them Jihadist because what they do is not Jihad) indoctrination in Madrasas is not new. It started in 80ies during the Afghan war against the Soviets. But if you look around, it is happening from Mali to Indonesia. Saudis have no interest in destabilize Pakistan, because they are very dependent on Pakistan for military protection and in future conflict, Pakistan is there only friend. On the other hand, USA, India and Afghanistan has a bigger stake in creating trouble in Pakistan because of strategic and political alliance with China. It will become clear to you if you look beyond your own religious interests. Just ask yourself: Who will gain most if Pakistan is destabilized? Saudis or India/USA axis.
3. Taliban knows damn well that they are no match to Pakistan army and people in Pakistan hate them as well as ordinary Maulvis. To claim that religious extremism has been part of the society for 50 years shows how little you know about Pakistan. Before USA intervention, there were no violence in Pakistan, no suicide bombings and no Taliban attacks.
4. Pakistanis are not religiously fanatics. If you want proof, look at the facts. Religious parties have never won more than 4% votes in National elections. No Jonathan, Pakistanis are very peaceful people. They love to live life, are hospitable and hard working. I have a great faith in them and God willing, one day, this madness will come to an end. But it also requires that people like you do not demonize Pakistan and its people, because of religious differences and unfortunate and deplorable attacks on Ahmedi communities. I did not meet one person in Pakistan who said that killing minorities was OK. Yes, there are idiots among religious fanatics but that does not mean that ordinary people listen to them.
Kind regards