Getting fed up with "religiousity"

[53fd]

I may come across as 'abrasive' & wrong, & I might offend some people, but I'll still say what I have to say. In light of the recent RYK bomb blast on Imam Hussain(AS)'s chehlum, I have seen many people expressing their outrage here in Sindh. They want to hold more protest rallies, & put pressure on the authorities to grant them justice.

As a follower of the Holy Prophet(S) & his grandson, I have understood how they reacted in adversity. We all need to be part of the solution, not the problem. There are people in my sect that would distance themselves from the 'rest of the society', rather than acclimatize in society & explain what they stand for. As a result of this, sometimes even educated people misconstrue, & misunderstand what my sect stands for (ideologically & otherwise).

Pakistan is a playing field for the Saudi Arabia-Iran sectarian battles. The harder my sect tries to resist & separate themselves from mainstream society, the harder the other side responds. While Saudi Arabia has sponsored & funded extremist ideologies in Pakistan, Iran is well known in its proxy warfare in Lebanon & Iraq as well. At the end of the day, Pakistan has been caught up in the middle of the Saudi Arabia-Iran sectarian battles.

This is why I have become disheartened with "religiosity" in Pakistan, as I see it as a major part of the problem, rather than the solution in Pakistan. Our first & second priorities should be Pakistan & Pakistan alone. Being a good, responsible Pakistani citizen is what we should stand for. To their credit, the Pakistani security authorities have clamped on numerous extremist & terrorist networks inside Pakistan over the years, but it is not possible for them to eliminate each & every extremist in this country. The only solution to eradicating sectarianism in Pakistan is for my sect to act responsibly, & explaining where we stand ideologically, rather than distancing ourselves & not acclimatizing ourselves in mainstream Pakistani society.

P.S. This does not mean I condone the violence/terrorism that took place in RYK

 

[BelligerentPacifist]

BH, we all can but deplore sectarian violence, but knocking down 'religiosity' is illogical because my adherence to religion isn't the same as yours: I don't get hung up, even though I'm distressed by it, on events that happened to great people along the timeline on history, rather I concentrate on keeping my environment clean, my tongue clean from lies and backbiting, and my money clean from interest. Me banishing my religiosity would have zero effect on sectarian x-furcations.

...The only solution to eradicating sectarianism in Pakistan is for my sect to act responsibly, & explain their position, rather than distancing themselves & not acclimatizing themselves in mainstream Pakistani society

Few people even have the courage to take that group-introspective stance, and you need to be appreciated and congratulated. But that logic too has a flaw because your (or any other x, y, z) group has held the same stance in the 1800s, 1900s, 1950s, 1960s and the 1970s, and no bombings ever happened then.

Somebody must stand to gain over spilt blood. I think it is more apt to uncover their political motives rather than just look at the bait they throw to the religious*-minded.

*religion ain't the sole bait, any group-feeling will do - political party, ethnicity, unions...enraged people could be rip through a town as has been demonstrated in our recent past. Only if they woke up to it...

 

[Xestan]

*Thumbs up* to your post Bilal, although I don't agree with the last part of it but still, I appreciate your approach. We need more people like you to present a moderate stance. May ALLAH guide all the Muslims to the right path!

 

[53fd]

Btw, I am not against religion, I am against "religiosity/religiousness". I am a practicing Muslim myself, but it is my own personal relationship with God. It is "religiosity/religiousness" that leads one to claim some are more pious than other (which is the main reason for sectarian violence), whereas religion teaches us not to judge others, as we don't know what God knows.

Everyone should be free to practice his/her religion, as long as they don't enforce their thoughts & beliefs on others. Similarly, the main crux of my opening post is about how my sect needs to reform themselves if we want to eradicate sectarian violence from our country.

 

[livingdead]

Sectarian violence has more to do with tribal loyalty (and warfare) than religion.
Not that religion cant be blamed at all( there are crazy stuff) but not much in this case.

 

[Roybot]

Sectarian violence has more to do with tribal loyalty (and warfare) than religion.
Not that religion cant be blamed at all( there are crazy stuff) but not much in this case.

He is talking about Shia-Sunni violence I think. Nothing to do with tribal loyalty. They hate each other over their tiny religious differences, even though they have so much more in common.

 

[livingdead]

He is talking about Shia-Sunni violence I think. Nothing to do with tribal loyalty. They hate each other over their tiny religious differences, even though they have so much more in common.

Well once violence takes off, people dont have time to read the small print and judge other side and then commit violence.
It is just us-vs-them, not much different from English football fans beating each other.
I still believe if pakistanis were passionate about club football, we will be hearing man united supporters bombing Man City victory rally in pakistan.

 

[53fd]

Well once violence takes off, people dont have time to read the small print and judge other side and then commit violence.
It is just us-vs-them, not much different from English football fans beating each other.
I still believe if pakistanis were passionate about club football, we will be hearing man united supporters bombing Man City victory rally in pakistan.

Well, Roy is right, & I wouldn't want to use the Man City-United analogy here.

 

[Kaniska]

I really appreciate your thought Bilal...Keep it up...Religion is not a issue..But the competetion in public about who is more religious is a problem? So that needs to be controlled in all society...No one should judge us about how religious i am ...It is my way of deciding how much religious i should be...This is a simple fact but sometimes it is very difficult to adapt it...