Dr. Sinha MA Sayeed
Money is the root of all inconveniences caused off and often, noted Bengali literary Dr. Lutfar Rahman log time ago. Karl Marx calls it the most dominating factor in life. Religions of various natures, sizes, dimensions and folds emphasize on limiting wealth and liquid money if a person wants a peaceful life in a family, society and state at large. Therefore, faults lie not in money but in the accumulation of wealth and money illogically and unfairly without taking care of people and surroundings. Those who believe from the mouth, not from the very heart and follow in action otherwise are surely destined to face the musical consequences in the end. Nothing is truer than life and death followed by the final trials on the Day of Judgment at the August court of the Creator of all under, beneath, in-between and above the skies. Isn’t today’s Bangladesh be liable for nursing and caring such characters showing thumbs to those who prefer peaceful and transparent middle life. Let COVID-19 be a torch for us all.
Life is a comedy to those who think it, a tragedy to those who feel it but a reality– combing sorrows and joys—to those who realize it. Therefore, pessimism arises and tries to settle when a person is not in a position to view life from the broadest perspectives since life means moving onward bearing in mind in the voice of Napoleon Bonaparte “There is no Alps” or in the words of Robert Bruce “Impossible is a word to be found in the dictionary of fools” or in line with APJ Abdul Kalam, also called Missile Man of India, “Failure(s) indicates you are active and rolling towards a target”. Above all, Islam believes “life is blend of this life and afterlife denoting a person shall have to decide his/her course of actions in this world in consonance with his/her accountability to the sole Creator called Allah on the day judgment. Is the landscape in Bangladesh asymmetrical at present?
There prevails absolutely a wrong perception among the Muslims that paradise lies under the feet of a mother.
There is no Quranic verse or authentic Hadith in support of such saying. Rather a section of people and religious pundits using such shield to highlight the position of the mother in Islam. Both textually and practically, Islam has elevated the position of a mother to the height of Himalaya ultra plus simultaneously reminding all not to bow down head to anybody excepting Allah. Here Muslim scholars and religiously advanced intellectuals should open their mouths confidently and truly so that people, in general, may be away from such wrong beliefs and practices. Therefore, propositions (s) Paradise can never be under the feet of a human being (b) it is a symbolic expression to place a mother at top of all in the worldly life and (c) such symbolic expression of supreme respect should never be taken to such a height that may amount to audacity in its totality. O Muslims get rid of such practices since a Muslim is allowed not to listen to parent’s advice even if it is not in line with Quran and Sunnah. Human being is human being who is subject to trial on the day of judgment whether she is mother or not. And so, a Muslim must show the highest honour to his/her mother but not touching the feet under any circumstances, compelling or not, even not in the expectation that under her feet lays coveted paradise(s). Aren’t such beliefs and practices engrossed highly in Bangladesh?
One of my closest friends, Mahamud Reza Chowdhury, MRC, now settled in the USA in a note to me a few days ago expressed his state of oscillations whether a Muslim should pray to Allah seeking blessing for the departed soul(s) in spite of his knowing the widely known negative track records of such person. In reply, I wrote ‘Take this note carefully and consciously, Muslims commonly pray to Allah seeking Jannat for the departed soul(s). Islamic lessons, teachings and interpretations focus manifestly that there are generally three types of wrongs a Muslim may commit such as (a) wrongs with Allah by not abiding specific instructions contained in the Holy Quran markedly: (b) wrongs with other fellows, parents, relatives and human beings while dealing with various capacities and natures and (c) Wrongs with nature. Allah may be kind enough about a person’s wrongs with Allah but other two wrongs are subject to confirmation of forgiveness by the respective areas concerned. For a ready reference, look at the trial of a killer in Islamic jurisprudence. Here state cannot pardon unless the aggrieved(s) of the victim does so. (President’s mercy is not known here, it’s a western law that Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan follow at the negation of Quranic codes). Likewise, there are so many wrongs in our life, which relate to these two folds but unfortunately enough, we are interfering with others’ rights so emotionally, which tantamount to audacity only.
From such standpoints, our prayer(s) to Allah must be within the prescriptions of Islamic codes. When we say ‘May Allah grant the departed soul Jannatul Ferdous, the highest Jannat’, then asking crops up instantly, what are the punishments for the very wrongs that the person committed in life in this world, which fall into (b) and (c) categories? O Muslims, set your prayer for the departed soul(s) in line with Islamic codes, not self- created codes and be aware of meaningfully and operationally. When a person dies leaving behind a notorious legacy say, Genghis Khan, Hulagu Khan, Adolf Hitler and so forth then who has given constitutional rights to even a Muslim to pray to Allah to send and place them in Jannat? Can state/we, setting aside their families’ rights, forgive those who assassinated our three Caliphs who, according to Hadith, got messages of Jannat from Allah through our Prophet (PBUH)? Can a Muslim pray for Jannat to Allah for those who did kill Hazrats Hasan and Husayn? This implies that we can pray to Allah to bless a person so long he is alive on this earth planet so that he/she may have ample/golden opportunities to come to sense and lead a moral, ethical and religious life.
To become a Muslim following Quran and sunnah is not so easy a task in action. Nowadays, a novel introduction is in the offing and it is now being observed that even the Chief Justice has started issuing press release seeking blessing to Allah for the departed soul(s) [knowing very well the track records of the person when he/she was alive)]. Is it becoming for a Chief Justice anywhere on this earth planet to practice this officially concurrently taking risk of ascertaining the very transparent way of life when the departed soul was bodily alive? Therefore, to what extent Bangladesh is away from such reality is a matter of free and fair deliberations indeed?
(Dr. Sinha MA Sayeed (titled ‘Global voice’ for the book O United Nations), writer, columnist, public speaker, member of International Political Science Association, IPSA, and Chairman of Leadership Studies foundation, LSF, at sinha_sayeed611@yahoo.com)
