This is the seventh journal entry in a series of about 15 which I wrote over a three week period while I was in Pakistan this summer. If you go to the category Pakistan Journal you can see all the entries. There are some really interesting experiences and observations which I make throughout the trip(or well at least in my opinion).

6/14/04

I realized that I need to conserve space on the pad. Last night we had dinner with my brother in law and his family. All his brothers wanted to meet their new sister in law. It was a pretty cool gathering. The youngest brother (the only one with a beard) wanted to have an Islamic Discussion. He told me that he heard that my mother has issues with the group Dawat-e-Islaami. And that he happens to be a member of that group. Then he asked what’s wrong with the group, and that we should tell him so he can leave the group if it’s not good for him. I didn’t buy his last line and knew he straight up wanted to know what beef we had with his group so he could counter it or clarify his position. So I told him that I had never heard of the group till now so I would need to know what they are all about before I could comment. So then he told me that they are the ones who wear green turbans and they give the prophet (S) the importance that no other group gives him, (I thought they probably give him the importance that no Muslim ought to give him). He also said that the prophet (S) had no shadow. And that he was not a human being and that he was made of nur (unlike us). I explained to him that I can not believe that unless there is authentic information from the Quran and Hadith. He mentioned “Love for Allah and his Rasool” so I quoted the ayah “Say O’ Messenger  if you love me (Allah) then follow me (The Rasool). And tried to explain to him that the true love of Allah and his messenger comes from obedience in application of the Qur’an. My intent was to clarify the role of the Sunnah in the life of a Muslim. He told me that he partakes in Mawlid/Milaad etc.

[The following are Amended comments;  for some odd reason I had not completed this journal entry.. and I had left it incomplete]

While we were discussing we started going back and forth and he was basically regurgitating whatever he had learned from the circles he sits in. What I was doing was presenting information to him which he probably was not well aware of. For example: Allah (S) said that he sent the messengers from amongst their own people. And I tried to prove to him that all the prophets were men, and prophet Muhammad (S) was no different. I mentioned the verse that says that Prophet Muhammad (S) is a man and he will die as all men die. My brother in law asked me to cut out the darse so everyone else could also have a chance to talk. I guess what happened was our discussion had dominated the entire room and everyone just started listening to us. I guess I hadn’t noticed since I had gone so deep in thought. They must have thought I was some sort of Molvi. As if having a beard was not enough of an indication for them. It was sad to see how young people are easily manipulated by these random sectarian groups whose elders and leaders bare little sound knowledge.

Pictures from this segment of the trip:

[img=http://www.azeemkhan.info/images/pakistan/60.jpg width=100 height=100] [img=http://www.azeemkhan.info/images/pakistan/61.jpg width=100 height=100] [img=http://www.azeemkhan.info/images/pakistan/62.jpg width=100 height=100]

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Filed under: Pakistan Journal