Eid reflections

The occasion of Eidul Azha at the end of the Hajj – one of the biggest gatherings of mankind in the world – marks the togetherness of Muslims around the world, no matter where they live and what their race is. This message was driven home clearly by the Imam-e-Kaaba in the Hajj sermon, which Sheikh Al-Sudais standing in for Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh who is not well. It was stressed that Muslims need to put up a collective struggle to combat violence and defeat terrorism and that Islam is a religion of peace and it should not take outside intervention to maintain peace amongst Muslims. This of course is a relevant message in the times we live in and where Islam has been increasingly vilified as a faith. Eid is a time for sacrifice and no part of the world has sacrificed more in the recent years than the Muslim world. It is hard to think of a Muslim country which is not in a state of war. In Syria, nearly half a million people have died in a civil war that keeps raging more fiercely than ever. Brutal violence has been such a part of daily life in Syria that a ceasefire beginning on Monday that is supposed to last only 48 hours is being touted as a major celebration. Iraq is little better, with the Islamic State fighting the government to a bloody draw in most of the country. Even Turkey is facing militant attacks. The Islamic State, more than any other militant group, has done more to shatter any semblance of peace in the Muslims. Its allies, like the Boko Haram in Nigeria, are equally brutal. What makes matter worse is that, in trying to fight the IS threat, many Muslim states and their allies in the Western world have ended up committing atrocities of their own. The civil war in Yemen has been made worse by outside intervention. The bombing campaigns in Syria and Iraq have not stopped IS or ended civil wars.

Muslim countries are torn apart right now, by internal and sectarian divisions or by terrorism. Pakistan has not been an exception to these problems and suffered years on end by being riven by militancy, with its weak democracy and a less than enviable record of how its poor and vulnerable have been treated. For the Muslim world, then, the year ahead looks to be one of great sacrifice too. What is needed is deep refection and a strong resolve to tackle the problems and challenges facing us. Many of us will not be celebrating Eid in the expected manner because of the acute financial pressures they face and the rising inflation which makes it harder and harder for many families to mark the event as they did in previous years. Yes, the poorest of the poor will receive charity – many eating meat for the only time in the year when they are able to do so. But there are many others who are too proud, too dignified to seek charity. They suffer instead in silence. Increasing ostentatiousness adds to their plight and contributes to the growing social divide in our country. Eid should be an occasion when we consider ways to bridge this divide and bring people together everywhere regardless of their differences – creating the equitable, society that Islam envisages.