I was watching a talk show with a ‘famous host’ and something very interesting caught my attention. He mentioned that Pakistan has three types of people – Ones who are living in the 21 century with their I pads and smart phones and account for no more than 1 to 2 percent of the total population. The second group is stuck between the 19th and 20th century (almost 100 years behind), and they account for 10 to 20 percent. The rest of the population is still living between the 9th and the 19th century. If we look at today’s Pakistan closely and deeply, the above analysis makes a lot of sense. For me it’s simple, the root cause of the problem is lack of education. How else do you explain the killing of a girl outside the Lahore High Court and that too for “honor”? Then you hear about two minor nieces being given as “swara”; when their uncle elopes with a woman of another family/tribe. The people who decide the punishment are clerics as well as clan leaders. The suicide bombers and seventy two virgins are all part and package of the same illiteracy.
I feel it is mandatory on every Muslim to learn and gain the best education available. And what supports the argument of mine is from the life of our prophet (peace and blessings upon him). When Allah SWT, in his infinite wisdom, chose to put the burden of prophecy of his beloved prophet, the Lord did not command him to bow-down and pray. Instead, the first commandment through Gabriel was “READ”, yes read! Even the Quran says that “this book is made easy for you to read, understand and ponder over.” Go figure! If we understand just the significance of the first verses send to our prophet, I am sure most of our problems will be resolved. I was just reading in an Arab newspaper about the rights to end a marriage.
It was reported that Abdul Aziz Hammadi who is a marriage councilor at Dubai courts, says: “We call that… the gradual edifying reconciliation method,… whenever a husband notices a bizarre behavior from his wife, he can advise her, then avoid sleeping with her in one room and if that doesn’t work out then he can whip her gently in a manner that makes her understand the situation.” Is it practical to think that “whip her gently” would work in today’s world? No, it will not. Some will argue that it is in the Quran. And to them I say that the Quran declares itself “a book for all ages and all times”, so everything we read in the book cannot be taken literally as most are methophoric. But again all this comes from understanding what God is telling us. The power to understand comes from Education. The fact is that 78 percent of our population is illiterate, therefore, how can one expect things to be rational? I understand things will not change in a day or even few years. But we have to make serious concentrated effort to educate our generations, even if it takes us a decade or two, but unless we do that we will stay centuries behind in everything we do.