A Self Righteous Nation

Yesterday, my facebook newsfeed exploded with various commentaries on a single photo that appeared to have outraged many. Statuses were uploaded, comments came in fast and even memes were generated seemingly in a matter of minutes. The photo was that of a man famous in our country for his Philanthropy and a lady who had taken a ‘selfie’ him. The emotions it generated was because the man, besieged with Kidney failure, was lying on a hospital bed, looking frail while she smiled brightly at the camera.

The outrage was over the lack of empathy and consideration the lady had apparently shown; an inappropriate click at a highly inappropriate time. But when the photo was shared countless time, when the lady’s behaviour was condemned again and again, when memes were made poking fun at her, when we took it out of proportion, another fatal gaffe was made that nobody seems willing to admit; there were two human beings in the photo. When we expressed sympathy for a man known for his relentless kindness and generosity, we forgot to extend the same to the other, if only in feeling. While we pointed fingers at the lady for her lack of sensitivity, we forgot that the rest of the finger was pointing back at us.

We are a people who love to highlight how judgmental ‘our society’ is but forget that we too are a part of it. We forget that we commit the same sins and deliver the same blows. It seems ironic that in 2012, we condemned a TV anchor for an incriminating morning show episode in which she showed different couples in a park together. We called her a hypocrite. What are we to call ourselves now? We are a nation that has an incredibly short term memory when it comes to tragedies that plague us all and demand that we all work together; just weeks ago over 1300 lives were lost due to a heatwave in Karachi. Before that, we were smarting from terrorist attacks; a bloody bus arrived at a hospital filled with dead bodies, worshippers were targeted at their Places of Worship, young children were killed in their school….all this we can forget so easily. But when it comes to pointing fingers at someone else, we seem to have photographic memories. We are a people who love to scream for peace while forgetting what it really means. We cover our ears when anyone points out our faults, ironically claiming the other to be self-righteous

We like to tote that religious extremism is our major problem and our consequent frustration has turned us away from the real essence of our religion and the manifestations of it are right before our eyes. Every religion preaches kindness and forgiveness and Islam has some very specific guidelines when it comes to shielding people’s faults. If we see or hear about someone else committing a sin, or simply doing something they clearly shouldn’t have, then instead of jumping on the self-righteous wagon we should always try to ignore it. Instead of spreading it, we should hide it and keep it a secret. It is reported that the Prophet (SAW) has said:

“Whosoever covers (the sins of) a Muslim, Allah covers (his sins) on the Day of Judgment”. (Reported by Bukhari)

Moreover, back-biting (something we love doing on a daily basis) is also condemned:

The Prophet said: “Backbiting implies your talking about your brother in a manner which he does not like. It was said to him: What is your opinion about this that if I actually find (that weakness) in my brother which I made a mention of? He said: If (that weakness) is actually found (in him) what you assert, you in fact backbited him, and if that is not in him it is a slander”. (Reported by Muslim)

If we enjoy spreading stuff about people, we must think about what we are doing. Allah says in the Holy Quran:

“Those who love (to see) scandal published (and) broadcast among the Believers will have a grievous Penalty in this life and in the Hereafter: Allah knows and ye know not”. (Quran, 19-24)

Peace is not the absence of armed conflict. We as a nation claim to want peace, but how can we claim to love it when we create discord amongst ourselves, when we hurt those in ways both subtle and open, just because they may be different from us in any way?

Peace is the Prophet (SAW) entering Makkah after years without any fanfare, without any arrogant pride of a conqueror but with his head bowed. Peace is him (SAW) joining a passing funeral of a stranger and when being told that the departed was a Jewish woman, simply responding, “Was she not human?”. Peace is how the Prophet (SAW) loved children, how he opened his home and heart for a lonely orphan boy. Peace is the Prohet (SAW), telling his followers, “A true Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand other Muslims stay safe”.

May we all truly find Peace amongst each other one day. Ameen.