Cogito, Ergo Sum

Supreme Court of Bangladesh in his decision (3 Jan 2010) declared the fifth amendment of the constitution of Bangladesh illegal. (Click here for detailed news). Along with others, one consequence of this decision is that the secular status of Bangladesh is restored. Secularism is Kufr (disbelief in God) according to clear injunctions of Quran. Quran declares: “…and whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers.” (5: 44) “…And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.” (5:45) “…And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient.” (5:47) The religion-based political parties functioning in the country stands to be outlawed in the light of this judgment. Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed said since the High Court judgment invalidating Fifth Amendment stands operational through reviving the fundamentals of the 1972 Constitution...

I am reproducing a part of the critique of the views and knowledge of Pr. Ahmad Rafique Akhtar, from my website A Criticism on the Views and Knowledge Of Pr. Ahmad Rafique Akhtar . Many a times, Prof Akhtar will try to show that modern scientific theories can be inferred from Quran and Hadith. The basic flaw in this approach is failing to appreciate that all scientific theories are rigorous as well as falsifiable. On the other hand, when Quran and Hadith narrate something about the universe, they narrate in allegorical way. Secondly what they say are not falsifiable. All scientific theories are fallible and subject to a constant change. Quran is not fallible, according to Muslim belief. Professor Akhtar is also criticized for expressing such notions, which are not correct scientifically. He frequently refers to scientific facts, but quotes them erroneously. For example in his book, Pas-e-Hijab, he claims that in the galaxies other than ours, the faculty of human senses ceases ...

Avatar is a Hollywood science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It is a very successful movie in commercial terms, as it has become second highest-grossing film of all times worldwide within three weeks of its release. My Comments It is a movie with a heap of visual technology on the back of a very ordinary, plain, predictive and formulaic story. The story is stereotype, and can be summed up as the following. There are two groups of people in the movie. Good people and bad people. There is a treasure hidden in the dwelling of good people, but they don’t know it. Bad people want to get this treasure at any cost. They send some of their spies to the dwelling of the good people. One of the spies, Jake Sully, falls in love with a girl from among the people of good ones. Good people admit Sully in their group. Bad people attack good people out of their brutality. Sully takes the side of good people. In the last war between the good and the bad people, bad people ...

In my view Nawaz Sharif is chronologically third politician among Muslims of this region who enjoyed such an overwhelming political support. The first two being Jinnah and Bhutto. Benazir Bhutto also had vast support, but she was not the creator of this support. She was an heir of it. Nawaz Sharif entered into the politics in early 1980’s. First he joined Asghar Khan’s Tehrik-e-Istiqlal. Soon he realised that the party is devoid of any potential of growth. In those days Zia’s martial law was imposed in Pakistan. No political forum was available for newcomers having extraordinary talent. So Nawaz Sharif adopted the same approach that was used by his predecessor Bhutto. He joined the government as finance minister of Punjab, under martial law regime. After non-party based general elections of 1985, he was made chief minister of Punjab. This was the beginning of his popularity. Until now he has an experience of more than 25 years of practical politics. It is more than that of Bhutto. Th...

“Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Adore not the sun and the moon, but adore Allah, Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve” (Quran 41:37) It is my detailed rebuttal of the article at web page: Allah – the Moon God . I have reproduced the whole article and in parenthesis added my comments in red. Allah - the Moon God (This is the claim of the writer. Let us see if the writer successfully proves this claim with evidence)? The Archeology of The Middle EastThe religion of Islam has as its focus of worship a deity by the name of "Allah." (Islam asserts that Allah is not a deity, Allah the only deity/god. “There is no god/deity except Allah”: Basic principle of Islam) The Muslims claim that Allah in pre-Islamic times was the biblical God of the Patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. (Islam does not maintain that word Allah was used by previous Patriarchs, prophets and apostles). The issue is thus one of continuity. (Islam does not c...

“Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Adore not the sun and the moon, but adore Allah, Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve” (Quran 41:37) Some Christians have argued that Arabic word “Allah” is the name of moon-god ( na’oozu billah ). Following is the link of a website, the authors of whom have tried to establish this claim on the basis of pseudo-archaeology and pseudo-etymology: Allah-the Moon God It is claimed on this website that, “The Moon-god was called al- ilah, i.e. the god, which was shortened to Allah in pre-Islamic times.” It is also claimed, “Under Mohammed's tutelage, the relatively anonymous Ilah, became Al-Ilah, The God, or Allah, the Supreme Being.” These ignorant people have claimed, “To the Jews and the Christians, he (Muhammad) said that Allah was their God too. But both the Jews and the Christians knew better and that is why they rejected his god Allah as a false god.” Interestingly, the write up consists of clai...

لگتا ہے کہ ایمان کےبہت سے دعوٰی دار ایسے ہیں کہ انہیں یقین ہے کہ قیامت نہیں آءے گی۔ یہ لوگ روز جزا کے اندیشے سے بالکل بے پروا، ہر وہ بات کہتے اور لوگوں میں پھیلاتے ہیں، جن سے ان کی بیمار انا کی تسکین ہو سکے۔ ثبوت کے طور پر روزنامہ ایکسپریس میں ۲۰ اکتوبر ۲۰۰۹ کو شا ءع ہونے والے ایک آرٹیکل کا ایک پیرا گراف ملاحظہ کیجیے۔ غامدی استعارہ ہے خدمت قرآن کا، مگر چونکہ اس آرٹیکل نویس کو جاوید احمد غامدی کی بعض آرا سے شدید اختلاف ہے، اس لیے اب اس کے نزدیک روا ہے، کہ وہ قیامت کی جوابدہی کو بھلا کر، اپنے مخالف پر ہر وہ الزام لگا دے جو اس کے ذہن میں آءے۔

(It is a list of ridiculous popular political beliefs and notions of illeterate and semi-literate Pakistani society. This list will frequently be updated). Almost each Pakistani believes that 9/11 was a conspiracy of Israel and/or US to create an excuse to attack Afghanistan. Shahbaz Sharif attempted to return to Pakistan in may 2004. It was a popular belief that President Gen. Musharraf had a deal with him and he has requested Shahbaz Sharif to resume the responsibilities of government, as Musharraf has concluded that he is not able to bear these responsibilities. (May 2004) Chief Justice of Pakistan was restored by Supreme Court, after President Gen Musharraf suspended him in March 2007. It was said that the Chief Justice is restored after a deal with Musharraf. The time proved that he was not resorted through any deal. (2007) After 2008 general elections PPP formed federal government in Pakistan. According to an agreement between Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, the government had ...

My letter "Successful at Last?" is published in the daily "The Nation", on 17 Oct 2009. To read the letter, please click here . Following is the text of the letter published: Successful at last? According to a report published in the Washington Post on Oct 14, 2009, the US Congress has no plans to change the objectionable conditions of Kerry-Lugar Bill. Instead, President Obama intends to sign the Bill only after Congress issues a statement clarifying that conditions of the Bill do not violate the sovereignty of Pakistan. The question is whether this clarification will be enough to eliminate the insecurities of those criticizing the Bill. Would the current tour of the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi be called successful if the US Congress issues that explanatory statement but is not willing to abolish the objectionable conditions? -MUHAMMAD UZAIR BHAUR, Lahore, October 15.

پاکستان کے تعلیمی نظام کی بڑی ناکامی یہ ہے کہ بجاءے معاشرے سے جہالت دور کرنے کے، اس نے جہالت کو ڈگریاں اور سندیں دینی شروع کر رکھی ہیں۔ ہمارے معاشرے میں زوال کی شرح میں جو تیزی آءی ہے، اس کی ایک وجہ "تعلیم" کی شرح میں اضافہ بھی ہے۔ چونکہ ہمارا تعلیم نظام جہلا کو سندیں اور ڈگریاں تھما کر معاشرے میں بھیج رہا ہے اس لیے جہالت ہی معاشرے کی قدر بنتی جا رہی ہے۔ اجڈ پن، بد تہذیبی، گھٹیا پن اور گنوار پن، یہی ہمارے معاشرے کا طرزِ زندگی بن گیا ہے۔

Very often it is claimed that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a secular person. It is completely wrong. Even the information of Benazir Bhutto about her father was not correct. He was far from being a secular person, at least in his concepts. Here is a passage from his book “The Myth of Freedom”. It shows how did he look at his faith: "What was more important was the fact that the Muslims were not barbarians at a low level of culture who would consider admission to the Hindu fold as promotion. On the contrary, not only were they themselves the creator and defenders of a new and aggressive culture, they had a fanatical conviction of its superiority to all others, and thought it was their duty to propagate it even by force. Their religion did, in fact, make this one of the essential, though optional duties of a Muslim. They were the first people in history to put forward the idea of an irreconcilable conflict between a particular way of life and all others, and to formulate a theory of perm...

The secular people of Pakistan claim that Pakistan should be a secular state, because Quaid-e-Azam in his address (August 11, 1947) to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan presented the blueprint of a secular state. If, for a while, we ignore what Quaid said on the issue, before August 11, 1947 and after it, and accept the notion that Quaid really presented the idea of a secular state in his address, even then the claim of the secular people turns out to be a mere propaganda, based on distorted account of history. Quaid’s so-called view of secular Pakistan was infact the opinion of an individual. While the people of Pakistan, through their representatives in the first Constituent Assembly, rejected this view of an individual, by passing Objectives Resolution on March 12, 1949, through overwhelming majority. Through this resolution, the people of Pakistan approved Allama Iqbal’s view regarding the political scheme of the new country. In his letter to Quaid, while elaborating the need fo...

A few days ago, I had a chat on Internet with a Jew. I went with the message of love and peace in the Jewish chat room, and hoped that I’ll get an encouraging and positive response. But I was frustrated. Below, I am reproducing my chat with that Jew, who refused to be the part of solution and insisted to be the part of problem. He was involved in blame game, and supported the use of violence and brutality. He was denying the basic human rights for Palestinians. Obviously, as long as such views prevail in human beings, peace is not possible. Me: Judaism, Christianity, Islam; all are Abrahamic religions. Cannot we live with love and peace? Him: Why don’t you go to the Muslims room and complain there? Him: Have you tried that? Me: Cannot we all solve our problems with peace? Him: Sure when the Muslims (will) put down their weapons. Me: All of us should put down our weapons. Him: If the Israelis were to put down their weapons, there would be no more Israel. Me: Blaming will not increase pe...

Following is my letter appeared in "Newsweek", May 17, 1999 issue: In the face of colossal human tragedy, Nobel laureate Wiesel makes it look less horrible than the Holocaust. Wiesel, being the ambassador of peace, should have come up with a more humanistic approach to Kosovo instead of this plain scholarly analysis. Muhammad Uzair Bhaur Lahore, Pakistan The above letter can be read on website, at following URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/88279/page/4

It a is cliché in the West to criticize Quran and Islam due the concept of Jihad. Even the Pope Benedict while criticizing Islam said, “Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul”. When you read Bible, you come to the conclusion that those who criticize Islam due to its concept of Jihad are ignorant of the teachings of Bible. Here is an excerpt from Bible: “When you come near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it. And it shall be, if it make you answer of peace, and open to you, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries to you, and they shall serve you. And if it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it: And when the LORD your God has delivered it into your hands, you shall smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shall you take to yo...

سوات کے جاہل ملاؤں پر اکیسویں صدی میں جو نیا دین اور نٔی شریعت نازل ہؤی ہے، اس کےمطابق اب داڑھی نہ رکھنے والوں اور سر نہ ڈھانپنے والوں کو بھی سزا دی جا ٔے گی۔ پچھلی صدی کے عظیم مجدد سید قطب شہید رحمۃ اللہ علیہ نے داڑھی رکھی تھی نہ وہ سر ڈھانپتے تھے۔ اگر آج وہ زندہ ہوتے، اور غلطی سے کہیں سوات چلے جاتے تو ان ملاؤں کی سزا کا نشانہ بن جاتے۔ایسے ملا جو سید قطب شہید رحمۃ اللہ علیہ جیسے لوگوں کو سزا کا فتوٰی سنا ٔیں، کی عقل پر ماتم ہی کیا جا سکتا ہے۔

بلا تبصرہ

لاہور میں جو سڑک نہر سے شوکت خانم میموریل کینسر ہسپتال کو جاتی ہے، اس کا نام ہے شاہراہ نظریۂ پاکستان۔ نظریۂ پاکستان کیا ہے؟ کچھ لوگوں کا خیال ہے کہ قیام پاکستان کی بنیاد لا الہ الا اللہ ہے۔ گویا اسلام ہی نظریۂ پاکستان ہے۔اس لحاظ سے یہ کہا جا سکتا ہے کہ اس سڑک کا نام گویا شاہراہ اسلام ہے۔ کچھ لوگوں کا خیال ہے کہ پاکستان ہندوستان کے مسلامانوں کی تہذیب کے تحفظ کے لیے بنایا گیا تھا۔اگر اس بات کو درست مانا جاءے تو کہا جا سکتا ہے کہ یہ سڑک گویا شاہراہ مسلم تہذیب ہے۔کچھ اور لوگوں کا خیال ہے کہ پاکستان ہندوستان کے مسلمانوں کے معاشی تحفظ کے لیے بنایا گیا تھا۔ اگریہ بات درست مانی جاءے تو کہا جا سکتا ہے کہ یہ سڑک دراصل شاہراہ معاشیات ہے۔ کچھ ایسے دانشور بھی ہیں، اور بکثرت ہیں، جن کا کہنا ہے کہ نظریۂ پاکستان کا کوءی وجود ہی نہیں ہے۔ پاکستان کسی نظریہ کی بنیاد پر نہیں بنا تھا۔ اگر یہ بات درست مانی جاءے تو اس کا مطلب ہوا کہ پاکسان بے مقصد قاءم کیا گیا تھا۔ لہذا یہ سڑک شاہراہ بے مقصدیت قرار پاءی۔ میرا مسءلہ یہ ہے کہ مجھے صبح کو گھر سے دفتر اور شام کو دفتر سے گھر جانے کے لیے اس سڑک سے گزرنا ہوتا ہ...

پاکستان کے موءقر اخبار روزنامہ "ایکسپریس" کے ایڈیٹر عبداللہ طارق سہیل اسی اخبار میں چھپنے والے اپنے کالم "وغیرہ وغیرہ" میں اکثر اپنی جہالت کا ثبوت دیتے رہتے ہیں۔ اسی طرح کا ایک ثبوت انہوں نے ۲۳ دسمبر ۲۰۰۸ کو شاءع ہونے والے کالم "مشترکہ مقبولیت" میں دیا ہے۔ موصوف نے انکشاف فرمایا ہے کہ ویت نامیوں نے امریکا کے خلاف جنگِ آزادی ایک ریاست میں منظم ہوےبغیر لڑی تھی۔ ہمارے ملک کا المیہ یہ بھی ہے کہ جن جگہوں پر پڑھے لکھے لوگوں کو ہونا چاہیے تھا، وہاں کثرت سے جہلا براجمان ہیں۔ بدقسمتی سے اس طرح کے جہلا کے ہاتھ میں قلم بھی ہے۔ اس طرح کے لوگ اپنے قلم سے پوری قوم کا مزاج بھی خراب کر رہے ہیں اور اس کی جہالت میں شب و روز اضافہ بھی کر رہے ہیں۔ حقیقت یہ ہے کہ ویت نام کی جنگِ آزادی شمالی ویت نام کی منظم حکومت کے تحت ہی لڑی گءی تھی۔ اس جنگ میں جنوبی ویت نام میدانِ جنگ تھا۔ جنوبی ویتنام میں امریکہ نواز حکومت قاءم تھی، جبکہ شمالی ویت نام میں سوویت یونین نواز حکومت موجود تھی۔ امریکی افواج جنوبی ویت نام کی حکومت کو شمالی حصہ کی سوشلسٹ حکومت کے خلاف امداد دینے کی لیے جنگ میں کودی...

Jews are the children of Abraham, through his son Isac. Arabs are children of Abraham through his son Ishmael. Both claim that they are on the religion of Abraham. They believe in God, in prophets of God, in Hereafter. Torah and Psalms are holy for both. Even then they are fighting and killing each other. Why? Is it alright in the religion of both to kill people? Can both not raise up from their view points, just to propagate love, peace and harmony.If they are willing to promote peace, their holy books will help them to meet this end.