WILDLIFE WEEK
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Wildlife Conservation: Invoking ethical teachings
Unless humans become conscious about the importance of wildlife and it becomes firmly rooted in their hearts and minds, celebrating occasion may prove little beneficial; need of the hour is to change the mind-set of people, and for that invocation of moral and ethical teachings can be highly effective, suggests Mir Tariq Rasool
Nature; we live with it, in it, and by it. Some of us take deep delight in hiking through the woods in groups or solitary walks along vast beaches, others enjoy weekend bird watching events and some of us are employed to take accurate counts of wildlife and to protect it. There are still others who see nature in an entirely different way; to them, nature is to be dominated and exploited. Entire species of animal and plant life have been destroyed, and continue to be destroyed, by humans who hunt them to extinction or have obliterated the habitats that allowed them to thrive. If man originally hunted to survive, now the profit motive is often the ultimate reason for these acts of destruction. Others simply seem to derive some satisfaction from the very act of destruction. Humankind has altered the environment around the globe and has been responsible for both deliberate and unintentional acts of destruction including the destruction of wild life habitat.
However, humans have also known that nature, in both its obvious details and the mysterious "laws of nature" that man has always struggled to comprehend, is vital to our survival — as individuals and as a species.Trees are being chopped and put up for sale, the fishes are killed in the lakes by water pollution, the skins and bones of tiger are exchanged in the border areas and the rare migratory birds are captured and sold in the black markets around the world. Yet, every year around this time, (October 2 to 8) governments, environmentalists, and activists to accelerate the awareness of wildlife conservation among people, observe Wildlife Week. NGOs or self-claimed conservationists can be seen busy in sponsoring the Wildlife Week celebrations and papers are full with the write-ups on wildlife conservation, but all with insufficient results. Why government is not able to curb the growing extinction of wild species and destruction of habitat thereof? It needs to be analyzed. The mandate to conserve the wild species is given to the NGOs or self-claimed conservationists, who have only financial and materialistic benefits in handling the projects of wildlife conservation; columnists are just exercising their word gymnastics by writing on the issue. It needs deep change of mind-set of the people while dealing with the problem and this job can be done at a popular level by spreading the basic moral and ethical teachings. With a growing urge among the Muslims for a better understanding of the ideal, but practicable, way of life, the study and relevance of such teachings has added importance. The environment is central in Islam. Due to the growing impact of deforestation, continuous efforts are being made by some anxious animal lovers to protect the endangered species of wildlife as well as those that are on the verge of extinction. Wildlife is important for four main reasons. Beauty: By their unique way of existence, wild creatures enhance the natural beauty of the earth.Economic value: The financial value of wild species is important to the economies of several nations, as it provides many valuable substances like wood and other plant products, fibres, meat and other foods, and skins and furs.Scientific value: By studying wildlife, scientists have gained valuable knowledge about various life processes and discovered important medical product. Survival value: Wildlife helps in maintaining the balanced living systems of earth, which consequently ensures survival of life. All these four main reasons are encompassed in the ethical and moral teachings. Take for example teh behaviour of Zoo officials; they keep animals confined in limited space do not consider the 'agony 'of the animal. Now a clue can be taken from this prophetic message' it is a great sin for man to imprison those animals which are in his power'. Even non-Muslim environmental ethicists like, R.P Misra adhere to the Islamic bio ethical theme and states that justice, indeed is one of the corner-stones of the Muslim religion. Since environmental abuse or destruction is more often a form of injustice, the grand principle of Justice can be invoked to ensure that environment and wildlife is not subjected to any kind of abuse. To promote environmental, especially wildlife awareness among the people, the Indian government has started various natural projects and programs such as Project Tiger (formed in 1972 and launched on the 1st April 1973 at Corbett National Park), Project Elephant (a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing states in India for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors). Besides this, there are also various NGOs working on wildlife conservation in India, how much these Projects and NGO's are successful in protecting the wild life can be notices by the fact that between a quarter and a third of the world's wildlife has been lost since 1970, according to data compiled by the Zoological Society of London; populations of land-based species fell by 25%, marine by 28% and freshwater by 29%, it says. Humans are wiping out about 1% of all other species every year, and one of the "great extinction episodes" in the Earth's history is under way, it says. Pollution, farming and urban expansion, over-fishing and hunting are blamed. In India where Wildlife Week is celebrated with great pomp and show, the National Animal (Tiger) and National Bird (Peacock) is on the verge of extinction. Moreover, other animals such as elephants, musk deer, Tibetan antelope, rhinoceros, red panda, Ganges river dolphin, etc., without getting proper care are getting endangered. In these circumstances when so-called conservationists and NGOs keep eye on their own benefits rather than conserving the wildlife, then the moral and religious applications become more meaningful and needed. When the mass awareness programmes and observance of days and weeks in the name conserving the natural and wild life prove ineffective, an alternate way of convincing the hearts and minds becomes a necessary imperative. It is the need of time to underline the religious and bio-ethical teachings of conserving the wildlife rather than solely insisting on using conventional and unplanned methods, which have proved, and are proving ineffectual, as surveyed by the international and national wildlife forums and societies. If people are to awaken to the challenges of preserving the wildlife and its habitat, modern wildlife conservationists and scholars must illuminate the ecological and wildlife conservative principles embedded in moral themes as they apply to contemporary environmental and wildlife issues. The world now is undoubtedly more complex than it was a thousand years ago when the industrial revolution had not taken place and the earth's resources had not been strained. For example the wildlife consciousness in Islam is reflected in one of the familiar instances of life of the Prophet when, during a journey, one of companions removed a baby pigeon from a nest. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) confronted and gently returned the bird to its nest. "For charity shown to each creature with a wet heart, there is a reward," the Prophet declared. Let us hope a day will dawn when we shall see the start of a new era; when man accorded to wild life the respect and status they deserved and for so long have been denied. Feedback
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Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
ISLAM STRESSES WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
BY
MIR TARIQ RASOOL
Nature, We live with it, in it, around it. Some of us take deep delight in hiking through the woods with others or solitary walks along deserted beaches. Others enjoy weekend bird watching events and some of us are employed to take accurate counts of wildlife and to protect it. Others see nature in an entirely different way. To them, nature is to be dominated and exploited. Entire species of animal and plant life have been destroyed, and continue to be destroyed, by humans who hunt them to extinction or have obliterated the habitats that allowed them to thrive. If man originally hunted to survive, now the profit motive is often the ultimate reason for these acts of destruction. Others simply seem to derive some satisfaction from the very act of destruction. Humankind has altered the environment around the globe and has been responsible for both deliberate and unintentional acts of destruction including the destruction of wild life Habitat.
However, humans have also known that nature, in both its obvious details and the mysterious “laws of nature” that man has always struggled to comprehend, are vital to our survival — as individuals and as a species.
Trees are being chopped and put up for sale, the fishes are killed in the lakes by water pollution, the skins and bones of tiger are exchanged in the border area and rare migratory birds are captured and sold in the black markets around the world. Yet, every year around this time, (October 2 to 8) governments, environmentalists, activists to accelerate the awareness of wildlife conservation among people, observe Wildlife Week. NGOs or self-claimed conservationists can be seen busy in sponsoring the Wildlife week celebrations and papers are full with the write-ups of wildlife conservation, but all with insufficient results. Why government is not able to curb the growing extinction of Wild Species and destruction of habitat thereof? It needs to be analyzed. The mandate to conserve the wild species is given to the NGOs or self-claimed conservationists, who have only financial and materialistic benefits in handling the projects of Wildlife conservation, columnists and article writers, are just exercising their word gymnastics by writing on the issue. it needs deep change of mind set of the people while dealing with the problem and this job can eased by various methods which includes a cheap, easy comprehendible Islamic methodology of conserving Wild life.
With a growing urge among the Muslims for a better understanding the basic outlines of an ideal but practicable Islamic way of life, the study and relevance of Quran Seerat-un-Nabi has acquired added importance. The environment is central in Islam. Many Islamic concepts or principles in the Quran and in the words and actions of the Prophet, such as Tawheed (Unity of God), Khilafah (vicegerency), Umma (community), Adl (justice), Ihsan (kindness), Hikma (wisdom) and Tawadu (modesty), carry substantive implications concerning the relationship between humankind and the natural environment. Due to the growing impact of deforestation, continuous efforts are being made by some anxious animal lovers to protect the endangered species of wildlife as well as those that are on the verge of extinction and thus save the world from running out its green heritage. Wildlife is important for four main reasons: (1) Beauty: By their unique way of existence, wild creatures exaggerate the natural beauty of the earth.(2)Economic value: The financial value of wild species is important to the economies of several nations, as it provides many valuable substances like wood and other plant products, fibers, meat and other foods, and skins and furs.(3)Scientific value: By studying wildlife, scientists have gained valuable knowledge about various life processes and discovered important medical product (4) Survival value: Wildlife helps in maintaining the balanced living systems of earth, which consequently ensures survival of life. All these four main reasons are encompassed in the environmental teachings of Islam to preserve and boost up the Wild Life population in the universe. Almighty Allah has created the universe and beautified it with the Mountains peaks and forests then make the same the habitat of wild animals. The Qur'an states that man has dominion over animals: "He (God) it is Who made you vicegerents on earth." (Qur'an 35:39), but makes clear that this responsibility is not unconditional and states what happens to those who misuse their freedom of choice and fail to conform to the conditions that limit this responsibility: "then We reduce him (to the status of) the lowest of the low." (Qur'an 95:4, 5) "…they are those whom Allah has rejected and whom He has condemned….because they served evil" (Qur'an 5:63). "…they have hearts wherewith they fail to comprehend, and eyes wherewith they fail to see, and ears wherewith they fail to hear….Such (humans) is far astray from the right path. (Qur'an 7:179).So the Quran allowed man to be benefited economically from the animals but under limits and according to Quranic orders. Zoo officials who keep animals confined in limited space do not consider the ‘agony ‘of the animal. A clue can be taken from this prophetic message’ it is a great sin for man to imprison those animals which are in his power’ (Muslim).Even non-Muslim environmental ethicists like, R.P Misra adheres the Islamic bio ethical theme and states that justice, indeed is one of the corner stones of the Muslim religion, since environmental abuse or destruction is more often a form of injustice. Since Islam stresses the moral importance of knowledge no less than justice, being truly elements of the environmental ethics with universal implications, Islamic methods to conserve wildlife are fruitful and sustainable as evident from the glimpses of Islamic history
To promote environmental especially wildlife awareness among the people, the Indian government has started various natural projects and programs such as Project Tiger (formed in 1972 and launched on the 1st April 1973 at Corbett National Park), Project Elephant (a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing states in India for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors),Besides this ,there are also various NGOs working on wildlife conservation in India, how much these Projects and NGO’s are successful in protecting the Wild life can be notices by the fact that between a quarter and a third of the world's wildlife has been lost since 1970, according to data compiled by the Zoological Society of London Populations of land-based species fell by 25%, marine by 28% and freshwater by 29%, it says. Humans are wiping out about 1% of all other species every year, and one of the "great extinction episodes" in the Earth's history is under way, it says. Pollution, farming and urban expansion, over-fishing and hunting are blamed. In India where Wild Life week is celebrated by high pomp and show, the National Animal ‘Tiger’ and National Bird ‘Peacock’ is on the verge of extinction,moreover other animals such as elephants, musk deer, Tibetan antelope, rhinoceros, red panda, Ganges river dolphin, etc., without getting proper care are getting endangered.
In these circumstances when so-called conservationists and self-centered NGo’s keep there eye on their own benefits rather than conserving the Wild Life in actuality, then the moral and religious application are meaningful. when the mass awareness programmes and observance of days and weeks in the name conserving the natural and wild life gets useless then the Natural, religious ways and methods becomes the only viable and feasible option to conserve the same, which proved, proves and is proving useful and effective. It is the need of time to prefer Religious and Bio-ethical methods of conserving the natural wild life rather than using conventional and unplanned methods, which proved, and are proving ineffectual as surveyed by the international and nation wild life Forums and Societies. If people are to awaken to the challenges of preserving the wild life and its habitat, modern wild life conservationists and scholars must illuminate the ecological and wild life conservative principles of the Qur'an as they apply to contemporary environmental and wild life related issues. The world now is undoubtedly more complex than it was a thousand years ago when the industrial revolution had not taken place and the earth's resources had not been strained. The point, however, is that human laws are time bound, while divine guidance is timeless. "Corruption has appeared on land and sea as an outcome of what men's hands have wrought: and so He will let them taste the evil of some of their doings, so that they might return to the right path. " states a Quranic verse (30:4 1), implying that destruction of the natural environment follows from immoral and unethical use of natural resources, which can only be addressed by natural and bio-ethical methods laid down by Islam. The wild Life consciousness and care in Islam is reflected from One of the familiar instances of life of the Prophet when, during a journey, one of companions (SUHABA) removed a baby pigeon from a nest. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) confronted and gently returned the bird to its nest. "For charity shown to each creature with a wet heart, there is a reward," the Prophet declared. Let us hope a day will dawn of the great religious teachings may begin, when we shall see the start of a new era, when man accords to wild life the respect and status they deserve and for so long have been denied.
Feedback: Tariqmir45@gmail.com
BY
MIR TARIQ RASOOL
Nature, We live with it, in it, around it. Some of us take deep delight in hiking through the woods with others or solitary walks along deserted beaches. Others enjoy weekend bird watching events and some of us are employed to take accurate counts of wildlife and to protect it. Others see nature in an entirely different way. To them, nature is to be dominated and exploited. Entire species of animal and plant life have been destroyed, and continue to be destroyed, by humans who hunt them to extinction or have obliterated the habitats that allowed them to thrive. If man originally hunted to survive, now the profit motive is often the ultimate reason for these acts of destruction. Others simply seem to derive some satisfaction from the very act of destruction. Humankind has altered the environment around the globe and has been responsible for both deliberate and unintentional acts of destruction including the destruction of wild life Habitat.
However, humans have also known that nature, in both its obvious details and the mysterious “laws of nature” that man has always struggled to comprehend, are vital to our survival — as individuals and as a species.
Trees are being chopped and put up for sale, the fishes are killed in the lakes by water pollution, the skins and bones of tiger are exchanged in the border area and rare migratory birds are captured and sold in the black markets around the world. Yet, every year around this time, (October 2 to 8) governments, environmentalists, activists to accelerate the awareness of wildlife conservation among people, observe Wildlife Week. NGOs or self-claimed conservationists can be seen busy in sponsoring the Wildlife week celebrations and papers are full with the write-ups of wildlife conservation, but all with insufficient results. Why government is not able to curb the growing extinction of Wild Species and destruction of habitat thereof? It needs to be analyzed. The mandate to conserve the wild species is given to the NGOs or self-claimed conservationists, who have only financial and materialistic benefits in handling the projects of Wildlife conservation, columnists and article writers, are just exercising their word gymnastics by writing on the issue. it needs deep change of mind set of the people while dealing with the problem and this job can eased by various methods which includes a cheap, easy comprehendible Islamic methodology of conserving Wild life.
With a growing urge among the Muslims for a better understanding the basic outlines of an ideal but practicable Islamic way of life, the study and relevance of Quran Seerat-un-Nabi has acquired added importance. The environment is central in Islam. Many Islamic concepts or principles in the Quran and in the words and actions of the Prophet, such as Tawheed (Unity of God), Khilafah (vicegerency), Umma (community), Adl (justice), Ihsan (kindness), Hikma (wisdom) and Tawadu (modesty), carry substantive implications concerning the relationship between humankind and the natural environment. Due to the growing impact of deforestation, continuous efforts are being made by some anxious animal lovers to protect the endangered species of wildlife as well as those that are on the verge of extinction and thus save the world from running out its green heritage. Wildlife is important for four main reasons: (1) Beauty: By their unique way of existence, wild creatures exaggerate the natural beauty of the earth.(2)Economic value: The financial value of wild species is important to the economies of several nations, as it provides many valuable substances like wood and other plant products, fibers, meat and other foods, and skins and furs.(3)Scientific value: By studying wildlife, scientists have gained valuable knowledge about various life processes and discovered important medical product (4) Survival value: Wildlife helps in maintaining the balanced living systems of earth, which consequently ensures survival of life. All these four main reasons are encompassed in the environmental teachings of Islam to preserve and boost up the Wild Life population in the universe. Almighty Allah has created the universe and beautified it with the Mountains peaks and forests then make the same the habitat of wild animals. The Qur'an states that man has dominion over animals: "He (God) it is Who made you vicegerents on earth." (Qur'an 35:39), but makes clear that this responsibility is not unconditional and states what happens to those who misuse their freedom of choice and fail to conform to the conditions that limit this responsibility: "then We reduce him (to the status of) the lowest of the low." (Qur'an 95:4, 5) "…they are those whom Allah has rejected and whom He has condemned….because they served evil" (Qur'an 5:63). "…they have hearts wherewith they fail to comprehend, and eyes wherewith they fail to see, and ears wherewith they fail to hear….Such (humans) is far astray from the right path. (Qur'an 7:179).So the Quran allowed man to be benefited economically from the animals but under limits and according to Quranic orders. Zoo officials who keep animals confined in limited space do not consider the ‘agony ‘of the animal. A clue can be taken from this prophetic message’ it is a great sin for man to imprison those animals which are in his power’ (Muslim).Even non-Muslim environmental ethicists like, R.P Misra adheres the Islamic bio ethical theme and states that justice, indeed is one of the corner stones of the Muslim religion, since environmental abuse or destruction is more often a form of injustice. Since Islam stresses the moral importance of knowledge no less than justice, being truly elements of the environmental ethics with universal implications, Islamic methods to conserve wildlife are fruitful and sustainable as evident from the glimpses of Islamic history
To promote environmental especially wildlife awareness among the people, the Indian government has started various natural projects and programs such as Project Tiger (formed in 1972 and launched on the 1st April 1973 at Corbett National Park), Project Elephant (a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing states in India for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors),Besides this ,there are also various NGOs working on wildlife conservation in India, how much these Projects and NGO’s are successful in protecting the Wild life can be notices by the fact that between a quarter and a third of the world's wildlife has been lost since 1970, according to data compiled by the Zoological Society of London Populations of land-based species fell by 25%, marine by 28% and freshwater by 29%, it says. Humans are wiping out about 1% of all other species every year, and one of the "great extinction episodes" in the Earth's history is under way, it says. Pollution, farming and urban expansion, over-fishing and hunting are blamed. In India where Wild Life week is celebrated by high pomp and show, the National Animal ‘Tiger’ and National Bird ‘Peacock’ is on the verge of extinction,moreover other animals such as elephants, musk deer, Tibetan antelope, rhinoceros, red panda, Ganges river dolphin, etc., without getting proper care are getting endangered.
In these circumstances when so-called conservationists and self-centered NGo’s keep there eye on their own benefits rather than conserving the Wild Life in actuality, then the moral and religious application are meaningful. when the mass awareness programmes and observance of days and weeks in the name conserving the natural and wild life gets useless then the Natural, religious ways and methods becomes the only viable and feasible option to conserve the same, which proved, proves and is proving useful and effective. It is the need of time to prefer Religious and Bio-ethical methods of conserving the natural wild life rather than using conventional and unplanned methods, which proved, and are proving ineffectual as surveyed by the international and nation wild life Forums and Societies. If people are to awaken to the challenges of preserving the wild life and its habitat, modern wild life conservationists and scholars must illuminate the ecological and wild life conservative principles of the Qur'an as they apply to contemporary environmental and wild life related issues. The world now is undoubtedly more complex than it was a thousand years ago when the industrial revolution had not taken place and the earth's resources had not been strained. The point, however, is that human laws are time bound, while divine guidance is timeless. "Corruption has appeared on land and sea as an outcome of what men's hands have wrought: and so He will let them taste the evil of some of their doings, so that they might return to the right path. " states a Quranic verse (30:4 1), implying that destruction of the natural environment follows from immoral and unethical use of natural resources, which can only be addressed by natural and bio-ethical methods laid down by Islam. The wild Life consciousness and care in Islam is reflected from One of the familiar instances of life of the Prophet when, during a journey, one of companions (SUHABA) removed a baby pigeon from a nest. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) confronted and gently returned the bird to its nest. "For charity shown to each creature with a wet heart, there is a reward," the Prophet declared. Let us hope a day will dawn of the great religious teachings may begin, when we shall see the start of a new era, when man accords to wild life the respect and status they deserve and for so long have been denied.
Feedback: Tariqmir45@gmail.com
Crescent sighting turns into freedom procession
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Mir TariqBandipora, Oct 03: Hundreds of people on the eve of Eid took to streets on the sighting of Shawl crescent in this north Kashmir’s district, which then turned into freedom procession.After sighting of Shawal 1, 1429 people took to roads with the drums and blowing up crackers to celebrate the ‘crescent night' which turned into freedom procession with people raising pro-freedom slogans.People with green flags in their hands, raised pro-freedom slogans and marched along various streets and concluded their procession at Bandipora graveyard were they paid tribute to martyrs."This Eid will be lucky for Kashmiris, we want to aware our enemies that our zeal for freedom is now refreshed due to fasting," said a local youth Muhammad Zahid, adding, "We will make every effort to get the freedom from the yolk of forced imperialism."Another protestor Saleem Ahmad said, “We are now preparing for the Freedom–processions and this is the first day of series of new processions,” said Ahmad.
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Mir TariqBandipora, Oct 03: Hundreds of people on the eve of Eid took to streets on the sighting of Shawl crescent in this north Kashmir’s district, which then turned into freedom procession.After sighting of Shawal 1, 1429 people took to roads with the drums and blowing up crackers to celebrate the ‘crescent night' which turned into freedom procession with people raising pro-freedom slogans.People with green flags in their hands, raised pro-freedom slogans and marched along various streets and concluded their procession at Bandipora graveyard were they paid tribute to martyrs."This Eid will be lucky for Kashmiris, we want to aware our enemies that our zeal for freedom is now refreshed due to fasting," said a local youth Muhammad Zahid, adding, "We will make every effort to get the freedom from the yolk of forced imperialism."Another protestor Saleem Ahmad said, “We are now preparing for the Freedom–processions and this is the first day of series of new processions,” said Ahmad.
Bandipora erupts over alleged use of Quranic pages in crackers
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Mir Tariq Bandipora, Oct 03: Hundreds of people protested against the alleged use of Quranic pages in firecrackers here in north Kashmir district of Bandipora on Friday. The protestors were demanding stern action against the manufacturing companies of the said crackers.Hundreds of people took to roads in Kenusha, Ashtangoo and Aloosa villages of Bandipora when the news spread that Quranic pages were found wrapped on firecrackers. Accusing the manufacturing company of hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims by “desecrating” the Quran, the protesters demanded stern action against the companies: Coronation Fire Works, 112 East Car Street, Sivakasi and Ariyammal Fire Works Sivaksi located in Virudhunagar district of State Tamil Nadu.Police resorted to cane charge and fired tear smoke shells to disperse the protestors who blocked the traffic on Sopore –Bandipora highway for hours together."I saw Quranic verses written on the paper of an exploded cracker, " said Khurseehd Ahmed.“I checked with the shopkeepers and found Quranic verses written on the paper used in other unused crackers as well," he added.The agitated locals told Rising Kashmir that Police has seized all such crackers on which Quranic verses were written.Traders Federation of Bandipora has urged shopkeepers not to sell the crackers, terming the use of Quran pages in the crackers as a conspiracy to hurt the religious sentiments of Muslim community in India."We are being victimized in many ways and using of Quranic pages in manufacturing crackers is one of the ways to victimize Muslims in India," said Ghulam Muhammad Kucahay, member of the Traders Federation, adding, “We should act against this conspiracy by avoiding the trade of crackers."
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Mir Tariq Bandipora, Oct 03: Hundreds of people protested against the alleged use of Quranic pages in firecrackers here in north Kashmir district of Bandipora on Friday. The protestors were demanding stern action against the manufacturing companies of the said crackers.Hundreds of people took to roads in Kenusha, Ashtangoo and Aloosa villages of Bandipora when the news spread that Quranic pages were found wrapped on firecrackers. Accusing the manufacturing company of hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims by “desecrating” the Quran, the protesters demanded stern action against the companies: Coronation Fire Works, 112 East Car Street, Sivakasi and Ariyammal Fire Works Sivaksi located in Virudhunagar district of State Tamil Nadu.Police resorted to cane charge and fired tear smoke shells to disperse the protestors who blocked the traffic on Sopore –Bandipora highway for hours together."I saw Quranic verses written on the paper of an exploded cracker, " said Khurseehd Ahmed.“I checked with the shopkeepers and found Quranic verses written on the paper used in other unused crackers as well," he added.The agitated locals told Rising Kashmir that Police has seized all such crackers on which Quranic verses were written.Traders Federation of Bandipora has urged shopkeepers not to sell the crackers, terming the use of Quran pages in the crackers as a conspiracy to hurt the religious sentiments of Muslim community in India."We are being victimized in many ways and using of Quranic pages in manufacturing crackers is one of the ways to victimize Muslims in India," said Ghulam Muhammad Kucahay, member of the Traders Federation, adding, “We should act against this conspiracy by avoiding the trade of crackers."
Eid-ul-Fitr: Meaning and Celebration
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Mir Tariq Rasool
Festival represents the cultural and civilizational aspect of a particular nation or religion. In this world of nationalistic diversity, every nation or religion has it own particular festival celebrated on a particular day and date in a particular context, with happiness and ecstasy.
There is specific historicity behind every festival celebrated in this diverse world.
In this post-modernistic world, these reformative, lessoned and enlightening festivals are now confined to carnality, voluptuousness and hilarity. People are celebrating these festivals in such a manner that every body fails to get the essence of a particular Festival, self development. People have distorted the real illustration of the things. Be it Eid or Christmis, Dewali or Ram Navami; all these and other festivals have lost the real sprit which needs immediate attention. There is specific mode of celebrating a particular festival in the religion of Islam, which is beyond human distortions, carnality, voluptuousness and hilarity; therefore one feels real happiness while celebrating a festival according to demands of Islam. Muslims have two important and main festivals Eid-Ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azaha.
Festivals usually commemorate some famous event (some religious personality's birth or some victory they achieved over their opponents) but the celebration at 'Id-ul-Fitr does not commemorate any such event. We celebrate our own achievement during the previous month of Ramadaan. It is actually Ramadaan which marks a famous event, that of the beginning of the revelation of the Holy Quran to the Holy Prophet.
Eid-Ul-Fitr is celebrated at the end of the Ramadaan, which is the most important month in Islamic Calendar. Allah's words were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) through the angel during the month of Ramadaan, and the words were written down to form the Holy Qur'an. Prophet Muhammad declared the last day of Ramzan to celebrate Eid ul Fitr and strengthening the feeling of brotherhood.
These Islamic festivals have some distinguished peculiarities, like religious and congregational consciousness along with nationalistic virtuosity. Islam encompasses everything related to the day to day life and demands absolute and unconditional devotion to Almighty Allah in all aspects of life including celebrating twin Islamic festivals. There is no place for emulating other religions, cultures of civilizations or nations; Islam has its unique culture and civilization, which is weakening day by day due to the incomprehension among the Muslim Community. Islamic has its peculiar point of view about life and its activities. The way of Islam encompasses all aspects of human life is its peculiarity. Our twin Islamic festivals are no more now Islamic but people are emulating things from outside and have distorted the festivities by intermixing Western and European cultural elements with these festivals, with out knowing the ill effects of this mixing. Islam has its own unique culture and one should not follow un-Islamic patterns while celebrating festivals, instead should adhere to the ways that are taught by Islamic culture.
Today in this Post-Modernistic wolrd, the Muslim community instead of preferring the Islamic teachings in celebrating festivities is feeling proud to follow outside cultures from Western and European world. Almighty Allaha has bestowed Muslim Ummah (brethren) with tow gifts - the Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azaha, so we should take utmost care and follow Islamic teachings while celebrating this festival. Instead of indulging in carnality, voluptuousness and hilarity, we should stress on religious and collective consciousness. It is tragic that without trying to know the real sprit of Eid the Muslim community in the world remains busy in an unending feast from dawn to dusk, even the preparations for the grand day begin days in advance which indicates that the people have linked Eid day inextricably with feasts which is totally against the very spirit of the day. The essence of Eid is to develop unity among the Ummah, but in contemporary materialistic world we are going after our own instincts and keep the Quran and Sunnah aside. We prefer and are proud to be the followers of so called modernized cultures and never try to think about following Islamic Culture; instead, we are modernizing, and Westernizing the same. We are individualizing the congregational happiness rather than sharing our happiness within Muslim brethren.
We should wipe out all the religious, sectarian or social inequalities. Let us start from this Eid and let us celebrate it with the consciousness of beig a part of a bigger entity. We should prefer Islamic teachings over our instincts. Eid demands from us the creation of united, peaceful and humanistic society. We should celebrate Eid in way that bring us closer to it, so that we can benefit our society. It is tragic that Muslim community is celebrating, with great amount of enthusiasm festivals that are no part of our history and cultural identity and about their own cultural events they are not very much conscious.
Another disturbing thing about our ways of celebration is that we are given to much mundane activities and fun and hardly visit our neighbors, relatives and friends who may require us on the day of celebration. We never share our joys with the larger fraternity and remain confined to our own selves. We make no attempt to get closer to our neighbors, friends and relatives on this day. One can not get the happiness of Eid until he helps the needy in his society who are not able to celebrate the day as they have no money to buy some good food and fresh clothing. One should make it a point to find out if any of the neighbors, friends and relatives required some help.
Eid must remind us of our cultural moorings and moral values. One should not neglect fundamental principles of our religion, prime values and central beliefs in this modernistic world. We should revitalize the old memories when Eid was celebrated with simplicity, and with the element of pomp and show. When people never left their elders in solitude, when neighbors would sharing the joy with Eid with each other, when rich people would feel happy about visiting a poor family; when eid was a collective affair rather that highly individualistic.
Let us celibate today's Eid without indulging in pompous ways, which is creating distances among our own people. Let us retrieve our lost Islamic values and traditions by celebrating the Eid according to Islamic traditions. Let us celebrate it the way it should be celebrated.
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Mir Tariq Rasool
Festival represents the cultural and civilizational aspect of a particular nation or religion. In this world of nationalistic diversity, every nation or religion has it own particular festival celebrated on a particular day and date in a particular context, with happiness and ecstasy.
There is specific historicity behind every festival celebrated in this diverse world.
In this post-modernistic world, these reformative, lessoned and enlightening festivals are now confined to carnality, voluptuousness and hilarity. People are celebrating these festivals in such a manner that every body fails to get the essence of a particular Festival, self development. People have distorted the real illustration of the things. Be it Eid or Christmis, Dewali or Ram Navami; all these and other festivals have lost the real sprit which needs immediate attention. There is specific mode of celebrating a particular festival in the religion of Islam, which is beyond human distortions, carnality, voluptuousness and hilarity; therefore one feels real happiness while celebrating a festival according to demands of Islam. Muslims have two important and main festivals Eid-Ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azaha.
Festivals usually commemorate some famous event (some religious personality's birth or some victory they achieved over their opponents) but the celebration at 'Id-ul-Fitr does not commemorate any such event. We celebrate our own achievement during the previous month of Ramadaan. It is actually Ramadaan which marks a famous event, that of the beginning of the revelation of the Holy Quran to the Holy Prophet.
Eid-Ul-Fitr is celebrated at the end of the Ramadaan, which is the most important month in Islamic Calendar. Allah's words were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) through the angel during the month of Ramadaan, and the words were written down to form the Holy Qur'an. Prophet Muhammad declared the last day of Ramzan to celebrate Eid ul Fitr and strengthening the feeling of brotherhood.
These Islamic festivals have some distinguished peculiarities, like religious and congregational consciousness along with nationalistic virtuosity. Islam encompasses everything related to the day to day life and demands absolute and unconditional devotion to Almighty Allah in all aspects of life including celebrating twin Islamic festivals. There is no place for emulating other religions, cultures of civilizations or nations; Islam has its unique culture and civilization, which is weakening day by day due to the incomprehension among the Muslim Community. Islamic has its peculiar point of view about life and its activities. The way of Islam encompasses all aspects of human life is its peculiarity. Our twin Islamic festivals are no more now Islamic but people are emulating things from outside and have distorted the festivities by intermixing Western and European cultural elements with these festivals, with out knowing the ill effects of this mixing. Islam has its own unique culture and one should not follow un-Islamic patterns while celebrating festivals, instead should adhere to the ways that are taught by Islamic culture.
Today in this Post-Modernistic wolrd, the Muslim community instead of preferring the Islamic teachings in celebrating festivities is feeling proud to follow outside cultures from Western and European world. Almighty Allaha has bestowed Muslim Ummah (brethren) with tow gifts - the Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azaha, so we should take utmost care and follow Islamic teachings while celebrating this festival. Instead of indulging in carnality, voluptuousness and hilarity, we should stress on religious and collective consciousness. It is tragic that without trying to know the real sprit of Eid the Muslim community in the world remains busy in an unending feast from dawn to dusk, even the preparations for the grand day begin days in advance which indicates that the people have linked Eid day inextricably with feasts which is totally against the very spirit of the day. The essence of Eid is to develop unity among the Ummah, but in contemporary materialistic world we are going after our own instincts and keep the Quran and Sunnah aside. We prefer and are proud to be the followers of so called modernized cultures and never try to think about following Islamic Culture; instead, we are modernizing, and Westernizing the same. We are individualizing the congregational happiness rather than sharing our happiness within Muslim brethren.
We should wipe out all the religious, sectarian or social inequalities. Let us start from this Eid and let us celebrate it with the consciousness of beig a part of a bigger entity. We should prefer Islamic teachings over our instincts. Eid demands from us the creation of united, peaceful and humanistic society. We should celebrate Eid in way that bring us closer to it, so that we can benefit our society. It is tragic that Muslim community is celebrating, with great amount of enthusiasm festivals that are no part of our history and cultural identity and about their own cultural events they are not very much conscious.
Another disturbing thing about our ways of celebration is that we are given to much mundane activities and fun and hardly visit our neighbors, relatives and friends who may require us on the day of celebration. We never share our joys with the larger fraternity and remain confined to our own selves. We make no attempt to get closer to our neighbors, friends and relatives on this day. One can not get the happiness of Eid until he helps the needy in his society who are not able to celebrate the day as they have no money to buy some good food and fresh clothing. One should make it a point to find out if any of the neighbors, friends and relatives required some help.
Eid must remind us of our cultural moorings and moral values. One should not neglect fundamental principles of our religion, prime values and central beliefs in this modernistic world. We should revitalize the old memories when Eid was celebrated with simplicity, and with the element of pomp and show. When people never left their elders in solitude, when neighbors would sharing the joy with Eid with each other, when rich people would feel happy about visiting a poor family; when eid was a collective affair rather that highly individualistic.
Let us celibate today's Eid without indulging in pompous ways, which is creating distances among our own people. Let us retrieve our lost Islamic values and traditions by celebrating the Eid according to Islamic traditions. Let us celebrate it the way it should be celebrated.
Feedback at tariqmir45@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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