‘Including’ the Mullah should be the cornerstone of NAP

.. Editorial

What the existing National Action Plan envisages is too vague?or at least is not convincing?to many. The only thing we know is that it is supposed to improve internal security in Pakistan, but how? that remains a?question. Whereas many superficial solutions to the existing internal problems have been included in the National Action Plan, but a crucial, rather a game changing solution to the internal crisis of Pakistan which is essentially related to the religious?aspect (the mother of all aspects) can be incorporated as a corner stone and number one priority in the plan and things, which will change the lives of our future generations at least, if we have borne with it so far.

The first priority for the nation in its plan should be to INCLUDE?the imam of the mosque in reforming the society. The imam of the mosque who leads prayers five times a day and his different manifestations e.g?the sermon giver, the tableeghi preacher, the madrasa teacher etc all have an impact on the mindset of the society yet to be?realized by the?policy formulators of the country.

It is said that character of a person is molded?from?the cradle at the hands of parents, but who are the parents influenced by?- the mullah. It is also said that teachers in schools should teach the students how to conduct themselves in life, but where do the teachers get their own character building education from? -the mullah.

The power of the mullah (religious preacher) is so immense?that Islam was spread in the subcontinent because of?their sermons. Similarly, in current times the mullah has shown his prowess?by converting blooming young men into suicide bombers. Look at it how we?may, we cannot ignore the power of religious preaching in shaping behaviour of the people and thus the nation.

By now that we have realised that an Islamic traditional society cannot ignore the mullah whether it is praying five times behind him,?whether it is nikah, janaza,?khatm e Quran, reciting Ayat before the president’s?speech or whatever, why not then ‘include’?the mullah. (if you can’t beat em, join em in)

The way to ‘include’ the mullah in the National Action Plan is to first register all mosques. Employ the mullah with a handsome salary and then restrict?him to focus upon the positive and character?building aspects of religion instead of going off at tangents.

The imam of the mosque who delivers the Friday sermon should be given a specific topic each week e.g telling lies, hypocrisy, bribery, injustice, adulteration of foodstuff, deciet, trustworthiness,?kindness to the weak and standing up to the powerful, etc. Unfortunately as a muslim one gets old yearning to hear even once a sermon about character building aspect in Jumma prayers?or tableeghi ijtima. All we?hear is shortcuts to wash away our sins and go to heaven in a jiffy, regardless of how we violate huqooq ul Ibaad in our every day lives. Pakistan is?notorious for being hub of adulterated and fabricated merchandise, crookery in dealings and un-trustworthiness, no wonder.

Who is responsible for this? Some will say the politicians, but from which society do the politicians rise? and who molds the society?

If we have not been able to make the best use of the pulpit (rather allowed it to be misused), we can now make amends, launch an emergency plan to use the pulpit to reform society in the true spirit of Islam.
Easier said than done though, because those who are not the well wishers of Islam and those not sincere to?Islam, will never let?this happen. — CN Editorial, 07 May 2017.

4 thoughts on “‘Including’ the Mullah should be the cornerstone of NAP

  1. It seems Editor hasn’t been to the masjid to hear the sermons of Ulamaa and the Tableeghi hazaraat whom I’ve always seen insisting on good character and huqooq ul ibad. Have you ever listened to Moulana Tariq Jameel who is always educating the people to be a good Muslim.

  2. I don’t know about editor but I have heard Molana Tariq Jamil many times stressing upon how to get one’s sins pardoned by doing certain ibadats, reciting certain Ayats etc. I have not seen him emphasizing about the importance of abstaining from sins and saying that there is no forgivance for sins against huqooq ul Ibaad. I respect Molana Tariq Jamil a lot, but he must stress more in his sermons on abstaining from sins rather than getting the sins pardoned by one way or the other.

  3. I endorse the views of the editor CN so convincingly presented in the editorial. No sane person can differ with it. Our religious preachers wield tremendous influence on the audience be it a sermon on Friday congregation, a formal lecture delivered to a select gathering arranged in a hall or an open discourse on television watched by thousands of viewers.
    It is an undeniable fact that character building and moral grooming takes a back seat not only when it comes to religious preaching especially through Friday sermons when the imams are using the most powerful forum (the pulpit) but also it is totally absent from our national curriculum. Unfortunately, those who are entrusted with this great job of national importance (which has a great bearing on the posterity) include everything related with mundane education in the curriculum less character building and personality grooming which should be sine qua non of any national curriculum. Consequently, we produce educated citizens including doctors, engineers, scientists, bureaucrats and politicians, etc., who, with a few exceptions, lack honesty, truthfulness, integrity and other important Islamic values. The incongruity between what we say and what we practice is a direct consequence of lack of character building and moral grooming which should take precedence over everything else while framing the national curriculum.

  4. There is no doubt that the prayer leader of a mosque holds great power to shape the mindset of the society. His saying that Allah Almighty forgives sins of the believers is also true, but he must qualify which sins? If only the moulana sahib clarifies that sins towards Huqooq ul Allah are the ones that Allah Almighty will pardon and not sins towards Huqooq ul Ibad, everything else will fall in place automatically and we will get an ideal islamic society.

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