Comfort In Your Own Skin

Recently, a group of SZABIST students held this campaign by revitalizing Capri for a project that gives a message of feeling comfortable and beautiful in your own skin.

So, what comes in your mind when you hear the word 'beautiful' or a 'beautiful skin'? Fair, clear, transparent, free of acne, no facial hair and not even a single patch on your skin I suppose. Sadly, this world has changed the meaning of this word and everyone has created their different standards of beauty in their society or country. A little darker skin is considered less beautiful, wheat color is labelled as 'just attractive' and if you have a dark complexion then this world will not let you live by your own. A typical Pakistani standard of beauty is when they see you having a fair skin color and you are ugly if you have a dark complexion regardless of the strong personality you possess - SAD.

But my dear fellows the case is different here. Beauty is not something that we see, its something that we feel. Every inch of you is perfect, from bottom to the top. Imagine how boring this world would have been if God had created only one skin color of all of us BUT HEYY we all are different! We have different skin tones, color and texture. We are all made of different essence! So why do you feel bad about your skin color? Are you defaming God and His creativity? Well, if you have been crying over yourself lately then you really need to stop now because WHY would you let this world convince you that you are NOT worth it? Just because its stupid beauty artificial standards? Jump out of your bed today and be proud of your essence!

Fair, pale, wheat, dark, brown - every skin color is perfect and beautiful. You should whine if you had no color at all.. I mean you should be glad that you were not born green or blue (that would have been cool as well for green is to Hulk and blue is to Smurfs). So yesss! Just stop whining about how you look because you are absolutely perfect! Do not ever doubt yourself in fact carry yourself with confidence and prove others wrong by being yourself around them. With or without makeup, sleepy or fresh face, however you are dressed just let yourself know that NOBODY can bring me down because I AM BEAUTIFUL.
I have often come across girls who try to copy celebrities and in that case they start injecting capsules and injections in their skin just to look 'prettier'. So my darling, you do not need that at all. You just need a self believe. You just need to have faith in yourself and the day you will do it you would not need any actress to copy in fact you will be your own model!

Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and forms. And remember when you question about your physical appearance you are actually questioning God's creativity. Have a believe in yourself and make yourself realize that every breath you take today is a gift, do not spend your life hating yourself but loving and feeling comfortable in YOUR own skin! 

Shia Genocide in Pakistan over the past few years

Living in the 21^st Century has never been easy so far. They named it Islamic Republic of Pakistan yet the people who come under the fold of Islam face tremendous difficulties in following their Deen. 1400 years ago Muslims started dividing and that one pact was scattered into 70+ sects. However, people built their own rituals and religious gatherings to revive the events of the past (that left a major mark in the history of Islam) in the remembrance of some prominent religious personalities as a tribute to their sacrifices and patience. These specific people come under one sect, Shi’ite. In common language they are known as Shias which is a Persian word meaning: ‘followers’.

Over the past few years Shia genocide has increased 75% in different areas of the world. Countries including Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen etc have been a victim so far.

Talking about our country Pakistan Shia killings have been increased over the past few decades after the rise of untrue fatwas and forceful imposition of rules due to which many become intolerant and things like these come into existence. From twin bomb blasts in Quetta to target killing of Shia scholars, yet NO compensation was funded by the government to the families of the victim because in this way the failure of the system would be declared.

On May 5^th, 2016 four Shia professionals got martyred D.I.Khan among which two were lawyers and two were teachers. This killing was accepted by Saudi funded notorious terrorist group AhleSunnat-Wal-Jamat (ASWJ) yet no action was taken against them. Basically, it has become a tradition here in Pakistan that whoever is a killer (terrorist groups specifically), when accepts his crime there is no technical step taken towards him and the reason is still a big question mark. Maybe because you need weapons and a large force of military to compete them BUT we do not lack these resources even. So is it fair if I go back to the times of Zia-ul-Haq and explain how and why these groups came into existence and why there is no certain action being taken against them? I THINK YES. The reason is pretty much clear to you and to me and to all of us then why we do not come forward and unzip our mouths?  Because everyone wants to live and nobody wants to die by the hands of tyranny, if our media starts a campaign against these ‘Enemies of God’ I don’t think they will spare any single individual dwelling in that country or state, which is one of the reasons we do NOT speak the truth.

 Situation got so crucial in 2013 that many Shia families migrated from Pakistan to different state or countries. To mention the incidents:

1. Abbas Town – March 3^rd, 2013 – about 50 people died and 140 were hurt physically. This area is dominated by Shia residency and not even a single Sunni body was found that proves it was only targeted to kill Shias and spread terror. In the summers of 2011 over 300 people died of the same area.

2. Alamdar Road – This too happened in the start of 2013 in Quetta. More than 90 Shias were martyred and 120 injured in a suicide bomb attack. After this incident, many protests were held in every nook and corner of the country. It was more like a wakeup call for people to stop dozing, open your eyes and see. And if you find it wrong then speak against it. 

3. Hazara Shia Killing – The most deadly incident in the history when families protested and sat on the roads of Quetta in front of the dead bodies of their loved ones. A number of causalities were reported.

So many other Muharram processions and Imambargahs are attacked because technically they are seen as Shia institutions and if I do justice to my words so I can say let us accept the fact that it’s not sectarian violence BUT only Shia genocide. Because honestly speaking can you calculate how many Sunni graves have been dug and there have been bombings during Taraweeh? NO. Because they have never been targeted, the only sect that comes under threat as soon as Muharram starts is Shiite.

A very well-known Shia scholar Khanum Tayyaba was heavily threatened by ISIS and ASWJ, as a result she had to migrate from her own country. She left Pakistan a few years back and is now a Canadian citizen. Organizations whose mandate is to kill Shia and other religious minorities such as Tahreek-e-Taliban (TTP), Sipah –e-Sahaba (SSP)/ Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ), Jundullah, Jaish-e-Islam and other extremist splinter groups falling in the legal system. The reported number of Shia killings in past 7-8 years is more than 3,500 excluding the number of people who have been injured badly.

Shia genocide is on its peak not only in Pakistan but in every other part of the world where they reside their existence becomes a problem for terrorist groups. Here is a link to the website from where you can get further information about Shia genocide around the world.

http://shiapost.com/tag/shia-genocide/

All the information stated in this website is accurate with proof.

In conclusion to this, 2016 has been a better and peaceful year for Shias comparatively. Although there have been bombings in Imambargah but the loss was not too extreme. Strict security has been provided for jaloos and majalis now. At least, this country has taken it as a serious issue and has started working on it practically (rather than just changing their facebook profile pictures to black) to eliminate Shia genocide completely. Let us hope for a peaceful Muharram ahead. May Allah protect every Muslim be it Shia or Sunni. Peace!

Breast Cancer - FACE IT! FIGHT IT! CURE IT!

Cancer – Its not just a word but one complete cycle of life and death. Its not just a disease but endless pain which sometimes lead to happiness and sometimes sorrow. Its hard for people like you and me to understand the exact amount of pain because we have not been through it so maybe that is why sometimes we neglect this issue or maybe consider it less important to talked about.

Now when we talk about Cancer there are many times of Cancer that has been discovered, among which the most common type that has widely spread worldwide in women is ‘Breast Cancer’. After its discovery for almost decades it was not taken seriously because such an issue was considered as a taboo. Now why any disease would be considered as a taboo? What is so bad about it? Is it worse than deaths of people? The answer is very simple and straight to the point, just because the issue included private organism of a female body which is why people have always been hesitant to speak on this.

I have come across almost 5-6 families who lost their loved ones due to breast cancer and on the other hand I have come across more than 10 families who faced it and cured it. These families are a living proof of how human life is far more important than any other taboo or societal norm.

If we talk about breast cancer then it’s a little scary to know that the victim of this disease has to go through numerous and countless number of chemo-therapies and radiation treatments and believe me its eye witnessing painful. A lot of care is required and since it’s a tumor that has grown inside the breast so in that case, the respective breast of a patient is cut off to remove that tumor or lump.

 During this process while a women loses her physical shape of body, hair and becomes really weak, there’s another thing that she loses too – her self-confidence and self-love. She no longer feels beautiful and affectionate, there is a wave of self-pity inside her that constantly tells her how ugly has she become and how terribly she has changed both physically and psychologically.  In these circumstances the only support she looks for is her family. If she is a wife, her husband should be there. If she is a daughter her father should be there. If she is a mother then her son should be there. And why these men should be considered? To make her believe in herself again, to make her realize she is beautiful regardless the disease, to make her sure that she is going to be just fine in no time and they are in this together. A support, a hand to hold and a shoulder to cry on is all she needs to bring back her faith in life and beauty.

Let us join hand and tell our women that they are not alone in this. Let us talk about it and raise awareness among people for its not a taboo to save a life! One life can save one house. If we keep on considering it a taboo we will stop our youth from discovering more cures to such diseases. A disease is NOT a shame and must not be taken lightly. The moment you get to know about its existence, start your treatment without having any second thoughts. FACE IT! FIGHT IT! CURE IT!

You can not do it because you are a girl?

    

Almost every single girl living in a male dominant society has heard this sentence a million times. You can't stay out till late because you are a girl. You can not go abroad because you are a girl. You can not sit at dhabas with your friends and crack jokes because you are a girl. You can not laugh oh-so-loudly because you are a girl. You can not marry a guy of your choice because you are a girl. And so many other countless statements like this spare no girl even in 21st century. Its basically sad to know this gender discriminatory society in a country who holds Oscar Awards because of a girl. In a country where a woman was the first lady Prime Minister in the whole world. A country where thousands of girls are pilots and officers. A country where female literacy rate is increasing day by day. But is that all? Because Ladies and Gentlemen, we are talking about the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Alas! It is the country where hundreds of girls/female infants are raped brutally every single day and sadly the ratio here is increasing too.
My question is why a girl, a victim has to face all the consequences of any misfortune that is known or unknown to her? Why is the world so unjust? Let me give you an example of every day life a girl has to go through. Imagine an 18 years old girl walking on a street on her way to home and she is followed by a group of boys x-raying her body, whistling and passing inappropriate comments (Let me add here its very normal for a girl in the world of today). Then when she gets home all sweating in torture and nervousness, she is the one to be blamed because at the end of the day 'she is a girl'. Her mother will ask her to start wearing a Hijaab, her father will scold her because she should have covered because it is never a guy's fault and her siblings will taunt her and forget the society it has never been so fair.
Here I am not debating about how a woman is harassed or in what ways men are wrong or society is terrible. My only concern here is how a girl has to suffer about the things she has never done.
I believe there is nothing a girl can not do. The formation of both the genders is different and therefore, God has divided work between the two of them but that doesn't make any one gender superior over the another in fact, it should lead to equality. Equal rights socially, domestically, physically, politically, religiously and psychologically. Tell a girl she can not do something and I bet she will prove you wrong there and then.
I am very proud of myself being a woman and of other people of my gender who have made it more than just possible to prove their existence in patriarchal society. I am emotionally and spiritually strong. I stand for the rights of my gender not because its superior but because its the most neglected and overlooked issue in our society. I can go without or with makeup, formally dressed or in pj's whole day, read books and loves to cook. I demand equality for both the genders to empower them in all aspects of life, nourish and polish their future. Girls I just have one message for you, you are strong, independent and a very beautiful creation of Almighty. Don't let this world convince you that you're not worth it. Your father is proud of you, your brother brags about you, your husband loves you and your son adores you! You are Fatima Jinnah. You are Benazir Bhutto. You are Abida Parveen. You are Muniba Mazari. You are Arfa Kareem. You are Bilqees Edhi. You are the Oscar Lady! You are Me and I am You. Be proud of who you are and cherish your womanhood forever for the hand that ROCKS the cradle is the hand that RULES the world!

Pak-Indo Relations and the WAR mistery

The thought of war between the two strongest countries in South Asia is a little too scary because both of them are nuclear power and if anything happens between India and Pakistan, it will eventually leave an ever lasting impact on the World Map. When I see talk shows regarding Pak-Indo war it reminds me of Hiroshima and Nagasaki attack, I don't know why but just one thought of war gives me goosebumps and somewhere in the future I can foresee that.
About four years back when the conditions were pretty worse of Karachi (the hub of the country), worse as in not economically or socially but here I mean political conflicts and fights, target killings and blasts. I remember I was in college and whenever something unfortunate used to happen my father used to rush to pick me up from college for the sake of my safety. One day something like that happened (can not exactly remember the tragedy but I guess a worker of one political party was killed) and this whole city of lights was burning, every shop was closed, offices were shut down and schools/colleges were closing too. That day I read one tweet of an Indian journalist saying:
Pakistan do not need missiles and nuclear bombs to eradicate their existence, just spread a false rumor and they will burn their whole country into ashes.
Because later the killing of that political figure came out to be a hoax. That day I realized whatever India says or do can never be in the favor of Pakistan. I do not remember the name of that journalist but his tweets were so manipulating and anti-Pakistan even if we accept something was wrong with us but I have never seen Pakistani journalists spitting on India so badly. Because of course there are certain ethics of journalism too.
Let us all accept this bitter fact that we can never be friends with India the way we have good relations with China. We can never like Indians the way we like Chinese. WHY? Why these thoughts even cross our mind when in reality it should be the complete opposite of what I'm saying. We were united with India through social media and entertainment but divided otherwise. And sadly, we have been divided by that means as well. Pakistani actors are being threatened, their security is a big question mark in India and even Indians are boycotting Pakistani TV channels now. Another conflict has been raised here.

 So basically, India and Pakistan both are not ready to build good relations with each other. Even if political parties agree or militants sign another treaty - nothing would work. There is an enormous quantity of hatred between the individuals of both countries. I am not being a pessimist here but showing you some factual figures. What if I tell you the current scenario is all planned? What if I tell you this was planned to just distract public from certain issues including PTI gathering? Do you think Modi is indirectly favoring our dear Prime Minister? I do not think this war is going to be productive or will end up with good results. Here are a few things that you people need to know.

• This is not the first time that forces have been sent to the border. It has been done at least thrice in the history. First it was done by Indra Gandhi during her tenure and as a result it turned out to be nothing but a pointless war in which many soldiers were killed. But then she was shot dead by a Sikh soldier which was a consequence of her order in Golden Temple (Holy place of Sikhs), many Sikhs were killed in that encounter.
• Secondly when Rajiv Gandhi was acting PM of India he sent forces to the border again in 1984, at that time Pakistan was under the dictatorship of Zia ul Haq. Later, when Zia was invited by India, so while shaking hands on the airport with the legacy of Gandhi Zia said, Pakistan is an atomic power as well. This got famous as an open threat to India. After that the forces were called back.

• Thirdly when General Musharaf was acting as the President of Pakistan even then the forces were sent to the borders but there was no productive outcome of that. 

So technically, it has been researched that as many times the forces were sent to the borders there was no proper outcome or reason to it. Let's say that there is no end to Pak-Indo conflicts or you may call it a war too. This time there may be lives lost because Indians see our country as a terrorist state when the HEAD of their OWN country is known as the biggest terrorist/killer/smuggler. So, Mr.Modi needs to calm down because he must know all he is talking is utter stupidity to divert the minds of individuals of both states.
Pakistanis should not take his statements so seriously because Modi himself is aware of the fact that if there will be war between Pak and India then both of these countries will be no more. You know why?

• Both countries are super atomic powers.
• Have the strongest military.
• Both have new technology advancements.
• There will be no productive outcome of war but consequences overall.
• India will be no more.
• And Pakistan is the best (HELL YES!)

There is an idiom that 'Barking dog seldom bites'. So Pakistan just relax, this drama shall end soon and when this country was created the most handsome man in the history said, 'No power on Earth can UNDO Pakistan'. He was ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! This is our country, our homeland and if anyone will try to threat us so we have people to put them in hot waters! Pakistan Zindabad!

Liberalism vs. Religion

The literal definition of a 'liberal' person is someone who is ready to accept  or respect different school of thoughts, opinions and ideas of every individual without having any personal contradictions to it. But unfortunately, the concept of liberalism is highly misunderstood because of high ratio of social issues involving religion, cultural and traditional barriers. And just because of having such taboos in consideration a liberal person is somewhat not considered religious and a religious person is not considered someone with a liberal approach. I've seen people debating about this issue with full fledged aggressiveness that turns out to be a conflict from where a personal war arise and that's the point we all lose our so called liberalism because honestly I tell you something the moment you start showing your intolerance and abusiveness to any thought and calling yourself a liberal person, exactly shows how much you're aware of its definition.  No, that does not mean that you have to agree with everything or you have to show acceptance of a certain idea but have enough tolerance to deal with the idea that has been presented to you no matter how badly it conflict your views, having an amount of respect to that is the basic characteristic of liberalism.

  So what basically our religion says? I say every religion on this planet tells you to mind your own business and pay attention to your own deeds despite of getting curious 24/7 that what lifestyle other people are living and how does it effect their deeds. It does not matter if you are a follower of Islam, Christianity, Bhuddism or any other religion in the world, the statistics of ethics and morality remains the same. Let me give you a very common example of our daily life; we see a girl wearing short skirt (something that is pretty much unacceptable for our society) and the other girl covered in Hijab, so from a religious perspective you are not suppose to judge who is pious and who is not, who is well-dressed and who is not, who is a SINNER and who is NOT. Deep in your heart you know your boundaries so you do not follow what you feel is not right but in the same way you are not even suppose to point out your fingers to someone who is doing it. This is EXACTLY what liberalism says too.

 On the other hand liberalism does not even mean that one should forget all the boundaries and limitations and go wild in public. NO. In fact it says to keep your limits in your mind before you do something. Because at the end of the day ethics are one basic asset of liberalism.

 There is no war between liberalism and religion and the thought of practicing them together is not incorrect. Some people believe that both are different things and can not be practiced together, whereas, I believe you can be liberal while practicing your religion because what both the things promote is somehow linked to each other. You can be liberal and religious both at the same time so I guess I can say that both can go hand in hand. 

15 years to the incident that changed our world forever - 9/11

    Today I'm going to talk about the very famous incident that changed our world forever, if you observe closely you wouldn't deny that statement either. Take a look at Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq who are pathetically still suffering with non-stop torture, missiles and severe attacks that has utterly changed the infrastructure, design and position of these countries in the world so I believe its completely just to admit this fact and there is no denying to this statement when I call this incident an 'intentionally miserable world changing plan'. As far as I have observed talking about 9/11 and admitting the facts regarding it has become a taboo, if an American talks about it then he is labelled as a non-American considering that he or she should be kicked out of the country, and if a non-American enlighten his views and researches then guess what he is called? anti America! This is ridiculously funny. It doesn't matter which country you belong to, if you are a part of this land and if anything has damaged you/your country/your identity or even the world you live in then you have ALL RIGHTS RESERVED to speak on it, put forward your opinions regardless the circumstances. So here I am today breaking another taboo. You may hate me after reading this or you may agree to what I have researched or thought. It really doesn't matter, my job is to make you people SPOT THE DIFFERENCE between 'Reality' and 'Fake'.

  The story that has been told by the government of America is a paradox and completely contradicts the reality. So, I'm just going to precise what you people already know. Total four planes were hijacked by 19 Saudi Arabians apparently (or may I add 'terrorists' for that's how it has been portrayed) from the Eastern Coast for California. Then about 2 planes departed Boston, one from New Jersey and the other from Washington D.C. The hijackers took over the planes with box cutters (as the resources have told). There was no distress signal from the pilots. The first plane hit the World Trade Center then about 15 minutes later the second plane hit the other tower. One hour and some minutes later the Pentagon was hit with a third airliner and then the fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Let me add there was no military interception on ANY of the flights. However, they say it was directed from Osama Bin Laden within about 40 seconds of the very first tower being hit. About almost an hour after being hit each tower of the World Trade Center collapsed into its own footprint. About this they say that was from the jet fuel in the planes melting the steel and weakening it causing the buildings to collapse. Above 3000 Americans lost their lives including 343 firefighters. Now this is the story that was broad casted and over-hyped on television screens and unfortunately Muslims were to blame about it. After that day every Muslim was seen as a terrorist especially in America by their very own Americans. It became impossible for a Muslim to live in States without being humiliated, traumatised, harassed, mocked, tortured or even killed. Nice tale tellers!!

But I hope they have not forgotten that every picture has two sides, one that you want others to see and one that you don't want to be revealed. Here is a list of untold facts about 9/11 that actually make sense and can prove this whole incident ALL PRE PLANNED!!

• The total collapse of WTC 7 in 6.5 seconds at free fall acceleration (NIST admits 2.25 seconds). Larry Silverstein used the term “Pull it”. Steel framed high rise buildings have NEVER totally collapsed from fire or structural damage. Builidng 7 was not hit by a plane. ‘Building 7’, ‘WTC 7’.
• 6 out of the 10 Commissioners believe the 9/11 Commission report was “Setup to fail” Co-Chairs Hamilton and Kean, “It was a 30 year conspiracy”, “The whitehouse has played cover up”, ‘Max Cleland resigned’, ‘John Farmer’.
•  FBI confiscated 84/85 Videos from the Pentagon. ‘Moussaoui trial’ revealed these videos. Released Pentagon Security Camera (FOIA) does not show a 757 and is clearly Missing a frame.
•   Osama Bin Laden was NOT wanted by the FBI for the 9/11 attacks. “No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.” CIA created, trained and funded “Al Qaeda/Taliban” during the Mujahideen. OBL was a CIA asset named ‘Tim Osman’. OBL Reported dead in Dec 2001 (FOX).
•  100’s of Firefighters and witness testimony to BOMBS/EXPLOSIONS and MOLTEN METAL ignored by the 9/11 Commission Report.
•  5 Dancing Israeli’s arrested in ‘Mossad Truck Bombs’ on 9/11 that stated “We were there to document the event.
•  The PATRIOT ACT was written before 9/11. Signed into law October 26th, 2001.
•  At least 7 of the 19 listed hijackers are still alive (BBC). No video footage of 19 hijackers or passengers boarding the 4 planes. Pilots of the 4 planes never squawked the hijacking code. 
•  The 911 commission was given extremely limited funds. $15 million was given to investigate 9/11.

If I get a little argumentative then I would ask WHAT those Israelis were doing at the incident and DOCUMENTING it? What do you mean by SETUP TO FAIL? If any of the hijacker is still alive then why don't you hang them the way you hanged Saddam Hussain?! Don't they deserve to die who killed 3000+ civilians? But how can they hang 'the invisible'? Because Ladies and Gentlemen those 19 hijackers NEVER existed.

   The funniest part is that even less than 5% Americans are aware 3 buildings fell on 9/11.
1st Building: 9:50 am (WTC South Tower)
2nd Building: 10:29 am (WTC North Tower)
3rd Building: 5:20 pm (WTC Building 7) for no apparent reason
Look at the time difference here and you're wise enough to analyze the conspiracy made by the government.

  The sad side of this story is America invaded Afghanistan after this attack and destroyed the whole country. That was an era of Afghan War. Later on, Russia too got involved and more or less Pakistan too. Attacks one after the other, back to back drones and brutality on its peak. It was not the end but just a beginning to inhumane behavior of US military. In this fight to survive game Afghanistan was not the only one suffering but other countries got involved too namely Syria (on agenda to destroy their future generations and for that they started killing children), Palestine (Gaza specifically because after that incident humanity died) and Iraq (got really personal when they threat to destroy the Holy shrine of Bibi Zainab). So apparently, 9/11 was the ONLY justification to invade 4 other countries for no good. Almost whole of the Middle East.

  Imagine if Saudi Arabia was not enough on giving oil to US then there wouldn't be any Aarbia either? Its so strange isn't it? If you are blaming the whole Muslim community for just one incident and in response to that you invaded 4 Muslim countries then how could you possibly have friendly relations with any ONE of it? So basically, Saudia is saved just because they decided to be slaves of US, keep on exporting oil, making money but not bothering to educate their children! Well played Arabia, well played.

 There is a verse in Quran (Holy book of Muslims) that says:
“ He who kills a soul unless it be (in legal punishment) for murder or for causing disorder and corruption on the earth will be as if he had killed all humankind; and he who saves a life will be as if he had saved the lives of all humankind.” ( The Qur’an, Al-Ma’idah, 5:32)
 So while breathing in 2016 when I say that humanity died long time back, its pretty valid.

  I would conclude my article by saying that one day the tables will turn and the suffered beings would not be suffer again, and the killers will stand in the queue of Karma and when I say that I see Mr.Donald Trump as your next mistake. Me being a Pakistani and a Muslim can hate America and Americans BUT I am sensible enough to NOT do that because not everyone is a killer and not everyone agrees to the image that has been set up of Muslims after 9/11. Similarly, there is not valid point to hate all Muslims either of what terrorism has done so far (no 9/11 was not done by Muslims, i disbelieve that), but I'm here speaking overall.
At the end I would recommend a book to all of you 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' written by Mohsin Hamid to get a clear view of what American Muslims faced after 9/11 and how deeply it influenced their life and how badly they survived.  Even to this day Muslims find it difficult to immigrate to America in fact there was a ban on granting Pakistanis even student visas (not sure if its removed now).
Well, these are a few drawn facts there is so much more that we all are missing and the truth is still an untold story in the history of 11th September.

The real spirit of Eid-ul-Adhaa - What are you going to sacrifice? Animal or your pride?

Finally Eid-ul-Adhaa is almost here and government has announced holidays of 3 days Monday-Wednesday. They always forget we desi people keep on consuming 'gosht' non stop for 3 days of Eid and then our moms store it in case 'koi mehmaan ajaye' or make kebabs out of it...that's not fair anyway. Well, I still have to attend my university on 3rd day of Eid daydreaming about BBQs and some nice karahi. hehe..
So what are you people sacrificing this Eid? Goat? Cow? Camel? You'd be surprised to know but my dad decided this time despite of sacrificing animals we'd be sacrificing our ego, pride and all those things that makes human mind completely numb. 

Prophet Ibrahim or Abraham (may Allah be pleased with him) was put to a trail of sacrificing his youngest son Prophet Ismail (may Allah be pleased with him) because he was dearest to him among all the children but as per Allah's command he had to follow what he saw in his dream. He took his son in the forest away from his house so that his wife would not be able to hear if Ismail screams due to severe pain, blindfolded himself and as soon as the knife reached Ismail's throat, Allah replaced him with a sheep. When Prophet Ibrahim opened his eyes, his son was standing alive right in front of his eyes and that sheep had been slaughtered right in front of him. Prophet Ismail was the son that Prophet Ibrahim got after offering so many prayers that too in old age and imagine how dear he was to him when he was ordered by God to sacrifice his son.
So why am I repeating this story when all of us had been studying about this since our childhood. Maybe because there are a few misconceptions regarding this sacrifice. Now see, God liked this act so much that he made it a festival for all the Muslims, sacrificing an animal is NOT compulsory or should be followed as an obligation because its Prophet Ibrahim's Sunnah (Sunnat-e-Ibrahimi) in the remembrance of his great sacrifice to show his love and obedience towards God. There is no need to get 4-5 animals and show-off to this world that you're capable of buying such expensive animals, aren't no race my friend it'll be of no use if you do not understand the REAL meaning behind this sacrifice. But this sacrifice becomes obligatory for Hajjis. Millions of people from all around the world go for Hajj (pilgrimage) to Makkah, and there its compulsory for them to sacrifice an animal in the name of God.

Now coming to the animal selection...well...this is complicated. God replaced sheep with Prophet's son so from where did all these cows came from?  FLASHBACK! Back to the time before partition when no India or Pakistan existed on the map of the world, there was just one land named subcontinent. Here Muslims and Hindus both lived together but oh so miserable! And I suppose we all are aware of the bitter reality about different conflicts that prevailed even from Muslims. Cow is a scared animal of Hindus and since both the communities shared mutual dislikeness and hatred so definitely there were teases performed by both of the parties. If Hindus mocked Muslims then we didn't even stay calm about it. Muslims started sacrificing cows (knowing its a sacred animal of Hindu community and will be offensive for them) and since then its a tradition to sacrifice cows in the name of Islam. huh? Did you guys know that? And are you aware of the fact that cows are only slaughtered in Pakistan and India, a very few cases in Bangladesh on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adhaa. Its not even in practice in any other Muslim countries that are even advanced and comparatively more progressive like Iran and Turkey.. Not even in Saudi Arabia - I'M NOT KIDDING! Its only practiced here and the mock continues!

So coming back to the main point that I wanted to convey...
Can you sacrifice your dearest thing if God orders you to? Would you be ready to give up your children? Your property? Your jewelry? Your favorite dresses? Your Husband? Wife? Parents?! YOUR NAFS?!!?! Majority would claim it a yes but very few would actually do it because in the first place if it was that easy then God would have not given this trail to a Prophet and then give him the title of 'KhaleelUllah' that means Friend of God. You can not just give up something so easily and especially when it comes to something that you love the most in the world of today that is filled with materialism and can't even see happiness of others. Not everyone's might is right. I read one Hadith yesterday about it (can't recall the exact words), it said, buy an animal that you're going to sacrifice some days before Eid because you will eventually start loving it and get emotionally attached to it and when its time to sacrifice that animal then you can feel the pain of losing a loved one, and then the tears that you'll shed for it would be a proof that your love for God is everything you need.
Sacrificing an animal on the occasion of Eid is not an obligation but a Sunnah of Prophet Ibrahim. But besides all this there are some positive facts about sacrificing animal:
1. Poor people get to taste meat after a long time because its too expensive for them to buy it (so why not give charity more often?)
2. Plus points in good deeds! (wow)
3. Benefits from animal skin (the one we give to mosques)
4. Good food (obviously)
and many moree..

So this Eid, while enjoying your BBQs and taking selfies with cows and sheep (uhh hate that) please do not forget what actually is the lesson that this day conveys. Sacrifice your animals but don't forget to sacrifice your pride, ego and grudges against anyone! Its all about sacrificing so why not start with our negative traits first?
Eid Mubarak! :)

Can you spot the difference?

Do you guys remember the game we used to play when we were kids? Yup I'm talking about spotting the difference between two pictures!
Now let me ask you something, can you spot the difference between REALITY and what media PORTRAYS? How far can you judge and reach the insights of a certain situation or any recently occurred event? Well, honestly we all will come to different conclusions with different observations and approaches.

What if you were given a case of murder and you are the investigator, how would you see it?
Similarly, being Pakistani (a very honest Pakistani, I must add) I am here to spot the difference between the reality and what media shows us. Enlightening you all with my opinions and thoughts about social issues, human rights and some other happenings and insight