AN OPEN LETTER TO THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS IK-SLANDERERS / IK HATERS

Note: constructive criticism is a positive thing and is essential to keep a reality check. However, this letter is targeted to the self-righteous IK-slanderers.

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Let me start by stating quite equivocally I am not an IK/PTI supporter, although presently I agree with IK and heart-fully support what he is standing up to and against. I do not support PTI/IK due to personal reservations and those are something of a different or rather spiritual nature, if ever I get a chance I will seek to discuss them in person, however I do not see the point of stating them here.

Nonetheless, I can relate to IK and understand his internal struggle of self-realization and self-reformation to quite an extent. He has been struggling to correct his thinking, beliefs and character, which is far more than what I can say for the majority of this nation. Majority of us are born to Muslim families, given Islamic names and our default religion is Islam, and when we die, all too conveniently our default setting is ‘shaheed’. Majority of us take our religion and its preaching and our supposed beliefs for granted and never quite bother to really ponder about the gravity of any of it or endeavor to gain any spiritual depth. We are quick to judge others who sin differently from us and assume salvation for ourselves. I believe that the Judgment Day would prove to be a source of great shock and discomfort for a vast majority of us who believe in the Mercy of Allaah for ourselves and believe in extremity of harshness for others. I think it would be great if we could voluntarily climb off our high horses right now and focus on self-correction, rather than defamation of others, before it’s too late.

I am writing today because a friend emailed me and stated the following “…it really pains me sometimes how some people are assassinating his character and justifying NS's corruption regardless of his performance, …" Funnily enough I had been feeling similar sentiments and had written my letter to IK earlier because of these feelings. The thing was that although I do not support IK in general, however I would clearly be ridiculous to not agree with the very obvious points he has been standing up for. They are all those things that any sane, sincere and patriotic person has been harping about and complaining for quite some time now. It was then that I realized and recognized that there was one adjective lacking amongst the ones I mentioned earlier and that was ‘religious’. Anyone sane, sincere, patriotic and most of all religious has a huge inhibition when it comes to IK and it was more or less for the reasons I mentioned in my earlier letter.

When writing that letter I wasn’t even sure if it would ever reach him, but I took the time out and said whatever I had to, thinking that I am only answerable before Allaah for whether or not I made the effort, how far reaching the result may or may not be is entirely in Allaah Kareem’s Hands. It was way better than just sitting around and doing Imran Khan’s gheebat or character assassination based on some vile assumptions, hearsay.

Hence, I wrote the letter in conformity to Sunnah, as the Prophet-SW wrote letters to various leaders inviting them to the correct path. How the leaders responded to those letters decided their fate. I believed once I had done my bit, if Allaah kareem actually allowed for that letter to reach IK, the ball would be in his court as to whether he chooses to respond to it like Najashi the Abyssinian King or like the King of Persia, Chosroes Apervez.

Before I go any further I would like to share the following:

(49: 11) - "O ye who believe! let not some men among you laugh at others: it may be that the (latter) are better than the (former): nor let some women laugh at others: it may be that the (latter) are better than the (former): nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other, nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames: Ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness, (to be used of one) after he has believed: And those who do not desist (and repent), are (indeed) doing wrong (evil &' unjust)."

I would like to express my disgust over the way Anti-Ik-ists, especially supposedly religious ones, who seem to have taken it upon themselves to character assassinate IK. The kind of things I have come across, some of them are so pathetic that it took me this long to get myself to write in regard to them. Nonetheless, I felt it imperative to discuss this behaviour in the light of the Quran and Sunnah.

Over here I’d like to remind us Muslims of the one characteristic or disease of the heart which is revolting and unacceptable to Allaah Kareem. PRIDE!

(16:23) - "Indeed, He-SWT does not love the proud."

(16:29) - "So enter the gates of Hell to dwell therein. Indeed evil is the abode of the proud.”

Hadith - "Four things are among my followers from the traditions of jahiliyyah which will not leave: pride of lineage, slandering kinship, use of astrology for rain, and wailing." [Muslim]

Hadith - "If you were not sinners, I would fear for you what is worse for you: Pride, pride." [Al-Bayhaqi, hasan hadeeth]

Hadith - "Pride is dissatisfaction with the truth, and belittling the people." [Muslim]

Hadith - "He will not enter Paradise who has even a speck of pride in his heart." [Muslim]

In the light of the above mentioned Ayaat and Hadith, I believe our primary concern should be self-focus and self-correction. We need to get off our high horse of self-righteousness and holier than thou attitude, and try and meditate upon our own sins, disobediences and lack of humility, seeking earnest forgiveness from Allaah Kareem and His help in turning us into the people He-SWT would like for us to be. We are only accountable for our own selves, our own actions and our own neeyat (intention), so might as well spend our energies to straighten our own accounts!

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

We need to recognize that it is sheer arrogance on our part when we are busy deriding someone on the basis of some sins they may or may not have committed, saying things like “This is Maulvi/Maulana IK with his yahoodi wife bla bla bla …” and declaring that the ‘Sita White scandal’ is enough to take him to hell. I have suffered this kind of rubbish at a much lesser scale myself. The past 18yrs of my journey towards Islam, have been laced with such malice and rubbish hurled at me from supposed liberals as well as supposed pious religious people. Saying nonsense like ‘Maulani Raana, haw tum bla bla bla…’ My reply to people would be a simple one “just because I have started offering my prayers or covering my head doesn’t mean I have made any declarations of becoming a perfect Muslim and neither have I made claims to be a better Muslim than you all. I am now practicing these two injunctions of Islam, you guys might be practicing some other ones which are less obvious. I do not judge you, I am only attempting to correct myself”.

(49:12)  - “O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other, nor speak ill of each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it...But fear God: For God is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.”

It has been an unnecessarily tough ride towards righteousness, because we live in very trying times, possibly the worst since the advent of Islam. And to make things worse, everyone seems to take it upon themselves to start picking on anyone who dares to attempt to change and begin a journey of transformation towards what is right, contrary to their previous actions and beliefs. Let me just ask here that the people of Makkah before the advent of Islam, what sins did they not commit? How many of them continued to do so even after the advent of Islam? Even down to the time of Fatah-e-Makkah? And thereafter once they made their choice to revert to Allaah and His Command and believe in His Messenger-SW and the Judgement Day, they earned a status so high, the status of Sahabeeyat, which none of us can earn even if we spent a lifetime in sujood! You believe anyone of them could have done so, if the Prophet-SW had decided to throw their previous sins at their face and mock and jeer at them? What kind of behavior is this that we have picked up as a nation? How do we justify it?

I quote from the article by Ahmed Rashid, ‘Imran Khan from the heart’ “He discusses his pre-marital “hedonism” and calls it “a mirage”: “The hurt I caused and the feeling of emptiness I experienced in transitory relationships far out-weighed the moments of pleasure” (p.91).” I have heard IK clearly acknowledging he was devoid of Eemaan earlier and that is something he has endeavoured to develop over time.

Hadith - The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The one who repents from sin is like one who has never sinned.” (Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 4240; classed as saheeh by al-Busayri in al-Zawaa’id, commentary on Sunan Ibn Maajah). 

Hadith - The Messenger of Allaah (Allaah bless him and give him peace) said: “That person who taunts and ridicules his Muslim brother over a sin from which he has repented, will not die until he himself commits that same sin.” 

(Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 53, no: 2507; Bayhaqi, Shuabu’l-Iman, 5/315, no: 2778; Kashfu’l-Khafa, 2/265).

Be wary of one thing that what you all go around mocking is bound to manifest itself in you. So if you loath it so much, it’s better for you to pray for the correction of the person indulging in it rather than backbiting about it and broadcasting it. It is even better if you could privately speak to this person and guide him regarding it. If you have already done so and have clear evidence that this person is continuing in the gravest of crimes, which can cause much degeneration to society, then take him into the Shariah Court, provide the relevant evidence and have this tried there. However if this is not a possibility then I suggest you do not go around leaving written evidence of your gheebah as a negative sadqah-e-jariyah for yourselves, it might be enough to send YOU to hell instead of the person you have declared hell bound!

Hadith - Jundub-RUA  narrated that a man said: “I swear by Allaah that Allaah will not forgive so and so.” Then, the Prophet-SW  said: "Allaah said: “Who is this person who swears that I will not forgive so and so, indeed, I have forgiven so and so and I nullified your (own good) deeds.” [Muslim]

Hadith - The Prophet-SW said: "Any person who says to his brother: 'O Kaafir (disbeliever)', so it falls back on one of them. If it is true, it is as he said, otherwise it returns back upon him (i.e. the one who said it)." [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

Hadith - the Prophet-SW  said: "O those who are Muslims by tongue whereas faith has not entered their hearts! Do not harm Muslims, or scoff at them or pursue their faults; for whoever pursue the imperfection of his Muslim brother, Allaah will pursue his imperfection, and whoever Allaah pursue his imperfection, He will disgrace him even if he hides himself in his own home." [Ibn Hibbaan who graded it as Saheeh (sound)]

There is something else I would like to point out here, it’s very easy to be born into a religious family and become considerably pious. However, to be born into a liberal home and to then ponder about Allaah and Islam and become Muslim out of choice, thereafter seeking to follow a path of self-correction while still having the same social circle is another ball game! I have seen women throwing themselves at IK while he stands there seemingly indifferent and aloof, a tad bit abashed and estranged, and this is a phenomenon he experiences world over. He is charismatic; it’s an aazmaaish (trial) from Allaah-SWT. Hazrat Yousuf-AS was a Prophet-AS and the Quran mentions the following prayer of Hazrat Yousuf-AS when Zulekha and her friends attempted to allure him-AS:

(12:33) - He said: "O my Lord! Prison is more to my liking than that to which they invite me. Unless You turn away their plot from me, I will feel inclined towards them and be one of those who commit sin and deserve blame or those who do deeds of the ignorants."

He-AS was a Prophet and had Allaah Kareem’s protection, he-AS was innocent and could not indulge in sin. Yet he-AS feared that he might succumb to the alluring of these women. So before you set out to judge IK on this pretext, maybe you need to ask yourselves, had you been him how well would you have been able to resist? “But by the Grace of Allaah, there go I”. Allaah Kareem has reserved all judgment for Himself and the Judgment Day, let us not arrogantly take it upon ourselves to do Allaah Kareem’s job. In the light of the ayat below; the Quran and the Sunnah at an individual or personal level are there for self-analysis, self-preservation, self-discipline and self-correction, unless you are a Mufti or a Qadhi of a Shariah Court, reserve your judgment for yourselves!

(4:80) - He who obeys the Messenger, obeys Allah: But if any turn away, We have not sent you to watch over their (evil deeds).

If I could I would like to suggest to Ik, that if he wishes to seek Allaah Kareem’s help regarding temptation, he should perhaps recite the dua Hazrat Musa-AS made when he-AS had run away and was left with nothing. Allaah Kareem answered his-AS prayer by bestowing One of His-SWT choicest blessings, a pious woman whom he-AS married. May Allaah Kareem bless him with an understanding, supportive, pious wife, who becomes a source of extreme happiness and blessings for him in both the worlds and brings him closer and closer to Allaah Kareem earning him much of His-SWT Love and the Prophet-SW’s pride. Aameen!

(28:24) - So he watered (their flocks) for them, then he turned back to shade, and said: "My Lord! Truly, I am in need of whatever good that You bestow on me!"

You might ask how is it justified or ok to say negative stuff about NS and his clan. Well the answer to that is simple, they have been in power multiple times, there is enough clear and visible evidence that they have been stealing from us. So much so that now they don’t even give a damn about the mandate of people since they have established that they can steal that too. Right now they are self-imposed Kings sitting on our head, fleecing us individually and our Country by and large. The day I give a dime to IK and he steals or swindles it, I can take him to court and scream about it to the entire universe to stop them from suffering at his hands. However, until then I have a choice to simply not accept him as a leader and not follow him for whatever reason I may have, but I don’t have the right to go around spilling garbage all over him and that too based on hearsay or some high-headedness and conceit.  

In the past, I was an ardent believer that IK could well be a Jewish/Zionist agent, and honestly for me that was the one main reason I had grown to feel rather repulsed by him because he for one had no reason to go and sell his soul like this. Nonetheless, I realized that this argument was immaterial since for that matter please tell me which one our supposed rulers/politicians isn’t a Zionist/Jewish/American or some other form of agent. All I know is after having heard Ik on a daily basis during the past month, I can safely recognize one thing, that he is not an agent of any sort, he is PATHAN! Someone once rightly said “Pathan aik zaat nahin, aik kaifeeyat ka naam hai, jo kissee bhee waqt taaree ho saktee hai!” ‘Pathan’ is not a name of a race, it is the name of an emotion, which can over-power/overwhelm our being at any point and time, and there upon we are volatile and come what may there is no stopping us! Being a Yousafzai Pathan myself, I know this to be true!  Unfortunately for NS, he has triggered that ‘kaifeeyat’ in IK and his constant stupid handling of the matter is just making IK more and more “PATHAN” by the minute!

IK is not anyone’s agent for sure, although someone or some powers may always be adamantly attempting to manipulate him, nonetheless they would be doing so coyly and never be blatant enough to attempt buying him off (unless they are stupid) because he would never voluntarily sell his soul! I truly believe that. However, if by some remote chance he is an agent of sorts with some ulterior Machiavellian agenda, then all one can do while waiting for it to come to light, is pray. May Allaah Kareem turn IK’s heart towards Himself, illuminating it with His Nur and filling it with overwhelming love of the Prophet-SW and His-SWT preferred Din Islam, guiding him and altering all his actions and plans to translate for the betterment of not only Pakistan, but the entire Muslim Nation and Humanity at large. Aameen!

The fact is whether IK is Jewish agent or not is something that is between him and Allaah and unless someone has some verifiable proof of it, they should not go around making such declarations. In the past I too may have indulged in such rubbish and May Allaah Kareem forgive me for that.

We as people can only see what is before us, we cannot know what is in a person’s heart, which is exactly why Allaah Kareem has not made us a judge upon anyone. Allaah Kareem has solely reserved all Judgment to Himself and He is certainly swift in His Judgment. If we are so eager to judge someone let us take time out to judge ourselves, because that is who we will be questioned about on the day of Judgment. So let all of us not be so sure of our own salvation, it might be that IK ends up doing one such act that Allaah Kareem forgives all his sins and blesses him with the highest ranks of Jannah while people like us keep sitting with our useless propaganda and self proclaimed salvation. May Allaah Kareem forgive us and guide us. Aameen! Anyway, I’d like to conclude that all of us need to focus on self-correction, if we love Allaah Kareem, His-SWT Prophet-SW, His Din (Islam), our Country, our Nation and ourselves! In the light of the Ayaat and Hadith below, qalbi-zikrullah is the best way to achieve this! May Allaah Kareem grant us all the taufeeq to practice qalbi-zikr with its true essence, not for self-conceit and superiority, but for humility and self-correction. Aameen!

(13:11) - For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allaah. Indeed, Allaah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allaah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron.

Hadith - On the authority of Abu 'Abdullah al-Nu'man bin Bashir (ra) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah(sas) say: "The halal is clear and the haram is clear, and between them are matters unclear that are unknown to most people. Whoever is wary of these unclear matters has absolved his religion and honor. And whoever indulges in them has indulged in the haram. It is like a shepherd who herds his sheep too close to preserved sanctuary, and they will eventually graze in it. Every king has a sanctuary, and the sanctuary of Allah is what He has made haram. There lies within the body a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupted, the whole body is corrupted. Verily this piece is the Qalb (subtle heart, spiritual brain center)." [Bukhari & Muslim]

Hadith: (According to Abdullah bin 'Umar): "There is a shine for everything, and the shine (or polish) for the hearts is Allah's remembrance (or Zikrullah)." (Behiqi)

(13:27-28) - "And Allaah guides to Himself all who turn to Him, who have believed and whose hearts (Qulub) have rest in the remembrance of Allaah (zikrullah). Verily in the remembrance of Allaah (zikrullah) do hearts (Qalb) find rest!”

Hadith: (According to Ibne 'Abbas) : "The devil sits clinging to a person's heart (Qalb). When he remembers Allah, the devil gets lost but when he forgets, the devil puts evil thoughts" (Bukhari)

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Ps: I want to make another point very clear, I am in no way justifying IK’s past or his mistakes, all I am saying is we all make them and it takes a lot more courage to recognize them, own up to them, seek forgiveness and make an earnest attempt to repent and reform!