By Umm Umamah
(The writer is an Electronic Engineer from GIKI, and is currently a stay-at-home mom)
“The eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved, and we will not say except what pleases our Lord.” [Rasul Allah (SAW) at the death of his infant son Ibrahim, as quoted in Sahih Bukhari]
Yes, we are sad! Yes, we are upset! But we will take consolation from these beautiful words of our Prophet (SAW). All the PTI supporters out there, this electoral defeat in Elections 2013 is a setback for all of us, we are emotionally wounded….but if our Khan is in high spirits, why should we allow ourselves to be demoralized! And despite the individual cases of rigging (excluding Karachi), let us graciously accept the people’s mandate. We have to accept defeat gracefully. We cannot afford to let our emotions blur our sense of sportsmanship and human decency, we have to resist the urge to bash and ridicule our fellow citizens’ choices….because if we don’t, then we tarnish the image of our leader Imran Khan, and we bring a bad name to PTI. As much as we love our leader…by the way why do we love him? We love him, we respect him, we voted for him, because of his love for Pakistan, because of his selfless contributions to Pakistan. And if this love for him is making us degrade and belittle our fellow countrymen…I tell you…it is misdirected. It is harming him more than benefitting him. We have to be different…as we dream of, and work towards a Naya Pakistan, it is crucial that we ourselves…each one of us…becomes a Naya Pakistani first!
Instead of blaming, accusing, and pointing fingers at all others, let us all pray for Allah to guide us all. Irrespective of how disillusioned we are of our traditional leaders & politicians, inspite of their not-so-promising past records, we should not underestimate the power of a sincere dua! Remember Allah is the Turner of hearts…It is not at all difficult for Allah to bestow sincerity and honesty to our leadership. As much as we would have loved to see Imran Khan in the PM seat, our vision of a Naya Pakistan was not restricted to only that. It is not a personal battle, it should not be personality worship either; it is a struggle for a reformed, just Pakistan for ALL of us…together and united! May Allah guide our entire leadership…of all parties, of all assemblies…to work for the best interests of our homeland, Ameen.
Having said that, there is no denying that the change that Imran Khan so passionately talks about, is definitely there. Never have I felt this connected with the political scene of Pakistan…and not just connected, so emotionally connected. Making duas late at night, early in the morning, spontaneously repeating the oath that Imran Khan took from us in his last pre-election address, actually rehearsing and chanting slogans of Pakistan Zindabad with my 3 yr old, getting teary-eyed seeing the jazba of the youth in the jalsas, being super excited to go out and vote…I have never experienced this before, this is something totally new. Even his opponents and the neutrals give him credit for awakening and mobilizing the youth, who then infused the enthusiasm into others.
Imran Khan believes in the youth of Pakistan, therefore he resonates with them. While the majority is cynical of the future of Pakistan, and the state of affairs ever changing for the better, and tries to make us accept things as they are, Imran Khan encourages us to fight….to fight for justice, to stand up for our rights, to speak out for truth. It is going to be tough no doubt, he tells us, but it is going to be worth the effort and sacrifice. Therefore it comes as no surprise that the people, predominantly the youth, are courageously protesting against blatant rigging. While we do accept the people’s mandate, we will raise our voice against injustice, we will not let anyone ridicule our right of freedom to vote. Pakistan sure is waking up! There is no stopping this tsunami now Insha Allah. And again while others sidelined these ‘burger kids’ and ‘mummy-daddy kids’, Imran Khan recognized and worked on their potential. And the same ‘keyboard warriors’ and ‘facebook activists’ are risking their lives for the sake of justice and truth. Some have already laid down their lives…this is no small feat! It demands utmost courage! Salute to all these brothers and sisters! May Allah accept their sacrifices, and protect them, and give them victory in their cause, Ameen.
When Imran Khan and the PTI officials talked of sweeping the elections, it did seem a little too far-fetched. I think most of the PTI supporters must have experienced within themselves, this battle of the emotional heart and the rational mind. I personally would assure my heart by recalling his past miraculous achievements against all odds. He has done it before, he can do it again. His own confidence would bar me from questioning the rationality of his claims, and instead direct me to praying for a miracle. And there was this very strong feeling that Allah would make him win, because he himself deserved to win! He has been struggling for the past 17 years selflessly. But Allah had planned otherwise.
‘But they plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the Best of Planners.’ [al-Anfaal: 30]
As Muslims, after having done what we could, we must accept Allah’s destiny. Be convinced that this is what is best for us…how and why, we might not understand right away, but we might as the future unfolds. Amidst all this election fever, let us not forget that it is Allah who can change our situation, not Imran Khan! I was feeling sorry for Khan, but my sister reminded me that Allah loves His creation more than we do. He knows exactly what is best for him at this point. Allah does not let the sincere efforts of anyone go to waste. Maybe Imran Khan was not ready to take on the challenge of healing the badly bruised Pakistan, maybe he did need some hands-on political experience inside the parliament, maybe this is Allah’s way of helping him prove himself at a small-scale before he goes on to rule the country…or maybe we did not deserve him as yet!
Leaders of the calibre of Imran Khan are born in centuries. Maybe we have not valued him enough, maybe we still do not realize his greatness. Like he himself quotes very often, Allah does not change the state of a nation until they change themselves. Do we pray 5 times regularly? Have we stopped cheating, lying, breaking queues? Do we obey traffic rules? Are we abiding by the awesome teachings of our Deen? Khan does not have a magic wand to reform us overnight; the change has to come from within. When we strengthen our connection with Allah on a personal level, when we try to lead our lives the way Allah wants us to lead our lives, when we follow the impeccable sunnah of our Prophet (SAW), the success will be ours Insha Allah. It’s a promise from Allah.
‘So do not weaken and do not grieve, and you will be superior if you are (true) believers.’ [Aal-e- ‘Imran: 139]
We need to draw inspiration from the seerah of the Prophet (SAW), and the lives of our Muslim heroes. And it is Allah’s immense blessing that He has still blessed us with leaders like Khan, for us to emulate and try and develop their qualities inside us. We did not please Allah enough, we did not strengthen our Imaan enough.
We are so proud when Khan looks America in the eye, we are so impressed when he shares a room with other patients in SKMH, we love it when people share their personal experiences of how he is such a down-to-earth person, his pictures of eating and sleeping with the common masses reaffirm us that he truly cares for us, when he declares that he fears none but Allah..it further makes us have faith in him, we beam with confidence when even his opponents acknowledge that he is a doer! He does what he says. These are the things that win people’s hearts, things that make the common man relate to him. Not all people might subscribe to his political views, but almost the entire nation loves him for the man he is. That is why when he does fundraising for any cause, the nation donates generously, because we are sure it is going to go exactly to where he collected it for. That is precisely why the whole nation’s breathing was halted when Imran Khan fell on the 7th of May. If his die-hard followers are able to inculcate these very qualities in themselves that they love in their leader, then it is success in and of itself. May Allah protect him, and reward him immensely for awakening us, and for all that he has done and continues to do for us, Ameen.
In Imran Khan’s own words, ‘We have laid the foundation of a Naya Pakistan.’ Congratulations! J Imran Khan with his PTI has impacted the political landscape of Pakistan, how deep the impact has been only time will tell. PTI has a strong presence inside the parliament now. Lets pray that it is able to deliver in KPK; all of us will have to help Imran Khan and PTI perform par excellence. The enthusiasm must not fade away, the spirits should not be dampened, the duas must be intensified, the efforts must become tenfold. I believe like Imran Khan himself, many of his fans and PTI supporters, believe in idealism too. Because realism enslaves you to other forces; whereas idealism liberates you from everything. It makes you fearless of everyone and everything but Allah s.w.t. Therefore, we must not let any hurdle – whatsoever it might be – scale down our dreams. We have to rectify our shortcomings, work on our deficiencies, and with a renewed energy and firmer resolve to take on the challenges ahead, we have to move towards rebuilding Jinnah’s Pakistan. The game has just begun, and the show must go on. Lets do Khan proud! Lets do Pakistan proud!