My grandmother used to say 'qayamat se daro' (Or maybe she didn't; maybe it was some other grand-maternal figure in the family). She taught me to fear the Day of Judgment, when we're confronted with ourselves : that truly is qayamat... What we did, didn't do, should have done, and wanted to do.
I must confess that I don't believe in an apocalypse, or a final confrontation. I must also confess that if I'm wrong and grandma's right, then I don't look forward to giving an account of myself.
But, in times like these, when the 'judiciary' in Afghanistan thinks it can kill a man for converting to christianity... at times like these, I begin to wish for a day of final reckoning, now, so they could come face to face with a god, his messengers, or somebody who's THE authority.
Because, how, in god's name, can you justify the taking of life? Especially when a man's done nothing except admit that his beliefs have undergone a slight change? Not murdered, not abetted, not waged war, not abused children... all he did was convert.
How, how, how can anyone justify a death sentence?
How can you justify even wanting to pass that death sentence? How can you justify putting somebody on trial for a new set of beliefs? How can you call yourself a muslim, if you do so?
How can you forget that before Islam, there was Cristianity, and Judaism, and a thousand different kinds of faiths in the world? That every single person who took to Islam, must once have belonged to another religious community? Mohammad himself was not born into Islam; he created a new religion, and got a whole lot of others to convert.
If these Afghan 'judges' were to come face to face with Mohammad tonight, how would they justify ending a life, just because that life wanted to try a different route to finding god. How would they explain their greed for spilling blood?
Because that is all it is, finally.
5 comments:
Just and Justification?
Welcome to the new world, a world every sane person should be ashamed of belonging to.
i don't think they would execute him...what would realistically happen is that he would be branded mentally unstable. That way all the idiots involved the judges, the afghan politicians and the western politicians, wriggle out of a difficult scenario...
shravan: there's no justification. but shame is an impotent emotion, unless followed quickly by the determination not to let things stay shameful.
rabin: you are right, of course.
religion is a scary thing... when people kill people, at least it's in your face... there is blood and stains.. am just as scared or worried about a huge section of population that does nothing but nurses all the grudges, biases, and beliefs and passes it on from generation to generation... thousands of people continue to hate thousands more for absolutely nothing logical...
Earlier it werethe days of Christianity when it tyrannised the world with its crusade wars against the `infidels'.
Now it is the turn of Islam to do the same.
Now christainity has mellowed down for the good and so will Islam with the passage of time.
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