Adil Najam
Pakistan is a land of creative cell-phone ringtones. Sometimes, I feel, a little too creative.
You are sitting in a meeting with some very self-important and staid people - officials, businessmen, buzurg grandfather types - and one of their cell-phone rings: and the ring-tone is a computer synthesis of “Sanou Nehr Waaley Pul Tey Bulla Kay” or “Nawa Aaya Aye Soonia.”
Even though the first is one of my favorite Noor Jahan songs and the second my all-time favorite movie, my head spins and I wonders if in a society where everyone is always so proper and so cognizant of “loug kiya sochaiN gay” (what will people think?), cell-phone ringtones are like catharsis. One of the things that lets people show that little bit of their “fun side” that they were otherwise suppressing. Kind of like the otherwise all-too-serious professor in the US coming to class wearing a Mickey Mouse tie (I actually own more than one of those).
Yet, it seems that the vigilantism of the piety police that is the extremist fringe in Pakistan wants to even snatch (literally) this little pleasure from us.
Here is a small news item in the Daily Times (January 18):
Militants snatch computers from ringtone shops
LANDI KOTAL: Local Taliban militants snatched computers from ringtone shops in the main Landi Kotal Bazaar on Thursday, sources said. Earlier, they added, the militants had warned them to stop downloading ringtones onto mobiles, terming it an “un-Islamic” practice. Around 10 armed Taliban came to the bazaar and took away computers from ringtone shops at around 5pm.
Whatever else you do, folks, please do not try to answer the question in the headline. It is rhetorical. Frankly, I have very little interest in what anyone, least of all some militants, have to say about this and I am sure that God has far more important things to deal with right now than how my cell phone rings.
I have chosen to write about this question because I think there are two types of people who do take things like this seriously. So serious are they in their beliefs that they are even willing to condone violence in the name of those beliefs. I am afraid of what the fanaticism of these two extreme groups can lead to, especially in Pakistan.
One type are the puritanical extremists within Islam who think that they and they alone have a monopoly on piety and theirs and only their view is right and who are willing - even eager - to impose, even violently, their view on all others. The Taliban, of whatever ilk, are one such group. The second type are those who obsess about things that are supposedly wrong with Islam and who love to believe such nonsense because it reinforces their existing prejudices. Who are prone to taking such actions by the extremists and then project it as if all Muslims are like this. This set of people are often equally extreme in their beliefs.
Luckily, neither is a majority. Unfortunately, the ranks of both are swelling. Oddly, but not surprisingly, these two extreme types have much - too much - in common; including the monopoly they think they hold over the truth.
Sadly, but also not surprisingly, these two groups are probably the biggest threat to Islam and Muslims today, including and especially in Pakistan. Even though I fear their impact and influence in Pakistan and on Pakistan, I - like most Pakistanis I know - reject the message of both these extreme groups. I prefer, instead, to listen to cell-phone ringtones that go “Sanou Nehr Waaley Pul Tey Bulla Kay” or “Nawa Aaya Aye Soonia.”
The extremist threat is real and it is not exaggrated rather in my point of view, we muslims have made a concious choice to either ignore or support extremist thought and actions.
We as a nation belonging to great Islamic civilization have a choice to define our challenges and reponse.
Since time immemorial, we have looked for fault and enemy as someone from outside or have built this “Saazishi - Nasim Hijazi Paranoia Syndrome”.
It is time to look hard at oursleves as as pogo would say “we have met the enemy and he is us”.
This question is way too complicated for such a superfluous discussion. Question is : WHO DECIDES WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG?
Neither the Talibanis nor the so called “Moderate Secularists” can decide this. What is wrong and what is right is decided by an absolute authority, which we have in the form of a book.
So if that book says music is ‘haram’, IT IS HARAM, no matter what your ‘western common sense’ may say. Tomorrow you will say eating pork makes sense if pigs are bred in a clean way. After all westerners are healthy and intelligent after eating pork, so a ‘moderate muslim’ can also eat pork. WRONG. It is clear that you go to hell if you eat pork, there is no ambiguity or scope of argument.
In fact our book leaves no need for arguments. Mr Adil declares Talibanis to be the villains, showing his own prejudices. IF TALIBANIS ARE ACTING IN COGNIZANCE OF THE WRITTEN WORD, NOT ONLY THEY ARE RIGHT, THEY ARE DOING YOU A FAVOR BY ENFORCING THE RIGHEOUSNESS.
Sometimes, I feel the cell-phone ringtone playing the one-liner songs a little too much – not just in the meeting settings. Calling my bank manager and hearing the sound of some weird song is irritating to say the least. A while back I was taken aback while performing my namaz in the house and my daughter’s cell turned on with some medley from the American Idol TV show. I have even heard songs in the sanctity of a masjid – because some dude forgot to switch to the silent mode.
Sadly, the “extremist fringe” enjoys way too much press. Unfortunately, some folks in the media are way too much obsessed with what Musharraf on 60 Minutes interview call “Point two percent”. I – like most Pakistanis don’t give a damn about these “extremist fringe” – whose influence beyond certain small circle is way too much exaggerated.
BTW, I too own Mickey Mouse ties and my daughter did change her ringtone even though I had not asked to do that. All I said was: “What the hell”. It is still some musical medley but I hope she remember to switch to silent mode not because of what “loug kiya sochaiN gay” – but hopefully because she knows better the time and place for the “fun-side” or what she calls “style
so whats ur solution Adil Sahab? Doesnt take much to point at symptoms, and that too quite vaguely. U know, in Saudi Arabia, last month, the Ulema were discussing whether to disallow (as a recommendation, not by force) quranic verses (and not melodies) as ringtone since ppl usually dont hear the full verses before attending their calls and that changes meaning at times. I find a very good intention in that.
As for melodious ringtones, im sure these garam khopris were provoked at their masjids when during prayers, someone’s cell fone was singing ‘dola ray dola ray dola ray’, that happens in Haram too.
so baraye mehrbaani, masaajid main daakhil honay say pehlay apnay mobile atleat silent kardain warna garam khopris ka saamna kudh keejiye….
An important element that is contributing to confusion in the society is the lack of understanding between what truly falls under the teachings of ‘Islam’ and what falls under the norms of ‘culture’.
I wouldn’t be surprised that someone will come up with a Fatwa that commenting on ATP is un-islamic since the language used is that of non-muslims. Remember….its the same people who declared Azaan on the loudspeaker Haram when it first started.
I will take Adil’s headline seriously and this question as he says is not even worth answering.
But as he points out what is important is that these people are bringing their reign of terror and intimidation to our country, they are killing Pakistanis, they are blowing up bombs, they are highjacking the religion, and they themselves say that they have no interest or allegince to the COUNTRY at all.
What makes this scary is that we have a government that has no legitimacy at all and as political chaos spreads the sway of these terrorists and extremisst will rise. I really worry that the situation is very similar to what was in Afghanistan. The Taliban were able to gain control not because ordinary people liked their version of the religion but because people had lost hope on everything else and everyone else because teh chaos was so so bad. When I read of people starting to defend the actions of the extremists, even if only a few people, I am worried that we may be reaching similar situation in Pakistan. I hope not.
Mr. Kashmiri, are your really saying and do you really believe that snatching someone’s computers because they download music and all teh otehr things these extremists are doing like killing Pakistanis and blowing bombs, etc., are really “Islamic”!!!!
Come to think of this is a failure of Aukaf Department- having so many moulvis on payroll they could not train them to give the right sermon.
Can someone do a survey of few key masjids and figure out if any voice has been raised against this madness (suicide bombing, fatwas, ring tones etc…) during sermons?