Adil Najam
From all of us at All Things Pakistan we wish our regular readers, our contributors, and all passers-by a wonderful and very happy Eid Mubarak (Eid Greetings). We wish you happiness, prosperity and all things good; now and forever.
[Pictures: Empire State Building, New York City, lit green to mark Eid-ul-Fitr, 2007].
We had started our Eid post a year ago with exactly the words above. Our sentiments remain the same, so do the words. Our best Eid wishes to all Muslims everywhere, including Pakistani Muslims everywhere.
The post had also highlighted that Eid is about community. And so is Pakistaniat.Com. We believed that then, and we believe that now. This year since the last Eid has been tumultuous. There have been too many ups and down. Maybe more downs than ups. The guiding spirit of community that had been behind this blog has not wavered. We have never wanted to make this a haven for like-minded robots who all think alike and say the same things. We have strong beliefs and so do you. We have wanted this to be a forum to share those beliefs, to discuss, to debate. But never to misbehave. Never to disrespect. Never to degrade. We do not want people to be disagreeable, but we never shy from disagreeing ourselves or letting others do that same.
Why am I saying all this today, in our Eid post? Because I believe that the spirit of Eid has much to teach us all about coexistence and respect for each other. This morning as I got up after Eid prayers and began embracing those around me, I realized that I disagreed (sometimes profoundly) with many of those who I was embracing on many issues, political, ideological, and others. I am sure that some of them disagreed with me on many issues even more than I disagreed with them. But that did not reduce the intensity or sincerity of the hug. Hopefully, that post-namaz embrace was not just a ritual for me or for them.
The galley milna at the end of the namaz, I realized, is not an indication of my total agreement with those I am hugging. It is an appreciation that at a higher level we are the same and we adhere to the same hopes, same aspirations, same principles. Even if you think it is just a ritual, it is a ritual of coming together, not of tearing apart!
Pakistaniat – both the term and the blog – is similar. It is a commonality of identity that does not demand common views and the same opinions, but merely the same aspirations for our nation. So, as I finished embracing those around me I thought about Eid, and I also thought about Pakistaniat. But, most of all, I thought about identity. Because that is central to both.
So, let us embrace each other today – in Eid and in Pakistaniat. Tomorrow we will have plenty to crib about and disagree about again. Today, let us just embrace each other. Not because we are all the same, but despite our differences.
Here is a sampling of our past Eid posts:
Eid Mubarak!
Eid Poetry
Hajj and Eid Greetings
Bakra On-Line
Multiple Eids
Auspicious Days: Juma-tul-Vida, Diwali, and Eid
Gallay hum ko laga kar milliye
Eid Is…
Eid Dishes.
Sometimes we do not seem to know where scholarship ends and where socio-politico and religious/secularist advocacy begins.
Eid Mubarak or as they say back in Malaysia:
“Salamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
Maaf Zahir Batin”
EID MUBARAK
Eid Mubarak to all from Other Pakistan. Lets build a better and more just Pakistan governed in the interests of the many and not the few. See how you all can help by putting forward your ‘other’ view of Pakistan at http://www.otherpakistan.org/archive
Feimanallah
Wasim
Eid Mubarak to all Pakistani friends.
Adil ji, heartiest congratulations on sharing the nobel peace prize. That’s exactly what this blog is all about , after all:)
May you all have a wonderful, prosperous and peaceful year ahead.
Adil,
Eid Mubarak to you, the entire Pakistaniat team, and to one and all.
Differences in viewpoints are normal; they are not the problem. Problem arise when some people believe they are more Pakistani than others.