Hajj and Eid-ul-Azha Mubarak

Owais Mughal and Adil Najam

From all of us at ATP we congratulate the nearly 2.5 million Muslims who performed Hajj this year, including 125,000 Pakistanis, and also wish fond Eid-u-Azha greetings to all of you.

This is the fifth such post we have written since ATP began (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). The words and symbolism of these posts are the same each year. But even behind the same old words, the sentiment is renewed and refreshed each Eid. And so it is this year too.

Once again, our thoughts on this Eid are on the ‘tough times’ that we are living through. On the symbolism of unity and brotherhood that this day is meant to evoke, and to the reality of divisions and differences surrounding us that this symbolism serves to highlight. Each year we have wished that next year would be different. That next year the joy that Eid is meant to embody will be mirrored in peace and stability around us, that the unity and brotherhood that Hajj is meant to symbolize will be a reality in the communities we are part of.

This year is no different. This year we pray for the same.

This year, we also pray that we all be spared of our own cynicism. Of our own negativity. Of our own self-doubt. Of our own disbelief. Of our own bitterness. Of our own anger. Of our own sarcasm. Of our own venom that we seem to inflict on ourselves with such relish, and with such frequency.

This year, once again – we pray as we have on this day each of the previous four  years – that the message we take from this day is one of humility; that the feeling we have today are of universal humanity and fraternity, that the the vows we make are of peace and goodwill for all and everywhere; that the evil we shun is our own bitterness; that the world we look forth to is a world where we believe in our own goodness, and a world where we act to actualize and enable that goodness.

Hajj Mubarak and a happy Eid to all of our readers.