Friday 24 February 2012

Constructive Critique

We, very often, come across a situation in life where we have to express our disagreement with a person or an institution. The disagreement most of the times has to contain some criticism too. It becomes very important to carefully choose our words to avoid being offensive. The basic principles of criticism are constructively pointing out any possible shortcomings while appreciating the good points which everything does have and need to be highlighted while criticizing.

Compliment Sandwich Technique is a well known method of constructive criticism and includes the following.

1. Begin with a sincere appreciation of the over all good and positive aspect of something being criticized. This appreciation should have empathy and concern instead of sympathy and pity.

2. Mention the shortcomings objectively, in a least offensive manner, avoiding any personal comments, disrespect or exaggeration. Possible solutions should also be included along with pointing out the problems. 

3. End with another gesture of appreciation of the good points in a realistic manner.

 Using this technique we can pleasantly convey what we want and that too with a good, constructive and healthy outcome.

Go try and apply it in real life and see it works!

Thursday 23 February 2012

Sultan Shahab ud Din Muhammad Ghouri - سلطان شہاب الدین محمد غوری


Some 13 km from the GT Road near Suhawa in district Jhelum is the tomb of Sultan Shahab ud Din Muhammad Ghouri. I could not resist driving there yesterday on my way back from Rawalpindi to Sialkot. The road was a narrow one and definitely needed a lot of work to be in better shape again. However the attraction of seeing the tomb of this great man was strong enough to keep me driving.

The tomb seems recently renovated with white marble tiles though with loss of the historic touch. A replica of Ghori Missile is erected in the lawn with a portrait of Dr. AQ khan along with a portrait of the Sultan. Graves of the three unidentified security guards of the Sultan are also located nearby.  Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori (1162 – 15 March 1206), was a ruler of the Ghorid dynasty who reigned over a territory spanning present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. He conquered the city of Ghazna in 1173, and assisted his brother Ghiyasuddin in his contest with Khwarezmid Empire for the lordship of Khorāsān. Shahabuddin Ghori captured Multan and Uch in 1175 and annexed the Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186. After the death of his brother Ghiyas-ud-Din in 1202, he became the successor of his empire and ruled until his assassination in March 1206 by a fanatic at his halt-place at Dhamiak (Jhelum) on his way back to Ghazni after successfully dealing with a revolt by Khokhars.



Wisdom of a prayer!

Following is the masnoon prayer to be recited when one looks in a mirror.
 اَلّٰھُمَّ اَنٓتَ حَسَّنٓتَ خَلٓقِی فَحَسِّنٓ خُلُقِی
'Allahumma anta Hassanta khalqi fa-Hassin khuluqi' (Hisan) 
or
اَللّٰھُمَّ اَحٓسَنٓتَ خَلٓقِیٓ فَاَحٓسِنٓ خُلُقِیٓ
'Allahumma aHsanta khalqi fa-aHsin khuluqi' 
(Masnad Ahmed)
اے اللہ آپ نے میری صورت اچھی بنائی ہے سو میرے اخلاق بھی اچھے بنا دے
O' Allah! You have made my physical appearance beautiful so beautify my character / manners too!

 Few points come to mind while thinking on the wisdom of this short prayer which are worth sharing with everyone.

1. Remembering Allah, the Creator:

2. Self Esteem:
Everyone among us may not be as good looking he or she wishes. The prayer suggests us to have self esteem and appreciate that all of us do have a lot of beauty and proportion in our appearance. It is just that it is hidden from our superficial way of looking at things. How could we miss the absolute beauty and proportion of all of our organs and systems right up to the microscopic level? So all of us are good looking!

3. Gratitude/ Arrogance:
Once the beauty and proportion in our physical appearance is appreciated we obviously look for its creator and we agree that all this was generously granted by Allah and it gives us an opportunity to thank Him for His Kindness and Generosity. Simultaneously it also makes us realize that our appearance is not of our own doing and therefore we don't have to unnecessarily feel elated due to our outward appearance. We attribute our outward make up to the blessings of our Creator and be grateful to Him.

4. Value of "Khulq" (manners):
The prayer emphasizes that what really matters in a human being is his or her manners (Akhlaq) which could either be good or bad. It is the predominant set of Akhlaq in a person which make him either good or bad. Appreciating the fact, we are encouraged to request our Creator Allah to beutify our manners so that we can attain real and ever-lasting beauty. 

5. Everything is from Allah:
Looking into the prayer we come to a conclusion that we are all created by Allah in the best possible manner and towards Him we should all look to purify our souls. He is the source of both "Khalq" (Creation) and "Khulq" (Manners). We should therefore never forget our dependence on Him and keep trying to improve our appreciation of His Presence closer to us than our neck vessels.

 واللہ اعلم بالصواب

Suffering, Pain, Response and Fate!

We are often faced with the question why there is so much suffering in the world leading to pain resulting at times in unpleasant human response. The question is genuine and needs to be intelligently answered to ensure a peaceful mind.

Suffering basically is an unavoidable consequence of existence. We human beings have been blessed with intellect and we have our own views about what we should or shouldn't have. Anything going against our desired plan rightly becomes a suffering for us. So suffering is real and it exists as a by product of our own existence. A question arises that why such an imperfect world? Why a world with suffering in the first place? A perfect world would have been ideal but as it deals with human feelings which differ from person to person and time to time so such an ideal is hard to achieve with freely thinking human beings. An ideal world would soon become an imperfect one for me the moment it goes against the plan 'I' think to be a perfect one. According to Ibn-e-Arabi the source of imperfections is we ourselves. Our own 'being' acts as a reflector of the perfect Being whose attributes are the source of everything. Whatever imperfections we see are the result of the imperfections of the reflectors and not the One being reflected. One might ask what is the source of these imperfections then? That is probably their part in the grand design and they are meant to be like that. It's like parts of a watch, some being small, some large and everyone with different functions to make the watch perfectly working. That is what is called 'Fate' and there is no escape from that grand design. The best way is to accept it and go along with it.

Pain here is referred to as a feeling we all have as a result of our sufferings though technically 'Pain' in itself can be a suffering. Pain as a result of suffering is natural because of our understanding of the loss or disappointment we suffer and is real and unavoidable though its extent might differ from person to person depending on many factors affecting the personality.

Human Response to the Suffering and consequently Pain is the most important aspect of the troika being discussed here and this is what actually has been the focus of religion and psychology alike. Our Response is what determines how we face a suffering in our life and can be modified by giving a reason to the unavoidable sufferings we have to face because of our existence. Religion tells us about the transient nature of this world and the presence of an ever existing hereafter which is without any suffering and will be given to those who show Patience on the unavoidable suffering of this world apart from many other requirements. We are told to accept the grand plan and be patient with it. Accepting the grand plan with patience however does not mean that we should stop working to alleviate our sufferings. Instead we are asked to work hard to improve our life and leave the result to whatever is designed for us. This is because the grand design is not known to us so best option is to keep working hard to improve our life. Once something has happened it surely is a part of the design meant for us and we should face it with dignity accepting it with patience with a belief in 'Fate'.

As a discussion of human suffering can not be complete with out talking about destiny and fate so a few words about Fate are in order. We all are rushing to our destiny. We think, plan and execute our plans just to meet that destiny. 
Belief in Fate is part of our Faith. Fate is of two types, Taqdeer e Mubram & Taqdeer e Muallaq. The first one is decided and nothing would change it. The second is still hanging in balance depending upon many variables including our actions. Anything that has happened is definitely from the first category and we must accept it wholeheartedly. Anything which has not happened is not known to us and we should 'take' it as the second one and try our best to get it our way. Once it happens then it becomes the first one and is to be happily accepted.
 
As per our belief whatever happens is ultimately with the approval of Allah and is in fact for our own good in the end. Wise people, therefore, take Achievements with Humility (شکر) and Losses / Sufferings with dignity (صبر). Without that we tend to be arrogant while we achieve and depressed when we lose or suffer. Life thus becomes easy and practical with the ultimate aim of having a happy and satisfied life achieved.



  
CONCLUSION

Suffering and the resultant Pain are real but most of the time an unavoidable consequence of existence. Our Response is something which can be modified and is the chief factor affecting our life. A correct belief in Fate helps us have a positive attitude towards life.


Wednesday 22 February 2012

HUtopia


Everything we see is the result of a thought; Human or Divine. Whatever we imagine has the potential of becoming a reality somewhere in time and space.
HUtopia too, is an imaginary world waiting to be realized in due course of time, somewhere in space! Till that time, there is no harm in being an HUtopian.
 

The spectrum of Ideology

Any ideology has a spectrum of its believers which have been grouped as under.
Terrorist-Militant-Extremist-Fundamentalist-Moderate-Liberal-Secular 

A little pondering over all these words will help us to place ourselves in the spectrum of our ideology.  

Fundamentalist comes right in the middle by the way and best is to remain in the middle! (خیر الامور اوسطہا). Meaning thereby that follow the fundamentals of your ideology, Desire that the number of fellows increase, try to make sensible and sincere efforts to convince people about the utility of your ideology but without using force (لا اکراہ فی الدین). 

Extremist would do the same but use force (verbal/physical) to bring people to his ideology.  

Militant would go a step ahead and take up arms to achieve his purpose but attacking mainly the militants of opposite ideology.  

Terrorist is so biased that he wants to destroy anyone from the opposite ideology including the weaker and use terror as a means to frighten his opponents.  

Moderate doesn't feel bound by the fundamentals of the ideology. He does appear to believe but it's hard for him to practice. He won't make efforts to convince people to join his ideology.  

Liberal  is liberal. He has a label of that ideology but lacks a belief what to talk of practical application. He is usually impressed from other ideologies but he cannot remove his label due to inherent fears of backlash from society.  

Secular goes a step further and openly dissociates himself from any ideology. Dictionary describes him to be worldly and material, poles apart from spirituality.

The question is "Where do we fit in?" Because ultimately everyone of us has to be alone in the end.
واللہ اعلم باالصواب

Monday 20 February 2012

Pakistan needs its ideology back!

Pakistan is currently passing through a host of problems well known to everyone. To some the basis of many of its problems is a lack of direction in its people. States harbour Nations and Nations develop on the basis of an ideology which might be based on Race, Language, Culture, Religion or History.

Pakistan might not have a valid reason to exist as a separate state unless it sticks to the ideology which had led to its creation. This ideology was in fact a pledge of the people and their leaders and was unfortunately very soon forgotten. A country cannot exist without an ideology just like a computer cannot work without a software and operating system though every piece of hardware is perfectly functioning well. Only an ideology can bring different groups of people together and make them work in harmony to make a nation. Unfortunately we could not make a nation just because we abandoned the very ideology which was the reason of getting a separate state immediately after we got what we wanted by using the name of religion.

Pakistan desperately needs a beam of hope and optimism after a realistic appreciation of its ideological problems. Ideology for a state is like Faith for any religion. A religion without faith and a state without an ideology is far fetched a dream.

Conclusion

Pakistan requires an ideological reason to exist, giving its people a sense of pride and honour so that they can work together to make a Nation and act as a nucleus for the unification of Muslim Ummah.

  
ایک ہوں مسلم حرم کی پاسبانی کے لئے
 نیل کے ساحل سے لے کر تا بہ خاک کاشغر