In the Name of Allah, the
Gracious, the Merciful
A few days back I heard
my wife humming a few lines from an old Hindi song. It was from a film, and had
its own romantic ramifications.
But I found myself
explaining to her my own interpretations of those lines in an Islamic
perspective. Below are those interpretations:
Kahan
ja raha hai tu ae jane wale (Where are you going, O
you who go)
Most men and women are
wont to go about in this world pursuing their limited worldly objectives. They
want to lead comfortable lives, with ample means to do so. They get upset if
someone or something comes in the way of getting that objective fulfilled. Then
they resort to doing things, fair or foul, that could overcome those
hindrances.
This worldly life is the
be-all and end-all of their existence. They don’t believe in any life after
death. And they don’t believe in any divine punishments for any misdeeds on
their part. So, they go on grabbing whatever they lay their hands on.
Some of them believe in
and worship their personal gods. Some believe that some of their own kind, dead
or alive, achieve divine powers, to whom they go to for redressal of any of
their personal problems.
But whatever way they go
in their worldly pursuits, there is a common, pervading feeling of unhappiness
and unfulfillment among them. The poet addresses such a one in his line above.
Andhera
hai man ka (A mental darkness it only is)
He is telling such a one
that the latter is just groping in the dark. It is unlikely that he will find
any real happiness and satisfaction because of the darkness that his own mind
has created. The causes for the mental darkness are his misconceptions about
the purpose of his life. He perceives that he is superior intellectually to any
other form of life on this earth. That perception misleads him to the false
belief that he is the master of what he surveys. It has led him to believe that
there is no such thing as a Creator of this world/universe, which he thinks has
come up on its own! He has become aware of the exquisite planning, wisdom,
wizardry, craftmanship and care that has gone into the making of his own body,
but he dismisses any idea of God bringing it into being and guiding and
monitoring his actions here in this world.
That is his undoing; he
continues to grope in the dark!
Diya
to jala le (Just you put the light on please!)
The Maker Who has created
him with such superhuman intelligence has not left him just to grope in the
dark after his creation. HE has given him a mind which time and again prompts
him to see the wisdom of recognizing the existence of the Maker. HE has
provided evidences galore of His Existence. And He has sent down His Book of
Guidance, the Qur’aan! This is the Light that is capable of extinguishing the
utter mental darkness of the man. But the man, in his self-destructive
arrogance, has refused to put that Light on!
The above poetic line
beckons man to just put on that Light to put an end to all his misery.
Friday,
the 28th of July 2017.
