I had a fiery discussion with a family member (let's call this person, Person X) about this raid & specifically, that young MQM worker who died in the raid. Person X was saddened by the death of that young worker.
My point essentially was, "Karma's a bitch." What did I mean by that?
That young worker, Syed Waqas Ali Shah, was an active member of MQM. Although, he never killed anyone himself (as per news reports), he was involved with an org'n that is considered criminal in Pakistan by the general public of Karachi.
1. Person X: we don't know what that young worker did good or bad things, so I should not say such things against him. We should only talk about good things about other people & not what bad things they have done.
My answer: You, as a Muslim, must've heard this a million times, "amr bil maaroof wa nahi anil munkar" (essential meaning: tell people to do good & stop them from doing bad / evil).
All Muslims are held responsible for this deed.
However, in our modern neo-liberal, neo-Islam, Muslims have forgotten the later part of that statement & only remember the first part.
How can you stop someone from doing bad when you don't want to even talk about bad things? Good & Bad are relative to each other. You cannot know what's good until you know what's bad.
In our secular, non-religious world, when we do something bad (i.e. illegal), we are punished through the judicial system. Using the logic stated above, isn't that the wrong approach? There shouldn't be any punishment for any kind. Teacher shouldn't punish kids for not doing homework. Parents shouldn't punish kids for doing something bad. Similarly, state shouldn't punish wrongdoers & law breakers. After all, all those people who are getting punished have some good in them. Even Hitler, Stalin, Saddam, Qaddafi & several other kings & dictators, past & present, have done some good while in power (provided food, medical, shelter, clothes etc to their public).
In our religious world, God / Allah has told us what good to do to receive rewards & what bad things will get you punished. We all know that. Now, people have forgotten that we, all of us Muslims, are held responsible to remind people what's good & what's bad & stopping them from doing it because we are afraid from offending anyone.
There is another passage in Surah Al-Araf, which describes the punishment from Allah for a Jewish colony when they broke the law of no working on Sabbath. 2 out of 3 groups were punished, because one group started to actively disobey Allah by continuing to conduct business on Sabbath. Another group actively tried to stop them from doing so. But there was a 3rd group which thought, like a large section of society does now, that it's none of my business to interfere with these people who are conducting business on Sabbath. Who am I to stop them. That 3rd group still thought it was wrong to conduct business on Sabbath & did not practice such themselves.
But when the punishment came, both those who were actively conducting business (first group) & those who, although, thinking it should not be done, didn't actively stop the first group (third group), were severely punished (turned into monkeys). Only the group which did "stuck their noses" in others' business by actively trying to stop the first group from conducting business were spared.
All Prophets & Messengers who came in this world (most notably, Jesus, Moses, Aaron, Abraham, & of course, Muhammad) did not just tell people what is good & what good things they will receive if they do those good things, but they also actively stopped people from doing bad. They stood up against the kings & dictators of their respective times. All these Prophets & Messengers were made fun of, were bullied, were tortured, were imprisoned, were poisoned, & ultimately killed, for stopping people from bad.
And the funny thing is, they were standing up to people who were, after all, had some good in them. Pharoah, Roman emperors, King Nimrud, & even Prophet Muhammad's own tribe of Quraish, used to provide food, medical, shelter, clothes, give charity etc to their public.
Similarly, several prominent scholars of Islam have been tortured, imprisoned, & ultimately killed, only because they didn't confine themselves to spreading good in the public but also actively stopped people in their communities from bad / evil.
So, were the Prophets wrong to stand up to these kings & tyrants? Were they stupid or morons to stop people from doing bad? Were the scholars wrong to stop people from doing bad by constantly harping about it? Didn't these scholars know that they could have a very prosperous & better life by just following the herd & keep telling people how good they are?
Our world has gotten to this point because we all, Muslims & non-Muslims, are silent now. We only want to say good things about others. We don't want to stop anyone from doing something bad / evil. We don't want to label anyone as bad. I guess Allah gave us the wrong responsibility of telling people to do good & stopping them from doing bad.
It's fruitless to keep hoping for peace, justice & good in this world when everyone of us is silent & want to stay indifferent. Parents don't care what their kids are doing & households don't care what their neighbours are doing. If we don't want to bring change in our own societies by actively working against bad / evil, then we are part of the problem, & not the solution.
2. Person X: only bad person in MQM is their leader.
My answer: If we all consider only the leader of an org'n as the only rotten apple in the whole org'n, then it is very wrong to blame any of the soldiers around the world for whatever bad things they do to the general public; be they be the Israeli soldiers bombing in Gaza, Indian soldiers occupying Kashmir, NATO soldiers in Afghanistan & Iraq, American soldiers in Vietnam war, UN soldiers in Bosnia & Kosovo etc. Because, if they or even the military contractors (e.g. Blackwater) do something wrong in these territories, then soldiers & contractors should be off the hook for any & all wrongdoing. Human rights should not cry foul.
That young worker was an active member of the org'n. Even if he never killed anyone by his own hands, he was supporting an org'n which has killed (proven & alleged) several young innocent males in Karachi, who were also sole breadwinners of their poor families.
Sahih Hadith is that if you support someone who is persecuting or doing something bad to someone else (basically, a criminal), then you yourself are also the "persecuter" or as much a criminal as that criminal.
There's another one that if you see something wrong, then you should stop other people from it, speak out against it (in whichever way you can), & at the very least, think of it as bad in your heart.
It doesn't matter if you are an active or passive member of the org'n, but if the org'n (e.g. a Mafia, or criminal gang) is criminally hurting someone else (perhaps, an innocent) or involved in other criminal activities (e.g. money laundering, prostitution, drug smuggling, weapons smuggling etc.), then, by association to that group, you will be held responsible for that group's actions, too.
So, regardless of how this young worker got into MQM & how much was he involved in it, or how much he wanted to get out of this org'n, he was ultimately supporting a criminal org'n. And, all courts in the world would have held him criminally responsible by being a party worker & "associating with bad elements". Heck, in the West (where the courts are considered fairer than the rest of the world) would have charged him with obstructing justice (he was protesting against the police raid).
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My point essentially was, "Karma's a bitch." What did I mean by that?
That young worker, Syed Waqas Ali Shah, was an active member of MQM. Although, he never killed anyone himself (as per news reports), he was involved with an org'n that is considered criminal in Pakistan by the general public of Karachi.
1. Person X: we don't know what that young worker did good or bad things, so I should not say such things against him. We should only talk about good things about other people & not what bad things they have done.
My answer: You, as a Muslim, must've heard this a million times, "amr bil maaroof wa nahi anil munkar" (essential meaning: tell people to do good & stop them from doing bad / evil).
All Muslims are held responsible for this deed.
However, in our modern neo-liberal, neo-Islam, Muslims have forgotten the later part of that statement & only remember the first part.
How can you stop someone from doing bad when you don't want to even talk about bad things? Good & Bad are relative to each other. You cannot know what's good until you know what's bad.
In our secular, non-religious world, when we do something bad (i.e. illegal), we are punished through the judicial system. Using the logic stated above, isn't that the wrong approach? There shouldn't be any punishment for any kind. Teacher shouldn't punish kids for not doing homework. Parents shouldn't punish kids for doing something bad. Similarly, state shouldn't punish wrongdoers & law breakers. After all, all those people who are getting punished have some good in them. Even Hitler, Stalin, Saddam, Qaddafi & several other kings & dictators, past & present, have done some good while in power (provided food, medical, shelter, clothes etc to their public).
In our religious world, God / Allah has told us what good to do to receive rewards & what bad things will get you punished. We all know that. Now, people have forgotten that we, all of us Muslims, are held responsible to remind people what's good & what's bad & stopping them from doing it because we are afraid from offending anyone.
There is another passage in Surah Al-Araf, which describes the punishment from Allah for a Jewish colony when they broke the law of no working on Sabbath. 2 out of 3 groups were punished, because one group started to actively disobey Allah by continuing to conduct business on Sabbath. Another group actively tried to stop them from doing so. But there was a 3rd group which thought, like a large section of society does now, that it's none of my business to interfere with these people who are conducting business on Sabbath. Who am I to stop them. That 3rd group still thought it was wrong to conduct business on Sabbath & did not practice such themselves.
But when the punishment came, both those who were actively conducting business (first group) & those who, although, thinking it should not be done, didn't actively stop the first group (third group), were severely punished (turned into monkeys). Only the group which did "stuck their noses" in others' business by actively trying to stop the first group from conducting business were spared.
All Prophets & Messengers who came in this world (most notably, Jesus, Moses, Aaron, Abraham, & of course, Muhammad) did not just tell people what is good & what good things they will receive if they do those good things, but they also actively stopped people from doing bad. They stood up against the kings & dictators of their respective times. All these Prophets & Messengers were made fun of, were bullied, were tortured, were imprisoned, were poisoned, & ultimately killed, for stopping people from bad.
And the funny thing is, they were standing up to people who were, after all, had some good in them. Pharoah, Roman emperors, King Nimrud, & even Prophet Muhammad's own tribe of Quraish, used to provide food, medical, shelter, clothes, give charity etc to their public.
Similarly, several prominent scholars of Islam have been tortured, imprisoned, & ultimately killed, only because they didn't confine themselves to spreading good in the public but also actively stopped people in their communities from bad / evil.
So, were the Prophets wrong to stand up to these kings & tyrants? Were they stupid or morons to stop people from doing bad? Were the scholars wrong to stop people from doing bad by constantly harping about it? Didn't these scholars know that they could have a very prosperous & better life by just following the herd & keep telling people how good they are?
Our world has gotten to this point because we all, Muslims & non-Muslims, are silent now. We only want to say good things about others. We don't want to stop anyone from doing something bad / evil. We don't want to label anyone as bad. I guess Allah gave us the wrong responsibility of telling people to do good & stopping them from doing bad.
It's fruitless to keep hoping for peace, justice & good in this world when everyone of us is silent & want to stay indifferent. Parents don't care what their kids are doing & households don't care what their neighbours are doing. If we don't want to bring change in our own societies by actively working against bad / evil, then we are part of the problem, & not the solution.
2. Person X: only bad person in MQM is their leader.
My answer: If we all consider only the leader of an org'n as the only rotten apple in the whole org'n, then it is very wrong to blame any of the soldiers around the world for whatever bad things they do to the general public; be they be the Israeli soldiers bombing in Gaza, Indian soldiers occupying Kashmir, NATO soldiers in Afghanistan & Iraq, American soldiers in Vietnam war, UN soldiers in Bosnia & Kosovo etc. Because, if they or even the military contractors (e.g. Blackwater) do something wrong in these territories, then soldiers & contractors should be off the hook for any & all wrongdoing. Human rights should not cry foul.
That young worker was an active member of the org'n. Even if he never killed anyone by his own hands, he was supporting an org'n which has killed (proven & alleged) several young innocent males in Karachi, who were also sole breadwinners of their poor families.
Sahih Hadith is that if you support someone who is persecuting or doing something bad to someone else (basically, a criminal), then you yourself are also the "persecuter" or as much a criminal as that criminal.
There's another one that if you see something wrong, then you should stop other people from it, speak out against it (in whichever way you can), & at the very least, think of it as bad in your heart.
It doesn't matter if you are an active or passive member of the org'n, but if the org'n (e.g. a Mafia, or criminal gang) is criminally hurting someone else (perhaps, an innocent) or involved in other criminal activities (e.g. money laundering, prostitution, drug smuggling, weapons smuggling etc.), then, by association to that group, you will be held responsible for that group's actions, too.
So, regardless of how this young worker got into MQM & how much was he involved in it, or how much he wanted to get out of this org'n, he was ultimately supporting a criminal org'n. And, all courts in the world would have held him criminally responsible by being a party worker & "associating with bad elements". Heck, in the West (where the courts are considered fairer than the rest of the world) would have charged him with obstructing justice (he was protesting against the police raid).
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