Pak Feminists, Free Your Colonized Minds Before 'Azadi' March

Chanting Chilean protest song "A Rapist In Your Path" in Karachi

Organizers of the upcoming Aurat March promoting Western solutions to Pakistani women's problems should be required to watch popular American tabloid talk shows from the turn of the century.  

These (addictive!) talk shows like Maury and Sally are available on the Internet and explore the horrendous problems that began seriously afflicting American families just a generation after the 1960's and 1970's women's liberation movement succeeded in mainstreaming miniskirts, sex outside of marriage, and abortion as part of their struggle for equal rights. 

Some of the episodes are "Five Men DNA Tested For My Daughter...Who's Her Dad?" "I'm Only 12...and I'm Pregnant," "Mom Stop Lying To Me...Is This Man My Father?" "Woman Needs Child Support, Man Insists He's Not the Child's Father," and "Abortion Survivor Meets Her Birth Mother" to name a few.

Maury

Of course, these issues are as old as time but they've become widespread now and guess who's suffering the most: women. Articles like "Liberated and Unhappy," "Gains In Women's Rights Haven't Made Women Happier," and "Has Modern Feminism Failed Us?" in the Western media reflect this reality.

It's unfortunate that 70 years on, organizers of the Aurat March in Pakistan are following in the footsteps of the failed sexual revolution of Western feminists. These Pakistani feminists want to create a society where women can wear whatever they want, have sex with whomever they want (male or female, married or unmarried), abort unwanted pregnancies whenever they want, all without any legal, religious, and social restrictions or judgment all the while ignoring the devastating consequences it will have on Pakistani society like it had on the West.

Indeed, Aurat March organizers have no qualms about shamelessly copying their Western counterparts to a T, from the date and name of the demonstration to the placards, lingo, and activities on display that day. 

For example, American socialists first commemorated Women's Day on March 8, 1907, and it was picked up later by the feminist movement in 1967 and then the United Nations in 1975. Even the name Aurat March, held for the first time in Pakistan last year, is the Urdu translation of Women's March, which was organized by American women in 2017 in response to the election of U.S. President Trump. 

While their manifesto incorporates some important local issues like ending enforced disappearances and freedom for Kashmiris, its demands for Pakistani society to accept the queer lifestyle and sanctify abortions completely contradicts the principles of most Pakistani women. In fact, slogans chanted last year like "Mera Jism, Meri Marzi" (My body, My choice) is from the mouths of American abortions rights organizations like Planned Parenthood and repulsive to most Pakistani women. Even the characters on last year's Aurat March placards, like Rosie the Rivetor who is an American cultural icon of WWII, were stolen from the West. Couldn't the organizers find any inspiring Pakistani sheroes to display on their posters?

"My Body, My Choice" placard at Women's March in Washington 2017

This year will likely be more of the same. In February the Aurat March team released an Urdu version of a Chilean protest song called "A Rapist In Your Path" and performed it in Karachi with the same style and movements done in the Americas and Europe. It's sad that they couldn't come up with their own original anthem.

Nothing can explain this self-destructive aping behavior other than that these women suffer from a severe case of Stockholm syndrome, where the oppressed fall head-over-heels in love with their oppressor. Aurat Marchers emulate everything related to their Western dominators, who not only once ruled, exploited, and raped their lands but continue to colonize their minds through education, language, and multi-media.

No doubt, like all women around the world, Pakistani women suffer tremendous difficulties that need proper solutions.  If Aurat Marchers only focused on offering organic fixes to issues afflicting the common Pakistani woman, they would gain more respect, support, and long-term success. One of their own, Pakistani feminist and poet Kishwar Naheed, made that same suggestion when she criticized last year's march for not reflecting Pakistani "culture and traditions." 

Hopefully, Pakistani women who have healthy decolonized minds, who honor their country's religious ideals, and who work year-round for the betterment of Pakistani society will come out on March 8 in a counter demonstration to show them how it's done.

If you look, you're sure gonna find
Throughout mankind's history
A Colonized Mind
The one in power makes law
Under which the colonized fall
Without God, it's just the blind leading the blind
--"Colonized Mind" by Prince

Empire Can Form A UNITED States or a European UNION But No Alliance for Asians?

If three black men can't congregate on the street corner without American cops showing up to bust them, five Asian countries with a combined population of 2 billion attempting to form an alliance better beware.

Iranian ambassador to Pakistan Mohammad Ali Hosseini suggested a union between Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Russia, and China to foster development and progress during a speech at the Islamabad Strategic Studies Institute Tuesday, and already Wednesday Western media outlets were in a "panic." "World War 3 Panic: US alert As Iran Call for Alliance with Pakistan, Russia, and China," screamed one headline. 

In actuality, the West doesn't have a problem with black folks or Eastern countries getting together, it's when they do so independently and without Empire's leadership or control. No doubt, Empire will do everything to prevent this bloc from forming, but unity can be accomplished through wisdom and perseverance.

Saudis Bar Iran From Monday’s OIC Meeting on Palestine

Will Pakistan Boycott It For “Dividing the Ummah”?

The Pakistani nation suffered much humiliation in December when its Prime Minister Imran Khan ditched in the eleventh hour a summit in Kuala Lampur to discuss Muslim issues after being summoned by Saudi Arabia and told to skip the meeting. Saudis said the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation should be the only platform to discuss problems afflicting the Muslim world, and the Kuala Lampur summit, which included Saudi rivals Iran, Turkey, and Qatar, was sabotaging Islamic solidarity and would split  the ummah, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi.

Now that the Saudis are deepening rifts in the ummah  by refusing to issue visas to the Irani delegation planning to attend the February 4 emergency OIC meeting on Palestine, will Pakistan boycott OIC like it did Kuala Lampur? Of course not, because the Pakistani government does not make decisions on principles but rather under pressure from America and its Arab puppets like Saudi Arabia. Khan is in Malaysia now in a face-saving trip that is too little too late.

The absence of Iran from the OIC meeting is a blow for the Palestinian cause, and it should concern Pakistan as the OIC response to Palestine will be a precursor to how it handles the Kashmir crisis.

Trump's State of the Union Tuesday to Announce "Great American Comeback" (from the Middle East?)

Will President Trump's February 4 State of the Union address on the so-called "Great American Comeback" be about American troops finally coming back from the Middle East? Now that would be great!

Some observers say the military-industrial complex embedded in the U.S. government and pressure from Israel has been obstructing Trump's attempts to fulfill his campaign promise to end the "endless wars" in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.  As a result, Trump's had to turn to the playbook of a "clown" in history to get things done this election year. That person is Bahlool, also known as "the wise fool of Baghdad," who was an honorable judge in ninth century Iraq. Bahlool pretended to go insane so he could gain public support for just causes without reprisal from the corrupt in power.

Optimistically speaking, everything Trump's been doing in Iraq since the New Year seems looney unless it's part of a circuitous plan to outmaneuver war hawks surrounding him and get U.S. troops home by hook or by crook.  Trump killed off top military commanders of regional super power Iran and neighboring Iraq at Baghdad airport on Januray 3 and then not only took responsibility but also taunted them by boasting, "I killed two birds with one stone." This got the only reaction expected from the proud Iranian leadership: We will avenge these deaths by expelling all U.S. forces from the Middle East. Iran's allies were equally irate and advised American military to go back or be sent home "in coffins." 

So far an American base in Iraq was destroyed, scores of U.S. troops injured, and an American military plane mysteriously crashed in Afghanistan that was reportedly carrying CIA officers who orchestrated the original assassinations. The Iraqi Parliament voted for the first time to expel U.S. forces from their country and millions of Iraqis have protested on the streets to demand the same. 

Trump's immediate reaction was tweeting "All is well!" and later trivializing American soldiers' traumatic brain injuries as "headaches," neither of which makes any sense. If Trump is like Bahlool, then he's talking and acting in code to outrage and wake up the masses to "bring 'em home." But if it turns out Trump's more like the Jester of Genocide with chaos, mayhem, and war on his mind, then the world is in serious trouble.

A Salute To Those Uniting Muslims Despite Backlash

A women I met on our Ziyarat Group trip last month told me this true story: Her family was nestled in their seats, ready to embark on their much-anticipated pilgrimage to Iraq when her husband called a relative to say good-bye.

"So you're going to Iraq to get a mutah (temporary marriage)?" came the reply on the other end from the chuckling professional, who like her husband is Sunni as are most of their family and friends.

"Um, no. That's not part of my school of thought," her husband replied, clearly shook up and spirits dampened. That's not the response he was expecting from a loved one who knew he was going to visit the sacred lands and resting places of important people connected to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S).

That was a lower blow than usual but she said her spouse is used to everything from snarky remarks to personal attacks to shouting matches with family and friends because of his willingness to understand  and communicate other Islamic perspectives for the sake of unity among Muslims.

What a growing number of brave souls like her hubby realize is that unity is essential for Muslim survival, sticks and stones notwithstanding. Scholars, political leaders, and journalists in the Muslim world--though still a drop in the ocean--are slowly but surely making moves to unite the hearts of Muslims, a precursor to any type of alliance in fighting enemies and developing progress, With 27 million Muslims killed so far in the American War on Terror, isn't it time all Muslims follow the Quranic injunction: "And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided"? (3:103)

Unity is more important now that a Muslim leader, Iran's Supreme Leader Imam Sayyid Ali Khamanei, has publicly picked up the gauntlet in response to the American assassination of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and comrades and vowed to lead the region in expelling U.S. military forces. But Imam Khamanei also warned that "this ideal [unity] has dangerous enemies" because "Islam rejects oppression, domination, and arrogance." Opponents of Islam know better than Muslims themselves that differences are surmountable and all Muslims "would accept Iran as the leader of a new caliphate" to rid the region of "Israel and the West," as Zionist Eric Stakelbeck predicted in a 2011 article for Christian Broadcasting News.

Unfortunately, some of the most toxic enemies of unity come from within: Muslim friends, family, colleagues, and followers who mock and abuse those who encourage love, tolerance, and cooperation among Muslims for the sake of God. Imam Khamanei himself has faced hate from fellow Shias who claim he's appeasing Sunnis by encouraging Muslims to pray in each other's mosques and prohibiting Shias from insulting Sunni icons like wives and companions of Prophet Muhammad (S). 

Other examples:

• Liaqat Baloch, Deputy Amir of Jamaat -e- Islami poltical party in Pakistan, got attacked on Twitter by his own followers earlier this month for leading a delegation to Iran to pay condolences for the martyrdom of Suleimani, who they wrongly consider the architect of Sunni genocide in Syria. 

• Scholar Syed Jawad Naqvi, chancellor of Jamia Urwa-tul-Wusqa in Lahore, made many enemies amongst fellow ulema for allowing scholars of other sects to speak freely at his annual unity conference in November 2019. Opponents of Naqvi are sadly some of the crudest trolls on social media. 

• Popular Pakistani scholar Tariq Jameel, disparagingly called a "shia-lover" by some, was publicly chastised by scholars of his own school of thought and forced to answer humiliating questions in a July 2018 interview held to determine whether the news circulating on social media that he was converting and encouraging his followers to become Shia was true or not. 

• Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas reportedly got heat from members of his own party for traveling to Iran to attend the funeral of Suleimani, who he hailed a martyr of Al Quds.

• Scholar Sheikh Ahmed Kerina of Al Azhar University in Egypt was temporarily suspended by university officials in 2014 for visiting a Shia seminary in Iran where he presented a project of cooperation between the two schools to combat extremism.
• Saudi Scholar Salman al-Awda has been imprisoned since 2017 by his government for encouraging reconciliation between Muslim countries after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt imposed a boycott against Qatar for its close ties with Iran.  "May God harmonize between their hearts for the good of their people," was his fateful tweet.

In North America, scholars and intellectuals at the Institute for Contemporary Islamic Thought have  persevered for 40+ years to foster unity among Muslims, despite facing hate and rejection from other Muslims. These trailblazers include Zafar Bangash, president of Toronto's Islamic Society of York Region, Crescent magazine editor Afeef Khan, and scholar Imam Muhammad al-Asi, who has dedicated his life to bringing Muslims together through his Friday khutbahs given outside the Islamic Center of Washington. Imam Abdul Alim Musa of the Al Masjid Mosque in Washington D.C says he got kicked off the speaker circuit of Islamic conferences years ago for his support of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

No doubt, mockery and ostracism hurt more when they come from those close to us. This work is not for the faint of heart. People who put their relationships, careers, and peace of mind on the line to unite the ummah per God's instructions need to be respected and honored.

Will Pakistan Be First To End US Dominance In Post-Suleimani Era?

While thronging Irani and Iraqi mourners stole the spotlight after Americans killed off their top generals, little global attention was paid to how much the assassination inflamed neighboring Pakistanis, perhaps enough to turn simmering anti-US sentiment into a revolution that finally casts off decades-long American dominance.

Iran's Supreme Leader Imam Sayyid Ali Khamanei and the rest of the Axis of Resistance vowed straight away to avenge the assassinations by "ending the corrupting presence of America in the region" and tens of thousands of Pakistani voices echoed the sentiment, even though their government itself refused to condemn the killings and apparently banned media from referring to the slain as martyrs.

Influential Pakistanis, including politicians, military officials, scholars, political activists, and journalists across the country, took it upon themselves to give bellicose speeches upbraiding American foreign policy while youth torched American flags and chanted anti-American slogans at rallies and women clutching babies in even the tiniest villages lit candles at vigils held to commemorate the January 3 assassinations of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and comrades.

"Pakistan is indebted to Hajj Suleimani," Allama Syed Jawad Naqvi, Chancellor of Jamia Urwa-tul-Wusqa, expounded at a gathering in Islamabad he helped organize to protest America's assassinations and policies in the region. After wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria ISIS (Daesh) had announced its plans to move towards Pakistan and Afghanistan on its way to Iran, and some factions in Islamabad were ready to welcome it, Naqvi said. "But Hajj Suleimani put his hand on Daesh's neck and did not let it take a single step towards any other Muslim land. Why did they kill Hajj Suleimani into bits and pieces? Because he tore apart [America's] schemes in the region into bits and pieces."

Other prominent protestors:

• Pakistan Muslim League (N) Leader Khwaja Asif lambasted Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan during a Parliament session on January 6 for failing to stand by Iran. He accused Khan of making foreign policy decisions based on"fear" and "blackmail" from America and Saudi Arabia.

• In a GTV Network interview on January 10 former Pakistan National Assembly member Syed Raza Abidi of Pakistan's People's Party said he's returning to the political arena "because my country needs me," and he wants to "help defeat American plots" in the region. 

• Former Pakistani Army Chief Mirza Aslam Baig, whose picture with young Suleimani getting military training in Cherat, Pakistan, in 1989 is circulating on social media, called Suleimani a "friend" during a protest organized by Muslim Unity Forum in the nation's capital of Islamabad on June 5. He said "we should unite under the guidance of Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (S) and ready ourselves to challenge our enemy (American government and its foreign policies)."

• Thousands of Sunnis and Shias attended Murdabad America (Death to American Hegemony) rallies in major Pakistani cities in the days after the assassinations. Mufti Sayyid Ashiq Hussain said at the march to the American Consulate in Lahore: "America [government] is not only an enemy of Iran but also of Pakistan and all of the Muslim world. Pakistan should stand with Iran. This one martyrdom has united and awoken us all."

• Deputy Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Liaqat Baloch led an 8-member delegation to Iran on January 14 to offer condolences to Irani political and religious leaders. Baloch had spoken the previous week at the Islamabad rally. "We have to take revenge on the enemy's of Islam, humanity, and Muslim unity." Thirty-five religious organizations plan to meet soon in Lahore under the banner of the National Alliance for Religious Harmony to strategize on how to deal with "new threats to Islam."

Indeed, the assassinations may be the spark that burns down perennial American subjugation in Pakistan. This nation usually ranks top three in Pew polls for strongest anti-US sentiment thanks to the devastating consequences of "friendship" with America, especially during the last 40 years of U.S. adventurism in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Khan, who had promised while campaigning to stand up to U.S. dominance, lamented in 2011 that "ours is perhaps the only country in history that keeps getting bombed by our ally."

Independence has been an evolving process for Pakistanis, starting from day one when millions put their lives and wealth on the line to create a land where Muslims could live according to Islamic teachings. Intellectuals like Allama Iqbal urged Pakistanis to continue the struggle and break away from neocolonial rule. After suffering for decades under corrupt puppet governments, Pakistanis thought voting in an outspoken leader like Khan would bring independence, dignity, and prosperity to themselves and their Kashmiri neighbors. But it didn't, and in fact the opposite happened.

At this point, enough Pakistani people seem to realize that the only path to freedom is through themselves. If they're looking for a bit of direction, Iqbal showed them nearly a century ago where to turn.

Dekha hai Malukiyat-e Afrang ne jo Khwab
Mumkin hai ki Us Khwab ki Tabir badal Jaye
Tehran ho gar Alam-e Mashriq ke Geneva
Shayad Kurra-e Arz ki Taqdir Badal Jaye

Imperial dreams of the West
Could become dashed
If Tehran becomes the Geneva of the East
The fortunes of this hemisphere might turn

The crude assassinations catapulted Iran into the spotlight, and it responded by vowing to lead the region to freedom from American subjugation. It's up to Pakistani scholars like Naqvi--one of the best leaders Pakistan has produced in decades--to channel people's renewed enthusiasm into a new reality that helps achieve that goal.

Don't Let Empire Sabotage Post-Suleimani Resistance Like It Did Arab Spring

The outpouring of emotions and people onto the streets of the Muslim world and beyond after the American assassination of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and comrades was so serendipitous that Iran's Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Khamanei called it a "day of God" in his historic sermon during Friday prayers January 17 in Tehran.

"The day of God means seeing the hand of God in the events - the day when tens of millions in Iran and hundreds of thousands in Iraq and some other countries came to the streets to honor the blood of the commander of the Quds Force," Khamanei said.

Resistance and revolution are definitely in the air, not only in Iran and Iraq but everywhere the heart beats for peace and justice. The last time Muslims rallied in similar numbers was during the 2011 Arab Spring, which was ignited by the self-immolation of an impoverished Tunisian street vendor. People hit the streets to bring down U.S.-backed dictators and the havoc their decades-long imperial rule had wrought in the Middle East. Within months, U.S. puppets in Egypt, Tunisia, and Lebanon were booted and regimes in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, and Jordan were under pressure.

But Empire struck back fast and furious then, and it's doing the same now, vehement in its desire to maintain hegemony over the Muslim world. It's important we study the tactics used to subvert the Arab Spring so we avoid falling in similar traps today, some of which are already underfoot.

US and its allies "employed a number of simultaneous tactics to sabotage the Arab Spring," according to a 2012 opinion piece in the Muslim Village. "These included: (1) instigating fake instances of the Arab Spring in countries that were/are headed by insubordinate regimes (2) co-opting revolutionary movements (3) crushing pro-democracy movements against “friendly” regimes; and (4) using the age-old divide and rule trick by playing the sectarian trump card of Sunnis vs. Shi’ites, or Iranians vs. Arabs."

Syria

American think tanks like the Brookings Institution is already predicting (hoping?) the assassinations will be "plunging the region into a chaotic abyss."

There are signs, however, that this time things will be different. Here are three:

1. There is a single apparent leader this time, Imam Khamanei, who has 30+ years experience leading the fight against imperialism.

2. The goal of the movement is concrete and clear: remove U.S. military presence from the region.

3. Martyr Suleimani fought down imperialism wherever it was needed, from Yemen to Palestine to Turkey, regardless of the people's race or religion, and is a unifying figure among Sunnis, Shias, and Christians as well as Arabs and non-Arabs.

In fact, even U.S. President Donald Trump, who ordered the hit, can fall in line with Suleimani on this one.

Trump just a few months ago: "Time to bring 'em home!"

Ditch Muslim Scholars Mute on Iran War

You'd think it was U.S. scholars and not U.S. soldiers who hit the bunkers last week when missiles went flying after U.S. President Donald Trump's de facto declaration of war on Iran.

Usually tripping over each other to be the first to condemn/support the social issue du jour, influential American Muslim scholars' voices were nowhere to be heard in the aftermath of Trump's drone assassination of top Irani and Iraqi military brass on January 3.

That's even though the martyrdoms of Irani General Qassim Suleimani and Iraqi Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis shook the Muslim world to the core, bringing millions to the streets to mourn and seek vengeance for heroes who protected the shrines of holy personalities from ISIS and buried the terror group in Iraq and Syria. Iran swiftly retaliated by destroying U.S. military base Al-Asad in Iraq--the first time a country has attacked America since WW2--and vowing to kick out all U.S. military presence in the region.

After bombing to bits Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Somalia in front of our very eyes, America now declared war on Iran and threatened to attack 52 of its cultural and religious sites, which could include the shrines of family and companions of Prophet Muhammad (S), and not even a tweet out of our so-called Muslim "leaders"?

Where were Yasir Qadhi, Omar Suleiman, Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir and all the other scholars who otherwise love pontificating on "social justice" and "standing up for justice" in Islam.

Upon hearing about the assassinations--considered an act of war by international standards--these scholars should have immediately organized, strategized, and mobilized to educate and guide Muslims, the American public, and the U.S. government on understanding the geopolitical situation, avoiding further conflict, bringing home our troops, and working towards peace and justice for all.

But, as usual, our most influential leaders are silent when it comes to PREVENTING death and destruction. It's later that they like to show up to guilt-trip us into donating to their favorite charities and love getting their pictures taken flying around delivering water bottles and blankets to desperate war refugees.

Here's Shaikh Omar Suleiman in a 2019 video appeal for donations to Yemen: "I want to focus on the name of an organization Human Concern. If the Prophet (S) was alive and he saw the image of the young Yemeni child whose rib cages were so pronounced and then dying because they don't have proper food and drink, what do you think the Prophet (S) would do?"

Please tell us, Sheikh, what Prophet Muhammad (S) would do. Would he be running around trying to save babies drowning in the river or would he have been upstream stopping those throwing babies in the river in the first place?

From his Facebook status updates (which did not mention the Iran flare-up at all), we know Shaikh Yasir Qadhi was in Turkey passing out winter packs to refugees from the previous war while we were on the brink of World War III.

"If only I could explain how sad their stories are and how pathetic the situation is," Qadhi wrote. "On average, they [Syrian refugees]  have been living in shanty tents for around five years, with no idea of what awaits them next. They rely almost totally on aid to survive."

Qadhi added: "We desperately need more funds to deliver more packs."

A breath of fresh air, Imam Muhammad Al-Asi of the Islamic Center in Washington D.C. is one of the few Muslim leaders in America who discussed the assassinations during his January 3 Friday khutbah. He lamented that not enough people speak up on issues afflicting the Muslim world.

"There are no Abu Dharr's [an outspoken companion of Prophet Muhammad (S)] in today's world," Al-Asi said.

The first step to fixing our problems is booting spineless, gutless "scholars" from leadership positions, according to Al-Asi.

Al-Asi: "You go to their [scholars who are silent] functions. You attend their programs. You are part of the crime. It's not easy to say this. It's the fact and it is the reality. Some humans can speak truth to injustice and others remain silent. If this continues like this there will be other martyrs. If you continue to be silent or passive to all of this, you will be on the wrong side of this issue. I don't care how you perform your prayers or which masjid you go to. The marytrdom that has taken place is a testimony to all of you who have been absent in reality.

Do we want to kill ourselves with our silence in addition to their bullets and bombs?"