Peaceful Dal Lake in Srinagar
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR - My mom heard Srinagar and was definily afraid... on the news, you hear about the tensions between India and Pakistan, and terrorism is now a word we all hear about 100 times a week. But, we heard that things between India and Pakistan were calm.. so we took the bus from Leh to Srinagar. The bus stopped in Kargil for 10 minutes... and then, we spent the night in Drass (50 km away from Kargil). The next day, we completed the trip to Srinagar.
Srinagar... the city is mainly a tourist-based city.. tourism being their main industry. The population is 95% Muslim, and they speak Kashmiri and Urdu... so, when we try our broken Hindi, they definitely know that we're not from around there. We were there for two nights, doing mainly toursity type tings, staying on a houseboat, taking "shikara" rides (their boats) on Dal Lake visitng the Mughal Gardens, etc. We hiked up Shankaracharya Hill, where they have a Shiva Mandhir on top...
So... as were doing all these things, we wanted to find some people to talk to, and maybe get a little insight into Islam, and the Kashmir situation, etc. But, who can we talk to in these "touristy" places? Well, we didn't have to look any further than those "scary" looking army guys, with the big old rifles... which can be found EVERYWHERE in Kashmir (on the roads, on top of rooftops, hiding in trees, everywhere...). They would ask us, "What are you doing here? Where are you from?" and as soon as we told them that we're from the U.S., a friendly smile would come across their face, and before we know it, we'd be chatting with them... they'd be asking questions about life in the U.S., we'd be asking questions about Kashmir, etc. It seems like most of them are pretty bored and don't have much to do, now that tensions have died down. It's really sad to see that two monetarily poor countries like Pakistan and India would spend so much of their budget (20-25% for India, probably more for Pakistan) on their military!!! Imagine if this situation was solved 50 years ago... how much moeny could have been saved, and could have been used on infrastructure and other, better uses.
On one of our tourist stops, we stopped at the Hazratbal Masjid, a beautiful masjid right on the banks of Dal Lake. It took us about 40 minutes to get there from the gardens, on the shikara (I took a little nap on the boat). When we got there, they were in the middle of their Namaaz, which was pretty cool to see. At this point.. I thought it was time for me to sit, and meditate, and just think a little bit. I needed an outlook change... I think all this travelling has started to make me a little mentally tired, and I kinda lost the aspect of takin initiative. So, I was just hoping for something that would lift my enthusiasm.
As we were exiting the masjid, we started chattig with this police officer - Zahoor Ahemd - the highlight of our day. We ended up talking to him for over an hour - about Islam, 'Hinduism' (which I don't really believe exists...), jihad, Kashmir, etc. At times, it was difficult to understand his Urdu/Hindi... but, overall, we got the gist.
The conversation was with Zahoor was a real quality conversation, and I really felt close to him, and he had a very warm, welcoming attitude. He wanted us to ask more and more questions about Islam... and reall believed that is was the duty of Muslims to educate people about their religion, and not just stay isolated in the areas that they live in.
He explained his interpretation of the concept of "jihad" to us, which has been this controversial issue all around the world, recently. First, there's internal "jihad". Our efforts to conquer the bad habits that we have... and to purify all our intentions. We shouldn't be doing things for selfish reasons, for fame, for greed, etc... we should be doing all things for Allah, for God. And also, our path toward "self-realization" Both of these are included in "internal jihad". The second portion is the "external jihad". They believe that no one should be able to watch evil take place, and just stand on the side and do nothing about it. First, we must use our voice and speech to try to stop the evil from occurrinh through reasoning. Then, if that doesn't work, we must use our hand, body, force. He stressed that this is any evil that we see... even if the recepient of the evil is a Hindu, or a Christian... if it is an evil, than it is the Muslim's duty to do somethin about it.
Now, my question is... who can really judge what is evil and what is not? Where does the Muslim's definition of evil come from? It comes from the Koran... they believe that he Prophet Mohammed is the last Prophet, and that the Prophet's life is thought of by Allah, by God, as the ideal life. Then, do Muslims use Mohammed's life as their judge for good and evil? We got into this a little bit with Zahoor, but not much.. so, if anyone can shed any light on this subject...
Hindu-Muslim problems, especially in India, he says, and we probably agree mostly, are largely brought about by the politicians... and exagerrated by the media. However, they are still there... and the underlying feeling is still there, as well... how is one to get rid of this feeling? In most cities in India, Hindus and Muslims live separately... and they both like it this way. But, how will they ever REALLY learn about each other's lifestyles, and learn the accept these lifestyles, and respect these lifestyles, unless they start to intermingle more and live closer together? Even Zahoor said that he thought it was good that they lived separated, because then they can hold on to their religion with a stronger grip, and people would be more devoted. But, he also said that it mandatory for Muslims to go out and educate people about their religion.
Finally, on the topic of Kashmir... him, like almost everyone else we talked to in Kashmir, hopes for a free Kashmir. Their feeling is that Pakistan and India both don't care about the people.. all they care about is the land.
All-in-all, I took a real liking to this guy... who didn't hesitate to laugh and flash a smile. He wanted us to ask more and more questions... and listened to our explanations on murti pooja, etc. His devotion to Allah, his sincerity, and conviction were displayed clearly through his mannerisms and speech. If we were to have stayed in Srinagar longer.. it would have been cool to spend more time with him, learn a little more about Islam, etc.....
Question: those that know a little about Islam or that are Muslim... what is your take on the religion on the topics of... jihad, idol worship, tolerance, God, etc.?
Srinagar... the city is mainly a tourist-based city.. tourism being their main industry. The population is 95% Muslim, and they speak Kashmiri and Urdu... so, when we try our broken Hindi, they definitely know that we're not from around there. We were there for two nights, doing mainly toursity type tings, staying on a houseboat, taking "shikara" rides (their boats) on Dal Lake visitng the Mughal Gardens, etc. We hiked up Shankaracharya Hill, where they have a Shiva Mandhir on top...
So... as were doing all these things, we wanted to find some people to talk to, and maybe get a little insight into Islam, and the Kashmir situation, etc. But, who can we talk to in these "touristy" places? Well, we didn't have to look any further than those "scary" looking army guys, with the big old rifles... which can be found EVERYWHERE in Kashmir (on the roads, on top of rooftops, hiding in trees, everywhere...). They would ask us, "What are you doing here? Where are you from?" and as soon as we told them that we're from the U.S., a friendly smile would come across their face, and before we know it, we'd be chatting with them... they'd be asking questions about life in the U.S., we'd be asking questions about Kashmir, etc. It seems like most of them are pretty bored and don't have much to do, now that tensions have died down. It's really sad to see that two monetarily poor countries like Pakistan and India would spend so much of their budget (20-25% for India, probably more for Pakistan) on their military!!! Imagine if this situation was solved 50 years ago... how much moeny could have been saved, and could have been used on infrastructure and other, better uses.
On one of our tourist stops, we stopped at the Hazratbal Masjid, a beautiful masjid right on the banks of Dal Lake. It took us about 40 minutes to get there from the gardens, on the shikara (I took a little nap on the boat). When we got there, they were in the middle of their Namaaz, which was pretty cool to see. At this point.. I thought it was time for me to sit, and meditate, and just think a little bit. I needed an outlook change... I think all this travelling has started to make me a little mentally tired, and I kinda lost the aspect of takin initiative. So, I was just hoping for something that would lift my enthusiasm.
As we were exiting the masjid, we started chattig with this police officer - Zahoor Ahemd - the highlight of our day. We ended up talking to him for over an hour - about Islam, 'Hinduism' (which I don't really believe exists...), jihad, Kashmir, etc. At times, it was difficult to understand his Urdu/Hindi... but, overall, we got the gist.
The conversation was with Zahoor was a real quality conversation, and I really felt close to him, and he had a very warm, welcoming attitude. He wanted us to ask more and more questions about Islam... and reall believed that is was the duty of Muslims to educate people about their religion, and not just stay isolated in the areas that they live in.
He explained his interpretation of the concept of "jihad" to us, which has been this controversial issue all around the world, recently. First, there's internal "jihad". Our efforts to conquer the bad habits that we have... and to purify all our intentions. We shouldn't be doing things for selfish reasons, for fame, for greed, etc... we should be doing all things for Allah, for God. And also, our path toward "self-realization" Both of these are included in "internal jihad". The second portion is the "external jihad". They believe that no one should be able to watch evil take place, and just stand on the side and do nothing about it. First, we must use our voice and speech to try to stop the evil from occurrinh through reasoning. Then, if that doesn't work, we must use our hand, body, force. He stressed that this is any evil that we see... even if the recepient of the evil is a Hindu, or a Christian... if it is an evil, than it is the Muslim's duty to do somethin about it.
Now, my question is... who can really judge what is evil and what is not? Where does the Muslim's definition of evil come from? It comes from the Koran... they believe that he Prophet Mohammed is the last Prophet, and that the Prophet's life is thought of by Allah, by God, as the ideal life. Then, do Muslims use Mohammed's life as their judge for good and evil? We got into this a little bit with Zahoor, but not much.. so, if anyone can shed any light on this subject...
Hindu-Muslim problems, especially in India, he says, and we probably agree mostly, are largely brought about by the politicians... and exagerrated by the media. However, they are still there... and the underlying feeling is still there, as well... how is one to get rid of this feeling? In most cities in India, Hindus and Muslims live separately... and they both like it this way. But, how will they ever REALLY learn about each other's lifestyles, and learn the accept these lifestyles, and respect these lifestyles, unless they start to intermingle more and live closer together? Even Zahoor said that he thought it was good that they lived separated, because then they can hold on to their religion with a stronger grip, and people would be more devoted. But, he also said that it mandatory for Muslims to go out and educate people about their religion.
Finally, on the topic of Kashmir... him, like almost everyone else we talked to in Kashmir, hopes for a free Kashmir. Their feeling is that Pakistan and India both don't care about the people.. all they care about is the land.
All-in-all, I took a real liking to this guy... who didn't hesitate to laugh and flash a smile. He wanted us to ask more and more questions... and listened to our explanations on murti pooja, etc. His devotion to Allah, his sincerity, and conviction were displayed clearly through his mannerisms and speech. If we were to have stayed in Srinagar longer.. it would have been cool to spend more time with him, learn a little more about Islam, etc.....
Question: those that know a little about Islam or that are Muslim... what is your take on the religion on the topics of... jihad, idol worship, tolerance, God, etc.?
posted by Raj Kanani | 5:52 PM
2 Comments:
interesting question, what is hinduism exactly? who can call themselves a hindu? what does it mean to be hindu? does it matter if you call yourself that, is it more of a matter of belonging to a certain culture rather than religion?
i'll be missing you guys at garba time!
-aniketa
So often while growing up, Muslims were demonized by my parents, but I too found many warm and friendly Muslims across India during my trip.
Next time you meet a Muslim, ask them about the concept and meaning of 'kafir'. My understanding is that it is also a Muslims duty to convert or kill 'kafirs'. If they define Hindus and Christians as 'kafirs', it creates a fundamental incompatibility with all non-Muslims.
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