The concept of equality

THE concept of equality is central to the very existence of human society. The survival, development and progress of human beings, whether as individuals or as a society, cannot be possible without firm belief in the fact that all human beings are basically equal and for that reason entitled to all such rights that could be basic to human dignity and needs within acceptable limits of fairness, decency and morality.

No other scripture nor any creed or ideology has magnified the fact of equality among the human beings and advocated its acceptance and respect to the extent to which the Quran has done. This is evident from the Quranic verse (49:13) and its explanation by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his sermon on the occasion of his last pilgrimage when he said.

“People. Allah says “O mankind! we created you from a single male and female couple and, then divided you into nations so that you may recognise one another. Verily the most honourable among you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous of you’. In the light of this Quranic verse no Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab nor any non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab. Neither black is superior to white nor white is superior to black. Of course, if there is any criterion of superiority it is righteousness”.

The above verse of the Quran and extract from the sermon of the Prophet elaborating the same, categorically affirm that all human beings are equal. And they are equal because they have a common origin, descent and lineage. None of them can claim superiority over others by virtue of race, blood, ancestry or birth.

Their division into nations and tribes is meant only to facilitate their identification. The object is certainly not to create superior and inferior classes of people in relation to each other. It was this declaration that gave severe blow to the false notions and self made barriers of race, blood and colour besetting the human society since ages. This was also the main reason for the acceptability of Islam to people among all the nations and tribes of the world.

According to Toynbee, a well known British historian, there was hardly any race in the world from which people did not embrace Islam and in the process became one ummah.

He goes to the extent of saying that Christianity with all its preachings of universal brotherhood lagged far behind the Muslims in bringing about the intermingling and integration of different races particularly the white and black. According to Prof Gibb, “no other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and of endeavour, so many and so various races of humanity” (Whither Islam).

Since all human beings are basically equal and have been endowed with the same kind and number of faculties such as the ability to think, to reason, to see, to hear, to talk, to feel, to create and to love, it is but natural that they should have the same opportunities to make use of these faculties. The above Quranic verse which declares that all human beings are equal also provides a clear pointer to the need for the provision of such opportunities.

According to the verse the most honourable among the human beings in the sight of Allah could be the one who is the most righteous of them. It means that despite being basically equal, the human beings can yet excel each other in certain respects or directions with the aid of faculties they have been endowed with. The verse cites one such example in which the human beings can excel each other and that is honour or respectability in the sight of Allah for which the only criterion, according to the verse, could be righteousness. This is the criterion which is not only just and fair but is also pertinent to the object and is within the reach of every one.

Nothing can be more relevant and pertinent to the attainment of the position of honour in the sight of Allah than righteousness. Besides, any one, whether a rich or a poor, a black or a white and a male or a female can attain this standard i.e. can become righteous, if he or she sincerely strives for it. By all counts, there can be no better example of equal opportunities than the one spelled out by the above verse.

People may fix their own criteria of precedence or entitlement in respect of various matters or rights but if they want to observe the principle of equal opportunities in doing so, there can be no better pattern to follow than the one spelled out by the above verse.

The principle of equal opportunities is spelled out by yet another Quranic verse which says “and do not covet what Allah has given some of you more than others: the men shall have their due share according to what they have earned and the women shall have their share according to what they have earned” (4:32). This verse tells us about three things. One, no one shall eagerly desire what belongs to others but shall instead rely on his or her own efforts to earn the same. Second, the recompense for an effort or contribution could only be a matching reward. And the third, both men and women shall have the same opportunities to learn, contribute and be accordingly rewarded.

In two other Quranic verses, (16:97) and (33:35), the same rewards have been promised both for men and women who do righteous deeds which is reflective not only of equality of status but also of the provision of equal opportunities. In yet another Quranic verse (2:187), the wives have been termed as the garments of their husbands and the husbands as the garments of their wives which too is reflective of equality of status and provision of equal opportunities.

History tells us that the first wife of the Prophet proved to be a source of great help, strength, solace and reassurance to him at the start of his mission.

Commenting on the role of the Prophet in alleviating the sufferings of women and giving equal status to them Clarence K. Streit observes: “He (Muhammad) freed the girl child from burial alive, and her mother from slavery, and through him tens of millions of women received rights that Christendom did not allow until modern time” (Union Now).

Like women, the slaves too had no rights of their own and were rather treated more or less like animals before the advent of Islam. The Quran while prescribing the purposes for which the money paid as Zakat was to be spent, prescribed the release of slaves as one such purpose. Besides, in his sermon on the occasion of his last pilgrimage the Prophet specifically exhorted the believers; “take care of your slaves and let them eat what you yourself eat and let them wear what you yourself wear”. This exhortation served as the last nail in the coffin of slavery which automatically got banished in a few years in all those places where the influence of Islam reached.

Professor Brifault in the “Making of Humanity” observes: “The ideal of freedom for all human beings, of human brotherhood, of the equality of all men before law, of democratic government by consultation and universal suffrage, the ideals that inspired the French revolution and the declaration of rights, that guided the framing of the American constitution and inflamed the struggle for independence in the Latin-American states were not the invention of the West. They find their ultimate inspiration and source in the Holy Quran”.

Iranian asylum seeker’s murder causes tension

A racially motivated murder of a young Iranian man in the northern English city of Sunderland has caused serious tension in the town. The murder of 28-years-old Tayman Bahamni, an asylum seeker, is just the latest in a rising wave of racist crime in the United Kingdom.

Bahamani had sought refuge in Britain after alleging that he was persecuted in Iran.

But this country turned so dangerous for him that he lost his life. Police have appealed for calm among the ethnic minority communities of Sunderland, which has a small population of Pakistanis as well.

Sunderland is the latest English city to be plagued by racist violence.

The far-right British National Party is eager to exploit the problem and has recently staged three rallies and fielded three local election candidates in the city.

The British National Party (BNP) may be little known in Pakistan, but the party is considered to be a big threat to race relations. The police are convinced that the murder of Mr Bahamani was racially motivated.

It is not the first attack on an asylum-seeker in the city. An Iranian refugee had his face and back slashed after a confrontation with two men in a city subway about 18 months ago and the racist signs of swastikas have been sprayed on Asians’ vehicles in the city in the past few months.

As a result of these incidents tension in the city has grown very high. Two Iranian asylum-seekers told Dawn that they left Sunderland a few months ago for good after facing racial abuse.

They said a number of times mobs of young men would shout racial abuse at them and some would even throw stones without any provocation. They said that’s what life is for Sunderland’s hundreds of asylum-seekers.

Muslim candidate: The mainstream political parties of Britain are taking all possible steps to forge unity among various ethnic groups. The latest example is that of the Conservative Party’s bid to field a Muslim Asian as candidate for the post of deputy mayor of London for the next mayoral election.

The prospective candidate, Syed Kamall, is a 35-years-old businessman who is equally popular among Pakistanis and other ethnic groups, including white supporters of the Conservative Party.

The son of a former bus driver, Mr Kamal is being backed enthusiastically by the Conservative Party as it wants to broaden the party’s appeal among non-white Britons in an election that is likely to take place a year before the next general election.

By fielding an Asian candidate for the post of mayor of London would not only enhance the vote bank of the Conservative Party but would also go a long way in forging racial unity in this ethnically mixed city.

hijacking attempt: With the approach of the Sept 11 anniversary, security throughout Europe is very tight as there are fears that terrorists may strike again to mark the occasion. Security is particularly tight at airports and every effort is being made to foil any attempt of hijacking or a terrorist attack.

But last week an incident at one of Sweden’s airports near Stockholm made headlines throughout the world after a 29-year-old Arab Swedish man was caught at the airport with a loaded gun in his hand luggage just before he was to board a London-bound passenger plane.

The investigators questioning Karem Chatty initially believed he was planning to crash the plane into a US embassy in Europe, probably the embassy in London.

But Swedish authorities had officially denied claims by intelligence sources that Mr Chatty was part of a plot to fly the hijacked plane into a United States embassy in Europe.

Chatty is said to have attended a flight training course in the US state of South Carolina between Sept 1996 and June 1997, although he could not complete the course.

He told police he was on his way to the British city of Birmingham to attend an Islamic conference organized by the Salafi sect.

Mohamed Atta, the alleged leader of the suicide teams, and Richard Reid, the alleged “shoe bomber”, were also said to be in the Salafi sect.

The Swedish police are searching for four of Chatty’s accomplices, including an explosive expert.

The 29-year-old Chatty’s father is Tunisian while his mother is Swedish.

Police say the evidence against Karem Chatty reveals a crime so serious that it is unprecedented in the country. Chatty now also faces charges of plane sabotage and airport sabotage.

The charges, after “discovery of fresh evidence”, indicate the prosecution will try to prove he endangered passengers’ lives by intending to use the Boeing 737 as a weapon. He could now face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if found guilty of the offences.

The British intelligence services and police are carrying out urgent checks on links between Chatty and extremist groups based in London. Whatever were the real intentions of Karem Chatty, the incident is a chilling reminder of Sept 11 attacks when hijackers trained at US schools crashed airliners into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

Magno Metro train — a fantastic ploy: CITYSCAPES

LAST week flabbergasted Karachiites were subjected to another announcement by our good old City Nazim that at a meagre cost of $1.2 billion the city shall soon have magnetic trains running all over. The announcement was again repeated the following day while briefing Sindh Governor Mohammedmian Soomro.

Soon it became amply clear that neither the German briefcase consultant nor the excited City Nazim would stop at anything short of magnetizing everyone. A presentation was made on Tuesday to the visiting president. Reportedly the visiting entourage got so excited that the military secretary to the president immediately extended an invitation for a five-star business class trip to Islamabad.

Meanwhile the transport department of Sindh that had been working for last two years to revive Karachi Circular Railway was in complete quandary. Together with provincial and federal finance ministries the outcasts tried to fathom the economics of the fantastic ploy that not only promises to provide immeasurable relief to the commuters in Karachi but may ultimately provide an opportunity for swift transportation of men and commodities all the way to Lahore, Peshawar and even Central Asia possibly becoming a catalyst for drawing Central Asian gas all the way down south, Bravo! Though one does wonder where KMTP and PERK were hibernating these days?

Everyone seems to be excited in the city these days. The income tax lawyer turned shepherd, our good old City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, has signed many MOUs during his seven overseas visits and last one year at home. He has been planning very hard for the cause of the city not only on behalf of the newborn city government but also the inept provincial and federal authorities. Though some in the ruling circles have privately started to admit that the City Nazim has become too fond of signing MOU’s but insist that the sincere soul must not be penalized for signing one or two more. In fact the same feeling appears to be the reason that no one questioned attempts by our city father for trying to dowry away Bagh Ibne Qasim to our expatriates in Saudi Arabia (MOU intended to commercialize 80 acres of park land at Clifton was signed on June 6). Such MOU’s and a legal debate addressing violation of public rights and council participation and implication of binding agreements over the city should be a separate discussion.

Coming back to $1.2 billion zapping magno-train and what may be bothering many commoners is the project’s viability and its future financial burden for the city. Even if the annual financial cost is taken at mere 10 per cent, operation and maintenance at mere 20 per cent and return on investment, depreciation etc at another 10 per cent our good old Nazim-i-Aala Naimatullah Khan is merely proposing an additional annual cost of half-a-billion dollars (30 billion rupees) for an increasingly pauperized Karachi.

Two weeks back during a seminar organized by a leading Urdu daily to mark city’s survival of one year of devolution our City Nazim claimed that he had spent a billion rupees on repair of city roads. But a billion rupees could have repaved most of the Karachi’s pothole infested streets! Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001 requires council’s approval for all contracts worth over 2 million rupees, some doubting soul demanded Naib Nazim and Speaker of the City Council, sitting next to the Nazim- i-Aala, to confirm the veracity of that statement. He feebly denied any knowledge yet confirmed that no approval of a road contract was accorded during the preceding year.

Meanwhile the hyperventilating Nazim-i-Aala went on to defend the city’s law and order situation. He shrugged aside complaints of average 15 carjacking daily, announcing that situation in Washington was worse than Karachi where the number of vehicles hijacked annually was more than 178,000. That incredible piece of statistics left the audience completely shocked. Some of us had always believed that the law and order situation in America was bad, but my God, it was so bad, nobody could ever imagine. Many thanked the Nazim-e-Aala for a long and educating delivery yet those doubting souls had a field day.

According to them there was no way 487 vehicles were being carjacked daily in whole of USA let alone Washington. Please have a heart he is not egocentric, if at all, its General Naqvi’s devolution plan that has inherent capacity to derail the best of us.

While president was in town the security agencies also appeared extremely excited. All major arteries were blocked for smooth sailing of full day of engagements. Talking to nazims, businessmen, editors, senior journalists and women folk at Governor House, president pointed out some unfortunate reports that continue to appear in the press in connection with the on-going mega projects of Sindh. A senior journalist however privately remarked that by now the president should have realized that centralized attempts to run the country through intelligence agencies and a half baked elected system results in wanton state actions that cannot attract good press but unfortunately such realization always comes a little too late.

That same afternoon General Musharraf attended a recording for “Question Time, Pakistan” — a BBC World programme. On and off camera a confident and relaxed general responded to an intelligence-cleared audience also sermonizing them on his perception of democracy. One of the participants admitted later that he was still too scared to ask the general whether he was ever bothered of Section 6 of Pakistani Constitution till Supreme Court finally came to his rescue.

According to one of his acquaintances, the owner of a local restaurant where president decided to dine that night appeared reminiscent of a scene from Mel Brooks comedy “History of the World I” where Moses was forced to raise his two hands to part the Nile for the benefit of the fleeing Jews. During January 2000 General Pervez Musharraf told a small group of admirers that unlike Sindh things did move at the centre. Karachiites may not be sure about the Centre anymore but they surely know little moves here down south.