While on way to Dokri, near Moen-jo-Daro intersection after crossing the bridge on Dadu Canal near Buggy village, a heartbreaking sight is witnessed that amply reflects the sad moral state of society.
A God-fearing good Samaritan, probably with a desire to serve fellow beings even in the most modest way, has installed a hand-operated water pump connected to an underground well, quite close to the metalled road. The facility of providing water to wayfarers — specially during sizzling summer season when the perennially flowing waterway, called Dadu Canal, goes dry under the contrived pretext of de-silting by bureaucracy — is nothing short of a heavenly blessing on earth. The water pump renders service to all and sundry, without any discrimination. Besides humans quenching their thirst and washing away their fatigue by its water, even birds and beasts dip their beaks and tongues to beat the heat when not a droplet of water could be had in the tree-bare and water-scarce swathe of the plateau.
What was most distinguishing feature of the anguishing scenario was the wholesale fettering of the poor pump from top to bottom. The amazement heightened further, when one viewed the make and manner of the links that went into fabrication of the chain, snaking the unguarded pump. The signals drove one to the conclusion that the pump has clearly braved some ordeal in the past at the hands of a betenoire. And that, the good Samaritan, undeterred by its loss, went ahead firmly to restore it once again to its functional position, adding stolen accessories to the marooned mechanism. The touching condition of the pump, installed clearly for ‘the greatest good of the greatest number,’ compels one to effuse a few phrases of lament at the gravity of the degradation of our morals and ethnical values.
Alas! There were times when our elders fondly reminisced the good old days nostalgically, of how the thieves of the yore beat a retreat on spotting the Holy Quran, placed near the cash, jewellry or even the dowry of a damsel. They left behind the entire booty, placing a few coins of their own near the Holy Book, expecting its owners to buy on their behalf a piece of cloth to wrap the ‘Medium of salvation of both worlds,’ out of a sheer fear of God and reverence to His Book. The thieves of the era frighteningly confessed crimes once they were threatened by villages to swear in the mosque. Even the most hardened and diehard criminals broke down before approaching the mosque gates for fright of Divine reprisals to swear an apocryphal oath.
But the character and chemistry of the same species has metamorphosed to an extent that they now do not hesitate to swear a false oath, even if the Holy Book is placed on their heads.
While the state cannot absolve itself of its responsibility to enable its denizens to mould their lives in accordance with the law, some blame can as well be apportioned to our ulemas, who have failed to exploit their reverential clout and privileged position to influence Muslims to lead a virtuous life. We should not downplay the fact that their venerated status in the society as the faithfuls’ prayer leaders, coupled with their intimate and frequent interaction, can play a corrective role, moralizing masses to shun vices, criminal acts and lead virtuous lives. But to our dismay, we have hardly heard the clerics urging audiences to forge unity and brotherhood within their ranks. Instead, they have employed the potential platform of the pulpit to fan hatred and disharmony, mouthing religious extremism and sectarianism, that release wrong signals to the West, equating Islam with fundamentalism.
One cannot help but lament the end of an era when our religious luminaries seized every opportunity to promote virtues and condemn vices among masses, emphasizing the need to lead a life in accordance with the teachings of Islam. An eventful occasion of yesteryear comes to my mind, when the resident students of Jinnah Courts Hostel, Karachi invited late Maulana Ihtisham-ul-Haq Thanvi in mid-fifties to address the latter on some Eid occasion. In his attention-absorbing sermon, he exhorted them to say their prayers regularly and on time, even if they happened to be amid a film show in a cinema, a fad among the youth then. He very well knew the psychology of the students, that even the best of his exhortations would not sit well on their ears. He, therefore, intentionally avoided to counsel them to stop seeing films. He was aware that the power of the prayer would someday bring them back to the right path, making then shun their habit of watching movies permanently.
Of late, these clerics misled our youth, to fight wars to stablize the authority of one Muslim group over the other in their internecine squabbles, by brain-washing them with the spirit of jihad.
While on way to Dokri, near Moen-jo-Daro intersection after crossing the bridge on Dadu Canal near Buggy village, a heartbreaking sight is witnessed that amply reflects the sad moral state of society.
