A semi-literate person’s perception of many issues can be quite different from that of a literate person
MORE than two decades ago a semi-literate shopkeeper took his 10-year-old son to the Manghopir hills, put a butcher’s knife to his throat, and slaughtered him.
Prior to butchering his son, the father had spent an agonizing period for a month or so. He was often seen suddenly waking up from his sleep during the night, profusely perspiring. His wife wondered what was going wrong with her husband. Even on persistent persuasion he refused to discuss his mental agony with her. His restlessness incapacitated him. He closed down the small shop, and spent most of his time either cuddling or constantly looking at his son. It was a puzzling experience for his wife. At times he held his son in his arms, kissed him tenderly, and wept. On the eventful day he bathed his son, clad him in new clothes, garlanded him with fresh flowers, sprayed him with perfumes, and whisked him away. The hapless mother wondered where he was taking her son.
The father returned after a few hours carrying the slaughtered son in his arms. He appeared relaxed. He placed the body of his son in a cot, and sat by his side. The ghastly sight was unbearable for the mother. She broke down, raised hue and cry, and fainted.
The story was given wide coverage in the newspapers. The father was arrested, and tried for cold-blooded murder of his son. He refuted the charge of murder in the court, and insisted that what he did was on the repeated commandment he received through the angels to sacrifice anything he loved the most in the name of Allah. Since he loved his son more than anything else in the world. he sacrificed him in His name.
As per the court’s orders the shopkeeper was kept under observation of the doctors in a mental hospital for a few months. In the opinion of the doctors he was absolutely normal. The case resumed. The father did not appear remorseful. He firmly stood his ground, contending he had not murdered his son, rather he had sacrificed his son in the name of Allah. The court awarded him life imprisonment.
I do not know if the person is alive to this day. The newspapers, and for that matter everyone else, forgot him with the passage of time.
My purpose of narrating a 25-year-old story is to discuss with you the effects of conditioning on the mind of a person. Incidentally, this story provides us with a perfect example of a perpetual dilemma of conditioning in the life of a man. Before I proceed with my narration let me submit, I have no intention to cast shadows on other people’s faiths and beliefs. It is purely an academic study of the unfortunate episode.
Let us commence our study with a couple of questions. Is it in our control to be born in a family of our choice, for example a royal family, a Sunni family, a Shia family, a Muslim family, a Hindu family, a Christian family, a Jew family, or a Parsi family? Are we given a choice to take birth in the country of our choice, say America, Africa, Australia, Britain, Germany, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Japan, Sri Lanka, or Switzerland? The unambiguous answer is, no. We do not take birth in a certain family by our choice. We are simply born there to be adopted and nurtured according to the social, cultural, and religious traits and traditions of that family. It is a simple fact that doesn’t require philosophic explanation.
A child born in a Muslim family is brought up as a Muslim. A child born in a Hindu family is nurtured as a Hindu. A child born in a Christian family is groomed as a Christian. No family holds back a child from moulding till he grows up, matures, attains adulthood, and goes through the mill and then decides for himself what faith to adhere to. The concept of equal opportunity does not exist between parents and their children. The children are expected to follow the faith of their parents.
All religions enlighten their followers through historical stories and epic tales. A child grows up listening to the same stories repeatedly from his infancy to adulthood all his life. He hardly comes across a scholar, a saint, or a teacher who could interpret for him the intrinsic message in such stories. Economic pressures and struggle for survival do not leave enough room for him to undertake study of various faiths and beliefs on his own. For me the case of the shopkeeper is not closed. Such incidents keep taking place from time to time among the faithful. When an illiterate or semi-literate person ardently listens to a story several thousand times he is likely to transform his dreams into certain personifications. We can not rule out this possibility in the case of the father who in his conviction sacrificed his son in the name of Allah, and was punished. Who knows after placing the knife on the throat of his son the shopkeeper might have looked at the heavens for the descent of a lamb.
