The great activist Martin Luther King Jr once said "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed".This blatant theory is known by all but practiced by few, and those who try to do it are further oppressed and silenced.
It almost irks me every time i see the media stereotyping and targeting a particular community. It actually influences the minds of billions, sitting comfortably on their couches, passing judgments based on what they see. Hasn't it become like a set pattern, that whenever you switch on the news there is some Arab country being sodomized by the so called 'superpowers' of the world.
What is it about these people that makes them such fundamentalists? Why is it that the best of developed countries, even with all their might cannot break the spirits of these self-motivated souls from the sands? What can make an eight year old kid stand with a stone in his hand, in front of a heavy ass battle tank? These are few questions that have given me sleepless nights since a very long time.
I have gotten rid of most the materialism of my life in order to set on an endless journey towards understanding the minds of these strong-willed warriors. What the oppressors do not understand is that they are not fighting a radical idea, instead they stand against a strong Belief..... a belief that is backed by billions of souls..... a belief that promotes resistance as a birth right. You can never defeat someone you can't intimidate and when that someone has nothing to lose, you will not be able to break him further.
First of all, for those who do not understand the meaning of JIHAD, let me explain that the true meaning of this word is no where close to what you see on TV.
Jihad in literal terms means 'Struggle' and in Islam it means a struggle against your own self to be a better Muslim, a struggle towards making your society better and a struggle against oppression. Unfortunately, the term 'Jihad' is not just misunderstood by the Non-Muslims but also many believers themselves, who are mislead by some politically-backed, self-proclaimed leaders of Islam.
While we commended the hard-work done by our soldiers against our neighbors who were trying to invade our land, although our sentiments towards the government are more negative than positive. When a glorified superpower invaded a peaceful Afghanistan, we applauded the fireworks that put an end to thousands of smiles. This difference of opinion comes from being influenced or rather mislead by the western-acquired media of the world. Its like, standing up against a criminal entering our house but being absolutely cool about witnessing same horrendous act being executed at someone else's house just because you are made to believe that the mother in that house is a tyrant who ill-treats her kids. Think about it, who gives the right to anyone on this earth to enter your house, destroy every reason of your happiness and then promote this act of nuisance as liberation for you!
Today, each one of us has a Jihad going on in our lives and our objective should be to keep that struggle going on, until we succeed in overcoming our fears. Instead of stereotyping certain communities today, we should all adopt this 'struggle' and work towards making the better out of ourselves and 'struggle' together with the oppressed to help them liberate from their fears.
- Fahad Parack
I have gotten rid of most the materialism of my life in order to set on an endless journey towards understanding the minds of these strong-willed warriors. What the oppressors do not understand is that they are not fighting a radical idea, instead they stand against a strong Belief..... a belief that is backed by billions of souls..... a belief that promotes resistance as a birth right. You can never defeat someone you can't intimidate and when that someone has nothing to lose, you will not be able to break him further.
First of all, for those who do not understand the meaning of JIHAD, let me explain that the true meaning of this word is no where close to what you see on TV.
Jihad in literal terms means 'Struggle' and in Islam it means a struggle against your own self to be a better Muslim, a struggle towards making your society better and a struggle against oppression. Unfortunately, the term 'Jihad' is not just misunderstood by the Non-Muslims but also many believers themselves, who are mislead by some politically-backed, self-proclaimed leaders of Islam.
While we commended the hard-work done by our soldiers against our neighbors who were trying to invade our land, although our sentiments towards the government are more negative than positive. When a glorified superpower invaded a peaceful Afghanistan, we applauded the fireworks that put an end to thousands of smiles. This difference of opinion comes from being influenced or rather mislead by the western-acquired media of the world. Its like, standing up against a criminal entering our house but being absolutely cool about witnessing same horrendous act being executed at someone else's house just because you are made to believe that the mother in that house is a tyrant who ill-treats her kids. Think about it, who gives the right to anyone on this earth to enter your house, destroy every reason of your happiness and then promote this act of nuisance as liberation for you!
Today, each one of us has a Jihad going on in our lives and our objective should be to keep that struggle going on, until we succeed in overcoming our fears. Instead of stereotyping certain communities today, we should all adopt this 'struggle' and work towards making the better out of ourselves and 'struggle' together with the oppressed to help them liberate from their fears.
- Fahad Parack




So very well said..
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