Do Well Everything You Do! “So Says God,” Says Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam
[Quote - 101]

“Islam is about being meticulous in everything we do. That is also the key to success and excellence in this world.

There is a beautiful saying of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and all his sayings are most beautiful: God loves us to do well everything we do.” (Dr. Pasha)

Ask Not What God Can Give, Ask What It Is That You Can Really Ask of God
[Quote - 102]

“When it comes to God, we are only limited by what we ask, not by what we receive, or what God can give.” (Dr. Pasha)

From Sadat of Egypt Banning Long Robes for Men to Sarkozy of France Banning Niqab for Women
[Quote - 103]

“When Anwar Sadat was military dictator of Egypt, he banned wearing of long robes for men on university campuses. It has taken Nicolas Sarkozy, a democratically elected civilian president of France, well over three decades to catch up with a military dictator from the Muslim Middle East and ban the wearing of Niqab – the controversial full-face covering – for women.

This, as they say, proves several things. First, it goes to show how slow and snail-paced civilian democracy could be compared to military dictatorship, especially of the Muslim and Middle Eastern variety, when it comes to introducing social reform in society.

Second, it shows how Muslim societies are still fixated on men and won’t pay enough attention to women.

And also, it may or may not show something else: Why authoritarian societies in the so-called Middle East, as well as their patrons, protectors and Guardian Angels overseas, especially in the Western world, may think brutal dictatorship and not benign democracy is the best form of government for that part of the world.” (Dr. Pasha)

Why Blame Machiavelli for the Darkness in Our Own Soul?
[Quote - 104]

“Many of us tend to blame many of the perversities of our political culture on Machiavelli.

But what many of us may not understand is that through his doctrine of ever bigger lies and ever more blatant deception and manipulation, Machiavelli may only have been tapping into a rich vein of moral and political darkness that may have pre-existed in many of our political, social, religious and business elites and influentials.

Is this what insurance companies call a “Pre-existing Condition”?” (Dr. Pasha)

Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me
[Quote - 105]

“The surprise is not that politicians lie. The real surprise is that so many of their followers believe them – over and over and over. A believer does not allow himself to be bitten from the same hole twice, says Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.” (Dr. Pasha)

Should a Committee Look into the Use of the Word “Holy” to Refer to Qur’an?
[Quote - 106]

“English-speaking Muslims glibly refer to the Qur’an as “Holy” Qur’an. Won’t it be nice if they appointed a committee of some kind to look into where or how often the Qur’an uses the expression “Holy” to refer to itself?” (Dr. Pasha)

Is It Blasphemy to Call the Qur’an Muslims’ Holy Book?
[Quote - 107]

“English-speaking Muslims often speak of the Qur’an as their Holy Book. Just like Christians for example refer to the Bible as their Holy Book.

I am not sure the Qur’an ever said or suggested that it was anyone’s Holy Book. I am also not sure if questions like this even matter to Muslims.

In the same way, I am not even sure if it is blasphemy to refer to the Qur’an as Muslims’ Holy Book.” (Dr. Pasha)

Qur’an Has Miracles, Signs and Markers, Not Verses, But Who Is To Tell the Muslims That?
[Quote - 108]

“Jews and Christians say the Bible has verses. “We Too!” say the Muslims, in direct fulfilment of prophesy in Hadith. The Qur’an has “Verses” too, Muslims chime in.

No one seems to care or recall what the Qur’an itself says: that its passages are living miracles; that they are signs and markers, every single one of them; and they are not “verses.”

The Qur’an calls them Aayaat. Aayat or Aayah for singular; Aayaat for plural.

For, that is what the word Aayah means in Arabic: a miracle; a proof; a marker; a sign. Not “a verse” by any stretch of the imagination or Arabic usage.” (Dr. Pasha)

If Health Is a Human Condition, Healthcare Is a Human Right
[Quote - 109]

“On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law a bill that extends health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured. Signing the bill, Obama said the core principle of the bill was that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care.

My thinking on the subject is a bit more primitive than that and I have been trumpeting it for decades. To me: If health is a human condition, healthcare is a human right, period!” (Dr. Pasha)

Many Politicians Lie and Most People Never Learn
[Quote - 110]

“Many politicians lie, which is not a surprise. But many people take their politicians’ lies as truth, which shows how unwilling human beings are to learn from reality – and from their own past; from history if you will.” (Dr. Pasha)

All the Tricks Humans Play with Truth and Reality
[Quote - 111]

“Human beings have a marvellous way of dealing with reality: If something causes you pain, stress or anxiety, change its name. That should make it go away.

Ever notice how no one dies anymore? They merely “pass away,” or even “pass on.”

Do people get buried these days? Imagine how horrible that sounds. They are just “laid to rest.”” (Dr. Pasha)

Hope Haunts Eternal a Human Heart Unable to Cope with Reality
[Quote - 112]

“Hope lives eternal in the human heart. People don’t pass away any more. They merely pass on. You know what I mean?” (Dr. Pasha)

Crooks and Criminals Fear Truth More than They Fear Death
[Quote - 113]

“Most people fear Death. And it is not entirely unnatural. But some people fear Truth more than they fear Death. In most cases, they are criminals, crooks and scoundrels of varying shades and stripes.” (Dr. Pasha)

When Society Loses Free Media, Democracy and Islam Follow in Short Order
[Quote - 114]

“When a society loses truly free, fearless and independent media, it is not long before basic human rights and political freedoms in that society take their leave. When media become a mouthpiece – no, make it bullhorns – for government propaganda, then goodbye democracy, so long Islam.” (Dr. Pasha)

Watchdog Media Are an Integral Part of Islam
[Quote - 115]

“When America invented the notions of Watchdog Media and Press Freedom, it was yet another connection America was making with Islam.” (Dr. Pasha)

Newspaper Transition from Watchdogs to Lapdogs
[Quote - 116]

“Our American newspapers were invented as Watchdogs. Today they are being laid to rest as Lapdogs.” (Dr. Pasha)

Greatest Challenge Facing Muslims: How to Be Better Human Beings
[Quote - 117]

“One of the greatest challenges facing Muslims today may not be how to be better Muslims but, rather, how to be better human beings.” (Dr. Pasha)

Poverty Could Be the Mother of All Kinds of Troubles
[Quote - 118]

“If any people were as poor as most Muslims are today, they too will be swimming in the same sea of troubles most Muslims do.” (Dr. Pasha)

If Only Muslims Could Fix Their Poverty and their Education
[Quote - 119]

“If you asked me what is the one thing that may be wrong with Muslims today, my answer would be: “Poverty! Poverty! Poverty!”

And then if you pressed me further, saying, “What else?” I would say: “Education! Education! Education!” (Dr. Pasha)

Of course, some people might lump all this and many other similar things under the label of Islam. But that goes without saying. For, Islam is all these things and all other things good.

But the real issue may be: When was it that Muslims last identified questions of poverty, education and lack of political freedoms and human and civil rights as being inseparable parts of Islam?”

How Much of Muslim Leadership Do You Think Is “Sold Out”?
[Quote - 120]

“It is not that anything is wrong with Muslims. It is just that much of their leadership sold out and the poor sops don’t even know it.” (Dr. Pasha)

Not Much of a Choice between a Tyrant and a Fool as a Leader
[Quote - 121]

“When it comes to Muslims, I have often wondered which leadership is worse: leadership that is corrupt, tyrannical, authoritarian and unprincipled or leadership that is naïve and foolish and uninformed.” (Dr. Pasha)

Need of the Hour: Education Revolution throughout the Muslim World
[Quote - 122]

“The greatest – and the most urgent – revolution most Muslim societies need today is an Education Revolution. Nothing more, nothing less.” (Dr. Pasha)

Tails You Lose, Heads We Win! How Is That as a Formula for Success?
[Quote - 123]

“I love this equation: When “They” do it, it is Indoctrination and Propaganda and Brainwashing.

But when “We” do it, it is Education and Socialization and Enlightenment.

And it doesn’t really matter who “They” are or who “We” are. It is almost as fool-proof a formula for personal success for anyone as “Tails You Lose, Heads We Win!”

How can anyone go wrong with something like that? That is why Tyrants in every time and place have always resorted to denying Free Speech to their victims.” (Dr. Pasha)

Who Was It Who Said: “To Err Is Human, to Forgive Divine?”
[Quote - 124]

“Giving human beings the power to forgive the sins and excesses of other human beings just like themselves is a little bit like one fox asking another fox first to guard the henhouse during the night and then the next morning sitting in judgment on the guilt or innocence of that fox.

What a world would that make! And that is precisely the world that we have built today.

We have created a world in which we as human beings abrogate to ourselves powers that truly belong to God – the power to forgive sinners.

The result is a world in which sin thrives; culprits go unpunished; and victims have nowhere to turn to for redress of their grievances.” (Dr. Pasha)

Societies that Fail to Educate Their Women, Live Only Half-Lives
[Quote - 125]

“A society that refuses or fails to educate its females is fighting the battle of life with one hand tied behind its back. In fact, it is someone trying to live their life with half their body. How is that supposed to be possible?

Besides, why would anyone want to have a most uneducated woman as their mother, sister, daughter or wife?” (Dr. Pasha)

Advice to Young Muslims on How to Change the World
[Quote - 126]

“Advice to young Muslims – tested and true. Men as well as women. Want to change the world? Here is something you can do:

1. Make up your mind to get the best education you can.
2. Don’t let a single day go by without learning something new and without teaching someone something.
3. Don’t let a single day go by without asking yourself how you could have spent that day better.

Do the things I am suggesting and the world will take care of itself.” (Dr. Pasha)

Islam Means Taking the Qur’an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It
[Quote - 127]

“Islam means taking the Qur’an to every home and heart that needs it – and which one does not?

How many Muslims understand this, do you think? And how many have gotten to the stage of practicing it?” (Dr. Pasha)

To Be Human Is to Stand Up for Others and Fight for Their Rights
[Quote - 128]

“Even an animal can and often does fight to defend its young and protect its food and territory. What gives us our humanity is our ability and willingness to take a stand and fight for the rights of others – the weak, the oppressed and the voiceless.” (Dr. Pasha)

If Today’s Muslims Are Islam’s Best Friends … Well, Say No More
[Quote - 129]

“With friends like Muslims, does Islam really need enemies?” (Dr. Pasha)

Muslims, Muslims Everywhere, But How Much Islam Is There in Real Life?
[Quote - 130]

“Muslims can’t read. Muslims don’t think. And those are two of the most fundamental requirements of being a Muslim in the Qur’an.

So, what Islam are we talking about?” (Dr. Pasha)

Truth Is a Public Trust that Belongs to “The People”
[Quote - 131]

“Islam is about telling people, not what you think they might like or want to hear, but what, to the best of your knowledge, you believe to be the facts and the truth.

Truth is an Amaanat – a matter of faith or “sacred trust” as some people would call it – that you are holding in your hands. It is other people’s and God’s property that is temporarily entrusted to your care.

You are obligated under God’s Law to deliver that Amaanat or Trust to those whose property it is and who entrusted it to your care for safekeeping, and who now expect to have it back from you.” (Dr. Pasha)

How America Was Instrumental in the Rediscovery of Islam
[Quote - 132]

“One of the great rediscoveries of Islam on earth occurred when America more or less invented the notion of the Watchdog Media and Press Freedom.” (Dr. Pasha)

Hiding Islam from View: Who Is Responsible for It?
[Quote - 133]

“I don’t know who else teaches what. But this much I know: Islam teaches that people should brush their teeth every day. Five times a day, if they can.

And now get this: Islam has been doing this for the past 1400 years. That alone would make me want to look into Islam a bit more closely and ask: “Wow! What is this Islam thing all about? Where was I all this time?

And where was Islam hiding all this time? Who is in charge of this Islam thing that they are keeping it under wraps and not letting anybody know about it?” (Dr. Pasha)

How Can You Have a Religion without a Hierarchy of Priests and Pundits?
[Quote - 134]

“Everybody keeps calling Islam “Religion” this and “Religion” that. What I want to know is this: Don’t you have to have a hierarchy of Priests and Pundits if you want to have a Religion? Islam allows none.

No priests. No Pundits. None at all. Not one. Nada. Cipher. Zero.

Then, pray tell as they say, how is Islam a “Religion”? (Dr. Pasha)

Foundation of Islam is Thinking, Reasoning and Asking Questions
[Quote - 135]

“Here is what I expect everyone would know about Islam: The foundation of Islam is “Thinking,” “Reasoning” and “Asking Questions.”

Now, how many religions teach those things as the foundation of their faith, I do not know. But please don’t tell the Muslims I said any of this.” (Dr. Pasha)

I Never Understood the Difference between Loving God and Serving Humanity
[Quote - 136]

“A Good Muslim fears, loves and worships God.

At the same time, a Good Muslim is also committed to love and serve humanity and all of God’s creation.

And to a Good Muslim all of these things are one and the same. If there ever was a seamless fusion between any two things, it was between these: loving God and serving humanity.” (Dr. Pasha)

Shakespeare Said ‘What Is in a Name?’ Let Us Find Out
[Quote - 137]

“Sometimes I suspect this is how some people think: “The Bible says ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal,’ so I don’t and won’t steal. Except on those occasions when I steal from fellows who are not of my tribe, or my race, or my colour, or my kind, or my religion, or my country, nation or society.

But that is not stealing, is it – when I plunder people who are not of my “kind”?” (Dr. Pasha)

Who Is Minding the American People?
[Quote - 138]

“Between a mindless electorate, a mendacious political elite and a mercenary media, one wonders who is minding the store we call home, sweet home. And who is looking after the interests of the people – the American People, or just about any People Anywhere.” (Dr. Pasha)

Mary Rinehart and Agatha Christie Might as Well Have Said: The Soviets Did It Or Islamic Puppets and Their Ever-Changing New Puppeteers
[Quote - 139]

“I have this feeling that the terrible condition of Muslims in Afghanistan – the poverty, the illiteracy, the social backwardness, and the rest – never quite caught the imagination of the self-styled Good Muslims of this world till the Soviets came calling, and the CIA got upset, and gave them some guns and money, and told them to start shooting up the Communist “Kuffar.”

Islamic Pulpits around the world called Mimbars then lit up like so many Christmas trees and the Jihad canary never quite stopped singing. Islamic Puppets never danced more merrily than when they danced under the thumbs of their new mostly Non-Islamic Puppeteers.” (Dr. Pasha)

Some Muslims on Course to Install an Islamic Pope
[Quote - 140]

“When I hear Muslims call their scholars “Your Eminence!” my heart, just like Wordsworth’s, leaps with joy and wants to dance with the daffodils. In sheer exuberance I whisper to myself: “Finally, dear heart! That blessed day is upon us! It can’t be long now before we have an Islamic Pope and are able to call him Holy Father and kiss his ring.”

“And then,” I tell myself, “our troubles will disappear. Our state of disorganization and demoralization and illiteracy and universal political bondage and tutelage will end. Our public treasuries will no longer be plundered in broad daylight by generations of military and hereditary thugs and dictators with Muslim names and alleged Muslim parentage. And everything will be hunky-dory with Islam and Muslims – and the world will love us.”” (Dr. Pasha)

Female Plus Male Illiteracy in Afghanistan and Elsewhere in the Muslim World
[Quote - 141]

“Those who are so boisterous about condemning female illiteracy in a primitive place like Afghanistan, how loud do you think they have ever been in condemning male illiteracy in that society? Or in a similar Muslim society elsewhere?

I don’t know, but I have a feeling that not more than five or 10 percent of the people in Afghanistan really know how to read or write – women or men; male or female. And, evidently, no one gives – what is it that people don’t give? A “hoot” maybe?” (Dr. Pasha)

From Female Servitude to Male Bondage: In Afghanistan and Everywhere Else
[Quote - 142]

“Every right thinking person should be shocked and horrified at the terrible reality of female servitude in Afghanistan. But so also should every right thinking person be shocked and horrified at the equally terrible state of male bondage, abuse and exploitation that is rife throughout the killing fields of Afghanistan – and many other places around the world.” (Dr. Pasha)

Muslim or Non-Muslim, Ignorance about Islam Is Not Bliss
[Quote - 143]

“One reason why the world understands so little about Islam is that Muslims don’t tell – and Non-Muslims don’t ask. So, between Muslim silence and non-Muslim indifference, Islam remains a stranger to much of the world, which will be fine if all of us, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, did not have to pay such a heavy price for our ignorance and or our indifference.” (Dr. Pasha)

Muslim Spain Gave Jews Safe Haven from European Pogroms
[Quote - 144]

“At a time, during the so-called Dark Ages, when much of Europe subjected the Jews to all kinds of persecution, including systematic pogroms – generally a form of officially sanctioned, aided or condoned organized violence, terror and mass killings – there was one place in Europe that provided them safe haven for nearly 500 years.

That place was Muslim Spain – a slice of European reality that much of history cleverly conceals under the exotic title of Moorish Spain.” (Dr. Pasha)

How Islam and Muslims Absolved Jews of the False Charge of Christ Killing
[Quote - 145]

“For over 600 years, the Jews were in the dock on the False Charge of Christ Killing. They would remain there for another 1300 years in many parts of Europe, subject to all kinds of persecution and abuse, including repetitive pogroms – generally a form of officially sanctioned, aided or condoned organized violence, terror and mass killings.

But in early 7^th Century, there appeared a man in Arabia claiming to be God’s messenger on earth, who set the Jews free from this false burden.

That man brought a book claiming to be God’s word in human hands. That book – and that man – in one decisive declaration exonerated the Jews from centuries of the False Charge of Christ Killing. “Absolutely, positively, they did not kill him,” declared that book that this man brought that he said was from God.

“Wa maa qataloohu yaqueenaa!” are the original words in the original Arabic text of that book.

Muslims never went to the Jews to collect for this epochal favour they did to them. Not even a word of gratitude or thanks did they ask for or receive. No one offered them any tokens of gratitude or appreciation. In fact, everyone forgot all about it.” (Dr. Pasha)

How Some Muslims Tend to Blame God for Everything
[Quote - 146]

“I suspect some Muslims think they have an iron-clad alibi in life. They feel they can do any foolish thing they want, and when things don’t turn out right, they can always blame it on God. And don’t think it is only the Muslims who do that.” (Dr. Pasha)

Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam and Encyclopaedia Britannica
[Quote - 147]

“The Encyclopedia Britannica says that Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, was the most successful man in history. If it is true that the Encyclopedia Britannica does make that claim, wouldn’t you expect the world to stampede to find out what the facts were, based on which such a venerable source of human knowledge as the Encyclopedia Britannica would make such a sweeping and superlative statement?

And what the secret was to the success of this man? Was it his message? Was it his method? Was it his character? Was it his political and military achievement? Was it his personal and family life? Was it his relationship with his “followers” whom he insisted on calling his “Friends and Companions” – Ashaab?

Just what was it about him that gave him this unsurpassed level of success in all of human history?

To me it simply does not make any sense that the world would read something as profound, powerful and earth-shaking as that, in as respected a compendium of human knowledge as the Encyclopedia Britannica, and merely shrug its shoulders and move on. And not lift a little finger to personally verify that statement and find out more about it – and to learn more about this man: Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.

I find it hard to believe.” (Dr. Pasha)

Four Fly-Infested Children on a Very, Very Special Night Called Lailatul Qad’r
[Quote - 148]

“It is the day after Lailatul Qad’r, Ramadan, 1431/2010. The news media today produced two photographs, almost side by side. One, of four little children, perhaps between the ages of one and two, lying on their back, covered by flies, in a refugee tent in violence-wracked, flood-ravaged Pakistan, seemingly abandoned by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

The other photo, claiming to be that of three million evidently better-off Muslims, bent on garnering 1000-months-worth of instant reward, on this Lailatul Qad’r 1431/2010 night, in what the caption called “Holy Mosques.”

I couldn’t decide which of the two pictures was more poignant to me or which one racked and seared my soul more. For the better part of the day, I have been trying to shut my eyes tight and make those images go away. But I don’t seem to be able to.

And if you ask me, that is the real Hallowed Ground – where those four little children lay infested with flies and fighting off death. And that is where God is that night – with those four little children, fighting off death, with their bodies prey to invasion and occupation by a million flies.” (Dr. Pasha)

Ramadan Renovates the Human Spirit – and the Human Body, Mind and Soul
[Quote - 149]

“The most blessed month of Ramadan is designed to completely reshape human life and character. During the blessed month of Ramadan, our habits of eating, drinking, sleeping, conjugal intimacy, all undergo profound transformation.

After day-long deprivation of food, drink and sex, Ramadan imposes upon the Believers long hours of night prayers, chants, meditations and Qur’an reading. Lying and cheating, quarrelling and fighting, gossip and backbiting, always anathema to Islam, are now treated as absolute abominations.

And this goes on day after day and night after night for one whole month.

And for all of this time, the only one who really monitors your thought, speech and behaviour closely is you and your God. No one else does or can. A more comprehensive or rigorous regime for the complete reshaping of the human body, mind, soul and spirit is hard to imagine.

It would be hardly surprising if at the end of the month of Ramadan a human being emerges with a completely new and vigorous attitude to life and its challenges – and with a brand new character to successfully deal with them.

There is no better system on earth for creating character or for reforming and redirecting human life. And that is exactly what the Qur’an says Siyaam or Fasting came into this world to do: To teach us Taqwa, the highest form of character, rooted in the fear and love of God and in the love and service of humanity. To make new human beings out of us.

A Taqwa-based character, when fully and properly formed, makes it possible for human beings to do their duty, and to do the right thing, at all times and in all situations, regardless of whether they are in a public place or in the privacy of their home.

It teaches human beings how to hold themselves accountable before God, and before their own conscience right here in this world, for their actions as well as for the outcomes and consequences they intended or expected from their actions.

Because their character has now been perfectly recalibrated and their spirit has now been fully charged and reinvigorated by the month-long physical, mental and spiritual drill of Ramadan during which God himself presided over their character training and over their physical and spiritual rejuvenation and remaking.” (Dr. Pasha)

The Shari’ah Law of Fasting – For Muslims, Christians, Jews and Others
[Quote - 150]

“In case non-Muslims, or even some Muslims, were wondering what Ramadan is or was all about, here is a simple way of looking at it. Ramadan is fasting during the day and reading the Qur’an and praying during the night: Day after Day; and Night after Night. For one whole month.

It is one of the major pillars of what people call Islamic Shariah or Law, ordained by God in Heaven for People on Earth: for Muslims; for Jews; for Christians; and for all other followers of the Prophets and the Scriptures.

And it is a living miracle that anyone anywhere practices it today the way Muslims do. Anyone anywhere can see this supreme miracle of our time with their own eyes.” (Dr. Pasha)