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POETS AND PROPHETS |
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Dear Farzana, It is so refreshing to have an intellectually stimulating dialogue with you. I am so glad that you have no objection for my other philosopher friends to join the dialogue, as I know they would love it. While I was reading your letter I felt that we could use words to reveal ourselves and we can use words to conceal ourselves. I thought there were places you were a bit evasive. As a friend I would like to know not only your philosophy but also the Philosophical journey. Whether your beliefs are right or wrong , true or not is not for me to judge but I am curious about the process. Let me ask the same questions in a different way hoping that this time you would be more revealing than concealing. I think that although every human being is unique and his / her journey is unique but the friends and relatives I have met can be divided in four groups as believers and non-believers. This classification (self made) of course is based on own observation and analysis. The three journeys are
1. From Blind Faith to Blind Faith My mother was a good example of that. She was brought up in a traditional, religious and conservative family. She inherited the Blind Faith of Islam and remained a dedicated Muslim all her life. She believed in God and Prophets and Scriptures and Life After Death. She had no need to read philosophical books as she felt it confused people and undermined their faith. She wanted to keep her faith pure from science and logic and rationality and arguments as she did not want to adulterate her belief system. Finally she died as a dedicated Muslim. I respected her faith and never tried to convert her. As an atheist I Even sent her a ticket to go to Mecca to perform pilgrimage to make her happy. Unfortunately she did not respect or accept my Atheism and Humanism and tried to convert me as she believed I would burn in Hell. I used to smile as I felt it was also a strange way of her showing her Religious Love for me. 2. From Blind Faith to Atheism to Secular Humanism I am an example of that journey. I shared my journey in my book From Islam to Secular Humanism that I shared with you when we met. Since the publication of my book I have met many other friends who traveled the same journey. Our concept of secular includes not only Freedom of Religion but also Freedom From Religion we believe people of all faiths and no faith should be equally respected. 3. From Blind Faith to Atheism to Enlightened Faith My uncle was an example of that journey. My uncle Arif abdul Mateen was a well-respected Punjabi and Urdu writer of Pakistan. He was an atheist and a communist as a young man but then he went back to university, did his Masters in Islamic Studies and became a Mystic Poet. His journey was philosophical and spiritual and he shared that in his books. I was quite inspired by him, as he was very affectionate and encouraging to me as a young man. He had developed a Mystic personality. He was kind and humble and generous and forgiving. He was a believer but I never saw him imposing his views on others or trying to convert anyone. In many ways he was a synthesis of Mind of a scientist Heart of a poet and Personality of a mystic. You can read his interview on my website as he was trying to build bridges between science, art and spirituality. I learnt a lot from him. After giving you my analysis, I am curious about your journey. Please share with me the milestones of your philosophical and spiritual journey. I will also ask other friends 1. TAHIR QAZI... he was kind enough to respond to our letters. I don’t know whether he is a believer/non-believer and what kind of family he grew up in. So I hope he feels comfortable with us to share his inner thoughts. 2. NAJIB KAZMI 4. RAFIQ SULTAN 6. ABBAS JAFRI 7. AAMIR Rafi and others who would like to bare their souls (Tahir Qazi would ask me to define a soul and I would say as poets we use metaphors and my metaphors and my beliefs are the product of my own thinking. My beliefs have no reference to Gods and Prophets and Scriptures. And those beliefs are open to change with mew information and experience.) I feel we are moving from the discussion of POETS AND PROPHETS to PHILOSOPHICAL / SPIRITUAL JOURNEY as we feel comfortable with each other that we can have a respectful dialogue with each other and learn from each other’s point of view. I really appreciate Farzana for providing me this opportunity to think loud with you and I hope our other friends appreciate your openness, honesty and faith in the process. I will look forward to your and other people’s stories. Stories are more exciting and fascinating than ideas.
Sincerely sohail ps I will request Pervaiz to send it to other friends
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