Greetings to the Free and to Those Not Yet Free, But Fighting for Their Freedom
On this Happy and Wonderful Eidul Fitr, 1433/2012, we bring greetings to all the Free People of the World and to All Those Other People of the World Who Are Fighting for Their Freedom Everywhere.
And in these our most heartfelt Greetings for this Most Wonderful Eidul Fitr 1433/2012, we include all sons and daughters and advocates and aspirants of Liberty everywhere, regardless of their race or their religion.
Eid Greetings to the Pioneering American and French People
We thus direct our Eid Greetings to the American People who pioneered the Fight for Freedom in more recent times and broke the yoke of British Royal Tyranny over their lives in 1776.
And we direct our Eid Greetings to the French People who also were among the pioneers who fought and broke the yoke of Imperial French Tyranny over their lives in 1789.
Both the American People and the French People were among the Early Responders, in modern times, to Islam’s timeless call for Liberty for all human beings on earth, even though they did not do it in the name or under the banner of Islam.
But Liberty is Liberty no matter who uses it, and fights for it, and under what name or title.
Thomas Paine’s Unique Role in Fueling the Fires of Liberty on Two Continents
God Almighty moves and acts in ways that are all his own. It was his will and pleasure that a total stranger should hop off a boat, if I may say so, on the shores of America and fuel the fires of rebellion against British Royal Tyranny, as perhaps no one and nothing else had done earlier.
Thomas Paine’s book Common Sense bears testimony to the clarity of Paine’s vision in defense of Liberty as well as to the loftiness of his uncompromising purpose and the bravery of his soul.
This same man, Thomas Paine, then leaps on another boat, this time back to Europe, and fans the flames of Liberty in France and helps ring the death-knell of French Imperial Tyranny in that country.
No one to date has called Paine’s Rights of Man a book on Islam, but the question is: Why Ever Not?
Why is not this most fierce and fearless exposition of the folly of the Kings’ Divine Right to Rule and its equally perverse corollary Law of Primogeniture considered a work on some of the most basic teachings of Islam, even though its author is not known to be a Muslim?
We Are Calling Them Islamic Documents
That is why we are calling the American Constitution an Islamic Document to the extent it borrows and incorporates in its text the core Islamic Doctrine of “We the People.”
And to the extent some of the critical amendments to the American Constitution reflect the spirit of the teachings of Islam such as the First Amendment that guarantees to every citizen the freedom of belief, worship, speech and press as well as the right of the citizens to peaceful assembly and representation to government for redress of grievance.
So also, to us, both of Thomas Paine’s books, Common Sense and Rights of Man are Islamic Documents, as they contain in them ideas and arguments that not only come close to the Ideals of Liberty and Human Dignity and Equality preached by Islam, but bear the imprint of being borrowed from the luminous teachings and doctrines of Islam on these fronts that reverberated all through Europe, for upward of 500 years, prior to Paine choosing to voice them in his books in the context of the American and French fight for Freedom.
Eid Greetings to the Tireless British People
And we direct our Eid Greetings to the British People whose Lords and Barons waged a relentless struggle to secure from their overlord and king, John, as many basic concessions as they could that would respect and guarantee a certain level of basic Human Freedom and Liberty in their land, at least so far as those lords and barons were concerned, and in some serious ways limit the absolute power of the throne.
And the British People, through the agency of their Lords and Barons, did this as early as 1215, but close to full 600 years after Islam, the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, declared All Human Beings free from the moment of their birth until the time of their death and all through their life on earth.
Eid Greetings to the Relentless Irish People
And we direct our Eid Greetings to the tireless and relentless Irish People, who suffered century after century of most brutal repression at the hands of the English, till they were finally able to break their bonds of slavery to the English toward the close of 20th Century in 1998, thanks in no small measure to the active and imaginative support and leadership of the United States of America.
Eid Greetings to the Non-Violent Indian Fighters for Freedom
And we direct our Eid Greetings to the Free People of India, who, under the leadership of Gandhi, followed through on a non-violent revolution and drove out the British Colonizers from their land and have lived free from that moment, following a democratic political process, and electing one free democratic government after another, all of which, as far as it goes, is Islam.
Eid Greetings to the Followers of Nelson Mandela in South Africa
And we direct our Eid Greeting to the Government and the Free People of South Africa, who under the brave and indomitable leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) and Nelson Mandela, broke the back of the Racist Colonial Apartheid System of the White Afrikaner Regime and established a system rooted, not in seeking revenge or settling accounts, but in building a new era of liberty and justice for all.
Eid Greetings to the Brave Algerian People
The brave Algerian People have been fighting for their freedom for decades. First, they waged a protracted and bloody war of independence against the French Colonizers, which they won after sustaining staggering losses in men and material.
Then, after that, they waged an equally deadly war of independence against their own military, and its foreign backers, after they entered the elections and won them fair and square, and the military then all of a sudden, at the behest of its foreign masters and handlers, cancelled the elections, which the Algerian People had won, and imposed a Civil War on the free and fighting people of Algeria.
May this Eid bring a new dawn of freedom to your skies.
Eid Greetings to the Long-Suffering People of Turkey
For nearly a century, the Turkish people suffered at the hands of its military – and others – who took away from them their religion, their language, their history and their culture and even forced upon them the kind of dress and clothing they must or must not wear.
And then the Turkish People started to slowly but surely reclaim their freedoms, one after the other, including their political and cultural freedoms. Turkey now has a freely and democratically elected civilian nationalist government and the Turkish people are free to read the Qur’an, call the Adhan in Arabic and wear a Fez if they wanted to. The military now, for the past year or so, is visibly subordinate to civilian authority, at least in appearance. Now, in more than one sense, it is the Military General who salutes the Civilian President of Turkey and not the other way around.
And, as heart-rending as anything else that happened to the Long-Suffering Turkish People over the last 100 years, Turkish young women are now free to attend universities and high schools wearing a scarf on their heads. And now, starting only yesterday – two days from this Eidul Fitr of 1433 – Turkish children and youth are free to take an elective class in their high schools on the Qur’an and the Life of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, if they wished.
Eid Greetings to the Much-Abused Syrian People
How can we forget the much-abused people of Syria this Eid? Like most other Muslim societies over the past 50 or more years, first the military dictator Hafez Al-Assad butchered and brutalized the people of Syria. And now his son Bashar is doing the same thing.
But there are complications.
And those complications come from Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United States as much as from any other source. For whatever it is worth, the Syrian government is firmly in the camp of Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel, the US and their allies in the region – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others – want to break up that pro-Iran alliance and thus soften up Iran for a later attack by Israel, which Israel keeps demanding and threatening all the time. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was reported by Wickileaks as repeatedly asking the United States to “cut of the head of the snake” in Iran.
United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others say the rebels in Syria are freedom fighters. Syrian Government says they are foreign mercenaries financed and armed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, America and others as prelude to the invasion and destruction of Iran.
The Syrian People are the victims of this power play by Iran on the one hand and Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, US and others on the hand. Russia and China have repeatedly vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions authorizing use of force against Syria of the kind that allowed the invasion and destruction of Iraq by the same foreign forces earlier.
We send our most heart-felt greetings of this Eidul Fitr, 1433/2012, to the people of Syria and pray they will soon be free from the oppression of all tyrants, both domestic and foreign, and will live free with a freely and democratically elected government of their own guiding their national affairs.
Eid Greetings to the Most Oppressed People of Afghanistan
And we direct our Eid Greetings to the Free and Fearless Muslim Afghan People who have been waging decade after decade of the fiercest and most fearless resistance, in their mud huts and bare feet and tattered clothes, against some of the most formidable Forces of Tyranny arrayed against them, whether it is the Soviet Union, or NATO or others.
Eid Greetings to All the Muslim People Fighting for Freedom Everywhere
And we direct our Eid Greetings to all those people in Muslim lands, in what is Colonially called the Middle East, who launched their revolutions in more recent times and overthrew Decades of Tyranny by dictators of all kinds, ranging from Qaddafi of Libya, who was publicly lynched by certain elements of the Libyan revolutionaries, to Ben Ali of Tunisia, who escaped at the nick of time, to be granted refuge and safe haven in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Very, Very Special Eid Greetings to the Great People of Egypt
And we in particular direct our very, very special Eid Greetings to the Great People of Egypt, who broke the chains of 60 years of slavery in a most peaceful and perfectly Islamic Revolution and instituted a fairly and freely elected Islamic Government that is working overtime to usher in an unprecedented era of peace, justice, liberty and opportunity for all its citizens, neighbors and the entire world.
And, at the same time, we also direct our Eid Greetings to all those brave Muslim People who are continuing to wage their struggle for Liberty, in one form or another, whether it is in Yemen or Bahrain or Qatar or Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or Jordan or Morocco or Oman or in some other part of the Muslim world.
May This Eidul Fitr 1433/2012 Bring You the Divine Joy of Liberty!
We say to all these brave and wonderful people, both Muslim and non-Muslim: May this Eidul Fitr, 1433/2012, bring all of you in all parts of the world a new era of Liberty, Peace, Justice and Prosperity.
May the days of your bondage end soon and may you all breathe a new air of Perfect Freedom and Human Liberty before too long – under the shadow of God’s Never-Ending Grace: regardless of what your race or religion may happen to be and regardless of what particular part of the world you may be waging your fight for freedom on.
May this blessed Eid bring you and your land and people the Divine Joy of Liberty!
For, Freedom is Islam and there is no Islam where there is no Liberty.
And Tyranny and Islam don’t mix in any form or fashion and at any level.
No Gift Greater than Liberty
There is no gift on earth, and in the life of a human being, greater than the gift of Liberty.
That is why Islam came into this world to confer upon human beings the supreme and sublime gift of Liberty.
And that is also why Islam invited people to liberate themselves from the earthly yoke of political, religious, social and economic bondage to other human beings like themselves – whether they were kings or priests or rich owners of lands and factories – and to submit themselves to the authority of one true God, the Almighty, under the guidance and authority of the Qur’an and following the model and example of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.
And that is also why the Muslim People through the ages did everything in their power to live free, while many of them died the glorious death of martyrs trying to fight all forms of Tyranny over their bodies, minds, cultures and lands.
Month of Fasting Is Also the Month of Qur’an
We bring everyone everywhere the greetings of Eid Al-Fitr 1433/2012.
Eidul Fitr is the Fast-Breaking Feast at the end of the month of Ramadan, which is the most blessed month of fasting. Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic Lunar Calendar in which God Almighty commands all those who believe in him to fast during the day and spend the night in prayer, reflection and repentance.
Ramadan is also the month in which the Qur’an, God’s last and final message to humanity, was given to Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.
Ramadan, thus, is also the Month of the Qur’an par excellence.
Be Happy, Says God: Eidul Fitr and Eidul Ad-ha
Eidul Fitr is one of the two special festivals and occasions of joy and celebration (Eids) God Almighty himself has conferred as a gift upon humanity at the hands of his beloved Prophet, Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.
The other occasion is Eidul Ad-ha, which we will celebrate to coincide with Hajj, in about 70 days to the end of the most blessed month of Ramadan.
Both these Holidays – if you will – are close to being mandated by God for all to celebrate and enjoy: men as well as women and children.
Be happy, seems to say God Almighty, the Most Compassionate and Merciful, with reference to both these blessed days of Eidul Fitr and Eidul Ad-ha. Both these days are a very special Gift of Joy from God to his slaves – the human beings: all human beings.
A Most Loving God
God is a Most Loving God, whose name is Al-Wadood, in addition to being Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem, who does not hesitate or neglect to require his slaves – that is you and me and everyone else – to be happy and to celebrate special occasions of joy from time to time.
And do so in his name.
But he does require, however, that these occasions – like all other times of joy and celebration in life – are free from bouts of drunkenness and debauchery, which, sadly is how human beings mostly know how to celebrate anything.
God’s Love Extends to Everything
And we ask God Almighty to shower on this most noble and joyous occasion of Eidul Fitr 2012/1433 his noblest and finest blessings on everyone, everywhere, the way they all need, and the way his boundless Rahmat – Grace – sees fit.
After all, he does say in the Qur’an that his Rahmat – his mercy and his Grace – extends to everything: Wa Rahmatee Wasi’at Kulla Shaiy.
Reading the Qur’an: How Was This Ramadan Different?
But before you set out on your celebrations, don’t forget to ask yourself the following questions:
How was this Ramadan – 1433 – different for you from your last Ramadan?
Did you, during this Ramadan, 1433, in any way and to any degree, feel closer to God Almighty than you did on all previous Ramadan months?
Did you, during this Ramadan, 1433, read a bit more Qur’an than you did during all previous Ramadan months?
How many Khatm Sharif (cover to cover reading) of the Qur’an did you accomplish or participate in – or attempt or even contemplate – during this Ramadan, 1433?
Truthfulness, Compassion and Love:
Did You Show More of It All This Ramadan?
Did you, during this Ramadan, 1433, cry a bit more intensely and a bit more frequently thinking of God Almighty as compared to all previous Ramadan months?
Did you, during this Ramadan, 1433, in any way and to any degree, feel more loving, more compassionate and more charitable toward the creation – all the creation – of God Almighty than you did in all previous Ramadan months?
Were you, during this Ramadan, 1433, in any way and to any degree, more honest and more truthful in your speech as well as in your behavior and conduct than you did on all previous Ramadan months?
How Will Next Ramadan – 1434/2013 – Be Different?
How Will It Be Better?
Also, did you decide how your next Ramadan – 1434/2013 – was going to be different from all your previous Ramadan months, and compared to this year’s Ramadan of 1433?
How it was going to be better?
And how you were going to make it better for all the creation of God – Muslim as well as non-Muslim; human, animal as well as everything else?
Did you develop some ideas as to how the next Ramadan – 1434/2013 – was going to help you fulfill God’s requirement of Taqwa – piety and fear of God – in a better way and to a greater extent than all the previous months of Ramadan that you have experienced, observed and enjoyed?
What have you decided, should God grant you life and opportunity, to do different – and better – during the next month of Ramadan, 1434/2013?
What new resolutions have you made for the next month of Ramadan, 1434/2013, that will make it possible for you to be closer to God; to read more Qur’an; to be more truthful and honest in your speech and conduct; and to be more loving and compassionate toward God’s creation?
Greetings in Any Language
So, Everyone, Everywhere!
Eid Mubarak!
Kullu 'Aam wa Antum Bi Khaiyir!
Bonne Fete!
Eid Sa’eed!
Bairaminiz Kutlu Olsun!
Eid-i-Shoma Mubarak!
Eidul Fitr Bairam Mubarek Olsun!
Alles Gute Zum Eid!
Selamat Hari Raya!
And in Every Other Language that Anyone Uses Anywhere on This Earth!
END
© 2012 Syed Husain Pasha
Dr. Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at]
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com.
