An introduction

Why a difficult name like Payaam-e-mashriq?

Actually, it isn’t such a mouthful. It’s the title of one of the most famous volume of verses by Iqbal – the world famous Pakistani poet. It means ‘message from the east’. And that is what this blog is all about.

Now let me tell you who I am.

“What do I say, when someone asks  about me?” I asked my daughter, Waliya. She said “You ask them … ‘how much time do you have?’”

‘So, how much time do you have?’

Not much? Ok. Fine. So, let’s  say , that I am an artist, writer and an educationist. And this is my blog on message from the East.

Photo by Waliya Najib

I just want to continue something beautiful that has been happening in the past few centuries in the world before it got interrupted with bombs and what not. - This continuous exchange of ideas between the East and the West.

Writing the script for a television documentary ‘Islam in Europe was an eye-opener for me. It was  based on the contributions of Muslims to Europe. How the Europeans learnt from the Muslims in the fields of science, architecture, mathematics, and the arts. How,  a thousand years ago, the mosque of Cordoba was a great architectural design in its times and how the Al Hamra was made. It was fascinating. And the biggest thing was, to realize that the true Renaissance was the one that took place several centuries earlier from the one that is taught in the Western books. It was the time when the Muslims of Spain became part of the glorious era where the Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived and worked in harmony with each other. -A time of learning and glory enjoyed by all.

Life was tough, but it was getting better due to harmony and peace.  Of course things kept changing between the East and the West. And as they grew apart, and Muslims left their pursuit for science and technology, they started falling behind, while the west gained momentum.

Now, we find a void in both worlds. In the East, the creativity of technology is lacking, and in the West, the power and strength of spirituality is lacking.

Why can’t we fill this gap?

I recently read in The Blink, that if we say we want to be fair to all, and be just with people belonging to other cultures and regions, then we can only do that if we make an effort to learn more about them. To find out what makes them tick. And then only can we begin to understand how things happen and why.

That is where I come in.

I believe, I am the perfect person for it too. Sitting right here, in my Islamabad home. Which I recently built in spite of facing great hardships, after the death of my husband. He was a brilliant officer of the Pakistan Air Force. A sword of honor winner, and an outstanding aeronautical engineer. What with me being an artist, and him being the engineer – our home has been a picture of art and science. He would apply what he learnt in our lives and in our home. So, many times, what we saw on BBC’s program on latest computer capabilities was what was being used in our home too!

My three daughters grew up in this environment, where we kept moving house every year or so. With the result that my Waliya has changed 18 schools!

Two days ago I read an article about a person who had gone through a trauma. And she said it is called PTSD… ‘oh, so that is what I am going through!’ Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Right.

You are wondering what has that got to do with this blog?

Everything!

Now, I just sit and wonder how did I go through it? How can I sit here and laugh and enjoy a good joke? How can I still relax – after losing my husband to cancer in less than two months, how did I complete my house without any funds? How am I still fighting court cases? How am I taking care of my daughter, and paying my staff and fighting for the insurance and pension?

How?

Its my spiritual strength, which has come to my rescue. It is purely through my relationship with my Allah. My God. He helped me. He helped me at every step. And the words of the Quran, which I read regularly. The particular verses that I chanted again and again giving me strength at every step. There is no strength …but from Allah. I saw how miraculously things started working out. How, with no money at my disposal, I was determined to live in my own home, which was incomplete. I moved in with the help of my friends, into a home without any heating systems in freezing cold weather. My eleven month old grand child also was with me, though, I kept asking my Nataliya to go to my parent’s home to keep the baby in a warm place, but she said, “no, I want to be with you at this time.’ I was afraid for my life. I was afraid for the cold, and scared they would walk in and take my home, just as they had tried to take my car.

While I was trying to save my husband’s life in the hospital, I was fighting the battle of my life with another cancer. My husband’s cancer was called GBM IV, (I wonder what the other cancer would be called? (Greedy Grabbers Syndrome?)

So, this Payaam-e-mashriq is all about. It’s a radio call.

No, I am not asking for funds, or help or supplies. I am a proud Pakistani, who loves her country (warts and all!) and I will stand on my own feet and manage my own problems myself.

I’m asking for understanding, empathy, warmth, kindness and a little time for better understanding of each other.