Of Islam, Muslims, and Our Crimes Infested Society

By Amir Khan 

The religion of over one billion people, Islam, as a way of life, gives us the key principles to live our lives in accordance with the will of Allah Almighty. Every Muslim desires to spend  their life in the light of teachings of Islam, with an emphasis on the fundamental values. Being Muslims, we have a strong belief on the Day of Judgment and the holy book Quran which is revealed by God to our holy prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), as guidance for the humankind. It teaches us the basic principles of our life and these teachings have often been exemplified by our Prophet as displayed in his sayings and practices. Islam gave us some moral and principles that every one of us should practice in our daily lives so that we can live our lives to the fullest, with dignity and honor, and represent our religion in the best way and get an appropriate reward in the world hereafter.

Having established that we Muslims have a complete and infallible system of guidance, now let’s ponder on why we are still unable to live our lives in accordance with the teachings of Islam?  Why our societies cannot rid itself of ruthless crimes taking place in our societies every day? Why is there so much greed? Why are our societies infested with rape, murder, theft, lies, deceit, cheating and robbing?

Pakistan, despite of being an Islamic country, is infested with crimes, violation of rights, injustice. Every day we read about innocent children being raped, maimed, killed. The trend is also increasing in Gilgit-Baltistan, which has till now seen relative lesser crimes.

One of the most horrific examples of a crime in recent years was the dark and dreary incident involving the sexual abuse and heinous murder of Didar Hussain, a resident of Tashnalote village, Upper Ishkoman, Ghizer. He was a student of Grade 7 and belonged to a poor family. On the black day of 4 February 2019, at almost 6pm, he went to the shop near his home and never came back. His father waited for his son to back home but when it got too late he tried to contact his relatives. There was no information about where he had vanished. He had even not imagined that a gang had kidnapped his son, raped and murdered him and thrown his body in the Qurumbar river. The body, hand and feet tied, surfaced within a few days. The criminals, from a local family, had tried their best to hide the body, but the secret came out.

An investigation ensued, leading to the arrest of seven people. As the investigation started, and the details came out, the society erupted in rage. There were protest demonstration in various parts of Gilgit-Baltistan; people came out to demand justice for the family, and punishment for the perpetrators of the heinous crimes.

The criminals confessed their crime. Speedy trial was conducted and the culprits were sentenced to death and imprisonment, depending on their role in the crime.

Seven months on, the parents of Shaheed Didar Hussain have not spent a single day without thinking about the brutality their son to face at the hands of sick minded criminals. They continue thinking about the reason their son had to go through it. Wast it fate? Was it because humanity is dead? Is it sheer savagery of some criminal minds? Is it lack of compassion? It is because of heartlessness? Was it because of poverty?

Didar’s parents may never get the perfect answer to their questions, but in the rape and murder of their son, they have lost something very precious. The space in their lives may never be filled.

Islam teaches us to live in  peace, with love, care, and compassion. It forbids us from taking a person’s life. Why is it that we have so many Muslims in our societies, but no Islam?

The contributor is a student of Social Sciences at NUML, Islamabad.