Safoora Carnage, Sabeen Mahmud and The Extremist Inside Us

The news that the Safoora Carnage (the heinous shooting of innocent Ismailis on the bus) and the murder of Sabeen Mahmud (The T2F Director who was brutally shot recently) was conducted by Saad Aziz (a business graduate from IBA) and Muhammad Ishrat Aziz (an engineer from SSUET) has sent shivers down the spine of all of us living in the affluent upper middle class "bubble" of Karachi. My friend who has migrated to Canada had posted on his social media account that we all have to look at the little Taliban hidden inside all of us. Sadly he is right.

These cold hearted killers a very violent example of the religious extremism that now lurks in the middle and upper classes. This thought process which justifies the claiming of innocent lives for the greater good is in fact the manifestation of evil.

We all have forgotten the basic tenets of humanity and that to respect human life is the first and foremost principle of any civilized society. So what is the solution then to this growing violence of extremism?

The only solution is to follow the path of the Sufi and to start loving everyone around you regardless of sect, creed or faith. For it is in only love that the true beauty of human existence lies. We all should listen to the beating of the heart and start listening to God's greatest gift of love. Love respect and tolerance shape us forever.

To resort to violence and to kill innocent people in retaliation to atrocities of the state is not a proper response. Instead love, respect and the value of human rights must be spread to everyone. Following the path of the heart is not an easy task and one must be willing to face the difficulties that flow through these decisions. However, in the long term it is only through humanity, peace and love that we can improve as a nation.

I conclude this with the quote of Shams Tabrizi:

"It’s easy to love a perfect God, unblemished and infallible that He is. What is far more difficult is to love fellow human beings with all their imperfections and defects. Remember, one can only know what one is capable of loving. There is no wisdom without love. Unless we learn to love God’s creation, we can neither truly love nor truly know God."