Saima Sher Fazal

On our way to holistic Communication for unity and integration : Body language, words, images and sounds are the most basic modes of communication we use in daily life to interact with fellow human beings. Unfortunately modern technology has lessened our utilisation of these natural media and we rely more on artificial media which were merely supposed to facilitate and not replace the natural media. Artificial because a picture or a video of an event, place or person is never free of a focus and is not the actual event, place or person! That focus is magnified by facilitating modern media taking the freedom of interpretation away from the receiver and ultimately putting it in the hands of those controlling the focus. When these artificial media produce content for the masses its actually only a way to produce focus. As McLuhan rightly pointed out that : “The medium is the message” We are fed with thoughts that might not have anything to do with our area of action. Disrupting ...

Biases; rejection, isolation or acceptance? A natural sense of justice demands that there should be some measure or method to deal with our biases. We all have biases and are never rid of them. Old biases only shape into new ones or are moulded into new ones with learning and growth. Usually biases are considered as something opposing justice or equity but if we take a step back and look at the bigger picture it is these very partialities that define us and our existence. Sometimes these biases grow so much that they begin to impede the rights of others, this is why it is very important to have a criterion or a methodology to deal with them. Islam offers us the most realistic and practical criterion. None other is as easily applicable. The Quran is literally the Furqan as Allah ji himself states in the Quran. It takes our biases and moulds them without complete rejection. It puts us on a journey. This is what justice and equity is actually about in this world. A journey of self r...

“We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” C. S. Lewis The Muslim Woman today needs to ask herself what does progress mean to her and how will she define it.  Will she accept the contemporary definition of progress offered to her or will it be a more natural consequence of her own journey? The contemporary standards against which female progress is gauged like ‘gender parity’ and ‘gender equality’ are far from becoming a reality any time soon. Given the condition of women all around the world, it would be foolish to claim that getting more jobs, earning more money, getting a degree, climbing mountains or even travelling into space is the sort of human progress we should be pressing for when ‘female objectification’ throughout international media is constantly perpetuating “violence against women’ and is shaping male and...

خیال اور آگہی: ڈارون کے بندر نے آج کے انسان کو یہ بھلا دیا کہ رب العزت نے  علم انسان کو دے کر پھر دنیا بھیجا۔ اس سے پتا یہ چلا کہ علم انسان کی جاگیر نہیں رب کی دین ہے۔ اس علم کی ظاہری اشکال مختلف ہو سکتی ہیں مگر اس کی اصل ہیئت کی تین ہی صورتیں ہیں۔ وحی اِلھام خیال وحی کا سلسلہ رب العزت نے انبیاء  کے ساتھ ہی ختم کردیا اور رہتی دنیا تک قرآن کریم کی صورت میں ہمارے لئے فرقان اور ازلی ہدایات  محفوظ کردیں۔ الھام  دراصل خیال ہی کی تربیت یافتہ صورت ہے۔ فرق صرف حوالگی کا ہے۔ وہ  سوچ جو رب کے حوالے کردی گئی ہو  وہاں خیال الھام بن جاتا ہے۔ آج کے انسان نے اپنے خیال کو  LTD اور TM کردیا ہے۔ یعنی: Private limited, Trade Mark( All rights reserved) ایسی کمال لطافت کا شرک کہ بت کی شناخت ہی نہ ہو پائے۔ بھئی  inspiration کی بھی تو کوئی سبیل  ہوتی ہے کہ نہیں؟ یا  انسان خود ہی  کو کُل سمجھ بیٹھا ہے۔ اپنے خیال کی ملکیت کے دعوے چھوڑ دیجیے اور اپنی سوچ کو بھی رب کے حوالے کیجئے۔ آپ کوئی پہلے انسان نہیں جس کو خیال آیا ہو۔ مقابلہ...

The limitation and partiality of human kind is rationale enough to conclude that it is not the ability or belief of the ‘self’ which makes one successful but the lack of thereof and in its stead a strong belief in the ability, control and sovereignty of a God Almighty. The consequent method then applied has in its basis a belief of the one and the whole and not of the partial or the limited. If such is the basis of belief then the concept of self respect stemming from it will be based in a sense of duty and responsibility automatically making it easier for human beings to deal with limitations and hurdles. Giving birth to hope. If the concept of self respect stems from a claim to be entitled or deserving then it can lead to nothing else but confusion, hurt and divisions. Don’t believe in yourself, believe in God! The restorer of all trusts , the source! Self doubt is natural. To be sure of ones self is un natural! That’s something iblees did which resulted in his ins...

سوال؟ آج کی دنیا میں جدید تحقیق کی ساری بنیاد اس ‘سوال’ پر ہی ہے۔ قرآن بھی ہم کو سوال کی حقیقت سمجھاتا ہے ۔ انسان  کی کسی بھی سعی میں کاملیت کا تصور اپنے آپ میں باطل ہے۔ قرآن میں بے شمار سوالوں کی اقسام کو ہم دو بڑی  اقسام میں بانٹ سکتے ہیں۔ ایک وہ سوال جو عوام الناس نے کئے۔ دوسرے  وہ جو انبیاء و صالحین نے کئے۔ دونوں  زمرات میں  جو واضح فرق ہے اُس کو زیر تدبر لانا اس تحریر کا مقصود ہے۔ سادہ الفاظ میں یہ کہ انسان کا سوال کرنا اُس کے مخلوق ہونے پردلالت ہے۔ اور   ایک  سوال کی قسم گمان میں اپنی بنیادرکھتی ہے جبکہ دوسری یقین  میں۔ گمان صیح بھی ہوسکتا ہے اور غلط بھی جبکہ یقین اپنی سچائی  کو خود شکل دیتا ہے۔ گمان وقت ضائع کراتا ہے۔ یقین راستہ بناتا ہے۔ گمان گمراہی کا سبب بنتا ہے اور یقین ہدایت کا۔ گمان وسائل کے پیچھے بھگاتا ہے۔ یقین وسائل کو اپنی طرف کھینچتا ہے۔ اپنے سوال کی بنیاد میں اگر ہم یقین کو  چن لیں تو تحقیق کی بنیاد اصل میں ہوگی ۔ اینٹ کی جگہ بھی خود بخود بنتی جائےگی اور  اس کی شکل بھی آپ سے آپ سانچے میں ڈھل ک...

Propaganda and advertisement: The not so modern yet quite prevalent tools of propaganda and advertisement have been and still are being extensively used to influence for some purpose or profit. The important point is to ponder over their effectiveness and to revisit our definitions of influence and profit. The ‘why’s’ and ‘what’s’ of a method. The human being has a huge urge to control and possess control of other people and their resources. This urge is not to be given in to. Propaganda and Advertisment are two of the many such tools used to take control of what people choose to live with or without. The initial ‘why’ in this hierarchy of influence again is quite problematic. If we challenge the ‘why’ the whole equation can change. Simply put, the ‘why’ of the corporate mindset is to extract profit by any means possible. Since impossibility of looting openly is  evident as it’s an established vice thus more sophisticated methods are applied to help an individu...