Of Prayers and Partisanship

Ramzan has just passed.  Of the many programs that sprout up in this month like mould on ten-day-old bread, Aamir Liaquat’s is one of the most popular, and since my mother is a fan I too had been subjected to the program every evening. 
 
In a vain attempt to keep my levels of cynicism from skyrocketing I tried to be exposed to as little of the program as possible.  Mostly I just listened to the pre-iftari transmission while frying pakoras (and sneaking a few) and the dua afterwards, during which I munched irreverently even though my mother and the studio audience quit noshing to bow their head and pray fervently with the maulvis on tv.
 
It is this short prayer, actually, that got me thinking and that I wanted to talk about.  It’s one of the few examples of public prayer, and it is usually conducted on AL’s show by any one of the various Aalims invited to the show.  It lasts about two or three minutes at most, and encompasses a varied mixture of pleas – for the prosperity of Pakistan, for the prosperity of Pakistanis, the prosperity of muslims, for a bettering of our social-political-moral condition, for guidance on all things small and big.
 
What I’ve noticed, however, that throughout the whole month, some odd 29 prayers or so, not once did I see or hear a maulvi pray for anyone other than muslims.  I could be wrong on this, but I was listening fairly closely since I first noticed this discrepancy.  Not once did any maulvi out of the large variety that offered duas, mention non-believers.  Not once did they say, Allah mian, dunya kay haalaat theek kardein (please fix the condition of the world).  Or please god, help our human brothers and sisters in Japan/Haiti/other foreign afflicted place.  The entire focus is on Pakistanis, or at most, the muslim ummah.
 
I was truly disappointed by this.  Why though? As an atheist, I know it doesn’t make a difference whether you pray for world peace or you pray that your neighbour’s vicious dog dies – nothing is affected.  Yet why did the omission of the majority and this selective preference for only those of the same faith bug me?
 
I think it’s because this shows the partisanship any religion holds for its members, to the exclusion of others.  It’s unavoidable, a consequence that follows naturally from any division of humanity into clubs with ‘members’ getting priority. 
 
I do not say this partisanship translates into selfishness in action.  A lot of religious charities donate generously to causes all over the world.  But this partisanship will still and does exist.  And in the case of these maulvis, it extends to point that they will not take ten seconds extra to say a prayer for the world – are stingy even with their words.
 
The world is getting smaller each day.  Our problems are global concerns, not local ones.  When a tragedy happens in any part of the world, even if its as small as the earthquake in Haiti or as big as the floods in Pakistan last year (and their repeat performance this year), the whole world rises up to help.
 
I am not against religion per se.  I am just against unnecessary divides reducing the world into us vs them, whether it is on the basis of nationalism, patriotism or religion.  Which is why I favor secular humanism.  Secular humanism sees the world as a whole..in this philosophy, every human is as important as the next person, every person, no matter what creed, color or religion, is deserving of the chance to live. 
 
In the end, all I want to say is no matter what religion you follow, practice secular humanism too.  In your prayers as in your actions - treat everyone the same. We need to work together to rid the world of its common problems – we need to look beyond these surface trappings of race and religion and see what lies beneath – a fellow human being, a fellow person in need.
 

*An Article written by a friend from Pakistan*