[This is my first attempt in writing a descent article, feedback is profusely appreciated and asked for]
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If you are a quintessential Egyptian pedestrian, running your daily errands in the city, maybe relying on public transportation, or, if you have the luxury, relying on your private means, you may very well hear some popular Egyptian expressions; ones that mostly are emotional punctures from life pressure, filled with rage, anger and hatred towards, ‘7al el donya’ (current state of affairs).
You shall notice that people always know something is badly wrong with their lives and their country, they can converse with you about their subjective views of corruption and chaos on many levels, how they always feel wronged and short, and how they most strongly desire justice and reform. However, you shall also notice, that most people can not really articulate about what is wrong, and this is why, in my opinion, they feel a certain amount of void, that is sometimes only filled with fear and confusion.
They do not have an appropriate set of rules or doctrines to guide them in what to do, what to expect or how to judge, when it comes to anything related to justice or reform, or change generally. They know change is the solution they crave, they just are oblivious when it comes to this question: Change to which state?, or How to change?
I will make a moderate change in subject (or is it not a change in subject), when I quickly discuss religion’s disposition in our lives in the meantime. You maybe surprised by the number of people that think religion can solve everything, but again, they’re intimate with a shallow concept, without having the necessary means to actualize it in reality. On an interesting notion, I think this is religion’s exact disposition, it’s a shallow concept, because if it was not, those people may already have scored some points in making reform.
I will get back later in this article to religion, but I just would like to bring to your attention that it is roughly the only good answer people have now to their dilemma of accomplishing change, as shallow as it may seem, it has some correctness in its essence. [Have you heard someone saying: Democracy will solve everything? you can substitute democracy with as many doctrines or political views as you wish].
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Have you watched the movie, V for Vendetta? Have you felt, that in some scenes, the story had some lines that you knew you had in mind, but never knew a way to tell? Were you captivated by the notion of ‘the idea’?
Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof.
V, set himself out, to fight for the freedom of people, and to bring salvation to them, from the government’s coerced fear and ill-use of power, he believed that change in this way is what people need. They need .. redemption.
Have you heard of Anarchy? that ‘authority’ in entirety should be subjugate to people, and not the opposite, due to not being efficient, governments should be absolutely subdued, and people rule. How does that relate, in your opinion, to chaos?
Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It’s fair! – The Dark Knight
I can list you hundreds of motivational quotes as they like to call them, I can write you many rhetorical speeches about change, anarchy and chaos. But let’s get to invigoration later, I just need you now to concentrate with me. Let’s pick, for the sake of composing my point, the following scheme, to try and change Egypt:
- We shall form a party or a cult, with some political visions and goals.
- We shall sketch our plot and plan the major coup of all time, and take over everything.
- We shall redeem people, accomplish the reform they’ve been dreaming of, and they shall live happily.
Form a party
I, myself, am quite impressed with that anarchy thing, anarchy doesn’t come as a reform, it does come as a deform, annul everything, and then form from ground zero. Let’s assume that we managed to form that cult, scored a political recognition at the meantime, had our publicity and outreach completely successful, and actually made some people think: ‘Anarchy is the solution for everything’.
The coup
Well, before planning a coup, we must harbor some important knowledge, we have to understand people, we have to become intimate with their identities, religious ones, societal and political; we have to know what they need and want, we have to know everything about people, so that we can predict how will they react.
With a hero (along with a mask most probably), let’s assume we contrived a most notorious revolution, and the outcomes were as exactly as expected, and we actually were able to take over authority, and achieved ground zero from a ruling point of view.
The aftermath
The reform, the stories of the building is now being built, but we’ve done our studies, we can cope with people needs, we shall contain all of them, and we can solve all issues. Let’s assume we’ve done that too. Our sole governor now is people’s consent, not coerced power.
People will be grateful, we will live happily.
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My sketch was a little bit juvenile, was it not? I did not discuss many important issues, for example, what will be the case with our relationship with the outer world? How will our economy go? what will be the case with our culture, what will be our religion, or, how will we deal with this issue anyways? How about not paying regard to my sketch, and let’s talk about the perfect sketch. The sketch where all obstacles are overrun smoothly, and where the audacity to contain and rule the human race is actually existent.
If this sketch existed, even more, was successfully executed, what would that mean? It would speak richly, of how intelligent the human race is, when it comes to governing and controlling its own existence, it would mean that man is able to devise the necessary set of rules, laws and morals that can govern his being, in all ages. It would denote that man can resolve all his issues, and that he just needs time to do so. It would mean human life is absolutely explicable to man. Therefore, he will not need any kind of help or outside revelation to assist him with making earth a happier planet. It would finally mean that man does not need a higher form of power whatever it was, and in symbol, will regard religion and God, as absolutely useless.
And here, dear readers, I ought to stop you, and introduce you to the concept of: thinking by contradiction. The method has only one simple step; that is to begin your thinking process, by the end result abstractly, and then walk the chain of events step by step, backwardly. And I declare it here, that if the perfect sketch existed, I will be the first one to declare my atheism, because in that case, my mind will contradict my creator’s very core reason of existence [which is man needs God, man worships God], which will be nothing short of ludicrous and libelous in that case.
The other way around, which in fact is yet another proof that God do indeed exist as clear as a green leaf with breeze drops of divine beauty, the other way around, is to begin the chain by actually saying: ‘The perfect sketch is impossible’ or saying: ‘it does exist, but it’s one and only one, we just chose not to pick it’, and as an exercise, I’m sure you’ll walk along backwards and see why there’s religion in the first place! And that any sketch is juvenile in essence, because we do not have what it takes to make it otherwise. We need terrible help. [So, after all, democracy is juvenile .. what a bummer]
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A quick leap back to anarchy and chaos, and after giving it thought, you shall realize that chaos is actually the best option after religion, in governing the human race, it is indeed the fairest option, any others will do nothing but make things way worse, and history records fatality rates, so go compare between how much people were killed in chaos, and how much were killed in democracy. You’ll be surprised! in fact, take this millennium only for a starter! [God damn you America!]
So, the void, the … problem!, what the typical Egyptian pedestrian feels these days, the corruption he feels, the chaos he’s living in, on all levels, and to his surprise, is his best option now. And, in the most bold font I declare all political parties here in Egypt that aims at replacing the current regime, with all their visions, objectives, and goals of change and reform .. and justice and whatever fancy rhetorical things they keep shouting out loud, I declare them all as absolutely idiotic and hypocritical or just completely illiterate. Period.
Any trial now, to make change, will be a massive liability, it will harm people the most, it will be like breaking a straw that holds a bridge! All will fall. Worse than that, it’ll be coming with good intentions, so people won’t actually see what’s coming towards them, the stampede that will crush them will be so in disguise they won’t discern their doom in it at the right time.
It’s very bad, but it relatively is the best one can conjure in the meantime, change on a scale that large, is simply not our specialty any more (actually never was), and our mere devotion should be to just .. keep it that way for now. Yes, people live in slums, people are hungry, rich people are arrogant, our societal equation is screwed up, we’re falling apart, we are .. and we are .. I know that, I live that, but believe me, that’s the best state of affairs now, and God is really merciful.
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So, we now know that the only one solution, the one true uprise to a perfect state, to a real reform, is through religion, because religion simply depicts a bond, that’s power only manifested and bestowed by its creator, and because God is the most divine, the bond by proxy is. The bond, to be established, needed a prophet 14 centuries ago, and since then, it needed people, leaders, scholars and monarchs, who can realize the bond, keep it and save it through the days, upholding people, through God’s divine unbreakable doctrines and laws. Until, one day, the bond was broken ruthlessly in the Ottoman state, lead already by perishing its outreach across the Islamic nation. And since then, chaos prevailed, and I believe God’s mercy and care let it only to prevail that far, the prospect could have been absolutely more worse and evil than that.
However, having the intellect to say religion is the true uprise, the all needed redemption, is some thing; making the uprise .. is so another. In fact, if we know our religion, we would know that our prophet actually predicted that chaos is inevitable, actually its shards started to poison the Islamic states after the prophet’s death immediately, but nonetheless, I’m talking about the current state. What have we been told to do when we reach this state? Have we been told to erupt riots and give religion back its sovereignty? Have we been told, to plot sketches and plans? Have we been told to circumvent religion in a political representation, with the intention (oh, how smart!) to reestablish the lost bond?
Can we reestablish the bond? okay; time for some thinking by contradiction, if we were told to try and reestablish it, and if we knew we’re able to do that, then why would our Prophet predict it as a dooms age?! why would he be utterly scared for us? Why would he be concerned if we could manage our affairs and build the bond through our current trials and achieve change? The fact that it was predicted should tell us that the solution is to behold the current state of affairs! trying to seize what’s left of our religious beliefs and morals, live day by day until death creeps upon us. And that’s exactly what he told us to do.
Oh my god. Religion too tells us to do that! Religion knew that chaos is the best option at the current time, religion do NOT advice a plan sketch! God created religion, and God actually knows better. Religion predicted that chaos will be upfront, and that religion itself will be strange .. it’ll be something so marginalized that people will not see the power in it, they will not see that it’s the solution to the very paradox of human existence. They might know it but it won’t be effective in practice, or otherwise, God would’ve told us about the exact sketch to plot and the exact reform to plan for.
So, I especially, then, declare whoever thinks he’s a religious political party as utterly stupid. Period.
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So, what is the morale of the article? Let me keep things clear and list it in points, so they can be comprehended easily:
- We need to get more intimate with religion. One has to think and contemplate about God and religion all the time. You shall find the lead easily, just .. start.
- Thinking by contradiction proved to be very smart, and can conclude arguments very quickly.
- Things are, because God, his Prophet and his Religion tell us they are. If you believe in that, you will comprehend the world.
- Atheists, or wait, anything-ists are people with juvenile delinquency.
- The change you can score, is inversely proportional to how big the scale it needs is. That said, you can actually change an umpteenth of things, you just need to know what those things are. [Hint: stop telling lies and spreading rumors].
- We do not need revolution. We need intellect to be ready for the end when it comes. Want to know about the end? again, get intimate with religion.
- One has to learn how to appreciate what they have, and always start from there.
- Chaos is not fair. It just has few rivals, of which none are fair. Religion is the fairest, because God is just.
And Islam … is religion.
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Nice post. Really helps ppl stir their thoughts around, and ppl really need that!
Sheikh Youssef El Qaradawy once said, that we now need people who just understand religion and do the fara2ed, and focus more on our applied lives, that we need more patriotic scientists, engineers, politicians, doctors, and professors than ‘do3aa’ telling other muslims if they should raise a finger and put it down once or repetitively in tashahod. We need people who really “understand” what religion is, and apply that. We need people who can lead a better nation and a better world.
I believe one other problem we face nowadays, is how parents brought up their children uncultured, ignorant and afraid to make changes to the worlds they live in – and one main reason behind that, is that this is what most parents are these days! The conspiracy theory (regardless who you assume stands behind it) and its results created humans who are weak and afraid to face the facts, they only live for earning a few pennies to feed themselves, and a “5aleena-fe-7alna” ideology. People no longer understand that “no pain, no gain”, or even “la yo3′ayer Allahu ma beqawm 7ata yo3′ayero ma be2anfosehom”. They no more believe that abstract values, as dignity or pride for instance, worth far much more than materialistic stuff – and hence this comes at a higher price!
However, it brings more hope into the world seeing that at least a few people .. understand, and believe!
Thanks for the great post .. and that’s one long post, dude :D
You’re definitely right, and about the post length, well .. it’s stereotyped as ‘article’ .. so .. :D
Well let me first congratualte on your writing so true and loved your lines which is really something to catch your attention from the motion pictures.
That being said, you have to keep in mind that people would never be satisfied the grass is always greener on the other side approach always get to them which I always reply to with my Monet reply, which are oil paintings that from afar seems perfect but once you get relatively close you would find it full of cracks. But people always seeks something different what they do not have and the continous state of disatisfaction is what drove most people to drugs to seek some sort of mind numbness.
A person once told me that “eldonia” is called like that from “Eldono” which is being low and ugly it is supposed to be not perfect to give us always hard times to shape the persons we are every single moment. I mean have you noticed that the countries which do not have problems have a very high rate in sucide. They feel numb from the lack of challanges. I would say take the world as it comes and look at yourself and improve it if we all did this we might go somewhere, instead of waiting for a higher power to drive us there like sheep and then complain that we do not like the shape of its cain. Sorry if my comment was too long but it really got me thinking. Two thumb up for that :)
The problem is that people usually solve problems the wrong way, or solve the wrong problems in entirety.
Thanks :)
That is very interesting article. I think that our everlasting problem is that we may always set good goals but always use the wrong strategies at the wrong time!
you couldn’t have put that more eloquent! really! and thanks, glad you found it interesting :)
Well u Started with a Movie i know from the back of my heart, but u forgot to mention this part:
“People Shouldnt be Afraid of their Governmnents,Governments Should be Affraid of Their People”.
And that doesnt need to be discussed here as you know we’re being WATCHED currently by the Super Duper Secret Services :D. and it’s politics and am not into it as well.
also you didnt note to the part of ‘People Oppose to Change by Nature’ and that appeared in the part of Gays, Lesbians and Muslims as they called in the Movie. this Change has made them afraid, and conquer fear, you must be fear itself. this methodology was the Solution Counselor Sutler used to perform his Authority regulations.
Also, when you are weak, you can Speak as u can, people wnt listen because u are helpless and weak. and probably might be called insane.
dnt forget the factor of people who’s job is to make u mute or silent, and those jobs that u must be unidentified persona anymore.
Ideas are bullet Proof, but they must be supported. and i say supported alone, because it contains a lot in meaning.
the Wind of Change must come after a Catastrophe so that you can smell the Breath of Change and believe in it.
at last this is all my opinion about the Whole Change thingie, in Egypt or the Universe.