Riaz Haq's Ramzan Speech

[Riaz Haq]

Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. Al-Quran 13:11

Muslims around the world have welcomed the holy month of Ramadan once again this year. Mosques and the Muslim mass media are resonating with the usual exhortations to fasting and extra prayers to earn maximum reward during the most blessed month of the Islamic calendar.

As I hear these exhortations, I am thinking in my own mind as to what would be a perfect sermon that would be most relevant to contemporaneous Muslims, particularly Muslims in Pakistan today. It is unlikely that I would be asked to deliver a khutba this month. However, if I were asked, here's what I would say:

My Dear Muslim Brothers and Sisters:

Assalam-o-Alaikum.

I begin in the name of Allah, the most beneficent and the most merciful.

"Ramadan is the (month) in which the Quran was sent down, as a guide to mankind and a clear guidance and judgment (so that mankind will distinguish from right and wrong).." (Quran 2:183)


Clearly, the Holy Quran is our guide to living our lives as Muslims. It is about praying, fasting and giving to the poor. However, it's clearly not just about Huqooq ul Allah. It's as much about Huqooq ul Ibad as it is about Huqooq ul Allah.

What does respect for Huqooq ul Ibad mean in Pakistan's context?

1. Respect Human Life:

First, the respect for Huqooq ul Ibad means that we should respect the needs and the rights of our fellow human beings. Not just Muslims. But all humankind. The Quran  (13:117) says "And We have sent you not
but as a mercy for the 'Alameen"
(all creation)". Our Prophet Muhammad  (PBUH) came to us as "Rehmat ul lil Alameen", not just Rehmat ul lil Muslimeen. The first among these rights is the right to life. We must not accept or condone the taking of innocent human life under any circumstances. We must not sympathize with groups such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban who proudly take "credit" for killing innocent people.

2. Do Not Steal:

Second, the respect for Huqooq ul Ibad means that we must not steal, and yes, that includes stealing electricity. We must not "fix" our meters to avoid paying fully and honestly for what we owe to the electric company or any other utility companies.

Bribe in Ramadan

Please take seriously the ads such as the following from Peshawar Electric Supply Company: "Do your fasting, pay zakat (charitable donations) and serve your parents, but do these things by the light of legal electricity."

3. Earn an Honest Living:

Third, the respect for Huqooq ul Ibad means earning an honest living. We must not use fasting as an excuse for not doing an honest day's work for our employers. Breaking your fast with food or beverages that have not been honestly earned will void your fasting and prayers.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam:

We often lament the decline of the Muslim world in the last few centuries. We vociferously complain about corruption and violence in our countries. We often pray to Allah SWT to make things better for us. But we  must heed Allah's words in the Holy Quran: Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.  This Ramadan will be another wasted opportunity if we don't begin to act to make things better for ourselves. As Allah SWT says in the Holy Quran (13:11):

Surah Ar-Ra'ad in Al-Quran 13:11

Translation: For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah . Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron.


Here's how Allama Iqbal captured the spirit of this Quranic ayah in the following Urdu couplet:

Khuda nay Aaj tak us qaum ki halat nahi bedli
No ho jis ko khyaal aap apni halat kay badalnay ka


Here's a video discussion on Huqooq ul Ibad in Islam:


Respecting Rights in Ramadan; Abbottabad Commission Report; BBC Doc... from WBT TV on Vimeo.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Is Ramadan an Excuse to not Work? 

Huqooq ul Ibad--Respecting Rights of Fellow Humans

Appeal to Stop Power Theft in Ramadan

Ramadan Commercialization By Mass Media

Misaq e Madia ad Jinnah's Vision of Pakistan

The Prophet I Know

[Riaz Haq]

In the first batch of ratings for the month of Ramadan from Pakistan, ARY Digital has been crowned the clear leader.
According to Medialogic data for Females CnS (calculated 15 minute time-bands), ARY Digital grabbed 1285 GRPs in the first ten days of Ramadan.
Express Entertainment boasted of 1230 GRPs, while Hum TV was a distant third with 559 GRPs.
In further good news for ARY Digital, its gameshow ‘Jeeto Pakistan’ raked in 8.62 TRPs between 19:30 and 22:00 on Wednesday 9th July. During the same period, Express Entertainment was second with 5.18 TRPs, A Plus in third with 2.13 TRPs and Urdu 1 in fourth with 1.43 TRPs. In the UK, ‘Jeeto Pakistan’ is aired at 20:30 on ARY Digital.

- See more at: http://www.media247.co.uk/bizasia/pakistan-ratings-ary-digital-lead...

[Riaz Haq]

After ‘#thebiggestloser ,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight as #metabolism Slowed. #weightloss #NBC #reality
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss....

Danny Cahill stood, slightly dazed, in a blizzard of confetti as the audience screamed and his family ran on stage. He had won Season 8 of NBC’s reality television show “The Biggest Loser,” shedding more weight than anyone ever had on the program — an astonishing 239 pounds in seven months.

When he got on the scale for all to see that evening, Dec. 8, 2009, he weighed just 191 pounds, down from 430. Dressed in a T-shirt and knee-length shorts, he was lean, athletic and as handsome as a model.

“I’ve got my life back,” he declared. “I mean, I feel like a million bucks.”

Mr. Cahill left the show’s stage in Hollywood and flew directly to New York to start a triumphal tour of the talk shows, chatting with Jay Leno, Regis Philbin and Joy Behar. As he heard from fans all over the world, his elation knew no bounds.

But in the years since, more than 100 pounds have crept back onto his 5-foot-11 frame despite his best efforts. In fact, most of that season’s 16 contestants have regained much if not all the weight they lost so arduously. Some are even heavier now.

The results, the researchers said, were stunning. They showed just how hard the body fights back against weight loss.

“It is frightening and amazing,” said Dr. Hall, an expert on metabolism at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. “I am just blown away.”

It has to do with resting metabolism, which determines how many calories a person burns when at rest. When the show began, the contestants, though hugely overweight, had normal metabolisms for their size, meaning they were burning a normal number of calories for people of their weight. When it ended, their metabolisms had slowed radically and their bodies were not burning enough calories to maintain their thinner sizes.

Researchers knew that just about anyone who deliberately loses weight — even if they start at a normal weight or even underweight — will have a slower metabolism when the diet ends. So they were not surprised to see that “The Biggest Loser” contestants had slow metabolisms when the show ended.

What shocked the researchers was what happened next: As the years went by and the numbers on the scale climbed, the contestants’ metabolisms did not recover. They became even slower, and the pounds kept piling on. It was as if their bodies were intensifying their effort to pull the contestants back to their original weight.

Mr. Cahill was one of the worst off. As he regained more than 100 pounds, his metabolism slowed so much that, just to maintain his current weight of 295 pounds, he now has to eat 800 calories a day less than a typical man his size. Anything more turns to fat.

‘A Basic Biological Reality’

The struggles the contestants went through help explain why it has been so hard to make headway against the nation’s obesity problem, which afflicts more than a third of American adults. Despite spending billions of dollars on weight-loss drugs and dieting programs, even the most motivated are working against their own biology.