Being someone who was British-born with Pakistani ancestry and has never visited his ancestral country, let alone anywhere else in the subcontinent, I knew I was in for a unique experience. However, nothing could have prepared me for what I would experience in my two week trip to the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka.
The first thing which caught my attention was the sheer beauty of the country. As I was landing I could see lush green palm trees everywhere. The bright rising sun emerging between the vast greenland immediately brought to mind the image of the national flag. However, without a doubt the most beautiful part of Bangladesh was its people. From the children to the uncles, their Islamic nature was evident and shone through with warmth.
It was normal to see many of the youth growing beards and wearing hijab despite the stigma against this from the minority elites through their media. I had the opportunity to visit a few masaajid which were always full and lively – an ordinary weekday dhuhr congregation could easily be mistaken for the weekly Friday jumu’ah. The Friday jumu’ahs in turn could easily be mistaken for a football match. The masaajid, despite them being very large in size and capacity, were full to the brim on Fridays with many, sometimes most, having to pray outside. On one occasion, for jumu’ah, I had the opportunity to visit the largest masjid in Dhaka (also the 10th largest in the world): Baitul Mukarram, which boasts a capacity of more than 40,000. Despite arriving well in advance of the khutbah I couldn’t even get a place in the main hall. After completing the salah I could only see a swarm of musallis as far as the eye would reach – getting out was no easy endeavour.
Whenever I would roam the streets wearing a thobe, I would frequently receive the warmest greetings of “Assalamu Alaikum” from my brothers. The sisters also carried themselves with respect and dignity, many of them wearing hijab and niqab. I decided to do a random poll to get an idea of how many on average wore hijab. So as I was journeying through town on a fairly long auto-rickshaw ride I took a sample of 100 sisters. I was pleasantly surprised to find the results were 75% in favour of hijab. As for the 25%, it is no exaggeration to say that the worst dressed from amongst them would be considered highly modest by Western standards. This is quite a result given the attempts to Westernise the country in general and the capital city in particular.
According to the locals, the Islamic manifestation of the people has increased exponentially over the years. On one occasion a middle-aged security guard at a restaurant spoke to me whilst I was alone and asked me where I was from. When I told him I was from Pakistan he embraced me, kissed my forehead and put his hands over my head and shoulders. How beautiful it was to see that despite the efforts to preserve and promote nationalism, the Ummah is abandoning this idea in place of Islamic unity. Despite their efforts, the kuffar’s plans will fail as this Ummah has a natural brotherhood between its followers causing the Ummah to yearn to live together and resume the Islamic way of life. Their plans will fail as they are built upon a kufr foundation and are consequently baatil (false). Allah (swt) says:
{… إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا}
“…Indeed is falsehood, (by nature), ever bound to perish.” [Al-Isra : 81]
We should not allow ourselves to be deceived into believing that these national borders are stronger than the aqeedah of Islam, fatalistically thinking the Ummah cannot unite due to the poisonous nationalism of the past and all the evil that it brought. For indeed, the Aws and Khazraj were the most bitter of enemies who were united by the aqeedah of Islam for the sake of establishing the deen and they were Mushrik! Allah (swt) says:
{…وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا وَكُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُم مِّنْهَا ۗ…}
“…And remember the favour of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it…” [Aale-Imran : 103]
The economic situation in Bangladesh was a strange sight to behold, but one which I am accustomed to seeing in the West: the disturbingly clear divide between the rich and poor. It was not uncommon to see well-guarded, luxurious, high-rise flats on one side of the road and dishevelled beggars on the other. Such a vivid image explains the nature of the “outstanding economic growth” experienced by this or any other country which adopts capitalism. I witnessed many young children working in harsh conditions, some of them were tricycle rickshaw riders carrying anything up to three fully grown adults down highly polluted and dusty roads. Some children, whilst others were on their way to school, sadly could not afford that luxury and were instead performing manual labour along the roads.
It was deeply upsetting to see many toothless, eyeless and limbless beggars, both elderly and young, approaching cars at any busy traffic junction where cars would pile up. However, the most upsetting experience for me was when a young girl, barely seven years old grabbed my arm and refused to let go, pleading with me for an amount which was the equivalent of 10 pence. This took place outside a huge luxurious mall that would put Westfield to shame, it even had its own dedicated theme-park. How did this million dollar investment benefit my young sister other than giving her a spot to beg? Why should she have to be begging elder men who are not her mahram just to get a piece of bread for her family? Who is responsible for her plight? Allah (swt) says:
{وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ غَافِلًا عَمَّا يَعْمَلُ الظَّالِمُونَ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ تَشْخَصُ فِيهِ الْأَبْصَارُ}
“And never think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them for a Day when eyes will stare (in horror).” [Ibrahim : 42]
This brings me on to the political situation of the country, which can be summarised by one word: tense. This takes us back to my arrival at Shahjalal airport and my first experience in the country; the immigration office. After requesting two visas on arrival for myself and my wife we were asked to fill out a form and take a seat. Over the next hour we were approached by multiple officers one after the other. Each one of them would approach us, ask to see our passports and then ask questions such as: where were you born? What is your name? Why are you in the country? At one point I noticed all seven of them congregating and staring in our direction whilst talking amongst themselves quietly, at this point I was convinced they didn’t have a clue what they were doing. After a little while a woman in uniform enters the room, sits behind her enormous desk and proceeds to further interrogate the visitors of the country. The supervisor had arrived. Of course, there was no concept of queuing. When asked when she will see us we were informed that we were a “special case”, when we finally got round to sitting with her she repeated the same questions as the other officers and wouldn’t sign off our forms until we put down our exact address of where we were staying and a phone number of the family member we were staying with. She then got one of her officers to call that number to confirm the story added up. Once she got the all-clear from said officer, she apologised to us and admitted that the precautions were necessary “because we have our election”.
This climate of fear was very apparent when discussing with the locals on the ground. Without fail, every single rickshaw and taxi driver we discussed with spoke negatively, some mockingly, of the elections and political situation. One taxi driver burst out laughing when we asked him if he voted, asking us in return “Vote for what? It was already decided.” Another taxi driver said he only voted as he was threatened that Awami League officials would be paying a visit to his house if he didn’t. This fear of reprisal appeared to be consistent across many of the individuals we spoke to as well as one other thing they all had in common: their hatred of the establishment. One elderly rickshaw rider told us that when he went to vote he was turned away and the voting centre was closed early. He then appeared to regret what he said and told us that he shouldn’t be telling us any of this. Another young taxi driver, with unbelievable driving skills might I add, said there was no use in voting as “we are poor people”. It is clear from these few discussions that the sentiment of the people is that they are living in a system which doesn’t represent them, rather it only serves the elites – as is the nature of capitalism. Yet these people are portrayed as having voted 96% in favour of the ruling party.
Without a doubt however, the most memorable conversation was one we had with a young, fairly small and very skinny rickshaw puller. What he lacked in physical properties he certainly made up for in heart. After speaking with him I was overwhelmed by his bravery and courage. He spoke volumes about the corruption of the government, the sham of the elections and spoke confidently about not being silent in the face of oppression. In the UK I have seen many fiery and charismatic imams, “community leaders” and online personalities who back down at the slightest fear of reprisal from the UK government, the worst of which would be a slap on the wrist in comparison to the consequences faced in countries like Bangladesh. Yet here we have a young rickshaw puller speaking out against injustice at the risk of his own life. May Allah (swt) raise his rank. He reminded me of Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (ra) who went out to recite the Quran to the Quraish despite being a young, skinny and vulnerable Sahabi.
Narrated by Ali bin Abi Talib (ra): “One day Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud climbed a tree and his legs became visible. His legs were very skinny, so the Sahaba started laughing. The Prophet (s.a.w) asked: “What are you laughing at?” We said: “We laugh at his skinny legs, O Messenger of Allah”. The Prophet said: “By the One in Whose Hand is my soul! His legs will be heavier on the Meezaan (on the Day of Judgment) than Mount Uhud.” (Ahmad in Al-Musnad)
This is the condition of the average Muslim in the Muslim world, these are men and women ready for change and every Muslim should be sure that Allah (swt) will grant them His promise. I pray that my next visit to my beloved Bangladesh will be a one-way journey to Dar al-Islam and that I reunite with these blessed people under the shade of the Sultan.
