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Last night I was wondering over the feelings of young Mehdi I met a few days ago. I was sitting in the library reading some works of literature when I heard some sound near me. My eyes caught him. He was a young boy in his early twenties, with a look of Averroes. I saw tears in his eyes. He seemed to be a rarity in these times, somebody whose innocence was the life and blood of his character. I moved towards him and tried to make a consoling remark: ‘What’s wrong, my dear?’ I inquired. He looked at me and probably found something common among us that was sufficient for him to burst out his emotions. ‘Sir, I can’t understand this world, full of two-faced creatures’. ‘What has happened, young man?’, I inquired. ‘Sir, I suppose we hardly find anybody saying something against the norms of his profession. I mean if you ask a doctor to do a heart surgery not in my chest but in my abdomen, he would laugh at me -- rather scold me. And then if you ask an engineer to erect a building without balancing the opposing forces, he would ridicule me like anything. But, sir, if you ask some cleric to use his brain to address religious issues, he would smite me in my face’, was his instant reply. ‘You seem to me an intelligent boy, my dear. But what really made you lose your composure this time?’, I continued. ‘Sir, I don’t know. I can’t control myself, can’t keep myself calm on hearing something that I believe is antithetical to our unfathomable love for the Holy Prophet (sws)’ he blurted. ‘But what was it and with whom were you conversing?’, I went on. ‘Sir, I was talking to the honourable Imam who leads the prayer in the mosque near my house. The issue was the posthumous religious practices of the 3rd Day and the 40th Day’, he went on. I then inquired: ‘How on earth could one induct these concepts and practices in the all-wonderful and immaculate framework of Islam. Besides, the sources that narrate such practices have been termed ‘unreliable’ by the great researchers’. ‘And sir listen to what he said. He said it is mentioned in the Ahadith and these concepts are ratified by the Holy Prophet (sws). And then I’m afraid, sir, I couldn’t overcome my inner feelings. This declaration, I felt, was a debt to be paid on my part. A statement that could make me feel relieved about my brimming love for the Holy Prophet (sws). I said to this gentleman that how dare he associated something to our Holy Prophet (sws) without any proof. How dare he attributed something that is against his teachings. What made him say something that is so contradictory to the all-intellectual guidance of the Holy Prophet (sws). I ... I feel it a betrayal, sir, to ascribe anything weak or unconvincing to our great Holy Prophet (sws). And, and ...’, he lost the serenity of his soul and couldn’t speak any more.
These were the words that I spontaneously
uttered in a fit of ecstasy for so mesmerized was I by the sincerity of
that soul.
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