Being Shia in Pakistan: a personal experience
Being Shia in Pakistan: A personal experience
Symbolism and Iconography associated with tragedy of Karbala form a core part of Shia identity.
Pakistan is home to a large Shia community, second only to Iran but if you are born in the community, you sure have landed in the wrong place. I was born Shia in Pakistan in 1984 and a year later, the state decided to turn the informal violence against the Shia – ever present courtesy the exclusivist national ideology which is inherently anti-Shia – into an official slow genocide.
My earliest memories of you-don’t-belong-here feeling are from early school days in a small semi-urban town near Lahore. Our house was located on this small street lined up by half a dozen Shia houses – all my extended family. Every morning when I left home with my daada to go to school, the wall opposite our door had a new wall chalking reading “Kaafir Kaafir Shia Kaafir”. I recall asking my daada what does it mean and he replied saying “Kush naee”. I never bothered erasing it, nor did any of my siblings or my cousins. Years passed, I changed school and a tonga replaced my daada but these wall chalking never stopped. Now that the tonga moved through different streets before taking me school, I noticed this was everywhere Shia lived in town. My question was still unanswered and this time around, I asked my chaacha. Again, he smiled and said “Kuch nahee” and then left without saying anything more. Sometime later he returned with a painter, then holding my finger took me to the courtyard and had him paint ‘Ya Ali Madad’ in massive black font on the façade of our house facing street. I could not understand why did he do that.
I understood a different meaning of the word ‘sharing’ at school. I can recall those suffocating lunch breaks at school when we got together under the shadow of a tree in school grounds to ‘share’ lunch. I was welcomed to have a piece from other’s lunch but nobody ate mine. This happened on a regular basis and I finally decided to have my lunch alone, not leaving the classroom during the break. I found it difficult to comprehend to start with but later realised what it meant when a newcomer joined our class. Her name was Fatima, she joined after the Summer breaks and remained allusive during the breaks. One day when I was stuffing myself with my lunch, she walked towards me, leaned over my desk and asked, ‘Aap Shia ho?’ She mentioned my name to her father, because of my good results in class probably, and from my name he deciphered my sect. We shared our lunch that day and it was then I realised why nobody was interested in my lunch.
Most kids and youth find exam days to be quite challenging but the most challenging and tough part of the year for me was Muharram. It was as if all my classmates changed into different people – the same class fellows who we had family terms with, spent half the day with me, learnt and played with me; with the start of Muharram thought as if I have come from another planet. I was the subject of curiosity, snooping and ridicule. Year after year I was asked the same questions all over again as if they suffer from a memory loss. The most popular questions were
(i) What do you Shia do on Sham-e-Ghareeban after turning the lights off?
(ii) Is it true that on Sham-e-Ghareeban you can choose any girl you like from the room?
(iii) Is it true that you eat feces from Zuljaneh after Ashura as Tabaruk?
(iv) How many chapters do you have in Quran?
(v) Do you believe that Ali was destined to be Prophet but Gabriel made a mistake?
I changed schools, cities and province but these questions didn’t stop coming. I moved to Pakhtunkhwa for a few years during school and was welcomed warmly. I was a new comer, a Punjabi and so naturally subject of curiosity. Nobody knew about my Shia identity and all worked well. Then, the time of the year came again. My class mates gathered during the lunch break and got busy in their usual discussions with inquisitiveness around Shia, Azadari, Muharram and the rituals associated. “Yaar inkay to to mazzay hain, jo dil kia select kar lain gay dasveen ko” said one of them, while the other replied, “main to mohallay ki Shia majlisson me jata hoon, bara mahool hota hay”. I broke my silence refuting all of that and one of them replied “tume kya pata, tum Shia ho?”. I kept silent and a deafening silence followed. None said anything, none felt embarrassed or gutted but I put myself in for trouble. The questions kept coming as a routine. I realised that quite normal people consider Shia as a cult who practice mass orgies, incest sex, open relationships and are conspirators against Islam and traitors to Pakistan.
As I settled in the town which was new home to me, I was invited by one of my friends to spend a weekend with him. His mother welcomed me on gate and asked, “Beta aapka naam kya hay?”. My friend responded before I could, adding that I am a Shia. “Asli Syed to Sunni hotay hain, chalo khair” she said on my face and I kept wondering what that was supposed to mean.
I developed friendships in the town which lead to family friends. I had this close friend of mine with whom I studied and played who lived close to our place. We frequently visited each other. He never ate at my place, whether it was meals or snacks no matter what time of the day it was, even when he stayed for longer hours to prepare for exams. He would always make an excuse or say it on my face that he was going home to have his meal and will come back. Despite all my personal experiences, I never thought this was again because of who I was. Then, one day when he didn’t leave at lunch time and had lunch with me, her mother called and after getting to know that he had his lunch with me, she responded saying “Kaha bhi thaa nahee khana udhar” and put the phone down. I think she was a victim of this widespread misconception that the Shia spit in their food before giving to anyone else. This is so widespread that there is a reference in Shoaib Mansoor’s Bol on this when Shia Irfan Khosat’s wife sends Nayaaz ki Kheer to her Sunni neighbours.
During my late teens, when more youth was turning ‘religious’ and Tableeghis were everywhere, I occasionally prayed in the Sunni mosque opposite the university where I studied. I never thought I was doing something wrong or going to a place where I should not. On the contrary, I asked my fellows a few times to go to a Shia mosque nearby and pray there together but none agreed. One can always find Shia men praying in Sunni mosques but the opposite hardly happens. As a routine I had my Iftaar with my Sunni fellows but none, I repeat NONE in my life so far had the courtesy to wait for me another 10 minutes. I always thought that people fast the full day, get irritated if someone eats in their presence, vehemently support the Ehtaram-e-Ramzan ordinance which bans eating in public during Ramzan; but they do not have the basic courtesy to wait just 10 minutes for a friend? Basically, you expect this respect for the full day from sick and a stranger who probably doesn’t even believe in this religious practice but when it comes to you, you cant even do 10 minutes, that too for a close friend – really?
The suspicion and curiosity around Shia identity is so embedded into Pakistani culture that it sometimes boggles one’s mind. As an example: Living in the UK, I have refused to celebrate Eid with Saudi Arabia believing Allah has not deprived UK of a moon yet and have relied on Royal Observatory’s moon sightings. The moment I told my Sunni friends and family, the first question I was asked was, “Hmmm.. When are the Shia celebrating their Eid?” I clarified several times that this has nothing to do with my Shia identity but a pure question of logic – I live in the UK and I will celebrate Eid when we sight moon in the UK. But my arguments where ignored completely and was told that we should all celebrate together – of course when Saudi Arabia decides for us.
This is my personal experience being raised in Pakistan but I am sure most, if not all, Shia go through this. I haven’t been a practicing Muslim most part of my life but during Muharram I find myself compelled to go to the Azadari Jaloos. Living away from family and my hometown, it was not Eid when I missed home most – it was the Ashura. Azadari gives the Shia of Pakistan a chance to reinforce their identity, to live their identity. There is a reason many non religious, secular, agnostic or sceptic Pakistanis which Shia background are a part of Azadari rituals. Like my chaacha, every year this is my answer to “What is Kaafir Kaafir Shia Kaafir”. Growing up Shia in Pakistan has made me find the answer to the question I asked him as a kid.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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best article bhaya!
Really good article. Coming from a mixed Shia-Sunni background, I can somewhat relate to your experiences.
While I agree to some parts of this post, I believe you have over-generalized the issue and related facts. I have had a best friend, since my first class of school and we spent numerous days at each other’s house and ate numerous times at each other’s place in childhood.
And also in school, I didn’t ever encounter ANY such issue(like the ones you have mentioned) around him. We spent time together and ate together, freely, without any bias.
In short, may be your experiences were a bit bitter, but this doesn’t necessarily holds true for most of the Shia in Pakistan.
bohat alla bohat hee kamaal…ek ek cheez sahe hai i think this happens to every shia of pakistan…mere dost bhee muje ye hee puchte hain ..k yaar shaam-e-gareeban ki raat kya kerte ho..aj bhee bohat c jaga pe men ne kafir kafir shia kafir likha or bhee deakha or suna bhee hai.
bohat alla artical hai bhaiya!!!
Nice,,,, to eliminate the these things, we have to attract Sunni Muslims through our character and we must realize them that we all believe in one God and Islam teach us the lesson of unity.For this we have to improve our knowledge and provide a enviroment to our upcoming youth which should be able to understand them, about true message of Islam.In these days there is more requirement to join hands as compared to past history.
Kamaal article hai nati bhayya.. itna kamal likha hua hai..bohat alla.
very nice article mashallah keep it up ,our prays are always with you ,be ever green
Best thing I ever read..
Shameful for All Sunnis…
Best thing I ever read..
Shameful for All Sunnis…
Shamefull for _ALL_ Sunnis? Nice!
It was nice to come across this. Being from a religious shia family, I totally understand what you’re saying. As I grew up, I started researching because I felt that there is no glory in being a “born-muslim”, it just “happens” right.. I wanted to study Islam and “Choose” it. Down the line as I interacted with people, pondered over the words of wisdom of Ahle-bait and their personalities, I began to feel that something with the community isn’t right. Like sunnis, most of the shias too are “lakir ke faqir”. There are things that they’re doing just because they grew up seeing them happen regardless of the fact that the Imams themselves did not practice “Rituals”. More than that, the way our Imams preached Islam to us was a way that encouraged unity, not associating ourselves with any stereotypes other than simple “Muslim”. Imams never took their beliefs or grievances to the streets, they wept, like any normal human being would when one’s hurt but they never cut themselves up (now are we more hurt than them?) Lastly, us “muslims” need to concentrate more on the wise teachings of the holy prophet and the Ahle-bait and not follow rituals blindly because once you begin adding rituals to your beliefs, there’s no end to it! And thus in my short life span, I’ve seen lots of new rituals being added by aunties because they think this is the way to show their love and reverence. I wonder what the Holy Prophet would have to say about that?
And no, I’m strictly NOT impressed by sunnis to be saying all this. They’ve got some seriously ridiculous stuff to take care of. It’s just my own research that has turned me, from a shia, into a free-thinking muslim!
Allah tallah Forbids muslims to divide themselves in sects in the Quran, then how can we even refer to ourselves as anything but “Muslims”.
I would still say ; Kaafir kaafir shia kaafir jo na maane woh bhi kaafir
So true. there are so many misconceptions about shias in Pakistan
THERE IS NO PLACE FOR ILLITERATE AND NARROW MINDED PEOPLE IN ISLAM
may Allah guide you and us all to the righteous path dear. Ameen!
though a very good article but i do agree with some of the fellow commentators. I have been brought up in Pakistan and I belong to the shia community as well, there were friends who used to ask such questions back in school days, but not all of them were like that! thats a selected group of people only. I not only have made friends with sunnis, wahabis but also with hindus over the past decade, and alhamdulillah i have found them very tolerant and unbiased! still a true depiction and good effort to represent those who’ve had a larger share of it! keep it up!
I belong to a Sunni sect or rather I liked being called a MUSLIM. I wonder who made us responsible to label SHIA as Kafirs?
this what we expect from our jaahil awaam……not all sunnis are like u…..but there are many which are giving bad name to the sunni community….before declaring shia kafir…have you considered the fact that these people are mourning the death of the prophet’s grandson and his family…the prohpet in his own life knew hussain’s fate and mourned often…..is it not sunnat to follow in the prophet’s footsteps…..but then again like i said before….jihalat ka koi hul nahin hai…..yehi jihalat humari sarzameen ko lay doobi……you should be ashamed of yourself.
while there are people who taunt shia community like that but they are ignorant ..they follow the footsteps of their predessors who did the same and now they too are doing the “same hate spreading” against shia sect…but most of the sunni sect does not believe shia as “kafir” nor do they taunt shia sect…they believe in the “unity” of both sects…of course there are black sheeps every where like we see nowadays who spread sectarian violence..in this post the issue of hatred against shia sect is niceley addressed as i am ALHAMDULLILLAH a shia and i too had the same experiences when growing up and nowadays also.any way the writer has done an excellent work here
this misconception is not limited to little group unfortunately literate segment of society has same perception abt shia sect. we often face such base less comments every where. but at the same time individuals are afraid of being stigmatized by thr sect if they try to find out reality or dare to go shia gathering procession or majalises. i am sure there will be no single shia living in metro life who did,t face such ridiculous questions. when we moved to lahore few years bck , our neighbor lady asked abt sect from my famly membrs abt sect when they replied thy r shia.she shocked for while .and shouted u people r shia??? astagfirullha . i was told shias ears are so long they have ugly and dirty faces .but u r normal people.this r perceptions. on these perceptions genocide killings r going on.most of u people knw what iz happening with people of Gilgit-Baltistan . more then 100 people were killed who were travelling frm pindi to thr native valleys just after identification of thr id cards.
really? Lmao
If a sunni is not ready to eat the food cooked in a shia house , then i guess .Every one have there own reasons behind it . and secondly this whole thing mostly circulates regarding food .
I agree with you when you say “Allah tallah Forbids muslims to divide themselves in sects ” but dear this division been caused by rafidis.
to all shias, please be truthful to yourself and stop this taqia and ask Allah (swt) for true guidance as its a matter of eternal paradise and eternal hell (we’re not talking about punishment for a day or two here).
don’t just blindly follow what your parents have taught you!
as an eye opener, i can give u a little crash course on some of similarities between jews and shias:
—The Jews said only the progeny of David has the authority to rule
likewise the Shiites stated that only the descendants of Ali(ra) should
be the Imams or leaders.
—The Jews stated that there can be no fighting in the way of God
unless the Messiah(Dajjal) comes and the sword descends. Similarly the
Shiites stated that that there can be no fighting in the way of God
unless Qaem appears and an announcer will call from the sky.
—The Jews delay the Dusk until the stars appear, likewise the Shiites
delay the maghrib prayer until the stars appear. The Prophet is
reported to have said, ” My Ummah will remain in the state of Fitra
unless they delay their maghrib till the stars appear.” He further
stated:” Hasten to the maghrib prayer before the appearance of the stars
and don’t be similar to the Jews for they pray when the stars appear.”
—The Jews distorted the Torah similarly the Shiites distorted the
Quran.(by giving wrong explanation and misusing of the verses-like those
of tafseer al-Qummi- and alleging that parts of the Quran are changed,
missing and deleted out by the Sahabah. Examples of such allegation is
that of the respected Shiite scholar at-tabarasi, when he regarded that
two surahs: Wilayah and an-Nuraiyn, were deleted out of the official
Quranic text by Uthman ibnu Affan)
—The Jews wrote the book with their own hands and stated that this is
from God, likewise the Shiites wrote down lies and stated that this is
from God.(al-Kulyani’s al-Kafi is full of it).They also fabricated lies
and attributed them to the Prophet and his family. It is also well known
to the hadith scholars that the Rafdhis/Shiites form the bulk of those
narrators who are weak, unreliable and abandoned.
—The Jews don’t wipe on their slippers or light shoes (for ablution)
likewise the Shiites abandon the same thing.(it should be noted that the
Jewish ablution is similar to that of the Shiites)
—The Jews regard Al-Jari and Al-Marmahi(two kinds of fishes) forbidden and the Rafidhis regard the same.
—The Jews forbid the eating of rabbits and spleen and likewise the Shiites regard the same.
—The Jews had slandered the chaste and pure Mary the mother of
Jesus(as), whereas the Shiites slandered and accused Ayesha(ra) the wife
of the Prophet. It should be known that Imam Malik issued a fatwa of
kufr on the Shiites for this reason.
—The Jews stated that the daughter of Prophet Jacob left rebellious
and was held by a polytheist man, whereas the Shiites state that Umar
forcefully took hold of the daughter of Ali(ra).
—The Jews were changed into pigs and monkeys and so did it happen on
the Rafdhis in the city of Madina al Munawarra and other places. It is
stated that their figures were transformed at the time of their deaths.
— And there are some of the Rafidhis who don’t pray in congregation
or they don’t hold Fridays stating the this has to be done once the
Mahdi appears. Likewise the Jews pray solely stating that congregation
should be held once the Jewish Messiah appears.
—The Jews abandoned Moses against the Cannanites stating that, ”go
and fight You and your Lord, whereas we remain here sitting.” Similarly
the Shiites abandoned Ali(ra), Hussein(ra), and Zayd ibn Zainel Abideen
when they were in the battlefield fighting against the oppressors.
—The Jews exalt some their Prophets and Holy men so much that they
regard them as deities(in terms of obedience and attachment), whereas
they degrade some of the other Prophets and the holy men to such an
extent that they call them whores, unchaste, drunkards, corrupt, and
idolaters. similarly the Rawafid exalt Ali(ra) and his descendents to a
status they don’t reserve and on the other hand they regard the other
companions of the Prophet to be corrupt, hypocrites, idolaters,
unchaste(as in the case of Mugheerah ibn Shuba) and whores(as in case of
Muawiyah, Amr ibn Al-As, and Umar ibn al-Khattab).
—Disgrace and cowardice befell the Jews wherever they were and
similarly disgrace and cowardice caught the Rafidhis in so much that
they resurrected Taqiyya out of extreme fear and humiliation.
—The Jews pray three times a day, similarly the Shiite pray three
times a day such that they combine Asr and Dhuhur and pray them at the
same time, and they combine Maghrib and Isha and pray them together
—An extinct sect of the Shiites used to believe that Gabriel made an
error by revealing to prophet Muhammad instead of Ali, and thus Gabriel
should be hated, and similarly the Jews, they abhore and hate Angel
Gabriel.
All of these are unique similiarites b/w judaism and Shiism and proves the fact that Shiism is the product of the accursed Abdullah ibn Sabah.
well written yazid. that’s whats expected of yazid
Allah(J.J) ki lanat ho, Muhammad(S.A.A.W) Wa Al-E-Muhammad(S.A.A.W) k dushmanon pr.
Yazeed Lanti k himayatein ko Allah(J.J) Roz-E-Mehshar Yazeed Lanti k sath Jahanum Wasil karey. Ameen
thanks so much mr. muawiyah… its so good to see you posting here!
and please do not forget to say (RA) alongwith my name!
tum ne kya theka le rakha hai logon to jahannum bhejne ka?
yeh kya haal bana diya hai tum ne apna?
tum jab bhi apna manhoos moon kholte ho, yahi rone dhone ki awaazein nikalte rahtey ho…eg. “us pe lanat ho”, “is ko jahannam mile”, etc. etc.
feeling so sad for you ~!#%&*
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