No, it isn't because one of the most uptown coffee houses rudely turned down a customer's request to pray. It isnt even because the In charge Manager and his waiter need a copy of "Waiter Ethics for Dummies". It's not even because Espresso is ridiculously expensive. Actually, in all seriousness, it's the growing discrimination that has come to light (once again), in the counter response by the self labelled 'liberals' of Pakistan's social media. This discrimination coupled with the stubborn lack of acknowledgment of the extreme intolerance that comes with it, has become a breeding ground for irrational prejudice against Muslims. In their own country.
Liberal thought has never been about intolerance and discrimination, but how do you drill that concept in a people who foolishly equate liberalism to restrictions on religious freedom? And not just any religion- but Islam. There's a word for it in the west; Islamophobia. And something must seriously be wrong with the 'liberals' in our society if they need medication for it.
A lady orders her coffee..sandwich, politely then asks if the waiter can show her a place to pray. In the west, it's a pretty normal request (and not an unusual sight) which has never been blown out of proportion like it's being done in the Pakistani social media.
You have to ask..did the lady just march in with a machete demanding management to throw out all the obscene diners? No? Did she walk in and demand everyone get down for namaz with her or else..? No? So she just wanted to pray 3 rak'at Magrib?! Then why's the Twitterati crying foul?
The most astonishing part is Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, not the Dominican Republic. It's home to a whopping 170 million Muslims. So yes, excuse me if I find the turning down of the woman's request out of the ordinary. In Ramadan. At Iftaar time. And the response to her request, by the fake 'liberals', nothing short of outrageous. There's a growing tide of intolerance being perpetrated by the media and the secular facists behind it. And it's anything but healthy. Forces bent on making sure religion stays strictly confined within masajid and homes in an Islamic country? Ridiculously stupid. It's like asking for trouble, just don't complain of a backlash when the Muslims cant take the harrassment anymore.
Azhar Khan: "It’s a cafe,not a place of worship,if religious rituals were so important to the person protesting,she should have done Iftari at home and then gone out for coffee later.."
Or maybe she was travelling and didn't have time to go home for Iftaar and Magrib? Maybe that's why she was there in the first place, Einstein?!
Saira Habib: "Why must religious rituals be shoved upon people everywhere.Espresso has a right to remain a cafe,it shouldn’t be coerced into becoming a madrassa."
A person REQUESTING to pray = converting the place into a madrassah. That makes as much sense as square wheels. And then they wonder why our society's so intolerant. (And stupid).
Beenish Amjad: "Why can’t they leave us alone,it’s pretty simple,if she wanted to pray she should have opened her fast in a mosque."
So now we can't open our fasts at cafes. Great!! Scrap those 'Ramadan All You Can Eat' billboards now will you?
Ammar: "Next thing mullah-mizaaj will demand is to turn this place into a masjid?" Uh, why?
That's just a fraction of the hateful comments left behind. So doesn't it make sense if a cafe/restaurant is running iftari deals, they should also accomodate customers who want to pray. Right? Customers first? Ethics? I must sound like Captain Obvious for stating something well so.. obvious.
Over the years our so-called liberals have successfully polarized society into; extremist misfits (they're not exactly liberals and they don't fit anywhere else either) and the conservative Muslims (in short, practising Muslims). Why? Because as history is witness for every evil that befalls a nation, there must follow a blame game. So why not blame Pakistan's corrupt, violence riddled history on the 'Islamists' (read: ALL practising Muslims)? Of course because Pakistan has always been ruled by Islamist shariah abiding groups like the PPP, MQM, PMLN etc. right?
64 years of Islamic rule has totally messed up the country. Mullahs like Zardari and his wife (shaheed!) have successfully turned Pakistan into a 'radical' hell-hole (forget the billions they stole and the monarch like heirarchy regime under the facade of democracy they set up). 'Mullah' Altaf (the song bird) is my favorite, he has his own army of 'jihadists' in every corner of Karachi, with more arms than the US Military (and they don't go unused either). 'Mullah' Musharraf was a 'radical' one (of NRO/Jamia Hafsa Massacre/Phos-Bomb fame), because of his military- I mean 'jihadist' background. He loved his guns (and Mr Bush) so much he even declared 'jihad' against his own country! (we're still somehow fighting that war). 'Mullah' Nawaz wasn't quite sure how to rule as an Islamist so he called in the US State Department to help out. He's in the opposition now, unsure how that works too, so just goes with the flow (with some fiery rhetoric every now and then). So yeah blame the Muslims, it's a trend. And it works.
