A Moral GPS in Pakistan?

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides reliable location and time information in all weather and at all times and anywhere on the Earth.

A "Moral GPS" is one that provides a sense of being - not just in a spatial sense but also how we relate to the society around us - and a sense of temporal awareness in all conditions and times.  Such directional guidance is essential for humans and does not get defined by pure trial and error.

This blog focuses on moral guidance provided in all religious - particularly that in the Holy Quran.  Why the Quran?  Because it is the only text that remains unedited and unmodified.  In broad strokes, it reinforces and consolidates the messages in the old testament and the new testament.

Why do we need a moral GPS in Pakistan?  Let us start by an analysis of the moral decrepitude observed in Pakistan.  Interestingly, what is considered "normal" has shifted enormously within our lifetimes.  No one blinks an eye on corruption, which pervades each and every aspect of the day-to-day life and extends into the top-most echelons of policy, planning and politics (even sports are not immune).

There is a great deal of restlessness due to the lack of simple human security -- terrorism, armed robberies, public murders, targeted killings, mass rapes, etc. -- do not seem to trigger any strong reaction beyond lip-service and living room conversations.

Interestingly, the middle-class has disappeared -- what is left now is the super-rich and the poor.  Lack of economic development and continuous interruptions in various democratic processes by interlopers like Zia and Musharraf have run the country into the ground.  These interventions also create enough of a negative societal inertia that drags any democratic government into the pits as well, which is what we are witnessing right now.

This whole situation fits very well with the description provided in the Holy Quran.  Both in direct reference to muslims and in indirect pointers towards other historical events, it is apparent moral depravation in nations leads to their humiliation at the hands of stronger powers, coupled with strife, anxiety and poverty.

Many point to the numerous mudrassahs, countless mosques and eloquent moulvis in Pakistan.  Since these ostensibly Islamic institutions are so widespread, it leads to the fallacy that there must be something fundamentally wrong with Islam.  The simple explanation is that these mudrassahs are not teaching Quran (other than parroting the Arabic text) and focus on books of Sharia belonging a particular brands of Islam; I personally dislike all brands.  Even if you ignore the fact that the kids going to these places are the ones who fail otherwise in the society (and may be intellectually-challenged), they are being fed a narrow interpretation of Islam.  So, there is no benefit to the wider society.

The educated and well-off part of the Pakistani society is no better.  The ethics and moral norms fit very well with the societal patterns described earlier.  You can hardly find anyone who has actually tried to understand the translated version of the Holy Quran.

So, we shouldn't be surprised if the core of the society -- normally built on basic moral and ethical standards -- is rotten.  Unless we can fix that, there will not ever be a positive outcome of development schemes, liberalization of media, creation of civil society groups and influx of foreign aid.  These are all band-aids stuck on a festering cancer.

There appears to be a general consensus that a fundamental change is needed in the Pakistani society.  This is coupled with the understanding that we are nearly at bottom and can only go up.

A lot of views pervade on how to fix this problem.  Here is mine:  we need to understand the message of the Quran in a very direct way and apply it to improve ourselves as human beings.  Getting there would require some basics:  reasonable levels of literacy, loosening of the vice-like grip of the theocracy, open debate on issues, and highlighting "bright spots" in our society.  These changes will not happen in a day or a year, or perhaps even a decade.

Fortunately, we do have a moral GPS in our hands.