Solution?

I write this entry with utter distraught and despair. A few incidents further deepened my helplessness and depression about my country. I thought maybe writing about it might make me feel better. Its utterly and extremely sad to see a country that has been made by so many sacrifices going down the drain...:(

I met with a young girl of 18 today. After talking a bit with her she opened up to me and slowly revealed to me her situation. Her father died and her mother was married again to the younger brother. We might stop and ask why? And the answer even in the young girls words was to give protection to the mother and take care of the children left behind by the first father. But hold on...lets continue with her story and see just how much of a protection she was given?! The girl told me that her father hits her mother many times and even this morning he had hit her...and told me to subtly look at her mother's neck...which would bear the marks of the beating. I was so surprised to hear that because the woman was smiling when i had met her and had a pleasant disposition. How depressing imagine! Has the woman become so resigned that this is the only way she sees of remaining sane?!
The poor girl had so much ambition and told me how she wanted to study and liked reading books but didn't have any means to do it. She was so fascinated by the novel i was reading and asked me many questions about it. Is this the point we have reached where people who like to study and read don't even have access to books whereas those that have access kick it aside?! She subtly told me how desperate and bad she felt when her mother had to beg others for money and stuff. She said that she wished she could run away someplace and study. She was sick of the constant fights in her home and wanted to provide a comfortable life for her mother.
Let me stop and ask you...What hope has she? What hopes does this nation give her? Is there someone whom she can turn for protection. How many such women and girls die a death each day while still being alive? HOW MANY? WHO WILL COME AND RESCUE THEM?!!!

The second thing that made me depressed is the state of  the country. I had gone to an office to get some documentation completed. I decided to take the straight and honest way and stand in a line to get my work done. BUT wait...can someone do this in Pakistan without being tested to the utmost of their patience?! No how could that be...would this still be Pakistan then? Anyways while people stood in the line....those who had given extra money(read bribes) were taken aside, bypassing the line to have their work done much quicker. So while the rest burned in the heat...those who had paid went inside comfortably.
After much frustration when the people in the lines screamed at the guard....he audaciously replied that why dont you pay the extra money so you dont have to stand in the line as well!!!

Is this a freaking country with laws? It has started to look more like a jungle everyday. where to run to and whom to complain to? How long will this go on?

May Allah(swt) have mercy on this nation...Ameen

Anger

None of us is free from the vice of anger but the true test is that can we control it or not?! As the world around us has become more chaotic and frustrating, anger has also increased. The tiniest of things make us angry...be it on the road, talking to an annoying/irritating person, in the market, at the office and even at home. Are we using our full capacity and potential to try and control our anger. Please think about it the next time you feel the onslaught of anger. Lets look at what Islam has to say about it.

1. Quran says:... (The believers) are hard against the unbelievers and merciful among themselves... (48:29)
2. Allah loves a believer who is polite. It is one of the qualities of a momin.-[Mustatul Anwar, p. 195]
3. Once a man approached the Messenger of Allah [s] and asked: "Advise me". Then the Messenger of Allah [s] said: "Do not be angry". The man repeated the same question and (the Prophet) again said: "Do not be angry," and continued: "He is not strong and powerful who throws people down but he is strong who withholds himself from anger."
4. ...Muhammad ibn Ya'qub (al-Kulayni), from 'Ali ibn Ibrahim, from Muhammad ibn 'Isa, from Yunus, from Dawud ibn Farqad, who reports al 'Imam al-Sadiq (A) to have said: "Anger is the key (that opens the door) to all kinds of vices."[Al-Kulayni, Usul al-Kafi (Tehran), Vol. III (Arabic text with Persian translation by Sayyid Jawad Mustafawi, p. 412.]
5. It is reported from Imam al-Baqir (a): “It is recorded in the Torah regarding which God Almighty confided to Moses (a), saying: "O Moses, control your anger towards those over whom I have given you authority, so that I may spare you from My Wrath." [Al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 302, hadith # 7]
6. Imam Ali (a) said: “Protect yourself from anger for its beginning is insanity and its end is remorse.” [Al-Amidi, Gharar ul-Hikam wa darar ul-Kalim, hadith # 2635]
7. It is reported from al 'Imam al-Baqir (A) that he said. "Verily, anger is a spark ignited by the Devil in the human heart. Indeed, when anyone of you gets angry, his eyes become red, the veins of his neck become swollen and Satan enters them. Therefore, whosoever among you is concerned about himself on account of it, he should lie down for a while so that the filth of Satan may be removed from him at the time." 
8. Imam Ali (a) said: “The most powerful person is the one who is victorious over his anger with his forbearance.” [Al-Rayshahri, Mizan al-Hikmah, hadith # 15027]
9. Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (a) said: “One who retrains his anger (towards someone), God will cover his secrets.” [Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar vol. 73, p. 264 hadith # 11]

These were just to show how much anger is hated by Allah(swt) and ahlul Bayt(s.a). Now the question arises what to do when one gets angry. Lets look at some traditions and hopefully we would be able to use them the next time we would become angry.

1. Imam al-Baqir (a) said “..whosoever is angry with someone let him sit down immediately if he is standing; for, indeed, doing so will repel from him the uncleanliness of Satan. And whoever gets angry with his family member, let him approach and (gently) touch him; for the feeling of family affiliation, when stimulated by touch, induces calmness.” [Al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 2, p 302, hadith # 2]
2. Imam Ali (a) said “When a person gets angry, if he is standing, he should immediately lie down (sit down) on earth for a while as this removes the filth of Satan from him at that time." [Al-Rayshahri, Mizan al-Hikmah, hadith # 15059] 
3. Among the fundamental remedies of anger is to get rid of the factors responsible for its provocation. These factors include self-love, which in turn causes love of wealth, glory, and honour, and the desire to impose one's will and expand one's domain of power on the creatures of God. These inherently excite the fire of anger, as the individual infatuated with them tends to hold them in high regard. When someone loves these things, he gets excited and angry if any one of his aspired goals is not achieved. Another factor that sometimes arouses anger is that it is imagined to be a merit and confused with bravery due to one’s ignorance. Anger is thus the product of spiritual weakness, insufficiency of faith, immoderation of character and soul.
4. Certain other causes of anger are `ujb, bragging (iftikhar), pride(kibr), disputatiousness (mira'), obstinacy (lajaj), jesting and the like. to control anger one should get rid of these characteristics.

Sources:Al-islam.org