The Spirit - 16

After that day, the Traveller was much more somber and thoughtful. Wania watched him closely but did not think it wise to interrupt his thought process. 

One day, once there was no device failure and things were looking bright, she decided to brighten his mood by changing the weather pattern, showing a pretty rainbow outside the simulated window and even suggested and later regretting the printing of a pet to him. 

He became really furious, but calmed down after a while. "We should never play God. While we can 3D print a cat, we never really should. Next time, you will be suggesting to resurrect someone out of my family, please stop".

"We don't have the raw material to complete a full body...", she started off, but became quiet seeing his expression of horror. 

So she kept her quiet. After some time, he felt better by all the subliminal messages being tried by her on his bad mood. He smiled and started a tune looking out the window.

"You know, I have traveled the Muslim World a lot, and at the end, the whole World became Dar al-Islam. Whereever I went, I received so much love and saw the power of love transform the humans World over"

"Please tell me some of your experiences", she literally begged him, seeing a chance to elevate his mood. 

"This one time, once I was visiting the Madina for my yearly Umrah, I came across this very interesting fraternity of young Turks, living in outskirts of Madina Sharif.  They called themselves akhi  (اخی- meaning Brother) , which is related both to the Turkish word for "generous" and the Arabic for "brother." The fraternal societies throughout the land that adopted the term clearly acknowledged both meanings. I met them in a bazaar outside the city". 

"As we passed through one of the bazaars, some men came down from their booths and stopped out Air Taxis. Then certain other men quarreled with them for doing so, and the altercation between them grew so hot that some of them almost started fighting. All this time we had no idea what they were saying [I did not speak Turkish], and we began to be afraid of them, thinking that they were intending trouble. At length God sent us a man, a pilgrim, who knew Arabic, and I asked what they wanted of us. He replied that they belonged to the fityan...and that each party wanted us to lodge with them. We were amazed at their native generosity. Finally they came to an agreement to cast lots, and that we should lodge first with the group whose lot was drawn and then with the other". 

Wania's eyes grew wide. She had some knowledge of human interaction from her database and concept of free lunch was restricted to the phrase, "There is no free lunch in this World". This was an entirely new type of human behaviour.

"The akhis, were known as fityans in Persia. They were a cross between a civic club and a trade fraternity, composed of unmarried younger men drawn by the ideals of hospitality and generosity that were such important virtues in the world of Islam", he continued to look out , fondly remembering a golden time, his golden time, which he feared was lost forever. 

"They trace their affiliation...back to Caliph 'Ali, but ultimately to the source of all Mercy (May Allah's Peace and Blessing be Upon Him).  Nowhere in the world are there to be found any to compare with them in solicitude for strangers." 

"You know, such societies, were not unique. They existed in various forms and by several names throughout Dar al-Islam. Their social function was to institutionalize the sense of civic unity into a structure consistent with the ideals of the Qur'an but which was not addressed by the waqf, the hospice or other altruistic organization. Not hospitable only toward travelers, akhis and fityans also helped local individuals and their own members in time of need. They simply practiced the Spirit Of Islam". 

"But why a band of people should spend their own time and money on strangers, without any hope of any material gain in return", she could not comprehend the whole concept. 

"This is the difference between a materialistic society and a spiritual one.", He smiled, and looked at her. 

"And don't even mention the competition in Prophet's (May Allah's Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) Own Mosque. The richest Arab Sheikhs competed to serve the visitors with free arrangements for Fasts on each Thursday and Monday, the two most sought after days, on which once's good deeds are presented in before Allah. There were practically occasions on which their teams were fighting to  get people to accept their hospitality". He remembered the time he had visited the Mosque with his father, and they both were surprised to find the City of Light at it's most gracious.

"What do you think turned the Indian Sub continent gradually onto a  Muslim Society after the Last War?", He continued. 

"It was the power of altruistic love, the rush of multiple Aulia Allah, Silasil, Jamaats who moved from Pakistan and rest of Muslim World to Indian states and helped the poor, the destitute, helping and loving people without the boundaries of  cast, status or money. It happened multiple times in the history of sub continent". 

"It was the second such migration of these selfless groups, which won the hearts and minds of locals. First time it had happened a thousand years ago, but still the people of sub continent adore and respect the saints, who had nothing else to offer, but love, and some food and music for everyone". 

"Then there were the Muslim Foundation, like Edhi (1), Cheepa, and many more. Edhi had the World's largest Ambulance Network, which they freely employed in humanity's service in whole of sub continent and later at Global level once they had more resources. May Allah accept their good deeds".  

"But what was the most loved service of all, you know, and my favourite too", he laughed remembering something. 

"Oh, please tell me", she was all ears. 

"Of course the free langars", (2) , there he had the best free meals of his life , not that he needed them ever financially, but the service had the best management in the world, and the successful once were mostly managed at the sacred shrines of Indian Sub Continent saints, still others were operated by rich individuals (5). 

"It was the largest free food network (3), feeding millions of hungry, the travellers, the poor and the visiting rich alike, just to come up to the standards set by The Prophet (May Allah Shower his blessings on Him), who gave his last morsel to anyone who was  hungry asked for it at his most gracious door". 

"My own Sheikh had one of the largest langars in Pakistan, where people enjoyed the food, and recited Allah, Allah", he still had the taste in his memory, which had healed the sick, spiritual and physical alike. His own sister was one such living miracle. Millions were healed by the simple food offered free of cost. 

"But shouldn't people earn their bread by their own hands?" , She again had difficulty understanding the concepts. 

"Islam teaches us the concept of Falah, meaning, all of these actions are to make our Creator and his beloved happy. Out Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him) taught us that the Upper Hand (The one giving away charity) is better than the lower one (The one accepting it), but at the same time, a brother offering his bread to another increases love between the two, that is the spirit, which won the World at the end". 

"Remember, unlike Zakat, which is one of the mandatory Pillers of Islam, and requires a specific sum of one's earnings in Allah's way, they is practically no upper or lower limit on Sadaqa, the non obligatory or the voluntary charity. It grew to an extent, that at the end of Isa Ibn Maryam's stay, one could not find any poor to whom one could give alms, such is the world created by the spirit of Islam, under our Beloved Prophet's teachings (May Allah's Peace and Blessings be Upon Him)". 

"This sums up the spirit at Society level, but what of individual's role", she was taking note of each detail. 

"Remember, the lasting legacy of Islam can be summed up in its Muslim  family system, where the Spirit of Islam is most visible and present in its most radiant  form", he smiled remembering his own. "We will talk about it in detail, some other day", he concluded. 

"You mention so much about Muslims and their achievements, their legacy, but so far, you have not told me what made them so", she was listening patiently, making her own mental picture of his stories. 

"One day i will dear, there is only one secret to us Muslims. One day i will", he awoke from his reveries. 

The red star, Proxima Century was now in their full vision. The Rock was hurling towards it steadily.  With current velocity, they were just one week away from Proxima Century.

Suddenly, without warning, he heard a muffled sound, travelling through the hard rock. Both startled and looked at each other. Then the artificial gravity system stopped working. All loose object, including the Traveller started floating in the air. 

The 2nd sound was more loud. Wania's projection got scrambled and then suddenly disappeared. After a second, the whole room went dark. Electricity and life support had failed. 

Table of Contents

Reference

(1) Edhi Foundation, which runs the world's largest volunteer ambulance network along with various homeless shelters, animal shelters, rehabilitation centres, and orphanages across Pakistan, and later all of sub continent. 

(2) A Langar Khana (Bengali: লঙ্গরখানা, romanized: Longorkhana) is the place in a Sufi dargah where free food called Langar is distributed to all, and where food is prepared to be given to the poor.

(3) The Langar Khana at Ajmer, India consisted of : 

Bari Deg : Inside the Sahan-e-Chiragh and on the right side of Buland Darwaza is located Bari Deg. Emperor Akbar pledged to visit Ajmer Sharif on foot and presented a large cauldron if victorious in Chittaurgarh battle. So he kept his words after winning the battle. The circumference of the cauldron (Deg) is 12.5 yards and 125 mounds of rice can be cooked in it at a time. It was presented in 976 Hijra.

Chhoti Deg : It is located on the left side of Buland Darwaza inside Sahan-e-Chiragh. It was presented by Sultan Nooruddin Jahangir in 1013 Hijra. Eighty mounds of rice can be cooked in it at a time.

Both of these are still active till today. These were one of the hundreds of Langars active in the sub continent till the very end. 

(4). The Akhi's is not a fictional concept. Please read Ibne Batuta's Rehla to see them alive in his time. Author simply transported them in the future, to demonstrate that a wealthy Muslim Civilization operated with the highest values of Falah, Charity, Love and Compassion. 

(5) Bahria Dastarkhwan provided free meals, twice a day, to more than 35,000 people throughout Pakistan. Opening 12 more Dastarkhwans in addition to 6 already operational outlets. Overall spending of PKR 30 million rupees on providing 10,500,000 meals annually.