Let me begin this write-up with one of the famous traditions of our beloved Prophet (PBUH) where Abu Huraira (RA) narrates, “During the miraculous journey- the holy night of Mihraj, the prophet PBUM was presented two cups at Bait al-Maqdis; one containing milk and the other containing wine. He looked at both of them and took the one containing milk, whereupon Gabriel (PBUH) said, “Praise is due to Allah, Who guided you to the true nature; had you taken the one containing wine, Your Umma would have gone astray”. There is a clear message in this particular Hadees, that consuming wine is not in any way a good deed. It ruins the nations. There is mention of Muslim Umma in the particular Hadees but, if we try illustrating it further, we came to know that such messages have universal relevance and implication. After all the prophets came here from time to time with a sacred mission. Their role was not limited to circulating the message of Almighty Allah but they also acted as advisors to warn each one of us about the devastating consequence of our odd actions and ideas on the whole human race. They all played their role as directed by the supreme authority. Now, let us try to compare milk and wine in terms of their use and their value in our lives. Milk as an essential substance has numerous social, economic, and health benefits.
This bad habit not only damages the physical or mental balance of an individual but it leaves a catastrophic impact on the basic institutions of our society like family, education, religion, etc. It becomes the cause of many social evils. There are numerous research reports which reflect a strong link between alcoholism and the occurrence of social evils like domestic violence, sexual violence, intolerance, etc. If we do a graphical or statistical comparison of this part of the world based on the available data concerning those aforementioned evils with that of the other states or UTs of our country, our graph is not portraying any gloom picture. The land has been known as the torch bearer in the field of spirituality. If we go through the historical accounts of this land, we all will come to know that this part of the world remained the abode of Reshies and Munees. They preferred seclusion and selected this place for meditation. This place always proved a calm and serene shelter for them. Now it is up to us whether to follow the footprints of those saintly personalities who preferred milk over wine or to be part of this process as the shareholder or the facilitator in favor of those who are very keen to establish the wine business here and try to hurt moral sanctity which is known as the Pirwaer (land of saints).
Our society has been facing a lot of social problems. Here drug addiction is at its peak. Kashmir has produced a galaxy of great saints, seers, and savants who have enriched, elevated and refined life and helped the people at large in distress. We have had the great fortune of producing towering saints like Lalleshwari-Lal Ded, Rupa Bhawani, Sheikh Nuruddin Noorani, Sheik Hamza Mukhdoo, Lassa Sahib, Anandji, Ramji, Sahib Kaul, Manas Razdan, Zaikak, Ramjoo Tabardar, Vidya Dar, Shankar Razdan, Swami Lakshman Joo, etc. Kashmir remained the spiritual center and we all stakeholders should work together to sustain the spiritual legacy of our forefathers. Let us promote this land as the spiritual hub. Let us invest in Spiritual Tourism and develop this land as a world-famous spiritual destination. It is up to us to make a wise choice between Heaven and Hell.
Haroon Rashid Bhat is a teacher and columnist. He can be mailed at minamharoon123@gmail.com
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