A special Friday!

Blessed Friday as religious festivals harmonise

Thursday, March 20, 2008
By Aroosa Masroor

Karachi

March 21 will be of special significance this year as the calendars of five different religions will coincide, giving each faith a reason to celebrate the day.

As Muslims celebrate Eid Milad-un-Nabi (the birth of Prophet Muhammad PBUH) on Friday, Christians will mark the crucifixion and death of Jesus as Good Friday, while Hindus and Sikhs will come together to celebrate Holi, also known as the festival of colours. Meanwhile, Eid-e-Nauroz, the religious festival of members from the Baha’i faith will fall on March 21, which is also a community festival for the Zoroastrians as well as the Ismailis and Iranians.

“For the first time in the history of my life have we been blessed by such a day when people from all different faiths will be celebrating their religious festivals on a single day,” Riaz Ahmed Shirazi, a Baha’i remarked. He prefers calling it a ‘blessed weekend’ and sees it as a sign from God to spread the message of religious tolerance.

Eid-e-Nauroz also marks the Baha’i New Year after the 19-day fast from March 2 to March 20 in the last month of the Baha’i calendar. Nauroz is one of the nine holy days of the year in the Baha’i religion when work is suspended.

The Zoroastrian community as well as Persian speakers and those who trace their roots to Persia will also celebrate Nauroz which marks the first day of spring according to the astronomical vernal equinox. It is a Persian word meaning New (year) day.

Recalling the seven last words of Jesus Christ from the cross on Good Friday, Reverend Shahid Sabir of the Holy Trinity Church, adds “It is an honour for people from all different faiths. We hope this day can bring the much-needed harmony this country needs. Jesus Christ gave his life for his people and then came back to save them and spread the message of peace.” Good Friday should be celebrated with the same spirit and tolerance, he said.

Islamic Scholar Dr. Aamir Liaquat is also sees this day from a positive perspective. “This day is especially important because for the first time we will be celebrating a day in the spirit of a tolerant Pakistan ñ exactly how our founder Quaid-e-Azam had envisaged. He wanted Pakistan to be a secular state, not a theoretic state where all religions would be free to practice their religion,” he said, adding that this day holds ‘constitutional significance’ as it will prove that Pakistan is a tolerant state.

Chandar Keswani, a social activist and a vocal member from the Hindu community, commented that members from different faiths should also stand united as these religious festivals on March 21 and spread the message of interfaith harmony. “We need to rise above our differences and stand for a united country,” he said.

According to the Hindu lunar calendar, Holi will fall on March 21, which is the full moon day of the Hindu month of Fagun. Holla Mohalla is an occasion of to rejoice for the Sikh community that is celebrated by a handful of members in Karachi at the Swami Narayan Temple along with the Hindus. Moreover, the longstanding demand of the Hindu community to declare Holi as a national holiday for the Hindus will be fulfilled by default this year as Friday has been declared as an official holiday by the Sindh Government on account of Eid Milad-un-Nabi.

Courtesy: The News