A few days back Queen Elizabeth of the house of Windsor passed away at Balmoral Castle up in Scotland. A simple announcement from her first born informed the world and set into motion what has been meticulously planned for decades – operation London Bridge. The English have always been great planners and strategists and the cogs of the wheels of managing change efficiently have started to turn. The circus is in motion, and the public are engaged and energised to be voyeurs against a backdrop which was at the very least foreboding.
Life in the UK was about to get harder, many were not sure how Liz Truss will cope in uniting people in a fragile UK where the aftermath of former Prime Minister Johnson has left a sour taste in all our mouths. Her first measure to cap the rising cost of fuels ( for transport and home ) has not hoodwinked the populace as much as expected perhaps since no one currently knows what the outlay from their pockets will be but for sure, we all know that these will have been over inflated for the masses whilst the fatcat owners are rolling in their biggest profits historically to date. So the death of the Queen of the world ( as Elizabeth is now being called maybe to the chagrin of other living queens ), was timed to perfection for the Capitalist machine because it needed a huge distraction to divert the minds of those who were beginning to notice what is really going on globally. It will subdue and quieten the rising anger and frustration, for a while at least of those being awakened nationally and globally . There is always wisdom at Allah’s plans and as Muslims we believe his timing is perfect so there is a reason why our dear Elizabeth died at this time. It is significant , I believe, in the grand scheme and the reasons for it will be revealed undoubtedly in the coming years.
In his speech at 5 PM UK time, 9th September 2022, which I caught completely by accident, King Charles III gave his first address to the nation and the people of the world.
He looked sad and subdued as one would expect at the news of his beloved mama’s passing but pledged as she did to serve the country for the rest of his time here on Earth. I wondered how he would handle the legacy she left behind with his inclinations to other faiths. Perhaps he will oppose some of the atrocities carried out in the name of his State, but on the whole, I am not convinced he is the revolutionary monarch that I would so love him to be as too much of his personal life and position is situated such that to revolt against things he may well find abhorrent, is likely beyond the capacity of the capitalist, elitist machine he represents and so beyond him. The saddest legacy is to continue to fear change and so the monstrous machine will undoubtedly roll on.
As a British citizen of Indian heritage and a Muslim one at that , I wanted to share with you my thoughts over the last day or so.
The news anchors keep calling it a catastrophic event and whilst I concur wholeheartedly with the sadness of Elizabeth’s family at this time as I too thought the Queen was a remarkable lady in many ways and empathised with her duties as wife and mother but can I view the death of this particular Head of State as catastrophic? Well, the simple answer is No.
As my mothers daughter, however, I felt sorrowful at her loss as she always reminded me of my mum who was also another regal dignified lady who had a raucous laugh that set any room ablaze when it was witnessed as she too didn’t laugh too much in public but if ever she did , everyone remembered it . As time moves forward after the death of our loved ones , we hanker for hooks to pin our memories of them on , so I believe we look for things , relationships, objects , people , that remind us of them and I feel a sense of loss every time another link to those we loved is severed. The loss of our parents is felt so excruciatingly and deeply and as the links break and are forever lost , we find ourselves mourning again and again as we grow up and move towards our own deaths which will inevitably and surely overcome us too.
She, Elizabeth Regina, was a favourite celebrity of my mothers’ and so as these things go, she was a lady I grew up watching, perhaps reluctantly ( her colonial ancestor’s destroyed many civilisations and this jars with my sense of loyalty to my mother and her loyalty to this beautiful charismatic Queen). She was also the mother in law that put the country and her own position first ( seemingly ) and her iconic Queen of hearts , daughter in law ( Diana Spencer) second . Whatever Elizabeth’s foibles as Queen and Head of State were (and these were likely many), my Hyderabadi mother, a Queen by upbringing rather than heritage , empathised with the enormity of the tasks undertaken by the Queen of England. My mother knew and was a great proponent of justice and so she focused on the woman behind the crown when it came to Elizabeth. It was my mother, our Queen of Hyderabad who brought the Queen of England and her family into our home and into the lives of my brothers and I, through magazines and the television and we all yearned as her children for our mum, one day to meet the Queen just because she would have enjoyed it. Over a cup of tea and cake my mum would have laughed with the Queen convivially over stories of family life, children and travel. We had hoped to accompany my mother to Buckingham Palace one day to see where her ‘heroine’ resided but alas , it became another unfulfilled dream and my dearest, beloved mama passed away in 2008, at a much younger age then Elizabeth.
I felt sad watching Charles address the nation, I felt sure that he like us so soon after his mothers demise, is probably operating on autopilot and undoubtedly will do until the funeral is over. His responsibilities as Head of State didn’t appear to weigh him down much because he has been in waiting all his life to take them on, and he has a well prepared massively far reaching machine to carry out maintaining the status quo . As he has said , he will carry out his duties with the support of his darling Camilla and will continue the ‘good works’ of his mother. As the lens of the world was upon him, I wondered how many noticed the natural inflections as he spoke and the slightly long pauses a few brief times which I must admit brought a lump to my throat if not tears to my eyes as one human being empathising with the loss of another. Those of us who are orphans are united in our sorrow and I would like him to know that I know how it goes. Dear Charles , as a human being, I am truly sorry for your loss, your dear mother was part of our household and upbringing and so we are with you in your mourning. Yet as countless others have perished and no doubt will perish in the name of your state, I find it hard to call this a catastrophe to the millions of orphans that exist because of your state. Although as humans we should always fear death for ourselves and those we love we must be at this time at least honest and humble about the reality of the death of your mother. it must be said that some of the most appalling crimes have been committed in her name and surely she must have been cognisant of all of it . Will loyalty to one’s land ever override the loyalty to humankind?
Your family despite being amongst the richest, do not, it is reported, pay taxes commensurate with the level of wealth you own and whilst you do attract monies from the masses with the charitable endorsements your support provides I find it hard to call this a catastrophe for the nation or this world of ours as billions of pounds of our hard earned money which the state takes in taxes will be used to bring about the greatest show on Earth in recent times. The pomp and circumstance of your beloved mothers funeral will cost the nation but the media frenzy will hide this tragedy which is the real loss to the nation. How many good causes could be supported by using that money from the coffers of the state? How many expensive funerals will we need to awaken us to reality of decisions we take that impact the world and the catastrophes that are a direct result of these decisions.
I cannot call this a catastrophe to the parents of the young teen in Palestine that passed away at the same time as your mother, just yesterday, for no other reason than he was Palestinian. Seventeen year old Haytham Mubarak was shot dead in Ramallah, Palestine by the Israeli military at the same time as your mother died. Whilst your mothers body is being treated rightly with the reverence all our dead deserve, Haytham’s body is being held by the Israeli military indefinitely maybe. When and if his body is released to his family and they bury him, in shaa Allah , ya Rabb, May Allah widen his grave and fill it with light and barakah ( blessings) and May he wrap the hearts of his family who are left behind in sabr( patience ) Amen. I mourn your mothers death and pray that you are given patience throughout this time, however, I wish wholly that your new position gives you time to reflect and act with clarity and not let this opportunity pass you by to change things for the good .
Although I was revited ( as rabbits are when caught in headlights), by her Majesty’s life and her effect on people who grew up with her and probably loved her as one of their own I am writing about these two deaths to you as events that could potentially show the Butterfly effect in action . These two deaths are seemly unrelated yet historically they are connected. This monarch, our Queen Elizabeth II , was our head of state and it was under her reign that the Israeli military was established. Before 1948 , Palestine was a British colony, it had full control over that land and after they colonised Palestine, which by the way had a tiny percentage of Jewish people, the British started bringing in thousands of Jews from all over the world especially Europe to prepare for a Jewish state to be established as it would have been hard to establish a Jewish state with a majority of Muslims and Christian’s living in it. 1948 came along and so the Jewish state was established and Isreal was born . Massacres on a grand scale occurred and Muslims and Christian’s continue to suffer the longest tragedy in history – that in my book is a catastrophe . But the ink is not dried and the scrolls have not been folded yet so I can but pray that with your enlightened thinking you will in shaa Allah provide a salve for a world that is haemorrhaging profusely. One person’s hope is another’s wishful thinking.
Unwrapping the effects of each of our lives on others is a precarious unwieldy task as we jarringly co-exist in multiple intertwined layers. How has this Queen’s death impacted you? Have you let yourself think about it as you make your way through this quagmire that is our world or are you content to occupy this gutter whilst letting some of us look up at the stars and ponder with awe and wonder to drive us so we can act to change the world on your behalf ? Allah has shown us a way to manage our worldly affairs so that affairs of the hereafter can be assured for us but how many of us are aware of this ?
One’s parents are of course, our anchors and our safe harbours in this world , the world is never the same without them but you Charles were indeed blessed to have had her with you for such a long time and as her child you should and will be sorrowful for the rest of your life at her passing but if you are to herald a new Carolean era that is just you will need to stand up and put your head above the trenches. Much as I might wish this for you who appeared today as a father who loves his children and as a devoted husband and proponent for changing the world for the better, I can but have hope. I feel sure, maintaining your position will be the imperative that drives you, however, I can but dream and pray for Allah who provides Hidayat( guidance), to whom he wills. I pray that you have courage to set of a butterfly effect which will cause positive life affirming reverberations around this globe and I pray it dwells somewhere in your heart that this is how you must act, in shaa Allah.
Since the Covid catastrophe, the lockdown legacy is a new era indeed for us ordinary citizens of the UK. Our lives and ways of living may be about to get worse as we are awakening from that nightmare to find that the capitalist machine is relentless in pursuing it’s goal of making a small minority subdue the vast majority through fiscal deprivation. Maintenance of our lifestyles in whatever strata we inhabit ( apart from the upper classes), is going to get harder- this is an undeniable truth and a true catastrophe on a National and international platform. You know what really bothers me ? That we have the resources, in plenty, to make the world more egalitarian, yet , the greed of some and the apathy of the vast majority propels us headlong into an oblivion of sorrows beyond measure. I can only pray that humanity realises before it is too late for us all. As Muslims our trajectory has been divulged to us but Allah also tells us that dua (prayer)which is in my opinion , a verb and not just a noun, can change our Qadr. The Muslim way is to do dua and follow through with action , this is my wish for you King Charles. That would indeed bring about a brave new world where all are truly valued for being human .
In your beautifully crafted speech, you pledged loyalty, respect and love to this great nation and talked about your son William , leading and carrying on the conversations which will bring the marginal to the centre ground but you too must in my opinion do this as the impact on the world will be unmeasurable , so do it if you dare. Flights of Angels will herald this as good news and glad tidings for all time henceforth if you do.
Author can be contact on her email id farru@aol.com
| Posted by Sameer Khan | 
