Happy Valentine day to all.
In the whole world on the 5th of February, the Valentine Day is observed
with zest and zeal. This day in known as the Day of Love. A Roman saint
named Valentine helped the lovers marry. It was a traditional society
and the indulging of youth is love was not acceptable to the parents. It
was the era of arranged marriages. The church also opposed love affairs.
These dogmatic and radical hard liners considered love of youth and
their free marriage choice as a rebellion from social and religious
established norms. Even to date in some Asian and African countries the
youth is condemned, cursed and some times killed for exercising their
innate and natural right to love. In the name of family honor the girls
are killed for committing this so called sin.
King Cladius charged Saint Valentine for promoting immorality and
immodesty in the society. He was imprisoned. Valentine granted the right
of love and love marriage and contended that Christianity no where stops
Love. He said love was not a sin but a virtue. People are free to make
decisions about their future spouses. He opposed the notions of
traditional priests who in the name of God had made their own fabricated
religion. He believed Jesus to be the promoter of Love. When he was in
jail suffering the plight, the young daughter of the jailer fell in love
with him. The cause of her love with this old man was she admired his
bold stand for youth against the inhuman stance of the king and the
traditional priests. She was a young girl and her self aspired the
marriage of love rejecting the forced and arranged family marriage.
Saint Valentine suffered for his views and eventually died in jail.
Before his death on February fourteen, he wrote these words for the
daughter of the jailer: "Your Valentine."
It may be the matter of interest for my friends to note that love has
been the core message of the poets world wide. The poets are the true
lovers and spread the fragrance of love. There is depth in their
feelings and height in their imagination. On the contrary, the priests
of all religions undermine the passion of love. Even to date in some
religious families of all faiths, the marriages with out the permission
of their parents are not permissible. The West has broken the shackles
of traditional inhuman culture but the East is still fluttering and
flipping in the states of so called morality. There is no freedom of
choice and the literature of the East mirrors the pangs and travails of
separation of the lovers.
The holiday on the Valentine Day is named after Saint Valentine and was
established by Pope Gelasias1 in 496 A.D. On this day the lovers express
their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery
and greeting cards. This holiday first became associated with romantic
love in the circle of Geoffery Chaucer, the father of English poetry, in
the high Middle Ages, when the tradition of Courtly love followed.
Geoffery Chaucer in his poetry book titled " Pilgrimage to Canterbury
Tales" depicts the real picture of his age and society. He is known for
his sunny humor. It is my privilege to get the degree of doctorate on
Chaucer from the Rochville University of Texas, U.S.A. The poems of
John Donne on Love have their unique position in English literature.
In the end I would like to shed light on the subject of love from the
religious point of view. Is love prohibited in religion? Is free choice
of the youth to marry of compatibility, taste and choice prohibited in
religion? The simple answer to these questions is a big No. Every body
is free to choose his/ her partner of life. In the Torah we find the
Love of prophet Abraham and Lady Sara. Then we find love affair between
Lady Rachel and prophet Jacob. Similarly the love affairs of prophet
Solomon are mentioned. They had wives and concubines. A concubine is a
lady with whom you can have sex with out marriage. In Islam also forced
marriages are not permitted. The majority of Muslim priests discourage
and renounce love marriages and propound the necessity of arranged
marriages. Saudi Arabia is the most criminal country in this context.
The rich people have four views and so many concubines. There is
monarchy and the princes are enjoying life in the name of their own
fabricated Islam. They are the usurpers of human rights. The poor Saudis
do not have even one wife while the rich class is enjoying life. On the
other hand advanced Muslim countries like Turkey permit free choice of
marriage and love marriages. Iran is a religious country. The government
claims to be Islamic but their clerics permit love marriages. It is good
thing. The holy prophet of Islam Mohammad always had praise for his
wife Hazrat Khadija. He also admired Hazrat Aysha. The prophet Hazrat
Mohammad prohibited forced marriages and the declared the consent of
the man and woman essential for marriage.
I wish love prevails and hatred extinguishes. I fully support the
Valentine Day and appeal to the lovers of humanity to observe this day
every year with good wishes for all humanity. Love is the essence of
life. When the to hearts love we must not put impediments. William
Shakespeare had rightly said that the true love neither alters nor
accepts impediments. The true lovers like Sassi and Punno, Heer and
Ranja, and Shereen and Farhad laid down their lives but did not
surrender. Love is life. Let us provide opportunities to our youth to
live happily with love and do not die of the pangs of separation. Long
Live Love.
Sincerely yours,
Dr.Maqsood Jafri
New York
Cell; 516--369--1639