Hamza Ali Abbasi has finally made his big announcement. With fans still waiting for the next episode of Alif to air, this one came as a 23 minute long mini episode on Twitter, FB, Instagram and, surprise, surprise, YouTube – where the actor spoke at length about his love for the Almighty, his reflections on life – past and present, and GOD.
Image Credits: Express Tribune
Before we go on to talk about Hamza’s revelation, let it be said that, though we all have our own religious journeys, an actor-turned tableeghi must ensure he holds enough knowledge to spread the message of God. If not, he might risk engaging the wrath and judgement of many. Ours is not a very forgiving society, but yet, we do love our heroes, and we hope and trust Hamza will make the right choices as he moves forward in his divine mission. Hamza is planning to enlighten the masses (and he has many followers) and lead a spiritual awakening. We ‘pray’ (pun intended) that he does it with knowledge and wisdom. At the same time, we must applaud him for his genuine thoughts. His courage to speak his mind is admirable, and his steadfastness in saying what he believes from the heart gives credence to his words. It is almost as if Qalb-e-Momin has stepped out of Alif to greet us live, and a part of us is already rooting for him, whilst another is saying – hold on – this is not a drama script, this is real life! Will he be able to manipulate the plot and deliver the perfect dialogues till the final episode?
This is the gist of what Hamza had to say:
My Zindagi ki back story:
I became an atheist when I was 14-15 years old. Subsequently, (the actor went on to state), Science actually brought me back towards religion.
I looked into and tried to study other religions. But when I eventually looked at Islam, clear of all biases. I saw Islam as the divine message.
This zindagi will finish.
In our lives. We will all experience death. And we don’t want to talk about it.
But the fact that we don’t talk about it or think about it, is a great misfortune.
Once I was enlightened by this truth, finally, Thank God, I realized that a reality will begin after our death.
I therefore thought: How should I spend my life now? What should my purpose be in life?
What will I do then? Win an award in acting? But I will still die … like all other well-known actors of our age.
I look at my trophies. They are very important to me, as they reflect the value of my hard work. But then I think to myself, what value will these awards hold for my children once I pass away from this world?
So this is how I want to spend the rest of my days:
1. Insaniyat ki khidmat
2. Charity
3. I want to spend my life talking about God. (And not my acting).
“I am not leaving acting because I think it is haraam in Islam, and I want to spend a large part of my life explaining that.”
Thank you for clarifying that one Hamza. In a country where many radical thoughts impose a heavy burden on the country’s cultural progress, we are thankful you will not shun the Art form in your pursuance of the Truth.
A lot of people felt I was turning to politics.
But politics demands that I lie. Unfortunately everyone has to do it. Or they have to toe a popular line as an elected representative. I don’t want to do that.
I want people to realise that:
Zindagi mein we have created boxes. Work, life, and mazhab. And that is not right.
I cannot keep this message of God as a separate box in my life.
I want to share my realization with people from the place I came from, like I was – from the place of an atheist.
I also want to talk about misconceptions in our religion.
Even if my life is at risk – Khair hai. Ek din marna hi hai.
Our ulema are azeem, and they have done commendable work to spread the word of Allah. But we have certain concepts, cultural things that have entered our society and I want to talk about them. ( e.g. women and the fixation of keeping them covered)
I first wanted to straighten myself. Apni islah ki, keh mein khuda ko khush karoon pehlay aur phir message phelaaon
I want to use my status to spread the word of God
I am leaving acting because I don’t want to do non-serious things and then talk about God at the same time. And I don’t want people to think I’m using this in anyway to gain fame.
I only did Alif because it was about Allah. Else Maula Jat would have been my last film.
But …
I plan to make dramas and films. I will try to use this medium to spread Allah’s message.
You can watch my videos on my YouTube channel.
Okay so here’s the twist in the plot. Although your intentions are commendable, we just want to remind you that you carry a huge responsibility on your shoulders. Your YouTube Channel has already crossed 20K subscribers within a matter of 9 hours of its launching, and your Twitter following is a whopping 2.4M. If you are planning to educate these and more followers (we expect it will grow), please do so with caution, wisdom and the utmost knowledge. You see Hamza, this is not an Umera Ahmed play for which the script has been written for you. And these followers, they will listen to your every word, so choose your words carefully, because you will make this or break this. And a following of 2.4 M would like to see you make it!
“But please do not criticize my intentions”. Implores Hamza.
My only intention is to spread the word of Allah and to make people realize that when we die, we all have to answer to God.
Maut is the biggest haqiqat in life.
If you only followed me because of my acting, then goodbye to you.
But if you want to talk about God, then I’m here.
Also. I wanted to say that, we created Pakistan in 1947 for Muslims and we made a promise to God.
“And I firmly believe that if we do not fulfill our promise to God, He cannot fulfill his promise to us. “
This line, we liked. For the simple reason that (as opposed to popular national belief), we cannot assume we are the chosen ones. Just because Pakistan was created in the name of Islam does not mean we will be successful. We have to work towards a purpose, the purpose for which this country was created. And if we do not fulfill our purpose, our country cannot progress.
“We cannot obtain khush hali till we listen to Him.” Hamza goes on to explain that:
The West made no such promises to God, but we did.
So our country cannot get better till we fulfill our promise.
In the coming days and years, I will learn from ulemas and address you people through my YouTube channel: From Atheism to ISLAM.
Till then. Allah hafiz
So there we have it. Hamza has undoubtedly moved many with his sincere words and genuine passion for what he believes in. In a world where people think hard before they speak their truth, Hamza has said it like it is, as always – his thoughts – plain & simple, no filters. We look forward to what he has to say next, and follow his creative endeavours to find out where his calling leads him, and more importantly, where he takes us and his fans from here!
