Some Superstitions in Pakistan Essay

Some Superstitions in Pakistan Essay (500 Words)

Superstitions have their roots in ignorance. They are the product of want of scientific knowledge. They are blind beliefs and faiths. Belief in supernatural powers, omens, magic etc, show our superstitions. They show our backwardness and lack of mental development. Thus, ignorance and superstitions go together. The more ignorant the people are, the more superstitious they are. They live in constant fear of ghosts, witches, magicians, and evil spirits. They are easily be fooled and exploited by clever and bad people in the name of God and religion.

Superstitions are widespread. They are found almost everywhere. The difference is only of degrees. Even educated people are not free from superstitions. Women, children, the poor and backward are more superstitious than others. The fear of the unknown and ill-luck makes us victims of the superstitions. They turn all of us into cowards. When something cannot be explained or understood, people start fearing it. They then give it a mystery and divine origin. Then some clever people like priests, maulvis, magicians, etc. exploit the situation. They make fool of others and mint money.

In Pakistan prevail many superstitions. They are more widespread in the villages and countryside. Because there are more people who are uneducated. They are not developed mentally. They are simple and ignorant. The hold of blind faith on them is very strong. They become easy victims of astrologers, palmists, and occultists. They fear priests and magicians. They consult them for marriage, construction of houses or starting a new business. Sometimes they do not hesitate even to sacrifice their most precious things.[the_ad id=”17141″]

Superstitious people believe that certain houses, trees, and places are haunted and evil spirits by ghosts They avoid them at every cost. If anybody goes there he is found to be possessed by these spirits.

Such people fail to distinguish between true religion and blind faith. Not long ago in Pakistan, smallpox was regarded as a result of the anger of a goddess. Sneezing at the start of work or travel is considered an evil portent. The crossing of the cat, while you are going for some work, is also considered ominous. In such an event, it is presumed that the work would end in failure.

The barking of the dog, the crying of a cat, the howling of a jackal and the braying of an ass are also taken as ominous. But a man or woman, with a pot full of water, crossing your way is regarded auspicious. A sweeper sweeping the path before you is also regarded as good. There are certain days, hours and minutes which are auspicious. People consult astrologers to determine these auspicious times. Many people wear precious stones etc. to ward off the evil influence of certain planets like Saturn etc. For the ignorant people, the sight of a comet and shooting star is ominous. The eclipses of the sun and the moon are also regarded as evil. It is believed they cause doom and disaster.

Superstitions are signs of our weakness. A weak man is always fearful. He can be easily fooled and exploited. Such a person performs many ceremonies, rituals which are really harmful. To remove superstitions, people should be educated. Literacy is essential to eradicate superstitions. With the spread of science, reasoning and scientific temper superstitions can be easily overcome. Our belief in God and in religion should be strong. We must follow teachings of Islam strictly.

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Some Superstitions in Pakistan Essay (400 Words)

“Superstition” means unreasonable belief or practice resulting from ignoránce or fear of the unknown. When people believe that hidden powers can bring about changes in nature and society, they are superstitious. Superstitions are, in fact, based on belief in the power of magic and invisible forces as spirits and devils. It is strange that even in the new millennium there are people who believe that spirits and ghosts can bring about changes in nature and in our lives. Such people are commonly found in the villages and small towns of the Third-World countries like ours. The common sight of illiterate or semi-literate people approaching “pirs” and “fakirs” for having wonders done is enough to prove how much superstitions have a hold on us.”

Quite a few people in the East and the West believe in dreams. Apart from psychological meanings, dreams do not have any definite messages. However, when superstitious people have dreams of hidden powers, angels, devils or unusual forces, they begin giving them special meanings. For example, a person of this kind says, “ I am doing this because I was instructed in a dream by a power to do so.”[the_ad id=”17150″]

Strange superstitions exist in the minds of our uneducated and semi-educated village and town folk in connection with charms, talismans and food and animal or bird parts. They result in the tragedy at times. A report narrates that a housewife, Yasmin, mixed the owl’s tongue and charms with the food of her husband to bring him to destruction (disaster) when she was carrying on affairs with other men.

This very woman divided a loaf of bread into several parts each morning, wrote magic figures in them and threw them to a mad dog. The result of these superstitious exercises shocked everyone when she lost her mental balance and threw herself before a running train.

On the whole, the West has given up lots of harmful superstitions like the ones connected with charms, talismans, and shrines. It is because of education and mental training of the masses (common people). Most of the uneducated and less-educated East is, in the grip. of harmfully useless, superstitions. It is high time the people woke up to the realities of life and possibilities of success that demand a scientific attitude and understanding.

Some Superstitions in Pakistan Essay (600 Words)

Outline:

• Superstition even in this scientific age
• Causes of superstition
• Superstition in our society
• The most terrible feature of superstition
• Superstition, detrimental to progress

Superstition is nothing but an ignorant and irrational belief in supernatural agency, omens, divination, necromancy and witchcraft. Even nowadays, in spite of the rapid spread of scientific knowledge and the Quranic doctrines, most of the people all over the world have implicit faith in superstitions and the foxy diviners and the artful oracles exploit the ignorance of simplitons. In the Middle Ages in Europe, belief in witchcraft led to the persecution of poor old women who were suspected to be the ministers of the black art. The Spanish, Inquisition, tortured and burnt thousands of good people at the bidding of superstition. Historically the most famous execution is the burning of Joan of Arc.

Superstition is born of ignorance. Ignorant savages worshipped the forces of Nature as they were unable to understand the phenomenal significance of natural Laws. Thunderstorm, which could cause much havoc and devastation and pull down massive buildings and do considerable damage to the crops, was an inexplicable phenomenon and they naturally thought it to be the manifestation of the activities of some evil spirit. The sun and the moon were worshipped as gods because the formation of nights and days perplexed their imagination.[the_ad id=”17144″]

Natural phenomena such as the downpour of rain, the deafening roar of thunder and the dazzling flashes of lightning came to be regarded by them as the ravaging and bloody battles of gods and demons raging in the sky. The eclipse of the sun and the moon was also beyond the scope of their imagination.

The fertile imagination of the mythmakers gave birth to idols, deities, gods and goddesses and their temples where their incarnations were worshipped and, in case of natural calamities, offerings of valuables and human beings and animals were made to appease the rage of angry deities. Even awe-inspiring shapes were given to gods and goddesses to exploit the ignorance of devotees and worshippers.

We have many superstitious notions prevalent amongst us. If one calls a man who is on the point of going somewhere, his going is at once postponed. A passer-by with an empty-pitcher is regarded as an evil omen at the time of starting on a journey. The sight of a jackal on the right and a snake on the left forbode an unfortunate journey and the opposite signs are considered auspicious, If a man is about to go on business and sees a corpse on his right, he feels sure of his success. But if he sees the same on his left he believes that he will not fare well in his undertaking. The afternoon of Thursday is considered especially ominous, so much so that a person is forbidden to undertake a journey even if he has a sure chance of being crowded, by going to a certain place. A fond mother does not allow a member of her family to take her baby into the street without putting a black spot of soot on his forehead. Similarly, the appearance of a comet in the sky, the shooting of meteors, the prolonged barking of dogs at night, the neighing of horses and the hooting of the owls are considered ominous. Such is the power of superstition. It may be called a disease of the mind. It is nothing but a figment of imagination. It gives rise to vain fears and unimaginable anxieties. It wavers the determination of men and entangles them in the quagmire of fickle-mindedness.[the_ad id=”17151″]

Its worst and most terrible feature is the cruelty it provokes. It is cruel with the cruelty of ignorance and is more capable of working a mob into a frenzy of passionate anger than any other emotion. It is said that a strange case occurred in a tiny Austrian hamlet, where a devastating drought was attributed by the “sagacious men” of the community to the wrath of God for the sins of the village. On the following day “the four chief sinners” of the place were taken forcibly and were put to death. In France a poor old priest was killed because it was said that he cast spells.

It is detrimental to progress because it encourages a kind of a fatalism and belief in chance, which destroy that self-effort and steady endeavour so essential to the progress of nations or of individuals. No doubt, with the increase of scientific knowledge and critical attitude of modern man, superstition, to greater extent, has died its own death but its trails and remains still exist among a considerable section of people. Now the natural calamities and physical diseases are not attributed to the wrath and anger of evil spirits of the gods or goddesses, which are creations of foxy mythmakers. Superstition is a thing of darkness that flourishes and thrives on the ignorance of man; it cannot stand the dazzling light of reason and wisdom. It is the foundation of ignorance and hates and flees from the shiny face of knowledge. “Science is a great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.”

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