By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan for New Age Islam
27 May, 2015
Q: Maulana Sahib, can you suggest a master formula so that we can be peaceful in all situations?
A: This desire to be at constant, undisturbed peace is not your concern alone. It is everyone’s desire. It is everyone’s concern. The Quran says: “We have created man into a life of toil and trial.” (90:4) We have taken birth in a world full of problems. And what can you do to change that? Nothing! There’s no readymade formula for it.
So, how should you respond? The only sensible way is simply to ignore the problems. Other than this, there is no formula. People think that all problems can be solved. But it simply cannot happen. It’s not just you who continues to be faced with problems. Even the prophets were faced with challenges. People impractically hope or expect that one day all their problems will be solved—maybe through some magical formula. This will never be the case, however. Given this, the only way is to ignore problems. You have to place your burdens, the burden of the problems that you are carrying around on your shoulders, on God. Don’t go about carrying your problems on your head. Give them to God. Remember that even if a prophet were here, he would not give you a magical solution to end your problems, because it is simply not possible.
So, give all your problems to God. There is no other way.
Q: I try my best in my efforts in dawah work. But I feel that these efforts are not up to the mark. What should I do? Please advise me.
A: No one’s efforts are up to the mark. So, you are not an exception. Others might try to obstruct you. But what can you do about that? The Makkans tried to stop the Prophet and his companions from going to Makkah for the Umrah. So, what did he do? He returned to Madinah.
Do not think that the problem you face is your problem alone. It is everyone’s problem. Everyone faces some obstacle from somebody or the other. The ideal that you have in your mind cannot be fully achieved. What is achievable is what is in accordance with the prevailing conditions. “Politics”, they say, “is the art of the possible.” I’ll go further and say, “Life is the art of the possible.” So, do as much as you can, according to the conditions that you face. And for the rest, turn to God in prayer.
Q: Some women are engaged in traditional religious activities, and are not ready to do anything else, such as actively engaging in dawah work. How do we address such women?
A: This is the problem of the whole Muslim ummah. Just as men need to be made to understand the importance of dawah work, so, too, women. You have to work on helping them transform their minds.
Q: Many people are obsessed with such things as money, friends, fame and so on. How can one come out of this obsession?
A: This is the problem of the whole of human history. It’s not a new thing at all. It’s been happening down the centuries. All the prophets had to face people like this. It’s not a new problem. We need to help people come out of this predicament.
Q: Under adverse or negative situations, people lose their composure and react. How can one maintain one’s positivity even in such situations?
A: The existence of challenging situations is not the problem. The problem is that everyone wants that the world should be just as he or she wants it to be. This leads to tension and conflict. People want that no one should abuse them, that no one should cheat them, or that no one should be rude to them. They want that no political party that they do not like should come to power. They want that their children should not go astray. They want that they should not incur any loss in their business. And so on.
But some or other of these things are bound to happen in everyone‘s life, at some time or the other. The Quran clearly says: “We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives and crops.” (2:155) This is part of God’s Creation Plan—that you will suffer loss, that people will say things against you. How can you hope that everything will be smooth, that everything will go your way, that the world should run just as you want it to? This desire itself is wrong. End this desire. Kill it.
In Egypt recently, what happened? There were bloody protests. Many people lost their lives. The Muslim Brotherhood thought that whatever it wanted should happen in the country. But the Army said “No! We won’t allow this.” And that led to great turmoil, to large-scale violence.
All this happened because of seeking the impossible, because of wanting that everything should go as one wants, according to one’s whims and fancies.
What, then, should one do?
One should simply accept whatever is possible according to the circumstances. That’s what I do. It is circumstances that shape history, not your desires. But, yet, everyone is stuck in his own way of thinking, in his own desires, in his own likes and dislikes, and they want the whole world to be shaped and run according to these. But how is this possible? This didn’t happen even with the Prophet. Did he want to be stopped from going for Umrah? No, but he was stopped from going for Umrah at Hudaybiyyah by his Makkan opponents. Did he want that members of his ummah should start fighting among themselves? No, but they did that.
How, then, don’t you understand that you cannot expect the world to function, for everything to happen, just as you want it to? Everyone wants the map of the world to be drawn according to his or her desires. But this is totally impossible.
The Quran talks so much about sabr, that is, patience. It means acceptance of reality. And this is something that we must always do.
Q: Can you please explain the difference between an unconditional guru or spiritual guide and personality worship (or what is called shaksiyat parasti in Urdu)?
A: Some people have wrongly branded following a spiritual guide as personality-worship or personality cult. The real thing is the search for, and discovery of, the Truth. If someone has found the Truth, following him is not worshipping him. Rather, it is worshipping the Truth.
If you come to know that a certain doctor is very skilled in his profession, what do you do? You bring your whole family to him for treatment. The same thing applies in the case of someone who has found the Truth. When you know someone who has found the Truth, you go to him.
So, this allegation about personality-worship is false. Everywhere, everyone tries to follow this principle—of going to an expert if one can afford it. You search for a good doctor, a good lawyer, a good shopkeeper. When you discover a shopkeeper who is honest, who is cheerful, who stocks good quality things, you go to his shop. If you discover a lawyer who is good in handling cases, you go to him if you have some legal problem. So, use this very same principle in the matter of searching for the Truth.
11:22 PM
Moderate Islamist here
0 comments:
Post a Comment