DICHOTOMOUS THINKING IS WRONG

DICHOTOMOUS THINKING IS WRONG

Find the Third Option

During the First World War the leaders of the Communist Party were engaged in a supposed class struggle between the labour class and capitalist class. At that time they used to say: “One who is not with us is our enemy.” This thinking is quite unnatural. According to the law of nature the right maxim of life is: ‘One who is not with us is our supporter.’ 

This support is always in the potential sense and that is why people generally fail to recognize this great gift of nature. This unawareness leads to an evil; that is being hateful towards others. Perhaps the Prophet of Islam was the first person in history, who by his example made people aware of this universal principle—that dichotomous thinking is wrong, there is always a third option in life.

One such example is that the Prophet of Islam started his mission in 610 AD Mecca. At that time the situation was apparently unfavourable for the Prophet, Kabah had been built by the Prophet Abraham as a centre of monotheism but in later history it was turned into a tribal temple by the local people and various forms of worship were carried out in its premises


Muslims must utilize the Western bounties for the
sake of Islam just like they are utilizing it
for the sake of their own interest.


The Prophet of Islam was a Prophet of Monotheism; the situation in the Kabah appeared to be a great problem for his mission. But at the same time there was an opportunity, as the Kabah had become a place of general gathering for all the tribes. The Prophet of Islam did not become a victim of dichotomous thinking instead he was able to discover a third option. The Prophet ignored the problem and he tried to use the assembly for his mission of communicating the message of God to mankind. This policy proved to be very successful and within a short-period, the Prophet’s mission spread all over Arabia.

The Prophet of Islam by his example showed that human life is not two dimensional; instead it is three dimensional. In other words, in social life the equation is not between friend and foe, there is another equation; that of friend and supporter.

This contribution of the Prophet of Islam towards history was so extraordinary and unique that even his followers were unable to understand this wisdom. Strangely they failed to re-apply this principle in their lives. The worst example of this is in the present age. In the present age, a new phenomenon emerged called 'Western civilization'. Potentially the Western civilization could have been a great supporter of Islam, but due to their total unawareness of this Prophetic example, Muslims consider the Western civilization an enemy and are fighting against it. 


In social life, one who is not a friend is not an
enemy either; he is a supporter.


Modern civilization is not a product of European factory; in fact it is a product of the factory of nature. The role of the West is that they unfolded the potentials of nature and made them available to all mankind.

There is no monopoly in nature. Nature is based on universality rather than monopoly. Wherever the situation of monopoly is created, nature intervenes to de-monopolize. This principle is given in the Quran in these words: “We bring these days to men by turns.” (THE QURAN 3: 140)

There were enormous signs hidden in nature. These signs are mentioned in the Quran as ayat, kalaymat, aala, etc., it was required by man to unfold this natural treasure, but for thousands of years, nations failed to do this. Muslims were also given a chance for about one thousand years, but they too failed to do this job. Then God Almighty, selected Western nations. They did this job successfully. Now for Muslims it is not an option to declare Western nations as their enemy, instead they must acknowledge their contribution, they must present their thanks to them, and try to avail civilizational development in their favour.

The only thing that is required is that Muslims must utilize the Western bounties for the sake of Islam just like they are utilizing it for the sake of their own interest. o