ASK MAULANA

How should one respond to conspiracies?

THE Quran tells us, ‘If you persevere and fear God, their designs will never harm you in the least’. (THE QURAN 3: 120)

This Quranic verse indicates a very important fact of life. And that is that the real issue or concern for individuals or groups is not of whether or not they have enemies who might be conspiring against them. Rather, the basic issue is that they lack sufficient sabr or patient steadfastness and taqwa or piety or God-awareness to cause any conspiracies against them to fail. If conspiracies can be likened to the rain, then patient steadfastness and God-consciousness are like a strong roof. Those who have not bothered to make a roof over the house will, naturally, get wet in the rain, while not a drop will touch those who have built a roof.

This world runs on the principle of competition. And so, it is but natural that sometimes friction will develop between individuals and groups, which may later assume the form of conspiracies against each other. Whenever something like this happens, one should take it not as an enemy’s conspiracy but, rather, as an expression of a basic law of Nature. To think of a conspiracy as an action of an enemy will instigate one to take to violence. In contrast, if we take it to be a result of a basic law of Nature, we will nurture a way of thinking that will help us take wise steps to avoid falling prey to such conspiracies — just as a wise man does not demonstrate against the rain, but, rather, builds a roof over his house to save himself from getting wet.

Why has God given Man freedom?

Unlike any other creature in the Universe, man is free in this world. God has not placed any curbs on him. But this freedom is for the purpose of putting man to the test, and is not meant to encourage him to lead a life of permissiveness, like the animals and then just depart from this world one day. Rather its purpose is that man should lead a morally upright life of his own free will, thus demonstrating that he is of the highest moral character.

One who conducts himself in this manner should be reckoned as God’s special servant who, without any apparent compulsion, chose to be a man of principle; who, without being subjected to any external force, did of his own free will what his Lord would have desired. This liberty accorded to man gives him the opportunity to gain credit for being the most superior of all God’s creatures.

All the things in this world are God’s subjects. The stars and satellites rotate in space entirely at their Lord’s bidding. Trees, rivers, mountains, and all other such natural phenomena function according to the unchangeable ways of God laid down by Him in advance. Similarly, the animals follow exactly those instincts instilled in their species as a matter of Divine Will. Man is the only creature who has been given, exceptionally, the gift of power and freedom.

This freedom has opened doors of two kinds for man, one leading to success and the other to failure. If on receiving freedom an individual becomes arrogant and insolent, it will mean that he has failed the test. But if on the other hand, he remains modest and humble, bowing to his Lord’s will on all occasions, he will have made the right use of his Godgiven freedom: he will, without any compulsion, have bound himself by divine principles. One who chooses this course will succeed in the test of freedom. He will be handsomely rewarded by God as no other creature. Held to be the chosen servant of God, he will remain in an everlasting state of blissfulness and blessedness.