FROM MAULANA’S DESK
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, born in 1925, in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, is an Islamic spiritual scholar who is well-versed in both classical Islamic learning and modern disciplines. The mission of his life has been the establishment of worldwide peace. He has received the Padma Bhushan, the Demiurgus Peace International Award and Sayyidina Imam Al Hassan Peace award for promoting peace in Muslim societies. He has been called ’Islam’s spiritual ambassador to the world’ and is recognized as one of its most influential Muslims . His books have been translated into sixteen languages and are part of university curricula in six countries. He is the founder of the Centre for Peace and Spirituality based in New Delhi.
THE KEY TO HAPPINESS
IF you are able to be happy with what you already have, then you can achieve happiness. If your happiness involves certain conditions, then you can never achieve happiness. Happiness is not a destination; it is a state of mind. No material good can give you happiness.
If you have a list of material things in your mind and you believe that only by obtaining all the things on this list, you can live in happiness, it is impossible for you to attain happiness. The fact is that this material list has an end on the paper on which you write it down, but it won’t have any end in your mind! One should learn how to be content, otherwise your mind will keep adding new things to its wish-list. And then, you will always live with unsatisfied desires.
If you want to live with happiness, then learn the difference between need and desire. Our real needs are actually very limited. There is always a full-stop in the list of real needs, but the wish-list based on desire has no full-stop. It has only commas. Every day, you add a new comma to this list, and this will continue endlessly till your death. The Prophet of Islam has said that if a man were given two mountains of gold, he will ask for a third one (Musnad Ahmad). This means that man has an insatiable nature. So, it is only contentment that can give you happiness, not abundance.
About myself, I can say that I am living in happiness in the sense of contentment. I believe that what I have is quite enough for me. This formula has given me a great sense of fulfilment. This contentment has saved me from all kinds of distractions. And when you are saved from distractions, you have enough time to do all kinds of good things, for example, to study, to cultivate positive thinking, to engage in human service, etc.
Happiness is not just a personal quality; It is of great value in itself. If you are unhappy, you are bound to live in tension and stress. But if you are happy, you are tension-free. You will have no stress, and you will be free of pessimism. You will develop a positive personality. And a positive personality is the greatest need in human development.
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
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We can create a nation
only if its inhabitants are imbued
with a sense of purpose. To that end,
we must educate our people: they must have
full knowledge of both the past and the present
if they are to progress towards an ideal future.
We have to inculcate in them the will to work
unitedly in spite of their disagreements.
We have to instill in them the courage
to sacrifice their personal feelings
and short-term interests
for long-term ones.
Only then will it be possible to fashion history anew.