HISTORY OF REACTION
No Positive Results
THERE are so many revolutionary leaders and there have been many revolutions. But most of these were coups, not revolutions. They successfully brought an end to an ‘unwanted system’, but failed to bring in the system which they had set as their goal. After every unwanted system, a new unwanted system emerges and the politics of reaction continues unabated.
What is the reason behind this sad state of affairs? Thinkers who spearheaded revolutions were unaware of the law of nature that evils are an integral part of human society. All the leaders and reformers were obsessed with an evil-free ideal society, while according to the law of nature the ideal cannot be achieved in this world. They wanted to establish an evil-free society, and it is impossible to completely eliminate evil from society. One evil replaces another, a fact which history has witnessed.
The truth is that ‘evil’ is the wrong name for ‘challenge’. What people call a society full of evils, refers in fact to a society full of challenges. This is why reformers and leaders should have considered evil as challenge and looked for a solution to manage the challenge.
For example, some people are born in poverty. Our reformers tried to eliminate poverty from the world, but failed. The reason is that poverty is nature’s creation and, serves as an incentive to work hard. Without poverty in the world, there would be no incentive, without incentive there can be no development.
According to the law of nature ideal cannot be achieved in this world.
All parents aim at providing material comforts to their children, this being their greatest concern. But this thinking is against the scheme of the Creator. The right way is for the parents to create the spirit of hard work in their children so that they stand on their own feet. What we witness in society is contradictory to the scheme of the Creator. Many People who attained success by their own hard work at times indulge their children in luxuries. This is the reason why most youngsters of hard working parents live a pampered life and do not accomplish anything great in life.
The above attitude of individuals highlights the importance of incentive for development and success. The same concept has to be extended towards the development of the society to get the right results. For example, in the primitive age, man used to walk on foot and get tired. So, to overcome the problem of tiredness he discovered the horse for riding. But travelling on horses had its shortcomings. Man then invented the wheel for conveyance. Improving on this, he discovered steam power, harnessing it for transportation. Then when faced with newer problems, man developed the motor car. It was the continuous challenges which led man to build the aircraft for travel thereby giving us the conviction that necessity is the mother of invention.
So, reacting without giving consideration to universal truths is a negative response to a situation; while a non-reactive and well thought out response within the framework of realities will bring in positive results.
Freedom in Islam
According to Islam that person is most precious
who leads his life in this world in such a manner
that despite facing all sorts of temptations he
succeeds in overcoming them; despite having the
power to misuse his freedom, he refrains from
doing so; despite the possibility of leading an
unprincipled life, he chooses of his own free will to
be a man of principle. To identify such individuals
it is essential that an atmosphere of freedom
prevail in the world. This is not possible under
any other system.