Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Speaking Tree Website | Monday September 9, 2013The universe works according to the laws of nature. The Quran says: "The sun cannot overtake the moon, nor can the night outpace the day: each floats in [its own] orbit." (36:40). This predictability of the world around us is the reason for the successful development of human civilization.If one wants to build a bridge across a river, one uses steel because one knows one can rely on the strength of that metal to hold up the bridge; if steel turned out to be as soft as wax the whole edifice would crash into the water. For construction of buildings one uses bricks and cement, which one is sure will solidify into a firm structure; if stones and cement were like a pile of sand, the buildings would collapse.Such occurrences would mean that things had lost their specific character and the building of civilization would then become impossible. Human civilization can only be fashioned when the things that are essential to it do what is expected of them. [Highlight1] Just as the things which contribute to human civilization have to display certain properties for civilization to flourish, so the individuals who constitute human society have to do what is expected of them if society is to run smoothly.There are certain attributes that constitute a human character; only if people display these attributes can they be counted as true human-beings. Where resolve is required they should remain as solid as steel, where pliability is required, as soft as running water. They should remain as still as stones when silence is expected of them, as firm as mountains when constancy is the order of the day. When strong initiatives are required, their enthusiasm should cascade like a torrent. It is such people, those who speak and act as true human beings, who constitute a strong and stable human society.
Related Articles
Article
The very word Islam (from the Arabic silm) implies peace, and all the teachings of Islam are based directly or indirectly on this principle. There are traditions of the Prophet that say that ‘Peace is Islam’, and that…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Sunday Guardian I February 8, 2015
There are many names of God Almighty in the Quran. One of the names of God is As-Salam, that is, Peace. Thus, God Himself is peace. There is a prayer of…
Article
Peace is the only religion for both man and the universe. In a peaceful environment all good things are possible, whereas in the absence of peace, we cannot achieve anything of a positive nature, either as individuals,…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I Times of India I October 25, 2010 | Page 16The power of peace is greater than the power of violence. Peaceful methods are far more effective than violent methods. Constructive goals can be…
Article
The history of peace shows that there can be two periods of peace: political peace and non-political peace. In ancient times people were ruled by kings in almost every part of the world. Under a king’s reign, only one…
Article
In the present world the root cause of most of our problems is traceable to our deviation from the peaceful model of nature-the best model for us to follow. All the dilemmas we are facing today arise because we have not…