Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | Dec 15, 2019

"Nature works," says Emerson, "on a method of all for each and each for all." This sums up the process at work in the universe. There are innumerable forces in nature functioning with amazing coordination, in complete harmony with one another. The whole corresponds to the part and vice versa.

God has set this example on the universal scale. Man should follow the same pattern displayed in nature. Every individual is required to lead his life keeping in view the interests of society and society should work towards the betterment of individuals. Thus the function of society and the function of the individual should coincide with and conform to one another.

God has thus established a model in the form of the universe which is making a permanent appeal to maintain an equilibrium of interests, and is making the likes and dislikes of God plain to man. If man were to heed this universal message, he could surely be guided along the straight path, the path which would earn God's favour.

Let us take the example of a tree vis-à-vis the universe. In the universe, there is heat, gravity, air, water, to list but a few physical elements. Everything is exactly in accordance with the requirements of a tree. All things from the sun down to the bacteria serve as food for the tree. They coincide with the requirements of a tree.

Similarly, a tree grows gradually without coming into conflict with anything around it. The world benefits from its wood, branches and fruit. Even its breathing in carbon dioxide and breathing out oxygen is in accordance with the needs of the external world. The same coordination is required of man between a part and the whole, i.e., the individual and the society. There is no other path which leads man to success.