Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Sunday Guardian I 3rd Feb. 2013 I Page 12The 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 civilisation.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 the construction of buildings one uses bricks and cement, which will surely solidify into a firm structure; if stones and cement were like a pile of sand, the buildings would collapse.[Highlight1]Such occurrences would mean that things had lost their specific character and the building of civilisation would then become impossible. Human civilisation can only be fashioned when the things that are essential to it do what is expected of them.Just as the things which contribute to human civilisation have to display certain properties for civilisation 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
A man was riding his bicycle one day when all of a sudden his brake jammed. Luckily there was a cycle repair-shop nearby, so he took his bike there to have it fixed. Thinking that the mechanic would fix the brake at the…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Times of India I February 06, 2015We are living in a world of professions. In the present world, it is mostly your profession that defines your identity. Everyone is Mr Profession or Ms…
Article
What has gone wrong with India? Before Independence, everyone had high hopes of freedom, but now they feel that something more is required to fulfil their dreams. Our most pressing need is to discover this missing…
Article
Raja Mohinder Pratap (1886-1979) was one of those Indians who went to Russia and met Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924). He was one of a delegation of freedom-fighters who met the Russian leader in 1919. He tells how, when he…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I TOI I October 25, 2014Bertrand Russell started his life as a star personality. But when he died at the age of 97, his was a case of frustration. What was the reason behind this tragedy? Russell…
Article
You have probably seen manufacturers of glass frames scoring the surfaces of sheets of glass with a pen-like instrument, then neatly snapping them into two. The cutting edge of this tool is made up of small razor-edged…