"I have reached my present position by climbing a ladder and not by coming up to it in a lift." This observation was made by a tailor who had started with nothing but his own two hands and the will to work, and who had become eminently successful in his line of business. "Making a good coat is not child's play. The whole process is so complicated that without detailed information as to how to proceed, long experience and a high degree of skill, it is almost impossible to accomplish. It is only after a lifetime of hard work that I have succeeded in running a prosperous shop in the city."

The tailor went on to explain how he had served his apprenticeship under the guidance of an expert tailor. Just learning the art of cutting and sewing had taken him five long years. When he opened his own little shop, he discovered that he had difficulty in giving his customers a good fitting. This was because during his apprenticeship he had never really grasped the fact that people could be of such different shapes and sizes. He therefore set himself to the task of studying human anatomy, but it was only after many years of effort that he could make a coat with an absolutely perfect fitting. He eventually became so expert in this that he could even give perfect fittings to those who unfortunately suffered from deformities-such as hunchbacks. "In any type of work, there are many things which one has to learn on one's own. Often one cannot foresee these things at the outset, and each obstacle has to be overcome by hard work and ingenuity."

The tailor talked of many things of this nature concerning his skills, and it seemed to me as though I were listening to a lecture on the building of the nation by some very experienced person.

In truth, the only way to solve our economic and social problems is to follow the example of the tailor. After this initial apprenticeship, he had gone ahead and done things on his own. He had gone up by the stairs and not by the lift. There are no buttons, which you can just push and then automatically reach your goals. You can only make progress step by step. Progress can seldom be made by leaps and bounds. By means of the ladder you can progress even to the stage of owning the lift, but you cannot make a success of your life by starting with the lift and expecting it to do everything for you.

A principle I would like to share for nation-building is: “Perform your duties, and you will automatically receive all the things that you want.” Mahatma Gandhi also gave this guiding principle for nation-building in these words: Duty before Right. It is not merely a Gandhian formula. Rather it is a historically tested formula applicable to every country.

The best society is a duty-conscious society. The worst society is a right-conscious society. This is a universal principle, and there is no exception in this regard.

Enjoying one’s rights does not happen simply by demanding them. Rather, obtaining ones rights is an outcome of hard work. If you demand or protest for your rights, your efforts will be in vain because there is no one to hear your protest and fulfil them. In such a situation, demanding your rights is bound to be useless. Complaining or protesting for your rights is like crying in a desert where there is no one to hear your voice.

On the other hand, when you perform your duties, you become deserving of obtaining your rights. Performing one’s duty is like sowing a seed in fertile soil. Such a seed is destined to produce fruit according to the eternal law of nature. Abiding by one’s duty always results in becoming able to accessing one’s rights, but merely demanding your rights cannot bring you any positive results.

Our world is based on natural laws. One such law can be referred to as the Give and Take Principle. Saint Francis of Assisi has rightly said in his famous prayer: “For, it is in giving that we receive.”

If you are a duty-conscious person, you give something to the society. And, according to the law of nature, you certainly deserve its return. But if you are a right's conscious person, you give nothing to the society. And so, you do not deserve to receive any favour from society.

All ‘super-achievers’ in history were the ‘super-givers’ of their times. Their ‘super-giving’ made them eligible for ‘super-receiving’. If you want to receive something from others without giving anything to them, you are living in a fanciful world of your own imagination. Your wishful thinking will not work in this world!

The best principle for a successful life can be expressed in these simple words: Give your best, and find the best. Your ‘best’ is like your money, and the world of opportunities is like a shopping centre. If you are ready to spend your money, you can obtain the things you desire from the shopping centre. But if you are not ready to spend your money, the doors of all shopping centres will remain closed to you. You cannot find entry into any shopping centre anywhere.

Source: Spirit of Islam January 2014

According to a tradition, the Prophet said: All of the land is tahur (pure). (Muslim) Therefore considering any particular part of the land superior to another is not right. Every part of the earth is worthy of being regarded as God’s gift to humanity. According to Islam, the whole of the planet Earth is a divine gift to mankind and without doubt a blessing from God.

The planet Earth is a unique place in the universe. It has a life-support system for man. There is no other place known to have conditions where humans can settle. Given this, it is natural for a person to consider the planet Earth as a divine gift. He must have gratitude and love for the planet Earth where he resides.

Love of one’s nation comes naturally to a human being. A person loves his nation just as he loves his mother. Hence calling the nation as one’s ‘motherland’ does not go against the spirit of religion. Referring to a piece of land as ‘motherland’ is an expression of one’s sentiments and has nothing to do with religion.

In the present age, nationhood is based on one’s homeland. This is the right concept. The opinion that nationhood is based on religion is an extremist concept. It is not an issue of the Shariah but is being made to appear as such.

No one needs any instruction in this. What we must avoid is conditioning ourselves with wrong ideas, which may lead to negativity for our nation. We need to keep our natural feelings alive for the development of a national character.

Source: Source: Spirit of Islam August 2021

The work of nation-building is similar to planting an orchard. The growth and development of a nation is a lengthy affair, and there has to be a tremendous input at both the individual and national levels before it finally bursts into blossom and finds the position of honour and glory in the world.

If it takes a mighty tree one hundred years to reach its full stature, whoever wishes to possess such a tree has no option but to tend to it for that period. If instead of nurturing it with care and skill, people called for an ‘orchard meeting’, or people come out on to the streets and launch a strike campaign in the name of trees, or gather in some open place or march through the streets shouting slogans, they will never possess a single tree, less own an orchard.

The work of planting an orchard begins by obtaining seedlings and providing every single one with such favourable conditions as will enable it to develop its potential and grow into a fully developed tree. When one has done this with innumerable seedlings, one can then expect to have an orchard.

Build the individual and you build the nation. If hidden potential is to be developed, it takes education, encouragement and the provision of a proper environment at an individual level very early on in the whole process, just as a sapling must be put into well prepared ground and given the right type and quantity of nutrients, water, sunlight etc. If people are properly instructed, while they are still young and receptive and by people who adopt a caring, positive attitude, they develop a healthy awareness of what their commitments to society should be and what it means to be part of a nation.

Although we must accept the fact that this is a highly competitive world, there is nothing to prevent us from endeavouring to cooperate with and encourage cooperation from others. If we stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow men in the face of the most challenging situations, there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome, no peril that we cannot face.

Thus, it is the individual temperament which plays the most crucial role in the making of a nation. It is important in nation-building in the way the bricks are important in any kind of construction.

Source: Spirit of Islam February 2019