When this blog was first started, it was meant to be a place for free flow of ideas so that we will be able to understand our problems and discuss possible solutions to such issues. Sadly we achieved very little along those lines perhaps because the list of problems that we face as a society is overwhelming. It is a quagmire that we have so far failed to untangle. There is corruption, poverty, crime, injustice, illiteracy, lawlessness, lack of civil sense, egos, self-praise…. the list is endless. Is there a way out?
It is a fact that the same problems have been faced by humanity since its inception. There has hardly been a time when there was no hardship, bloodshed or crime on the face of this earth. Does that also mean there will never be such a time? I don’t think the sane human mind wants to accept that possibility and hence our efforts in the direction of the absolute Truth. Human nature in itself does not appreciate crime. If it did, we would have never made this blog or had countless discussions over tea and lunch or in the quad or with family about why everything is so wrong! If it is true that man by nature is pure, why is there so much bloodshed in our world? Why is there so much injustice, so much crime, so many lies and so much suffering?
Are inequality and poverty the underlying reasons behind people’s sufferings? If so, communism and socialism should have solved people’s problems. However, is there a difference between communist societies and the central jail? Is every criminal or doer of injustice a poor person? Obviously not, you don’t have to look far beyond the leaders of our own country to find your answer. Perhaps then, poverty is not the only reason there is crime. But there is still some weight in the poverty argument because if I were poor, I would not have been writing this blog. If I were poor and had not had a meal all day, I would have been so worried about making ends meet, corruption would have been a word irrelevant for me. If I were at the verge of death by hunger, theft would have been justified in my mind. So perhaps poverty is ONE factor, definitely not the only factor because doers of injustice include poor and rich alike.
What else, then, contributes to problems in this society? Is it education? Perhaps..because they say education gives a person perspective. It enables a person to overcome our first problem, poverty. If you are educated, you are more likely to make an income and hence overcome your poverty. But tell me, is every educated person around you free from injustice? So many leaders and ordinary people have studied at Ivy League universities (supposedly the best in education we all dream of) and are still engaged in injustice. They are educated and rich and they are still corrupt or they still encourage injustice to meet their own needs. Perhaps then poverty and education are not the only TWO factors that are causing our problems.
What is it then, that is the key to our problems? What is it that keeps both, a poor illiterate farmer and a rich educated businessman, away from injustice, from wrong doings and makes them the ideal members of this society? Perhaps our answer lies in morality. If I were to put it more blatantly, I would say, our answer lies in the belief of existence of a Master and that of the hereafter. It is when this belief guides our lives in this world that morality, civic sense and rightful recognition and respect of people’s rights are automatically inculcated into our lives. It is not possible to have a society that is centered around the existence of Allah and still have poverty and illiteracy flourishing. On the contrary, the popular brand of this belief in Pakistan today seems to encourage the two instead of eradicating them. This flavor of God’s order in the universe that does not result in the well being of a society in this world and only makes promises for the hereafter is the THIRD problem we need to get over.
So the answer to the question, are there solutions to our problems as a society, is Yes. What we really need is an all-inclusive approach that at least targets the three problems identified above. Morality in its true sense cannot stem but from belief in Allah (called any name by different religions) and any society that centers itself around this belief is bound to succeed in this world and hence, in the hereafter. The need is for people who feel the pain to recognize this as definite solution to our problems and make an action plan to achieve it. I am not suggesting an overnight revolution of any sorts because there is no such thing as an overnight revolution. All revolutions in history started as thoughts and actions of a small group of people that were so attractive and useful that they grew in number and in space and eventually wiped off the status quo. All I am suggesting is we put our minds together and start working on solving these problems. We can start by recognizing the role of Allah in our own lives and guiding our actions accordingly. The rest will follow.
