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This is from the days when I hadn't reached that stage of
awareness yet where man, having baked in the kiln of intellect, turns into a
human being. But one question that pervaded my thoughts had frayed my nerves:
'What is the purpose of life?' As the boundaries of reflection embraced the
concepts of life and servitude to the Creator, the reality would arise that all
of earth's creation shares a common bond within the system of universe. Just as
the requirements of hunger and thirst move man, in the very same manner, the
other creatures are subject to the same requirements. The process of birth is
just as established within the ant species as it is in man. A cat and a mouse
also take care of and nurture their young ones, as does d human. As far as
training is concerned, each species is bound by a particular way of thinking:
From the crack of dawn, a sparrow busies herself in the task of obtaining
sustenance, and so does an elephant. I have seen it with my own eyes that as a
cow's calf died, the cow shed tears from her big black eyes (or three straight
days.
.
There is another scene that I also cannot get out of my mind:
A cow, during the process of creation, is experiencing intense
labour pains" and giving birth has become a serious ordeal. A Hindu woman,
filled with maternal instincts, announced,
"The cow should be placed in a room and the door shut from
the outside."
After some time, the door was opened, and the cow was very
lovingly licking her newborn calf. Her eyes shone with the same maternal love I
have seen in the eyes of my own mother. The secret revealed then was that the
concept of shame and modesty is present even in cows.
Once, when a man, showing his human nature, took aim and shot
down a crow, hundreds of crows appeared on the scene from nowhere and started
to wail so loudly that it became impossible to hear anything else. This
expression of sorrow continued till the third day of the crow's death.
As a hen paced here and there, so proudly and gracefully, with
her young ones in tow, so beautiful like colourful balls of soft cotton, the
sound of a hawk rudely disrupted the peace of the surroundings. The children's
mother, hen, felt the danger and spoke to her young ones as if saying,
"Come quickly, hide! Your mother's embrace is your refuge." The
innocent children, with faces as pretty as flowers, ran in fear. The hen opened
up her wings and gathered them in her embrace.
I happened to see a bird much smaller than even a sparrow. I saw
her house as well. What a house it was! It was more like a protected castle in
the shape of a dome, with separate rooms. The rooms included bedrooms. The
bedrooms were arranged in a way that allowed light to enter. O yes, that house
also had a swing—as children require a cradle too. The house was so strong that
powerful winds and storms could do it no harm. It was air-conditioned from
within. After searching for information, I found out that this house belonged
to the weaverbird—a bird that can be considered the civil engineer of birds. It
is a small bird with a body like that of a sparrow, and a size smaller than a
sparrow's, but a mind more powerful than that of an elephant. Such is the level
of intelligence and awareness of this bird, skilled in the fine arts, that if
man, the inventor of the atom bomb, were to try for years, he would still not
be able to build such a house.
This and many similar observations based on reality spurred the
intellect and led to the conclusion that, 'Intelligence is not related to
physical size, nor is intelligence the sole inheritance of human beings.'
When the streams of thought merged and formed an ocean, the
question ion that begged reflection was, 'What aspect is it that distinguishes
man from beast?' If man has the distinction that he invents, then the process
of invention also occurs among Animals, both large and small. The fact that the
nature of inventions is different is a separate discussion. But the human
species cannot deny the fact that, within the inventions of other species of
animals, we do not find the aspect of destruction, whereas, within human
inventions, the aspect of destruction predominates.
A recurring piece of information that is circulated is that,
'Man is superior among all creation.' But superiority is proven when a bird
flies without external resources, whereas man, even after spending millions and
billions of dollars for the pursuit of flight, is still dependant on outside
resources. With each new avenue of progress and invention that opens, a
proportional increase in pain and suffering takes place. When looking at the
domain of management and organization, one has no choice but to admit that the
order and discipline that honey bees exhibit is far superior to the order and
discipline of human affairs. Then, what superiority does man possesses which
ignites such fires of conceit and arrogance within him? What distinction is it
that has caused him to appear in the forms of Shaddad ['an Adite/ Adermite
ruler, claiming divinity'], Nimrod, and the Pharaohs [of Egypt)?
The current age is referred to as a time of unprecedented
progress. An analysis of this supposed acme of progress reveals that what is
meant by progress is actually an unending process of infliction of cruelty and
hardship. Progress has come to mean that poverty-stricken humanity is defrauded
in the name of progress, and is left terror-writ ken by having impressed upon
them the intellectual superiority of others, that the resources which mother
earth produces for her children are usurped and turned into deadly weapons, and
that hundreds of billions of dollars are snatched from hungry and impoverished
populations and used to create nuclear weapons that would bring instant death
to hundreds of thousands of people. With all of the publicity given these
barbaric actions, it is difficult for God's creation to be able to think of
their own survival, or to do anything for the protection of their progeny. So
gruesome is this cruelty that, to prove one's self a superpower, weapons upon
weapons are amassed, which, if thrown into a pile would make a mountain. Then
this volcano of a mountain is used to set brother against brother—all sons of
the same parents (Adam and Eve) —because if the brothers live with love and
unity, the prospect of becoming a superpower would remain a dream. How
intelligent and wise is the scientist who cannot fathom the simple reality that
when a thing is created it is bound to be used? Have we ever thought as to why
the superpower wants to destroy the earth's heavenly gardens, its cities
brimming with life, and its fields full of crops? It is because they do not
believe that rule and sovereignty belongs to Allah alone. And we are suffering
this terrible ordeal of hardship, worry and insecurity because we have accepted
as our masters those who worship weal II and are full of prejudice.
Is it still not time for us to use our intelligence and wisdom,
at least to the extent which Allah's tiny creatures are capable ' [Is it still
not time for us] to finally obey this command of our Almighty God, Allah:
"And hold on tight to the rope
of Allah, and du not create
disorder."
[Holy Quran ch3: v 10,11
As this storm looms over us, if we do not come to our senses And
do not use our natural intellect, our names will be wiped off of the face of
this earth.
The Holy Quran announces this loudly and clearly:
"The nations that do not bring
about a change within
themselves; their existence on
earth has no more significance
than rubbish and dirt."
[Holy Quran ch13:v11]
KHWAJA SHAMS-UD-DEEN AZEEMI
Science has made immense progress, yet many believe that, even with all of the modern tools at our disposal, human beings function at no more than 10% of their mental capacity. This leads to the question of what exactly it is that comprises the remaining 90%. Yet another question that arises is this: If it has taken man four and a half billion years to be able to apply only 10% of his ability, how long will it take for him to make use of the remaining 90%?