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Once I asked a friend of mine, "Why in the world do you study
so hard that you don't have time for anything else?" He answered
back in a matter-of-fact tone, "Because there is nothing more
important in the world than studies. I mean I want to build a
good career for myself so that I can fulfil all my wants and desires."
I really don't blame him because people of such a belief are legion;
people who have made their lives revolve around work and only
work. For them work is the centre of life. You will come across
number of people who seem to be exhausted, fatigued by their professions,
students tired of those long never ending studies. But they believe
that they will be rewarded for their hard efforts, they will be
rewarded in the form of good career, good job which in turn will
bring with themselves sufficient money to enjoy and spend the
lives with peace! In fact we are trained to become workaholics
from the beginning.
From the very early days of our school lives we are goaded to
study hard with urging getting more severe by the time we enter
our universities. As our Management teacher puts it, "You people
are trained in this way because you are expected to work day and
night when you are at job in organizations." And who can forget
our Director's words, "You should spend countless, sleepless nights
in order to succeed.". But have we ever thought over the aftermath
of all this work holism and careerism? There lies a serious flaw
in this system of ours, a system that has turned us into materialistic,
money-grubbing people. A sort of metamorphosis is taking place
with a gradual degradation of our character. As William Faulkner
said, "One of the saddest things is that the only thing a man
can do eight hours a day, day after day, is work Which is the
reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable and
unhappy."
To state that we have made 'work', a new God for ourselves,
won't be much wrong! We are so engrossed and absorbed in our lives
that we have no time to think about God. Of course nobody is asking
to sit idly and being a burden but it doesn't actually mean that
one remains completely oblivious of the world and Religion is
not what we are supposed to think over, we already have a lot
of mullahs to do that." Some youngsters are of the opinion that
one should start thinking about religion after reaching an age
of around 40 or so, as they are too young to comprehend the complexities
associated with religion. Let their elders do the praying while
they enjoy a bit of their lives.
Here is the point where we are completely wrong, where we are
going astray. No matter how busy one might be but Islam has to
be given the due priority. Islam is neither intricate that we
cannot grasp its principles nor it is meant to be followed only
by elders. Also an impression is being created that Islam restricts
the economic and social growth but that is simply contrary to
truth.
Islam is the religion that transformed the world completely in
a way no other religion could do before, religion that steered
the world in the right direction. Quran, the revelation of Allah
to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), brought about a renaissance, much bigger
and significant than the one which Europe witnessed during the
14th and 16th centuries. Islam is based on truth, reality and
actuality. Rules and principles laid down by Islam are eternal
verities. But the dilemma of our nation is that we are not following
those principles. The world witnessed a number of systems that
promised to deliver positive results. Communism was put into effect
and as far as its results were concerned one really need not mention
anything. And today our world is experimenting with a Capitalist
system and its advocates are acclaiming the system's success in
the name of global village and free market economy. But already
one can observe the discontentment among the world's population
regarding the repercussions of Capitalism. The reason for the
failures of all these systems is quite understandable; if a system
is not based on just principles devastation is sure to ensue.
Thus it is about time that we start taking our religion seriously
because in there lies the solution to our multitude problems no
matter if they are economic, social, ethical, concerning poverty,
injustice, violence, simply anything.
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