Man always complains, grumbles and ends up blaming others for his woes. While human beings are bestowed with the ability to think and have the freedom of choice, they also have an ethical and moral obligation to think positively and strive towards their goals, through the right means that is also bestowed on them.
As a community, over the years, we have played enough of the “blame-game,” making ourselves the “victims” of injustice and oppression by others. It is true that Muslims have suffered and are suffering all types of problems, be it poor economic conditions, educational poverty, socio-economic distress, insecurity and many other woes. But is it fair to blame the others, be it any other community or even the government, for these problems always? Certainly not!
We need to introspect deeply and realize that we are responsible for these problems to a large extent and it is in our hands to take charge of these issues and sort them out ourselves. Being on the defensive all the time, demanding and commanding our share of the pie without working for it puts the community on the threshold of being the ‘takers’ all the time. When are we going to wake up and become ‘givers’?
Success stories of many communities, past and present, reveal that their journey has been marked not by playing the victims, but by positive thinking. There is no way to get out of the tunnel of darkness and into the light other than through cultivating a positive mindset.
Positivity is needed globally by our community. Like everyone else, Muslims can do a world of good for themselves and for others by adopting a positive attitude in all aspects of life. This is how they can rise out of the mess that they collectively find themselves in, across the world. Educational progress, employment opportunities and even spiritual growth are possible for Muslims if they stop brooding about the past and begin to live in the present while cultivating a balanced, moderate and positive approach to handling all the issues that confront them.
It is really hard to find positive news about Muslims in the media today. There is no need to blame others for this. It’s Muslims themselves, who need to reflect and introspect why this is so. It’s high time they came out of the seemingly safe shell of the blame-game and worked harder to rise higher in all sectors of society and not by reacting violently and responding aggressively.
Why blame the West, East, South or North? Why be anti or against other faiths or religions? Why always be on the defensive? Why not learn to respect and learn from good practices from others, like gentle manners, punctuality, honesty, hard work? Why not also recognize and appreciate the values that other religions also stand for, such as compassion towards all creatures of God, modesty, and humility?
The deeper the Muslim community drowns itself in self-pity and the victimhood syndrome, the deeper it will fall into the well of darkness. We should remember that God helps those who help themselves, not those who do not do anything at all to reform their lives.
Muslims can build a bright future if they reach out to the world by becoming an asset for others, including through engaging in social work in all fields, setting up organizations for the vulnerable, setting up good quality schools and organizations that protect the environment and list is almost endless! And such initiatives should aim to help people irrespective of their religions.
If Muslims are busy being socially-engaged in positive activities of reaching out to others, they’ll discover that they have absolutely no time to get into negativity and play blame games and wallow in self-pity.
Prophet Muhammad (saw) had to face many trials and tribulations while on his mission to convey God’s messages, yet he did not go into negativity or blame anybody for any situation. His strong faith and trust in God took him through all the difficulties that he faced. From mending his own clothes at home to setting up a society based on moral values – the Prophet personified positivity…
As citizens of this country, Muslims have many duties towards nation-building. At many seminars, conferences and meetings, most of the time we go back to the past, narrating events of how Muslims ruled the world for centuries, but we cannot live in the past. Then, we love to point fingers at other’s faults, and how we have been wronged by others, without bothering to look at our own flaws.
Let us shake out of the glories of the past and look at the ground realities today in the country and the world. The community has resources, the means and the manpower to handle issues of poverty, education and unemployment. It is just that we want to sit in our ‘comfort zone’, expecting others to do all the leg work and hand over the goodies to us on a silver platter.
It is a matter of reaching out to everybody and opening our hearts to all, irrespective of caste, community, gender or class. Let us work towards building institutions that help everybody, take lessons from the way other communities are working towards making life brighter and better for society, and also come out of the ‘eternal victimhood syndrome’ in which we are trapping ourselves, as this is a major obstacle in our path to peace and progress.
We have only this time, and it is up to us how we make best use of this to introspect, cleanse ourselves and take charge of our lives, individually and collectively as a community, for the betterment of our own selves and that of the nation and the world.
Bashir Nuckchady
