The Will for Universal Ageement

Iqbal says that our perception of what is possible or impossible is often coloured by what we want and do not want. Thus, if a people have the "will" to achieve universal agreement, it can or may be achieved. Sir Syed, on the formation of the Mohammadan Educational Conference, in 1887, said:

"We should meet and convey to each other our views regarding the education and progress of the nation. Whatever mistake there might be in our thinking should get corrected through the views of others, and the course of action acceptable to everybody should be adopted."

It is obvious that the 67 muslims who founded the conference wanted to meet not to criticise each other but to correct their "own" mistakes and resolve conflicts and misunderstandings until they were on the same page. They had the "will" for such an agreement, and this will resulted in "Universal Agreement"* amongst the Muslim Community which ultimately lead to the formation of Pakistan.

Where is that will NOW, when we need it the most. A century ago, our forefathers met with the intention and resolution to correct their own mistakes, we now meet only to point out and highlight the mistakes of others. Our representatives meet in the parliament to pour allegations on each other. The whole nation seems to be engaged in fruitless arguments that can never lead to consensus of any kind.

Even the most vital issues can't seem to unite us - in fact, lead us further towards division - and the reason I see behind it is this lack of will to unite, to agree, on our part as a nation. We just think that we are so divided and that universal agreement is so impossible between us that there is no use trying. Hence our lack of hope leads to this lack of will - we have no faith in ourselves, nor in our compatriots.

If only, only we could revive this will, this collective will to come together and look for a solution, to have the patience and maturity to stand being corrected by others instead of criticizing and maligning others. If only each and every one of us has the courage to admit that they may be wrong, while their brother may be right. If only we realize that Pakistan was formed due to Universal Agreement achieved by the Collective Will of the muslim community of the sub-continent, and that no change can ever be brought about unless we revive that collective will which may then give rise to a universal agreement for change. 

NAYA PAKISTAN

For 18 days now, our country has been in a state of turmoil, and the situation appears to be getting more and more grave by the minute.

Like so many other former supporters of PTI, I did not have much objection to the demands put forth by IK, but have been against the "method" in which this entire protest has been carried out. The use of abusive language, the constant display of arrogance and indecency - and finally the resort to violence - by IK AND his supporters have most definitely permanently turned me off PTI.

I think one lesson to be learnt from history is that moral education is a vital prerequisite for any change, revolution, struggle or movement. Any real, long lasting revolution depends upon the character of the people, and especially the youth, who are part of the struggle or movement. Character building should be the first step in any change or revolution, people without character may be able to overthrow governments, but they cannot build nations.

Perhaps this lack of moral education and character building is the reason why most of the movements over the Islamic world within this half century, whether they are struggles for freedom, or endeavors to change existing sociopolitical systems, have not been successful. Change can never come from above, it has to first take place at the grass-roots level. Each and every individual of the society (or the political party, in this case) needs to first undergo a change in their individual character in order to strive for and implement that change at the bigger level.

Coming back to PTI, Imran Khan should have waited, whether it took 5 years or five deacdes, to first train and educate the young members of his party, who would then have been morally capable of creating a "naya Pakistan". At the moment we are witnessing violent acts carried out by these proponents of naya Pakistan, and the justification being given by their supporters is that since the system is corrupt, the only way to deal with it is through violence! Please tell me o thou proponents of Naya Pakistan, when did Quaid e Azam ever resort to or condone violence, in his entire political career? He was, after all, trying to create Pakistan, as you are now trying to create a "naya" Pakistan.

Moreover, over the course of time PTI has become something of a single-leader party, a one man show - with no one to actually succeed IK; and his adrenaline-driven, dancing and chanting supporters can't really be expected to evolve into leaders. Over the past few days it has become clear that IK is an ego- centric, dictatorial type of leader who does not hold much respect for the opinions of others, including other party leaders, especially if they challenge his decisions. Due to this attitude, the few sane politicians that stand with him now will eventually leave, one by one, following Javed Hashmi's example.

An important thing that IK and his supporters really need to understand is that when you want to bring about a "change", your attitude needs to be different from the conventional one that dominates the political system. Whenever I try to point out to a PTI supporter the inappropriate and indecent language and behaviour of IK and his followers, I get the answer, "Well, Nawaz Sharif and PML N supporters also use the same kind of language, look at Hamza Shahbaz, etc, etc." Well, as per my knowledge, NS and his party never professed a change; the only one who claims that he can and will change the system is IK. The question is, when you can't even bring about a change in your own attitudes, how in God's name are you going to change the system with the same typical political "ghunda gardi" that has dominated our system for decades?

Khan Sahab's hate speeches have caused so much division amongst the whole nation, when according to our spititual father, Iqbal, "love conquers all" (محبت فاتح عالم). He is further giving a fine education to our children by teaching them that you can call anyone "bay-sharam" and "bay-ghairat" in public. So much for our culture and traditions!

Thought and Intuition (According to Iqbal)

Thought is that  rational part of consciousness that assists us in our practical life - all cognitive processes include and comprise thought. Intuition goes a step - in fact, several steps - further. It gives thought the wings it needs to discover the Ultimate Truth - instead of remaining caged up within mechanical mental processes.

Modern science considers the brain to be the organ that harbours the variety of mental and cognitive processes, and thus as the organ from which thought arises; while the heart is the organ that is referred to as the seat of "wisdom" and "intuition" by the Quran and all mystic and sufi literature. The Quran tells us time and again to view things through the eyes of the "heart", for our so- called real or worldly eyes can be deceiving, and will merely serve to identify the superficial, or what appears to be real.

This reminds me of the part in the movie "Matrix" when Neo "wakes up" in the real world and says: "My eyes hurt -" and receives the answer, " you've never used them before!" Similarly, we never use our REAL eyes to view Reality.

Reality is much beyond what rational thought or intellect is capable of measuring or verifying - all intellect can do is measure mental processes and behaviour, and thus try in vain to answer the basic questions the heart asks.

Yeh Aalam yeh hungama e rung o saut,
Yeh aalam keh hai zair e farman e maut,
Yeh aalam yeh but khana e chashm o gosh,
Jahan zindagi hai faqat khurd o nosh,
Khudi ki yeh hai manzil e awwaleen,
Musafir, yeh taira nashaiman nahi!

These empirically verifiable mental processes that rational thought or intellect comprises of can never uncover the secrets of life, and so the truth remains hidden:

Samajhta hai tu raaz hai zindagi,
Faqat zauq e parwaaz hai zindagi!

It is the heart that encourages us to leap forward, it is love that gives us the strength to take risks, it is intuition that provides the wings to fly beyond this rational world of space and time - and to discover new worlds in other dimensions.

For the past few centuries science has come to completely deny the role of the heart as anything but a pumping organ, while the mighty BRAIN is the throne of intellect and intelligence. Very interestingly, however, neuroscientists have quite recently discovered the heart to possess its very OWN nervous system, quite independent of the brain, and capable of not only making it's own decisions but also of "influencing" the decisions made by the brain. So there we have it - "intuition" not only assisting, but actually influencing "thought"!!