A cyclist whose brake got jammed took his cycle to a mechanic and asked him to repair the offending part, thinking that the mechanic would set to work on it at the point where the brake had got jammed. To his dismay, the mechanic took a hammer and began to rain blows on it at quite another point. The cyclist looked on in astonishment. Then the mechanic said, “It’s all right now,” and true enough, when he tried it out, he found that it had been set in order.
The reform of our nation is something which needs to be looked at in the same manner. Muslims are not united; they have no constructive policy; they are divided into opposing groups; there is no consensus about either the major or the minor issues confronting them. The plight of the average Muslims shows no signs of being alleviated. It is felt that the solution lies in holding large-scale conferences and conventions, drawing up impressive agendas and passing high-sounding resolutions. Fiery speeches are then made on Islam, ostensibly to inspire and arouse the people. But all of this is beside the point. It is an attempt to solve problems at the point at which they appear to have arisen. And this approach is basically wrong, for it frequently happens in life that a problem arises at one point while its solution lies at another. One who travels upwards from the roots will one day, having made acquaintance with trunk, branches, twigs, leaves and flowers arrive finally at the fruit. His experience will justify his ownership of the entire tree and all its yield. But he who starts with the fruit will in the end own neither roots nor fruits.
The first thing which the Muslims should do, if their problems are to be solved, is to change their way of thinking. They must be willing to go deeper into things in order to understand the problems at the grassroot level. It is not just by assembling the Muslims at a “Unity Conference” that one will set them on the road to achieving unity. The start will have to be made by working seriously and unobtrusively at the true points of relevance, no matter how near or far they appear to be from the initial point of impetus. Although problems have reared their heads at the community level, they shall have to be solved at the level of individuals. It is only then that there will be any possibility of solving problems at the national level.
The greatest obstacle in our path is by no means some external agency; it is rather the weakness of our own leaders in that they are willing to exert themselves only in those spheres which will bring them the maximum publicity. They are only interested in having the opportunity to display themselves. This weakness results in no leader being ready to engage himself in silent, unadvertised struggle. The leader whose aspirations centre on his own honour and glory will participate only in those activities which will bring him public acclaim. This, ironically, is the very kind of leader who exhorts others to work quietly behind the scenes and to shun the limelight. Such hollow behaviour will never lead to any qualitative or quantitative improvement in the Muslim position. With leaders who are bent on building their own public image rather than on building the nation, the plight of the Muslims cannot, to any significant degree, be alleviated.
