WHERE DO WE STAND?
Recognize the Greatness of God
A GREAT Islamic figure died on September 22, 1979. Newspapers and magazines were then flooded with adulatory articles about this person. These articles eloquently stated the great respect, love and adulation their writers had for the deceased, and how the death of this person had filled their hearts with sorrow. After reading many of these articles, I asked one of the admirers of the deceased that these newspapers and magazines of theirs had been coming out for more than a quarter-century, could he cite some articles from these that mentioned God with similar zeal and enthusiasm?
A believer is characterized by the fact that he is ever-conscious of the greatness of God. The name of God produces thrill in his very soul. I asked him whether the same newspapers and magazines ever carried articles expressing these extraordinary feelings about God that they had expressed about their leader. He responded in silence.
It is not just a matter of one Islamic movement. The fact is that today all Muslim institutions and movements are overflowing with the adulatory mention of some of their elders. Their assemblies are filled with the mention of their leaders. Everyone has made someone their elder and leader, and when the names of these elders come up, it seems that their tongues and pens have gone into a state of ecstasy. On the contrary, in no circle does it appear that people receive contentment by the discussion of God. A mention of God’s name does not evoke the sentiments of adulation. God has become just a dry creed. On the other hand, when their beloved personalities are mentioned, their entire beings are shaken with sentiments and respect. The vents of their hearts and minds are torn open. The memory of their leaders enlivens their memories.
God gives light to the whole world through the sun, but observing the sun does not create any extraordinary feelings. However, a person takes great pride in proclaiming to the world that his beloved personality has bestowed rays of hope to the whole world with his speeches. Seeing the system of winds, they are not thrilled by the handiwork of God. However, to convey the achievements of his leaders, he uses glorious words to the effect that the leader has driven the winds carrying his great deeds all over the world. In the earth and in the heavens, observing the great wisdom of God at play does not uplift his spirits. However, he finds all the words of the dictionary inadequate to convey the greatness of his beloved leader’s thoughts and wisdom. God controls the earth and the heavens with His immense power but observing this, he does not tremble with awe. However, his elders seem to him as if they were holding all countries and nations together. The strange management of water that has made the earth an exceptional planet in the whole known universe does not surprise him. In order to describe the achievements of his leaders, he says enthusiastically that the whole world is being saturated by the fountains of their wit. Perhaps man wants to make some visible thing the centre of his love and devotion, and when he does not see the Creator, he makes a creation his centre of love and adulation.
