THE LIFE WE SEEK

The Life We Seek ~ 439 ~ by his Mausoleum. There is no one in this world who does not need to make someone his lord and master, even if he be only a figurehead. There has to be someone to whom he can dedicate himself and the very best that he has to offer. But if one makes this offering to anyone other than God, one is indulging in polytheism and in the words of the Quran, one is doing a “great wrong.” This paying of homage to false gods is what the Quran calls zulm. The word zulm actually means putting something in the wrong place, somewhere that it is not meant to be. It would be like taking the lid of a vessel and attempting to use it as a cap. Turning, therefore, to anyone other than God to fill the psychological vacuum that every normal human being feels is also an instance of zulm. This is putting a right feeling in a wrong place; giving to others what should be given to God. To seek to lay everything one has at someone’s feet is a natural instinct in man, and, initially, it finds expression in a natural way. To begin with, people turn to their true Lord and Master to satisfy their spiritual hunger, but then, under the influence of irreligious