The Sensible Way to Respond to Provocation

institution. They would abuse and throw stones at them and make fun of them. They wanted to provoke these students into reacting, so that they could get an excuse to damage the institution. This carried on for several years. Complaints were lodged with the governmental authorities, and the police were also contacted, but the problem remained unresolved. Thereafter, the authorities of this Islamic institution decided to make a wise move, which finally resolved the longstanding issue. The authorities of the institution decided to contact the leaders of the students living in the university hostel. They invited them over for tea. When the student leaders arrived, the authorities of the institution spoke to them very gently. They even gave them gifts. And then, they made a proposal. They offered to conduct a hockey match between the students of the institution and the university. The leaders of the students agreed. The authorities of the Islamic institution started making preparations for the hockey match. They got together some of their students and formed a hockey team. They told them, “You are not to play this match in order to win. Rather, you must play so that you lose!” The intention was to deliberately allow the university team to win and make them heroes, and in this way get a chance to win their hearts. The match was held on the appointed day. As per their plan, the team of students from the Islamic institution played very badly, thus allowing the university team to win. Then, as previously decided, the university team was feted about and lionized, and in different ways the members of the team were sought to be appeased. They were given handsome prizes and were treated like heroes. The university students wanted to show off their claim of being superior, and the folks at the Islamic institution made every effort to satisfy this urge of theirs. And so, the problem that had beset the Islamic institution for