Rancour The Cause of Failure
Al-Risala (English), January 1985, p. 16
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
Rancour The Cause of Failure
1985 1 January 16 Rancour: The Cause of Failure (420) Zafar Iqbal has been playing hockey for India since 1976-1977, and is at present captain of the national team. He has led his team of a host of trophies, including the 1980 Olympic gold, and is at present recognized as the best outside-left in the game. According to Vijay Lokapally of the Patriot newspaper, the secret of Zafar Iqbal’s success is that he concentrates on his game at all costs, and does not retaliate to fouls by his opponents. Neither does he harbour any rancour against anyone. Zafar Iqbal explains this-his most vital and telling tactic – by saying: “The day I do so, I would cease to be a sportsman.”
What, in Zafar Iqbal’s words, is true of sportsmen, is also true of the whole human race. Anyone who bases his life on a policy of retaliation, and harbours rancour against his fellow human beings, cannot be called a true man. Man, in the real sense of the word, is a being who has a purpose in life and who keeps struggling to achieve that purpose regardless of the treatment inflicted on him by others.
It is unfortunate that this fact, which has been realized on both an intellectual and practical level by a great Muslim “sportsman”, has been totally ignored by great Muslim “men” of the modern age. Muslim leaders in recent times have all conducted a policy aimed at redressing the “wrongs” inflicted on them by their oppressors. In so doing, they have failed in the main purpose of the Muslim community, which is propagation of the word of God.
Just as success on the sportsfield lies in avoiding minor disputes with one’s opponents and concentrating on winning the game, so success in the field of life in general lies in putting trivial issues and quarrels to one side and devoting oneself wholeheartedly to one’s central task. The result will not only be success in the purpose of life, but the side-issues which might have distracted one’s attention will also recede into insignificance, or be settled to one’s own advantage.
Zafar Iqbal is serious about executing his duties as a player and captain. He really wants his team to succeed. That is why he has realized the key to success, and put it into play on the field. If the Muslims are really serious about discharging their responsibilities, both as human beings and as Muslims, then they will also take Zafar Iqbal’s lead and cast all irrelevant issues and disputes to one side in their determination to succeed.
