Al-Risala (English), May 1987

Hardness of heart comes from using religion for worldly ends

1987 5 May 16 Hardness of heart comes from using religion for worldly ends (52) “The punishment of a learned man is for his heart to die,” said Hasan al-Basri. He was asked what was meant by the death of the heart, and he answered that it came from seeking the world by means of actions which should be gauged towards eternity.

(Jami’ bayan al-’ilm wa fadhlihi)

How Do you Win a Nobel Prize

1987 5 May 16 How Do you Win a Nobel Prize (267) Nobel Laureate Professor Abdus Salam toured several Indian cities in 1986, and in one of the speeches he made (Times of India, 16 January, 1986), he cited South Korea as an example of extraordinarily rapid national development. He said that about 15 years ago, the gross national product per capita there was equal to that of India, but that thanks to the efforts the Koreans had made, it was now many times more. Giving the example of the team who had come from South Korea to Trieste, in Italy, where he resides, to find out from him how Nobel Prizes were won, he said that a similar spirit needed to be inculcated in the people of the Third world. He felt that it was this questing spirit which was the basis for all progress, be it of an individual or of a nation, and that this was true of progress both in this world and in the world hereafter.

All too often a process of stagnation sets in the affairs of a nation and it would appear that an impasse had been reached in developmental matters. Instead of progress, there is decay. Instead of effort, there is inertia. When this stage is reached, a nation begins to tumble in disarray down the ladder of progress towards the lowermost rung and it is only the seekers; the strivers who can pull it upwards from such an ignominious position and set it back on the path of progress. It is only the questing spirit which can put it right up on the topmost rung of the ladder of progress.

Weighing up one’s own actions before they are

1987 5 May 16 Weighing up one’s own actions before they are (38) weighed up on the divine scales of justice “Reckon with yourselves,” ‘Umer said, “before you are reckoned with in the next world; and weigh your own actions before they are weighed on the divine scales of justice; and prepare yourselves for the great appearance (before God).”