A Superior Solution

A Superior Solution

1990 11 November 6 A Superior Solution (443) A Japan Airlines plane, a Boeing 747, which took off from Tokyo on August 12, 1985, was scheduled to reach Osaka in one hour’s time. But just 10 minutes after taking off, the pilot felt that he had lost control of the plane. It was supposed to fly at an altitude, of 24 thousand feet, but it came down rapidly to 9,800 feet, then crashed into a mountain and was destroyed.

All the 520 people aboard were killed. Two of the casualties were an engineer, Mr. Kalyan Mukarjee, and his wife. He was just forty one year of age at the time of the accident. A short time before, he had arrived in Japan on a commercial venture. Just a few days before boarding the flight, he had written a letter to his 13 year old son, Niranjan Mukarjee, saying that he was going to Osaka with his wife on a pleasure trip on August 12. (Hindustan Times, August 14, 85)

One of the reasons for flying aeroplanes at such great heights is that this ensures that they do not collide with mountains or high rise buildings. For this particular aeroplane, twenty four thousand feet was a safe height. But because its engine had developed some defect, it could not maintain this altitude. It rapidly descended to 9,800 feet. Now that it was no longer at a safe level, it hit a mountain and was destroyed.

The journey of the average human being through life is similar to this in many ways. He has to make his way to his destination among a variety of other human beings whose paths may run counter to his own. Because he makes his journey, not on an elevated plane, but well below the level of the ideal, he repeatedly clashes with others. The solution lies in his betaking himself to such a level of thinking that the possibility of coming into collision with others is entirely obviated.

But to reach such a high level of thought and action, one needs to have a set of principles to act as guiding lights. And this is exactly what Islam offers to mankind: impeccable principles on which to base one’s conduct. One of the most important of these is the principle of avoidance. While travelling among people on an equal level, there is always the fear of a collision: the best solution to such a common problem is, therefore, to put the principle of avoidance into action. To do this, the wise man will raise the level of his journey so that there can be no clashes with others. Adoption of this principle is a sign of superior wisdom.