The facade of human greatness
Al-Risala (English), April-May 1994, p. 30
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.
The facade of human greatness
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1994 4-5 April-May 30-31 The facade of human greatness (359)
The ‘greatness’ of human beings should be viewed as a mere facade which is erected as a test of man in this world to be seen through, penetrated and cast aside as irrelevant to the truth that no one besides God is invested with true greatness.
In the days of the Companions and the generations immediately succeeding them, there was a remarkable atmosphere of tolerance. Only God was great, and people lived in awe of His greatness alone. If people criticized one another, such criticism was acceptable, for it did nothing to diminish the greatness of God. It was therefore possible for one of Caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab’s congregation to stand up during a speech he was making in Medina and say, “By God, ‘Umar, if we detect any crookedness in you then we will put you straight with our swords,” without eliciting any reproof either from the Caliph or from other members of the congregation.
In modern times, however, this is no longer so. Anyone who attempts to criticize any leading personality nowadays will find that, no matter how well founded his critics, his action will have the same effect as disturbing a hornets’ nest. He will find himself the object of innumerable attacks by the followers of whatever dignitary he has chosen to criticise, and will be hard put to it to make whatever point he had felt was worth making. The reason for this is that society mistakenly attributes greatness to human origins and people have forgotten that the words routinely uttered in prayer: “God is great” are meant to be taken quite literally and seriously. Too many individuals allow themselves, erroneously, to be dominated by the ‘greatness’ of other human beings, whereas their sole preoccupation should be the greatness of God. The ‘greatness’ of human beings should be viewed as a mere facade which is erected as a test of man in this world. It has to be seen through, penetrated and cast aside as irrelevant to the truth that no one besides God is invested with true greatness. Only those who appreciated this fact can have any hope of success in the next world.
