FROM MAULANA’S DESK

One who has fear of God will see his affairs in relation to God, the Almighty. When one sees oneself in relation to God, everyone becomes small, in relation to God. finds less accomplished than himself, the feeling of ego or appreciation of his own greatness begins to grow. But one who has a scientific bent of mind in the real sense, sees himself and his issues in relation to knowledge rather than in relation to the person who has knowledge. A person can be limited, but knowledge is unlimited. In relation to the person who has knowledge, one can think of oneself as greater than others but in relation to the vast world of knowledge, everyone is less in stature. This feeling naturally produces modesty in a scientific or learned person. Similarly, one who has fear of God will see his affairs in relation to God, the Almighty. When one sees oneself in relation to God, everyone becomes small, in relation to God. No one is great. In this way the belief of a God-fearing man makes him a balanced person. The spirit of Islam may be called the Allah-u-Akbar spirit. The expression Allah-u-Akbar is repeated several times during Salath or prayer. Allah-uAkbar means God is great. It implies that, ‘I am not great’. In this way, every day, all believers refresh their minds repeatedly with the idea that greatness pertains only to God: there is no greatness for them. Congregational prayer is a practical demonstration of this reality. In congregational prayer, all believers make one person a prayer leader and the rest stand behind him. This is a social form of expression of the Allah-u-Akbar spirit. The purpose of saying Allah-u-Akbar is to develop the spirit of modesty. When the spirit of modesty develops in a person in the real sense, it does not stop at any point; just as this spirit manifests itself before God during prayer, it manifests itself in like manner in relation to other human beings. The spirit of modesty becomes part and parcel of his everyday life. Those who are imbued with this spirit will never display egoism or pride. They will never distance themselves from others on minor provocations. Working under others will appear to them as an act of worship. Their spirit will find happiness in surrender and modesty rather than in making others surrender to them. They will accept their mistakes. They will be totally free from any desire for leadership. o Maulana Wahiduddin Khan editor@thespiritofislam.org Follow Maulana at speakingtree.in