FROM MAULANA'S DESK

opt for the greater good. But, in society one has to be ready to opt for what seems to be the lesser evil. In India Muslims are obsessed with some problems that they have incorrectly labelled as “evils”. These are in fact challenges and are a part of life for all communities. Muslims try to remove these “evils”. But, what has been the result? Out of failure, they have turned negative. They have developed hatred and an unsympathetic attitude towards others. This situation results in a greater evil. Negative thinking paralyzes one’s thinking faculty. Deeper analysis of the issue shows that unfavourable situations in terms of the result, are lesser evils. While, negative thinking, in terms of the result, is the greater evil. Negativity paralyzes one’s thinking faculty. The result is that one’s progress is halted. The best advice for Indian Muslims is to forget the lesser evil, and try to save themselves from the greater evil. This principle will greatly help in the development of the community. This is the wisest formula for Muslim empowerment. If Muslims engage in negative thinking, they will only be involved in complaints and protests against others. But, if they develop positive thinking, then the immediate result of this would be tremendous. That is, they would forget the memories of the past, they would commit to a realistic planning of their actions, they would adopt a friendly behaviour toward others, their focus would shift from problems to opportunities, and they would regard others as partners instead of rivals. These traits would increase their creativity. If to date they had been an uncreative community in this country, then from now onwards they would become a creative community. And, there is no doubt that in any country it is the creative community that plays the greatest role. The problem of evil is not a problem facing only the Muslim community. Rather, it is a general problem, and every community has its share of these problems, although in different forms. A wise community is one which understands this law of nature and becomes content with the lesser evil in order to save itself from the greater evil. This is the demand of reason as well as religion. o Maulana Wahiddudin Khan editor@thespiritofislam.org