ASK MAULANA

A man once went to a ‘saint’, who was famed for supposedly being exceedingly modest, and asked him a question. The ‘saint’ replied, ‘I know nothing. What can I say?’ The man responded, ‘Yes, sir, really you know nothing at all!’ And do you know how the so-called saint reacted? He burst out in anger! He could not stand someone telling him that he was ignorant! So much for his modesty! When he was tested, he revealed his true self. People are adept at acting. But if you live with someone for some days, you can realise what they truly are. Once, a person praised someone before Umar ibn al-Khattab, saying that that person was very modest, very nice. Umar asked the person if he had had any dealings with him. He replied that he had not. Umar then asked him if he had ever travelled with the person he was praising. Again, he replied that he had not. Then, Umar told the person that he knew nothing about the man whom he had been praising and that he must have only observed him standing up and sitting down in the mosque. You know a person’s reality when he is put to a test. Standing up and sitting down is not a test of someone’s character! Prostrating before God in a mosque is not a test. The test is when you have to bow before a fellow human being. Remember this: Satan used to bow before God. He did not bow before Adam. From this I learn that man’s test is not in bowing before God, but in bowing before other human beings. If you want to know how a person truly is—modest or whatever—spend some days in his company, or observe him when he faces a test. Q: Many young people today are mainly concerned with earning name and fame. They think that if at all they will think about spirituality, it will be only after they have ‘achieved it all’. How do we reach out to such people? A: This is not a new issue. It has always been there. The Quran says: “Truly, you love immediate gain.” (16: 20) People think that immediate gain is everything, and they are all running after more money. This money-culture or materialistic culture has always been there. It isn’t something new. The only difference, I think, is that earlier people wanted many horses, and now they want many cars.