ASK MAULANA

It is said that a number of Muslims have been radicalized through the internet. What practical measures do you suggest for countering this, and, more than that, for bringing Muslims to actively work for peace and harmony? Spread of peaceful literature and dissemination of peaceful ideas on the internet alone can counter the radicalization seen among Muslims today. De-radicalization will take place in the same manner as radicalization has taken place, that is, through the spread of ideas. There can be no other way. Misleading interpretations of Islam have been uploaded on websites on a great scale. A similar pattern will have to be followed with regard to peaceful interpretation of Islam. There is enough matter in our literature for doing this work. Why is it that many people are more easily swayed by negative propaganda, propaganda directed against others, than by positivity? Why do protest movements—directed against this or that government, country, community etc.—often seem to find more sympathizers than movements working for a positive cause, like world peace and harmony? The basic reason for this is people cannot analyse events with wisdom. Even educated people failed to provide the right definition for wisdom which is a proof of the above reason. Thus if there exists no definition for wisdom, how can there be a wise analysis of issues? As per my study, the right definition of wisdom is the ability to discover the relevant by sorting out the irrelevant. Negativity persists because what needs to be sorted out is considered as a relevant aspect. This is why people become attracted to negative interpretation of events and happenings. Negativity is the price to be paid for not being able to do a wise analysis of events. Because people cannot analyze the situations that present themselves, they easily become negative about trivial issues and then resort to complaining and protesting. This is a worldwide phenomenon and not specific to Muslims alone. o Success Success is a matter of cool decisions taken without a wavering and changing of the mind. It is a result of acute observation and initiative after unremitting attention to a vast number of petty details.