FROM THE SPIRITUAL TREE

It is an advanced stage of refinement in ethical and material matters resulting from continuous effort on the part of all humankind. For example, when man started his life on the planet earth, human existence was in a primitive state. It then took thousands of years of the joint efforts of humanity to bring civilization into existence. For example, in the beginning, man used to walk on his own two legs. Then he started traveling on horseback. After long experience, the wheel was developed, thanks to which travel by car was made possible. The uses of steam power were later discovered and travel by steamship and rail began. Man then produced airplanes which made air travel possible and further facilitated the means of contact and communication. All this was not the work of any single human being: all of humanity was involved in this process. When we utilize any of the modern-day amenities that we enjoy, we must ponder over the numerous people who must have put in enormous work and toil that must have gone into making it possible for us to benefit from various facilities. Such realization would lead to an outpouring of feelings of love and thankfulness for the whole of humanity which worked to make life simple and easy for us today. Most of us own cars. Often we only think to the extent that we have bought the car due to the money that we had acquired. But if we think deeply, in truth, the car is a great divine gift. God created human beings, then He provided them with natural vehicles such as horses, camels, mules and others for travel. This was the first phase of vehicles. God knew that this would not be sufficient for man. So, He kept another thing in potential terms in the natural world. This potential was that of mechanical vehicles. God gave man a mind. By utilizing his mind, man made many discoveries about nature. In this way, he discovered the wheel. Then, after long research he developed wheeled vehicles such as the bicycle and cars. Modern vehicles are God-given, in terms of potential. And since many countries and their citizens were involved in turning this natural potential into actual, these vehicles are also a gift from humanity. If a person ponders over this entire history, he will first of all acknowledge the Creator. This is known in Islam as shukr, or gratitude, in religious When a believer has love in his heart for his Creator, at the same time he cannot resist showing his love to his neighbours. And in this electronic age, the whole world is one’s neighbour.