FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Prof. Farida Khanam is an author, editor, translator, public speaker and former professor of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Among her books are ‘A Simple Guide to Sufism’ and ‘A Study of World’s Major Religions’. She has translated into English many books authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently the chairperson of CPS International, she is a regular contributor of articles to various publications. Prof. Khanam has edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his Urdu commentary of the Quran into English. She can be reached at hub@thespiritofislam.org LESSONS FROM 2020 T HE year 2020 is not the year that many people would choose to remember. For many, the whole year passed as a blur. For the most part of the year, people all over the world confined themselves to their homes. And then for many of us, this has been the year that brought in pains of illness, death and calamity. We saw our dear ones suffering and we could not offer any help. Sometimes, we suffered and there was no one to offer words of consolation or shoulders to rest our heads on. The coronavirus pandemic forced us to stay separated. What possible lessons could we glean from such an astoundingly tragic year? The answer, in fact, is not far to seek. Viktor E. Frankl (1905-1997) describes the most enduring aspect of human beings in his groundbreaking work thus: “Life is potentially meaningful under any conditions, even those which are most miserable. And this in turn presupposes the human capacity to creatively turn life’s negative aspects into something positive or constructive. In other words, what matters is to make the best of any given situation.” (Man’s Search for Meaning) If we draw positive lessons from negative experiences, and if we chalk out a proper course of life after passing through a severe affliction, then it would be correct to say that we have made the best use of the situation. When coronavirus began spreading, the best minds were caught unawares. With all claims of subjugating nature to our needs, we had no answer to this new trick of nature. We came to realize just