ACROSS THREE CONTINENTS

The real work for those who seek to call people towards God is that of presenting Islam in the form of spiritual nourishment. telephoned from the aircraft itself to the lady at the desk, who sent my package immediately. Just as the plane was about to take off, it was handed over to me. I was very moved by this whole episode and now cannot find words of praise good enough for the speed, precision and efficiency with which everything was carried out. All the airport systems had to be in working order to produce such excellent results. The fact is the world of today is not in need of any “better order”. But to my way of thinking the world has got all the order that it needs. Rather, it is food for the soul which humankind stands in need. The real work for those who seek to call people towards God is that of presenting Islam in the form of spiritual nourishment. Promotion of One’s Own Interests On the BA flight, the announcements were made first of all in Arabic. Various notices on the aircraft were written in Arabic on top and in English below. We were also told over the loudspeaker that among the stewards on board, there were people who knew English, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu and Punjabi, and that we could ask for whatever we needed in our native language. Hearing this, I realized that having people on the cabin crew who know the main world languages was not just a way of being more helpful and obliging to passengers, but a way of plying their international trade more profitably. If any venture is to be successful, the requirements of the clientele have to be properly catered for. But when it comes to spreading the Word of God, the urge to be so accommodating has not proved so strong, for nowhere is there an Islamic institute which has made arrangements to have a multilingual staff, so that people speaking different languages may have the benefit of Islamic teachings. It seems that, for man, worldly motivation is more potent than that of the next world. o