There is no escape from moral rearmament if Pakistan is to survive and make progress. Although most people in Pakistan, if pressed, would not deny the validity of this proposition, it is equally true that most people would not, for one reason or the other, do anything about it.
It is important to change or improve the system and procedures under which the organisations or institutions are working these days, but it is even more important to change or improve the persons Course who are working the systems. The first is the easier solution and the one which we have always adopted whenever we have tried to do something about this matter.
The second solution involves changing the people who run the various systems. This first solution is also very popular and convenient because there are endless permutations and combinations of rules, regulations and systems with which you can keep playing with and each new government wants to give the impression that it is the only one which has tackled the problems seriously the and found the elusive panacea for the solution of all of them.
Moral rearmament which is one of the most basic aspects of Islam has in Pakistan been the most neglected. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this grossly neglected face of Islam has deliberately been kept in the shadow all along. And yet both in the private and public sphere this is the real foundation on which a truly Islamic life can be built. Is it failure of understanding of the real spirit of Islam or is it a total lack of self-discipline and honesty both at the personal and national levels which provides us with the spectacle of people proclaiming the need for Islamization from rooftops and at the same time practising systematically, the grossest form of nepotism and favouritism in public affairs.
Although there are many facets of morality and many forms of immorality practised in public life today, the one element which is perhaps the most important, in that it abets and supports other types of immoral behaviour is nepotism and favouritism of all types. In Pakistan things have come to such a pass that today you can not get anything done without connections or contacts. The only other alternative is the payment of cash. The man who has neither cash nor connections is a total stranger in his own country.
There can be no denying that one of the most important elements of Islamic ideology is Software justice. There is no need to quote any Quranic verses because anyone who claims even a nodding acquaintance with Islam knows them full well. The totally unashamed practice of nepotism and favouritism day in and day out is a complete denial of the dictates of justice and a major deviation from the path of life prescribed by Islam. While nepotism is one of the grossest sins of public life in any country, it is even more so in a Muslim country, and it gives rise and lends support to many other forms of immorality. Moreover favouritism and connections provide the shield which protects the criminal from getting his just deserts and the bait which lures would be delinquents to enter the field of wrongdoing. In any case it is obvious that corruption and bribery in the thousand and one forms in which they are practised in Pakistan can never be controlled unless the practice of nepotism and favouritism is eradicated first.
If it is conceded and if we are prepared to face the harsh truth that no laws, rules or regulations, no system or administrative arrangement can really eradicate corruption in all its ugly forms and shapes and no exhortations, promises and public avowals Ravenfields can remove injustice in all its cruel manifestations and implications, the only option we are left with is to try to change the ‘inner Man.’ This may appear to be a very daunting task but it should not be so, for a nation which claims to believe in God, the Prophet, and the Day of Judgement.
It is one of the great paradoxes of Muslim history that a people who have ardently claimed and repeatedly reiterated their unshakeable belief in God, the Prophet, and the Day of Judgement, have by and large failed to set up a society free of corruption and injustice. What can possibly be the explanation for this failure? After eliminating all minor causes, we are left with the unpalatable truth that the major cause is the fact that we don’t really have that deep and abiding belief in God and the Day of Judgement which is necessary to bring about a change in the ‘Inner man’ and all our professions and avowals are only formal, superficial, and skin deep. If this is true, the obvious solution of our problems is a sustained, sincere and wide ranging moral rearmament campaign.
If we look at the totality of the ‘Islamic way of life." it will be seen that it can be divided into three clear segments which are undoubtedly inter_connected but are at the same time quite distinct namely Ibadat, Shariat and the moral values Builder emphasised by Islam. It is out great misfortune that we have not given balanced attention to each of these segments. The result has been that for a large number of Muslims today Islam begins and ends with the Ibadat. On the other hand Shariat is confined to the law courts or as is happening now, it is made into an issue for political purposes. That leaves the moral values of Islam, to which hardly any real attention has been paid by anyone ever since this "land of the pure" came into being.
Off and on you do hear exhortations and speeches both from the people in power and those out if it, but the appeals lack credibility because we can see that those in power are not practising the moral values of honesty, justice and sincerity which they are preaching, and those out of power also did not do so when they were in power. This complete lack of credibility makes a farce of the entire effort and far from persuading anyone to become honest and just, it induces, feelings of revulsion, frustration and disenchantment about the moral values themselves.
If the complete collapse of our national character and the total degeneration of our moral values is the real cause of our present predicament, how do we go about extricating ourselves from the morass in which we have landed ourselves? Is a revival of moral values possible in Pakistan? Also, is a recovery possible without paying attention to the re-establishment of moral values?
To answer the last question first it may be stated quite unequivocally that the short answer is no. It is not necessary to give any detailed arguments in support of this view, because if a person who has been a careful observer of the Pakistan scene for the last 39 years is not already convinced of the truth of the above proposition he is not likely to accept any argument of reasoning in its favour. An answer to the other questions listed above is not so easy. While, it will be totally unrealistic to pretend that the wave of immorality which has engulfed us can be turned back easily, it would be equally unfortunate if we gave ourselves up to complete hopelessness and let dejection paralyse all our thinking and effort.
The realistic answer to this question is that it will require a very large band of dedicated crusaders with an impeccable record of personal and public life to make an impact and bring about a revival of moral values in this country.
At the moment things have gone so far that every one asks as to why he should be the first to practice honesty at the cost of material benefits, when all around him everybody else is participating so fully in the free_for_all loot that is going on unchecked in this country. The answer to this persistent question can be provided only by a band of honest and dedicated persons who can throw open for public examination their own record of personal and public life and show how they suffered in material terms as compared to their counterparts but did not deviate from the path of morality and honesty. Only this can destroy the myth that it is not possible to remain honest in Pakistan, and one is forced by circumstances to become dishonest.
It would have been most appropriate if our Ulema had taken upon themselves to organize a campaign for moral rearmament in this country. However, the unfortunate fact is that they have given the least attention to the propagation of moral values end and most of their time is spent either in propounding the finer points of Ibadat or in emphasising certain aspects of Shariat Law which to them appear to be all important.
The task of those who launch a moral rearmament movement will for obvious reasons be most difficult, and yet it should be quite easy, for the they would be inviting people to recommit themselves to something to which all claim, however insincerely, to be already committed, namely belief in one God, Prophethood and the accountability of the Day of Judgement. For this and this alone is, and can be, the basis for moral rearmament for us, the people of Pakistan.
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