The Modern Man's
Predicament
- And the way out !
by Memoona Sajjad
Today we are in a very pitiable predicament. Time-tested and revered traditional values-both moral and religious-are fast disappearing from the dictionary of modern social life. We have become busy people with no time for 'living' through life in the real sense of the word.
Means of entertainment have become widely accessible. Yet happiness remains
a concept far-fetched and nebulous. We have at our disposal many good ways
to 'kill time' and keep ourselves merry. But when we retire to our lonely
little domain after a wild Saturday evening out, we are not happy. Is it
not ironical that with all the wild merry-making and the exciting
frivolity, the levels of stress, depression and other psychological
ailments remain endemic on an all time high in the modern society? The
incidence of suicide and self-immolation has markedly increased. In short
the 'modernization' of social life has taken a heavy toll on human
happiness.
The truth is that the modern version of 'pleasure' is like an addictive drug that gets you hooked and gives you a 'high'. Yet the 'hangover' is bound to follow. The euphorical escape it provides is momentary, only a short-lived crest-ride. The subsequent stay in the depressive 'low' follows. When our drug of pleasure diminishes, we are unable to cope with the boredom that ensues. If adversity then comes, we find ourselves in the bottomless seas of despair. 'Boredom' and 'feeling down' are words of essentially modern origin. We no longer have any patience with what is not exciting. Therefore, a minuscule amount of trial renders us bitter, cynical, and depressed.
We are unfortunate to be living in an age of moral decline and impatience. Milton's 'Muse' which inspired him to rejuvenescence seems to be lost to our youth. They rush on enjoying themselves with whatever gives least bother and crumble under pressure when put to test. Personal desires are what have assumed a godly status in our lives. We are driven on by self- created idols of 'success' and 'fame'. The element of social competition has poisoned the stream of social life.
Our search for happiness will prove fruitless unless we first realize where it is to be found. It is not there in night-clubs, restaurants or coffee parties. The Holy Qura'an beautifully answers this query: 'In the remembrance of Allah alone do hearts find satisfaction'. This is exactly where true contentment resides. A wild Saturday evening out can never give you the contentment that the soul's communion with its Creator can because, after all, as Wordsworth said 'it is God who is our home'.
A faith in divinity raises us above all petty feelings of despair. We should learn to entrust our lives with absolute faith to Allah and submit to whatever His Will decrees for us. We should take the trials He puts us through with patience ('sabr') and faith ('eemaan'). Trial is an inescapable part of life. It is God's way of purging us from temporal trivia. It lifts us above the mundane on to a higher moral ground where trial merely strengthens our love for our Lord; test merrily cleanses us from sin.
Patience ('sabr') is what steers us through the frenzied seas of tribulation towards the ultimate reward: "And seek help ( from Allah) through 'sabr'(patience) and 'salat'(prayer)". Patience makes us true deservers of the bounty that waits for us on the day of Resurrection. It makes us nearest and most precious to Allah, because we endure the yoke of trial with 'sabr' and hope in His help- which never falls short or steps away out of reach - unless we choose to thrust it aside.
Unfortunately, we tend to imagine that the darkness of our misery is endless. We can never see that little glimmer at the end of the tunnel - but that cannot nullify its existence - it is always there, glimmering night after night with the promise of brighter skies. That light ahead of the tunnel is always decipherable to a seeking eye. Allah SWT says in The Qura'an 'Verily, after every hardship there is relief '. It is His promise - and that should leave us with no reason to despair.
It is sad that we are unable to gauge the 'hikmah'(wisdom) behind such matters. Our eyes rest only on the physical and the outward and fail to transcend into the spiritual. We cannot see the wisdom behind the natural order of things. In our blindfolded state, we choose to remain an unhappy race with lots of quick, cheap and paltry ways to entertain and amuse ourselves with. We choose to dissolve our essential natural link with our Creator and the price that we shall have to pay will be dear indeed.
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