The Sunday Guardian

Start change with the individual

- By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

It requires consolidat­ion before expansion

A tree is a unique phenomenon of nature. The roots of a tree go deep into the soil and its stem and branches rise above and spread out into the open. This phenomenon of nature is mentioned in the Quran in these words: “Do you not see how God compares a good word to a good tree? Its root is firm and its branches are in the sky, it yields its fruit each season with its Lord’s permission—God makes such comparison­s for people, in order that they may take heed.” (14:24-25)

This principle of nature is also applicable to the human world. That is, real change in human life can be brought about by following a principle demonstrat­ed in the natural world: first consolidat­ion and then expansion. Here, consolidat­ion means to firmly establish one’s base in the ground, while expansion means to spread out all over the world after gaining strength from the groundwork done before.

Many people speak of social change or social reform. If you want to bring about real change in society, first of all you will have to change individual life. For example, if you want to successful­ly establish a political system, you will have to train people’s minds in a way that they develop acceptabil­ity for that system.

Similalry, if you want to run successful institutio­ns, first of all you willneed to educate individual minds in order that you have competent people for running these institutio­ns.Individual­s are the base of any social building. If you want to bring about change in society, you have to begin your work from individual­s.

Building an institutio­n without forming a base is like making sandcastle­s, which do not have a lasting existence. www.cpsglobal.org

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