Humair ahmed
Little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pieria Spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain and drinking largely sobers us again.” Alexander Pope
Man, of today’s world living in ultra-modern, exceedingly sophisticated, wit-defyingly scientific age has reduced himself to a meager robotic existence. The man of today is not aroused by serenity, calm and tranquility of the nature, and simplest and purest of the things such as: truth, beauty and love that ought to fill his very existence with pleasure only fall flat to his deaf ears. Hedonist, voluptuary, covetous, avaricious, materialist, narcissist, gross, insensitive, slothful, disturbed, depressed, forgetful, tensed, worried, selfish and ill-mannered are some of the words that portray modern man. Non-tolerance runs in his veins like blood, and selfishness is his bread and butter. Thus, Ultra-modernism that man of today consider as the epitome of civilization has thrown him into the dark, deep and dingy abyss and pit.
Modern man feels arrogance and is haughty on his superior education and believes it champions his cause of civilization, yet it is both scandalous and implausible to trace that the modern man fallen into the deep abyss is the product of this education that instead of civilizing him has turned him into a ferocious beast and a dull-sensed savage. Education has taught him how to fly in sky and how to swim in water, but it has failed to teach him how to walk on ground.
Education, it is said unlocks the door of success, but is it success that man owing to this education has turned into money making machine? is it success for girls to get away with their Purdah once they are educated? Or is it success for son, intoxicated with his education, to think of getting rid of old parents? Is it success to lose relation and get a bungalow? Lose love and get a car? Lose human values and get luxurious life styles? And dismayingly lose the essence of life? If not, then one can safely assume that modern man has strayed from his real path and the reason is his strayed education or miss-education.
Miss education the wrong version of education has been infused in the minds of our youth that has been oblivious and unmindful to our Islamic and eastern civilization, culture and education. An insidious, horrendous and hideous crime is being done to our youth by this miss education: The miss-education has blinkered man to westernized educational system and west loving outlook of life. He has been indoctrinated to the extent that west worship has diminished the golden principles of Islamic and eastern civilization from his minds; He loves and prides himself in adopting western life style and western ways; little does he know that he is being trapped and is being enslaved to the west. He in turn never realizes his true Islamic genius and does not reach his true potential. This abject, appalling and pitiable state of affairs is best explained in the words of Iqbal as: The duped falcon which has been brought up among vultures. Knows not his true potential, nor can rise to majestic heights.
Founding fathers of our nation: Allama Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam worked tirelessly to throw off the yoke of colonialism. They shunned Western philosophies and ideologies in favor of a uniquely Islamic, Pakistan-centric worldview that rejected all Western “isms” that is uniquely imbued and saturated with rich Islamic and eastern culture and civilization. Our founding fathers envisioned this nation to be the Asian tigers, they envisioned this nation to be the leading nation in the world and in vanguard of Islamic states, yet this vision can only be materialized if the nation drinks deep of the “Pierian Spring” of Islamic civilization and culture and revives its lost and unique identity only then the nation can find itself honored respected and successful as the elixir for the nation is only in these words. Read again the lesson of truth, of justice and velour! You will be asked to do the work of taking on responsibility for the world.
