Speaking Tree | TOI | October 31, 2010

Yes. It's a human urge to find out the higher truth, and the higher truth is nothing but the Creator of our world. Without finding the higher truth, no one can be satisfied. In that sense, God is the need of every human being; there is no doubt about it.

A: As per my experience, discovery of truth leaves no room for frustration. This is because man remains tensed because of matters of the world. But if he finds the truth which next to God is truth, his relation with God is established and then he starts receiving divine succor and inspiration. It is important to note that this is not applicable for self-proclaimed truth. Only that which is truth next to God is what attaches you to God.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Answers:

As per my experience, discovery of truth leaves no room for frustration. This is because man remains tensed because of matters of the world. But if he finds the truth which next to God is truth, his relation with God is established and then he starts receiving divine succor and inspiration. It is important to note that this is not applicable for self-proclaimed truth. Only that which is truth next to God is what attaches you to God.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Answers:

When a person works, makes money, builds a house, makes an effort to improve his standard of living, he appears to be engaged in efforts towards some worthy end. But a life of this nature cannot be called a purposeful life, for these activities do not demonstrate man’s unique status. It might seem as if they are the result of deliberation, but if one looks at the matter in depth, one will see that in actual fact the motive force behind these actions is the same urge that motivates an animal in various ways, in its concern for its own survival. It is the driving force of one’s desires; the pressure of one’s needs, and the wish to fulfil the demands of one’s self that underlie such a life. These are the considerations which, in fact, guide a person in his search for his livelihood.

When man grows up, he realizes that there are certain material necessities without which he cannot live. He requires food, clothes, a place to live; he requires a reliable source of income to sustain him throughout his life. He is forced by these considerations to obtain these things. Then he sees that those who have an abundance of these material things enjoy respect and apparently possess every form of happiness and luxury in this world. Thus he is driven on to do more than just seek a livelihood; he desires to earn to a degree greatly in excess of his actual requirements.

In bustling markets, grandiose offices, and opulent buildings, he is not really guided by deliberate thought. Rather, he is being guided by inflated ideas of his own needs, desires, longings and ambitions to achieve fame and high status in this world. For this reason these activities cannot be considered as being directed towards the purpose which sets man apart from the animal and lends him a higher distinction.

To determine the purpose of life is, in short, the effort to make life meaningful. It must surely, therefore, be one which is in accordance with man’s unique status; it must be one which leads man on the path to success and progress in terms of his true nature.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Answers

The only way to deal with the irksome side of daily living is to exercise patience. Patience will ensure that whenever one has some bitter experience, he will opt for the way of tolerance rather than that of reaction to provocation. It will enable one to absorb shocks and to continue, undeterred, on one’s onward journey.

Patience, as well as being a practical solution to the problems faced in the outside world, is also a means of positive character building. One who fails to exercise patience, gives free rein to negative thoughts and feelings, develops a personality which is likewise negative while one who remains patient is so morally bolstered by his own positive thoughts and feelings that he develops a positive personality.

Sabr is no retreat. Sabr only amounts to taking the initiative along the path of wisdom and reason as opposed to the path of the emotions. Sabr gives one the strength to restrain one’s emotions in delicate situations and rather to use one’s brains to find a course of action along result-oriented lines.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Answers:

''All kinds of communalism is a phenomenon of reaction. Advise people not to react, thus communalism will automatically disappear. The fact is that difference is part of human life. One cannot eliminate differences. If we see some difference or something that we dislike,we should simply avoid it. This is the only option for us in such matters. Adopt the culture of tolerance, and there will be no communalism.''

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Answers:

Law of attraction is a totally speculative concept and has no scientific basis. Although some people believe in this law in the present times, but there is no scientific basis to the law of attraction. 

The law of attraction is applicable to the physical world. The proponents of the above idea are applying this physical law to the human world, but this is the drawing of a wrong parallel. It is the same mistake that was committed by Karl Marx. He coined a term "historical determinism", that is, he applied the principle of material determinism to human affairs, which proved to be completely wrong. 

Some people believe that whatever happens in life, be it good or bad, is attracted by the person concerned. However, this is wrong thinking. For example, Muslim leaders founded Pakistan in 1947. They deeply believed that Pakistan would emerge as an ideal Islamic state. But this never happened. 

You have referred to two verses from the Quran. Whatever hardship befalls you is the result of your own deeds" (42:30), and " No misfortune can affect the earth or your own selves without its first having been recorded in a book, before We bring it into being. (57:22)

These verses have no relation with the philosophy of attraction. You can consult any commentary of the Quran, and you will realize that this reference is incorrect.