Raza was a poor young boy. His father died while he was a child. His mother was forced to earn her living by working as a domestic servant. Raza was a good student and a good player of cricket. He joined the cricket team of his city and was expecting to become a member of the national cricket team.

Raza was a sensitive boy. In college, when he used to see his friends wearing nice clothes, having beautiful cars and enjoying their life, he used to get frustrated. In the college, he met some members of a student organization. This organization was a sub-section of a political party which was fighting against the class structure of the society. They told Raza that he was poor because 90% of the country’s resources were owned by just a few people. And that the only way to get rid of poverty was to fight against the ruling class and campaign for the establishment of social justice and equality.

دین دار طبقے کے لئے معاش اور روزگار کے مسائل۔ ایک مذہبی آدمی خواہ وہ جدید تعلیم یافتہ ہو یا مدارس کا تعلیم یافتہ، اسے اپنی عملی زندگی میں بہت سے مسائل کا سامنا کرنا پڑتا ہے۔ اس تحریر میں مصنف نے ان مسائل کا تجزیہ کرتے ہوئے ان کے حل کی تجاویز پیش کی ہیں۔

Raza joined that party and became a devoted member of the organization. He used to spend his time reading the literature of the group, attending the party’s congregations and taking a part in demonstrations. As a result, his studies suffered and he did not manage to pass his examinations despite appearing more a couple of times.

But soon due to the efforts of Raza and many other young people like him, the party became one of the most influential parties in the country’s politics. The leaders of the party, became national leaders and the party formed government with coalition with other parties.

The leaders benefited from the struggles and sacrifices made by Raza and his companions. But, Raza and his companions remained poor despite their efforts whereas the leaders prospered. It is not possible to compromise on basic necessities like food, cloth and shelter. Raza was not a skilled and educated worker. He was forced to do petty blue-collar jobs and was not able to get rid of his poverty. In his frustration, he started using intoxicants. His mother grieved over his lost career and life. One day he died in a road accident because of his senses being clouded by drugs. His mother mourned her dead son and became helpless after him.

But this story is not yet complete. Raza had a cousin Abdullah who was also in a similar situation to Raza’s. His father too had died and his mother used to work hard to meet the basic necessities of life. Abdullah also met with some members of a religious organization in his college. He joined that party.

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The motto of that party was to get rid of worldly desires and spend their whole time on religious service. By religious service, they meant working for the party. Due to these teachings, many young boys were brainwashed to leave their education and devote all of their time in party activities. It also affected Abdullah’s education. He failed in his examinations and decided to leave his studies altogether and devote himself to the cause of the party.

But fortunately for him, he met a leader of that party who was an open-minded person. He found Abdullah an intelligent young man and advised him to spend more of his time in his educational activities because the party needed more educated people. This advice was against the general philosophy of the majority of party leaders.

Abdullah took heed to this advice and commenced his education once again. He got a Master degree from a local university and spent his spare time on religious activities. After a while, a few disagreements developed between him and the party. Thus He decided to leave the party but continued his religious activities at his own.

After post graduation, Abdullah started his career as a clerk in a multinational company. He realized soon that a degree from a national university can only take one to the position of a clerk. People in top management were either educated from Western universities or belonged to a family from the rich class.

Abdullah continued his struggle. He joined an online degree program in an internationally recognized institution of England. He got that degree and found an excellent job. As a result of his struggle, he got rid of his poverty. Now Abdullah achieved whatever he and his cousin Raza had dreamed about in their earlier life. Abdullah started taking care of Raza’s mother along with his own mother. Raza’s mother got from Abdullah what she had been unable to get from her son.

Abdullah was fond of religious activities. He established a religious institution by spending his money and efforts and is now working for that noble cause.

The lessons of this story are as follows:

· Poverty cannot be eliminated through demonstrations and putting demands to the government. The only way to get rid of poverty is “Education”.

· The political and religious leaders who try to divert a student from his / her education are not sincere. They want to achieve a good status for themselves at the cost of a student’s career.

· It is not possible to develop a positive life with negative tactics. Negative campaigns can only create anarchy but a positive mission cannot be achieved by negative tactics.

· There is no shortcut to success. It requires a long struggle. Constructing a building is a long process whereas its destruction is a matter of few minutes by blasting a bomb.

(Note: Raza and Abdullah are real characters of our society. Their real names are not disclosed due to some reasons.)

(Author: Mubashir Nazir, Review by: Muhammed Umar Khan)

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Think about it!

· Identify three techniques used by our leaders to use young people for their purposes.

· Is there any shortcut to get rid of poverty? If yes, identify it. If no, identify the personality attributes required to go along the long path of success.

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Unit 1: Relation with God & His Prophets

Unit 2: Elimination of our Negative Personality

Unit 3: Development of our Positive Personality

Unit 4: Relationship with Human Beings

Backbiting | Suspicion | Defamation | Examining Others with Suspicion | Are you killing your family?

Unit 5: Our Responsibility, Vision & Mission

The Love of Prophet Muhammad with Knowledge | Traditional Mentality | Strange Similarities between Christian & Muslim Histories | The Relationship of Revelation & Intellect (Part I) | The Relationship of Revelation & Intellect (Part II) | The Problem of Aurengzeb Alamgir