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Stop Reacting.... Start Acting
Issac Newton, centuries ago, gave the 3rd law of motion, 'for every action, there is an opposite reaction.' Quite amazingly, this law of motion does not hold good in the world of physics only, but it works well in our day to day lives as well.
What is the importance of 'action' in life? Well, one may say that action being a verb, involves all those acttivities that we do. But, a closer look will reveal the difference, and will hopefully highlight the point which I am going to reveal. Human activities can be broadly classified under action and reaction, and both are constructive and destructive in their respective peripheries.
A manager giving his diktats or orders in office to his subordinates, is an action and the activities of the subordinate after receiving that order, is actually a reaction. So, at any given moment of time we are acting or reacting.
I was thinking about the life of Prophet Muhammad(peace and blessings be upon him), the benefactor of humanity. Someone rightly said,' if scarcity of means, determination of action and marvelous results are the three merits of a remarkable life, then who can dare compete the success of Prophet Muhammad!
Among the numerous achievements of this great messenger of Allah, is that he was a man of action, not a victim of reaction. Right from the onset of his journey as a prophet, until the dawn of his great life, he faced harsh and cruel environment and hostilities.
History stands witness, that there were times, when a disbelieving old woman in Mecca, used to throw garbage on him every day. A terrible action, which demanded a strong reaction. But, he never reacted because he has his own set of actions. So when one fine day he found no garbage to greet him, he went on to enquire about the old woman, and was told that she is sick. He implemented his action of generosity and humbleness and that lady accepted Islam.
On another occasion we find this great man asking Allah to help Islam with either of the two men, Omar ibn Al Khattab and Abu Jahl, and we find that within few days Omar accepted Islam and became one of the pillars of Islam, before that both were among the staunchest of enemies of Islam!
The people who pelted stones at the prophet at Taif, caused him to bleed, demanded a harsh reaction too. Even the angel of mountains came to the prophet, seeking his permission to crush the people of Taif between two mountains, but the prophet refused, complained to Allah about his own weakness, sought His forgiveness and help and said to the angel, that later on the children of Taif would accept Islam! What a great example of astonishing action!
Throughout the pages of history, we will see people, Muslims and non Muslims creating milestones, those who were men of action. Environment and people will be hostile always, but it’s up to us, whether we simply go on reacting and reacting, or be busy in doing constructive action?
Today, as an individual and as a nation, we are busy in finding scapegoats for our collective failure? Few days back I was watching a discussion on a news channel. The topic of discussion was Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.. There was this Muslim gentleman in the panel who was saying that America exploited the differences between Shia and Sunni and made a monster out of Iran. A non Muslim professor retorted that one cannot make America an excuse for all your misfortunes. Quite right!
This is what happens when we lose action and start reaction. Are we so naive as an individual and as a nation, that anyone can come from anywhere and can make us react and nag the way he wants? What a state of intellectual bankruptcy!
It’s high time that we revive our intentions, goals and spirits. To transform ourselves from sheep of reactions, to lions of action.
We are people of the nation of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), Allah has ordained for us a definite set of action. If we busy ourselves with these actions, then we are going to inherit the vicegerency of earth and heavens. So, stop reacting and start acting.
Brother Abid H
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