SPIRIT OF ISLAM MAY 2O18

18 Spirit of Islam Issue 65 May 2018 cultures. When intolerance becomes organized or institutionalized, it destroys democratic principles and poses a threat to world peace. One of the stark realities of life is that divergence of views does exist between people, and that it impinges at all levels. Be it at the level of a family or a society, a community or a country, differences are bound to exist everywhere. Now the question is how best unity can be forged or harmony brought about in the face of human differences. Some people hold that the removal of all differences is the sine qua non for bringing about unity. But, this view is untenable, for the simple reason that, it is not practicable. You may not like the thorns which essentially accompany roses, but it is not possible for you to pluck out all the thorns and destroy them completely. For, if you pluck out one, another will grow in its place. Even if you run a bulldozer over all rosebushes, new plants will grow in their place bearing roses which are ineluctably accompanied by thorns. In the present scheme of things, roses can be had only by tolerating the existence of thorns. Similarly, a peaceful society can be created only by creating and fostering the spirit of tolerance towards diversities. In this world, unity is achievable only by learning to unite in spite of differences, rather than insisting on unity without differences. Total eradication of differences is an impossibility. The secret of attaining peace in life is tolerance of 'disturbance of the peace'. There is nothing wrong in diversity of opinions. In fact, this is a positive quality which has many advantages. The beauty of the garden of life is actually enhanced if the flower of unity is accompanied by the thorn of diversity. An advantage flowing from this attitude is that it builds character. If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if you behave properly with those holding divergent views from you or who criticize you, then you deserve to be credited with having an excellent character. In the same way, a society whose members hold identical views and never have any controversial discussions, will soon find itself in the doldrums. The intellectual development of the members of this society will be frozen, because personal upliftment takes place only where the interaction of divergent thinking provides the requisite mental stimuli. A man who is intolerant is not showing high character in the full sense of the expression. To become enraged at dissension is surely a sign of weakness.