There are constant crises all over the world on all levels: political, economical, social and cultural. I mention this to the reader who sent me a long letter explaining his own crisis, which is certainly related to other crises in the world.
“Dear Sir: Who in this world doesn’t have a crisis? Tell me of one person who has no problems and I’ll go and seek his blessing. If you are angry because there is a moral crisis in the company you work in, I assure you that the whole world has a moral crisis. Not just that, but there is a crisis in everything: A crisis of conscience, a crisis of money, even a crisis of air pollution. In my modest opinion, we’d better begin the reform with ourselves instead of criticizing or attacking others. According to our Islamic traditions, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught us to set good examples to others and by so doing, change the world — if not through physical or verbal action, at least from our hearts and this action would constitute the minimum level of belief.”
Here is my response. Dear Sir: As you say in your letter, if you stand against bad practices in your company, you’ll be smashed by your enemies, and no one in authority will back you. So, I recommend that you stick to the “minimum level of belief” and keep yourself honest, upright and virtuous.
The moral crisis is not restricted to your place of work; it is everywhere you go. Some crises are public while others are private and personal. One is not responsible for fighting public crises unless one has the power to do so. As for the private crises, everyone is responsible for the solutions to his own problems.
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The police recently arrested a small child for stealing sweets from a supermarket. The police summoned the child’s father for questioning but the father seemed indifferent to the charges against his son. On investigating further, the police learned that the child’s mother had been hospitalized for a long time after the birth of her sixth child and that another child was also sick and thus required the parents’ attention. The father was busy all the time, working hard to make ends meet and to feed his family. No one in the family was concerned about the child’s crime.
When the child reached the age of 15, he committed a more serious crime. He robbed a jewelry shop. The question is who was responsible for the crime? Was it the child who failed to learn from his parents or was it the parents who had failed the child?
In response to crimes of this type, the United States Association of Working Women suggested that parents be sued in case their underage children commit crimes. The children usually behave in this way as an escape from the monotony of their lives. If the children are given opportunities for keeping themselves busy with something useful, societies will overcome many juvenile problems.
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We hesitate about many things we want to do because we fear what people might say about us. What society thinks and what the people around us think determines everything we do.
This may be useful in making a well-balanced society but at the same time it’s not good for people with eccentric personalities. However, it has been proved by experience that eccentric people throughout history have left their mark on humanity.
There have been a great many geniuses who never cared about what their societies said. They always did what they wanted without the slightest regard for what other people might say.
In Washington, during World War II, Roosevelt gathered together all world leaders for a meeting. When they were waiting for Winston Churchill, the British leader came in with his famous cigar but wearing a bathroom robe!
In another incident, Churchill was sitting in a room at 10 Downing Street. It was a cold windy day but a faulty thermometer on the wall said the temperature was moderate. Churchill took the thermometer down, opened the window and threw it out saying, “Go out to see how cold it is!”
Henry Cavendish, the celebrated British chemist, despite being a millionaire used to have his meals in his laboratory. He also had a special staircase leading from the laboratory to a room upstairs so he could avoid meeting people.
People think that eccentric people are idiots or mad. In fact, there is great difference between eccentricity and madness. An eccentric does things that he or she thinks are right irrespective of what people say. Mad people have lost any understanding of the difference between right and wrong. They do harm to themselves and to others.
We are in need of eccentrics, but the problem is that when they form the majority they will become ordinary people. Isn’t that strange?