Africa Speaks — Page 22
I~ , There are other things I wish to invite you to consider. Allah Almighty, we learn from the Holy Ouran, wants us, again and again, to view and view with care whatever there is in the heavens and the earth. Allah wants us to view ourselves, our humble origin, our growing aspirations, our life and death here, and our limitless life Hereafter. All of which 'means that whatever our special interests, our special lines to study and discovery, we must not become indifferent to the rest of our environment which may be men or animals or birds or material things. The key to knowledge is curiosity. We must not become indifferent to the interests and aspirations of fellow human beings. We must ever remain aware of the obligations and duties we owe to one another, to the human community to which we belong and to the Maker of us all, our Allah. If we take care of this simple matter, we will steer clear of dangers-dangers to a full, happy and purposeful living-which lie in wait for modern civilization. We will place ourselves in the grand cosmic context. For, after all, what are we but creatures endowed with limited freedom and will, who, if they really knew, ought to bend humbly to their Creator in fulfilment of His purpose? If we become aware of our environment, our total context, our Maker, we should go about, not oblivious of the existence of other people, nor of fields of knowledge other than our own, nor of the Ultimate purpose of our birth and being viz. , our peace with God. Even a superficial acquain tance with modern scientific pursuits is salutary. All sciences impress upon us the wisdom and meaningfulness of Allah's creation. Even so there is difference between science and science-- one difference is that some sciences are relatively more specialized, some relatively more general. The most general sciences are those which deal with man as whole. These, I suggest, should have more charm, more appeal for you. For, these will take you nearer to that ultimate goal and purpose which makes our life important and meaningful. Such fields of study, therefore, should have a special charm for you. Let us not be over-impressed by the conventional divisions of modern knowledge. Let us look at them in our own special way. Let us prefer-if we have the chance--to choose studies which involve acquaintance with man as a whole, his capacities, interests, aspirations, obligations, duties and so on. Let us prefer even studies which produce in us a concern with life Hereafter. Maybe, if we modify our attitude to the pursuit of knowledge in this way, we will realize and realize sooner than we think, that our life here is a small-very small--segment compared with our life Hereafter. How differently we should then treat our passing life-interests, our squabbles, our competitive living, our mutual fears and our hates: With this faith, the pursuit of knowledge-the distinctive occupation of youth in the universities of the world-should acquire a new quality, a new dimension, a new edge. ~ 2 , ,