Our God — Page 208
208 was most dreadful in Russia where the tyrannical rule of the Tsars and extravagant living of the rich had strangled the poor. Long periods of injustice always evoke a reaction that takes the form of rebellion against the established system. A similar reaction took place in Russia in the form of communism which laid the foun- dation of a new system through a brutal revolution. The reign of the Tsars ended, barons lost their ranks, the rich lost their riches, and the communist system was introduced for apparently equal sharing of the country’s wealth. Like every reaction and rebel- lion against an established system, communism turned from one extreme to the other. Obviously, both the extremes are equally dangerous, though these dangers may not be apparent immedi- ately. Very briefly, the dangers are: 1. By taking over all the wealth and resources of the coun- try, the state deprived the individual of the greatest incen- tive for hard work and industry. There are many incen- tives for work, but the most common one, that is found equally among all people of all classes and is part of human nature, is the desire to benefit from the fruit of one’s own labour. This desire and eagerness was crushed totally by communism. Indeed, every decent person has a desire to lend a hand to others and to spend a part of his wealth for their needs and Islam has emphasised that a great deal. The great natural incentive, however, is to know that man will enjoy the greater part of the fruit of his own labour. Communism has destroyed this incentive and slowed down human progress.