“THIS day (Day of Reckoning) you are being repaid what you have been doing.” (Quran 45:28). The Divine scheme of reward (Sawab) and retribution (azab) at the end of the Day is a case of action and reaction. You reap what you sow.

Any one who finds oneself happy and prosperous in life should thank one’s own self (and Allah too who is the ‘prime mover’ in all cases). And those who are not so fortunate should discover their own faults and failings instead of blaming fate (Taqdeer).

Here, a quotation from Shakespeare appears to be very apt: “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in ourselves.”

It is this very philosophy which the Holy Quran has set forth, very briefly, in this verse, referring to the reward of those who will be allotted a berth in Paradise: “awarded them a garden and silken attire for all that they endured” (76:12). Explaining how the righteous persons showed endurance in their life-time, our theologists have opined that it meant, primarily, their act of ‘sacrifice’ – their abstinence from the transient worldly pleasures for the sake of the expected abiding spiritual satisfaction in afterlife.

The Quran conveys this idea in these words: “For him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust, the garden will be his home” (79:4-41).

Our theologists also refer to the verses of the Quran mentioned below in support of the fact that all our actions are on record, and each one of us will see their reaction in life after Resurrection. Some of the verses are being quoted here: (1) “When the earth is shaken with the final earthquake…. Those who have done good work worth an atom’s weight will see it, and those who have done wrong work worth an atom’s weight will also see it then.” (99:1-8) (2) “On the Day when every soul will find itself confronted with all that it has done of good or of evil” (3:30).

One can ask how a detailed record of one’s deed – good, bad or indifferent – will be available to be presented on the Day of Judgment. Modern science provides the answer, as it says that no motion, no sound and no voice fades out for ever, because the resultant air waves remain preserved in the atmosphere which can be heard. However, the Quran tells us that all spoken words and utterances and actions are being continuously recorded by invisible envoys of God.

Consider these Quranic verses: “Do they think that Allah cannot hear their secret thoughts and private confidences? The fact is that Allah’s envoys attached with them keep recording” (43:80).

The Holy Quran elaborates further that “everyone’s future is fastened to one’s own neck which will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection when he will be told to read his record which will prove to be a reckoner against him on that Day” (17:13-14).

The Quran calls this record of man’s words and deeds a ‘book’ (kitab): “The Book will be placed before them and the guilty will be seen fearful of its contents and saying what kind of a book is this that doesn’t leave either a bad thing or a good thing and has counted every thing” (18:49).

Sceptics and non-believers may express their doubt about the record of one’s words and deeds maintained by invisible agencies (‘envoys’ of God, as the Quran calls them) and that too in the form of a ‘book’ of parchment or paper. Obviously, the Quran conveys its meaning about extra-sensory objects or matters – things outside the reach of ordinary senses – through terms and symbols which even a person or ordinary intelligence can comprehend easily. To satisfy the sceptics’ inclination to disbelieve is well-nigh impossible.

Therefore, those who are believers should treat the symbolism of God’s envoys, noting down everything in a book or journal, as good enough to convey the message that all that one says or does, is preserved which will be presented at the time of final reckoning. The Quran says that in addition to this ‘book’, which contains a detailed account of every individual’s sayings and doings, “on the day of reckoning Allah will seal up mouths and make hands speak out and feet bear witness as to what they used to do” (36:65).

And if some one interprets this verse to mean that human limbs will actually speak out then let him/her stick to this interpretation, even though the fact may be that the description is symbolic.

It may be pertinent to clarify that the day of Reckoning, or that another world will replace the present world after that Day, is a matter which is neither easy to explain nor easy to understand. The basic thing to keep in mind is that, as the Quran says, “on the Day when the earth will be changed to other than the earth, and heavens will also be changed” (14:48), the laws of nature and cause-effect relationship, as are operative in the present world, will become absolutely irrelevant and, therefore, inapplicable.

So, it will be an entirely new world having nothing in common with what we find in our present world.

Thus, the entire text of the Quran can be interpreted, either literally, or treating some parts as symbolical or of allegorical significance.

“CHAMPIONS don’t become champions in the ring; they are merely recognised there,” goes a famous adage. Not only are champions recognised, but also their legacies live on. The story of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, alias Bacha Khan, the founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar Tehreek, is that of a true champion.

The world recognised Bacha Khan’s stature as a statesman after his heroic non-violent struggle against the British Raj. Twenty years after his death, the great non-violent Pashtun statesman was remembered and eulogised at a conference in New York on April 12. Focusing on his philosophy of non-violence, the first Bacha Khan Peace Conference was attended and addressed by his admirers from the US, India, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“I came here from Washington DC to pay my respects to this great leader,” said Charles Aquilina, a one-time resident of Abdul Ghaffar Khan Road in Mumbai and currently a director at a Washington-based think-tank. Like Aquilina, Dr Zikria, a Persian-speaking Afghan professor at Columbia University, paid his tributes and fondly recalled that Bacha Khan used to visit his house in Kabul. Ravi Shanker travelled from Boston to join Khan’s admirers.

The keynote speaker was Rajmohan Gandhi, the celebrated historian and biographer grandson of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and author of Ghaffar Khan: Non-violent Badshah of Pukhtoons. “What a timely idea, but also an overdue event,” Rajmohan told organisers upon accepting their invitation to speak. He received a standing ovation from his audience who responded to his spirited, intellectually potent and thought-provokingly focused address on the conference theme, ‘Philosophy of non-violence and global challenges’.

He discussed Bacha Khan as a Muslim, a leader, and a non-violent freedom fighter. “When the history of struggle for human dignity will be written, Bacha Khan’s name will be at the top,” Rajmohan told the conference.

Peering through heavy glasses, the tall, frail Indian intellectual had spoken bluntly to his American hosts in Manhattan at a function organised a day earlier in memory of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and other statesmen of this century.

“I told a crowd of 4,000 that, while I appreciate their tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, they forgot to include another great personality of the 20th century. They forgot Abdul Ghaffar Khan,” said Rajmohan who believes the world must now, more than ever before, adhere to the philosophy of non-violence.

A long line-up of celebrated speakers and intellectuals included, among others, Asfandyar Wali Khan, Afrasiab Khattak, Dr Fazle Raheem Marwat, Dr Raj Wali Shah Khattak, Abdul Bari Jahani, Dr Munir Khan, Dr Saleem Afridi, Abdul Wahid Mashwani, Abdur Rab Khan, Taj Akbar Khan and Iqbal Ali Khan. They spoke at great length about non-violence and its relevance to today’s turbulent world. They had one voice: peace can be achieved by waging peace alone.

Bacha Khan struggled for peace in a region where tribal customs and traditions were at times stronger than religion. He persevered, however, and proved that change through peaceful struggle is always and everywhere possible. Mahatma Gandhi once said of Bacha Khan: “That such men, who would have killed a human being with no more thought than they would kill a sheep, should, at the bidding of one man, have laid down their arms and accepted non-violence as the superior weapon sounds almost like a fairy-tale.”

The speakers noted that today’s world is confronted with wars, bloodshed and instability. Humanity is caught in the crossfire between powerful nation-states and stateless and faceless terrorists. Extremism, they noted, is rearing its ugly head all around and is visible in the conduct of both warring sides.

“Is this the only course that humanity is left with to tackle one of the greatest threats mankind has ever encountered?” asked one Afghan speaker, Amir Pawinda. “No, there are better ways of dealing with it and the philosophy of non-violence offers the best hope,” he said.

John F. Kennedy once said, “Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.” Another great American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, declared, “More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars — yes, an end to this brutal, inhumane and thoroughly impractical method of settling differences between governments.”

Peacemakers may speak different languages, but their message is always the same, and it reverberates with the same spirit of hope. The New York conference reflected that spirit as speaker after speaker highlighted Bacha Khan’s life as a simple man, a powerful politician, a spiritual leader, a non-violent peacemaker and a visionary. Bacha Khan would tell his followers, “There is advantage only in construction. I want to tell you categorically I will not support anybody in destruction.”

Mahatma Gandhi said, “In the secret of my heart, I am in perpetual quarrel with God that He should allow such things (as the war) to go on. My non-violence seems almost impotent. But the answer comes at the end of the daily quarrel that neither God nor non-violence is impotent. Impotence is in men. I must try on without losing faith even though I may break in the attempt.”

What would Bacha Khan and Mahatma Gandhi do if they were alive today, was the question many speakers raised. Rajmohan thought Bacha Khan and Gandhi would have felt overly challenged by today’s complicated puzzles of corruption and violence, but still their devotion to harmonious coexistence would have impressed many minds with a peace mentality, which is the first step towards conflict resolution.

Bacha Khan once said, “There is nothing surprising in a Muslim or a Pashtun like me subscribing to the creed of non-violence. It is not a new creed. It was followed 1,400 years ago by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).”

If Bacha Khan was at the helm in today’s Pakistan, what would he do? “I think he would raise a new army of Khudai Khidmatgars for a change in mindsets. This army would wage peace for peace, for development, for social justice, for political empowerment and for equality,” said Dr Munir Khan, associated with the Bacha Khan Education Foundation.

The sentiment raised at the conference reflected the spirit of a famous saying of one of South Africa’s greatest leaders and Nobel laureate, Desmond Tutu, who said, “Stability and peace in our land will not come from the barrel of a gun, because peace without justice is an impossibility.”

One dynamic, global message emanated from the conference: “Let’s work for the creation of Khudai Khidmatgars in the 21st century. Let’s spread peace, amity and love by waging nothing but peace.” n

The writer is a US-based journalist.

mjehangir@aol.com