Creation - Takhleeq

Incomplete Humanity 

Humanity is a very simple word, but it is very difficult to live by it. We often speak about humanity. Truth, dignity, justice, upbringing, morality, respect and responsibility — all these words come easily to our lips. But the real recognition of a society is not found in its words, but in its daily behavior.

Humanity can be written in books, described in speeches and repeated in columns. But as long as it does not become visible at home, in the office, on the street, in the market, in school, within the family and in decisions, it remains only a word. The real question is not whether we acknowledge humanity. The real question is whether we also act according to it.

The first test of humanity begins inside one’s own home. How is the woman in the house treated? Does she receive respect, or only responsibility? Is her opinion heard, or is she made used to remaining silent? Is a daughter given the same importance as a son? Is a sister, wife, mother or daughter seen as a human being, or is she recognized only through her role?

In a society where a woman is not given the opportunity to rise with her full strength, humanity remains incomplete. A woman does not only run a household. She passes on thinking, she raises, she shapes generations, she creates the atmosphere of a home and plays an important role in whether confidence or fear develops in a child. A society that limits women holds back half of its reason, half of its strength and half of its future.

The second test of humanity appears in the way children are treated. Giving a child food, clothing, school and a roof is not enough. A child also needs respect, trust, the right to ask questions, room for mistakes and the opportunity to develop his or her own path. If a child constantly lives in fear, is scolded for every question and remains bound to the will of the parents in every decision, then later the child either breaks inwardly or passes the same harshness on to the next generation.

We often say that children must be raised. That is true. But upbringing does not mean silencing a child. Upbringing does not mean that a child stops thinking and only learns to obey. Good upbringing exists where a child learns respect and, at the same time, is allowed to ask questions. Where the child respects elders and, at the same time, uses his or her own mind. Where the child remains connected to the family and still becomes able to see the world with an open view.

The third test of humanity lies in truth. Speaking the truth is easy when there is no risk of loss. The real truth is the one that is not abandoned even when there could be an advantage in doing so. When we begin to see lying for our own benefit as cleverness, deception as ability, relationships as shortcuts and breaking the law as smartness, then humanity remains only in words.

Punctuality also belongs to humanity. Wasting another person’s time is also a form of injustice. Respect for the law is also humanity, because the law does not apply only to us, but to everyone. Good behavior toward the weaker is also humanity, because almost everyone becomes gentle in front of the powerful. Real character is shown where the other person is weaker than we are.

Our problem is not that we do not know good things. We know that women should be respected. We know that children should be given love. We know that the truth should be spoken. We know that the law should be respected. We know that a human being should be seen as a human being. The problem is that we transfer these things into our own lives far too rarely.

Some societies are not recognized by great claims, but by small forms of behavior. How is a person at home? How is he on the street? How is he in the office? How does he behave toward those who are weaker? How does he behave toward people who have a different opinion? How is he toward a woman? How does he react to a child’s question? Exactly there lies the real test of his awareness.

Humanity does not mean that a person constantly uses big words. Humanity means that he does not take away anyone’s right, does not consider a woman inferior, does not suppress the thinking of a child, does not turn lies into a habit, does not humiliate the weaker and does not cause pain to others through his behavior.

A society does not change through slogans. A society changes when a person begins to change inside his own home; when he changes his language, changes his behavior, gives respect to women, gives trust to children, places truth above personal advantage and sees a human being as a human being.

Humanity does not die in books. Humanity dies in behavior. And if it is to remain alive, it must be taken out of words and brought into action. That is the real progress of every society.

Shahid Shakil