Page 114 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

It All Depends on the Angle of Vision

Delhi when on the radio I first heard about the attacks the day
they were carried out.

The reason I cried is that I realized that those who were
involved in the perpetration of this act of violence were
completely lacking in wisdom. They looked at the WTC from
a negative angle. But had they seen it from a positive angle,
they would have learnt a great lesson.
I had gone to New York in February 1998. During the visit,
I also went into the World Trade towers and climbed to the
top. Where the terrorists had seen these towers negatively, I
viewed these buildings from a positive angle and was thus able
to discover a great piece of wisdom from this observation. I
reflected that modern technology was a great gift of nature,
as it had opened up a new scope for people, that is, if there
is not enough land for horizontal growth, one can always
compensate for it by vertical growth.
The Quran was revealed in the seventh century, long before
the advent of modern civilization. At that time the Quran
made a historical prediction about the future in these words:
‘We shall show them Our signs in the universe and
within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that
this is the Truth.’ (41:53)
This means that after the revelation of the Quran, a
revolutionary process was to be initiated in human history.
The twentieth century was a culmination of this developmental
process.

The twin towers of the WTC, a symbolic illustration of this
new development in history, represented a whole new age. In
former times, only horizontal growth had been possible. But
now due to advances in technology, unlimited vertical growth
had become a reality. These towers were thus symbolic of
God’s unique blessing on mankind. However, because certain
Muslims wrongly considered them to be a symbol of their

113