Page 5 - Spirit of Islam-May'17

FROM MAULANA’S DESK

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, born in 1925, in
Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, is an Islamic spiritual
scholar who is well-versed in both classical Islamic
learning and modern disciplines. The mission of his life
has been the establishment of worldwide peace. He has
received the Padma Bhushan, the Demiurgus Peace
International Award and Sayyidina Imam Al Hassan
Peace award for promoting peace in Muslim societies.
He has been called ’Islam’s spiritual ambassador to the
world’ and is recognized as one of its most influential
Muslims . His books have been translated into sixteen
1
languages and are part of university curricula in six
countries. He is the founder of the Centre for Peace
and Spirituality based in New Delhi.

POST ELECTIONS: WINNERS & LOSERS

Sage advice to politicians: Rival political leaders may well be fierce
competitors, but once elections are over, they need to cooperate to
make democracy work.

EMOCRACY with discipline is a political boon, whereas
democracy without discipline may degenerate into anarchy.
DAbraham Lincoln, the 16 President of USA in his Gettysburg
th
Address in 1863, said democracy is: “Government of the people, by
the people, for the people.” Theoretically, this seems to be a correct
definition of democracy but, from the point of view of practical
application, it is perhaps incomplete. Democracy is not a religious
belief; it is a secular concept. It is a political formula that gives us a
workable ‘art of difference management’. In every society, there are
differences at every level and democracy is a kind of tightrope walk to
maintain the balance between differing groups in society. If leaders fail
to establish this balance, they risk turning the democratic system into
anarchy, which may cause them to miss the opportunities offered by
democracy.
1. The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims 2012, Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Jordan.

Spirit of Islam Issue 53 May 2017 3