In a public comment made a few days ago, the President suggested that he
would use nuclear weapon on any country if it attacked the US or any of
our allies with massive force.
Two things flashed through my mind, one an image, and the other a question.
The image is of a cowboy that comes out from "western" movies and fictions.
He is a non-intellect who walks around with his leather stripped gun. Against
any threat, his defense is limited to the skill and speed of his hand and the
accuracy of his gun. Kill with one shot and don't miss the heart. And now he
is a hero.
As for the question, it was an attempt to determine who will really be
punished by use of nuclear force. Whether it would be the leadership that is
perceived to be a threat, or the common people most of whom are farmers and
laborers surviving form hand to mouth. Well, the leadership is bad and attacks
our allies and they as the countrymen should bear responsibility for the
actions of their leaders. So let's vaporize a third of its people, mutilate
another third, and have the rest suffer from radiation for the rest of their
lives, giving birth to deformed human babies for generations to come.
Admittedly, a cynical comment. But then if the leadership makes a public
comment, one is supposed take it seriously and accept it as being meant. What
is mentioned above is a real but partial outcome of a nuclear explosion in a
populated country.
I cannot imagine that anyone in his right mind would be able to justify use
of nuclear force against any nation unless his own nation is being attacked by
similar nuclear force. Despite my respect for Harry S. Truman as a fine
intellectual and despite the passage of nearly six decades (time being a
healer), I have not, and would never be able to, accept his decision to burn
up and vaporize humans, animals, and plants on such a massive scale as
happened on the soils of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yes, there is the argument
that it was necessary to stop the war and prevent more casualty. But one
knows only too well that Japan was on the verge of collapse and it was
perhaps only a matter of weeks, if not days, that it would be unable to
continue with the series of defeats that it was sustaining. If there was a
motivation to stop the war quickly and if there was a slightest "moral
justification" to drop the "Thin Man", then that justification was clouded
and that decision influenced by one real vendetta that was burning from
within: Pearl Harbor.
A leadership is recognized to people not by what a havoc and destruction it
A leadership is recognized to people not by what a havoc and destruction it
can or has wrought, but by what a destruction or calamity it was able to
avoid.
can or has wrought, but by what a destruction or calamity it was able to
avoid. A bad leadership is built upon arrogance of power and might. Whether
in peace time or in time of war, it creates foes everywhere by issuing threats
and going after one or the other. Good leadership works on wining hearts and
changing foes to friends in peacetime. And in times of crisis, it keeps its
head cool and makes such extra-ordinary decisions that not only delivers the
nation through the crisis but also brings about long-lasting positive effects.
Leadership - goor or bad - is a real impetus to the whole nation towards a
certain direction. As Sayyid Mawdudi, a Muslim scholar, once said, if the
leader sway from the right course by an inch, his people will sway from it
by a mile. This is for the simple reason that the leader by virtue of his or
her position influences a wide range of people and many look up to him for
guidance.
Two men of recent memory comes to mind as an example: Kennedy and Khrushchev.
If one is to be objective and recognize good works without getting blinded by
dislikes, then one cannot appreciate enough how these two men avoided
probably the biggest crisis that the world has yet seen at a global level in
the Cuban Missile Crisis (there was also a
third man involved, but hardly anyone knows about his role in mitigating the
crisis - Bertrand Russell). It was as if the world hanged on a balance, and a
massive chain of thermo-nuclear warfare was about to start. Had Kennedy been
a non-intellect cowboy, his hand would have moved for the gun in a reflex,
for his nerve would have been unable to bear it any longer. But in a remarkable
way, Kennedy kept his balance through immense pressure. Looking back, one
could now probably say that the decisions he made at that time were necessary
and probably the only choices to be made. He was ready to use nuclear weapon
if that was necessary, but brandishing the gun was not what he did to solve
the crisis. Instead he made sacrifices (for example, he did not take revenge
for the killing of the US pilot and he made big sacrifice by offering to
withdraw the missiles from Turkey). Equal, if not more, sacrifice was made
by Khrushchev. He stopped, dismantled all the missile infra-structure that
was put in place after months of work, and went back. These two men could
have fried the whole earth. Instead, their combined leadership saved the
earth from that prospect. Fire the gun and miss no heart is easy. Controlling
urge and resolving crisis is more courageous and challenging. That is the litmus test of real
leadership.
One of the worlds wisest leaders whom the western world has not yet given
The strong is not the one who knocks out his opponent by his strength; the
strong is he who controls himself while in anger.
- Prophet Muhammad
his due share of recognition is Prophet Muhammad (p). In one of his
statements that contain few words but carry much weight, he said:
"The strong is not the one who knocks out his opponent
by his strength; the strong is he who controls himself while in anger."
Beyond theory, his life was replete with examples of actual acts of
forgiveness and how he resolved crisis and how he transformed people. One of the
most remarkable of these cases was the Conquest of Mecca.
For 13 years, the Meccan
idolaters persecuted him and his handful of believers, severely punishing
them. The torture was so severe that some of them died (one black male slave in
particular used to be forced to lie flat on bare skin on hot desert sand
under the scorching sun while his master would place a heavy stone on his chest, a
punishment he was subjected to every day. He was given a choice: face
this punishment everyday or renounce faith in One God and go back to
idolatry, which he continued to refuse. Unable to
tolerate this unbearable scene, a rich man eventually bought him and set
him free). Eventually the Prophet himself escaped death by
fleeing to Medina, a city 200 miles north of Mecca. Within 8 years, he
returned with 10,000 followers and took the city by surprise. It is a
unique case in history – particularly in medieval history - where a city
fell to the hand of an army with almost no bloodshed. He sent four armies
to enter the city from all four sides and instructed each of their
commanders not to shed any blood unless that becomes absolutely necessary.
Before leaving, one of the commanders made a comment, "Today is the day of
battle, the day of great war, the day when all taboos will be lifted."
Fortunately, the news of his comment came to the Prophet before he left
and he immediately relieved him from his position and replaced him with
a gentler person.
After the city fell, Muhammad entered the city. He sat on his she-camel as
it slowly strode forward. But unlike a proud, victorious general with his
head high in the air, his head was down and his eyes fixed at the earth. In
such humility, he entered the city from which he had to flee eight years
earlier. The Meccans panicked and awaited their sure fate of rampage
killings, burning down of their houses and rape of their women, as was
usually the case with a fallen medieval city. Now, here is one who was
not only the conqueror of their city but also the one whom they persecuted
for 13 long years. And this is how they were treated:
After making a prayer, the Prophet recited a particular verse from the Qur’an
that proclaims that all men are equal where there is no superiority of
white over black, nor of Arab over non-Arab. Then he asked the Meccans:
"O men of Quraysh, what do you think I am about to do with you?"
"Everything good", they replied, "for you are a noble brother and a noble
nephew of ours."
"Rise, then, and go. For you are free."
With this one sentence, he gave a general amnesty to the entire city.
Touched by this forgiveness, thousands after thousands of them left
idolatry and entered into the faith of worshipping One God.
It is that kind of qualities that make leadership. It is such leadership
that brings about real and lasting changes at the core of things: people's
hearts.
As a young boy, I used to climb up a big lichee tree in our backyard in search
of its sweet lichees. The tree had formed an ingenious alliance with big red
formidable ants. Accessing the lichees without their painful bites was almost
impossible. In an effort to get maximum flesh out, the ant would lift its
lower portion of the body and raise it towards the heaven as it buried its
mouth deep into the flesh. In anger, I would smash one here and another there
until such time when, unable to tolerate further bites, I would declare that
lichees are sour and would get off the tree, but not until I had smashed a
bunch of them. I had the urge, the vendetta and the might. A single ant was
no comparison to that immense power I had against it. The ant was on my mercy
and I could kill it at will and I did. It was helpless and could do nothing.
I now know that in biting me, the ants were only satisfying their animal
Real strength lies in understanding, in for-giving and in the ability of making
decisions free of influence of emotion and anger.
instinct that is built into them. That instinct moves them to bite anytime
they feel threatened. On the other hand, I had used my enormous power and
might to kill them only out of anger and vendetta and not for self defense,
for an ant was no threat to my survival. With a matured head, I now
realize that killing or defeating a weaker party is the easy choice. Real
strength lies in understanding and in forgiving and in the ability of making
decisions free of influence of emotion and anger. Ability to excercise power
should make one more humble and increase his sense of responsibilty, as we
see it manifested in parents. Punishing a child is always in his disposal,
and yet the parent delicately works with
his child through his mistakes and enables him to gradually grow and use his God-given
faculties of judgment, reasoning, intellect, and wisdom.
This is what true leadership is endowed with, and it is that kind of quality
that can transform people and change mindset, like a touchstone transforms
metals into gold.
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