It is said that knowledge is power, but it also implies that ignorance is bliss. It is a paradox that both maxims fit into the reality of life with equal force. The field of knowledge is as vast and expansive, as that of ignorance is deep and boundless. Knowledge and ignorance run side by side and make the fun of life a kaleidoscope through which all patterns and colours are formed for the delight of the historian. Lack of knowledge is a dangerous thing, but quite often it proves to be a blessing in disguise.
In the struggle of life, no one is absolutely certain of success. There are multiple factors to be taken into account before opening a new enterprise. A lot of calculations of one’s financial standing, the probable difficulties and obstacles which one may come across, and also the guidance of those already in that business have been considered necessary to succeed, and yet one’s business may fail due to unforeseen circumstances. Conversely it is also possible that you may not have done so much homework, but due to some favourable and unforeseen circumstances your venture becomes successful. Hence there are no fixed and intractable rules to make you successful. Nature is always unpredictable. If there had been fixed rules for success, then everybody by following those rules would have succeeded and no party would have ever met with defeat.
Nature is always elusive and nobody has the perfect knowledge of how things work. How will one adjudge whether knowledge always leads to success, and in many cases, it has been observed that fear or ignorance of future complexities but with some favourable circumstances promises him success, which in his case proves bliss. This elusiveness and uncertainty in life is the real challenge which goads man to have a better knowledge of things rather than doing things in haste and ignoranc,e which will in the ultimate analysis lead him to failure and destruction.
Hence there is dire need to make the students learn the Quran with its meaning and its explication. Learning the meaning is far more difficult than its mere recitation, and thus ignorance of its meaning proves temporary bliss for the students, but it does not change their minds which remain fossilized. This is the primary cause for the decadence of Muslims in this age of knowledge which is the only source of power.
Ignorance may be bliss for people temporarily, but not always. If a married couple leads a happy life, but the wife occasionally spends her time with her paramour, of which the husband has no knowledge, her life may be temporarily bliss for her, but as soon as the husband has the knowledge of her infidelity, her matrimonial life can become hell for her, and may wreck the lives of both. Thus true knowledge of life is always a strong instrument for true and longer-lasting happiness, unlike ignorance which may appear to be bliss for some time, but that road always leads to perdition.
Now in our own socio-political environment, Prime Minister Imran Khan is renowned all over the world as a highly educated man from Oxford University, one of the finest sportsmen of his time, a philanthropist, an educationist, a social worker and a man of liberal-secular bent of mind who truly understands the spirit of modern time. Yet to boost his image as a politician, he has the temerity to air his views which are directly opposed to his own bent of mind. In a BBC interview, he expressed his admiration for the tribal Jirga system, knowing fully well that he was advocating a system which is a remnant of the Stone Age and is nowhere in vogue in the entire world. If he was disgruntled with our courts, he could think of bringing judicial reforms, rather than enforcing the jirga system in the length and breadth of Pakistan. Again, when terrorism was being universally condemned, Imran Khan spoke of Osama Bin Laden as a martyr, a crusader for freedom, when he was looked upon as the pioneer of terrorism worldwide.
Again, before the 2018 elections, to win the support of the masses, he pledged to create 10 million jobs if he came to power, for which he had done no homework. He announced this in complete ignorance of the true knowledge and statistics of Pakistan to please his voters. He enjoyed his bliss of ignorance for the time being, but failed to take even a single step even nearly 3 years into his tenure. After coming to power, he realized that necessary infrastructure was necessary to create so many jobs. This gave him the first shock of his life. He had pledged to eliminate corruption and a recent report of Transparency International indicated that corruption increased in the PTI’s tenure. In other equally important state matters he received his share of sufficient shock for his ignorance, which had resulted into enormous unemployment, poverty and sky-rocketing price-hike of articles of daily use making the lives of common man miserable. It was expected of him to know that one of the greatest problems of poor countries was their overpopulation, yet he affected his ignorance of this acute problem, got the bliss he deserved, and did not take a single step to control overpopulation. He chose to enjoy the bliss of his ignorance, by appearing before the edia every evening to make the people believe that all was well with the state of Pakistan. The time he spent on media should have been more profitably spent in his office reflecting on how to pull his ship out of the rough waters.
The famous 18th century English poet Thomas Gray in 1742 in a poem had for the first time written that “Ignorance is bliss” which became an idiom. He further wrote “Where ignorance is bliss / ‘tis folly to be wise.” Gray being a professor was not against knowledge, but he was imagining the time of his childhood when all children feel lighter and care-free and are not subject to the hardship of the life of adulthood. This is the right moment when children can claim that ignorance is bliss.
The good luck of politicians of today is that they can get away with anything under the garb of ignorance; sometimes it is actual ignorance but more often it is feigned. In both cases, they enjoy it as bliss. But later when reality breaks upon them, then this bliss turns into hellfire, which brings them close to destruction and ignominy. The Indian Missionary Sadhguru when asked whether “ignorance is bliss”, he replied that if it had been so, “then why seek knowledge?”
All previous politicians of Pakistan came to power on the Islamic card. Imran Khan came into power on the slogan of making a “Naya Pakistan.” Nobody has yet the inkling of his promised “Naya Pakistan.” One of Imran Khan’s great dreams is “Tabdeeli” and to revive “Riyasat-e-Madina.” He firmly believes that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) established the first pluralist society and nation-state in history, governed in accordance with Islamic principles. Madina’s state preceded even the Magna Carta by several centuries, when the principles of justice and equality were not even known to Europe. It is also clear that the Founder of Pakistan in his speech of 11 August 1947 had declared that “ religion has nothing to do with the state of Pakistan which is everybody’s personal matter” I have nothing but to take pity on Imran Khan when he undertakes this gigantic task of reviving the “Riyasat-e-Madina” in this country where minorities are being marginalized, a horrific class of religious bigots are already holding the country ransom, and the entire state of Pakistan is being governed on non-Islamic principles.
And finally, nothing applies the maxim, “Ignorance is bliss” more accurately than to our children who are taught the Holy Quran in madressas and mosques. The entire emphasis is laid on its recitation and none on its meaning with the result that even when they grow up, the students remain ignorant of the Quranic teachings.
Hence there is dire need to make the students learn the Quran with its meaning and its explication. Learning the meaning is far more difficult than its mere recitation, and thus ignorance of its meaning proves temporary bliss for the students, but it does not change their minds which remain fossilized. This is the primary cause for the decadence of Muslims in this age of knowledge which is the only source of power.
