Mentioned on every currency note in the country in the past was a reminder about the primacy of legal income; ‘Earning halal sustenance is worship’. Probably it is no more there because we actually never quite understood the saying in its true spirit.
Some of us ensure that our religious acts of worship are flawless because the witness of those acts is the Almighty Himself. Why then we do not exercise the same amount of caution in activities that are a source of our livelihood?
Shouldn’t we bear in mind that the sanctity of our services or business transactions is as venerable as other acts of worship prescribed upon us?
Assume a hypothetical scenario. If our monthly salaries are guaranteed and our jobs are secure, how many of us will work with sincerity? Barring a few, I feel most will not. This is the root cause of most of our problems. Employees do not work properly. Employers do not understand their obligations. And, remember, the government is the biggest employer in the country. Collectively, organisations do not do what they are supposed to do. A trader on the street is not honest in his dealings. To solve this, we need to perform the activities that are associated with our livelihood with utmost devotion.
Teachers must teach properly. A doctor must feel obligated to attend to the patients as humans and not as monetary units. Businessmen should practise fair dealings, and people holding government positions should behave the same way. The day this happens, there will be a gradual but meaningful change in Pakistan.
We need to realise the importance of doing our work with dedication and commitment. All successful people in the world are already aware of this principle. This will surely lead to a better Pakistan. I, therefore, assert that in devotion to our work lies not only the solution but that it is also a path — the sole path, actually — to our salvation.
SYED ZOHAIB RIZVI
KARACHI
