Dr. Pasha’s Models for How People May Choose to Live Their Lives
Rough Draft:
Needs Careful Proofreading.
Proofread and bring errors to our notice.
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Model One: The way we are is also the way our world will be.
Meaning: we have an active and significant role in shaping the world in which we live.
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Model Two: And the way we are is a function of at least three factors.
a) Nature: the genes we inherited.
b) Nurture: the way we were reared, educated and trained.
And that means:
(i) Home Environment.
(ii) Neighborhood.
(iii) School.
(iv) College.c) Individual Decision Making:
The kind of personal decisions and choices we made. Even though our decisions and choices are often related to, and impacted by, both our Nature and Nurture, we as human beings, somehow – miraculously? – seem to retain a measure of power and influence over our own lives. And these decisions and choices then, in their own turn, impact what happens to us and what we do in our subsequent life.
d) Our Belief and Value System:
Human beings do not live their lives in a vacuum: ideological; moral; or otherwise. That means, everyone needs – and generally has – a set of beliefs, preferences and values to guide human choice, decision making and actions. As a result, a great deal of what human beings do – their decisions, choices, actions – are, in a sense, filtered through and guided by their Belief and Value System.
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Model Three: Self before Others.
Now, tell me can you run a family like that? Or a business? Or a sports team? Or a sorority or fraternity? Or a society and country?
Then, how can we run a whole world based on this model of Self before Others?
This may very well be the lowest level of human living on God Almighty’s Earth. Almost on par with animals.
People who live this kind of life may not be motivated in much beyond themselves. Their motto would seem to be: Self-Preservation, Self-Enhancement and Self-Aggrandizement.
Whether it is for them as individuals; for their own families and friends; or for their Own Kind such as Race, Religion, Social Class, Political Party, Nation, Country or Something Else.
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Model Four: Others before Self.
Meaning: we always put other people’s interests ahead of our own. How many of us can live that way or sustain that way of life for long?
Does it mean we live our lives like doormats? Is that even right? Let us see how we can improve upon this. Let us go to the next model: Model Five.
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Model Five: Self on Par with Others.
Meaning: We want to protect and enhance our own interests, but, at the same time, we wish to treat others with the same consideration and importance with which we treat ourselves. Can this be done? It probably can. Just consider this: didn’t someone say: Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself?
Well, I don’t get credit for inventing this model. But it seems to me like a pretty workable model to guide human life: just treat everybody the same way you would treat yourself or you would wish to be treated.
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Model Six: Service before Self.
Meaning: For the more adventurous among us, maybe there is a better way to live our lives. And that is: Live for a Higher Purpose.
And that means, yes, you are fully capable of serving your own best interests, and up to a point you do. But you are more than that. So, you want to live your life a better way. And that better way is to care about others in a very deep and profound way. And do everything in your power to help and serve others, even though it may produce certain disadvantages for you.
In a sense, these individuals make choices and decisions to sacrifice their own interests to render help or service to those they think deserve and need their help. Thus, they live for a higher purpose.
If you ask me, it is often those who follow this model, who make a difference in this world. They change lives. And they change the world. And the world is always a better place because of them.
Some examples of individuals of this kind who put Service above Self include the following:
a) Gandhi.
A British-trained Indian barrister who, using methods of Moral Authority, Non-Violence and Service, forced the All-Powerful British Empire to give independence to India.
b) Martin Luther King.
An American Black Pastor who also used methods of Non-Violence and Moral Appeal to make American Conscience come to grips with America’s War in Vietnam and America’s Discriminatory Treatment of its Black Citizens at Home.
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Model Seven: Awuliyaa-Allah.
Meaning: These are the very special people who have devoted themselves entirely to Worshipping God Almighty, almost to the exclusion of all other pursuits in life, and to the Service of Humanity.
As a result, they enter into a very special relationship with Almighty Allah: They become Allah’s Friends. And at different levels, and in different ways, Allah makes the Forces of Nature subservient to their wishes and commands.
Awuliyaa Allah live life at the highest Human Level of Existence.
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Model Eight: Anbiyaa’.
Meaning: All those even more special people who are specially selected by God Almighty to be his emissaries to different segments of the human race in different places and at different times.
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Model Nine: Sayyidina Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.
Meaning: The man God Almighty appointed to be his Last and Final Messenger to all of Humanity, and to all the Jinn, and as a source of Blessing and Mercy – Rahmat – to All the Worlds.
Rahmatan Lil-Aalameen!
A poet once sumarized his exalted status in this world by saying:
Ba’d Az Khoda Buzurg Tu-ee, Qissa Mukhtasar!
“After God, you are the most honored and exalted one.
End of story!”
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