When Rulers Fail And Nations Decline
Engr! Shahid Siddique Khanzada
Today, when I see the kind of situations and events around me, I read this writing by Ibn Khaldun, written seven hundred years ago, as if it presents a scenario of the future. The history of Ibn Khaldun and especially the case of Ibn Khaldun are very important and necessary for those who are aware of history. "The conquered people always have a passion for imitating the conqueror, they associate the honorifics given, the manner of his arrival and departure, all his conditions, customs and traditions, his past with their own history, they even start following the tactics of the conqueror, and the reason for this is that people blindly believe in the great skill of the powerful person they are defeated by. The conquered society gives up moral values, the longer the period of oppression, the more mentally and physically the man of the conquered society becomes worse than animals, there comes a time when the conquered lives only for a bite of bread and sexual instinct. When the state fails and nations decline, among them are astrologers, beggars, hypocrites, pretenders, gossipers, reciters of date kernels, jurists who sell fatwas for dirhams and dinars, false narrators, arrogant singers with unpleasant voices, poets who make fun of others, hooligans, drummers. There are many pretenders, self-styled truth-tellers, horoscope makers, flatterers, satirists, opportunistic politicians and travelers who spread rumors. Every day, the masks of false appearances are revealed, but no one believes them, in which the attribute that is not completely true is considered an expert in this art, the skilled lose their stature, order and discipline become poor, the element of meaning disappears from speech, honesty is mixed with lies, and jihad is mixed with terrorism. When states are destroyed, then terror spreads everywhere and people start seeking refuge in groups, wonders appear and rumors spread, fruitless discussions are prolonged, friends turn into enemies and enemies into friends, the voice of falsehood rises and the voice of truth is suppressed, suspicious faces are more visible and friendly faces disappear from the surface, encouraging dreams become rare and hopes die, the alienation of the wise increases, People's personal identity disappears and the community, group or sect becomes their identity. The voice of intellectuals is lost in the noise of preachers. There is a commotion in the markets and bids for affiliation are made, the basics of nationalism, patriotism, faith and religion disappear and people of the same family accuse blood relatives of treason. Ultimately, the situation reaches such a point that people are left with only one plan of salvation and that is "migration". Everyone talks about escaping from these conditions, the number of immigrants starts increasing, the homeland turns into an inn, the total equipment of the people is reduced to travel bags, the pastures start to become deserted, the homeland turns into memories, and memories turn into stories. |