Erosion of social values: Addressing the decline of social ethics
Ghazala Anbreen
In recent times a sad trend is emerging where most of the people feel happy in mistreating others especially those who are simple, quiet and shy and hence are introvert and innocuous by nature. Being a harmless fellow should be taken as something positive. As a matter of fact, such simple people should be celebrated and appreciated but such people are most often scoffed at and victimized rather than appreciated and promoted. This raises some questions why social values have acquired such propositions where people are turning to derive pleasure in teasing others, feel happy in their troubles and maltreat them.
The nature with which a human being is born as per Islamic concept supports the fact that human beings are intrinsically good. According to this school of thought every child is born innocent and pure. This can be supported by many instances from Quran and Hadith where main focus is on kindness and mercy. In Sura Al-Maidah (5:32) is stated “whoever saves a life, it is as if he has saved all of mankind.” In Surah Al-Baqarah (2:83) is said “and speak to people kindly”. In Surah Ar-Rahman (55:60) the focus on kindness is reinforced “Is there any reward for good other than good?” Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) also gave much importance in treating others with fairness. At one point he said: “Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to mankind.” (Sahih Bukhari, 6013; Sahih Muslim, 2319″. Showing mercy to the creatures of Allah is a way to please Him. The same thing is highlighted at many places by Holy Prophet (PBUH). At one place he says, “The best among you is that who bring the most benefit to others.” (Sunan al-Mu’jam al-Awsat, 6192). His sayings truly reflect how significant it is to live in perfect harmony through good dealings with all around us. Some other sayings by him echoing the similar point include: “He who is not merciful to our young and does not honour our elders is not one of us.” (Sunan Abu Dawood, 4943; Tirmidhi, 1919). “A believer is like a gentle plant that bends but does not break in the wind, while a hypocrite is like a hard tree that is uprooted by the storm.” (Bukhari, 7460; Muslim, 2811). The Prophet (PBUH) also said: “Make things easy for people, and do not make them difficult.” (Sahih Bukhari, 69; Sahih Muslim,1732).
Despite all these clear directions and emphasis on fair dealings and good treatment towards our fellow human beings why people turn to become sadists when they grow up in our society? Is the collective conscience of our society getting dead or the people are turning totally indifferent to think of good of others?
Why we see erosion of values? The societal behavior should be looked into for these reasons. It is a modern dilemma and must not be ignored as it leads to creating an environment where the best abilities of many individuals cannot shine and overall development suffers. Because of undue torture many people have to deal with multiple mental issues.
The person who is victimized cannot get rid of the negative experiences and the excruciating pains associated with those. For those who become victims, their struggle with the bad experiences is very difficult.
To address these issues encouraging positive behaviors in the society is important. Rebuilding the societal values will help a lot in bringing improvement in facilitating ways for the weak, quiet and shy people who are at the mercy of those who think themselves to be very smart and clever. One act of giving can change a life forever. Especially for those whose life have been of daily struggle. In this context a call for collective action is required. Awareness raising is a must and there is a need to go for discussions at different forums. This will also help in fostering and improving social cohesion, a society where the weak people are safe and protected and no more feel afraid. Advocacy and awareness campaigns for propagating kindness are a must for engendering harmony and peace in the society and treating others with respect and not making them feel let down.
Focusing on values like empathy, cooperation and emphasizing on mutual respect is very essential. Get rid of the behaviors paving way for a place where people do not find joy in causing distress to others. Genuine happiness is in standing against cruelty and promoting politeness and kindness.
How empathy, understanding, and proactive measures can lead to overall well-being can be learnt through Danish pedagogy methods. If in Denmark a teacher feels that some particular student is not performing well then, she makes sure that the underlying causes are addressed as to why he is facing difficulty in learning. For this purpose, she pauses the academic activities, work with the students, parents and other school staff and looks for the possible reasons that are hindering the student’s ability to learn. The methods she may employ may involve additional tutoring, a change in teaching methods or counselling.
The element of respect is a must. Respect is a value which mut be honoured by all. Every relation which if given due respect which it deserves flourishes and becomes a source of happiness for all concerned. Also, we must know that life is not meaningless. Small things do matter in life for us and can become source of immense happiness and gratefulness. The realization of this helps solidify every relation in the world.
We must always remember that life is very beautiful. Actually, unwittingly we ourselves fill our lives with much pain and sadness which could have been easily avoided through introspection as mostly we ourselves are responsible for creating problems in our lives. We must know that changing the perspective of life will change our life as most of the pains in life is not because of any other but they are caused by ourselves. Genuinely we have to reflect on our actions Life is neither meaningless nor meaningful. It is up to us what meaning we confer to it. Any one who takes care of us, honouring that person and deriving happiness from this aspect may add value to our living. It may become a source of pleasure for us no matter though the whole world may turn against us. Even if nothing is good in our life, for that one person living will make our life worth living.
It is equally important that we know that we should look for multiple possibilities in life but learning to stay contented with what we have is also significant. Accepting reality is very important. If we try to humiliate others then this act reflects more on us than others whom we try to underestimate. Therefore, we must often question our own behaviour. How many times we judge people without actually knowing about them? The fact remains that simplicity and kindness do not lessen our importance but instead these attributes elevate us.
A person’s true worth is not in their status but actually it is in how they choose to treat other people. Are we living to impress others or learn to become better people. It is actually not what you achieve or have but about the positive impact you leave on the people those who are around you. So let the actions speak for us.
For making ourselves feel bigger pulling others down and humiliating them in front of others will not serve any good to us ever in life but for that very person whom we try to belittle through our acts or gestures will keep the pain of these bitter things alive for longer times. We must not forget that such acts are always self-defeating.
Well one good lesson we can learn is that we do not have to become like them and support such individuals who are a part of all this cruel exercise. We have to play our due role in facilitating others and helping people in distress. That is the very essence for which a human being is born.
The true goodness lies not in perpetuating this cruelty mercilessly hurting or judging people on account of their appearances and inflate our egos but in championing the cause of humanity and sticking to the ethical principle that if you have to choose, always choose to be a good person.
Hope, compassion and resilience are keys to success. Have we ever tried to give a thought how many times we apologised for our arrogance and how many times we learn from apologies and take these as opportunities for change? The reality cannot be denied that often what we search most in the world is what we find least in ourselves. Sooner we realize this, better it will be for us.
