This behavior, in the language of the Qur’an, is part of “hypocrisy” (al-Baqarah: 11-12).
I write this remembering a story that occurred between a marathon runner from Kenya and Spain in a marathon a few years ago. In that marathon, the Kenyan runner, Abel Mutai, was in the lead and almost certain to win. However, a short distance from the finish line, Abel became confused and thought he had already crossed the finish line. He stopped.
Meanwhile, the Spanish runner, Ivan Fernandez, was quickly catching up. Seeing his opponent stop, he yelled, stopped, and approached him. He took his hand and they ran together. Approaching the finish line, Ivan intentionally slowed down to give Abel the chance to cross the finish line first. Abel won the marathon, while Ivan had to be content with second place.
When Ivan was interviewed, a journalist asked, “Why did you do that?” He replied: “My dream is to see a world where we push each other to succeed and win together.”
The journalist asked again, “But why did you let the Kenyan win the race?” He answered: “I didn’t let him win. He deserved to win. This race was truly his to win.”
The journalist persisted, almost forcing Ivan to give a different answer: “But you should have won.” Ivan looked at him and responded, “But then what would the value of my victory be? What honor would I gain from a win that shouldn’t have been? And how would my mother have reacted?”
This is how values (truth and honesty) are transferred from generation to generation. What values are we teaching our children and our generation with various dishonesties displayed shamelessly and brazenly to the wider society?
Greed for the world, including for power, makes people lose their identity and conscience, blind to the values of truth and honesty. The drive of greed leads them to lose the sense of shame and sensitivity in demonstrating various lies, deceit, and dishonesty, even with various manipulated justifications.
Truly, the behavior of lying and dishonesty is not only embarrassing and disgusting. It becomes a poison that kills the conscience and the sense of humanity of a nation’s generation. By displaying various deviations, cheating, and lies, which are then packaged with various engineered justifications, the nation and future generations inherit prolonged bad behavior.
Ultimately, if this continues, the nation will become characterized, identified, and defined by lies, manipulation, and deceitful behavior. A nation that will sink into the abyss of its destruction. A nation often engaged in destructive scheming, leading to self-destruction. Yet continuously feeling right and claiming to do good.
This behavior, in the language of the Qur’an, is part of “hypocrisy” (al-Baqarah: 11-12).
May Allah protect us!
Shamsi Ali Al-Kajangi