Features
Self-improvement and goodness is the reward
- /home/u249204778/domains/spectator.com.gh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 27
https://spectator.com.gh/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Self-improvement-is-about-making-progress-and-feeling-contented.jpg&description=Self-improvement and goodness is the reward', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
- Share
- Tweet /home/u249204778/domains/spectator.com.gh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 72
https://spectator.com.gh/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Self-improvement-is-about-making-progress-and-feeling-contented.jpg&description=Self-improvement and goodness is the reward', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
We live in a world where awards seem to be freely given and freely received. In fact, sometimes the award becomes such a strong incentive for good work and behaviour that it overshadows the more subtle rewards that might be enjoyed along the way.
Especially with today’s youth, awards are often larger-than-life motivations. Children work busily to complete their household chores with the hopes that it will earn them a special treat from their parents.
Meanwhile, the satisfaction of a clean home goes unnoticed. Teenagers bring home a stellar report card but can’t recall what they learned about at school that day. In their pursuit of good grades, they’ve somehow missed the thrill of gaining and applying knowledge.
Perhaps we unintentionally reinforce this attitude by expressing love or approval with expensive gifts, when little children are often quite pleased with the packaging; or even just the visit. We may deprive our young people of the most enduring rewards if we fail to teach them that goodness is its own reward. We feel good when we are doing good.
Indeed, the means can be just as fulfilling as the end if our motivations for achieving personal goals are not just the awards that dangle in front of us. We make more lasting progress and feel more contented when we learn to enjoy not only the reward but also the path that leads to it.
Some young people long to graduate or secure a high-paying job, only to find that their “dream” is not as gratifying as they thought it would be. “What comes next?” or “Is this all there is?” may be their unspoken feeling.
If, however, we pay attention to the more understated moments of success along the way, the times we completed a difficult task, the mornings we arose early to exercise or study, the people we’ve helped, we begin to understand that the true reward is what we’ve become, not what we’ve earned.
The Proverbs teach, “To him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward” (Proverbs 11:18). Intuitively children seem to know that. They just need to be reminded that while a prize is pleasing, a sense of doing right is the truest joy.
We all know the law of the harvest: the fact that we tend to reap what we sow. And even when we sow carefully, we don’t always reap what we expected to.
One day a middle age woman planted a small garden of fruit trees and vegetable plants in her home garden which she had done in the past at her previous habitation.
In the past, her harvest had been abundant and rich, enough to share with family, friends, and neighbours. But this year was different. All through the growing season, her plants struggled. Temperatures fluctuated, insects invaded, birds raided, and squirrels sneaked in. Everything seemed to combine against her little garden. Despite her hard work and every effort, the gardener did not reap much and sometimes felt like giving up.
But was her garden really a failure? No, the expected harvest didn’t happen. But looking back, the gardener now recognised an unexpected harvest that came from that year’s garden, and it didn’t just happen at the end of the growing season.
Her garden was a spiritual refuge for her, a place of peace, and a haven of healing. There in the rain and soil and sunshine, she felt a little closer to heaven, and even inspiration seemed to come to her mind and heart more freely.
Pruning and weeding brought insights about dealing with the difficulties and challenges in her life. While nurturing plants, she nurtured her soul. Maybe the value of this harvest could not be accurately measured in strawberries and squash, in corn and cucumbers, but in the satisfaction of the soul, in the peace and healing and happiness that came as she laboured in her garden.
Sometimes the harvest is not what we expect. Even when we’re trying to grow food, what we’re really growing is ourselves—our understanding, our perspective, our character. That’s true no matter our field of endeavour. The effort is more important than the outcome.
If success were guaranteed, if the outcome were somehow decided in advance, the lessons learned may not be as rewarding. But when we dig deep enough, when we open our heart to the effort, we can come to see the abundance and richness of an unexpected harvest.
By Samuel Enos Eghan
THE QUR’AN FORBIDS RELIGIOUS PROVOCATION
There is a remarkable verse in the Qur’an which every Muslim preacher should memorise.
Allah says:
“And do not insult those they invoke besides Allah, lest they insult Allah in hostility without knowledge.” (Qur’an 6:108).
Think about this carefully.
Allah knows that the unbelievers worship false gods.
Yet Allah tells Muslims: Do not insult their objects of worship.
Why?
Because your speech may provoke an even greater offence.
This establishes a profound principle:
A Muslim must not fight religious provocation with religious provocation.
If someone insults what we hold sacred, we do not respond by insulting what they hold sacred.
If someone attacks Islam, we defend Islam with knowledge.
If someone misrepresents Muhammad (pbuh), we explain who is Muhammad to him.
If someone lies about Islam, we answer with truth and knowledge.
We do not allow another person’s bad behaviour to dictate our own morality.
LOOK AT MUHAMMAD (PBUH) — HE WAS INSULTED BEFORE WE WERE
Servant of Allah,
Sometimes we speak as though the Prophet (pbuh) lived in a world where everyone respected him.
No.
He was mocked and insulted. Quran 37:36, Quran 15:6
He was called a liar, magician, and a mad man. Quran 51:52, Quran 17:47
He was ridiculed. Quran 6:10
His followers were tortured, and some were killed. Quran 85:8-10
He himself was persecuted, leading to his migration to Madina.
Yet he remained the Messenger of Allah.
Allah said:
“Indeed, we know that your heart is distressed by what they say.” (Qur’an 15:97)
Allah acknowledged the Prophet’s pain.
Islam does not say that insults do not hurt. They hurt.
But the question is: What do you do with the pain?
THE DAY OF TA’IF: WHEN THE PROPHET (PBUH) COULD HAVE CHOSEN
REVENGE
One of the most powerful examples is the journey of the Prophet (pbuh) to Ta’if.
He went seeking support for his message.
Instead, the people rejected him and incited their children and others against him.
He was chased.
He was insulted.
He was struck with stones until his feet bled.
He was physically and emotionally exhausted.
Then the Angel of the Mountains came to him.
The two angels offered to crush the people of Ta’if between the mountains.
The Prophet (pbuh) could have said: “Do it.”
But he did not.
Instead, he hoped that Allah would bring from their descendants people who would worship Him.
This account is recorded in the authentic hadith literature, including Sahih Muslim (Muslim, 1795).
What a lesson!
The Prophet (pbuh) had suffered injustice.
But he did not turn his pain into indiscriminate revenge.
He saw beyond the offender.
He saw the possibility of tomorrow.
And this is one of the greatest characteristics of prophetic leadership:
The Prophet (pbuh) did not merely ask, “What punishment does this person deserve?”
He also asked, in effect: “What can this person become?”
THE PROPHET IN MADINAH: LEADER OF A DIVERSE SOCIETY
When Muhammad (pbuh) migrated to Madinah, he did not enter an empty city.
Madinah contained different communities, including Muslims and Jews, and there were also Christians who interacted with the Muslim community.
The Prophet became the political and communal leader of Madinah.
The Sahifah (A Covenant) of Madinah, preserved in the early sīrah (Prophet’s biography) tradition, established arrangements concerning mutual obligations, security, justice and relations among the communities of the city.
This is important:
The Prophet did not build Madinah by teaching Muslims to hate everyone who was not Muslim.
He built a society governed by covenant, responsibility and justice.
Allah says:
“Allah does not forbid you from being kind and just to those who have neither fought you because of your religion nor driven you from your homes. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.” (Qur’an 60:8)
This is not weakness.
This is Islam.
THE PROPHET DEALT WITH JEWS IN MADINAH
‘A’ishah (Wife of the Prophet) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) bought food from a Jewish man on credit and gave him his iron armour as collateral.
“The Prophet purchased food from a Jew on credit and mortgaged his iron armour to him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 2068)
Think about it.
This was Muhammad.
The Messenger of Allah.
Yet he conducted lawful commercial dealings with a Jewish citizen.
He did not say: “He is not a Muslim, therefore I cannot deal with him.”
No.
Islam gave him a relationship governed by justice and trust.
Jabir رضيهللاعنه narrated:
“A funeral procession passed before us and the Prophet (pbuh) stood up, and we stood with him. We said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, it is the funeral of a Jew.’ He said: ‘When you see a funeral procession, stand.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1311)
Another narration records his response: “Is it not a soul?” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1312–1313)
What kind of heart did Muhammad (pbuh) possess?
A heart that recognised human dignity even in death.
THE PROPHET AND THE CHRISTIANS OF NAJRAN
The Prophet also received the Christian delegation of Najran.
They disagreed with him theologically.
Yet when they requested a trustworthy person, he did not choose someone because of hatred.
He selected Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah.
The Prophet said:
“I shall send with you a man who is truly trustworthy.”
He then appointed Abu ‘Ubaydah.
This is authentically reported in Sahih al-Bukhari 4380–4381.
Notice something profound:
The Prophet could disagree with people without becoming dishonest toward them.
That is the standard we need today.
The author is the chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governance Expert.
CECIL, alias Lee of Community 3, Tema, and formerly of Vibe FM, has said he would recommend the Sikaman Palava’ column to hypertensives, that is, those suffering from high blood pressure. According to him, the column is a medical therapy and a perfect prescription for the afflicted.
Well, Lee might be right, because mails I receive from all over the world, courtesy of the Internet have also alluded to a calming effect of the column. Emails pour in from as far as the Philipines, are oiling my knuckles. I feel flattered.
I get mails from the Middle East, Canada, United States and some African countries. I often get amazed that playing with words on paper elicits such profound interest in my readers. I thank my readers for the recognition and acknowledgement.
However, I am not alone in this game of humour peddling. Oldboy Professor Kwesi Yankah who has been a great inspiration is one personality whose word juggling has illuminated the pages of newspapers, right from the Abonsam Fireman days. His pen is still dripping of humour.
Where is Ivan Dornu Adjokatcher, the ex-darling of THE MIRROR? Full of wit, he ran a column that had quite a following. One day he met me and I told him he was crazy if not, then he was downright mad.
Ivan went and edited a private newspaper and had a brush with the owner. He left. He sent me a postcard from the United States. Very good pals we’ve always been. He needs to return to the fold.
Now, Ghana journalism would have been tasteless without writers of humour, those who see the interesting side of serious issues.
Nigerian humorists are great and some of their writers have really made all the difference in the newspaper industry, with their amazing paper industry sense of humour.
Many of them studied journalism in Ghana with our folks here and went on to carve niches for themselves. Nigerians have a good sense of humour and this is exemplified in their drama and writings.
Read Chukwemeka Ike and Elechi Amadi and you’ll be getting the drift. Even Wole Soyinka (Nobel prize winner for literature) whom I sometimes consider overly stiff and pedantic, exudes a unique kind of humour in his plays.
In Ghana, aside Amu Djokoto’s “The Strange Man’ which spots many faces of humour and Atukwel Okai whose poetry induces some mirth, the literati have generally gone dry of humour.
Any good piece of writing must either be poetry or prose must either be highly intellectual, controversial or humorous. Ghanaian writers should take up the challenge and publishers should offer the platform for the expression of various genres of penmanship.
Every publisher in Ghana is doing only school books. Is all that publishing is about? Only a few like Woeli and Holiano are doing something else.
In Ghana broadcasting, there are great touches of humour worth reading. Foremost is Kwame Sefa Kayi who gave Radio Gold a great and left to pitch camp with Peace FM.
He hosts a very explosive morning Kokrokoo programme that could blow through the roof tops if it is not tempered with humour. When you have guys like Kwaku Baako Junior, Kwesi Pratt (also Junior?), Baby Ansaba and boxing supremo NDC titan, Ama Benyiwa-Doe, on the show, only a sense of humour can avert mayhem.
They are all nice fellows but when it comes to politics, I fear for Kwame’s jaws. I wonder how he survives day after day.
Kwame’s spontaneous burst of humour once in a while does the programme a lot of good. No wonder his programme was last year adjudged Best CIMG Radio Programme.
Let’s not forget JOY FM’s Ato-Kwamena and of course Bola Ray also of Joy and “Music Music fame. They know what it takes to make others laugh. I hate to miss Ato during the newspaper review on Joy. I always have something to laugh about.
At least, you can laugh in Ghana even if you are not permitted to sneeze on Sundays and public holidays.
This article was first published on Saturday August 19, 2006
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
You can now read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
