In the 1890s, a clerk at a Liverpool based shipping line whose steamers had a monopoly on carrying all cargo to and from the Congo came upon a discovery that would drastically change the course of his life. The bilingual Edmund Dene Morel was often sent to Belgium to supervise the arrival and departure of the ships from Antwerp, Belgium to Boma, Congo.

While in Antwerp, he observed that only guns, chains, ammunition and articles remote from trade purposes were loaded on the ships to Congo. No commercial goods were being exchanged for the great quantities of valuable rubber and ivory which the ships brought back to Belgium . Other signs of slave labor and mass killings surfaced which prompted the twenty eight year old Morel to inform his boss. His boss not only turned a deaf ear to his complaints but promoted and reassigned him to other tasks in order to prevent his outspokenness from upsetting the King of Belgium and jeopardizing the company’s relationship with its most profitable client.

Unlike the others who were aware of the brutality of the King of Belgium’s private army (Force Publique) in the Congo, Morel spoke out vehemently and eventually quit his job in 1901. Ignoring the temptation of sacrificing  the truth within him for the material comfort of his ever growing family, the financially strained Morel turned down a bribe from the king’s representative. He, who from a materialistic point of view had nothing to gain in his crusade against the king’s atrocities in the Congo, but only a promising career at the prominent shipping company to lose, devoted the next ten years of his life to bringing to light perhaps the first wide spread massacre of the 20^th century; one which would claim the lives of millions of Congolese.

The former shipping clerk turned writer would gather detailed information of the king’s operations in the Congo and successfully make known the suffering of millions in a distant continent at the hands of a man who once convinced the western world at the Berlin Conference of 1885 that his sole interest in acquiring the Congo was merely philanthropic.

There are times in the life of every man who aspires to live nobly when his belief in his noble principles are tested to the utmost, his response in these times of trial reveal whether his belief is truly alive and has thus become conviction!

You Can’t Run Away From Yourself

From the day his son, Sanu, was born Mr. Lawal sought through this child, his unfulfilled desire to play professional soccer. Hardly could little Sanu be found wearing a shirt that did not have a number on the back. A soccer ball was always in the midst of his toys and his father made sure Sanu sat with him when he entertained himself with the slew of professional matches shown on television every Saturday morning.

After his 10th birthday, the first rays of the morning sun never again met Sanu in bed, for Mr. Lawal took his son with him on his early morning jog and continued the youngster’s training in the evening with ball drills and lateral speed work. His strictness pushed his son to excel both in the classroom and on the field such that the soccer competitions at the high school level was no match for the 17 year old prodigy. His stellar performance on the pitch caught the eye of a professional scout who invited him to train in their development league after his high school graduation. Upon hearing this news, Mr. Lawal  picked up his son with a wide grin that betrayed his taciturn nature; his excitement could not be contained.

At 19, Sanu was called up to the first team and Mr. Lawal’s main goal in life was finally realized. From a young age, he tolerated no slackness from Sanu. He challenged and pushed him to heights Sanu did not know existed and now he proudly watches his son on television every Saturday. The passage of a few quiet months, however, abated his excitement and his pride slowly turned into sadness, for he felt unfulfilled despite the accomplishment of his life’s goal. He poured all his energy towards the highest physical development of his son but neglected his own development. He found it easier to demand excellence from his son than to demand it for himself, and with Sanu’s transition into adulthood his emptiness became ever more apparent. He had relied on his son for his self-worth for so long that he was lost without him. The unavoidable process of self-discovery must now begin if he wishes for inner peace.

…

Mankind has poured the greater part of his energy towards the development of his intellect which is tied to the physical body and is therefore transient. He has reached the moon with his intellect while his spirit, which is eternal, remains trapped within the limits of the earth.  We have found it easier to demand inventions from the intellect to address the effects of the ills of the earth than to search for its causes within ourselves and thereby chart a different course led by an awakened spirit.  As with Mr. Lawal, we have obligated ourselves to becoming BUSY with the illusion that we are exacting a positive change in our circumstance whilst truly, we are running away from the true work that is ourselves

Where There is Knowledge, Conceit is Absent

In various ancient civilizations libraries were built primarily for the purpose of preserving their traditions and heritage; the Library of Alexandria, however, was more ambitious. Going beyond the local and regional limits, it sought to be a universal library and embarked on a vast collection of the writings of all men worth serious attention regardless of geographic origin.

Narcisso lived near this great library and was enthralled by the enormous and diverse accounts from other parts of the world. The writings of Aristotle, Eratosthenes and Euripides were especially of interest to him and he marveled at the newness and wisdom of all that was offered.

After several months, his interest in the library waned as his attention was claimed by other pursuits related to his profession and family obligations. Every now and again, he would shake his head disapprovingly at the ignorant comments and actions of his acquaintances. He was proud of the little he retained from Aristotle’s writings on ethics and felt sorry for his fellow men who had no access to the great works in the library due to their inability to read.

To Narcisso, the knowledge of the world was next door and he felt he could always turn to it whenever he pleased. There was no spur to penetrate deeper into the works of the great thinkers of history, applying their theories in his daily life and thereby deriving conviction in their rightness or recognizing their shortcomings. He was simply satisfied and comforted by the library’s proximity. His self-importance grew amidst the pandemonium and immorality of his time for unlike the others he had access to the knowledge of the world. Unlike the others, he could regurgitate the words of wise men. Unlike the others, he had come to the recognition of the value of the library.

Unbeknownst to him, events lay ahead which will reveal his ignorance just where he considered himself advanced.

…

The man who knows where to find food but does not come to the point of eating starves just as equally as the man with no knowledge of the whereabouts of food.

A man says he believes in a just and loving Creator whose laws govern creation, yet he complains about the unfairness of his circumstance. Is this reconcilable?

A man criticizes the hateful actions of a dictator on the other side of the world from where he lives, yet he is easily prone to irritation and anger. They share the same base passions, does that not make them brothers before the Laws of Creation?

A man asserts, “A thief must be severely punished so as to deter others from doing likewise,” yet he enjoys receiving stolen goods in the form of television shows and magazines that make a business out of revealing private information about celebrities. Does he not play a role in the encouragement of thievery?

A judge sentences a man who is found guilty of rape, yet he takes pleasure at the sight of scantily clad women. While the condemned man is publicly forced to face his impurities, the judge secretly continues to harbor his lustful thoughts. Society respects the judge but denounces the convict. Who is really more advanced spiritually?

Every man knows death approaches closer with each day yet there is no increased urgency to understand the purpose of life; He attends the funeral of his neighbor but never imagines his day will also come. Why is this?

 “If a person were wise, his concern over his own sins would distract him from seeing the faults in others.”

~Imam Shafi’ee