Ramzan Mubarak to the Citizens of Pakistan!

 

“To fast is better for you, if only you knew” (Chapter 2 | The Quran) 

 

Fasting teaches us discipline and order. As a nation, we must devote ourselves to building discipline and order in our society. 

 

The cultivation of virtues, at a national scale, is a transformational endeavor. Our history informs us that our people manifested unity, faith, and discipline to achieve our liberty and independence. 

 

In the absence of vast reserves of economic capital, of properly functioning institutions and of an educated population, we can lift ourselves up through the force of our national character and shape our destiny through honest and well-directed efforts.  

 

“Funds are no doubt necessary for development but at the same time, national growth and regeneration do not depend on funds alone. It is human toil that makes for the prosperity of a people and I have no doubt that we have in Pakistan a nation of industrious and determined people whose past traditions have already distinguished them in the field of human achievement.” - Mr. Jinnah 

 

This Ramadan we endeavor towards the regeneration of discipline in our culture, ethos and society. What we do upon some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are, and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.  

 

Productive change begins when we have the discipline to confront the brutal facts. We will retain absolute faith that Pakistan can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, exercise the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of our current reality, whatever they may be.

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As we fast from dawn till dusk, we pledge to create order in our society from the traffic in our cities, to how we form lines at airports and to how we conduct ourselves as a whole. There’s a tendency for things to be chaotic and we must change that to be more orderly so that we can create a more conducive environment for human excellence to flourish. 

 

Ramadan is a special month because this is the month when the Quran was revealed and when Pakistan was also, coincidentally, founded. As we fast to enhance self-control, feel greater human empathy, cultivate patience and build discipline -- we also reflect on the following words by Mr. Jinnah “Character, courage, industry and perseverance are the four pillars on which the whole edifice of human life can be built and failure is a word unknown to me.”