Egoism A Disguised Ignorance By -Wasequzzaman Mubashshir

No human being can deny the universal truth that he can’t survive alone in this world. If it had been possible to him to remain alone then the concept of society might not have contained any sense. As every individual is incapable of living alone in the world he feels the necessity of forming a family and ultimately the construction of a community. Then why do many people dare to demonstrate egoistic attitude? Where he is totally unable to survive alone in the world, in other words where he is absolutely helpless without the assistance of other why does he exhibit such an evil character like egoism?
Every child is entitled to receive compassionate attitude from its parents and at the same time the parents also deserve love and proper care from their children when they grow old. This interdependency creates a great meaning which ultimately proves that egoistic attitude must never be given place in human character. When there is egoism there is no place of love and affection which ultimately becomes one of the major reasons behind all sorts of social disorders.
When egoism prevails over moral values in a human being it is confirmed that he will be derailed then and will lose his capacity to distinguish between the right and wrong. It is an undeniable truth that when egoism affects the individual it will firstly affect the society and ultimately cause severe deterioration to the state. In many countries including Bangladesh it is sometime seen that when parents grow older they become some kind of most detestable in their children’s eyes and either they are thrown into the footpath or left alone in the old homes. Isn’t it a consequence of egoism?
When egoism prevails over humanity in character a vacuum is created in him because of which he can neither love nor he can be compassionate to anyone else let alone he becomes sympathetic to see any person’s miserable condition. In other words, egoism goes with the evil and it creates serious obstacle in upholding humane values in character and ultimately humanity becomes defeated. Taking the problem of egoism into account Jalaluddin Rumi once said, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and fight all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
Because of frequent war and conflict all around the world peace-loving people have become almost incapacitated by mental illness. Killing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, playing dirty games with the minor communities in Bangladesh like the recent events of vandalism of the properties of the Santals in Gaibandha and destroying with fire the houses of the Hindus in Brahmanbaria, terror attacks in the night clubs of Paris, Orlando and Istanbul in the name of religion and killing innocent people all such heinous events are some clear cut examples where egoism has prevailed over humane values.
Some so called inquisitive people only like to remain busy only with the problems but no ideas come from their head for the solution which is the dire need at this present situation. Most of the Muslim clerics often suggest praying to God for the solution and encourages asceticism and put less emphasis on action but often they fail to realize the basic Islamic doctrine that God firstly requires from His servants performance and then advises to pray for success.
Egoism is like a disease in the heart and when man is habituated with committing unethical activities endlessly this disease is increased and at one moment becomes incurable in nature and because of a single person with the disease of egoism the entire society may face serious imbalance ultimately creating burden for the people with loving-heart. Such critical disease infected person may include a bad politician or any person doing illegal accumulation of property or may include a fascist government.
“Body is purified by water. Ego by tears. Intellect is purified by knowledge. And soul is purified with love.”(Ali Ibn Abi Talib)- Continuous practice of spirituality is the best means to have complete relief from egoism. There may be alternative to everything but there is no alternative to it. Egoism is a critical disease of the soul and it can be cured by the best medicine for the soul, spirituality which also includes frequent practice of patience perseverance and tolerance. When there is a culture of practising patience and tolerant behaviour certainly there is peace, love, harmony and tranquility which are also the expectation of each and every human being.
It is not possible to any person to say with confidence what is going to be happened five minutes later. When human being doesn’t have this simple capacity to guarantee protection five minutes later how dare is he that he through egocentrism tries to dominate innocent souls? Such egoistic behaviour doesn’t really goes with human nature actually fixed by the law of nature which will only suggest for altruism and to pay devotion to such deeds which will ensure benefit of the society at large. Keeping sufficient consistency with such principle of the law of nature prominent Turkish scholar Fethullah Gulen said, “One of the most important ways to conquer the hearts of people is that one always seeks the opportunity to do others good and once such an opportunity appears, makes use of it without delay. If only we could set our hearts on always doing good to others.”
The reward of the Afterlife will be given based on how much positive, constructive and altruistic a man was in his mundane affairs. But when narcissism replaces all moral values certainly it causes a serious fracture in the entire model for building up a justice based society. Therefore, what is needed at this very moment is to have a proper understanding of the fact that egoism is actually nothing but a disguised form of ignorance. If that moral standard can be ensured for sure there will be equality and justice everywhere.

The writer is studying Law at Eastern University.