nalized that Sir John Russel was most
likely influenced by Spenser (1552-
1599), the bigoted English poet who
supported “the scorched-earth devastation
of the Irish and their lands,
burning their villages and crops,
slaughtering and starving the inhabitants”
(Waller G. Edmund Spenser: A
Literary Life, p. 58).
John Mitchel, leader of the Young
Ireland Movement, wrote the following
in 1860 in which he summarizes
the cold indifference of his English
compatriots to the devastation of the
Irish people:
“I have called it an artificial
famine: that is to say, it was a
famine which desolated a rich
and fertile island, that produced
every year abundance and
superabundance to sustain all
her people and many more. The,
English, indeed, call the famine
a “dispensation of Providence;”
and ascribe it entirely to the
blight on potatoes. But potatoes
failed in like manner all over
Europe; yet there was no famine
save in Ireland. The British account
of the matter, then, is first,
a fraud - second, a blasphemy.
The Almighty, indeed, sent the
potato blight, but the English
created the famine” (Christine,
Kinealy. The History of the Irish
Famine, p. 482).
In 1997, the English did issue an apology.
Tony Blair delivered an apology
The Irish Famine and The Sultan
continued from page 13
in his speech in County Cork and
confessed, “That one million people
should have died in what was then
part of the richest and most powerful
nation in the world is something that
still causes pain as we reflect on it today.
Those who governed in London
at the time failed their people.”6
6 Marks, K. (2011, October 23). Blair issues
apology for Irish Potato Famine. https://
www.independent.co.uk/news/blair-issuesapology
for-irish-potato-famine-1253790.
html
Spiritual Discourse
continued from page 15
Allah has not created the system in
this way. Every person will be rewarded
and punished for his/her deeds,
and they must perform the deeds
themselves. Each of us should have
courage, determination, and firm
resolve to do good deeds, no matter
how hard it might appear to be.
THE ESSENCE OF TASAWWUF
Maulana Dr. Abdul Hayy used to
often quote a saying of Maulana
Ashraf Ali Thanawi that, in fact, is the
essence of Tasawwuf and Tariqat. He
says, “The little thing that is the gist of
Tasawwuf is that if one feels disinclined
to perform an act of obedience,
he must fight the urge resolutely
and perform the act of obedience.
And, if the nafs lags in keeping away
from sin, he must fight the feeling of
apathy and avoid the sin. This is how
a relationship with Allah is created
and he progresses through to the
higher levels of iman.”
The mujaddid (revivalist) (i.e. Hazrat
Thanawi) who has traversed the path
encapsulates the essence of Tasawwuf
and concludes that the essence
of Tasawwuf is to repulse apathy and
lethargy. Therefore, if one feels disinclined
to offer prayers, and his heart
tells him to stay away from the masjid
and persuades him to offer salat at
home or not to offer it at all, then the
only way to tackle this is by overcoming
the laziness and being firm. We
must use the strength Allah has given
us to combat apathy. If we fail to be
active, inactivity and apathy will ensue
and the more we submit ourselves
to this attitude, the more difficult it
will be for us to perform good deeds.
We may let go of one good deed
today, and the nafs will compel it to
omit another tomorrow. Similarly,
we may submit the nafs to commit a
sin today, soon it will persuade us to
commit more. However, if we show
determination and resist the apathy,
then this unwillingness to perform
good deeds or refraining from bad
deeds will become weaker and weaker
day by day.
www.madania.org 29
/www.madania.org