There are two kinds of losers.
1. One is a loser who lost despite his best effort but doesn’t accept defeat. He analyses what happened, accepts what he needs to change in order to win. Then he disciplines himself and works ceaselessly until he wins.
2. The other doesn’t even understand why he lost, doesn’t bother to reflect on it, accepts defeat and tries to adjust himself to his new situation as a slave.
The biography of Genghis Khan is a good place to study Loser # 1. His story is a litany of woes and losses and defeats one piled on another right through his childhood, teens and twenties. But what shines through is the almost irrational belief in his ability to win, when there was nothing happening in his life to indicate that there was even a modicum of proof to show that his belief was true. I am sure there were people in his life who thought he had gone mad. Yet his life shows that he didn’t waver in his belief and continued to make attempt after attempt, shrinking at nothing which he thought would enable him to win. As they say, history is then witness to a man who created the largest empire that the world has ever seen in his own lifetime of just over 60 years.
The biography of Muhammadﷺ the Prophet of Islam, 7 centuries before Genghis Khan is another example of a man who didn’t accept defeat when there was no sign to show that he would ever win. His life, after he declared prophethood, is usually divided into two parts – the Makkan period of 13 years and the Madinan period of 10 years. The first part, the Makkan period is a story of defeat after defeat without a ray of hope, piled one on top of another. It was almost as if anything he touched, failed. He lost his reputation, his position in society, his wealth and influence, even the love and friendship of his people which was legendary before he declared prophethood at the age of 40. It was as if 40 years of gain in his life were wiped out with one fell stroke when he declared prophethood and proclaimed Islam. Yet he never faltered, never gave up hope, never accepted defeat and never stopped doing what he believed to be right; working for his mission when there was nothing to show that he would ever succeed.
I am sure there were people in his life who questioned his rationality. But once again, history is witness that in his own lifetime he once again became the most beloved man in Arabia, the uncrowned king of his people. A king, temporal, emotional and spiritual whose kingdom continues fourteen centuries after his death.
I have quoted two examples which are almost opposites of each other in terms of focus – one completely worldly, merciless, ruthless, materialistic and which though it spread like a forest fire, like a fire, it died out in less than 200 years such that there is not a single sign of its passing – disappearing as if it never existed. The other not only continues undiminished but grows continuously despite all forms of opposition. There are lessons in this about the longevity of empires of greed compared to empires of love and compassion but that is not my aim in this article except to simply place a marker so that we can also reflect on that aspect.
The lessons that I want to draw from these two very different examples are that the laws of winning and losing are like the laws of physics, universal, which give the same result every time. And these are three – the unwillingness to accept defeat, willingness to learn from their own lives and the discipline to do whatever it takes to win.
Let me give you a more modern example as well – the example not of one man but of an entire nation which refused to accept defeat or slavery. Japan – a classic example of a nation that refused to accept its crushing defeat as anything but a temporary setback. An entire generation dedicated itself to building the nation. Unlike other similar situations, crime and hopelessness didn’t dominate the scene and instead examples of selfless service were the order of the day. History is once again witness to the fact that in the lifetime of that one generation – in less than 50 years Japan emerged as not only one of the most powerful economies in the world but as a leader in scientific development, innovation, creativity and productivity.
Once again, the same three lessons are visible:
1. unwillingness to accept defeat,
2. willingness to learn from their own lives
3. and the discipline to do whatever it takes to win.
The Japanese demonstrated the three critical requirements for winning:
1. Willingness to analyze what happened,
2. Learn from it and make tough choices and ..
3. Support them with moral and material investment to make a difference.
Today if we look at the plight of the Muslim Ummah (nation), generally speaking, we find the absence of all these three factors which can change defeat to victory. We have accepted defeat, we refuse to face the facts about our own mistakes and we have no discipline to change our lifestyles or to make hard choices.
The history of slavery in America is a good place to study what happens to people who accept defeat. Once again generally speaking, the average black person in the South had accepted defeat to such an extent that black people brought up, served and protected their masters, sometimes with their own lives. Masters who treated them worse than they treated their pet cats or dogs. Yet not a single hand was raised to protect the dignity of the human being. True, that the masters used heinous ways to punish the rebellious because the purpose of such punishment is to serve as a deterrent to future aspirants and not merely as a recompense for the sin. So, it always exceeds the gravity of the crime. Yet instead of fueling righteous anger, the punishment fulfilled its intention by striking terror in defeated hearts, further confirming the belief that they couldn’t win. It took action outside the purview of their lives to eventually free them from slavery – Abraham Lincoln and his comrades from the North – and we are left to imagine how much longer slavery would have lasted had this war not happened. Naturally there are exceptions to every rule that go on to prove the rule – that people who accept defeat are condemned to slavery.
That is our situation today. We have accepted defeat. We have accepted slavery. So, we do two things – we speak of days of bygone glory forgetting that the key word is bygone; and we wait for an Avatar to come to save us, forgetting that Avatars exist only in mythology and Facebook. Meanwhile we engage ourselves in the equivalent of slave pastimes of drinking and singing sad songs – intoxication in an attempt to forget the horrors of our existence.
We spend money in ostentatious pomp and splendor, in fat weddings, in self-indulgence and materialism but not in anything which has a chance to take us out of our slavery. How else do you explain personalized aircrafts, 13 million-dollar Christmas trees, solid silver cars, multi-million dollar colored rocks and a collective reading average of ½ a page annually. How do we explain a society which has palaces known for their shameless ostentation and luxury and universities known for the bankruptcy of their ideas, teaching and learning?
We fight anyone who talks about freedom and do our best to discredit him and ensure that he doesn’t win. We don’t support him, call him insane and refuse to help him even to the extent of what we spend on our mindless entertainment.
We must choose; we who refuse to accept defeat and we who seek to change the path of the destiny of an unwilling people. We must accept that we will not be supported easily so we must stop relying on support from those who have chosen to accept slavery and defeat. We must understand that behind the resistance is fear. They have learned to be afraid. You and what you represent scares them ****less. They don’t want you to rock their boat even when they are mere rats in the hold. They have forgotten what it felt like to stand on the bridge with the wind in your hair and the spray of the ocean in your face, guiding the destiny of the ship. Until you can help them conquer that fear nothing will happen. Remember that to the uncommitted, commitment always looks like insanity. But only the totally committed can take risk. Commitment removes the fear. When they call you mad, understand that this is a sign that you are on the right path. Walk on and you will find that slowly they will awake, remember and start following you. Walk on.
You will need supporters because nobody can win alone. Don’t hire rabbits to climb trees. Don’t try to convince the frightened. Find those who resonate to your goal. You need people you can rely on. One you can rely on is better than a thousand who need pushing. Great goals need engines of power not bogies that need pushing. Finally remember that if you want to soar in the heavens you need condors for companions, not chickens trying to fly. Both are birds but worlds apart.
And remember that as I mentioned earlier, the laws of winning and losing are like the laws of physics; universal, which give the same result every time. Results depend on choices, not on who made the choice. So, choose well.