It is necessary for a good trader to listen to the criticism...

It is necessary for a good trader to listen to the criticism made by the customer about his merchandise or about the way he conducts business with a cool mind and full attention and thereafter remove objectionable things. Similarly it is necessary for a diplomat to consider people’s objections properly. Without proper understanding he should not brand the people’s movements as self-motivated struggles. He should not try to suppress people by alleging that they are anarchists or lawless.

Politicians should always remember that only by loving the truth and appreciating it can a nation be made stable, and their politics secure. Truthfulness is the first condition. The student who loves progress tolerates the teacher’s scolding happily. When he gets fewer marks he never alleges that the teacher was partial. Rather he pays attention and examines his own self and his method of study. Possibly the truth was that he himself had made mistakes and faults.

Such understanding of truth will serve him as a ladder to future success. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) used to assess the enemies and their power before waging a war against the polytheists and idol-worshippers. He used to gather relevant information before starting a campaign. The facts were sometimes unpleasant too but he never considered the strength of the enemy insignificant and worth ignoring.

He never deceived himself or the Muslims through wishful thinking, saying, for instance, that we will finish the enemy with a single assault or will push them into the sea instantly. In the battle of Badr, Muslim spies captured a soldier of the polytheist Quresh on the well of Badr and brought him to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.). They had not, till then, known the number of the enemy forces.

The Holy Prophet (s) asked him, “How many camels are being slaughtered by the Quresh daily?” The captured man replied, “Some times nine sometimes ten.” The Holy Prophet said, “The enemy’s strength is between nine hundred and one thousand men.” The 6-day war between the Arabs and the Israel in June 1967 ended in the defeat of the Arabs. It is painful to state that very few have confessed this bitter truth only because it is bitter.

The fact is that the cause of the defeat was that the heads of the Arab states and their internal and external supporters, instead of making a correct and truthful assessment continued to sing and broadcast war songs.