Coal miners fuel faith
Shaadaab S. Bakht
Shaadaab S. Bakht, who worked for famous Indian dailies The Telegraph, The Pioneer, The Sentinel and wrote political commentaries for Tehelka.com, is Gulf Today’s Executive Editor.
- 20 May 2021
Knowledge undoubtedly is power, my friend believes. And I fully agree with the age-old contention. In keeping with that standpoint, he invests a good deal of his money in books. He follows a range of books that establishes his vision of life and fuels his cerebral energy. And as far as I am concerned he lends me his books.
I will always remain thankful to him for sharing with me American philosopher Will Durant’s book ‘The Pleasures of Philosophy.’ It was a real delight reading the book that left many lessons for me. In fact, the classic work was transformational in its appeal.
His observation about religion left my vision of faith changed once and for all.
I was brimming with revolutionary thoughts and determined to change the world, a war most young people lose even before the first bullet is fired.
He wrote that religion is born among the poor and dies among the rich. Durant is so right. Contentment, which is the most exciting fallout of wealth, does tend to drive us away from religion. A challenging and difficult life does the opposite.
The photo from Zenica, Bosnia, reminded me of Durant’s observation that I discovered as a young impressionable collegiate, brimming with revolutionary thoughts and determined to change the world, a war most young people lose even before the first bullet is fired.
Back to Zenica. We can see that hard up coal miners are praying while breaking their fast 500 metres below the earth’s surface.
During Ramadan, some of the miners arrive for their shift and ride an elevator into the mine tunnels, carrying with them meals brought from home with which they break their daily fast. For the entire Holy Month, they go about their normal work routine, insisting they feel no exceptional hunger, thirst or exhaustion. “For someone who does not want to observe the fast, it is always easy to find an excuse. We work hard, it is hot here, but we want to observe the fast and Allah gives us strength to endure,” said Salih Doglod, a miner. Inside mine shafts, one can’t see sunset, but miners consult their watches and smartphones for the right time to sit down and break their fast together. After a quick meal, one of the miners issues a call to prayer and the men break into groups of two or three to offer their prayers.
It is the commitment of the miners’ type that has kept faith ticking and ticking with typhonic power. The picture from Zenica was bound to inspire tens of thousands to bow down before the Maker.
