Hossam Badrawi Official Website
Continuing the confrontation between the generations, the dialogue extended between me and the youth of tomorrow’s dreamers and some of their families regarding the difference in viewpoints and accusations by the youth of the two older generations that they are the reason for their conflicting concepts and mixing their values.
The rebellious, educated young woman said: You had mentioned to us, Doctor, that you wanted to include some important human values in the programs of educational institutions, with the aim of building the healthy conscience of children and youth, and we want to discuss with you what these values are, and whether they have the same concept as us.
I said: This is an important topic, because I agree with you that our generation, and those before it and after it, may be a cause of confusion in the concepts of some values you have, especially by repeatedly mentioning them and at the same time working on the opposite.
I was with a group of researchers and we identified 35 important human values that must be established in society and to ensure agreement on their standards and methods of scientific measurement.
She said: There are two types of values, values that you claim and values that you live, so what kind do you mean?
I said: I understand what you mean, despite its harshness, but I accept it. And you have to understand that the first stage of truth is the recognition and identification of reality, and this is the reason for my interest in values and their definition with you and the clarification of the type of gap that may have occurred between generations in this matter. When I use the word “values” I mean the values that we live by, that is, those we do not violate in our actions, in our relationships and dealing with others, in our relationship with nature, and in our practical and long-term situations that we are willing to pay the price for. These are the principles that govern what we do, not What we say or think, unless it is consistent with what we do. Our actions are the true determinant of the values we hold and live by.
There is no meaning for dialogue about values in isolation from practice and the societal context in its various dimensions. It is also meaningless to discuss about values in politics, education, religion, economics, science, society, or the arts… as if there are different sets of values in different fields, values are indivisible and should not be divided.
One of the mothers who attended the dialogue said: How do you say that values are not divided, there are religious values, for example, that we have to establish and impose on our children.
I said: My lady, values are not slogans that are raised, but convictions that are translated through our actions, our behavior and our dealings with others. They are principles embedded in our actions and relationships. And it came in Islam that “religion is the transaction,” and it came on the tongue of Christ, peace be upon him: If someone says: “I love God” and hates his brother, then he is a liar. In other words, the two expressions confirm that the religious criterion is due to our relationship with ourselves and with others, how we treat them and the extent of our sincerity with them and our love for them, meaning that the difference between reality and claim with respect to values lies in actions and not in words. With regard to the Prophet Muhammad and the Messiah, peace be upon them, their focus was on the good human being, and on noble morals, and not all religions differ in the quality of virtuous human values. Cross-religious values.
The first young woman said: What are these main values that you speak of?
I said: We chose 35 values, which are honesty, accuracy, beauty, tolerance, love, cleanliness, freedom, patience, courage, mercy, faith, knowledge, benevolence, thanksgiving, apology, forgiveness, giving, respect, compassion, gratitude, happiness, friendship. Responsibility – citizenship – humility – justice – perfection – righteousness to parents – pride – listening – sacrifice – obedience and respect – solidarity – integrity – participation.
Another young man said: I will choose four values from what you say, Doctor. I see that we will differ in their definition, and we will discuss them with you.
I said: Please.
His colleague said: We chose the values of patience, courage, sacrifice, respect and obedience.
A third commented – which indicates that they cleverly when they knew the topic of dialogue, they did their duty to discuss together before meeting with me, which made me happy – he commented saying: For example, I have a desire to change the value of patience that we call for. There is passive patience that I do not like, which is contentment with illness, pain and failure, and sometimes we call it God’s decree. What we consider God’s decree may not be final, and man can change and modify it. This is negative patience. As for positive patience, it is the relentless pursuit to change the non-sick or painful reality, searching for a cure and taking medicine, if any.
And change what is in the soul to change what is around it. Doctor, the value of the Ayyubid patience is contentment with what we think God has divided for us, and waiting for his release.
We are not satisfied with that and we do not want to pass it on to the children.
Patience is not the key to relief. Rather, thinking about salvation and striving to change reality if it is not appropriate is the key to relief.
We want to change the sign in the employees’ offices that says patience is the key to relief to striving and work is the key to relief..Knowledge is the key to relief.
I said: You did well in your expression, and I agree with you on the introduction to modifying the concept.
His colleague said: I basically find the value of sacrifice strange, because there is nothing that can be described as sacrifice.
I smiled in astonishment and said, “Then you do not recognize the mother’s sacrifice of her children, or the sacrifice in love that poets and writers wrote about, for example?!!!
She said: You taught us to search for the definition of each word and its meaning before engaging in any dialogue, and the definition of sacrifice is to sacrifice oneself, time, or money for a higher purpose, and for a more hopeful goal, free of charge. Which has no equivalent, and the truth is that all human actions have a reward, so the happiness of the mother with the success of her children or the success in protecting them is in return. Nature says that what parents do for their children makes them happier, and their happiness is their reward. And spending money and soul while waiting for reward and reward with God is a very great return. There is no sacrifice in loving relationships, because the happiness of lovers by giving to each other is their reward, and the word sacrifice usually appears when love stops and each one looks at the past and sees what he was doing as a sacrifice. In the hour of action it was not a sacrifice because the happiness of the loving giving was the return.
He looked at their colleague and said: As for the assimilation of the value of respect with obedience, it is totally unacceptable. Basically obedience to slaves and not
for the free. I understand adherence to rules, I understand dialogue with respect, I understand commitment to contract or agreement… As for obedience, it means giving up reason and enslaving people.
The first young woman said: Definitions of courage in lexicons, psychology books, and religious and moral references say, that courage in language denotes boldness and taking risks and adversities. And in courage is equanimity and steadfastness, in addition to the underestimation of death and indifference or fear of it, and there have been Arab definitions that courage is in which a brave person sacrifices himself in defense of religion, the harem, the oppressed neighbor or the oppressed, and the oppressed in money or honor or in The various paths of truth, whether the injustice is a little or a lot.
I said well done again, and we return to the topic of sacrifice. Courage is the confrontation with knowledge and the ability to execute, otherwise it becomes recklessness.. It is facing injustice knowingly with justice and the ability to establish it. And the face of falsehood knowingly right and the ability to return. And confronting poverty knowingly with conviction and taking honorable steps to get out of it, and knowingly facing weakness with strength and the ability to impose it with justice. And the face of humiliation knowingly pride and the ability to exercise it.
Courage is a virtue, and like all virtues, it is in the middle between two vices
Excessive courage is recklessness, lack of courage is cowardice.
As for the fact that the definition of courage is death in wars and receiving stabs only, it is an incomplete definition, and the courage to express an opinion and the courage to seek freedom comes to mind.
One young man said: Education is courage, Doctor; It has the courage to face ignorance and the courage to change reality.
I said: So, guys.
