Tackle Conspiracy The Sunday Guardian | December 12, 2010 | Page 15

People commonly think in terms of conspiracy. The result is that people are living with a besieged mentality. The Quran wants to put an end to this negative mentality.

In chapter Al-‘Imran (The Family of Imran)’ the Quran gives us an important piece of guidance on this subject: whenever something good happens to you, it grieves them: but when evil befalls you, they rejoice. If you persevere and fear God, their conspiracies will never harm you in the least: God encompasses all that they do. (3:120)

This Quranic verse reveals a Law of Nature. It is a universal law and it is applicable everywhere and at all times. Everyone can follow this advice and solve the problem of conspiracy.

According to this Quranic verse, the existence of a conspiracy is not the problem: it is a lack of patience and sincerity which is the real problem. Patience means not to react immediately to a situation but to give a well-considered response to the problem.

Our world is world of competition. Moreover, everyone is free to do what one wants to do. In such a situation it is not possible to have a world that is completely free of conspiracies. You cannot eliminate the phenomenon of conspiracy or bad designs, but it is certainly possible to save yourself from being a victim of its harm. And the formula is very simple: by keeping patience and being sincere, you can make conspiracy ineffective for you.

The best defence of conspiracy or bad design is to take it as a challenge rather than as a manifestation of enmity. Exert your energy on only one front to meet the challenge. This is the best way to cope with the problem of conspiracy.