The haves and the have-nots

It is said that Mr. So and So was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and that Mr. Such and Such was not. In this way, people generally fall into two groups – the haves and the have-nots. But history shows that this kind of categorization fails to explain the real situation. There are many people who were born in the have-not group but, by the time they died, they had become honourable members of the group of haves.
One great example of this is the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Dr. Kalam was born into a family so poor that they were unable to pay his school fees. Yet, in the latter part of his life, he rose to the highest position in the country, that is, he became the President of India. In his youth, he was an unknown person whereas, towards the end of his life, he became an internationally well-known figure.
This means that the ‘haves and have-nots’ equation is wrong. It is better to categorize people as ‘potential haves’ and ‘actual haves’. When Dr. Kalam was born, he was a member of the ‘potential haves’ category but, at a later stage, he became a member of the ‘actual haves’ category.
The fact is that all men and women are born with great potential but it lies dormant. In this sense everyone belongs to the ‘potential haves’ category. If one is able to activate one’s capacity, and is able to plan one’s life, one is bound to become a member of the ‘actual haves’ category. Almost all the super achievers were super failures in the early phase of their lives but, in the later phase, they emerged as super achievers. If you have been born into a so-called poor family, don’t say that you belong to a poor family. You should say rather that you belong to the ‘potential haves’ group.
Nature is not unjust to anyone. It is generous to all men and women. But nature gives you things in potential terms and not in actual terms. It is up to you to turn your potential into a reality. Don’t blame destiny but discover your own capacity: you can create your destiny on your own. The only condition is that you have to discover your potential and translate it into an actuality.
The word ‘have-not’ is only a negative name for those who are born with a differently-abled personality. Those who are born in poor conditions, have a greater incentive to improve their lot in life. This is in accordance with the law of nature. It is this incentive that is basically responsible for all kinds of progress. Therefore, the natural formula in this regard is: the greater the incentive, the greater the development, the poorer the incentive, the poorer the development.
Those who are categorized as have-nots are, in fact, people of who have to struggle, and it is by struggling that you can achieve all kinds of success. According to a survey, people who were born in poor African or Asian countries and then migrated to the U.S.A. are now earning more than the average American. This is the miracle of hard labour. In the past they were poor people and now they are rich people living in greatly improved conditions. What is the reason for this? It is nothing but having an incentive to do better. It is a fact that rich people are deprived of such an incentive. Incentive is the monopoly of poor people.
Seen in this perspective, the have-nots are more fortunate than the haves. In fact, the have-nots are the super haves. The have-nots have an incentive to do better, they have to struggle, they experience an intellectual awakening, and must necessarily lead an active life. They are people of vision, and this precious virtue is generally lacking in the haves.
The most important factor in our lives is the law of nature. It is the law of nature that determines the occurrence and the outcome of all events and it is a fact that the law of nature is on the side of the so-called have-nots. If you see people in terms of the future, you can say that today’s have-nots are tomorrow’s haves and today’s haves are tomorrow’s have-nots.

Authored by: Maulana Wahiduddin Khan