Courage - What does it mean in our everyday lives?

Maya Angelou, the poet famously stated that, 

"Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you cant practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically but nothing consistently without courage."

While Winston Churchill said that,

"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities ... because it the quality that guarantees all others"

What is this Courage? This quality or virtue that is so highly rated from the ancients all the way down to modern philosophers. Is it a virtue that is embedded in everyone or is it something that an individual needs to develop based on his or her own own interest? And most importantly, how do we develop it?

These questions are such that there is no easy answer for them, which it makes it even more important for us to examine them closely.

1. What is Courage?

Nelson Mandela said, 

"I learned Courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear"

The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was once asked, "Which struggle is the most beloved to Allah?" 

The Prophet replied, "A word of truth in front of a tyrannical leader."

Ahmad

That in a nutshell is what Courage is all about. 

So Courage is not just a virtue that is restricted to its physical manifestation but its greater manifestation is its mental or emotional aspect. We all have gone through events in life that have challenged this very virtue of ours and we go through them on an every day basis. Most of the times, our Courage is tested by our own emotions. 

How easy is it to give into temptation and take that bribe someone is offering you? How easy is it to cheat on your spouse? How easy is it to spend your last dime gambling? How easy it to give into temptation and do drugs? How easy is it to fall into the clutches of porn? How often have we done something wrong, just because everyone was doing it or because it was convenient? These are some of the many innumerable questions that we all face everyday. In most cases than not, it is far more easier to lie down and let things go on as they have been rather than be strong enough to accept our shortcomings and try to change them.

The ability to stand up when everyone is urging you to sit down, the ability to speak up when everyone is urging you to be quiet, the ability to act when everyone is pushing you to surrender, the ability to accept your faults and correct them with or without anyone knowing about them and the ability to keep your emotions under check when everyone else is losing their head. That is Courage.

2. How do we get Courage?

No pharmacy sells Courage as a magic pill and neither does any library stock it on its shelves. It isn't taught in any universities and neither it can be handed down to us from our parents. I believe that with like every other virtue, Courage is a mix of two actions. We all possess Courage in whatever quantities that have been assigned to us by a higher being but how we manage it is something that has been left to us. If a person does not possess a shred of Courage, there is no way possible for him to develop it out of thin air. At the same time it is a virtue that needs constant nurturing for it to develop to its complete potential. Not everyone has the same "amount" of Courage and that is something beyond one's control but what is in our control is how do we make sure that this virtue doesn't grow weaker, if not stronger over time.

3. How do we develop Courage?

From all that we have seen earlier, we now come to the million dollar question. How do we develop it this elusive virtue on which seemingly rests the fate of mankind? The answer is actually easy and difficult at the same time. 

• Difficult because it is human nature to hate change. It loves absolutely loves status quo. It resists anything that will cause it to get up and make an effort, any effort. The first step would be to overcome this nature of ours, not to destroy it and turn into an emotionless machine of a person but to mould it so that we are its masters and not the other way round. Once we are our own master, we are open to what comes next.
• Easy because Courage is all around us. People that we meet or read or hear about all possess Courage and during their lives they demonstrate it in their actions, either explicitly or otherwise. Second step would be to use the people around us to inspire ourselves to change. See how their every day is a struggle against life itself and how do they manage to get through one day after the other. The mother who is battling an abusive husband and still managing to send her children to school. The father who is struggling with health issues but still managing to work so that his family does not suffer. These are some of the people we walk past every day at the bus stop or on the street.

History is littered with people who have displayed great Courage in the face of danger and adversity. None more so than a man named Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him). 

Abu Bakr is a famous figure in Islam but unfortunately not many know about him outside the Muslim world. Abu Bakr was one of the closest Companions of the Prophet and was his closest friend. Abu Bakr was known for his generosity and gentle nature. He was prone to crying especially when he recited the Quran. That was the character of Abu Bakr. And it is important to keep that in mind when we discuss the incident in question which is that of the Prophet's death. 

When the Prophet died, his Companions were so shocked, bewildered and confused that some sat down and were not able to stand, others lost their ability to speak, and yet others were in complete denial, refusing to believe that the Prophet had really died. Among the people of the last group was Umar ibn Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him).

Umar was a man of forceful nature. He was tall, strong and firm in his resolve. He had completely rejected that the Prophet had died. Umar said, "The Prophet has not died, but rather he has gone to his Lord, just as Moses (PBUH) went, remaining absent from his people for forty nights. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah will indeed return to us, just as Moses returned to his people." Umar also threatened to cut the cut the hands and legs of anyone who claimed that the Prophet had died.

When Abu Bakr heard about the news of the Prophet's death, he rode to the Prophet's house and after confirmed his death, began to cry. He came out of the Prophet's mosque to find Umar still speaking to the people whilst in a fit of rage. 

Abu Bakr, "O Umar. Sit down", after which he started speaking those famous lines that are testament to his Courage.

He said, "Whoever used to worship Mohammed, then indeed had died. And whoever worships Allah, then indeed Allah is alive and does not die."

He then recited a verse from the Quran:

"Mohammed is no more than a messenger: many Were the messenger that passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will ye then turn back on your heels? If any did turn back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah; but Allah (on the other hand) will swiftly reward those who (serve Him) with gratitude." Chapter 3: 144

Umar later said, "By Allah, no sooner did I hear Abu Bakr recite that verse, than I fell down to the ground, for my two legs could no longer carry me. And I came to know that the Messenger of Allah had indeed died."

Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said, "By Allah, it was as if the people didn't know that Allah revealed this verse until Abu Bakr recited it."

How did such a mild mannered and gentle natured man get this sort of resolve to manage a crisis? What did he possess more than anyone else at that time? The answer may be in what the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu said, 

"Being loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

Abu Bakr's firm resolve and Courage were because of this love, the love he had for Allah and His Messenger. The same love that had inspired to make innumerable sacrifices all through out his life.

If we could do the same with our lives, try to take one simple step towards Courage before us and follow it up with the next and the next, we would truly be a people that would make a difference in not just our lives but inspire change in others too.