We live in the society where we are told that to be good. Good in the way, we must always admire something or someone. Since our childhood we hear things, be like your parents, how good they are, be like your friends, how kind and generous they are, be like your leaders, how well they run the country and be like this, that, and them. And most of us start following them, not even knowing that they do good deeds, but are they good at heart and are they really doing moral things?
The statement “if gold rusts, what will iron do” means what we can expect from the wrong ones when the precious falls in value. In general, when the perfect are down, what will the normal or average person do? We all know it’s the loss of iron through rust. Gold is anomaly free and immune to all bad conditions. Gold signifies love, purity, honesty, truthfulness, and faithfulness. What is gold when it comes to something or someone, does it mean someone who is pure and some brilliant examples or people like our leaders? Maulvi, Qazi and if we extend it to the modern age or the social age, they are our celebrities and influencers and so on. These are the people we think are always doing the right thing, but the real question here is, are they really doing the right thing?
What is Maulvi’s role or duty? Its only purpose is to teach Islam, it helps us to distinguish between right and wrong. But what is happening today when we go to the mosque tells us that our leaders are doing wrong, they are destroying the country. The mosque is not a place of politics. They throw their own parties; They want to go against the leaders, they are asking people to collect funds so they can stand for election. This is all nonsense. Islam teaches peace, but this is the opposite. Burning tires, blocking traffic, and hurting people if that’s gold, imagines what’s left of iron. What are our Maulvis doing these days? There are many cases of rape not only of girls but also of boys involving Maulvis. These maulvis are examples before us to follow, but are they similar enough to use as an example? They are always right in our opinion, but if they commit irregularities in their work and allow dishonesty, then what can we expect from an ordinary person who is not competent or less educated.
Example is set up the people are always on the top. The top ones are the leader. They are the guiding light for others or what I call “shining”. If the leader does the right thing, the nation will be in the right place. But what are our leaders doing these days? Corruption, money laundering, eating your own country, finger pointing, extortion and murder. Our leaders drown in all this shit, and they are supposed to be followed and worshiped. We consider them pure; we treat them like angels because they do good deeds. And when the angels start violence and cruelty, what else can one expect from the common person?
We live in the 21st century or we can call it the social age. People are very socialized these days. So, every next person follows someone like some actors, influencers, or some bloggers/vloggers. They are your social media gods, and you praise them. But what are these social media celebrities doing for some likes and followers? They fake their lifestyle and their friends. They hide the truth. They run publicity stunts by helping poor people get likes and followers to show how generous they are. There are always two sides in front of or behind the camera, and their side behind the camera is worse. They cause their own scandals and date for a while. for your promotions and other things. It’s all a joke to them, all they care about is fame. Do we really think these are the examples to follow? They must align their lives and moral values first to set a good example.

What is Law? The discipline and the career concerned with the customs, practices, and guidelines for behavior of community which binds the community. Is it binding the community? Our judges take bribes. When a common man commits crime, they hang himself but when some powerful man does the same the law cannot even touch them. Law is the safeguard of the nation, but it is being misused and is demolishing the nation. They say when the doom or destruction comes it sees no religion, color, or gender. It doesn’t see whether it’s poor or wealthy it destroys the whole lot in its way. But the tough truth is that the destruction comes on only poor and needy. They go through the most.
What will iron do if our leaders, our protectors, our judges, our parents, our guiders are rusted?

“As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion.”- Antisthenes

My believe is that we should not look on others for example and follow them. No one is priest these days or full devil. Everything is in our hands. We should believe that good things can overcome evil ones. We all need to play our part, we need to understand our own self-worth, play our own role for our betterment and for our society and our nation. Don’t try to be like others, just be yourself and always try to do the right and honest thing no matter how hard it is. Don’t try to find nobleness in others be noble first.
Be a real gold just like it’s meaning and don’t get rusty on the way.

Written by Zain Mushtaq