We always talk about different issues of society, which includes poverty, lack of education, quality of education, lack of availability of clean drinking water, lack of health facilities, corruption etc. Most of the times certain core social issues are ignored in the debate which makes the society. Among those issues tolerance is one which is totally absent from the society and it has been decreasing by each day, which is an alarming sign for the society. Tolerance is patience, open-mindedness, acceptance the thoughts of others even if we don’t agree with them. Just like Muslims, Jews and Christians also believe in Prophets and Messengers of Allah, who also gave the message of tolerance.
Most often, conflict arises due to inability of listening to others’ opinion rather one person tries to impose his/her thought/s on other person, which leads to a conflict. This lack of listening is due to the lack of tolerance and patience. Even in religious thoughts, both parties rather than trying to convey the message with wisdom, they started to impose their thoughts and try to convince which ultimately leads to a fight. It has also been seen that in order to win an argument people start giving extreme examples which has sometimes nothing to do with the broader topic, in general.
Social media websites like Facebook, twitter and others are also playing their role to make people intolerant. People do post and share their thoughts on social media and expect others to like their thoughts but when people say something opposite to their thoughts, a person does feel offended and this situation leads to another argument and ends up in a fight. In my point of view, this social media sites are good but are making us intolerant. Starting a debate about a knowledgeable topic and listening to the point of views of others is fine but one should never try to win the debate by turning it to an aggressive argument.
By listening to others opinion and by not taking things very personal, we can become tolerant. If someone advises, we need to listen to it rather gets offended. Most importantly, civil societies and our leaders show tolerance towards each other. Teachers in the class and parents at home play vital role in building tolerance in the society.
Ameer Hamza
Lahore
