IT IS BETTER TO DIE ON YOUR FEET THAN

TO LIVE ON YOUR KNEES

Sir Winston Churchill once said:

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last.

I give you three words; honour, dignity and self-respect. They have all played a vital role
towards the development of mankind. These are some of the guiding principal on which
nations have based their existence. These important words have helped mankind to
evolve their laws, customs, values, and traditions; in short a way of life. This guiding
light has not only governed the fate of nations but also given strength to individuals to
lead a life based on certain values. It is to guard these values and security of their well
being that war has been tough among many adversaries.

I ask you all present here today to observe yourself infront of your teachers and peers.
Each one of us is taught to hold our heads high and live honourably in grief and
happiness. How then can we live on our knees, yielding to the enemy and begging for
mercy with bowed heads than recognizing the importance of the three words mentioned,
honour, dignity and self-respect. They are the dividing line between the victorious and
the loser.

Norman Peale, author of the Power of Positive Thinking, in view of this stated:
Believe you are defeated, believe it long enough and it will become a fact.

There cannot be better example in Muslim history of living and dying “head high” where
so few fought the forces of evil against over whelming odds. I am referring to the martyr
of Hazrat Imam Hussain. He could have capitulated to Yazid and lived a happy life. But
he preferred to sacrifice his life and that of his family members rather than accept the
tyrant as caliph of Islam. This sacrifice is a shining example of bravery and preferring
death on your feet rather than live on your knees. You are all aware that Hussain lives on
in our minds even today where nobody willing by utters the name of Yazid. Mind you,
this battle was fought not for the glorification of an individual but the protection of
supreme human values as ordained by Islam.

In recent history, we can recount the bravery of the Russians in the Second World War.
The armies of Hitler had devastated more than half of Russia. There were thousands
dying but the Russian stood up against the superior forces of the Germans in the siege of
Lenningrad even when there was nothing left to eat for the starving people of the city.
They had no food and ate dogs or what ever they could lay their hands on. They fought
the Germans for every inch of ground and eventually defeated them. The casualty figure
runs into millions but they stood up to tyranny and sacrificed to ensure that the enemy
does not occupy their country and of course preferred death to slavery.

Think of the Turks, when after the first world war, the whole of Europe and Russia
attacked them. There were two choices in front of the Turks; slavery of the Europeans
and Russians or fight and live with honour or die honourably. They choose the later and
live today as an independent country and proud nation. The Turks refused to live on their
knees and won victories against the combined power of the European and Russian forces.
But let me say that the story of the battle for Izmin against the Greeks, the battle of
Gallipolis and so many others were no different than Leningrad.

The famous words of Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America
ring my ears on this occasion. He said:
No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his body, to risk his
well-being and to risk his life for a great cause.

The poetry of Allama Iqbal repeatedly emphasizes the word “Khudi”. The great poet and
philosopher was alluding to nothing else but to honour and self respect. The “Khudi”
demands that a “MOMIN” lives an honorable life and must not bow down before anyone
but Allah, the Just and Forgiving. He fights to protect his values and the way of life as
dictated by Islam. He shuns evil; no amount of earthly goods can buy his “KHUDI” and
he lives upright and respectably for his principles. It is in this context that he has said:

Allama Iqbal’s Sher

There is I think nothing to add after this verse of Allama Iqbal, which amply supports the
subject.

***********************************************

• ’65, ’71, look at the example of the Pakistani soldiers sacrificing their lives to
prevent the Indian invasion.
• Pakistani martyrs (Nishan-i-Haider)
• Father expresses happiness that son died with bullet upfront in chest than running
for enemy. (Mayb Sawar Muhammad Shaheed)
• 16 yr. Old at battle of Badr who had his arms cut off fighting for Islamic
gloryrather than see his religion crushed by the enemy forces, the Kuffar.
• Palestinian revolt, suicide bombings
• Sept. 11th attacks, Afghans did not bow head before enemy
• Examples in Prophet’s life
• Parents proud and live with honour, heads held high to see son embrace shihadat.
• Independence movement by Muslims in India in view of honour. They could not
see their rights suppressed and compromise on their beliefs. A new epoch was
dawning and the whole world was wondering at this unprecedented, cyclonic
revolution.

Quotation;
William Shakespeare in his play Julius Ceasar:
Cowards die many times before their death, the valiant never taste of death but once.