The prophet (SAW) gave the example of those people who abide by the rules of Allah (SWT) and those who do not. A group of people that had drawn their names from a lottery, and it was the draw that was decided who goes on the upper deck of a ship and who goes on the lower deck. By virtue of this draw, some ended up on the upper deck and some on the lower. The supply of water is on the upper deck, so whoever wants water must go to the upper deck, fill up the water and bring it downstairs. At some point, they started feeling awkward that they had to disturb the people of the upper deck, so they thought of an idea to not inconvenience the people of the upper deck. The people thought, “We are floating on water, why not make a hole in our deck so we do not have to keep going upstairs?” Everyone knows what’s going to happen when they drill that hole. The prophet (SAW) tells us, “If the people on the upper deck stop them, everyone on the ship is saved. If the people on the upper deck do not stop them, everyone on the ship drowns. Whose responsibility is it to make sure that no one drowns? It is everyone’s responsibility, but some people will be more in tune with the responsibility, and some won’t.” The people on the lower deck are not bad people; their goal is to just have water; but they want to have water without considering the damage that their approach is going to have on the lifestyle of all passengers. They are not able to think that far, and they are not able to see the outcome. In every circle and group, there will be people like this, who do not intend harm and do not mean evil, but they are not able to see the outcomes and consequences of their actions. Whenever this happens, it is the responsibility of the level headed people to say, “We understand what you are thinking, but we do not mind if you come upstairs. We would rather be disturbed than all drown.” This will only happen when the people on the upper deck keep an eye on the rest.
If they are so lost in enjoying the upper deck that they never interact with the people downstairs and never see their condition, that is that carelessness destroying them. If they go and connect with them and help them, everyone’s problems are solved. All the people in the group are the same, and the hadith tells us that it was by virtue of the draw that some people end up on the lower deck. This means that it was not something of entitlement. Sometimes, someone is abiding by the laws, and sometimes, people are obedient, but this does not mean that we can take all the credit ourselves. Sometimes, we are obedient just because our parents raised us that way. Sometimes, we are obedient because our parents kept us away from the bad, or because we have good friends. We cannot take credit for everything. Similarly, people from the upper deck today cannot take credit. The people that are doing good should not take it for granted and forget about everyone else, and the people who are going in the wrong direction cannot be blamed. We need to be thinking of outcomes; what impact our decision is going to have on the whole group? And a person who can start thinking like this becomes a very responsible person in every setting; a very responsible person of their country, school, or member of society. They will always be thinking of the impacts of their actions. May Allah (SWT) give us the ability to act responsibly and be on the lookout for the actions that hurt everyone. May Allah (SWT) also give us the ability to stop the bad behavior from happening before it costs everyone. May Allah (SWT) give us tawfiq.
