When Reality Demands Wisdom Over Emotion

On ASEAN Summit 2025, I watch, observe and this is my view.

I don’t like every political figure who steps on our soil. Some of them carry histories, decisions, and actions that I personally disagree with. But when I watched the diplomatic welcome given to certain leaders at the ASEAN Summit, a part of me was reminded of something simpler than geopolitics:

Not every handshake is approval, sometimes it is protection.

Malaysia is not a superpower. I do understand that Malaysia as a country, we do not have the luxury to act like one. Our leaders carry responsibilities that are bigger than the emotions of one day… and the consequences of a single gesture can spill over to millions of lives, beyond our borders and region.

It is easy to demand “firm action” from behind a screen.

It is easy to feel angry watching what looks like friendliness.

It is easy to say “do more,” when we are not the ones who will absorb the impact.

Diplomacy often looks like compromise from the outside, but Allah knows the intention behind every decision. There are moments in history when the smartest thing a nation can do is to remain cordial, not because it agrees, but because it must prevent bigger harm.

“Perhaps you dislike a thing and Allah makes therein much good.”

(Qur’an 4:19)

We only see the surface.

Allah sees the layers.

Sun Tzu once wrote: “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

Sometimes restraint is not weakness — it is strategy.

We may not get the justice or moral clarity we want today, but every nation will answer for what it does and what it allows. Our job, as ordinary people, is not to curse blindly, but to stay grounded, to act within our means, and to trust that what we cannot control is still under a greater authority.

“And Allah is the best of planners.” (Qur’an 3:54)

May Allah grant wisdom to those in power, sincerity to those who advise them, and patience to those who watch from afar.