In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Alif Lam Mim These are the verses of the Book of wisdom, a guide and a mercy for those who do good, for those who attend to their prayers and pay the zakat and who have firm faith in the Hereafter: these are rightly guided by their Lord: and these are the ones who will prosper. (THE QURAN 31: 1-5)

In this world, the criterion of the proper performance of a task (ihsan) is that it should be in accordance with the facts. From this point of view, one who carries out a task in this way is one who admits the reality (muhsin); his actions become a manifestation of his spirit of submission.

Those who have it in their nature to mould themselves according to the factual position, are those who, when the Truth presents itself to them, accept it without suffering from any psychological complications. They immediately start fulfilling its practical requirements—they become regular offerers of prayers (salat), which is symbolic of fulfilling God’s will. They give prescribed alms (zakat), which amounts to honouring the rights of God’s subjects in the economic sphere. They shun the worship of worldly achievements and begin to think fondly of the Hereafter, because they know that the place where the question of success or failure shall finally be decided is nowhere other than the Hereafter.

But among men there are some who spend their time in idle diversions only to lead people astray from the path of God, and without knowledge, hold it up to ridicule: for such there is a humiliating punishment in store. Whenever Our messages are conveyed to such a person, he turns away in his arrogance, as though he had not heard them—as though his ears were sealed: give him, then, the tidings of grievous suffering [in the life to come]. Surely, those who believe and do good works shall enter gardens of bliss, wherein they will abide forever. That is God’s true promise; He is the Mighty, the Wise One. (THE QURAN 31: 6-9)

Utterances are of two types—one offering good advice and the other entertainment. The former makes one realize one’s responsibilities and urge a man to do good rather than commit any impropriety. However, in every age those who have taken an interest in words of advice have indeed been very few. It has always been in the nature of man to prefer being entertained. Books which give good advice, are plentiful but he is always the more frequent purchaser of books which divert his mind and which do not demand any serious action on his part.

The guilt of one who goes to the length of inducing others to indulge in purely entertaining (i.e. wasteful) pursuits is greater, because he has made himself the leader of dissipation, keeping people preoccupied with pointless activities and rendering them incapable of giving their attention to more serious affairs.

Conceit is the worst trait in a man. If Truth presents itself before a conceited individual, he will not accept it, because he thinks too highly of himself. He will contemptuously overlook it and press on regardlessly. Just the opposite is true of the believers. Their adviceloving nature compels them to accept the truth and to surrender their life to it completely.

He has created the skies without any support that you could see, and has placed firm mountains upon the earth, lest it sway with you, and has caused all manner of living creatures to multiply thereon. And We sent down water from the skies, and thus We made every kind of excellent plant grow there: this is God’s creation. Show me then what those besides Him have created! The wrongdoers are in manifest error. (THE QURAN 31: 10-11)

The universe exists in infinite space. The continuous revolving of innumerable large stellar bodies in this universe is a great and aweinspiring phenomena. Amidst these, exists an extremely exceptional sphere—the earth, upon which numerous factors and arrangements have made the human life possible. Be it the maintenance of balance Spirit of Islam Issue 26 February 2015 45 on the earth by the high mountains, or the opulence of valuable resources like water, greenery, etc., everything is indicative of a perfect system of management.

Who then, except Almighty God can manage this huge system? As such, is it legitimate for man to worship things, other than God?

We bestowed wisdom on Luqman, saying, ‘Be grateful to God: he who is grateful, is grateful only for the good of his own soul. But if anyone is ungrateful, then surely God is self- sufficient and praiseworthy.’ 

Luqman said to his son, counselling him, ‘My son, do not associate anything with God. Associating others with Him is a terrible wrong.’ (THE QURAN 31: 12-13)

Little has been recorded in history about Luqman, except that he was a wise and God-fearing man. The Quran says that Luqman was a grateful subject of God and who, as a father, advised his son to save himself from polytheism. Polytheism holds that beings other than God are man’s benefactors and that, man should direct his feelings of gratitude towards them. The belief in the oneness of God stems from the intense realisation that God is the sole benefactor of man and as such all his gratitude should be shown only to that One.

We have enjoined man to show kindness to his parents—for his mother bears him, in hardship upon hardship, and his weaning takes two years. [We said] Give thanks to Me and to your parents; all will return to Me. But if they press you to associate something with Me about which you have no knowledge, do not obey them. Yet be kind to them in this world and follow the path of those who turn to Me. You will all return to Me in the end, and I will tell you everything that you have done. (THE QURAN 31: 14-15)

After God, a man’s parents have the first claim upon his loyalty. But, if the parents’ desire clashes with God’s will, then preference has to be given to God’s will and the parents’ wishes have to be accorded the second place. However, it is necessary even then to continue to serve the parents as usual.

Striking this balance between two different requirements is the highest example of wisdom of Islam, and the secret of all successes is hidden in this wisdom.