Sensitivity as an Inner Check

These Quranic verses give clear guidance on how to maintain our spiritual purity. Each time a person comes under the influence of an evil temptation, his conscience, or his moral sensitivity, becomes alive. It warns him almost instantly, emerging like a moral teacher. It persuades man not to succumb to wrong temptations and not to deviate from the right path. Anyone who listens to his inner voice is surely saved from becoming a victim of evil forces. But one who fails to pay heed to it will lose the opportunity to act righteously. And that will be his last chance. Nature has endowed us with two very important faculties: reason and conscience. Reason works in logical terms, while conscience works in terms of sensitivity. Experience shows that reason sometimes guides us rightly but, quite often, its analysis is wrong, being based on faulty logic. Conscience, on the other hand, never fails. Conscience is the strongest check against wrongdoing. The difference between a man and an animal is that a man has a conscience, while an animal is quite lacking in this faculty. Animals are not sensitive to right and wrong. They entertain no such ideas. But man has the highly distinctive quality of possessing a conscience. Anyone who wants to live on this planet as an honest person or as a man of character must keep a guard upon his