Dearest to God Are Those Who Are Most Beneficial to People

service to your neighbours. If you cannot do any good to people, at least refrain from harming them. The Prophet exclaimed: “By God, he is not a believer, by God he is not a believer, by God he is not a believer whose neighbour is not safe from his mischief.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6016) There are several verses of the Quran and sayings of the Prophet on this subject. Working for the welfare of humanity means being beneficial to people. In November 1988 issue of my journal Al-Risala, I had written about an incident of an acquaintance of mine, Mr. P.D. Malhotra, who was born in 1935. He came to visit me on August 24, 1988. He told me that one day he had stayed back after working hours to finish some task at his office in New Delhi. When it struck midnight, there was silence all around in the city. He set out for his home on his two-wheeler. At one of the checkpoints on the road, a policeman signalled him to stop, wondering why a person was roaming about the streets in the middle of the night. The policeman angrily demanded him to produce his driving license. When he reached into his pocket to fetch his driving license, another card came out along with it. This was an eye donor’s card. These days hospitals have initiated schemes through which people can volunteer to donate their eyes after death. One who agrees to