Islam As it Is

Islamic Character ~ 135 ~ forever go on bearing the heaviest of loads. A society made up of such people cannot but flourish and progress. A society in which this is not the case is inevitably doomed to ruin. When people do not keep their promises and refuse to accept the truth when confronted with it, when they take prompt action against others out of a sense of personal grievance, regardless of whether it is humane to do so or not, their society becomes like a world in which steel has ceased to be steel, in which the very rocks have begun to break up into splinters like so much old, rotten wood. HAVING OTHERS AT ONE’S MERCY The severest test of a man’s integrity is the realization that he has an enemy at his mercy. Generally, from such a position of advantage, his first impulse will be to destroy the enemy, especially if he considers that the circumstances exonerate him from all moral responsibility. Even at such moments, however, one who truly fears God will not forget that his Lord is watching