Issues of Ijtihad

THE ART OFCLEAR THINKING For instance, suppose a person owes some money to somebody and is unable to repay his loan, and because he constantly remembers this, he is in deep sadness. The right method for this person is to distinguish the loan from the sorrow of being presently unable to pay it. Of course, he should make efforts to repay the loan, but he should not be obsessed with it to the point that he becomes overwhelmed by sorrow about it. He should recognise that the problem of mental tension would be more severe than the problem of his debt. If the problem of debt is just a problem, mental tension is a sort of mental suicide. By right thinking, one should save oneself from the foolishness of converting a relatively small problem into a big problem for oneself. Contentment and Progress Often, one hears that a certain company has gone bankrupt. Often, the reason for this is what can be called ‘seeking to leap beyond one’s reach’. Generally, it happens that a company’s assets are only a few million dollars, but it makes a plan for a project for which several billion dollars are needed. For this purpose, it takes credit based on interest from a bank. The loan needs to be returned in installments with interest. Now, if the company’s earnings continue as estimated, it will be able to pay the installments. But if for any reason, the company’s income declines considerably, it