How to tell between good and bad
Al-Risala (English), April 1986, p. 24
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
How to tell between good and bad
1986 4 April 24 How to tell between good and bad (46) “When should I think of myself as pious?” someone asked Aishah. “When you start thinking of yourself as impious,” she replied. “And when should I think of myself as impious?” the person asked once again. “When you start thinking of yourself as pious,” came Aishah’s reply.
The Losers
1986 4 April 24 The Losers (326) In the chapter of the Quran entitled The Cave, there is a verse which reads like this:
“Say: ‘Shall we tell you who will lose most through their labours? Those whose endeavours in this world are misguided and who yet think that what they do is right; who disbelieve the revelations of their Lord and deny that they will ever meet Him.’ Vain are their works. On the Day of Resurrection, we shall not give any weight to them” (18:103-105).
What greater disappointment can there be than working, but no reward for one’s labours; struggling on and on, yet failing to reach one’s destination; investing everything one possesses, yet making no profit; building a dream home for oneself, but, not being able to live in it.
When such calamities overtake one in this world, one is benumbed by shock. Imagine the situation then, in the next world, when one sees all one’s efforts crumble to nothing. This world is limited; there is a limit to the profit and loss that one can make here. The next world, however, is infinite: loss there will be total and for all time.
One may labour all one’s life, but what good does that do when one sees all one’s efforts go unrewarded? When reality comes into its own, the fanciful illusions with which one’s existence has been bolstered up will vanish into thin air.
If one puts everything into this ephemeral world, one can expect nothing in the next, eternal world of God. What a gruelling experience it will be for man to see himself with absolutely nothing to his credit. One who had held his head high in the world will have his head bowed in shame. One who was considered eminent in the eyes of the world will be cast into the furthest depths of ignominy and objection. It will be as though he had never held any position, had never had any worth attached to him.
