No Grey Areas

No Grey Areas

1989 2 February 9 No Grey Areas (383) Truth is always accompanied by clear signs from God and, this being so, it should gain prompt acceptance. Whatever has no clear proof to support it should be rejected out of hand. Distinguishing truth from falsehood should be like seeing the difference between white and black. There can be no grey areas in between to confuse the issue.

To pass the highest test of morality in this life, a man must accept the truth and act with justice. In order to do so, he must be able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. When he stands at the crossroads, with the paths of justice and injustice stretching out before him, he must be capable of knowing which one to take.

Acceptance of the truth is not always an easy matter. All too often, faulty reasoning causes one to reject it, or selfish motivation makes one turn a blind eye to it. The same is true of acting with justice, Unreason and egoism often bar the path to right action.

To be successful in the trial of life, a man must open his eyes wide to the truth and to practise self-abnegation when morality demands it. The truth should not need to echo and re-echo in his ears before he permits it to penetrate his consciousness. It should not have to fight a battle with a man’s ego, before it is allowed to prevail. Its appeal to human reason should be immediate, but this can only happen if people tear down the artificial barriers which the demands of material sophistication place in its way. Truth is always accompanied by clear signs from God and, this being so, it should gain prompt acceptance. Whatever has no clear proof to support it should be rejected out of hand.

Distinguishing truth from falsehood should be like seeing the difference between white and black. There can be no grey areas in between to confuse the issue.

Hamza Ibn Abdul Muttalib came to the Prophet and asked to be shown something on which he could base his life. The Prophet asked him whether he preferred to give life to a soul, or take life away from one. Hamza replied that he preferred the former. “You are accountable for your own self,” the Prophet told him.