Al-Risala (English), October 1990
Al-Risala (English), October 1990, p. 2
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.
The Greatest Guarantee
1990 10 October 2-3 The Greatest Guarantee (630) For believers, the means of salvation in the next life is righteousness in this life. Besides this, it is also the greatest guarantee of safety from enemies and opponents. In the words of the Qur’an, “know that Allah is with the righteous.” (9:36). “They have nothing to fear or to regret.” (7:35). “They shall have ample reward.” (3:172). “The riches of heaven and earth are showered upon them.” (7:96). “Allah sends special aid to them.” (3:125). “They shall always triumph.” (25:52). “The blessed end is for the righteous.” (28:83).
How do all these benefits derive from righteousness? Here is how Umar ibn Khattab, the second Caliph, explained it to Ubayy ibn Kaab, a companion of the Prophet, when he asked him what righteousness was. Umar first asked him if he had not walked, along a path lined with thorny bushes. When Ubbay ibn Kaab replied in the affirmative, Umar asked him what he did then. He said that he gathered his clothes to him and took great care not to get entangled in the thorns. Umar then told him that this was righteousness. (Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, vol. I. p. 40)
Taqwa in Arabic means ‘safeguard’, connoting the saving of oneself from harmful things. By relating: taqwa to success and salvation God has told us the most important of life’s secrets, namely, that the most important factor in achieving success is to distance oneself from the causes of failure. In this world, profit is there for the taking. The only proviso is that man must step out of the way of those harmful things with which the path of success is so plentifully strewn.
It is as if benefit and success are like the sun’s rays which descend upon man in great floods. Man’s role is simply to prevent any obstacles coming in the path of the sun’s rays. Similarly, for success in the next life, all man must do is shun anything which could act as a barrier to success in the Afterlife. If man can do just this, success will surely come his way. Nothing can stop it from coming.
One aspect of righteousness is the saving of oneself from the temptations of self and Satan. Forgetting God, remaining oblivious to chastisement in the next life, breaking God’s bounds, following one’s own whims in matters of morality, and in general dealings with people, worshipping creatures rather than the creator – all these faults lead man to his doom, in other words straight to hell. It is, therefore, incumbent upon man to make every effort to save himself from all these temptations and shortcomings. Those who do so will be rewarded with heaven.
That righteousness which, for believers, is a guarantee of success in the Afterlife, is also a guarantee of success in this world; it is the surest way to the highest pinnacle of moral elevation.
In this world, there are two kinds of people - the good and the bad. The latter will abuse us, inflict harm and generally indulge in provocative activities. They will plot against Islam. They will resort to all such activities as will provoke the faithful. But, on all such occasions, the believers must remain steadfast in their adherence to the path of patience and righteousness. They will no doubt find their path strewn with the thorns flung down by these evil men but they must never be halted by this: what they must do is press onwards on the true path, avoiding the thorns at all costs.
The secret of success in this world lies in steering clear of the thorns so that the question of becoming entangled in them never arises.
As the Qur’an puts it, “The blessed end is for the righteous.” (28:83). “For him we shall smooth the path of salvation.”
