REFORM YOURSELF

REFORM YOURSELF Success through Introspection Whatever good befalls you, it is from God: and whatever ill befalls you is from yourself. (THE QURAN 4: 79) Whatever misfortune befalls you is of your own doing—God forgives much—[…] (THE QURAN 42: 30) F ROM these Quranic verses we learn that God has made this world in such a way that every person must face the consequences of his own actions. Whenever you confront a problem, you should search for its cause, not outside, but, rather, within yourself. This cause is always internal, located inside you. Two examples from the time of the Prophet of Islam clearly illustrate this point. One is related to the defeat Muslims faced in the Battle of Uhud, in the year 625 CE. The other to the heavy losses that Muslims incurred in the Battle of Hunayn, in the year 630 CE. The Quran refers to these battles, and in both cases it places the entire responsibility for whatever happened on Muslims themselves, rather than calling for protests against those who were opposed to them—the Quraysh of Makkah. With regard to the Battle of Uhud, the Quran (3: 152) relates that the Muslims’ weakness owed to their internal differences and their not obeying their central command. It tells us that this is what made them face defeat at the hands of their opponents in this battle. Similarly, the Quran (9: 25) relates with regard to the Battle of Hunayn that the losses that Muslims faced was because of their pride. Here, too, the cause was identified within the Muslims themselves, rather than without. In both these cases, it might have been possible to place the entire blame for whatever happened wholly on the Quraysh instead and to say bad things about them. But when, in the Quran God commented on these events, He placed the entire blame on the Muslims alone. God has made this world in such a way that every person must face the consequences of his own actions.