THE WORD OF GOD

When We decide to destroy a town, We command the affluent section of its people, but they transgress therein; thus the word [sentence of punishment] is justified, then We destroy the town utterly. How many generations have We destroyed since Noah’s time. Your Lord is well aware of the sins of His servants and observes them all. (17: 16-17) The conduct of the leading group of a community is the chief indicator of the level of honesty or corruption of the community’s members. Only this group has the understanding and resources to influence their inferiors. Only they can bear the cost of leadership. This is why the reformation of the prominent group amounts to the reformation of the whole community and the corruption of this prominent group amounts to the corruption of the whole community. If a study is made of communities right from the time of Noah to the present day, the history of each community will confirm the correctness of this general principle. Those leading lights, or elders of the community, who exploit the people to establish their leadership, teach the community emotionalism instead of realism; they teach the community to live in wishful thinking, instead of admitting the truth. In short, instead of making the community attentive to God, they turn it away from God by making it attend to worldly concerns. Thus misleading the community, they bring about its destruction. When leaders of this kind dominate a community, it is to be expected that God has taken a decision to destroy it. Every event of this type happens by God’s will, for no deed or misdeed of any person or community is hidden from Him. We give whatever We will to whoever desires immediate gains; but then We have prepared Hell for him which he will enter, disgraced and rejected. Anyone who desires the Hereafter and makes a proper effort to achieve it, being a true believer, shall find favour with God for his endeavours. (17: 18-19) In the present world as man travels towards his ultimate destination, he finds himself standing before a fork in the road. One side leads to the path of immediate gains, while the other is a path on which everything is to be given on merit. One who follows the first path chooses instant benefit (ajilah), whereas one who follows the other path chooses the Hereafter (akhirah). On the one hand, man has before him the way of opportunism, which leads him straight to immediate honour and wealth. On the other