FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

for this work. And whatever little help is offered in terms of effort or money will be regarded by the donor as more than enough. There will be no parallel with the lady who is not satisfied just by working at her office, and who continues to be preoccupied by her work even at home. There will be no show of the kind of interest which develops when one is wholeheartedly devoted to the task at hand. Why is there such lack of fervour for spiritual goals? This seems very strange when we all know that the rewards God has promised for working for His cause are hundreds of thousands of times higher than worldly rewards for everyday tasks. Even a single moment spent in this world on furthering God’s cause is valued at much more than one month’s salary. Then why do people fail to show comparable seriousness and devotion in purely spiritual matters? The answer is perhaps not far to seek. Worldly returns bring immediate and obvious benefits. It requires no special perceptiveness to grasp this. But, to understand the rewards to be gained in the Hereafter, one needs to have patience, wisdom, and above all, insight. People only pay lip service to their belief in God and the Hereafter, for all their attention is focused on this world and its gains. That is why they are all too willing to devote themselves to any job in this world which will bring them a few thousand rupees, regardless of the fact that this may cause them to lose the limitless ‘thousands’ of the world to come. o Prof. Farida Khanam hub@thespiritofislam.org People only pay lip service to their belief in God and the Hereafter, for all their attention is focused on this world and its gains.