Page 11 - The Importance of Following the Good Word

to lead people to the Qur'an's morality, are neither aimed to
please them, or gain some worldly benefit. All such words
have a single goal; to earn Allah's good pleasure, and assist
the other to attain a quality of character with which Allah
will be pleased. This being so, remembering Allah, explain-
ing the ideals of morality, encouraging another to become
one worthy of Paradise, while from time to time also criticiz-
ing him by the light of the Qur'an, to allow him to become
aware of his flaws that he may can correct them, and remind-
ing him to heed Allah, are all examples of the good word.
The reader may better be able to understand the meaning
of the good word, in its true sense, if he considers the follow-
ing example: assume for a moment that you are right next to
the eternal fire of Hell, where you see people dragged from
one form of punishment to another; they mourn in regret,
feeling the terror of being unable to save themselves from
that fire. They are offered boiling water or tied to towering
columns. Having seen such things, you would focus all your
attention in earning Allah's good pleasure, so as to avoid any
mistake that would lead you into such punishment. What
you would most fear and seek to avoid would be losing
Allah's good pleasure. At that moment, someone admonish-
ing in light of the Qur'an, warning you against some error, or
reminding you of Allah, would be the best and most helpful
words that you could ever hear. As one who feels the punish-
ment of Hell as if it were right next to you, you would neither
react adversely against these remarks, nor make up any ex-
cuses to deny them, nor feel prideful. Being sincere in the
conviction that correcting your mistakes is of vital impor-
tance, you would be open to any form of admonition or criti-

Introduction 9