Page 16 - The Importance of Following the Good Word

him has to expend the effort to spread such good; the one
who wants to encounter conscientiousness has to encourage
conscientiousness; or, the one who dislikes cruelty must ad-
monish the cruel. As well, he needs to keep in mind that it is
Allah alone Who guides a person and renders the good word
effective.

It is Allah Who Guides to the Truth

Believers may not always encounter a favorable response
or amiable compliance when they call others around them to
the good. The caller may at times be met with indifference, or
become the target of derisiveness or even belligerence. For re-
sponses to such a call vary often, since they depend on the
other's sincerity and consciousness of Allah.
On hearing the call, for instance, a person may immedi-
ately come to have faith in Allah, while another may react
with hostility. Another still may exercise his conscience and
decide to devote his life to Allah. However, some may disbe-
lieve, and choose to respond to the good word with evil. Yet
this denial of theirs by no means daunts or deflects a believer.
No matter what the reaction, what is important for him is to
retain the morality which is pleasing to Allah, to not swerve
from moral excellence under any circumstance, and to put his
trust in Allah. For, whether important or minor, each incident
that takes place in this world is preordained by Allah, and it
is Allah alone Who can guide a person to the truth.
For this reason, the reactions and responses of disbeliev-
ers never demoralize the believers. In the Qur'an, Allah pro-
vides many examples of this. In the verse, "But would you,
perhaps, torment yourself to death with grief over them if

14 THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING THE GOOD WORD