Page 26 - The Importance of Following the Good Word

Another verse reminds us about those who will benefit from
admonishments and reminders:
Remind, then, if the reminder benefits. He who fears
[Allah] will be reminded; but the most miserable will
shun it, those who will roast in the Greatest Fire and
then neither die nor live in it. He who has purified him-
self will have success, He who invokes the Name of his
Lord and prays. (Surat al-A`la, 9-15)
According to a verse in Surat an-Nazi`at, Allah relates that
only those who fear the Day of Judgment will heed these ad-
monitions:
You are only the warner of those who fear it [the Hour].
(Surat an-Nazi`at, 45)
These statements make it clear that faith in Allah and the
Hereafter are at the root of the modesty and submissiveness of
believers. Believers ponder about the reality of the Hereafter
throughout their lives, never forgetting that any sin could be a
cause of shame for them in Allah's sight, and cause them great
regret. Cognizant of the severity of the punishment of Hell, as
related in the Qur'an, they avoid meticulously any action con-
trary to Allah's good pleasure, causing them to deserve Allah's
punishment, and seek to quickly purify themselves of any
faults or shortcomings. In order to best live by the moral excel-
lence described in the Qur'an, they make the greatest effort. In
one verse, Allah describes those believers, who considercare-
fully every admonition they receive with such concern, follow-
ing the good word, as the "people of intelligence."
Those who listen well to what is said and follow the
best of it, they are the ones whom Allah has guided,
they are the people of intelligence. (Surat az-Zumar, 18)

24 THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING THE GOOD WORD