Page 11 - Perfected Faith

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INTRODUCTION

Qur'an just as well as the true believers described in its verses. One
verse reads:
Then We caused Our chosen servants to inherit the Book. But
some of them wrong themselves; some are ambivalent; and
some outdo each other in good by Allah's permission. That is
the great favour. (Surah Fatir, 32)
As the above verse maintains, some people may either fail to follow
the path to which Allah invites him and thus suffers loss, or some be-
come the forerunners in moral perfection and hope for salvation.
A believer of strong faith strives to attain the highest levels of moral
perfection of which he is capable. He knows that he can please Allah
and earn His love and pleasure only in this way. This is indeed the
purpose of his existence on earth; to be able to earn the good pleasure
of Allah and His consent through properly appreciating Him.
Everyone is responsible for aiming at moral perfection and striving
towards that end. No boundaries limit such a noble human endeav-
our. Each believer who has a deep-seated faith in Allah and strives
sincerely to draw closer to Him can display this moral perfection and
thus attain the "maturity of faith".
One of the purposes of this book is to define the "perfected faith"
one can attain through turning to Allah for every deed, striving to
earn the approval and friendship of Allah and displaying moral per-
fection under all circumstances. Another purpose is to make it clear
that nothing hinders man from attaining the moral perfection dis-
played by prophets, provided that he fears and reveres no one but
Allah and strives sincerely for His cause. Over and above this, the in-
tention in writing this book is to stress that putting forth a "sincere"
effort to attain the hereafter is a praiseworthy act in Allah's sight. In
one verse, Allah states the following about this issue:
But as for anyone who desires the hereafter, and strives for it as
he ought to, being a true believer, shall have his endeavours be
gratefully acknowledged. (Surat al-Isra', 19)