Page 231 - Seekers Guide Book

The Seeker’s Guide
on what he should do with the money he was left with.
I told him to start a business with whatever he had.
He accepted my suggestion and left. After a few years,
when he met me, he had significantly grown his wealth.
I told him that if he had avenged, the minister’s sons and
grandsons would have killed him. The great wisdom of
life, therefore, is in unilaterally putting a full stop to any
form of reaction.

-
4 When does self respect become ego?

ome take self-respect as an excuse to play a demanding
Sand revenge-seeking role. What they do not realize is
that being demanding and revenge-oriented is a negative
manifestation of ‘ego,’ which has no place in Islam. Islam
teaches its proponents to be firm when it concerns a duty;
not to be stubborn in demanding a right.

A duty-oriented mindset looks at fulfilling the rights of
others whereas the mindset of seeking revenge simply
aggravates the negative effects of a person’s ego. A very
important principle to keep in mind is that doing one’s
duty is a virtue only when it does not create another issue.

The Companions of the Prophet had migrated from
Makkah to Madinah. When Makkah was brought back
into the fold of Islam, many Companions said that they
should take back their property which they had left
behind in Makkah. When the Prophet came to know this,
he announced that they all should immediately return
to Madinah – he did not allow the redeeming of lost

230