Page 124 - Non-violence and peace-building

Consciousness of the Hereafter

have an even greater seriousness than this about the
Hereafter, the eternal life after death. Someone who
is serious about worldly affairs does not have the time
to get entangled in irrelevant things, just like the man
heading for the interview who refused to start a fight
with the boys who threw stones at the rickshaw he was
in, in the story above. In the same way, someone who is
serious about God and the Hereafter will refuse to get
involved in controversies that will divert him from his
spiritual goal.
A passenger who wants to travel from Delhi to
Amritsar, to the north-west, will not head in the direction
of Calcutta, to the south-east. Likewise, a person who
is journeying towards the Hereafter will not want to
head off in a direction that will take him far away from
his chosen destination. He will not allow himself to get
stuck in useless controversies and conflicts with others.

If Muslims think of themselves as travellers in
this world, they will find inspiration in the above-
mentioned hypothetical example of the young man
heading to Mumbai for his interview. But if they think
of themselves as travellers who are journeying towards
the Hereafter, they will find inspiration in the example
of the Companions of the Prophet, who did not let
worldly things divert them from their mission. And if
Muslims follow neither path, concerned with neither
sort of journey, then they are simply wandering about,
without any destination whatsoever.

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