Page 68 - The Vision of Islam

The Straight Path

reaction, acquires great depth of vision, which takes him beyond all
emotional incentive and superficial considerations, and penetrates
the heart of the matter. With this sense of realism, his planning is
far-reaching and definitive. He becomes invincible, his aim never
being off the mark. There is a saying of the Prophet: “Beware of
the wisdom of the believer, for he sees by the light of God.” (At
Tirmizi, Hadith No. 3419)
The signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah is one such important
instance. Clearly this treaty was accepted under duress: one of
the ‘animal’ level, however, would never agree that in spite of the
presence of fifteen hundred valiant companions of the Prophet,
a treaty could be signed which accepted all the demands of his
opponents. But one at the ‘human’ level, capable of seeing reality in
its unadulterated form, would see that it was truly a ‘signal victory’
(48:1).
Thus a straight path (or God’s way) has been shown for all the
problems of the Here and the Hereafter. The universe follows
this straight path without the slightest deviation from its course,
the path of man’s success and salvation is also the same. The only
difference being that while the universe has no choice but to
follow God’s path, man must of his own free will make this choice
of treading this straight path.
Just as the Quran has marked out the course for the individual
to follow, so also has it laid down a straight path for society. To
provide examples it has cited actual happenings. After describing
the wisdom behind the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, the Quran states:
“And He shows you the straight path.” (48:2). Certain basic
principles which encompass most practical matters have also been
described. Man has only to rise from the state of animality to that
of humanity, and then he can never err in taking the right path
in social matters—the path destined to lead him to earn divine
succour and success as a result.
The first basic principle in this regard is never to take a step
under the influence of negative mentality: Social planning should
always be made with a positive approach to matters: “O believers,
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