Act wisely and be counted

According to Islam the best man is he who is best in action. The Quran warns, "He created death and life that He may try who is best in action."

Action is the life and essence of the soul. It is the secret of success. This world is a world of action for reaping fruits for the next world.

God has provided us with all the requisite weapons for actions. He gave us two hands to work. Our fingers will gather rust and rheumatism will occur. This is seen when one puts a new knife down for a while — rust appears on it.

Unfortunately, bad actions and injustice are causes of loss of political power as seen in Hitler, Idi Amin, Al Zia Haqq, Butto, Saddam Hussain, Pharoah and many more.

Actions are never lost but preserved. Scientific discoveries have proven that action is never destroyed. A man’s word spoken in London is preserved in ether and taken to Russia by radio. Words uttered in a ship in mid-ocean are carried by wireless telegraph to distant corners of the world. Songs, dances, speeches, music, movies are all preserved in films, tapes and other records.

Therefore, actions of man are never lost but preserved in the tablets of the soul.

The Quran states, "We have made every man’s actions to cling to his neck and we will bring forth to him on Resurrection Day, a Book of Actions which he will find wide open." (11:114).

Prophet Muhammad warned, "The best man is he whose age is long and actions are good."

"The worst man is he whose age is long and his actions are bad.

Actions of the unfortunate meet with failure. Actins of the fortunate are crowned with success.

In Proverbs (10:16) Prophet Solomon said, "The Activity of the righteous one results in life. The action of the wicked one results in sin."

In the Gita, it is written, The five factors of action are, (1) The Doer; (2) The senses; (3) The endeavour; (4) The place of action and (5) The supersoul.

We must always remember that actions for show, name and fame by capturing the imagination of the hearts of people instead of drinking into the divine revelation will not avail any beneficial result.

AHAMAD KHAYYAM

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