By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan for New Age Islam
10 May, 2015
The Quran (3:120) explains a principle in these words:
"If you persevere and fear God, their designs will never harm you in the least: God encompasses all that they do."
This Quranic verse expresses a law of nature. From it we learn that in this world conspiracies are not the real problem. Rather, the problem is the lack of patience and Taqwa or God-consciousness. For those who have patience and Taqwa, the enmity and conspiracies of others are all rendered ineffective. These cannot harm them in the least. Patience is not a form of inaction. Rather, it is a lofty human attribute, which is also termed as self-control. Patience leads one to rise above the difficulties created by others and to plan one’s life on the basis of positive thinking.
God-consciousness or the fear of God means that one’s thinking is not self-oriented, but, rather, God-oriented. The actions of a God-conscious person are in accordance with God’s teachings, and not in accordance with his own desires and emotions.
The negative actions of others directed against people who are patient and God-conscious are rendered ineffective. It is a law of this world that every undesirable event is always the result of a two-sided action, not of a one-sided action. A person who is patient and God-conscious does not react to others’ misdeeds. Therefore, the latter’s designs fail to have an effect on him.
It is a law of nature that no person or group engages in any oppositional action against another while in a normal frame of mind. A person or group undertakes such a negative action only when provoked. Every negative action is a reaction to, and a result of, a provocation. Patience and God-consciousness prevent one from engaging in provocative actions against others. This is why patience and God-consciousness are a sure means for the protection of any person or group. Such a person or group will never, under any conditions, engage in any provocative actions against others. And that is why they shall remain safe from the negative reactions of others.
This is a law of nature, which God, the Creator of nature, has Himself established. Given this, it is simply pointless to raise a hue and cry against other’s conspiracies. What, instead, should be done is to make oneself firm and strong internally and to cultivate patience and God-consciousness to the maximum possible extent. And then, following this, all causes for complaint will disappear, and in such a way as if they never existed in the first place.
In accordance with God’s Creation Plan, in life, two things are always present—problems, and opportunities. Just as problems always exist in life, so do opportunities. The wise approach, according to Islam, is to ignore the problems and avail the opportunities. To get entangled in problems is only to waste one’s time, which we have been blessed with in order to build our lives.
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