The 48th Call: Allah Grants a Criterion to those who Fear Him
The 48th Call: Allah Grants a Criterion to those who Fear Him
Almighty Allah says (what can be translated as): “O you who have believed, if you fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion and will remove from you your misdeeds and forgive you. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty.” (Al-Anfal: 29)
Almighty Allah tells people that if they believe and fear Him by following his commands and avoiding His prohibitions, He will give them relief and a way-out of their distress. He has given the believers a criterion to differentiate between right and wrong and good and evil. Allah has removed from them their misdeeds and forgiven their sins. Allah is possessor of bounty and grace. He gives great reward for even the least act of goodness and forgives many sins.
This is, then, the equipment needed along the road. It is the sense of fearing Allah which makes people’s hearts alive and keeps them fully alert. With Allah’s light they can see clearly; their vision is not clouded by anything. Besides, fearing Allah is the proper equipment which ensures forgiveness for errors and sinful deeds. It provides reassurance and security, as well as great hope for a great bounty from Allah on the Day of Judgment when people discover that their actions have fallen short of expectation.
It is a fact of life that fearing Allah Almighty provides people with a standard to distinguish truth from falsehood. Like all facts of faith, however, this can only be appreciated by those who have experienced it. Description cannot begin to give a feeling of this fact to those who have no experience of it. Matters remain intermingled in people’s minds and thoughts, and falsehood tries to always cling to the truth, particularly at points of divergence. Argument may silence objections, but cannot provide conviction, and polemics remain futile unless people are equipped with a sense of fearing Allah. When such sense of fearing Allah is present, minds are open to see the truth, and the way ahead is defined. Thus, people can enjoy security and reassurance, and walk along with steady steps.
The truth itself may not be lost to human nature because Allah Almighty has made this nature responsive to the truth. But people’s desires may force a separation between the truth and human nature. It is such desires that becloud people’s vision and cause them to lose their way. People’s desires are not overcome by argument, but by a sense of fearing Allah. Hence, the standard to discern truth from falsehood is all important to enlighten the way to those who wish to follow it. It is a priceless gift from the Almighty. The grace of Allah, however, does not stop at that. Allah adds to it the forgiveness of sins as well as a great bounty. This can only be provided by the Lord whose grace is great, limitless and unceasing.
