Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Discover God | Al-Risala January 1988
God is the patron of the faithful. He leads them from darkness to the light. As for those who deny the truth, their supporter is Satan, who brings them out of light into darkness. They are the heirs of the Fire, and there they will remain forever. (The Quran, 2: 257)
In this world, people almost invariably fall into two opposing categories: those who trust in God, and those who trust in others besides God. In the first category are those who accept the truth of the revealed word of God, and duly pattern their lives upon it. In the second category are those who regulate their lives not in accordance with the word of God, but in accordance with a whole range of secular considerations.
The minds of those who accept God as their Patron and Protector are ever turned towards Him. Whenever they have to concern themselves with any serious moral issue, their thoughts on the subject are, therefore, cast in a divine mould. Although they think constructively when planning is required, they still recognize the ultimate necessity of depending on God’s help. In this way, their emotions centre upon God instead of on human beings, and in situations which would normally arouse anger and the urge for vengeance, they are sublimely capable of showing forbearance and forgiveness. It is such people who journey out of darkness and into the light.
Those who reject God as their Patron in favour of the devil pursue the reverse course. Most often in a destructive frame of mind, their time and energies are spent in plotting against others, wrecking vengeance on them and generally approaching moral issues in the most negative of terms. They set great store by their own scheming and strategies, never suspecting that there is another path which would lead them out of the darkness in which they grope and struggle. If they cannot or will not recognise this path, it is because the devil has led them away from the divine light into darkness.
While the first group are destined to prosper both in this world and the next, the latter group are doomed to failure in both worlds.