The Mahdi Times October 2012 | Page 53

It is enough for the believers that we are the servants of Allah (swt) for our pride, as honour of fame and money in this dunya is not the goal of the true believers, and the destination is the same - we have all chosen the path that is leading us to a common point. The question of staying united on this path and achieving success till the end in meeting the Face of Allah (swt) lies in many factors. This is the heaviest bargain that can be made - the promise of reaching Allah (swt) by His Grace. This is the merchandise for which the believers sacrifice their strength, their efforts and desires. And yet, this bargain must be reached in a specific and prescribed way, without which there is no success, and one of the key factors of reaching our desired Goal is realising who we are to one another. Who are the believers to one another? This is a difficult and heavy matter. The rights of the believers have not been belittled, rather they are a factor upon which the success towards Allah (swt) lies upon. Yet most of the believers are fallible human beings. We sin and we make mistakes. And these mistakes can affect the society we live in and the families we grow amongst. And so, injustices are done to the point where we make judgements on each other and put on labels, believing and harbouring ill feeling in the hearts and thinking and sometimes even speaking badly of one another. Does this affect our status with Allah (swt)? The Imams (a.s) have clarified for us that it does. Imam Ali ibn abi Talib (a.s) said, “Leave the matter of your brother at its best until there comes to you that which you cannot deny and do not think about your brother one bad word, while you can still find a good excuse for him.” rupt and bring them closer to one another if they go far.” Light cannot fight light. If two rays of light have the same nature and the same focal point, then ultimately they meet and become one. This cannot occur if their naWhy have we been asked to ture differs, and dislike and hatred do this? cause the light rays to differ. It is thus impossible for two true believThe degree of sincerity reers to reach the same focal point quires that we accept this truth from and not forgive each other the misAllah (swt) that in Reality nothing takes and errors that are made. exists but He, and so our own egos do not exist. In fact, the darkness Imam Sadiq (a.s) said, “If that is our existence is nothingness there are two of our Shia fighting, and so, fix between them to the point that you are giving to them from our “All that is will perish; but will khums in order to fix them.” abide forever the Face of thy Lord, full of majesty, bounty and honSo what is to be done if a our.” (55:26, 27) believer causes injustice? The injustice may well be there, and may be The darkness, we, our egos a true injustice in the eyes of Allah will perish. (swt), but we ourselves, as the worthless and guilty servants of AlAnd all goodness that comes lah (swt), if we truly believe in Alfrom us is a Mercy from Allah lah (swt) with sincerity and in His (swt) to our darkness, it is a Mercikindness and love, we must train ful Light given to us by Him. ourselves to realise that Allah (swt) is the One who does justice, even in So in reality, the believers His Punishment. are all one Light. What we do to one, affects the other, and ourHe is the One who Punishes selves. and Rewards, and not we. We must And so, there is never a real open our eyes to the Reality that we excuse to harbour ill feeling or dis- are nothing and nobody to harbor ill like towards a believing brother or feeling towards any believer, and in forgiving each other will we see sister. We are all, in reality, one light and one body. Dislike and ha- Allah (swt) Forgiving us our great sins. And not only this, but truly, tred are planted by the accursed the believers owe one another so Shaitan (l.a), who seeks to cause problems between us, and this is the much that can never be repaid and this is a fact from each and every Jihad for the true believers, to be believer to the other, whether the patient, and give excuse after excuse for our believing brothers and debts are known or not. And Allah sisters, and to fix any ill feelings the (swt) is the All Knowing who is Aware of what we owe one another, accursed Shaitan (l.a) causes beso how can we face Allah (swt) on tween ourselves. the Day of Judgement holding Aba Abdullah (a.s) said, guilty dislike of who may well be “Fix between the people if they cor- His beloved servant, one who has 53