He who does not live the requisites of his knowledge begins to veil himself with his own hands, for it’s not possible to maintain one’s current state. One is constantly moving from one state to another, in congruence with one’s thoughts. If his thoughts are appropriate, he will move towards an advanced state and will be subject to an increased insight.
If, on the other hand, his thoughts are inappropriate, he will digress from the reality towards an imitative state of life, which is the biggest punishment one can accrue…
The divine scheme makes one who is in an imitative state think he’s living an authentic state.
If one possesses the knowledge of faith, but isn’t living his life in compliance with the requisites of this knowledge, he has been subject to the divine scheme, in which case, he may be saved only through repentance. His salvation is conditional upon whether he is able to give the due right of this knowledge.
Repentance is to recognize one’s mistaken thought and to abandon it. Yet it is quite difficult to recognize this while immersed in it. The important thing is to not become subject to the divine scheme. For once you do, it is near impossible to become free of it, as one wrong leads to another wrong, and thus, the recognition of the truth becomes extremely difficult.
Another way to explain this is:
In the brain, various cells are engaged in various activities. These activities grow and expand in time, thus a wrong activity becomes a greater wrong by the day. It is impossible to correct this chain of wrong activities without divine support.
Therefore, it is imperative that we are in control of our thoughts and to look at and evaluate things from the perspective of Allah, or at least from the perspective of the principles of faith.
None can escape the misfortune of the divine scheme without applying the principles of faith! Only through practicing the principles of faith and repenting for one’s past mistakes can one extinguish the flames of the divine scheme.
When repentance is accepted, the person is cleansed from the actions and behavior that would normally lead him to his previous mistakes. As long as this cleansing does not take place, his repentance will not be accepted. This cleansing is referred to in the Quran as ‘genuine repentance’.
Genuine repentance is the only thing that can counter the divine scheme. And the sign of this is following the path of the Rasul of Allah (saw). What does this mean? Following the way of the Rasul does not mean to walk and talk like him, to eat and drink what he ate and drank, or to use what he used and abstain from what he didn’t!
To follow the way of the Rasul is not to imitate the traditions of the time in which he lived. It is to continue the service he gave to humanity as the Rasul of Allah, to serve on his path, for his cause!
May Allah protect us from all inclinations that may lead to the divine scheme and enable us to serve in the way of His Rasul (saw)!
28.6.98
NJ – USA