Monday, October 27, 2008

Good Guys, Bad Guys

Why are some guys good and some are bad? What makes them what they are? Is it the environment that shapes their characters? Or is it God that predetermines every thing? The answer to these questions is NO. Man is the creature of choice. The decision to be good or bad rests on him alone. The Koraan has something to say about this. In Chapter 14 verse 4, it says among other things "........
God lets go astray him that wills to go astray and guides him that wills to be guided". In exercising his free choice, man can choose between being guided and not being guided. If he chooses to be good and be guided, he gets the satisfaction he is doing the right thing and at the same time he pleases God. On the other hand if he chooses to do the wrong thing, he is not only deprived of guidance but earns the displeasure of God. Again in Chapter 17 Verse 7 the Koraan says "If you persevere in doing good, you will be doing good to yourself and if you do evil, it will done to yourself ". To illustrate the last part of the verse, I would like to give an example. A person who commits a crime besides getting a jail term also damages his standing before God. This is the evil that he inflicts on himself. To a good Muslim, one's standing before God must be upheld at all cost.

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