Our God — Page 96
96 likes good and hates evil. An extremely callous, long-standing, and habitual thief, who has been burying his fi t rah in the dark veils of sin with repeated acts of stealing and snatching other peo- ples’ belongings illegally, jaded by chiding from people or to pro- tect himself from the probing of his own conscience, may shame- lessly justify himself saying that his act of stealing is not a bad act because, like other people who undertake various professions to earn their livelihood, he too is working hard, toiling and risking his life to sustain his family. Despite all this, he certainly passes through times when his conscience reproaches him and tells him that his deeds are improper and malicious. That is why, many a time, when a thief grows old and realises that the end is nigh, he becomes inclined to give up thieving and starts paying attention to making amends with his conscience. Even if someone’s con- science is utterly muted, so much so that he starts taking pride in his misdeeds and apparently has lost the sense of good and evil completely, it will not be hidden from careful observers that in fact such a person is not devoid of the natural virtue called the sense of good and evil. In dealing with others he appears to have no conscience but when it comes to others dealing with him his suppressed conscience wakes up and he would never agree to give up the smallest of his rights, as determined by his sense of good and evil. For instance, take a long-standing and habitual thief who has annihilated his fi t rah by repeated acts of stealing and may feel or appear to feel justified in that—but when someone else lays his hands on his belongings, his half-dead fi t rah comes alive to stand guard over his rights. Similarly, an adulterer, who is always on the lookout to violate the chastity of the daughters, sisters, and wives of others, and indulges in his profane act so much that if someone