Way of The Seekers — Page 88
88 THE 8. To pay scrupulous regard to all good morals which relate to God. For instance, honoring commitments, etc. 9. To discard all false beliefs. 10 To remonstrate with those who are disrespectful towards God and to try to persuade them through argument to desist from disrespectful and ungrateful behavior towards God. For instance, to try to make that one understand and think better of God who says that God has been cruel and has given him nothing, for it amounts to being disrespectful to God. 11 To convey the truth. 12 Respect for institutions which belong to God. What are the occasions when certain actions are to be done or not to be done? The answer is both simple and detailed. If I were to try to answer in detail it would not take less than fifteen to twenty hours, even if I tried to be brief. I would, therefore, adopt the simpler course. I will give only the barest outline, pointing out some of the major landmarks: 1. Not to stop carrying out obligations which one owes to God unless one is forcibly restrained or is justified by another divine injunction. For instance, not to be able to perform Wudu (ablution) because the hand or the face is injured. Similarly one divine Command can override another such Command. This is illustrated by the following example. It is a divine injunction that a woman should wear the veil in public. But this too is a divine injunction that she should lift the veil on the occasion of the pilgrimage to the Kaaba. The second Command overrides the first. As a result, not to wear the veil in the Kaaba becomes a virtue. Again, it is a duty under divine law to obey parents. But if this duty conflicts with another divine Command, virtue consists in not obeying parents in such a case. 2 Not to do unto others what, all things being equal, one would not like done unto oneself. There is, however, a