The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 22
heavenly decrees should be totally and sincerely accepted. All these commandments, limits, laws and decrees should be accepted in great humility. All the truths and understandings, which are the means of appreciating His vast powers and of finding out the greatness of His kingdom and His sovereignty and are a guide for the recognition of His favours and bounties, should be fully ascertained. . The second aspect of devoting one's life to the cause of. God Almighty is that one's life should be devoted to the service of His creatures and to sympathy with them and to sharing their burdens and sorrows. One should suffer pain to bring them comfort, and one should experience grief to bring them consolation. . This shows that the reality of Islam is a very superior thing and that no one can truly deserve the title of Muslim till he surrenders the whole of his being to God, together with all his faculties, desires, and designs and till he begins to tread along His path withdrawing altogether from his ego and all its attendant qualities. A person will be truly called a Muslim only when his heedless life undergoes a total revolution and his evil-directing self, together with all its passions, is wiped out altogether and he is invested with a new life which is characterized by his carrying out all his obligations to Allāh and which should comprise nothing except obedience to the Creator and sympathy for His creatures. . Obedience to the Creator means that in order to make manifest His Honour, Glory and Unity, one should be ready to endure every dishonour and humiliation, and one should be eager to undergo a thousand deaths in order to uphold His Unity. One hand should be ready to cut