Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 423
! ! 423 Allah sets forth similitudes for men that they may reflect. ” (Holy Qur’ān , Ch. 14: V. 25 - 26) In the beginning of these verses, God Almighty had said that those who believe and are righteous , will enter Paradise. Now on the surface , people declare themselves Muslim and if asked about their faith, they would reply , ‘B y the grace of God , I am a Muslim. ’ However, God Almighty declares that solely pronouncing oneself to be a believer does not make a person a believer. You must keep in mind, that having faith in Allah and acting righteously is like a good tree. Just as in this life, a fruit - bearing tree requires care and attention, no shajr - e - tayyaba [pure tree] flourishes unless it is watered and taken care of ; the forest trees being an exception. Likewise , it is not acceptable for one to merely claim true faith and acknowledge the value of virtuous deeds. Wild trees never bear the highest quality of fruits. The best quality fruit is only produced by the best trees, and the best trees are those which are nurtured by people. Therefore, the most apt metaphor for faith and acts of righteousness is the shajr - e - tayyaba , or in other words the tree which is nurtured , not that which grows wild. And this shajr - e - tayyaba cannot bear fruit without the water of virtuous deeds. J ust as a tree withers away if it is not watered after being planted, it will bear excellent fruit if watered and will remain fruitful for a long time to come. Likewi se, do not be content with your verbal declaration of faith, but remember well, shajr - e - tayyaba requires water and unless faith is watered with virtuous deeds, it cannot grow to become a shajr - e - tayyaba. Therefo re, do not be content with the mere recitation of Kalima. Unless you water the tree of ‘ L a ilaha ill Allah ’ [ t here is no God but Allah] with acts of righteousness , your tree will not bear fruit , but will wither away instead. In reality, as trees are of different types, similarly there are as many type s of ‘ L a ilah a il l Allah ’. Some a re good and others are rotten. In the Holy Qur’ān , an example of a k alima , which is rotten, is given as: