Moral Principles as the Basis of Islamic Culture — Page 22
treatment of fellou,1 beings 11s if they· were blon him. There are also three stages of evil which must be avoided. · The first is, evil that is not manifest or apparent, for instance, evil thoughts and evil designs; the next is, when a person's acts and ·conduct are suc:h as to ' displease ~~ offend others and of which they disapprove, for instance, loose or vulgar talk, falsehood, arrogance arid ill manners; the last stage is, conduct which injures other people and amounts to open violation of moral rules. By stressing these different stages of virtue and vice Islam has rendered it easy for every Muslim to carry out a continuous moral check-up of himself and in consequence to take steps and adopt meas- ures for. his moral improvement. - The Quran goes on to prescribe the method through which vices may be eradicated and virtues cultivated. The objective is, as ex- plained earlier, that man should become a reff a"t:ion of divine attributes. In this connection it must be remembered that according to Islam a child is born pure. Evil enters from outside and a person can safeguard himself against it, or, having sucrumbed to it, can cleanse himself of its consequen~es through prayei: a. nd true repentance concerning which also the Quran furnishes detailed guida_nce. 'l'l