Conclusion Concerning the interrelationship between faith...

Conclusion Concerning the interrelationship between faith and deeds and their role in man’s prosperity, it seems reasonable to compare prosperous life with a tree (See: Ibrahim: 24-27) whose roots resemble faith in the unique God, His prophets, messages, and Resurrection; the trunk resembles the decision made for behavior in accordance with the requisites of faith originating directly from it; the branches and leaves resemble the deserving deeds which originate from the root (faith), and finally, its fruit will be the eternal prosperity.

Had it had no root, there would be no trunk, branches, or leaves nor would it bear any fruit. However, there is no guarantee that the roots will always result in suitable branches and desirable fruits; rather it is often possible that due to unsuitable conditions of the environment and various diseases, a number of branches fail to grow, and any fruit that is born may instead cause the death of the tree.

Moreover, it is possible that due to specific grafts on the branches, trunk or even the roots of the tree, either its appearance or the whole plant may change into another tree. This event resembles the change from faith into apostasy.

To conclude, faith with relation to the topics discussed above will be the main factor affecting man’s prosperity; however, the complete effect of such a factor depends on the absorption of necessary nutrition, by the performance of deserving acts, and the destruction of diseases and harmful elements, by the avoidance of sins.

Finally, the abandonment of obligatory deeds and the committal of forbidden acts weaken the root of faith and will occasionally result in its death just as grafting (believing in) wrong ideas causes change in the nature of faith. Questions Explain the effect of faith on good deeds. Describe the effect of good or bad deeds on the weakness or intensity of faith. Explain the inter-relationship between faith and deeds and their correspondence with man’s prosperity.

LESSON FIFTY-SIX: SOME IMPORTANT POINTS Introduction Some of those who know little about Islamic culture evaluate man’s acts on the basis of superficial standards and pay no attention to the importance of one’s motivation or intention. In other words, they ignore ‘the doer’ in favour of ‘the action’. Such people may also think of a deserving act in relation to the extent to which it affects other peoples’ happiness.