ZonEMvS

avoided what was wrong and forbidden then the reward they will earn on it jointly will be granted to us alone also. A little thought will show that there is simple no other way in which a person can win so much reward-the reward of the prayers and other pious and virtuous deeds of hundreds of men.

Another Tradition of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) says:

“By the Almighty, if only one man receives guidance through you, it is better for you than red camels.”

As we have said earlier, the endeavor for mankind’s moral and spiritual guidance and reformation is a service of the faith of the highest order and a thing of outstanding merit and excellence. It is the special heritage left to us by the Prophets. It means their deputyship; it means their vicegerency. What worldly gain, what earthly glory, can compare with it?

The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him), in the under-mentioned Tradition, has made use of a simple example to impress upon us the importance of the work of religious reformation and guidance. He said, “Suppose there is a double storied boat in which the passengers of the lower deck have to fetch water from the upper deck. This causes inconvenience to the occupants of the upper deck and they do not like it. Now, if in their foolishness the passengers of the lower deck decide not to go to the upper deck and of their supply of water they begin to bore a hole in the bottom of the boat, and the passengers of the upper deck do not stop them from doing so, the entire boat, with all the passengers, will sink, But if the occupants of the upper deck somehow manage to dissuade the occupants of the lower deck from boring he hole, they will save the occupants of the lower deck as well as themselves from being drowned. The same is true with wickedness and sin. If a community, as a whole, dwells in a state of ignorance and sinfulness and its enlightened and virtuous sections do not take steps to reform it and to bring it on the right path then Divine punishment will be sent down upon it because of its sins and transgressions and the pious and virtuous members of the community will also be caught in it. On the other hand, if an endeavor is made by them to reform the sinners and wrong-doers, the whole community will be saved.”

Again, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) is reported to have said:

“By the Almighty in whose power lies my life, do not neglect the duty of ‘enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.’ Remember if you neglected your duty it is quite possible that Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) might send down His punishment on you and then all your prayers and supplications will avail you nothing.”

Brothers, some of the most enlightened and spiritually evolved divines of our day are of the view that the disasters and humiliations that have been visiting Muslims for a long time, and the troubles and difficulties they are caught in universally these days and which do not seem to abate or relent a bit in-spite of all their pathetic petitions to Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) and prayers etc., are due mainly to the very reason that they have ceased to discharge the function they were raised up for and for which they were made wholly responsible after the termination of Prophecy and Apostleship. Evidently, when a watchman fails to perform his duty he is dismissed from service and castigated sternly for his negligence. Come; let us resolve solemnly that we shall be found wanting no more in the discharge of our duty. Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa)’s help will be with us. He has promised: