إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْقَانِتِينَ وَالْقَانِتَاتِ وَالصَّادِقِينَ وَالصَّادِقَاتِ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَالصَّابِرَاتِ وَالْخَاشِعِينَ وَالْخَاشِعَاتِ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقِينَ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقَاتِ وَالصَّائِمِينَ وَالصَّائِمَاتِ وَالْحَافِظِينَ فُرُوجَهُمْ وَالْحَافِظَاتِ وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ أَعَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا (35:33)

Men and women who are Muslims, are true believers, serve God diligently, are sincere, patient, humble themselves before God, spend in charity, who fast and guard their private parts and remember God in abundance – on them God will bestow forgiveness and has prepared for them a great reward. (33:35)

When a person reaches the pinnacle of morality with regard to his Creator and his fellow human beings, the qualities which emerge in him are stated in this verse. Thus it ends with the statement that God’s mercy awaits these noble souls and He has prepared for them a great reward. In the creed of tasawwuf, the pinnacle of all efforts of a human being is to become an embodiment of divine attributes. If God is all-knowing and all-aware, a person should be no less; if God does not need a wife, he too should spend a life of celibacy; if God is self-sufficient and free of all wants and needs, he also should become free of all human wants and needs; if God controls the inner and outer worlds of man, he also should be able to walk on water, play with fire, cure the sick by touching them, bring the dead to life and control the mind and soul in whatever way he wants to. However, this is not the view of the Quran. According to it, the pinnacle of a human being is to mould oneself as per the requirements of God’s attributes and as a result of this become an embodiment of the qualities stated in the above verse. These are ten qualities and in the whole of its corpus, the Qur’an has not added to this list. They reflect the pinnacle of religion. The Quran urges its followers to try to engender these qualities in themselves. If there is a level beyond this, then it is that of prophethood and about it, it is well-known that it is not achieved by any effort; it is God-gifted.

i) Islam:

Discussion 52522

ii) Iman:

Discussion 52526

iii) Humbling before God:

Discussion 52530

iv) Veracity:

Discussion 52533

v) Patience:

Discussion 52537

vi) Khushu (Humility):

Discussion 52543

vii) Charity:

Discussion 52546

viii) The Fast:

Discussion 52546

ix) Guarding the Private Parts:

Discussion 52546

x) Remembering God in Abundance:

Discussion 52549

(Javed Ahmed Ghamidi)

(Translated by Dr. Shehzad Saleem)