thing, no matter how little, is helping forward the process, and he
who does wrong is retarding it. Every action has its natural
consequences for the doer himself as well as for his nation:
And whosoever doeth good an atom's weight will see it then and
whosoever doeth ill an atom's weight will see it then (99:7-8).
Every action of man is recorded and the consequences inevitably
follow. Good, however, prevails over bad. The consequences of a
wrong action can be nullified by a right act. "Good deeds" says the
Qur'an, "annul bad deeds'' (11:114). The fate of the individual or of
the nation, therefore, depends on which kind of actions
predominate;
As for him whose scales are heavy (with good works) he will live a
pleasant life. But as for him whose scales are light, the ''Bereft and
Hungry One" will be his mother (abode). Ah! what will convey unto
thee what she is – a raging fire (10:6-11).
A grim fate surely overtakes the nation which has set itself in
opposition to the moral order of the universe. However, as already
stated, the Law of Requital works slowly. The effects of a particular
way of life may not be obvious for years. The nation is deluded by a
false sense of security. If it does not mend its ways and persists in
the wrong course, it is doomed "and God shall lead them on (to
destruction) by steps they perceive not" (68:44). The Universal
Divine Order has no use for a nation which merely impedes the
progress of humanity. Such a nation drops out of the procession of
mankind and can never rejoin it. Its disappearance is not even
noticeable:
And the heaven and the earth wept not for them, nor were they
reprieved (44:29).
Such a nation, sooner or later, disappears from history. A nation
which takes to destructive ways is invariably granted a respite, long
or short. It is saved if it retraces its steps and turns back to the right
path before reaching the point of no return. This respite is termed
ajal in the Qur'an. "For every nation there is an ajal " (7:34), and "for
every ajal there is a law" (13:38). The limit beyond which a nation
cannot pass without being irretrievably lost is determined by Divine
Law:
Allah effaceth and establisheth everything according to a law the
source of which is with Him (13:39).
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 269