The Difference Between the Success of a Believer and a Non-Believer

Always keep the principle in mind that the task of a believer is to feel embarrassed when they are blessed with any form of success, and praise God for having showered His grace upon them.

This is how a believer advances, and by demonstrating steadfastness in the face of trial, they receive the favour of God. Apparently, the success of a Hindu and a believer are similar, but remember that the success of a disbeliever is a way that leads to misguidance, whereas the success of a believer opens for them the door of divine blessing.

The success of a disbeliever leads to misguidance because they, in turn, do not incline towards God, but rather take their own effort, intelligence and capability to be God. A believer, however, turns to God and gains a new understanding of Him.

In this way, after every success, a new relationship between them and God is forged and a transformation begins to take place. Allah Almighty states:

[i]اِنَّ اللّٰہَ مَعَ الَّذِیۡنَ اتَّقَوۡا

That is to say, God is with those who are righteous. It ought to be borne in mind that the word taqwa (i.e. righteousness) has appeared in the Holy Qur’an many a time. This word is understood in light of the word ma’a (meaning ‘with’), which appears before it.

That is to say that those who give precedence to God, in return are given precedence by God and He saves such people from every kind of disgrace in this world. It is my belief that if an individual desires to be safeguarded from every kind of disgrace and hardship in this world, there is only one way and that is to become righteous. After this, such a one lacks nothing. Hence, the success of a believer moves them further ahead and they never remain stagnant.[ii]

[i] The Holy Qur’an, 16:129.

[ii] The Promised Messiah(as), Malfuzat-Volume 1 (Islam International Publications Ltd., 2018), 153-154.