The Teachings of Islam
Stimulus and Response
~ 65 ~
STIMULUS AND RESPONSE
Human character can be guarded from the way
people respond to day-to-day events. Everything
that happens affects one in one way or another. The
kind of response we make to what is going on
around us is determined by our mentality. If one is
unmindful of God, one will react in whatever
manner one’s own desires and interests demand. If,
however, one’s faith is strong, each and every event
throughout one’s entire life reminds one of God; the
entire range of one’s emotions is then concentrated
not on oneself, but on God.
Fortunes in life never cease to fluctuate. Ease is soon
followed by hardship. It is never long before praise
and approval give way to criticism and accusation.
No sooner do events begin to follow a satisfactory
course than they suddenly take a turn for the worse.
Ups and downs of this nature are all in the nature of
a trial. If one is to succeed in life’s trial, these
changes of fortune should turn one more and more
towards God and away from the self, and, humble
and resigned when stricken by misfortune, one
