illnesses that are either harmful or fatal. Even so, no reasonable person would say that his need for, and benefit from, avoiding harmful foods is greater than his need for, and benefit from, wholesome foods. Rather, his need for and benefit from the foods he eats are greater than the benefit he derives from those he avoids. If he ate no food whatsoever, he would certainly perish. If, however, he eats both wholesome and harmful foods, there may be hope for his safety, but also fear for his life. If he eats wholesome foods and avoids harmful ones, he enjoys health and safety.

The first case is comparable to someone who abandons what he has been commanded to do. The second is comparable to someone who does both what is commanded and what is forbidden: someone who mixes righteous deeds with evil ones. The third is comparable to the person of piety who does what he has been commanded and avoids what he has been forbidden. Piety is therefore of such great importance because it combines safety with honour, not because it brings safety alone. In the Hereafter there is no abode other than Paradise or Hell: whoever is saved from Hell enters Paradise, and whoever is not granted bliss is punished. No human being is left without either punishment or bliss.

Reflect on this: every quality that Allah has commanded or praised necessarily involves doing what is commanded, either as an integral part of it or as its necessary consequence. Such qualities are praised for securing good rather than evil, and reward rather than punishment.

Likewise, scrupulousness and renunciation, as prescribed in Islam, are forms of the piety it prescribes. Some people, however, have misunderstood this. As for the prescribed and recommended scrupulousness with which Allah sent Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, it is the caution exercised by one who fears