That is to say, in evils the soul is the cause and deserves the punishment, while in good deeds, both the cause and the occasion are from God. Man can only lay claim to them through belief. He may not say: “I want the reward,” but he may say: “I hope for divine favour.”

T h i r d  Q u e s t i o n : It is understood from the above explanations that since evils  multiply  through  contagion  and  aggression,  a  single  evil  deed  should  be recorded  as  a  thousand;  and  since  good  deeds pertain  to  existence,  they do  not multiply nor do they occur through the servant’s creative act or the desires of his soul; they therefore should not be  recorded at all or as only one. So why are evil deeds recorded as one and good deeds as ten, and sometimes as thousands?28

T h e  A n s w e r : In this way Almighty God demonstrates His perfect mercy and the beauty of His compassionateness.

F o u r t h   Q u e s t i o n : The successes the people of misguidance have achieved  and the power they display and their victories over the people of guidance show that they rely on some power and truth. This means either that the people of guidance possess some weakness, or that the misguided possess some truth?

T h e   A n s w e r : God forbid, neither do they possess any truth, nor do the people of truth have any weakness. But regretably some of the ordinary people who are short-sighted and unreasoning become doubtful and hesitant, and harm comes to their belief. For they say:  If the people of truth had possessed complete truth and reality, they should not have  suffered defeat and abasement to this degree. For the truth is powerful. According to the fundamental principle “Truth is exalted and shall not  be  overcome,”29   power  lies  in  truth.  If  the  people  of  misguidance  had  not possessed a true power and point of support, they could not have predominated over the people of truth and triumphed to this extent.

T h e  A n s w e r : As is proven in the above Indications, the defeat of the people of truth does not arise from lack of power and absence of truth, and as is also proven, the people of  misguidance’s victory does not spring from their power and capacity and their having some source of support. Hence, the answer to this question is all the above Indications; here we shall only point out a number of the tricks and weapons they employ, as follows:

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28 See, Qur’an, 6:160. See also, Bukhari, Iman, 31; Muslim, Iman, 206.

29 See, Bukhari, Jana’iz, 79: “al-Islam ya’lu wa la yu’la.”