Āl ‘Imrān

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلاَ تَمُوتُنَّ إِلاَّ وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ

102. "O' You who have Faith! be in awe of Allah as it is due to Him: and do not die unless you are Muslims."

Any perfection such as Faith, knowledge and piety has stages. There are elementary stages and the stages higher than that up to the absolute perfection. For instance, we recite the Qur'an where it says:

Or in Makarim-ul-Akhlaq, the Supplication, we, asking the Lord, recite: "O' Lord! Expand my Faith to a perfect faith."¹¹ And, in the above mentioned verse we recite:

Imam Sadiq (as) in this regard, says:

"The due piety is in the fact that Allah be obeyed and not to be disobeyed; to be remembered and not to be forgotten, and to be thanked with no ingratitude," ¹²

This shows that there are some stages and steps in piety.

Explanations

1. Every day we must promote to a higher stage.

2. Mere belief is not enough, but to remain faithful is the condition. Beginning is not so important while the ending is more important.

3. Islam not only teaches us how to live, but also teaches us how to die.

4. Piety is the only key to the goodness of destiny.