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yā-ʾayyuhā lladhīna ʾāmanū ʾin tattaqū llāha yajʿal lakum furqānan wa-yukaffir ʿankum sayyiʾātikum wa-yaghfir lakum wa-llāhu dhū l-faḍli l-ʿaẓīmi
O you who have faith! If you are wary of Allah, He shall appoint a criterion for you, and absolve you of your misdeeds, and forgive you, for Allah is dispenser of a great grace.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Anfal – Verse 29
29 . “O you who have Faith! If you be in awe of Allah, He will assign for you a discrimination (between right and wrong), and absolve you of your misdeeds, and forgive you, and Allah is the Lord of Mighty Grace.”
The current criterions of recognizing right from wrong are numerous. Among them are the followings:
A) Prophets and saints of Allah are criterions. An Islamic tradition says:
“He who leaves Ali (as) has really left Allah.” 1
B) The Book of Allah is a criterion. By adapting things with the Qur’an, the right can be recognized from wrong.
C) Piety is another criterion. When the storm of instincts, accompanied with love and enmity that are nourished from impiety, arrives, piety is dismissed and impiety hinders the recognition of facts:
The ability of the recognition between right and wrong is a knowledge given by Allah, and it does not merely depend on the ability of reading and writing or necessarily on the standard of knowledge. The verse says:
Fakhr-i-Razi has explained: “The expiation of sins is concealment in this world, while ‘forgiveness’ is a deliverance from the punishment of Allah in Hereafter. According to the statements of some other commentators of the Qur’an ‘expiation’ is to wipe out the social and psychological effects of sins, while forgiveness is a remittance in respect to Hell.” Therefore, those who put aside the mental desires will recognize the truth, and their piety causes a proper insight to come forth in them and a great virtue and reward to be obtained.
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