Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Sunday Guardian, July 29, 2018

An American lady went on a tour of Russia. There, she saw pictures of the Chairman of the Communist party hanging everywhere she went. She took offence of this and gave vent to her feelings in the presence of some Russians.

Her companion whispered in her ear: "Madam, you are in Russia now, not America."

One can live as one likes in one's own country, but when one goes to a foreign country one has to abide by its laws. If one does not do so, then one will be considered an offender.

The same is true, in a broader sense, of this world. A human being has been born into a world which he himself did not create.

The world in which one lives is entirely of God's making. Man, then, is not in his own country: he is living in the country of God.

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The only way that a person can prosper is by understanding God's schemeand living in the world according to that scheme.

If he contradicts the scheme of God then he will be considered as a rebel.

The question is: how should one live in the world in order to conform with the will of God? It was to provide an answer to this question that God raised up His prophets.

The prophets showed people, plainly and in terms that they could understand, exactly what the Lord requires of them; they defined the principles that God wants a person to adhere to and the character He wants them to embody.

The Quran is a collection of this prophetic guidance. It provides spiritual guidance on how to lead one's life such that one can develop a noble personality which in the Hereafter is held deserving of God's blessings.