The Consequences of Wrong Deeds | The Sunday Guardian | April 24, 2011 | Page 15

The consequences of wrong deeds are invariably evil; no one can disown the bad outcome of his own misdeeds. This is a law of Nature, the application of which is explained in the chapter entitled Al-Talaq (Divorce) of the Quran: "How many a town rebelled against the commands of its Lord and His messengers and We called them sternly to account and punished them severely, so they tasted the evil consequences of their conduct and the result of their conduct was ruin." (65:8-9)

There is a well-known formula in the world of physics: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This formula applies in human life also. If you take a wrong step, you cannot escape its bad results. It is a law of nature from which no man or woman is exempt.

It happens generally that when a wrong-doer has to face the consequences of his wrong-doing, he tries to find a scapegoat. But this kind of scapegoat can be found only in the dictionary and not in real life. When you take a wrong step and after some time the results are undesirable, do not delay in accepting that it is your own fault. You should say quite frankly that you were wrong. If you try to blame others, you will very soon discover that there is no taker for this kind of blame.

If you accept your mistake in such a situation, it will actually benefit you. It will enable you to make a reassessment of the whole matter, and that will in turn enable you to re-plan your strategy. And finally it will enable you — when you have missed the first train — to board the next one.

Man has certain limitations. You may work out a plan with good intentions but, due to miscalculation, you fail to achieve your target. This kind of failure can be forgiven; your excuse on this occasion will be quite acceptable.