In the name of Allah SWT. Creator of the worlds. Lord of the heavens and the earth. The Most Gracious. The Most Beneficent. The Most Merciful.
The Criterion for Discernment is 'not' a poetic phrase. Nor is it a sermon.
Nor does it aim to attack what you hold sacred.
It is a Spiritual-Allegorical Narrative, that depicts the different rewards attached to living and dying on the path of obedience to the commandments of Allah SWT, contrasting it with the different horrible consequences attached to living and dying on the path of disobedience to the commandments of Allah SWT; weaving it into a journey of love, trials, choices, and triumphs.
It is a symbolic literary fiction, and a slow-born, theological framework, where choices, moral consequences, and Divine discernment intertwine.
It is a mirror, held directly at the heart of the reader and listener alike, asking the tough questions.
This book is not to be read merely for fun. No.
If you are one who hate truth or wants surface level story that does not touch your soul, turn back now.
It is 'not' for readers and listeners who want haram romance or easy answers; but those who want answers that is aligned with what is true.
It exists 'explicitly' to reshape and refine the soul.
It is for those who reason, and those who reflect deeply on their daily choices.
For those who know; and those who want to know; the unending benefits attached to fearing their Lord, unseen, sincerely.
Those who know; and those who want to know; that each choice we make daily has weight; heavy or light; and holds consequences that echo beyond the present into the future and into the Hereafter.
It is 'not' for those who care less about the commandments of Allah SWT and the eternal consequences of their earthly deeds and indulgence.
It is 'not' for those who see right in justifying wrongdoings and disobedience to the commandments of Allah SWT for monetary gain, temporary pleasure, or out of disbelief.
_______
What You Will Encounter in This Book:
Circling around the life path of two mirror-souls, The Criterion for Discernment serves as a pilgrimage into the innermost chambers of our soul for spiritual enlightenment and also aim at possible reform.
For Jamal and Aamina, their journey teaches that love alone is not the bedrock of a successful relationship.
Purification, alignment with what is true, and surrender to Divine timing are.
It teaches that when purification precedes union, the relationship becomes more than companionship; it becomes a means of strengthening faith, raising conscious children, and repairing generational error. It states that: the soul that resets before union does not lose love; it upgrades into it.
The separation phase is not cruelty, nor infatuation, nor toxic love, nor obsession. No. It is a phase of purification and training the heart away from compromise. Despite distance, their growth is a mirrored one orchestrated by an unexplained soul‑pull and their individual unwavering devotion to uphold the commandments of Allah SWT. They will have to return to Allah SWT individually and to truth before returning to each other, because union after alignment becomes covenant.
But union without alignment would eventually bring negligence of divine duty.
You will also encounter in the lives of diverse characters and shifting scenes; the wrong choices that could make you worthy of the punishment of the Fire; the right choices that guide your steps and bring blessings from Allah SWT on this earth and in the Hereafter; and the unchecked choices that pushed many back into alignment and many other deeper into error after meeting a certain nearer punishment for their misguided deeds. In those critical choices made when returning to alignment feels like surrendering to punishment.
As a reader or a listener, you might see yourself in their hesitation.
You might feel your own struggles in their silence, their triumphs, and adverse moments.
The awakening it brings to your soul is through the reflections you do with the lessons you learn from the guided and misguided choices/indulgence of the characters.
But this book is more than just a story of two mirror-souls finding their way to union. At its core, it teaches the practice of Holistic Discernment and the uncompromised use of the naturally embedded Criterion, to keep us in alignment with Divine order as we grow toward our certain death.
So it is important before we begin, that we know:
What is Holistic discernment?
What is the Criterion?
How do they (The Criterion for Discernment) work together, serving as a compass and navigator for the heart across our temporary earthly journey?
And why is it important to awaken these discerning questions in our heart and teach it to offspring at an early stage?
Walk with me.
Every human on earth travels a path shaped by the unseen influences of their personal choices. The detachment of our heart from sincere fear of Allah SWT and the excessive desire for the temporary enjoyments of this worldly life is what make people justify disobedience and persist on the path of sin and what led so many nations and individuals astray.
Holistic Discernment/Discernment is the internal, self‑built, unbiased questions outlined with the heart and the conscience highly attuned to truth and obedience to the commandments of Allah SWT, allowing you to differentiate the path of alignment with Divine order and Divine guidance from the path of delusion and spiritual deception cloaked in temporary gain when making choices.
Discernment is the soul‑trained ability to see beyond Earth's illusionary glitter and recognize the devil's whispers wrapped in modern temptation and promises of instant gratification. Acting as a judge in whatever wake of life your struggle to escape adversities or to seek and enjoy the bounty of Allah SWT might take you.
But discernment is not merely judgment, because judgment can be crude, biased, automatic, or even tribal sometimes.
Discernment comprises the internal rules built for judging our deeds and indulgence, refined by humility.
It is the quiet, razor‑edged art of seeing what actually is true and what is not in the way of Allah; beneath the beautification of worldly illusions.
They are rules that give the soul the ability to:
-- See strength in a truthful claim.
-- Detect possible imbalance in misguided practices.
-- And introduce stabilizing context that doesn't contradict Divine guidance.
It is the ability to tell a genuine angelic whisper in the heart from a demonic one dressed in light.
These internal subtle questions is built knowingly to serve as telescope that helps you magnify and examine the future spiritual outcome of your current indulgence/deeds without bias or justified compromise when making critical, minor, or life‑changing choices.
Questioning whether your choices and current indulgence traject you toward a life lived with purpose and accountability to Allah SWT and a future return to paradise after death, or toward a life that displeases Allah SWT and will eventually make you worthy of punishment on earth and in the Hereafter; before it is too late (before the indulgence/deeds/choice leads you into despair, or you eventually meet certain death with sincere repentance.)
You will understand more about these punishment types as you read across the pages of this book).
Dear reader and listener.
Whether you are:
a student, a lecturer, a doctor, a slave, a king, a master, a mistress, a writer, a preacher, a politician, a banker, a leader, a follower, a man, a girl, an orphan, a mother, a teacher, a brother;
the worker, the merchant, the traveller, the stranger, the deaf, the blind, the lame, the strong, the weak, the oppressor, the cultist, the beggar, the philanthropist, the tyrant, an evildoer;
a wicked person, a good-hearted fellow, the broken, the player, the lover, the good, the bad, the ugly, the perfectionist;
a deceitful person, a truthful person, a trustworthy person, a lecturer, a homeless person, a billionaire, a tyrant, a wretched person, a lawmaker, a defender, a coder, an innovator, a banker, a bandit, a perpetrator of good, a perpetrator of evil;
a money handler, a spiritual leader, a traditionalist, a thief, a musician, a kidnapper, a bandit, a corrupt group kingpin, a godfather, etc.
Discernment is simply your heart's own uncompromised ability to evaluate the future consequences of your soul's current indulgence, to think about its own activities, to see whether the path leads toward blessings from Allah SWT or into an inevitable ruin.
These self-built internal subtle questions are the internal personal advisers that help you focus the outcome of your choices on accountability to Allah SWT. This question is what you let you reflect sincerely on the future spiritual, emotional, physical, and psychological result of your current daily indulgence/choices to worship, to earn, to love, or in how you relate with other people in the society before or during indulgence, or the choices you make after meeting a nearer punishment. (you will understand more about this nearer punishment when you get to the page that talks about "The Inevitable Divine Reckoning".
This uncompromised question brings automatic clarity and grounding to the soul, keeping the soul in line with what is true with the path of the Creator; during times of adversity and times of bounty, so it does not succumb to the inclinations of the ego-self and thereby derail onto the path of those worthy of the punishment of Allah SWT; as we journey to certain death at the uncertain hour.
Discernment implies insight, wisdom, and perceptiveness to truth.
This discerning question is not noise.
It is not impulse.
It is not questioning revelation or Divine law. No.
It is the heart and the mind sincerely questioning the self, the soul, the choices, the normalized practices, the indulgence, the accountability, the worship, the justifications, the pattern, the alliances, the heedlessness; with accountability to the commandments of Allah SWT as the reference point slowed by attention, sharpened by love for the truth even when it costs you something.
It is the ability to judge well, to see subtle differences, to grasp the deeper nature of something; especially when the choice isn't obvious.
When someone exercises discerning questions during; before; or after choices/indulgence, they don't just "go with their gut." The questions let them test their choices/indulgence against their internal criterion during both critical moments, happy moments, and times of adversity.
And what is The Criterion?
The criterion is a naturally embedded specific principle, rule, or standard by which something is judged, evaluated, or decided. It is the spiritual yardstick you use to make a choice.
As discernment is personally and consciously awaken in the heart, the criterion is naturally embedded into the soul like an array of cosmic advisers by Allah SWT at birth serving as the soul's natural standard for judgment, separating the path of darkness from the path of light.
The criterion is what aids the soul to recognize:
truth from falsehood,
purity from corruption,
alignment from deviation; except if compromised intentionally or out of ignorance to justify sinful indulgence.
If not compromised, Criterion is what act as an internal witness and reference point for building the discerning questions in order not to arrive at decisions laced with justified compromise because it naturally inclines toward truth.
These naturally embedded criteria/criterion are the facilities through which the human soul is capable of recognizing and responding to truth.
They are:
- Conscience,
- The primordial disposition toward truth (fitrah).
- reason,
- and the gift of free will, which is the ability to choose
--between doing good and perpetrating evil,
--between acting right toward fellow humans and acting wrong for our personal benefit without the sincere fear of Allah SWT,
--between shrine, stones, and mediator worship and truthful direct worship of The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,
--between being a tyrant leader that spread corruption upon the earth surface and being a merciful leader that brings peace and unity to earth, in line with Divine order,
--between being a citizen that spread corruption upon the earth surface and support injustice and being among those that promote love, unity, peace, and spread harmony upon the earth surface.
You are free to choose.
But across generations, many of the descendants of Adam suffer from the preference for instant gratification over patience in Divine timing. People usually dislike truth and Divine guidance because following guidance sincerely requires steadfastness on the path of Allah SWT and patience in the unseen. They instead prefer the deluded and temporary promises of this worldly life and thereby turn away from every sign of Allah SWT. Many follow what their fathers, forefathers, peers, leaders, society, and ancestors did, justified, and normalized, and even when their embedded criterion directs them otherwise, they instead compromise the Criterion to indulge because of forefather effect. They neglect obedience to divine guidance, and divulge into disobedience and disbelief because of the promise of delusional enjoyment and the love of instant gratification that has veiled their reality.
Instead of discerning their deeds and repent sincerely for those that are on the path of misalignment, they demand:
"When is this promise? Where is this Creator?"
"Why should I pray fervently? Why should I treat others equal?", and they say,
"We live and we die. And nothing changes us except time." And they instead walk the earth in self-exultation while continuously disputing among themselves.
Rather, they are disputing concerning the matter of their Return.
Concerning the inevitable Meeting with their Creator; whereas they could die anytime and any hour which is definitely the Day of return to their Creator.
Alhamdulillah for the Qur'an and the teachings of the messengers of Allah SWT. Indeed, without it many individuals today would still be lost in the same cycles of normalized disobedience and justified sinful practices that made many individuals and nations from among the former people worthy of the punishments of Allah SWT while they perceived it not.
Across generations and the evolution of earth, humanity consistently battle with resisting the wants of the ego-self from birth till death, that is why humans are naturally inclined to diverging into sinful practices for quick gain, temporary pleasure, or for the enjoyment of delusion.
When the inner criterion becomes compromised with the first indulgence and without a well‑managed discernment rule that would anchor your heart back to the path of truth, it could automatically serve as the justifier for continuous indulgence in evil practices and disobedience because when you remove the sincere fear of Allah SWT from your heart.
Different people make choices and indulge in different activities because of the gift of freewill and what their heart have justified for them that it is right, even if it is wrong and would indeed hurt their soul. The temporary easy path from unjust earning and the quick reward from corruption-rooted practices is what made many of the descendants of Adam routinely forget Allah SWT and diverge into disobedience across generations. We humans forget that this freewill was not given to us for misuse. For it leads directly into the justice of Allah SWT. Either the freewill lead you into practices that bring the wrath of Allah SWT upon your soul on earth and in the Hereafter, or it lead you into choices that brings the blessings of Allah SWT on earth and in the Hereafter. These criteria/criterion in every human is to serve as a natural resistor toward sinful indulgence as we grow.
These naturally embedded laws/rules(Criterion) do not merely arouse instinct. The good use of the inner criterion promotes conscious restraint.
'The Criterion' and 'Discernment' might contrast in meaning, but they are not the same.
Discernment is inner, personal-built unbiased rules which a person uses to measure their daily choices and the future consequences that come with them. While the criterion is inner law embedded at the soul level restraining corruption when emotion pushes otherwise.
Discernment is personally born in your heart as you grow, done with a righteous mindset. They are the spiritually conscious questions you ask yourself while making choices.
Whereas, criterion is naturally embedded inside every human like a rule of law, letting you naturally know what is wrong and right from your conscience and reason as you grow.
When discernment is trained and anchored with the proper use of the naturally embedded criterion, the following questions would arise in our heart during decision times and when indulging in any activity.
You learn to build and to automatically ask these questions:
-- "Does this choice or practice foster peace among humanity and for my self or build up anxiety?"
-- "Does it reflect love and selflessness, or ego and wickedness?"
-- "Can I still boldly return to it tomorrow without fear of facing punishment from Allah SWT; because it it a right path?"
-- "Am I making this choice to receive good reward from Allah SWT in the nearest future; on earth and in the Hereafter, or am I making my choices without accountability to what I might receive from Allah SWT, following my own assumptions?"
-- "When I am gone, when I am here no more, will this practice/indulgence/path I am taking keep a good legacy for me and my offsprings among my peers and the people of the society, or a bad legacy that only return curse and multiplication of punishments to me in the grave?"
-- "When I am gone, when I am here no more, can my offspring peacefully enjoy what I am struggling to gather with this path I am taking to earn a living without facing consequences from Allah SWT; except good rewards?"
-- "Will this practice/indulgence/choice plant light, guidance, and the sincere fear of Allah SWT in the heart of generations unborn, letting them see the benefits of working on earth for the good rewards of the Hereafter? Or will it plant a seed of corruption and disobedience in the heart of generations unborn and become a chain of distortion, letting them justify, commonize, and indulge in practices that only eventually leads into an Inescapable punishment of Allah SWT on earth and in the Hereafter?"
-- "Is what I am doing today leading me toward eternal life with Allah after death, or does it distance me from the blessings of my Creator while I call it enjoyment or survival?"
-- "Does this choice align me with Divine guidance and obedience to the words of Allah SWT, or will acceptance of this choice/indulgence put me among the heedless disbelievers with a blind heart who are led astray by Allah SWT while they know it not and think their choice is rightly guided?"
-- "Does this increase barakah and blessings from Allah, or only increase earthly appearance while I pile up inescapable punishment for my unseen future self?"
-- "Does this indulgence purify my lineage or burden it with the misalignment of my choices?"
-- "Are these deeds in line with the teachings of the Holy Quran and the truthful scriptures that came through the prophets or is it cloaked in ancestral error-rooted belief system?"
-- "Am I building toward eternal life with Allah SWT with this life and choices, or will I face the wrath of Allah SWT on the Day of Judgement for neglecting the teachings of Allah SWT, if certain death meets me in this act?"
-- "Am I among those exerting real effort for the reward of the Hereafter with sincere, fervent prayer and good work, or am I among those who wander blindly in error and spread corruption upon the earth's surface while they think they are on the right path and rightly guided?"
-- "Are these choices, deeds, belief systems i am holding on to, that I am indulging in today; in line with Divine order? Are they pushing me into alignment for my highest good and good purpose to humanity which naturally brings Divine upliftment? Are they building a future of peace, Divine blessings, righteousness, and eternal rest for myself and my possible offsprings? Or are they leading me away from alignment with Divine order, into disbelief, defiant disobedience, and negligence of divine role and accountability, where I trade my eternity for temporary earthly desires and the enjoyment of delusion; and eventually become worthy of the punishment of the Hellfire?"
-- "When I slip and make a mistake against Allah SWT like humans do, do I return quickly with repentance, or do I harden my heart, go deeper into error, and walk the earth in self‑exaltation while persisting in sin?"
-- "will I be proud of this indulgence when I am eventually shown my record wide open, on The Day of Accountability?
-- "What has Allah said concerning this matter?"
-- "Does this desire bring me nearer to Allah or farther from Him?"
-- "Am I seeking immediate relief at the expense of eternal benefit?"
-- "Is my judgment being clouded by fear, anger, lust, pride, greed, or impatience?"
-- "What will this choice become if pursued to its end?"
-- "Would I be pleased to meet Allah having made this choice?"
These discerning questions during choices and indulgence are what gradually build the soul and the heart in a way that they are both consciously attuned to living to maintain Divine balance.
More concretely, a person with discernment:
-- Sees distinctions others miss (not just "good vs. bad," but "good vs. almost good but not right for this context").
-- Knows what to weigh most heavily in a messy situation.
-- Arrives at a judgment that proves sound over time, even when the evidence was unclear at first.
-- Avoids both naivety and cynicism, landing on a nuanced truth.
The Criterion and the discerning questions) are supposed to work together in every human, hand in hand, bringing spiritual, psychological, physical, and emotional alignment as you journey toward your return to Allah SWT.
In truth, many descendants of Adam AS knowingly choose evil indulgence and avoid discerning the future outcome of their indulgence because it make them uncomfortable. They fear to face the truth about their own indulgence early, till they eventually face their future nearer punishment for their disobedient choices or meet death while still indulging in sin without offering sincere repentance; which only makes the situation way worse than the punishment on earth.
When discernment is active in the heart and connected to the uncompromised criterion in the soul, the soul remains conscious of where it is heading, because it remains connected to Allah SWT at heart and spiritually attuned to truth. That is why, these naturally embedded criterion can only be compromised by our blind deeds, defiantly disobedient choices, corruption‑rooted practices, arrogance, and greed, led by the inclination of the ego‑self toward beautified illusions of this worldly life. And such a situation can only take effect when you lose the sincere fear of Allah SWT in your choices; which are the discerning laws you have failed to build around your heart to protect you from the fleeting desires of the ego‑self that only bring temporary enjoyment and plenty of future inescapable punishment, both on earth and in the Hereafter.
When discernment in choices is abandoned, the inner criterion is slowly compromised by continuously justifying minor wrongdoing until it lead eventually into justifying major ones for monetary gain or temporary pleasure or protection.
When you lose the sincere fear of Allah SWT in your choices, in your daily indulgence, in your decisions, you have thereby forgotten Allah SWT.
The forgetting of Allah SWT is where the derailment begin. You forget Allah SWT in your daily indulgence, you detach yourself from truth which effectively lead to the ineffective use of the inner criterion and eventually to the justification and normalization of sinful practices for gain or for temporary pleasure or to escape adversity.
When you drift into continous wrongdoing while suppressing the inner conscience(criterion) that advises you against it, the strength of the discernment questions to anchor your future choices also weaken.
When the criterion becomes suppressed, corruption becomes easier to indulge in and easily justified. But you see, when the inner criterion is not compromised with justified sin, disbelief, or disobedience, it becomes a light, a trainer, a guide, the spiritual strength that increases the attunement with your discernment questions and let you sail across this earthly journey amid the vast ocean of beautified worldly illusions without drowning in it. You live, earn, pray, and grow peacefully without accepting indulgence in distortion and without facing troubles; except tests of faith from Allah SWT.
"And why is it important to practice holistic discernment, fervent prayer, and maintain an uncompromised criterion in ourselves; and teach it to offspring from childhood?"
One very big tragedy is that, many individuals in our today generation who knowingly or unknowingly indulge in cycles of sin, evil, and corruption-rooted practices are already deep into the path of future inevitable destruction brought upon their soul by their own misguided choices; for themselves or against others; while they perceive it not. Whereas, countless people among the former people also died on this path, worthy of the punishment of the Hereafter.
It is the justification of disobedience and the normalization of sinful practices by the society and many from among the former people that made many individual in our today generation heedless to repentance and reject truth when it is made clear to them while they sink deeper into destruction continuously beautified by the devil they cannot see.
The purpose of practicing discernment in choices goes beyond many explanations, but teaching it to offspring without distortion is one of the most basic reasons. Practicing discernment in our daily choices and teaching it to kids is not to deny destiny, but to align each deed with Divine order as we grow.
To prevent future preventable harm before they go into society or get influenced by disbelievers and defiantly disobedient peers.
Helping them know:
How to make use of their inner criterion in deeds and indulgence without justifying disobedience practices that contradict the commandments of Allah SWT.
How they return sincerely and quickly when they slip, and how they return fervently in prayer daily with the sincere fear of Allah SWT.
With discernment alive, the soul remains conscious because it remains connected, because discernment in choices help align a person's journey with the path Allah SWT had decreed for them; and aid them to grow into purposeful adults.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
"Command your children to pray when they are seven, and discipline them for it when they are ten." (Abu Dawud)
Why so early? Because their "approaching day" (certain death) could approach sooner than anyone expects.
So teaching a child:
- who Allah is,
- how to pray sincerely and fervently,
- what is right and wrong,
- that death is real,
- that Paradise and Hell are real
...is not "burdening" them.
It is equipping them on how their soul return to Allah SWT; on a journey that could end before they turn Ten or Eighteen.
If holistic discernment and sincere fear of Allah in choices is anchored in the hearts of every child from childhood through their parents' own discernment and fervent prayer; be you a leader or a follower, many forms of loss, corrupting, and injustice in the country will diminish. The ability to reshape and compromise the inner criterion by social beliefs and peer influence would be locked out before the children begin to mingle with peers from other walks of life. Fewer lives would be destroyed by avoidable choices learned early.
When children are raised with holistic discernment, fervent prayer, and sincere fear of Allah in choices from childhood, society becomes safer. Families endure. Mercy finds clearer paths through human hands. And the Divine love Allah has decreed to flow among humanity; seamlessly from one person to another; would flow without disruption.
Without compromising the criterion for continuous sinful indulgence, the discerning questions get the unwavering advantage to root deeper into our heart and act as spiritual shield that protect the soul by naturally reject evil indulgence as we grow.
Across generations, people invent lies about Allah SWT. They involve in what will benefit them regardless of the spiritual consequences. They take false deities and saints and messengers of Allah SWT and holy servants of Allah SWT and prophets and their fellow creations as intermediaries and intercessors with Allah SWT. They take the commandments of Allah SWT as outdated. They chose to remain steadfast on the path of corruption and reject truth because of what society has influenced in their heart and what has been justified and considered normal; of sin; by those before them, while they fail to build the discerning questions that would have polished the naturally embedded Criterion to uprightness and realign them to the path of divine guidance.
Instead many chose to obey: their own desire, their justification of sin for gain, the beautified temptations and illusions of their devil companion, and obey their own assumptions and think they can escape accountability for their deeds and indulgence. Satan becomes their constant companion, whispering that their path is correct.
Allah SWT will guide man to the way, whether they are grateful or ungrateful; that is the job of the embedded criteria/criterion. But man will surely be tested (with wealth, children, triumph, Adversities: poverty, hardship, loss, sickness).
And it is the love for instant gratification, the spiritual disease of ignorance and the test of adversity; which is meant to help purify the soul and bring it closest to Allah SWT in obedience, devotion, worship, and faithfulness; in conjunction with an undiscerning heart that serves as the chain of derailment for many of the descendants of Adam who slipped into error and disobedience to the commandments of Allah SWT whole trying to escape the adversity that has meet them so they chose instant benefit with future Inescapable consequences.
Across generations, what many fail to realize is that, because Allah SWT gave the descendants of Adam the gift of freewill, that is why the result of Hereafter is not merely a future punishment or reward.
It is actively shaped by our present conduct (act of polytheism), defiant disobedience, disbelieve, evil deeds, good deeds, act of selflessness, devotion, sincere fervent prayer, act of heedlessness, act of arrogance, good work, excessive desire.
The forefather effect is what make the indulgence in disobedience, evil, and corruption-rooted practices feel sacred to those who accept it. While the devil they obey and patronize like the former people makes the disobedience feel right. They use their gift of freewill to instead devoutly follow the guidance of the devil. Many further compromise the inner criterion to replace the direct worship of Allah SWT with intermediaries and what does not (benefit) them except with burden on their soul and they replace the commandments of Allah SWT with what they can control and continuously justify it and pass it to offsprings or other members of the society; where they all accept and indulge because of enjoyment of worldly life or instant gratification; while they think they are rightly guided.
The Criterion for Discernment therefore is not emotion. Neither is it culture. Nor popularity. Nor personal preference. Emotions inform us, but discerning questions govern us. Discernment begins when the soul submits its immediate desires to the uncompromised criterion of Allah's guidance.
The Criterion becomes the measuring rod through which emotions, desires, and impulses are examined.
In this framework:
Love is not automatically good.
Hatred is not automatically justified.
Difficulty is not automatically evil.
Ease is not automatically mercy.
Delay is not automatically rejection.
Success is not automatically approval.
Suffering is not automatically punishment.
Rather, all these experiences must be weighed against the uncompromised criterion established by Allah SWT.
Impatience for divine timing is the root from which the love of instant gratification grows; and the love of instant gratification often leads people to sacrifice greater future rewards for smaller immediate ones. impatience is not merely a personality flaw.
It is a spiritual vulnerability.
And patience is not merely waiting. It is trusting Allah long enough to allow hidden wisdom to unfold. The human soul often mistakes pleasure for goodness and discomfort for evil. Discernment is the ability to see beyond the immediacy of desire and trust the wisdom of Allah SWT, whose knowledge encompasses what our limited sight cannot perceive.
Allah says:
"But you prefer the worldly life, while the Hereafter is better and more enduring." (Quran 87:16–17)
The issue is not enjoying halal blessings. Islam does not call people to misery.
Rather, the issue is making the immediate the measure of all decisions.
The believer asks:
"What will this choice become?"
The impatient soul asks:
"What will this choice give me right now?"
impatience says:
"I want relief now."
Instant gratification says:
"Then take whatever gives it to you."
Discernment says:
"Wait. Consider the end."
The Qur'an repeatedly trains believers to think beyond the present moment because many thing human naturally crave are what offers immediate reward:
unlawful relationships, arrogance,
revenge, intoxicating pleasures,
wealth gained unjustly, disobedience, abandoning obligations, neglecting worship, laziness disguised as comfort.
"But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not." (Quran 2:216)
Criterion is not fully formed knowledge of every moral question, but an embedded capacity that inclines the soul toward recognizing truth when it encounters it. Criterion is what Allah has placed within every soul; discernment is what each soul chooses to build upon that foundation.
The deeper insightful question this book asks is:
What if the things we resent most are the very things through which Allah is guiding us?
A child hates medicine. But the medicine heals him.
A student hates studying. But knowledge elevates him.
An athlete hates disciplined training. But discipline strengthens him.
A believer may dislike waking for Fajr. But Fajr nourishes his soul.
A wealthy person may dislike paying Zakah. But Zakah purifies wealth and softens the heart.
A young person may dislike lowering the gaze and restraining desires. But restraint protects dignity, families, and future peace.
A person may resent delays in marriage, employment, success, or answered prayers. Yet those delays may save him from destruction he cannot perceive.
Know that, "Impatience is the ancestor of the love for instant gratification."
The question to discern the future outcome of your choice/indulgence, backed by an uncompromised criterion evolve from the heart and is implemented before action; because action comes after decision-making, and the spiritual clarity to accept the truth/arriving-answer filtered out by the discerning questions comes from first allowing the truth to circulate through your soul.
The deeper implication is that many human failures are not born from evil intentions but from an inability to wait. A person may know what is right yet still choose what is wrong because: the reward of the wrong path is immediate, while the reward of the right path requires patience. If the heart is not trained with discerning questions toward our daily indulgence, whatever deeds the embedded criterion in your soul has justified for indulgence is thereby accepted by your heart as the truth; be it evil or good, and the discerning question toward that deed/indulgence is locked out of your heart; even if it could harm your future. Worse still, when the heart accepts indulgence in disobedient practices and persist in it, these practices will be less treated as harm by your brain. At this juncture of continuous indulgence the heart; which is the eye of the soul; slowly accumulate the dusts of corruption until blinds into hard-heartedness, where such a person will not be able to reason toward what is right and what is truth except with the Mercy of Allah SWT, and they can only continue to seek means from whatever will bring instant benefit and means to escape the reality of sincere repentance away from those deeds even if they meet nearer punishments. But they have no knowledge that it is their devil companion that is slowly inciting them to senselessness and they instead use their gift of freewill to continuously chose evil and disobedience to the commandments of Allah SWT until they meet certain death.
Allah gives the human soul:
fitrah, conscience, reason, free will. These form the criterion. But you do not know enough to make your immediate emotions the ultimate criterion of truth. Rather, discernment (uncompromised) is built by asking the right questions through the lens an uncompromised criterion anchored in obedience to the commandments of Allah SWT.
Through:
revelation, sincere reflection, experience, repentance, worship, knowledge, and sincere striving,
a person develops discernment.
That discernment asks:
Why do I desire this?
What will this choice become?
Does this align with Allah's commands?
Am I being driven by impatience, fear, pride, or sincerity?
Would I be content meeting Allah with this decision?
These questions are not automatically present in a mature form.
They are cultivated.
And perhaps that is the tragedy of many people described in the Qur'an: they did not lack intelligence or feelings; they simply enthroned their desires where only Allah's guidance should have been the judge.
This gift of freewill is the reason why the final rewards and the consequences for every good deed, act of love and selflessness, wrongdoings, disobedience, heedlessness, evil indulgence, injustice, corrupt alliance, act of hypocrisy, or betrayal in this worldly life move toward a Day of total unveiling.
A Day when the soul itself testifies to what it earned when it was alive; before Allah SWT.
Those who are grateful to Allah SWT and discern their choices during times of ease and hardship, who remained patient, sincere, and mindful of their return to Allah SWT will find that their efforts are appreciated by Allah SWT on the Day of Accountability, while those that offended, slipped, divulged into sin, and repented sincerely and returned to alignment will find their own record, while those who live as though they will never return to Allah SWT will ultimately discover the reality they have always denied.
When the Discerning questions and the embedded criterion work together without compromise, it automatically aligns our soul with choices that prepare us for the good rewards of a Day when everything will be exposed.
A Day when secrets are tried, and no one can help another.
The only thing that saves that Day is sincere, fervent daily prayers to Allah SWT alone, your righteous deeds, your obedience to the commandments of Allah SWT, and constant returns after minor slips; while you were alive.
In other words:
Criterion gives us the judge. Discernment trains the judge.
Criterion gives us the compass. Discernment teaches us how to read it.
Criterion is potential. Discernment is practice.
Criterion is implanted. Discernment is developed.
The Criterion for Discernment teaches that the human soul is created, guided, tested, and carried through this temporary world toward an inevitable return to Allah SWT, where every sincere effort will be appreciated and every forgotten responsibility will be unveiled.
Discernment is what let you recognize the difference between the whispers of the devils and the divine inspiration. It let us know that life is not about success or failure in worldly terms. It is about whether the soul reaches Allah having remained faithful to its purpose. Everything else is secondary: the wealth, the status, the comfort, the applause, the hardship, the losses, the gains. They are all temporary scenes within the journey.
A criterion is only useful if it stands outside of us.
If the criterion is our fluctuating emotions, then truth changes whenever our feelings change.
But if the criterion is anchored in Divine revelation, then even when our emotions tremble, our compass remains fixed.
The Criterion and Discernment together both advice the soul to self‑accountability in actions. Helping them to distinguishing between minor human error and extreme corruption, while urging alignment with Allah's guidance through sincere worship and righteous living.
The Criterion for Discernment serves as a compass, a navigator, and a travel guide for our soul; to guide our efforts, correct intention, restrain desire, and advise us to uprightness as we sail across our earthly journey, while avoiding indulgence in beautified illusions of the worldly life and the enjoyment of delusion; till certain death at the uncertain hour.
The Criterion for Discernment reminds you that: You were created from nothing, given guidance, placed on earth for a test, and now you are laboring toward return to your Lord. The world is temporary and filled with illusions and delusions. The real question is whether you will be grateful and strive (fulfilling vows, charity, constant remembrance, patience) or love the immediate (worldly life) and turn away (forget the accountability of the Hereafter). On the Day of Judgment, the records will speak, the two groups (the good and the evil) will be separated forever, and every soul will receive exactly what it earned; with perfect justice, and no wrong will be done.
The Criterion for Discernment reminds us that mercy of Allah SWT is real for those who return sincerely. Effort is appreciated. The righteous will have beauty, comfort, and nearness beyond imagination. But the choice is yours, and the meeting with Allah SWT is certain.
The deepest discerning question is:
Does our soul remember where it came from and to whom it is going to return; and with what it is returning? Because death can come at an uncertain hour and no man knows in what land he or she will die.
You will gain deeper insights on holistic discernment, building the internal discerning questions, and keeping the embedded criterion aligned and inclined to truth always; without compromise and without accepting distortion; through the lives of different characters across the pages of this book.
As you read across the pages of this book:
-- You will witness, through the lens of different characters, what it truly means to strive through adversity while anchored in fervent prayer and discernment (the sincere fear of Allah SWT) in choices. Because their stories are not merely fiction. They are mirrors.
-- You will witness how small compromises quietly evolve into generational inherited belief systems.
-- You will see how discernment either preserves a lineage or fractures it, and the amazing truth; it all begins from the leaders of the house; The male child.
-- You will understand what happens when Holistic discernment, sincere fear of Allah SWT in choices, and fervent prayer is cultivated early in children; alongside patience in dealing with other humans, and lawful striving to navigate life's trials, adversities, and hardships. How families are preserved before fractures of error-rooted thoughts begin forming in the society.
-- You will encounter how, when a blind belief system is passed down to offspring without discernment, the inner Criterion of such person becomes automatically compromised to justifying other wrongdoings, culture and custom even if blind/evil begin to speak louder than spiritual truth. Which make most of the people born generations later grow with the mindset that what they inherited must be right simply because it is ancient. Even if these people are wrong and they know it; because their embedded conscience continue to judge them when truth is brought to them, many still protect that blind belief or that wrong choice with their life because it is a normalized belief/practice from among the former people, even if it was wrong and evil and sinful as a way.
-- You will understand more about the Inescapable punishments of Allah SWT.
-- You will observe how unholy ties, blind allegiance, and corruption‑rooted alliances gradually lead many people into an inescapable ruin while they perceive it not, and they rest assured they are rightly guided.
-- You will understand how striving through adversity and hardship with fervent daily prayers, obedience and patience in Divine timing, observing fasting, trusting in Allah SWT, indulging in lawful hustle, upholding justice among others, and making the sincere fear of Allah SWT the anchor of your heart; bring one favor and uninterrupted blessings from Allah SWT during adverse times, and also serves as the lighthouse and a beacon that illuminates the person's path, guiding them into a future of bounty and good rewards from Allah, both on earth and in the Hereafter.
-- You will gain insights into different spiritual consequences that lurk untouched and usually unseen in the future of those who escape adversity and hard times by indulging in deeds and practices that contradict the commandments of Allah SWT to earn a living, for temporary support, or for pleasure. Examples: bribery, hypocrisy, unholy alliance, usury, prostitution, internet fraud, ritual killing, embezzlement, tyranny, polytheistic practices, pickpocketing, highway robbery, kidnapping, etc.
-- You will gain insight into different emotional awakenings of the heart toward romantic connections: from the native soulmate's heart‑level connection, to the rare twin flame's soul‑level connection, to the casual fleeting romance that tends to feed only pleasure and gradually destroys the soul. You will learn the difference between love that leads to temporary attachment and entering a covenant written with divine witness. THE RIPPLE OF UNHOLY INTIMACIES on FUTURE MARRIAGE and the Restoration of Purposeful Union.
-- You will gain insights into the ENMITY AND DEVIATIONS religion diversification has caused AMONG HUMANS.
-- You will understand how the avoidance of immorality, staying chaste, practicing restraint, guarding your body, lowering your gaze, praying fervently, and steering clear of fleeting desires; be you male or female; protect sacred knowledge, heighten spiritual awareness, sharpen perception, purify the heart, keep one aligned with their divine purpose as they grow, and how it has, more often than not, kept people in alignment with a purposeful partner who matches their spiritual vibration.
-- You will gain insights into the worldly and eternal rewards attached to entering a romantic relationship with the intention of starting a God‑fearing branch of family on earth, and with the sincere fear of Allah SWT, obedience to the commandments of Allah SWT, and accountability to Allah SWT as the anchor of your heart and the foundation of your future home.
-- You will understand how indulgence in immorality and unholy intimacies silently diminishes the light of the soul, blinds the heart, and derails people from their destined path and the path of purpose on earth; while they perceive it not.
-- You will gain insights into the different punishments of Allah SWT that are eligible for people who indulge in disobedient practices without sincere repentance; for indulging in deeds against the commandments of Allah SWT.
-- You will understand how different ancestral error‑rooted belief systems rippled into our today society, tainted and compromised the inner criterion of many, and became the bedrock for the blind acceptance, normalization, and justification of sinful practices in our today society. Erroneous belief systems that countless people have died inside of, not knowing the weight of what they carry into the Hereafter.
-- You will understand how greed and unaccountability in the leadership sector can bring collective suffering upon the people of a society; affecting both the guilty and the innocent alike.
-- You will also understand the vital importance of choosing sincere repentance, obedience, seeking forgiveness, and returning to alignment with Divine order after you have erred or disobeyed the commandments of Allah.
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Know that the choices and lessons you will come across in the lives of different characters as you journey through this novel might be:
-- what you already know; because you have once lived through it; but never paused to fully examine and extract its lessons;
-- what you never had knowledge of, until now;
-- what you have long felt stirring in your heart, but struggled to give clear structure or understanding.
So I pray Allah grants us sufficient wisdom and understanding to recognise the good within these pages, and to carry it into our daily lives.
Āmīn.