Badges mark quoted or attributed material (Qur'an, hadith, another author, an opposing view). Unbadged passages are Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's own words.
When a believer adopts the belief that God is only one, he develops the habit of concentration. Concentration is the ability to direct all your effort and attention to a single point. p. 220
Focused thinking develops concentration, enabling you to differentiate between relevance and irrelevance, between the real and the relative. It leads to concerted effort, ensuring that one will not waste one’s time and energy. Being focused in one’s thinking means that one’s journey will follow a single track without any kind of deviation. One who engages in this kind of thinking is bound to achieve great success. p. 221
It is said that the father of modern science, Isaac Newton, had the special capacity to think in this focused way. Many other great thinkers and super achievers had this ability. Indeed, there is no example in history of anyone achieving great success without having this gift. Focused thinking is the greatest quality in both men and women. p. 221
When a believer develops focused thinking in terms of his religious belief, it is not possible to confine it to religious matters. Naturally, it widens its sphere to cover all other aspects of the functioning of his mind. So, believers in the one God naturally become believers in a single target. In terms of religion, this is to believe in the oneness of God and, in terms of non-religious matters, it means concentrated thinking. Here, religion and secularism go hand in hand on the road of life. p. 221
Individualism versus Collectivism p. 222
The Quran has much to say about social duties and collective living, the most important of which is that no society can be healthy without unity and solidarity among its people. The Quran sets forth this principle in the chapter Al-‘Imran (The Family of Imran): p. 222original + quote
Hold fast to the cord of God and let nothing divide you. (3:103) p. 222Qur'an
It is said that man is a social animal and cannot fulfil his requirements without living in a society. Just as water is essential for the life of a fish, so also is society essential for the life of an individual. p. 222
Social unity cannot be achieved on unilateral terms. If every member of society wants to live on his or her own, then social living cannot be established. Social unity is so important that it should be achieved at the cost of individual sacrifice. p. 222
It is a fact that the maintenance of social unity may lead to the erosion of individual freedom, but paying this price is the lesser evil, because if individual members are not ready to pay this price, they will be bound to pay a greater price—that is, social anarchy, and social anarchy will be of no benefit to any member. Individual members must adopt the formula of adjustment with others, so that social unity may be maintained. p. 222