Badges mark quoted or attributed material (Qur'an, hadith, another author, an opposing view). Unbadged passages are Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's own words.
The truth is that everyone is accountable before God. According to the Quran, every word spoken by a person is instantly recorded by angels (50:18). This record prepared by angels will be produced before God Almighty on the Day of Judgement when He will give His verdict and award severe punishment to those who failed to adhere to divine principles. p. 268original + quote
Reasoned statement is the mark of the pious man. As opposed to this, irrational argument or using the language of allegation is the sign of an irresponsible person or one who has become morally deviant. It is the former who can be called a man, while the latter is nothing but an animal in the form of a man. p. 268
The behaviour mentioned in the above Quranic verses is a form of character assassination. Character assassination is a sign of complete defeat. One who feels that he has been defeated in the field of argument and reasoning adopts this retaliatory form of response. Character assassination is a kind of revenge and revenge is not the proper way to meet a challenge. Moreover, making allegations is a very risky game, for it can act like a boomerang. p. 269
Alleging something is no better than telling a lie, and there is no greater sin in Islam than lying. One who stoops to baseless allegation is little better than a liar. And anyone who is a liar is worthless in the eyes of God. All of his efforts will go into the litterbin and that is surely not going to produce any positive result. p. 269
Reasoned statement is the mark of the pious man. As opposed to this, irrational argument or using the language of allegation is the sign of an irresponsible person or one who has become morally deviant. p. 268
The above Quranic verses refer to the contemporary people who freely made allegations against others, who might very well have been innocent of any wrongdoing. Like other teachings of the Quran, this is also an eternal principle applicable in every age to every person, including those who claim to be Muslim, although they do not follow the above Quranic advice. p. 269original + quote
Action Before Action p. 270
Preparedness for any important course of action is universally desirable. It is a basic requirement to lead the Islamic life. The first principle of Islam is imaan (faith), but before imaan there is a preparatory step—marefat, or realization. Narrating the story of a group of believers, the Quran says: p. 270original + quote
When they listen to what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears, because of the Truth they recognize. They say, ‘Our Lord, we believe, so count us among those who bear witness.’ (5:83) p. 270Qur'an
This verse refers to a very important principle of Islam, that is, before belief (imaan), realization (marefat) is required. When an individual accepts Islam, he recites the kalimah of Islam but, before doing so, he must discover or realize the truth. It is discovery or realization that makes the recitation of the kalimah meaningful. Without realization, the mere recitation of the kalimah has no value. p. 270