Answer: If you have done
something that is clearly right, then your conscience would most certainly be
satisfied. However, on some occasions you may get a feeling that you haven’t any
clear signals from your “inside” indicating whether what you did was right or
not. This is because of the fact that our actions and intentions are not always
unquestionably pure. One thing is clear: the intellect the Almighty has given us
must be continuously employed in the light of the guidance of His religious
message to decide whether what we are doing is acceptable or not. A satisfied
conscience is no criterion for you to conclude that what you did was correct if
it goes against the clear verdict of the shari‘ah, although it is difficult to
imagine that even though one has gone against the shari‘ah one’s conscience will
still be satisfied. At times, the reason why we would not be satisfied despite
apparently following the shari‘ah is that we might actually be mistaken that
what we are following is actually a requirement of the shari‘ah.
A person asked Allah’s Messenger
(sws): “What is faith?” He said: “When a good deed becomes a source of pleasure
for you and an evil deed becomes a source of disgust for you, then you are a
believer.” He again said Allah’s Messenger: “What is a sin?” Whereupon he said:
“When something pricks your conscience, give it up.” (Tirmadhi, No: 1311)
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