They will reply: "Nay, ye yourselves had no Faith!(4053)
4053 But the fact that others mislead, or that evil example is before us, does not justify us in falling from right conduct. Faith should save us from the fall. But if we have ourselves no Faith-in righteousness, or a future life, or the reality of Allah's Law, how can we blame others? The misleaders can well say, 'You will be judged according to your misdeeds!" The responsibility is personal, and cannot be shifted on the other. The others may get a double punishment,—for their own evil, and for misleading their weaker brethren. But the weaker brethren cannot go free from responsibility of their own deeds; for evil means a personal rebellion against Allah, if we believe in a personal God. Evil has no authority over us, except insofar as we deliberately choose it.