Virtuous are those who, despite their love for it, give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to travellers and those who ask [for charity], and to set slaves free, and who attend to their prayers and pay the alms, and who keep their pledges when they make them, and show patience in hardship and adversity, and in times of distress. Such are the true believers; and such are the God-fearing. (2:177)
This Quranic verse tells us what kind of moral qualities a true believer has. The summing up of these qualities is that he is a predictable character. In every situation, you can believe with certainty that he will do this and he will not do that.
For example, if he promises you something in the course of his dealings with you, you can feel convinced that he will not break his word. He will certainly fulfil his promise. If you are in his neighbourhood, you can believe with certainty that he is not going to create any problems for you.
Being predictable in character is the best description of a true human being. Man is a social animal: he lives in a society and every time he is with other people he must exhibit the best human traits, the most important of which is his predictability. He must always fulfil predictions about himself and live up to the expectations of others regarding his speech and behaviour. His dealings should invariably be fair and just according to the accepted social norms.
A predictable character, in projecting a better image of your personality, has many benefits. It is the source of all kinds of social good.
The quality of being predictable promotes high values in a society, such as mutual confidence, and it removes all kinds of negative feelings such as hate, intolerance and indifference. It, moreover, obviates any occasion for complaint, protest or conflict and prevents unnecessary misunderstanding, etc.
All good machines are predictable, but there is a difference between a man and a machine. A machine is a lifeless mechanism, the contrived product of technology, but man’s predictable character is the outcome of his intellectual awakening, his ability to control his emotions, and the repeated demonstration of his just behaviour. On the one hand, it gives peace of mind to the person himself and on the other hand it helps promote a peaceful atmosphere in the society.
A predictable character means a self-disciplined character; it is a sign that the person who shows this kind of behaviour is a man of a high calibre. He has that admirable quality of being realistic in his approach. He is a positive thinker and free of all kinds of negative thought. Only men of predictable character can build a better society. There is no alternative to this.
The whole of nature is completely predictable. Nature will accept only those men and women who prove to be as predictable as other parts of nature.
-Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
