"Faith without action is futile " illustrate the statement in light of the poem 'Abou Ben Adhem'.
Answers
Indeed, faith without action is futile. You believe in something and you don’t act accordingly, isn’t your belief a vain thing. In the poem “Abou Ben Adhem” written by Leigh Hunt, Ben Adhem happens to meet an angel in his vision. He finds the angel writing something in a book. He asks the angel as to what is being written in the book and the angel replies that the names of the people whom God loves are being written. Ben asks the angel to check for his name and he comes to know that it is not written.
Ben believed in God, but he did not live a life that proves that he believed in God. Hence the sentence, “Faith without action is futile”. But when he actually started living a life that proves that he believes in God, he would find his name on the book. When he happens to see the angel again, he finds out that his name was present in the book.
The theme of the poem is that it is not just enough if you believe in something, but you need to act accordingly.
Answer:
It is absolutely true faith without action is futile. Faith without action is passive; but faith with action is miraculous. Abu Ben Adhem was a man of faith as well as action. His actions of self-less love and service to his fellow brothers and sisters were greater than his faith.
He loved people and expressed his love through service to them. He wiped their tears, shared their sorrows, and lent a helping hand who were in need. As a result his name was in the book whom God Himself loved. He won God’s love with his faith as well as action.
So, mere faith without action is futile.