"BACK TO SQUARE ONE"

You can progress a lot through a meagre salary if you know how to control your expenses. Similarly, you can progress a lot spiritually with a little supplementary Ibaadah if you refrain from sins. You do not have to do a lot of supplementary Ibaadaat to become a good person. Not committing sins has a better effect on the behaviour of a person than doing supplementary Ibaadaat. If a person does a lot of Ibaadaat and at the same time, he continues to commit sin, then it is as if he is trying to fill a basin in which there is a leak or a basket that cannot retain water. It is very taxing to find yourself in the evening at the same point where you had started your journey in the morning. It means that you are back to the same point without any progress. A person, who does not refrain from sin, is identical. Throughout the year, there is no change. This is what may be referred to as "back to square one". 

[English version of "“Back to square one”" – Al Jamiat – Vol.2 No.3]