Page 17 - Zeal and Enthusiasm in the Qur'an

Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar

sacrifice and willingly endure every hardship. However, their lives
pass in both moral and physical torment.
The daily lives of these people, whose targets are limited to
earthly desires, abound with incidents that reveal their understand-
ing of zeal. For example, to earn a prestigious diploma, which
would bring him recognition, a student may immerse himself in

books for years. Aware that this is conducive to success, he will-
ingly spends sleepless nights and avoids socializing, if necessary.
A typical day begins for him with an early morning commute and is
spent in tremendous effort, which he endures with pleasure. Yet, he
would decline to make the same sacrifice to help a friend since it
brings him no perceivable worldly gain. What is underlined here is
that although the majority of people know how to accomplish a task

with zeal and enthusiasm, they will undertake it only if it serves their
own interests. They do not demonstrate the same ambition for
something that would earn them the pleasure of Allah, and show in-
difference if a worldly benefit is not forthcoming.
The mentality peculiar to ignorance, which is based only on
worldly benefits, can be portrayed with the following example. An
executive whose company is on the edge of bankruptcy devotes all
his energy, wisdom, means and time to work out the problem. But
his employee does not feel the same eagerness to save the com-

pany and thus is unlikely to find a good solution because he is not
the person who will suffer direct loss when the company goes
bankrupt. As seen, worldly benefits generally underlie the zeal and
determination felt by members of ignorant societies. The extent of
benefit is often indicative of the degree of ambition felt.

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