Page 49 - Why Do You Deceive Yourself ?

What Lies Do People Deceive Themselves with? 47
of Judgment, all people are held responsible for carrying out the in-
structions in the Qur'an and fulfilling their duty of worship. Except in
the circumstances affirmed by Allah in the Qur'an as exceptional,
every human being will give an accounting on the Day of Judgment as
to whether or not he performed the religious obligations.
From this point of view, a person who uses a variety of excuses
(other than those valid reasons which Allah accepts) for not perform-
ing his duty of obedience is deceiving himself. Despite this obvious
truth, some people use the circumstances in which they find them-

selves as an excuse and ignore their responsibility to Allah. They put
forward one excuse during their school years, another when they enter
working life and yet another when they have children. Since they have
no sincere intention of living a religious life, they present various dif-
ferent matters as obstacles to carrying out their duty of worship. Chief
amongst these obstacles they present is that the time is not right and
conditions not suitable.
In everyday life, people make time for any number of things.
Even if they have to make other sacrifices, they will always manage to
set aside time, especially when their own benefit is at stake. Moreover,
if their circumstances prevent them from carrying out an advanta-
geous task, they are quick to think about the situation and find ways of
removing the obstacle. However, people usually do not show the same
determination when it comes to observing their acts of worship.

You often meet people around you who present such excuses as,
"I want to pray but I can't find the time," "I'm at school and I can't make
time for prayers because I have to study," or "This is my summer
house, I can't fast here." In the same way, you can also see lots of peo-
ple who excuse their bad behavior by saying, "I want to be a patient
person, but everything happens at once," or "I don't want to get angry