Page 24 - Passivity in Religion
P. 24

PASSIVITY IN RELIGION

             They continually put their trust in Allah, and pay attention to the
             needs of others. It is, on the contrary, very rare to recognize these
             features in those who are indolent in their embrace of the morality
             explained in the Qur'an. Their choices are often based on personal
             preferences rather than their conscience.




                 They Aim to Wreak the Muslims' Strength and
                 Demoralize Them

                 One of the primary aims of those who are hypocritical in char-
             acter, though living amongst the Muslims, is to damage the religion
             and harm the Muslims. In compliance with the verse, "… their
             scheming will not harm you in any way. Allah encompasses what
             they do." (Surah Al ‘Imran, 120), even though they can never harm
             the believers, they nevertheless expend every effort to do so.
                 Their engaging continually in good deeds is an important
             feature of the believers. With the hope of attaining Paradise and
             earning Allah's consent, believers embark on a good task imme-
             diately after completing another. Those who try to demoralize
             the believers, on the other hand, procrastinate as long as they
             can, hoping to impede the Muslims. By taking their time, and
             thus being distracting, they assume they can at least delay the
             good deeds in which the believers engage. At first sight, it may
             seem that this procrastination may prove a loss of time for be-
             lievers and thereby accomplish the intended aim of such people.
             However the truth is otherwise when considered in light of the
             Qur'an. For the faithful, it is the intended purpose of a deed
             which is important, rather than its method. In other words, be-
             cause a believer expends effort only to earn Allah's consent, by
             Allah's will, he still earns rewards while he tries to remove the
             impediments set on his way by the passive. In the Hereafter, also,

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