Page 57 - Passivity in Religion

The Characteristics of the Passive

erly exercise their conscience. They obey their conscience when it
is easy for them, but not in times of difficulty, or that which con-
flicts with their interests, or when they lack the motivation to ex-
pend a certain effort. For example, these people can tell you about
kindness and forgiveness, and refer to the pertinent verses in the
Qur'an, but, when it comes to acting on them, they follow their
baser urges. For example, while their conscience inspires them to
be fervent and to feel the zeal unique to Muslims, they prefer to
approach a task hesitantly and try to impede it. However, a true
Muslim always suppresses the demands of his lower-self in favor
of the demands of his conscience. In the Qur'an, Allah tells us
about this moral quality possessed by Muslims:
And among the people there are some who give up every-
thing, desiring the good pleasure of Allah... (Surat al-
Baqara, 207)
A Muslim overcomes his anger and does not become vindic-
tive. He takes delight in conquering his baser urges, and is happy
to be tolerant and forgiving. This is because Allah has commanded
in the Qur'an:
Those of you possessing affluence and ample wealth
should not make oaths that they will not give to their rela-
tives and the very poor and those who have migrated in the
way of Allah. They should rather pardon and overlook.
Would you not love Allah to forgive you? Allah is Ever-
Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nur, 22)
Those who are passive in the practice of religion give no
thought to these things; in situations that are contrary to their own
interests, they quickly become angry and blame others. In certain
situations, they are totally ambivalent, reacting neither positively
nor negatively, giving the impression that they are not interested
in those things that matter to the Muslims. They do not even feel
that anger they should justly feel when religious values are ver-

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