Page 65 - Passivity in Religion

The Characteristics of the Passive

ence separating these two groups is the following:
Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day do not ask you
to excuse them from striving with their wealth and them-
selves. Allah knows the people who guard against evil. Only
those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day ask you
to excuse them. Their hearts are full of doubt and in their
doubt they waver to and fro. (Surat at-Tawba, 44-45)
We can understand from these verses that these people, unlike
Muslims, have no intention of putting forth a sincere effort, but
immediately provide excuses to avoid doing so. The Qur'an tells
us of such excuses, put forward in the days of our Prophet (saas),
by certain individuals of weak character:
Those who were left behind were glad to stay behind the
messenger of Allah. They did not want to strive with their
wealth and themselves in the way of Allah. They said, "Do
not go out to fight in the heat." Say: "The Fire of Hell is
much hotter, if they only understood." (Surat at-Tawba, 81)
Some of them asked the Prophet to excuse them, saying,
"Our houses are exposed," when they were not exposed; it
was merely that they wanted to run away. (Surat al-Ahzab,
13)
"Had we been able to, we would have gone out with you..."
(Surat at-Tawba, 42)
These people, who cannot abandon their lives of ignorance, or
break their attachment to the life of this world, cannot openly
admit that they prefer this world to the world to come. For this
reason, with their various excuses, they make known their real in-
tention to the believers. As is mentioned in the above verses,
those who shirked their faith pretend that their health is not as
sound as that of other Muslims; others say that they cannot bear
the hot weather; while others still claim that their standing in so-
ciety prevents them from putting forth the effort to practice
Islamic morality.

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