Page 78 - Passivity in Religion

PASSIVITY IN RELIGION

ing them all together, and tip them into Hell. They are the lost."
(Surat an-Anfal, 37) and tells us that this is, for Muslims, a purg-
ing to lead to their reformation.

Their Speech and Attitude Is Founded on
Imitation Rather Than Sincerity

One of the most noticeable characteristics of those who live
among Muslims passively is their lack of sincerity. This is some-
thing easily noticeable in their behavior and speech. They per-
form certain acts of worship to show Muslims they are pious, and
behave and speak like Muslims. However, they do none of this
because they believe, but rather, they pretend to believe, in order
to gain the esteem of the Muslims. Because of their ability to imi-
tate the behavior of Muslims, those looking in from outside
would at first think that they were merely ordinary Muslims. As
Allah tells us in the Qur'an, they perform their prayers, as is
stated in the verse, "So woe to those who perform prayer, and are
forgetful of their prayer, those who show off" (Surat al-Ma'un, 4-
6) and, though for the purpose of impressing others, they may
also sometimes give money or some other form of material contri-
bution (again as a pretense) to people in need:
Nothing prevents what they give from being accepted from
them but the fact that they have rejected Allah and His mes-
senger, and that they only come to prayer lethargically, and
that they only give reluctantly. (Surat at-Tawba, 54)
But the Qur'an is quite clear in stating that Allah will not ac-
cept their prayers, because of their insincerity.
They are able to imitate Muslims in many ways: from the way
they say their prayers, to the way they speak and behave; from
the manner in which they respond to a subject, to the way they

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