Page 49 - Quick Grasp of Faith 3

On the other hand, their spiritual punishment continues as
long as they are alive. These people, who do not follow the
right path to which their consciences guide them, can never
escape their remorse. Likewise, since they do not live by the
Qur’an’s morals, they can never experience true happiness,
friendship, love, and loyalty. The people around them also do
not adhere to the Qur’an’s morals, and so live in a world of dis-
order, chaos, and anxiety. Although Allah gives them many
blessings in this world, the Qur’an points out that they are cre-
ated only to try them:
Do not let their wealth and their children impress you.
Allah merely wants to punish them by them in this
world, and for them to die while they do not believe.
(Surat at-Tawba, 85)

44. Is it possible to distinguish those people
who are more pious? How is piety (taqwa)

displayed?
It is impossible to determine who has the most piety in
Allah’s sight. A person’s true piety, sincerity, and faith are
hidden in his or her heart, and only Allah knows them,
whereas people may only form a strong opinion about
somebody’s piety.
People form their opinions about others based upon
their conduct. For example, a person’s sincerity toward
Allah, loyalty to the religion, sincere effort to earn Allah’s
good pleasure, eagerness and resoluteness to serve religion,
love for the believers and loyalty allow others to form an
opinion about that person’s piety. Even so, the final judg-

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