Page 51 - Faith: The Way to Happiness

The Unhappiness of the Society of the Ignorant

mined way according to what a person believes and feels. A person
who is sincere in the true sense behaves comfortably and naturally
in all surroundings because he feels no need to prove himself to oth-
ers or make them accept him. For a person who lives like this, sin-
cerity becomes a source of comfort and tranquility.
H o w e v e r, nowadays many people feel a lack of sincerity in
their relations with others around them. Many people who live im-
moral and ignorant lives make a habit of lying, hypocrisy and cheat-
ing and base themselves wholly on these "principles." Everybody
behaves insincerely towards everybody else because everybody is
out for what they can get. No doubt, this is not a one-sided situation,
it is mutual. One party uses the other and tries as far as possible to
take advantage of them. In such an environment no concept of trust
remains because there is no telling what anyone will do, how they
will behave or what they are thinking. In fact, this insincerity is the
reason for people's unhappiness in their relationships with one an-
other, their depressions and the short duration of their love and de-
votion towards one another. Allah warns us that people who depart
f rom the ways of belief will be unhappy in the verse, "Let them
laugh little and weep much, in repayment for what they have
earned." (Surat at-Tawba: 82)
Insincerity causes the development of other unpleasant forms
of behavior in these people. One of these is behaving with ingrati-
tude for help given them and kindnesses received. Because they live
lives far removed from the guidance of the Qur'an, they invariably
develop a character trait whereby they easily forget help and kind-
nesses but never forget the bad that is done to them. Upon the slight-
est diff e rence or misunderstanding they immediately go for one
another's weak spots and begin criticizing each other as much as

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