Page 18 - The Silent Language Of Evil

THE SILENT LANGUAGE OF EVIL

The Qur'an defines good and evil. Acting without the fear of
Allah, taking other deities beside Him, serving someone else besides
Him and living to please others and to make gains from this earthly
life—all this can lead a person into evil. People without faith are
passionately attached to the values of this world, which distance
them from a good moral life. They always think first about how they
can get the most out of life and set this above everything else—
which leads them into selfishness, meanness, ingratitude falsity, ar-
rogance, lying, mercilessness and other such negative moral
qualities.
Those who live according to this way of thought may still try to
avoid some things they consider as evil. But their calculations are
usually directed toward avoiding criticism from others, not falling
afoul of society's judgments and not damaging their own chances
for gain. While they may avoid questionable behavior in public,
they do not restrain themselves in secret. If confident that they won't
be seen or heard, they're quite content to engage in such behavior,
since these people have no fear of Allah. Their measure in avoiding
evil is not to be known by others, so that they won't lose respect and
will be generally well thought of in society. If they're sure that these

conditions are met, they don't restrain their tendency toward every
kind of evil. Therefore, these people base their idea of right and
wrong on not getting caught.

However, Allah tells us in the Qur'an to avoid evil both openly
and in secret and explains what it is: "... others have acknowledged
their wrong actions and mixed a right action with another which
is wrong. It may well be that Allah will turn towards them. Allah
is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Surat at-Tawba: 102) To avoid
such situations, people must first know where evil originates and do

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