Page 66 - Satan's Sly Game: The False Religion of People-Worship

SATAN'S SLY GAME:
THE FALSE RELIGION OF PEOPLE-WORSHIP

So woe to those who perform prayer, and are forgetful of
their prayer, those who show off. (Surat al-Ma'un, 4-6)
As in the practice of their prayers, these individuals spend
for Allah's cause for purposes of which He does not approve
such as ostentation and seeking praise from others, although
these acts of worship are founded on the Qur'anic ideal of "giv-
ing to those in need what is left after one's own needs have been
met." The Qur'an describes the condition of those who use their
material possessions for ostentation:
You who believe! Do not nullify your charity by de-
mands for gratitude or insulting words, like him who
spends his wealth, showing off to people and not be-
lieving in Allah and the Last Day. His likeness is that of
a smooth rock coated with soil, which, when heavy rain
falls on it, is left stripped bare. They have no power
over anything they have earned. Allah does not guide
disbelieving people. (Surat al-Baqara, 264)
As Allah says in the Qur'an, combining the desire to please
others with faith in Allah is a breach of religious sincerity. In His
Sight, it makes an individual insincere. By paying too much at-
tention to what people think of him, he sullies his faith with os-
tentation and hardens his heart with the selfish desire for praise.
As a result, he lives for worldly gain and profit and loses his fear
of Allah. Totally unaware of the punishment He will give, he
will employ the fine moral qualities he should use to earn
Allah's favor as currency for worldly gain and to bring opportu-
nities his way. Everyone who "worships" people adjusts his life
to these principles.
We'll give some examples of his distorted mentality as it ap-
pears in daily life.

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