Page 64 - Devoted to Allah

DEVOTED TO ALLAH

The Criterion by Which to Appraise People
in the Society of “Ignorance”

Sincere believers take “taqwa” (awe or fear of Allah
which inspires the individual to be on guard against
wrong actions and eager for ones which please Him) as
the only criterion by which to appraise people. As the
Prophet Muhammad (saas) said, they know that “the most
perfect man in his faith among the believers is the one whose be-
havior is most excellent.” (Tirmidhi) In ignorant societies,
however, which are made up of people with no faith,
“money” is considered the main criterion by which to
form an opinion of others:
This being the case, many distorted rationales appear
in ignorant societies:
- A rich person, albeit indecent and corrupted, is hon-
ored and paid respect.
- Due to this rule laid down by society, one who is
“rich but immoral” actually believes himself to be an “es-
timable” person.
- Because society attaches so much importance to
“money,” the poor lack self-confidence. This attitude of
the poor becomes most obvious when they are among the
rich. A poor person may well recognize that he is superior
to the rich man next to him because the latter is depraved.
However, under the influence of ideas instilled by society,
he is unable to overcome his feelings of inadequacy.
- In the society of ignorance, where the possession of
“money” is a highly estimable criterion, moral degenera-
tion prevails. Such corruption appears in various forms,
such as bribery, abuse of authority or forgery, and is al-

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