Page 80 - Devoted to Allah

DEVOTED TO ALLAH

tural factors have been incorporated into the religion, and
“being pious” has deteriorated into “adherence to one’s
forefathers’ superstitious beliefs.” The religion revealed
by Allah in the Qur’an and embodied in the exemplary life
of the Prophet Muhammad (saas), however, bears no sim-
ilarity whatsoever to these. In the Qur’an, Allah com-
mands man to take His limits and the Sunnah of the
Prophet (saas) as a measure and nothing else. Throughout
history, the prophets had to struggle with those who at-
tempted to deny the truth by quoting the superstitious be-
liefs inherited from their forefathers. The morality they
displayed is indicated in the verse below:
When they are told, “Follow what Allah has sent down
to you,” they say, “We are following what we found
our fathers doing.” What, even though their fathers
did not understand a thing and were not guided!
(Surat al-Baqara: 170)
The same theme is repeated in Surat al-Ma’ida: 104;
Surat al-An‘am: 91; Surat al-A‘raf: 28 and in many other
verses as well.
- Some of the members of the society of ignorance,
who foolishly evaluate religion in compliance with that
mistaken understanding, in consequence fall into the error
that religion is separate from reason. However, as Allah
informs us in the Qur’an, being a Muslim entails being
wise. Believers are always summoned to think, to enquire
and thus see the verses of Allah. Faith and wisdom are in-
terrelated; as a consequence of exercising wisdom one at-
tains faith, and faith grows ever more profound as one
continues to exercise wisdom.

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