Page 102 - The Debased Culture of Superficiality

100 THE DEBASED CULTURE OF SUPERFICIALITY

expects love, friendship, tolerance and self-sacrifice from
others, but he can never obtain any of these. He does not
think to do favors for anyone else, but expects others to do
something for him. For example, he wants others to be tol-
erant with him, but he is intolerant of the least thing. He
wants very much to be loved, but his character is not lov-
able, nor can he love another person in any real sense.
Besides, if someone else feels love and respect for him and
does him some favors, he cannot respond in the due manner
because of his shallow character. He will abuse this good
treatment at every opportunity. Because he thinks he
deserves the love and goodness offered to him, he grows
arrogant and self-satisfied. It is too much for him when he
receives respect from someone—respect he has never had
before and that he does not deserve. And such a person has
no sense of loyalty. A word of advice that goes against his
ego may suddenly make him irritated and aggressive.
These people do not truly value one another, and their
friendships are not long-lived because they are not based on
love and respect. They often take offense, sulk and become
upset as a way of making a protest. No matter how normal
such behavior may seem to people in an ignorant society, it
is brought about by the false religion of superficiality and
has no place in the morality of the Qur’an. In the Muslim
understanding of friendship, there is no room for this kind
of ignorant, primitive tactics. Those with faith can speak to
one another about every matter in a tolerant and under-
standing environment and can resolve issues by reference to
the Qur’an.