Page 109 - The Debased Culture of Superficiality

Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar 107

attention to what they have done in a covert way or talk
openly about it. You can hear them say things like, “I gave
him that,” or “I bought what he is wearing. I cleaned it,” “I
prepared that file,” “I gave him that idea,” “If I hadn’t
reminded him, he would have forgotten,” “I dropped him off
in my car,” “I looked after him when he was sick . . .”
Superficiality drives a person to behave like this. People of
shallow character use these kinds of things to praise them-
selves and make themselves look good in the eyes of others.
If the praise of Allah was in their hearts and minds, they
would not lower themselves to seek others’ appreciation and
praise. But because they do not try to win Allah’s favor and
the rewards in the Afterlife are far from their minds, they are
more inclined to seek the appreciation and gratitude of oth-
ers as an easy gain.
These people can even cite the material or spiritual help
they have given to the recipients themselves. Because they
cannot conceive of subtlety of religious morality, they do not
see this as superficiality. However, in the Qur’an, Allah tells
His servants to avoid such behavior:
You who believe! Do not nullify your charity by
demands for gratitude or insulting words, like him who
spends his wealth, showing off to people and not believ-
ing 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 . . . (Surat al-Baqara: 264)
He reminds them that if they make another person feel
obliged to them they will render their alms ineffective. In