Page 120 - The Debased Culture of Superficiality

118 THE DEBASED CULTURE OF SUPERFICIALITY

his destiny] will come to him. Whosever’s desire and objective is
the Hereafter, Allah will make good his fragmented affairs,
locate wealth in his heart and the world [its blessings and goods]
will submit to him.” (Sunan Ibn Majah)
And Bediuzzaman Said Nursi reminds us in one of his
reflections that someone who has earthly desires may be
deprived of them:
“Greed is the cause of deprivation; submission and content-
ment, on the other hand, are a vehicle for mercy.” (Bediuzzaman
Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection, The Letters, p. 271.)

They are Curious

Those who live in the debased culture of superficiality
use various tactics to find out what they want to know. They
are curious about things that do not concern them and try to
find out about things of no advantage to them. For example,
Person No. 1 was not invited to a gathering of friends the
evening before. In order to find out whether Person No. 2—
someone he had a disagreement with—was invited, he tells
Person No. 3 that he tried all night to call Person No. 2, but
without success, and that he was concerned. So Person No.
3, not knowing the real reason for the question, says that
Person No. 2 was at last night’s gathering and that is why he
could not be reached. With his sneaky questioning, Person
No. 1 makes a display of good will to Person No. 3 without
making him aware of his curiosity and jealousy.
Besides this tactic of covert questioning, those who live in
a superficial culture constantly ask questions to satisfy their
curiosity. They insert into their conversations basic ques-