Page 32 - The Debased Culture of Superficiality

30 THE DEBASED CULTURE OF SUPERFICIALITY

They said, “Shu‘ayb, We do not understand much of
what you say and we see you are weak among us. Were
it not for your clan, we would have stoned you. We do
not hold you in high esteem!” (Surah Hud: 91)
They deferred to some individuals and gave them esteem
they did not deserve. Yet they did not appreciate the dis-
tinctive qualities, noble personality, faithfulness and moral
character of the prophet Shu‘ayb (as) whom Allah loved and
chose. They were just influenced and intimidated by those
close to him. Because of the depravity of their denial, these
people preferred to live in the debased culture of superfi-
ciality, completely divorced from moral goodness and
humanity.

They Live a Life of Unawareness
The word unawareness refers to those who forget our
Lord’s existence, disregard the realities of death and the
Hereafter, give themselves over to worldly desires and pas-
sions and as a result, do not obey Allah’s sublime com-
mands. We are told in the Qur’an that these people are con-
tent to evaluate things by their external appearance:
They know an outward aspect of the life of this world
but are heedless of the Hereafter. (Surat ar-Rum: 7)
They do not consider that Allah has absolute sovereignty
over all matters. A shallow way of looking at the world has
become a culture for them, largely due to deficiencies in their
faith. They cannot properly conceive of Allah’s infinite power
and sovereignty; and this failure of theirs has endowed them
with an unbecoming boldness to live in this culture.