Page 46 - The Debased Culture of Superficiality

44 THE DEBASED CULTURE OF SUPERFICIALITY

complex. Because he sees himself in this light, he will not try
to seek out what is good and beautiful. Because he has no
faith, he seeks out what others regard as important and dis-
regards what is valuable in Allah’s sight. As a result, he
becomes weak and powerless, with little strength of will or
personality. He has no response to negative ideas and sug-
gestions that come to him. It is very easy for such a person
to be influenced by negativity in his environment.
Without having the ability that faith gives to distinguish
between right and wrong, a personality may be weakened
by wrong information, wrong suggestions and wrong direc-
tions. This results in one who is insecure in his environment,
whose behavior is shallow, with no sense of self-worth.
Because of his situation, he never thinks that he should trust
in Allah and be steadfast in acquiring a noble moral charac-
ter. On the contrary, he becomes unable to understand or
practice any other morality than the one formed by this
debased culture.
But anyone living according to the moral precepts of the
Qur’an thanks Allah for creating him as a Muslim. He
knows that it is being a Muslim, having faith, intelligence
and a godly conscience that gives a person value. None of
his shortcomings leads him to act in an unseemly superficial
way. On the contrary, they lead him to trust in Allah, correct
his faults and shortcomings as much as he can, and behave
in a way conforming to the Qur’an. Even if this person was
brought up in a mean, selfish and aggressive environment,
he will never react to occurrences as others do. But, as Allah
says in the Qur’an, he is generous, gentle and good-natured.