Page 70 - The Debased Culture of Superficiality

68 THE DEBASED CULTURE OF SUPERFICIALITY

in these verses happened to him. Until that moment, he had
no understanding of the nature of the life of this world. And,
because of his shallow thinking, he was unable to conceive
of Allah’s power. When these things happened to him, he
repented with the words, “Oh, if only I had…”
You can see how the culture of superficiality prevents
people from interpreting things correctly, just like the owner
of the garden in this story. It leads people to an unreal and
empty sense of pride. An individual proud of his posses-
sions feels the need to mention them to everyone, either
openly or covertly. He always praises himself for his intelli-
gence, talents, his new house or car, a successful project, his
possessions or the school his children attend. He tries to
vaunt himself by constantly mentioning all the good deci-
sions he has made, sometimes openly and sometimes indi-
rectly.
In this ignorant culture, such an individual enters a sort
of contest with even his siblings and friends to determine
who is wealthier, whose children are the most intelligent,
whose were selected by the best schools, and endless other
such things. When one party initiates such a contest, the
other, in order not to be bettered, will open another subject
that he thinks he is better at than his rival. In this way begins
an endless contest of dissimulation and superficiality. Their
conversations will affirm the intimacy of their relationship
in artificial and exaggerated terms. On the other hand, how-
ever, they will use expressions to score points against,
embarrass and humiliate each other and create discomfort
by placing each other in difficult situations.