Page 92 - The Debased Culture of Superficiality

90 THE DEBASED CULTURE OF SUPERFICIALITY

that such a person may exhibit an attitude quite divorced
from religion under different terms and conditions. For
example, when in difficulty he may lie, feel sorry for himself
and weep, forgetting the fact of destiny and his trust in
Allah, and fall into deep despair. He may also display an
angry, aggressive attitude, because those who live superfi-
cially think that growing angry, becoming emotional and
showing distress are natural reactions, which they do not
hesitate to display spontaneously.
However, several examples are given in the Qur’an to
warn us that these sudden reactions are wrong and should

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be avoided. Allah says that Muslims are “. . . those who con- -
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t trol their rage and pardon other people” (Surah Al ‘Imran:

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134).
In another verse, He says:
. . . Do not despair of solace from Allah. No one despairs
of solace from Allah except for people who are unbe-
lievers. (Surah Yusuf: 87)
These individuals focus their lives on others, trying
always to please them and win their favor. Of course, they
do not hope to please them or behave morally toward others
in an effort to win Allah’s favor. What is meant here is that
they adapt themselves to the persons they are with and, they
can easily resort to every sort of shallowness and lack of
moral standards to gain their appreciation.
Although they know it is not right, such people may fal-
sify documents and tell lies according to the situation just in
order to earn their boss’s appreciation. They may be quite
passive in the presence of a high-level manager, but arro-