Page 94 - Answers from the Qur'an

ANSWERS FROM THE QUR'AN
The people surrounding a person, as well as the majority of
people in the world, are not entitled to a believer's obedience.
Once people start to believe and comply with the Qur'an's com-
mands, they may go against this majority and their former unbe-
lieving circle. This stems from the fact that these people do not
understand the beauty, generosity, loyalty and faithfulness
which comes with the religious morality. However, believers are
never afraid of countering these people, or of being frowned
upon or condemned by them. That believers do not fear con-
demnation is especially stressed in the Qur'an:
O you who believe! If any of you renounce your religion,
Allah will bring forward a people whom He loves and
who love Him, humble to the believers, fierce to the un-
believers, who strive in the Way of Allah and do not fear
reproach from any critic. That is the unbounded favor of
Allah, which He gives to whoever He wills. Allah is
Boundless, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Ma'ida, 54)
Believers seek Allah's good pleasure; whether people are
pleased with them or not is of no importance. Indeed, if they
please Allah, this will, if necessary and if Allah wills, also earn
them other people's admiration.
Consequently, such thoughts as "my family keeps me busy,"
"my school or my job consumes all my time," or "this will attract
the negative reaction of other people" are nothing but excuses.
People who offer them in order to avoid believers and not to per-
form acts of worship are not sincere.
In this case, if people make no serious effort to be with be-
lievers, to keep themselves occupied with the remembrance of
Allah, and to perform the appropriate acts of worship, and yet
still try to be accepted by them, for such behavior might mean
the following: They are seeking some personal interests from be-

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