Page 33 - The Nightmare of Disbelief

Blessed be He Who has sent down the Furqan (the
Criterion of right and wrong) to His servant so that he can
be a warner to all beings. (Surat al-Furqan: 1)
The Qur'an provides a detailed description of right and
wrong and how to use our conscience and consciousness. For
instance, in a specific verse, a comprehensive description of the

concept of righteousness is given:
It is not righteousness to turn your faces to the East or to the
West. Rather, those with true righteousness are those who
believe in Allah and the Last Day, the angels, the Book and
the prophets, and who, despite their love for it, give away
their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very
poor, and to travellers and beggars and to set slaves free,
and who attend to their prayers and give alms; those who
honor their contracts when they make them, and are stead-
fast in poverty and illness and in battle. Those are the peo-
ple who are true believers. Those are the people who go in
fear of Allah. (Surat al-Baqara: 177)
Every belief one inherits from one's family or forefathers,

or imbibes from one's social environment, is inherently un-
trustworthy as long as it does not comply with Qur'anic princi- 31
ples. One example is certain phrases commonly used in society
to describe a good man. "He wouldn't hurt a fly" is one such
phrase. However, if a man avoids hurting a fly, but fails to
comply with the commandments of the Qur'an, it is hardly
proper to say that he is a good person. What really matters is to
avoid wicked deeds established as such by the Qur'an and to
do what is praised as good. For some, feeling pity for the poor,

or compassion towards children and helping them are suffi-
cient reasons to qualify a person as "religious". All these are
very excellent, but according to the Qur’an, these activities do

HARUN YAHYA (ADNAN OKTAR)