Page 65 - Those Who Exhaust All Their Pleasures In This Life
P. 65

Adnan Oktar                        63


            comes from a sense of loyalty and faithfulness.

               The loss of admiration and respect for others

               Respect indicates people’s love for each other and the
            value placed upon them. The good qualities seen in others
            draw a deep sense of respect toward them. But a good
            character can only come from following the Qur’an’s
            morality, and a mature, reliable, and stable moral charac-
            ter that can be sustained under all circumstances can only
            be achieved by fearing Allah.
               Of course, ignorant societies have a certain concept of
            respect, but their understanding is based on a false foun-
            dation. Those who live according to ignorant criteria show
            love and respect to those whom they think are their supe-
            riors. If another person is richer, more respected, more
            talked about, noticed and has an enviable career, that is an
            ignorant society’s basis for respect. To such a society’s
            understanding, a person’s moral character, whether or not
            he performs good works, and his attitude towards others
            around him are seen as unimportant. Even if they acquired
            their wealth and renown from questionable or illicit sour-
            ces, they are treated with respect and admiration by some
            segments of society. But this is not true respect or admi-
            ration, for it is based on how others think they can benefit
            from them.
               From the beginning of this book, we have stressed that
            because these individuals reject Allah, they cannot proper-
            ly appreciate another’s good moral character, refined intel-
            lect or any other admirable qualities. For this same reason,

                                  Harun Yahya
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