Page 66 - Those Who Exhaust All Their Pleasures In This Life

64 THOSE WHO EXHAUST ALL THEIR PLEASURES IN THIS LIFE

they cannot feel any natural love or admiration in their
hearts. On the contrary, it annoys them if only for the sake
of gain, they must feign respect for someone they do not
like. In fact, people who do not practice religious morality
always want themselves to be superior, respected and
admired. They want to have the last word and tell others
what to do. And it hurts their pride if they must compro-
mise their egos, even temporarily, for the sake of anyone
else.
The interesting thing here is that the person on the
receiving end of the false respect is aware of the situation.
He knows that the other doesn’t really respect him, but
uses the material power he has, pretending not to notice
so that he can use the false respect to his advantage.
Believers, on the other hand, who are not governed by
insincerity, sincerely love each other because of the fine
moral qualities they see in each other. Therefore, their
respect is unchanging. The Qur’an tells believers to
respect each other, and thus they do their best to practice
this high morality in order to win His favor. They act in the
knowledge that false respect is unacceptable in Allah’s
sight and that He will recompense them according to what
is in their hearts.
It is rare to find such respect and admiration among
unbelievers. Some individuals may be disrespectful toward
their parents, who brought them up in difficulties. Others
may show great disrespect to elderly people they meet on
the street by harassing them or making fun of the weak-
ness caused by their age and ill health. However, Allah