Page 21 - Self-Sacrifice in the Qur'an's Moral Teachings
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Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar
the purpose of our creation:
He created the heavens and Earth in six days, when His Throne
was on the water, in order to test which of you has the best ac-
tions. (Surah Hud: 7)
He created death and life to test which of you is the best in ac-
tion. He is the Almighty, the Ever-Forgiving. (Surat al-Mulk: 2)
Given this, the sensible course to follow is that of true sincerity
and readiness to sacrifice, for the greatest virtue is to come in first in the
race to do good deeds:
Then We made Our chosen servants inherit the Book. But some
of them wrong themselves, some are ambivalent, and some outdo
each other in good by Allah's permission. That is the great favor.
(Surah Fatir: 32)
Had Allah willed, He would have made you a single commu-
nity. But He wanted to test you regarding what has come to you.
So compete with each other in doing good. Every one of you will
return to Allah, and He will inform you regarding the things
about which you differed. (Surat al-Ma'ida: 48)
Those who seek to do good in order to win Allah's favor act with
great eagerness, determination, and self-sacrifice. Their sincere belief
gives them many fine moral qualities: trusting in their submission to
Allah as well as remain courageous, patient, merciful, helpful, tolerant,
subtle in mind, and thankful in all circumstances. They are not caught
up in any passion for this world and the desires of their lower self, for
their goal is to win Allah's approval and mercy and to attain Paradise.
In other words, they are so attached to Allah by a deep bond of love, re-
spect, and fear that they will give up everything without a second
thought for the sake of that love.
In the following example, the great Islamic scholar Imam al-
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