Page 33 - Self-Sacrifice in the Qur'an's Moral Teachings

Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar

sessions and position, worries about the future, and an addiction to a
comfortable life; he urges them to follow their lower self's desires, robs
them of their willpower, and urges them to be lazy and uninterested;
and he leads them into fear and despair. But sincere believers always
counter these incitements with the Qur'an's morality so that they can

win His approval by refusing to placate their lower self.
Allah gives in the Qur’an examples of situations in which believ-
ers could be called upon to make such personal sacrifices.

Abandoning Worldly Appetites

In the Qur'an Allah states that the world has been adorned in such
a way to separate true believers from insincere people: "We made
everything on Earth adornment for it so that We could test them to
see whose actions are the best" (Surat al-Kahf: 7). Some of these adorn-
ments are described in the Qur’an:
The love of worldly appetites appears fair in people's eyes,
painted in glowing colors: women and children, heaped-up
mounds of gold and silver, horses with fine markings, live-

stock, and fertile farmland. All of that is merely the enjoyment
of the life of this world. The best homecoming is in Allah's
Presence. (Surah Al 'Imran: 14)
Each thing listed here was created as a blessing for humanity.
However, it is up to individual human beings to realize that these
blessings are from Allah and that they are obliged to thank Him and
use them in ways to win His favor. Each blessing should draw people
closer to Allah and lead them to give Him greater thanks and better ap-
preciate His greatness, intelligence, artistry, infinite mercy, and gen-
erosity. Individuals should always be aware that He can remove all of

31