Page 109 - Sincerity Described in the Qur'an

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Avoiding Attitudes Harming Sincerity

destroy sincerity, thus harming eternal happiness for the sake of
meaningless, unnecessary, harmful, sad, self-centred, tedious,
hypocritical base feelings and insignificant benefits. And in so
doing we would violate all our brothers’ rights, transgress against

the duty of service to the Qur’an, and be disrespectful towards the
sacredness of the truths of belief." 37
This desire to acquire status and authority prevents a
person from being sincere in deed and leads him to become
dishonest. Such a person, who aims at gaining Allah’s
consent and heavenly reward, on the one hand, may also aim
to acquire honor and repute in this life. This will cause him to
invalidate his deeds inadvertently. Any true believer should
heed these reminders of the Qur’an, and cleanse his soul of
the worldly desires to acquire repute and honor. He should
endeavor to gain glory and honor with Allah.
Otherwise, a person will become diverted by the "mutual
rivalry for piling up," until he reaches the end of his life, as
stated in the following verse: "Fierce competition for this

world distracted you until you went down to the graves."
(Surat at-Takathur: 1-2) He will only understand his doom in
the hereafter, as the result of many lost years spent aiming to
fulfill the vain desires of his lower-soul. All his effort would
have been in vain. More fitting for a true believer is to purify
himself of the evil side of his soul while there is still time. He
should acquire sincerity, a level of morality consented by
Allah.