Page 88 - Sincerity Described in the Qur'an

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SINCERITY DESCRIBED IN THE QUR’AN

be established before one could hope to attain goodness.
If one prefers the good of another to his own, always
looks out for the betterment, health and happiness of others,
then he is said to be sincere. For instance, if a difficult and

tasking job is to be performed, he should come forward and
volunteer for it. It is insincere to avoid a difficult task and
expect others to take care of it. What is more befitting to a
Muslim is to complete such jobs secretly, without there being
anybody to thank him. As indicated in the verse "race each
other to the good," what is truly representative of sincerity is
to immediately embark upon a task and to complete it in the
best possible manner. Such an act is also a sign that the said
person prefers his brothers to himself. He chooses difficulty
over comfort and ease, with thoughts of self-sacrifice such as,
"Let me be tired instead of my Muslim brother," "Let me be
burdened with the difficulty of this work while he rests," or
"Let myself and not he spend the time to do this." In this way
he may hope to gain Allah’s consent with this sincere
behavior.
In one of his works, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi underlined

the goodness of giving precedence to other Muslims when it
comes to innocent, harmless benefits in order to be free of the
selfish passions of the soul by saying, "Choose your brothers’
souls to your own soul in honor, rank, acclaim, in the things your
soul enjoys like material benefits. Even in the most innocent,
harmless benefits like informing a needy believer about one of the
subtle, fine truths of belief. If possible, encourage one of your
companions who does not want to, to inform him, so that your soul
does not become conceited. If you have a desire like, ‘Let me tell him
this pleasant matter so I’ll gain the reward,' it surely is not a sin