Page 157 - The Religion Of The Ignorant

Harun Yahya - Adnan Oktar

fulfill their religious observances through that job. Religious obser-
vance means serving Allah. Helping others is a religious observance
only if done for the sake of Allah's approval. A person cannot fail to
abide by the moral values of the Qur'an and then say, "I helped
such-and-such a person. That is a religious observance." If they wish
to perform a religious observance—in other words to serve Allah—
then they must try to fulfill all the provisions He set as well as fully
living by the morality Allah commands.
Some verses in Surat at-Tawba explain this in the finest man-
ner. These verses refer to the custom of the polytheists in Mecca of
giving water to those people coming to repair the Kaaba or coming
to it on pilgrimage. It is revealed that this action by the polytheists is
not regarded as a religious observance, despite being a positive
deed. That is because, as already stated, religious observance means
serving Allah. Yet the polytheists performed that action not for the
approval of Allah, but for show, and as a requirement of tradition
and custom:
It is not for the idolaters to maintain the mosques of Allah,
bearing witness against themselves of their disbelief. They
are the ones whose actions will come to nothing. They will
be in the Fire timelessly, for ever. (Surat at-Tawba, 17)
Do you make the giving of water to the pilgrims and look-
ing after the Sacred Mosque [Masjid al-Haram] the same as
believing in Allah and the Last Day and striving in the way
of Allah? They are not equal in the Sight of Allah. Allah
does not guide wrongdoing people. (Surat at-Tawba, 19)
Adherents of the Religion of Ignorant interpret the concepts of
Islam in distorted ways. These people in question are convinced of
the correctness of the path they follow and deceive themselves by
saying that Allah will be pleased with them. In seeking to justify

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