Page 162 - The Religion Of The Ignorant
P. 162

THE RELIGION OF THE IGNORANT

            Religion of the Ignorant have adopted their own desires and pas-
            sions and the false rules of their society which they take as their
            guide, and have thus turned away from the true path. They have
            thus exchanged the true religion, the most perfect and sole hope of
            salvation, sent down as a mercy from Allah, for the sake of a few
            and short-lived worldly benefits. The poor nature of this bargain is
            revealed in the Qur'an:
                 Those are the people who trade the Hereafter for this
                 world. The punishment will not be lightened for them.
                 They will not be helped. (Surat al-Baqara, 86)
                 Those are the people who have sold guidance for misguid-
                 ance. Their trade has brought no profit; they are not
                 guided. (Surat al-Baqara, 16)


                 Distancing Oneself from False Religion
                 The fundamental quality of someone who enters the religion of
            Allah (Islam) is that they adopt Allah as their only Lord. Since they
            have adopted Him as their Lord, they cannot accept any other entity
            as a guide. They will regulate their entire lives in the manner re-
            vealed by Allah, in other words by His book, the Qur'an which " . . .
            contains guidance for those who guard against evil" (Surat al-
            Baqara, 2). That being the case, there can be no question of them
            adopting any other ethical system.
                 Someone who has faith, therefore, cannot be bound to a moral
            system that is the exact opposite of that of the Qur'an. One cannot be
            both a Muslim and also follow non-religious traditions inherited
            from one's forebears. One cannot produce one's own philosophy of
            life. A believer is solely a Muslim, and can bear no other name. Allah
            gives him or her that name. The following is revealed in the Qur'an
            on this subject:

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