Page 58 - The Solution To Secret Sorrows

THE SOLUTION TO SECRET SORROWS

put their trust in Allah. (Surah Al 'Imran: 160)
Setting the approval of others above Allah's approval causes
considerable trouble. Living according to others' rules and ideas
rather than those of the Qur'an also has the same effect, for no one
can please a large number of people at the same time. When a par-
ticular behavior pleases one person, it angers somebody else. This is
a vicious circle, and such an individual is doomed to live an uneasy
life. In the Qur'an, Allah reveals the following about people of this
kind:
Allah has made a metaphor for them of a man owned by
several partners in dispute with one another and another
man wholly owned by a single man. Are they the same?
Praise be to Allah! The fact is that most of them do not
know. (Surat az-Zumar: 29)
For a person who seeks only Allah's approval, everything is
easy. The Qur'an informs him of all the deeds to which he should
conform, and which he should avoid, during his life. What others
think and how they behave towards him is of no importance. As
long as he conforms to Allah's will, a sincere Muslim lives in the
hope of finding salvation both in this world and the next.
Consequently, he lives out a far more tranquil, simple and beautiful
life than those who feel compelled to judge themselves against those
around them and seek the approval of others.
Allah describes the situation of people who seek the approval
of others in this verse: "Most of them do not believe in Allah with-
out associating others with Him" (Surah Yusuf: 106). For this rea-
son, without excepting himself, everyone should think carefully on
the subject of idolatry and regulate his beliefs and his life according
to this truth. As Allah tells us:
Allah does not forgive anything being associated with

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