Page 31 - Beauties for Life in the Qur'an

PRUDENT MEASURES IMPLIED BY THE QUR'AN 29

believers do not seek to be superior, for all they are interested in
is Allah's good pleasure.
The division of labor offers another benefit: Serving a com-
mon purpose and working collectively strengthens the friend-
ship, fraternity, and loyalty among all participants. Even more,
it enables a person to acknowledge the beauties and skills of
other people and to abandon the greed of his or her own soul,
and ultimately makes one modest.
Working collectively to seek Allah's good pleasure makes the
participants feel respect, love, and devotion to one another due
to the noble nature underlying such work. Each effort that they
put forth to fulfill a given task indicates their love and devotion
to Allah. Being aware of this fact is another factor that nurtures
fraternity among believers.

Nighttime Is for Rest; Daytime Is for Activity
The Qur'an states that daytime is the time for activity, while
nighttime is better for rest. The related verse reads:
He appointed the night for you so that you could rest in it, and
the day for seeing. There are certainly Signs in that for people
who listen. (Surah Yunus: 67)
Indeed, examining the human body reveals that its metabo-
lism is set up to rest at night and work during the day. When the
sun sets, the pineal gland, which lies at the base of the brain,
starts to secrete melatonin. This makes a person feel less alert.
Brain functions slow down, and one's bodily temperature
drops. All of these bodily reactions to darkness eventually
lower a person's productivity.
With the dawning of the day, the level of melatonin decreases
and various hormones are activated. Meanwhile, bodily tem-
perature rises and brain functions reach their maximum level.