Page 20 - Loyalty Described in the Qur'an
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LOYALTY DESCRIBED IN THE QUR'AN
Those who are guilty of this manner of thinking behave simi-
larly with regards to pledges they make to others. Their refusal to
abide by their word, recognizing the rights of others, derives from
the fact that they do not want the responsibility of loyalty expected
of them to interfere with their personal gain. For this reason, agree-
ments ratified with such people will usually end in betrayal. Allah
tells us in the Qur'an that they do not abide by their word, but seize
the first opportunity available to break an agreement:
We did not find many of them worthy of their contract. We
found most of them deviators. (Surat al-A‘raf, 102)
Allah describes their condition in the following words:
Those with whom you make a treaty and who then break it
every time. They have no fear of Allah. (Surat al-Anfal, 56)
Moreover, Allah tells us that these hypocrites, in order to gain
His favor, give Allah their word that they will not shrink from per-
forming deeds of self-sacrifice, but fail to keep their promise:
Yet they had previously made a contract with Allah that
they would never turn their backs. Contracts made with
Allah will be asked about. (Surat al-Ahzab, 15)
Those fraught with such shortcomings are constantly betraying
Allah, the messengers, their associates, and others. Satan's
hypocrisy is an example of the poor morality of such individuals.
Satan makes false promises only to later admit that those promises
were lies. In the Qur'an, Allah tells us about Satan's hypocrisy:
When Satan made their actions appear good to them, say-
ing, "No one will overcome you today for I am at your
side." But when the two parties came in sight of one an-
other, he turned right round on his heels saying, "I wash
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