Page 588 - Atlas of Creation Volume 3

as perfectly justified to exploit, oppress, intimidate, frighten, injure and even kill people. No forms of
immoral or illegal activity were prevented or condemned, since these were regarded as "compatible

with the laws of nature."
In many countries where people do not live by religious moral values, this system still continues
today. The gap between rich and poor is growing at an ever-increasing rate, and the conditions in which
the needy live are ignored. According to the propaganda of Social Darwinism, protecting and caring for
the poor and needy is a violation of the laws of nature, and since such people are regarded as a burden,

no help is extended to them.
Great differences between levels of well-being exist not only within a country, but also between
countries. As the level of well-being rises rapidly in the West, famine, sickness and poverty afflict many

Third World countries, where people are dying from starvation and neglect. If used in a rational and
conscientious manner, however, the world's resources are plentiful enough to provide for all those now
abandoned to hunger and poverty.
In order for the world's resources to provide humane conditions, it is essential that Darwinism's in-
tellectual influence be eradicated all over the world. When Darwinist views and understanding are re-

placed by the moral values of the Qur'an, such problems will naturally be resolved. That is because
while Darwinism inculcates the idea of ruthless competition and the oppression of the poor, religious
moral values impart compassion, protection, mutual cooperation, solidarity and sharing. For instance,

our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) says in one of the hadith, "A believer is not the
[mature] one who eats his fill when his neighbor is hungry." 36 These wise words of the Prophet (may
God bless him and grant him peace) are one of the indications of Muslims' affection and compassion.
In many of His verses, God has commanded love, compassion, affection and altruism and given
Muslims examples of proper moral behavior. While social Darwinism consists of the rich using the poor

and needy as stepping stones in order to rise, Islamic moral values command the rich to protect them.
Some of the verses on this subject revealed by God are as follows:

Those of you possessing affluence and ample wealth should not make oaths that they will not give to
their relatives and the very poor and those who have migrated in the way of God. They should rather
pardon and overlook… (Surat an-Nur, 22)

They will ask you what they should give away. Say, "Any wealth you give away should go to your par-
ents and relatives and to orphans and the very poor and travelers…" (Surat al-Baqara, 215)

... Eat of them and feed those who are poor and in need. (Surat al-Hajj, 28)

[Believers are] those in whose wealth there is a known share for beggars and the destitute. (Surat al-
Ma'arij, 24-25)

They give food, despite their love for it, to the poor and orphans and captives: "We feed you only out of
desire for the Face of God. We do not want any repayment from you or any thanks. Truly We fear from
our Lord a glowering, calamitous Day." (Surat al-Insan, 8-10)

In the Qur'an, God also reveals that those who do not help the poor and weak will be rewarded with
Hell:

They [the companions of the Right] will ask the evildoers: "What caused you to enter Saqar?" They will
say, "We were not among those who performed prayer and we did not feed the poor." (Surat al-
Muddaththir, 41-44)

Then bind him in a chain which is seventy cubits long. He used not to believe in God the Magnificent,
nor did he urge the feeding of the poor. Therefore here today he has no friend. (Surat al-Haqqa, 32-35)

It must not be forgotten: It is Almighty God, the Lord of all existence and all the universe, Who
gives everyone his earnings and success. A person does not become wealthy by engaging in ruthless
competition in the "struggle for survival" or by oppressing the weak. It is God Who gives everyone all
that they possess, distributing wealth among them in order to test them. A wealthy person is actually
tested by means of that wealth. God reveals this fact in a verse:

586 Atlas of Creation Vol. 3