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Religion according to Allah, not to People
Allah has revealed in detail the kind of moral values people should have and the kind of lives they should lead. True moral values dictate that one lives scrupulously by Allah's commandments.
Some people, however, avoid living by these moral values. They are strongly unwilling to submit fully to His stipulations. But seek to establish a model that will satisfy their own desires. To that end, they come up with various rules and principles of their own, and imagine that religion should also be compatible with these principles. They are willing to live by religious moral values only as far as these are compatible with their own standards and logic. Yet this is a grave error and deception, because true religious moral values are those revealed by Allah, not as interpreted and lived by human beings.
In the Qur'an, Allah tells us of the errors committed by those who act in accordance with their own twisted logic and who fail to live according to the manner revealed by Him:
What is the matter with you? On what basis do you judge? Or do you have a Book which you study, so that you may have anything in it you choose? Or do you have oaths which bind Us, extending to the Day of Resurrection, that you will have whatever you decide? Ask them which of them stands as guarantor for that! (Surat al-Qalam: 36-40)
The False Conjecture of Those Who Act in Accord with What Others Decide
Living by what other people's opinions instead of by what Allah has revealed causes such people to draw exceedingly distorted and twisted conclusions. For example, the hypocrites living in the time of our Prophet (saas) sought to create a climate of strife with their inferences, and aimed to turn believers away from the true path. Allah has described the ugly characteristics of hypocrites and idolaters:
And so that He might punish the men and women of the hypocrites and the men and women of the idolaters—those who think bad thoughts about Allah. They will suffer an evil turn of fate. Allah is angry with them, and has cursed them and prepared Hell for them. What an evil destination! (Surat at-Fath: 6)
As this verse reveals, these misconceptions actually rebounded on the heads of those concerned, and by Allah's leave, our Prophet (saas) and his companions always emerged victorious. The verse "Do they then seek the judgment of the Time of Ignorance? . . ." (Surat al-Ma'ida: 50) tells us that one factor that leads the people in question to such a fate was that they did not want to act in the way that Allah instructed them but rather, according to the distorted logic they acquired during the Time of Ignorance. The fact is, however, that Allah has told us: "Who could be better at giving judgment than Allah for people with certainty?" (Surat al-Ma'ida: 50)
Those Who Take Their Own Whims and Desires as Their deities
One of the main barriers that keeps people from living by the moral values revealed by Allah is that they think selfishly, rather than with their intelligence and conscience. To put that another way, they act according to their whims and desires. This causes them to follow falsehood rather than the truth, as well as to inflict serious spiritual damage on themselves and those around them. In the Qur'an Allah has revealed that selves inevitably leads people to evil:
"I do not say my self was free from blame. The self indeed commands to evil acts–except for those my Lord has mercy on. My Lord, He is Forgiving, Merciful." (Surah Yusuf: 53)
Another verse tells us that following one's own bent will lead to the most terrible troubles:
If the truth were to follow their whims and desires, the heavens and the Earth and everyone in them would have been brought to ruin. No indeed! We have given them their Reminder, but they have turned away from it. (Surat al-Muminun: 71)
The religion sent down by Allah is ideally suited to human beings' creation. Interpretations resulting from people's own mindsets, cultures or experience, however, have led to a wide range of problems. Because those who does not live by the moral values of the Qur'an will want everything to suit their own desires. What matters to such people is their own satisfaction, and they never stop to think what the consequences of this may be. Even if they do so, their self-will gives their whims and desires the upper hand. When people act in the light of their selves, they give the greatest importance to their own comfort and their pastimes. The endless desires of those who fail to live by moral values are revealed in these terms in the Qur'an:
Shall man then have whatever he covets? (Surat an-Najm: 24)
When a situation arises that is not as their selves had planned, these individuals may react in a most impulsive manner. They may engage in behaviors such as with anger, peevishness or emotionality that are incompatible with Qur'anic moral values. This causes them to act selfish, unloving, proud or inhuman. Such people love themselves more than anything else. Even when they claim to care for their friends, families, and those around them, their conception of love must still be compatible with their own selves. In other words, their love is founded on various worldly expectations, rather than on the approval, mercy and Paradise of Allah.
First and foremost, obviously, all this will harm the individual concerned. People who constantly seek to satisfy their own selves will suffer the troubles caused by living with desires that wear them down. Instead of living in security, peace and moderation, they live in a state of restless worry. Since they are not submissive and do not act in the knowledge that everything they possess is a blessing from Allah, and they fear losing what they have or that events will not transpire the way they want, which anxiety does them grave psychological damage.
One of the main features that distinguishes people who follow their own selves is that their love is always very superficial. Their affections are based on various superficial measures. Any reduction or decrease in these values causes their love to disappear in a moment. They are never steadfast in their affections. Nor do they properly appreciate the affection and interest that others bestow on them. Familiar examples are the way that children do not show their parents the proper interest and understanding, or how friendships come to a sudden end due to problems that could be easily resolved. This is doubtless one of the worst spiritual difficulties experienced by disbelievers, because love is a great blessing that Allah has bestowed on human beings. As part of their created nature, human beings are in a constant search for love, compassion and understanding. Whatever their circumstances may be, they want to be close to friends and relatives they can trust and love throughout the course of their lives. But people who act in the light of their own selfishness and fail to think and behave in accordance with Qur'anic moral values waste their whole lives bereft of this blessing. For the sake of this false love, they create an environment without compassion, sympathy, affection, patience or tolerance.
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