The Facebook generation do not know love |
All kinds of negative moral values and behavior, such as insincerity, jealousy, the urge to harm others, enmity and anger, are widespread in societies that turn their backs on religious virtues. People far removed from the moral values of the Qur’an cannot genuinely love and respect one another. Their behavior toward one another therefore becomes increasingly mechanical. This model, far removed from altruism, sincerity and honest love, actually poses a major threat to society. People who murder and injure others, who cause conflict, who are rude or have tendencies to steal are also people who have no experience of the beauty of love or the spiritual matters bestowed by religious moral values.
But people may be generally at first unable to appreciate the scale of the danger. Because this inhuman structure appears very suddenly and unexpectedly in society. People who gradually turn their backs on the state of mind bestowed by religious moral values also turn their backs on mutual love and respect. They become unable to understand the importance of these things. Human love increasingly declines, and examples of this can be clearly seen. For example, people may initially help one another but then come to regard mutual assistance as damaging to their own interests. They may adopt the satanic idea of "What do I stand to gain?" When they see they have nothing personally to gain they may adopt the totally mistaken idea, in their own eyes, that assisting others or behaving altruistically is meaningless. A human model that looks solely to its own self-interest thus results. It is only natural for crime rates to rise and human relations to be impaired in such a society in which affection, compassion and brotherhood are replaced by anger, conflict and feelings of hostility.
To cite an example of this, according to a wide-ranging study conducted in Britain with the help of the Church of England, social problems and the risks facing young people have reached alarming levels in British society. The report says that greed, selfishness and individualism have a negative effect on children’s lives. It also says that for that reason families and children need to receive a basic education on the subjects of love and moral responsibility. The research also emphasized that parents’ personal desires have a negative impact on their children. According to the report, the root of the problem is an “extreme individualism” in society. The conclusion drawn by the sociologists at the end of the study is this: “individualism must be replaced by moral values.” The research also says that mutual aid, altruism and being pleasant are far preferable to self-interest. The only solution to the moral degeneration, social problems and crime in society is for people to live completely by the moral values of the Qur’an. A devout Muslim is altruistic for Allah’s sake, and it pleases him; he speaks pleasant words in order to comply with Allah’s commandment in the Qur’an, and his heart is eased; he is generous in order to earn Allah’s approval, and that brings him peace and joy. Because of his great love for Almighty Allah, a vast love for all His manifestations arises in his heart. He feels a genuine love for people, one that is not based on self-interest. Since he treats people with love, both he and those around him are at peace. Because he bears all these excellent qualities, the list of which is endless, the believer is mentally completely at ease. It is clear that a society in which the majority of people have these virtues, will enjoy a high level of well-being, peace and beauty. In the Qur’an, Allah says that virtuous believers will enjoy pleasant lives in this world and in the Hereafter: Anyone who acts rightly, male or female, being a believer, We will give them a good life and We will recompense them according to the best of what they did. (Surat an-Nahl, 97)
We gave him good in the world and in the Hereafter he will be one of the righteous. (Surat an-Nahl, 122)
