Transition To Qur'anic Morality From That Of The Society That Spurns Religious Moral Values

Everyone has the means to free himself from the supersititious teachings of the society of "ignorance" and to turn to faith for as long as he lives. Our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) says this in one hadith about abiding by the Qur'an and the Sunna:

It is certain that the finest word is the book of Allah. The finest path is the path of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). And the worst of deeds are those invented afterwards in violation of the deen. (3. Bukhârî, I'tisam 2, Edeb 70)

Our Almighty Lord, Allah reveals in one verse that every society will be given warnings:

"Whoever receives guidance, receives it for his own benefit: but whoever goes astray does so to his own loss. No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another: nor do We punish a native until We have sent a messenger to give warning." (Surat Al-Isra': 15)

Those who receive this invitation, give different responses. In the Qur'an Allah explains their reaction in detail. The best reaction is that of the real believers when they express their acceptance by saying, "We hear and we obey." We are told in another verse that:

"The answer of the believers, when summoned to Allah and His Messenger, in order that He may judge between them, is no other than this: they say, 'We hear and we obey': it is such as these that will attain felicity." (Surat An-Nur: 51)

In the Qur'an Allah refers to those who deny the religion with pride and even hold enmity, when they are invited to religious moral values.

"Woe to each sinful dealer in falsehoods! He hears the Signs of Allah recited to him, yet is obstinate and lofty, as if he had not heard them: then announce to him a grie vous penalty!: When he learns something of Our Signs, he takes them in jest: for such there will be a humiliating penalty." (Surat Al-Jathiyya: 7-9)

The reaction of some people is very different. The conscience of such an individual tells him what is right and wrong, but another, inner voice keeps on instilling in him the determination not to turn away from the superstitious system of the society of ignorance. He tries, in his own eyes, to legitimize this conditioning that violates good conscience by certain defense mechanisms. He tries in several ways to escape from reality. Since he cannot openly state the situation he actually is in by saying: "They are telling me the truth, but I cannot act on it because of my lack of will power or my pride," , he finds himself and looks for, in his own way, in his own foolish way, for flaws in what he is told or the believers who communicates him those.

However, it needs to be made clear that, these false approaches have been seen in all societies of ignorance right through the course of history. So much so that similar false accusations and imputations have been made against the envoys preaching the true faith and all true believes in all societies throughout history. In the Qur'an it is revealed as follows:

"The unbelieving elders of his people said: 'He is no more than a man like yourselves: his wish is to assert his superiority over you: if Allah had wished to send messengers, He could have sent down angels; never did we hear such a thing as he says, among our ancestors of old.'" (Surat Al-Muminun: 24)

"Would you now forbid us to worship the gods our fathers worshipped? But we are really in serious doubt as to the faith to which you call us." (Surah Hud: 62)

Such a person suddenly turns into a fierce defender of a false and twisted conception of religion he saw and condemned on the outside. They propose the false and cliched logic of "so everyone is wrong and is it only you, who are on the right path." However, he should know that this logic has no place in the Qur'an. That is because, according to what is revealed in the Qur'an, the truth is not measured by the number of people who believe it to be true. On the contrary, Allah reveals us in the Qur'an that "the majority of the people" will not be on the right path:

... These are the signs (or verses) of the Book: that which has been revealed to you from you Lord is the Truth; but most men do not believe. (Surat Ar-Ra'd: 1)

All the prophets throughout history discharged their duties completely and have preached the religion revealed to them by Allah. They fully discharged all the responsibilities ordained by Allah and have received their rewards in the Sight of Allah.

The Excuses Made up By Unbelievers are Void

When someone who is unwilling to escape the moral values of the society of ignorance is communicated the true religion, he, in his own shallow mind, tries to find fault with what he is told, instead of listening to it honestly and heeding the voice of his conscience. Even though he knows nothing, he will close his ears to the truth by inventing various examples in his own mind. These examples given by the unbelievers are described as "judgments" in the Qur'an by Allah and are actually some distorted comments that possess no no coherence whatsoever:

"See how they make comparative judgments about you. They are misguided and cannot find the way." (Surat Al-Furqan: 9)

The best-known of such comparative judgments do not exceed four or five. For example, "Why is the eating of the flesh of swine forbidden by religion?" is one of the most frequent questions asked. The pig itself is a dirty animal that causes the disease known as trichina. People who ask this question are generally aware how harmful pork is to human health. In fact, they do not ask it with the intention of learning the truth. They do it in the belief that they can raise difficulties for believers. However there is no question of their possibly succeeding. This truth is revealed in the Qur'an as:

"But those who strive against Our Signs, to frustrate them, – they will be Companions of the Fire." (Surat Al-Hajj: 51)

"Those who would hinder men from the path of Allah and would seek in it something crooked: it was they who denied the hereafter!" (Surah Hud: 19)

Even if these comparisons are proven to be nonsense, further comparisons are made up instantly, since the real aim is not to be informed or have suspicions allayed. If he considers the given answers with a sincere heart, he will be convinced and have to accept how reasonable they are. However he fails to apprehend the truth since he thinks according to the conditioning of the society of ignorance. Whereupon, as Allah reveals in the Qur'an, he "shuts his ears" to them and looks for a way out of that environment. This unpleasant attitude of the society of ignorance is revealed thus in the Qur'an:

"And every time I have called on them, to seek your pardon, they have only thrust their fingers into their ears, covered themselves up with their garments, grown obstinate, and given themselves up to arrogance" (Surah Nuh: 7)

Those who refuse to accept advice are compared with wild donkeys:

"Then what is the matter with them that they turn away from admonition? As if they were frightened wild donkeys, fleeing from a lion!" (Surat Al-Muddaththir: 49-51)

We are again informed by the Qur'an that those people who turn away from Islam, hiding behind primitive reactions, excuses and distortions are described as wrong-doers and unjust:

"Who does greater wrong than one who invents a falsehood against Allah, even as he is being called to Islam? Allah does not guide those who do wrong." (Surat As-Saff: 7)

Since the denier we are speaking of thinks of everyone to be just like himself, he tries to explain the unity and solidarity of believers which are, in fact, solely intended to attain the approval of Allah, in terms of the standards of ignorance. He tries to show off what he consider in his own eyes to be cunning, with illogical statements that express all the ugliness of the society of ignorance, such as "There is something behind all this," or "No one in this age would join in such an effort for the good of others." He sometimes looks down his nose and thus displays his unpleasant moral values. His greatest support on this subject comes again from people around him with the same dark state of mind. The attitude of such a person, towards the believers, and his relations with the deviant circle around him is described as follows in the Qur'an:

"When they meet those who believe, they say: 'We believe' but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say: 'We are really with you: we were only jesting.' Allah will throw back their mockery on them, and give them rope in their trespasses; so that they will wander like the blind." (Surat Al-Baqara: 14-15)

In fact, citing examples against the Qur'an, insincere, prejudiced, hostile approach towards Muslims and mocking behavior are not unique attitude disorders special such people. People who lived centuries before him and also opposed religious moral values all resorted to the same mindless tactics. Throughout the ages, the same mentality, methods and comparisons have continued to exist.. The mindset that knowingly resorts to these methods in order to cover up the truth has remained unchanged down the ages and still persists today:

"On the contrary, they say things similar to what the ancients said." (Surat Al-Muminun: 81)

In addition, one group may seek to distort religion for the sake of its own interests. The Qur'an issues this pronouncement about such types who try to distort religion:

"What is the matter with you that you judge so ill?

Or have you a book through which you learn-that you shall have, through it, whatever you choose?

Or have we sworn a covenant with you – binding till the Day of Judgment, – that you shall have whatever you shall demand?" (Surat Al-Qalam: 36-39)

When he sees a sincere believer who abides by the Qur'an he tries to absolve himself from feelings of guilt and inferiority, and this is a technique frequently seen in the society of ignorance. Such people generally use the same old expressions as they do this. "We are Muslim as well, Alhamdulillah", "my father was a hajji," "my grandmother used to cover her head," "my family are very devout." or "I never skip prayers at eids". Statements of this kind are in fact reflections of his psychological state. They dislike being given advice, warnings or suggestions on religious matters. There are also those who try to rise above the others by saying things like, "I am more devout than all of you, I am honorable, and only Allah knows who is superior to whom." Surely Allah knows who are on the right path and who are not, but He guides us to the right path by stating in the Qur'an that being a true believer is only possible by being in possession of the characteristics of the believers as explained in the Qur'an. As the criteria of the Qur'an are very clear, a one who claims superiority for himself without having any knowledge of the Qur'an does nothing but dishonor himself.

One of the biggest errors of such people is that they wrongly assume that they can deceive others. However, real believers can easily diagnose such people, with their understanding and the ability given by Allah together with the knowledge He provided in the Qur'an. Besides, Allah, Who "knows well all the secrets of the heart" (Surah Al 'Imran: 119) sees them and knows them better than they do themselves. Such people believe that they can deceive Allah just as they deceive other people. On the Day of Judgment, no excuses from them will be accepted before Allah.