Living in Accordance with the Qur'an 4/9

Exhibiting a Sound Muslim Personality in Every Place and Circumstance

But when they see a chance of trade or entertainment they scatter off to it and leave you standing there. Say: ‘What is with God is better than trade or entertainment. God is the Best of Providers.’ (Surat al-Jumah, 11)

By men whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert from the remembrance of God, nor from regular prayer, nor from the practice of regular charity: Their (only) fear is for the Day when hearts and eyes will be transformed (in a world wholly new). (Surat an-Nur, 37)

(Believers are) those to whom people said, ‘The people have gathered against you, so fear them.’ But that merely increased their faith and they said, ‘God is enough for us and the best of guardians.’ (Surah Al ‘Imran, 173)

The magicians threw themselves down in prostration. They said, ‘We believe in the Lord of Harun and Musa.’ Pharaoh said, ‘Do you believe in him before I have authorised you? He is your chief, the one who taught you magic. I will cut off your hands and feet alternately and have you crucified on palm trunks. Then you will know for certain which of us has the harsher and longer lasting punishment.’ They (magicians) said (to Pharaoh), ‘We will never prefer you to the clear signs which have come to us nor to Him Who brought us into being. Decide on any judgment you like. Your jurisdiction only covers the life of this world.’ (The magicians said to Pharaoh,) ‘We have believed in our Lord so that He may forgive us for our mistakes and for the magic which you forced us to perform. God is better and longer lasting.’ (Surah Ta Ha, 70-73)

Avoiding Hastiness

Man is a creature of haste: soon (enough) will I show you My Signs; do not ask Me to hasten them! (Surat al-Anbiya’, 37)

Man prays for evil just as he prays for good. Man is prone to be impetuous. (Suratl al-Isra’, 11)

God’s command is coming, so do not try to hasten it. Glory be to Him! He is exalted above anything they associate with Him. (Surat an-Nahl, 1)

So do not try to hasten their punishment. We are simply counting out the number of their days. (Surah Maryam, 84)

So be steadfast as the Messengers with firm resolve were also steadfast. and do not seek to hasten it for them. on the Day they see what they were promised, it will be as if they had only tarried for just one hour of a single day. It has been transmitted! Will any be destroyed except for deviant people? (Surat al-Ahqaf, 35)

Move not thy tongue concerning the (Qur’an) to make haste therewith. (Surat al-Qiyamah, 16)

Not Shying Away from Telling the Truth

It is a Book sent down to you–so let there be no constriction in your breast because of it–so that you can give warning by it and as a reminder to the believers. (Surat al-A’raf, 2)

An evil generation has succeeded them, inheriting the Book, taking the goods of this lower world, and saying, ‘We will be forgiven.’ But if similar goods come to them again they still take them. Has not a covenant been made with them in the Book, that they should only say the truth about God and have they not studied what is in it? the Final Abode is better for those who guard against evil. Will you not use your intellect? (Surat al-A’raf, 169)

You who believe! Be upholders of justice, bearing witness for God alone, even against yourselves or your parents and relatives. Whether they are rich or poor, God is well able to look after them. Do not follow your own desires and deviate from the truth. If you twist or turn away, God is aware of what you do. (Surat an-Nisa’, 135)

We fortified their hearts when they stood up and said, ‘Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth and We will not call on any god apart from Him. We would in that case have uttered an abomination. (Surat al-Kahf, 14)

Being Resolute and Resilient

Musa’s mother felt a great emptiness in her heart and she almost gave him away; only We fortified her heart so that she would be one of the believers. (Surat al-Qasas, 10)

You who believe! When you meet a troop, stand firm and remember God repeatedly so that hopefully you will be successful. (Surat al-Anfal, 45)

We fortified their hearts when they stood up... (Surat al-Kahf, 14)

Worshiping with Love and Enthusiasm. Believers Do Not Feel Exhaustion, Weariness or Laziness

He is Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between them, so worship Him and persevere in His worship. Do you know of any other with His Name. (Surah Maryam, 65)

Nothing prevents what they give from being accepted from them but the fact that they have rejected God and His Messenger, and that they only come to prayer lethargically, and that they only give reluctantly. (Surat at-Tawba, 54)

The hypocrites think they deceive God, but He is deceiving them. When they get up to pray, they get up lazily, showing off to people, and only remembering God a very little. (Surat an-Nisa’, 142)

Everyone in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him. Those in His Presence do not consider themselves too great to worship Him and do not grow tired of it. (Surat al-Anbiya’, 19)

If they grow arrogant, those who are with your Lord glorify Him night and day and never grow tired. (Surah Fussilat, 38)

The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant to God nor would the angels near to Him. If any do disdain to worship Him, and grow arrogant, He will in any case gather them all to Him. (Surat an-Nisa’, 172)

Being Sincere in Serving Islam and Devoting One’s Life to God; Refraining from Making Excuses for Falling Behind

In fact, man will be clear proof against himself. Even though he were to put up his excuses. (Surat al-Qiyamah, 14-15)

Those Arabs who remained behind will say to you, ‘Our wealth and families kept us occupied, so ask forgiveness for us.’ They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say: ‘Who can control God for you in any way whether He wants harm for you or wants benefit for you?’ God is aware of what you do. (Surat al-Fath, 11)

And a group of them said, ‘People of Yathrib, Your position is untenable so return!’ some of them asked the Prophet to excuse them, saying, ‘Our houses are exposed,’ when they were not exposed; it was merely that they wanted to run away. (Surat al-Ahzab, 13)

Those who were left behind were glad to stay behind the Messenger of God. They did not want to strive with their wealth and themselves in the Way of God. They said, ‘Do not go out to fight in the heat.’ Say: ‘The Fire of Hell is much hotter, if they only understood.’ (Surat at-Tawba, 81)

And (it is) so that He would know the hypocrites. They were told, ‘Come and fight in the Way of God or at least help defend us.’ They said, ‘If we knew how to fight, we would certainly follow you.’ They were closer to disbelief that day than to faith, saying with their mouths what was not in their hearts. and God knows best what they are hiding. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 167)

If it had been a case of easy gains and a short journey, they would have followed you, but the distance was too great for them. They will swear by God: ‘Had we been able to, we would have gone out with you.’ They are destroying their own selves. God knows that they are lying. (Surat at-Tawba, 42)

Say: ‘If your fathers or your sons or your brothers or your wives or your tribe, or any wealth you have acquired, or any business you fear may slump, or any house which pleases you, are dearer to you than God and His Messenger and striving in His Way, then wait until God brings about His command. God does not guide people who are deviators.’ (Surat at-Tawba, 24)

Reconciling and Reuniting Believers

The believers are brothers, so make peace between your brothers and have fear of God so that hopefully you will gain mercy. (Surat al-Hujurat, 10)

They will ask you about booty. Say: ‘Booty belongs to God and the Messenger. So have fear of God and put things right between you. Obey God and His Messenger if you are believers.’ (Surat al-Anfal, 1)

But if someone fears bias or wrongdoing on the part of the person making the will, and puts things right between the people involved, in that case he has not committed any crime. God is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat al-Baqarah, 182)

If you fear a breach between a couple, send an arbiter from his people and an arbiter from her people. If the couple desire to put things right, God will bring about a reconciliation between them. God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (Surat an-Nisa’, 35)

There is no good in much of their secret talk, except in the case of those who enjoin charity, or what is right, or putting things right between people. If anyone does that, seeking the pleasure of God, We will give him an immense reward. (Surat an-Nisa’, 114)

If two parties of the believers fight, make peace between them. But if one of them attacks the other unjustly, fight the attackers until they revert to God’s command. If they revert, make peace between them with justice, and be even-handed. God loves those who are even-handed. (Surat al-Hujurat, 9)

Do not, by your oaths, make God a pretext to avoid good action and guarding against evil and putting things right between people. God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Baqarah, 224)

Knowing That God Hears All Our

Conversations; Refraining from Secret Talks

Do you not see that God knows what is in the heavens and on the earth? Three men cannot confer together secretly without Him being the fourth of them, or five without Him being the sixth of them, or fewer than that or more without Him being with them wherever they are. Then He will inform them on the Day of Rising of what they did. God has knowledge of all things. (Surat al-Mujadilah, 7)

Do you not see those who were forbidden to confer together secretly returning to the very thing they were forbidden to do, and conferring together secretly in wrongdoing and enmity and disobedience to the Messenger? and when they come to you they greet you with words God has never used in greeting you, and say to themselves ‘Why does God not punish us for what we say?’ Hell will be enough for them! They will roast in it. What an evil destination! (Surat al-Mujadilah, 8)

You who believe! When you confer together secretly, do not do so in wrongdoing and enmity and disobedience to the Messenger; rather confer together in goodness and fear of God. Have fear of God–Him to Whom you will be gathered. (Surat al-Mujadilah, 9)

Conferring in secret is from Satan, to cause grief to those who believe; but it cannot harm them at all, unless by God’s permission. So let the believers put their trust in God. (Surat al-Mujadilah, 10)

Do they not know that God knows their secrets and their private talk, and that God is the Knower of all unseen things? (Surat at-Tawba, 78)

Or do they imagine that We do not hear their secrets and their private talk? on the contrary Our messengers are right there with them writing it down. (Surat az-Zukhruf, 80)

Refraining from Talking About a Subject We Do Not Know About; Avoiding Gossip, Slander and Ill Thoughts

Do not pursue what you have no knowledge of. Hearing, sight and hearts will all be questioned. (Surat al-Isra’, 36)

You who believe! If a deviator brings you a report, scrutinize it carefully in case you attack people in ignorance and so come to greatly regret what you have done. (Surat al-Hujurat, 6)

You who believe! Avoid most suspicion. Indeed some suspicion is a crime. and do not spy and do not backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat his brother’s dead flesh? No, you would hate it. and have fear of God. God is Ever-Returning, Most Merciful. (Surat al-Hujurat, 12)

Why, when you heard it, did you not, as men and women of the believers, instinctively think good thoughts and say, ‘This is obviously a lie’? Why did they not produce four witnesses to it? Since they did not bring four witnesses, in God’s Sight, they are liars. Were it not for God’s favour to you and His mercy, both in this world and the hereafter, a terrible punishment would have afflicted you for your plunging headlong into it. You were bandying it about on your tongues, your mouths uttering something about which you had no knowledge. You considered it to be a trivial matter, but, in God’s Sight, it is immense. Why, when you heard it, did you not say, ‘We have no business speaking about this. Glory be to You! This is a terrible slander!’? God warns you never to repeat the like of it again if you are believers. (Surat an-Nur, 12-17)

Woe to every faultfinding backbiter who has amassed wealth and hoarded it!. (Surat al-Humazah, 1)

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 God. (Surat al-Fath, 6)

Refraining from Being Quarrelsome and Engaging in Disputes with Believers

Among people there is one who argues about God without knowledge or guidance or any light-giving Book. (Surat al-Hajj, 8)

If they argue with you, say, ‘I have submitted myself completely to God, and so have all who follow me.’ Say to those given the Book and those who have no Book, ‘Have you become Muslim?’ If they become Muslim, they have been guided. If they turn away, you are only responsible for transmission. God sees His servants. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 20)

If anyone argues with you about him after the knowledge that has come to you, say, ‘Come then! Let us summon our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves. Then let us make earnest supplication and call down the curse of God upon the liars. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 61)

(Say,) ‘People of the Book! Why do you argue concerning Ibrahim when the Torah and Gospel were only sent down after him? Why do you not use your intellect?’ (Surah Al ‘Imran, 65)

No, by your Lord, they are not believers until they make you their judge in the disputes that break out between them, and then find no resistance within themselves to what you decide and submit themselves completely. (Surat an-Nisa’, 65)

His people argued with him. He (Ibrahim) said, ‘Are you arguing with me about God when He has guided me? I have no fear of any partner you ascribe to Him unless my Lord should will such a thing to happen. My Lord encompasses all things in His knowledge so will you not pay heed? (Surat al-An’am, 80)

Obey God and His Messenger and do not quarrel among yourselves lest you lose heart and your momentum disappear. and be steadfast. God is with the steadfast. (Surat al-Anfal, 46)

When the feeling of fear left Ibrahim, and the good news reached him, he disputed with Us about the people of Lut. (Surah Hud, 74)

Here are two rival groups who disputed concerning their Lord. Those who disbelieve will have garments of fire cut out for them, and boiling water poured over their heads. (Surat al-Hajj, 19)

We have appointed for every nation a rite that they observe, so let them not dispute with you about the matter. Call the people to your Lord. You are guided straight. (Surat al-Hajj, 67)

Will you then dispute with him concerning what he saw? (Surat an-Najm, 12)

Avoid Wasting Time in Pointless Activities and Idle Chatter

(Believers are) those who turn away from worthless talk. (Surat al-Mu’minun, 3)

But there are some people who trade in distracting tales to misguide people from God’s Way knowing nothing about it and to make a mockery of it. Such people will have a humiliating punishment. (Surah Luqman, 6)

They will hear no prattling in it (Gardens of Delight) nor any word of wrong. (Surat al-Waqi’ah, 25)

(Believers are) those who do not bear false witness and who, when they pass by worthless talk, pass by with dignity. (Surat al-Furqan, 72)

When they hear worthless talk they turn away from it and say, ‘We have our actions and you have your actions. Peace be upon you. We do not desire the company of the ignorant.’ (Surat al-Qasas, 55)

They will not hear any prattling there–nothing but ‘Peace’. They will receive their provision there morning and night. (Surah Maryam, 62)

Their hearts are distracted. Those who do wrong confer together secretly, saying, ‘Is this man anything but a human being like yourselves? Do you succumb to magic with your eyes wide open?’ (Surat al-Anbiya’, 3)

We did not create heaven and earth and everything in between them as a game. (Surat al-Anbiya’, 16)

So when you have finished, work on. (Surat al-Inshirah, 7)

Refraining from Giving Promises That Cannot Be Kept

You who believe! Why do you say what you do not do? It is deply abhorrent to God that you should say what you do not do. (Surat as-Saff, 2-3)

And that they say what they practise not? (Surat ash-Shu`ara’, 226)

Keeping One’s Self Busy to Avoid Idleness

So when you have finished, work on. (Surat al-Inshirah, 7)

Thanking God While Working

They made for him (Sulayman) anything he wished: high arches and statues, huge dishes like cisterns, great built-in cooking vats. ‘Work, family of Dawud, in thankfulness!’ But very few of My servants are thankful. (Surah Saba’, 13)

Refraining from Insincere Behavior Such As “Bragging About Things One Did Not Accomplish”

Those who exult in what they have done and love to be praised for what they have not done should not suppose that they have escaped the punishment. They will have a painful punishment. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 188)

Cleansing the Self of Negative Traits Such As Selfishness and Jealousy

If a woman fears cruelty or aversion on her husband’s part, there is nothing wrong in the couple becoming reconciled. Reconciliation is better. But people are prone to selfish greed. If you do good and guard against evil, God is aware of what you do. (Surat an-Nisa’, 128)

Or do they in fact envy other people for the bounty God has granted them? We gave the family of Ibrahim the Book and Wisdom, and We gave them an immense kingdom. (Surat an-Nisa’, 54)

Say: ‘I seek refuge with the Lord of Daybreak, from the evil of what He has created and from the evil of the darkness when it gathers and from the evil of women who blow on knots and from the evil of an envier when he envies.’ (Surat al-Falaq, 1-5)

In Yusuf and his brothers there are Signs for every one of those who wants to ask.When they declared, ‘Why! Yusuf and his brother are dearer to our father than we are although we constitute a powerful group. Our father is clearly making a mistake. Kill Yusuf or expel him to some land so that your father will look to you alone and then you can be people who do right.’ (Surah Yusuf, 7-9)

The religion with God is Islam. Those given the Book only differed after knowledge had come to them, envying one another. As for those who reject God’s Signs, God is swift at reckoning. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 19)

Many of the People of the Book would love it if they could turn you back to disbelief after you have become believers, showing their innate envy now that the truth is clear to them. But you should pardon and overlook until God gives His command. Truly God has power over all things. (Surat al-Baqarah, 109)

Mankind was a single community. Then God sent out Prophets bringing good news and giving warning, and with them He sent down the Book with truth to decide between people regarding their differences. Only those who were given it differed about it, after the Clear Signs had come to them, envying one another. Then, by His permission, God guided those who believed to the truth of that about which they had differed. God guides whoever He wills to a straight path. (Surat al-Baqarah, 213)

Standing United, Avoiding Separation and Dissent

Hold fast to the rope of God all together, and do not separate. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 103)

God loves those who fight in His Way in ranks like well-built walls. (Surat as-Saff, 4)

Obey God and His Messenger and do not quarrel among yourselves lest you lose heart and your momentum disappear. and be steadfast. God is with the steadfast. (Surat al-Anfal, 46)

Those who disbelieve are the friends and protectors of one another. If you do not act in this way there will be turmoil in the land and great corruption. (Surat al-Anfal, 73)

But if anyone opposes the Messenger after the guidance has become clear to him, and follows other than the path of the believers, We will hand him over to whatever he has turned to, and We will roast him in Hell. What an evil destination! (Surat an-Nisa’, 115)

The parties differed among themselves. Woe to those who disbelieve when they are present on a terrible Day! (Surah Maryam, 37)

Restrain yourself patiently with those who call on their Lord morning and evening, desiring His face. Do not turn your eyes from them, desiring the attractions of this world. and do not obey someone whose heart We have made neglectful of Our remembrance and who follows his own whims and desires and whose life has transgressed all bounds. (Surat al-Kahf, 28)

You who believe! Have fear of God and be with the truly sincere. (Surat at-Tawba, 119)

(Believers are) those who, when they are wronged, defend themselves. (Surat ash-Shura, 39)

Do not be like those who split up and differed after the Clear Signs came to them. They will have a terrible punishment. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 105)

But they disagreed and split up, dividing into sects, each party exulting in what it had. So leave them in their glut of ignorance for a while. (Surat al-Mu’minun, 53-54)

… So have fear of God and put things right between you. Obey God and His Messenger if you are believers.’ (Surat al-Anfal, 1)

If two parties of the believers fight, make peace between them. But if one of them attacks the other unjustly, fight the attackers until they revert to God’s command. If they revert, make peace between them with justice, and be even-handed. God loves those who are even-handed. (Surat al-Hujurat, 9)

Not Following the Majority

If you obeyed most of those on earth, they would misguide you from God’s Way. They follow nothing but conjecture. They are only guessing. (Surat al-An’am, 116)

And most men will not believe though you desire it eagerly. (Surah Yusuf, 103)

So be steadfast. God’s promise is true. Do not let those who have no certainty make you impatient and shake your firmness. (Surat ar-Rum, 60)

Even if We sent down angels to them, and the dead spoke to them, and We gathered together everything in front of them right before their eyes, they would still not believe unless God willed. the truth is that most of them are ignorant. (Surat al-An’am, 111)

Why is it that, whenever they make a contract, a group of them disdainfully tosses it aside? No indeed! Most of them have no faith. (Surat al-Baqarah, 100)

God did not institute any such thing as bahira or sa’iba or wasila or hami. Those who disbelieved invented lies against God. Most of them do not use their intellect. (Surat al-Ma’idah, 103)

They ask, “Why has no other sign been sent down to him from his Lord?” Say, “God certainly has the power to send down a sign”—though most of them do not know. (Surat al-An’am, 37)

(Satan said,) ‘Then I will come at them, from in front of them and behind them, from their right and from their left. You will not find most of them thankful.’ (Surat al-A’raf, 17)

We did not find many of them worthy of their contract. We found most of them deviators. (Surat al-A’raf, 102)

How indeed! for if they get the upper hand over you, they will respect neither kinship nor treaty. They please you with their mouths but their hearts belie their words. Most of them are deviators. (Surat at-Tawba, 8)

Most of them follow nothing but conjecture. Conjecture is of no use whatsoever against the truth. God most certainly knows what they are doing. (Surah Yunus, 36)

Yes, everything in the heavens and earth belongs to God. Yes, God’s promise is true but most of them do not know it. (Surah Yunus, 55)

What will those who invent lies against God think on the Day of Rising? God shows favour to mankind but most of them are not thankful. (Surah Yunus, 60)

How many Signs there are in the heavens and earth! Yet they pass them by, turning away from them. Most of them do not believe in God without associating others with Him. (Surah Yusuf, 105-106)

God does make a metaphor: an owned slave possessing no power over anything, and someone We have given plentiful provision who gives out from it secretly and openly. Are they the same? Praise be to God! They are not! But most people do not know it. (Surat an-Nahl, 75)

They acknowledge God’s blessing and then deny it. Most of them are disbelievers. (Surat an-Nahl, 83)

Have they taken other deities besides Him? Say to them, Bring your proofs. This is the reminder of those who are with me and the reminder of those who were before me. But most of them do not know the truth, so they turn away. (Surat al-Anbiya’, 24)

Or do they say that he is possessed? in fact, he has brought the truth to them, but most of them abhor the truth. (Surat al-Mu’minun, 70)

Do you suppose that most of them hear or understand? They are just like cattle. Indeed they are even more astray! (Surat al-Furqan, 44)

Have they not looked at the earth and seen how We have made every sort of beneficial species grow in it? Verily, in this is a Sign: but most of them do not believe. (Surat ash-Shu`ara’, 7-8)

He Who made the earth a stable dwelling place and appointed rivers flowing through its midst and placed firmly embedded mountains on it and set a barrier between the two seas. Is there another god besides God? No indeed, but most of them do not know it! (Surat an-Naml, 61)

If you ask them, ‘Who sends down water from the sky, bringing the earth back to life again after it was dead?’ they will say, ‘God.’ Say: ‘Praise be to God.’ But most of them do not use their intellect. (Surat al-Anqabut, 63)

Refraining from Supporting Disbelievers, Traitors and Hypocrites

He (Musa) said, ‘My Lord, because of Your blessing to me, I will never be a supporter of evildoers.’ (Surat al-Qasas, 17)

You did not expect to be given the Book. It is nothing but a mercy from your Lord. So do not lend support to the disbelievers. (Surat al-Qasas, 86)

We have sent down the Book to you with the truth so that you can judge between people according to what God has shown to you. But do not be an advocate for the treacherous. (Surat an-Nisa’, 105)

Do not argue on behalf of those who betray themselves. God does not love any evildoing traitors. (Surat an-Nisa’, 107)

Here you are arguing on their behalf in this world, but who will argue with God on their behalf on the Day of Rising? Who will act as guardian for them then? (Surat an-Nisa’, 109)

How is it that you have become two parties regarding the hypocrites, when God has returned them to disbelief for what they did? Do you desire to guide people God has misguided? When God misguides someone, you will find no way for him. (Surat an-Nisa’, 88)

Not Being Afraid of People

Is God not enough for His servant? Yet they try to scare you with others apart from Him. If God misguides someone, he has no guide. (Surat az-Zumar, 36)

(Believers are) those to whom people said, ‘The people have gathered against you, so fear them.’ But that merely increased their faith and they said, ‘God is enough for us and the Best of Guardians.’ (Surah Al ‘Imran, 173)

When the believers saw the Confederates they said: ‘This is what God and His Messenger promised us. God and His Messenger told us the truth.’ It only increased them in faith and in submission. (Surat al-Ahzab, 22)

Do you not see those who were told: ‘Hold back from fighting but perform prayer and give the alms’? Then when fighting is prescribed for them, a group of them fear people as God should be feared, or even more than that. They say, ‘Our Lord, why have you prescribed fighting for us? If only You would give us just a little more time!’ Say, ‘The enjoyment of this world is very brief. the hereafter is better for those who guard against evil. You will not be wronged by so much as the smallest speck.’ (Surat an-Nisa’, 77)

Wherever you are, turn your faces towards it so that people will have no argument against you–except for those among them who do wrong and then you should not fear them but rather fear Me–and so that I can complete My blessing to you so that hopefully you will be guided. (Surat al-Baqarah, 150)

That was only Satan who intimidated his adherents. But do not fear them–fear Me if you are believers. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 175)

... Do not be afraid of people, be afraid of Me. and do not sell My Signs for a paltry price. Those who do not judge by what God has sent down, such people are disbelievers. (Surat al-Ma’idah, 44)

(Ibrahim said,) ‘Why should I fear what you have associated with Him when you yourselves apparently have no fear of associating partners with God for which He has sent down no authority to you? Which of the two parties is more entitled to feel safe, if you have any knowledge?’ (Surat al-An’am, 81)

Will you not fight a people who have broken their oaths and resolved to expel the Messenger, and who initiated hostilities against you in the first place? Is it them you fear? God has more right to your fear if you are believers. (Surat at-Tawba, 13)

The mosques of God should only be maintained by those who believe in God and the Last Day and perform prayer and give the alms, and fear no one but God. They are the ones most likely to be guided. (Surat at-Tawba, 18)

They said, ‘Our Lord, we are afraid that he might persecute us or overstep the bounds.’ He said, ‘Have no fear. I will be with you, All-Hearing and All-Seeing.’ (Surah Ta Ha, 45-46)

(Prophets are) those who conveyed God’s Message and had fear of Him, fearing no one except God. God suffices as a Reckoner. (Surat al-Ahzab, 39)

Trusting Not in One’s Power and Means But God

God has helped you on many occasions, including the Day of Hunayn when your great numbers delighted you but did not help you in any way, and the earth seemed narrow to you for all its great breadth, and you turned your backs. Then God sent down His serenity on His Messenger and on the believers, and sent down troops you could not see, and punished those who disbelieved. That is how the disbelievers are repaid. (Surat at-Tawba, 25-26)

If God helps you, no one can vanquish you. If He forsakes you, who can help you after that? So the believers should put their trust in God. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 160)

If you do not help him, God did help him when those who disbelieved drove him out and there were two of them in the Cave. He said to his companion, ‘Do not be despondent, God is with us.’ Then God sent down His serenity upon him and reinforced him with troops you could not see. He made the word of those who disbelieved undermost. It is the word of God which is uppermost. God is Almighty, All-Wise. (Surat at-Tawba, 40)

And when the two hosts came into sight of one another, Musa’s companions said, ‘We will surely be overtaken!’ He (Musa) said, ‘Never! My Lord is with me and He will guide me.’ (Surat ash-Shu`ara’, 61-62)

(His companion said to the garden owner,) ‘Why, when you entered your garden, did you not say, “It is as God wills, there is no strength but in God”? Though you see me with less wealth and children than you possess, it may well be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden and send down on it a fireball from the sky so that morning finds it a shifting heap of dust, or morning finds its water drained into the earth so that you cannot get at it.’ the fruits of his labour were completely destroyed and he woke up wringing his hands in grief, rueing everything that he had spent on it. It was a ruin with all its trellises fallen in. He said, ‘Oh, if only I had not associated anyone with my Lord!’ There was no group to come to his aid, besides God, and he was not given any help. in that situation the only protection is from God, the Real. He gives the best reward and the best outcome. (Surat al-Kahf, 39-44)

Holding No Fear of Being Condemned

You who believe! If any of you renounce your religion, God will bring forward a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble to the believers, fierce to the disbelievers, who strive in the Way of God and do not fear the blame of any censurer. That is the unbounded favour of God which He gives to whoever He wills. God is Boundless, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Ma’idah, 54)

Refraining from Avarice

Those who are tight-fisted with the bounty God has given them should not suppose that that is better for them. No indeed, it is worse for them! What they were tight-fisted with will be hung around their necks on the Day of Rising. God is the inheritor of the heavens and the earth and God is aware of what you do. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 180)

Have you seen him who turns away and gives a little, and that grudgingly? (Surat an-Najm, 33-34)

(God does not love) those who are tight-fisted and tell others to be tight-fisted. If anyone turns away, God is the Rich Beyond Need, the Praiseworthy. (Surat al-Hadid, 24)

Do not keep your hand chained to your neck but do not extend it either to its full extent so that you sit there blamed and destitute. (Surat al-Isra’, 29)

Here you are then: people who are called upon to spend in the Way of God and then some of you are tight-fisted! But whoever is tight-fisted is only tight-fisted to himself. God is Rich and you are poor. If you turn away, He will replace you with a people other than yourselves and they will not be like you. (Surah Muhammad, 38)

As for those who are tight-fisted and direct others to be tight-fisted, and hide the bounty God has given them, We have prepared a humiliating punishment for those who disbelieve. (Surat an-Nisa’, 37)

Say: ‘Even if you possessed the vast storehouses of my Lord’s mercy, you would still hold back, fearing they would run out.’ (Surat al-Isra’, 100)

So have fear of God, as much as you are able to, and listen and obey and spend for your own benefit. It is the people who are safe-guarded from the avarice of their own selves who are successful. (Surat at-Taghabun, 16)

Among them there were some who made an agreement with God: ‘If He gives us of His bounty we will definitely give charity and be among the righteous.’ But when He does give them of His bounty they are tight-fisted with it and turn away, so He has punished them by putting hypocrisy in their hearts until the day they meet Him because they failed God in what they promised Him and because they lied. (Surat at-Tawba, 75-77)

Satan promises you poverty and commands you to avarice. God promises you forgiveness from Him and abundance. God is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Baqarah, 268)