The Qur'an brings the easiest and most comfortable lifestyle, one that encompasses the most perfect moral and social structure. The essence of religious morality relies on a heartfelt submission to Allah, scrupulous obedience to His commands, and awareness that He holds everything in His will and control. For this reason, no matter how perfect a lifestyle abounding with beauties, ease, and blessings Islamic morality presents to humanity, those suffering from such personality disorders as arrogance, jealousy, and pride do not come close to having faith in Allah and being with believers, although their conscience tells them to do so. This situation is related in the Qur'an, as follows:
| … and they repudiated them [Allah's Signs] wrongly and haughtily, in spite of their own certainty about them. See the final fate of the corrupters. (Surat an-Naml, 14) When he is told to heed Allah, he is seized by pride that drives him to wrongdoing. Hell will be enough for him! What an evil resting-place! (Surat al-Baqara, 206) | ||
Such a distorted view is defined in the Qur'an as "idolatry" and it is revealed that these people feel rage and hatred when summoned to Allah and living by the Qur'anic morality:
| When they are told to prostrate to the All-Merciful, they ask: "And what is the All-Merciful? Are we to prostrate to something you command us to?" And it merely makes them run away all the more. (Surat al-Furqan, 60) | ||
The unbelievers' rage and hatred for Allah's verses, and thereby for Islam and all believers, is revealed in many other verses as well, such as the following:
| Allah sent back those who were unbelievers in their rage without their achieving any good at all. Allah saved the believers from having to fight. Allah is Most Strong, Almighty. (Surat al-Ahzab, 25) When Allah is mentioned on His own, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter shrink back shuddering. But when others apart from Him are mentioned, they jump for joy. (Surat az-Zumar, 45) | ||
This rage and hatred stemming from the unbelievers' arrogance and pride appears in the form of a relentless opposition toward believers. These people, who feel restless even in the presence of a single true believer, strive in their foolishness to divert believers from the right path and to impose upon them their own ignorant system. They hope for the worst for believers and wish that all adversities will befall them. Of course none of these happen to the true belivers, as Allah creats the believers with triumph and victory from the very beginning. The Qur'an tells about these vain efforts of the unbelievers, as follows:
| O you who believe, do not take any outside yourselves as intimates. They will do anything to harm you. They love what causes you distress. Hatred has appeared out of their mouths, but what their breasts hide is far worse. We have made the Signs clear to you, if you use your intellect. (Surah Al 'Imran, 118) If something good happens to you, it galls them. If something bad strikes you, they rejoice at it. But if you are steadfast and do your duty, their scheming will not harm you in any way. Allah encompasses what they do. (Surah Al 'Imran, 120) If they come upon you, they will be your enemies and stretch out their hands and tongues against you with evil intent. They would dearly love you to become unbelievers. (Surat al-Mumtahana, 2) | ||
It is obvious that some interest groups would feel uneasy at the establishment of a system based upon the Qur'an's morality. Those who make money on theft, usury, poverty, and by exploiting innocent people; those who abuse certain positions and ranks for their personal benefit although they lack the necessary expertise, knowledge, and experience essential for those positions; those who have adopted indecency and immorality as a lifestyle or profession; or those who serve some distorted ideologies are naturally unwilling to embrace the lifestyle brought by Islam—one that is based upon social justice, honesty, and equality. For this reason, they may resort to anything to hinder and even annihilate the spread of Islam's moral system.
Apart from this, some of the hypocrites we mentioned earlier join the believers' community in order to provoke unbelievers against believers, to collect information about them, and to instigate restlessness. They make a great effort witlessly to stir up sedition and distort religious commands, as the following verses state:
| Among the people are some who say: "We believe in Allah and the Last Day," when they are not believers. They think that they deceive Allah and those who believe. They deceive no one but themselves, but they are not aware of it. There is a sickness in their hearts, and Allah has increased their sickness. They will have a painful punishment on account of their denial. When they are told: "Do not cause corruption in the land," they say: "We are only putting things right." No indeed! They are the corrupters, but they are not aware of it. (Surat al-Baqara, 8-12) | ||
Hypocrites continue their stealthy struggle against believers by cooperating with unbelievers. The Qur'an provides a detailed account of their personality and character traits, as well as the way they look, speak, and act. Allah sent down Surat al-Munafiqun (Chapter of the Hypocrites), which is addressed especially to hypocrites. In this chapter, He states that they are truly the enemies of believers:
| They are the enemies, so beware of them. The curse of Allah be upon them! How they are deluded [away from the Truth]! (Surat al-Munafiqun, 4) | ||
Wrapped up in jealousy, these hypocrites follow the ever-growing blessings, power, authority, and beauty granted to believers. These people, consumed with their own inferiority complexes, are jealous of the respect shown to believers and thus feel rage and hatred against them. However, they also fear believers. The Qur'an reveals some of the hypocrites' character traits, as follows:
| When they meet you, they say: "We believe." But when they leave, they bite their fingers out of rage against you. Say: "Die in your rage." Allah knows what your hearts contain. (Surah Al 'Imran, 119) They swear by Allah that they are of your number, but they are not of your number. Rather, they are people who are scared. (Surat at-Tawba, 56) | ||
The Qur'an informs us that people who are ignorant of religion have shown these reactions and attacked the Prophets and believers in all ages. It is the unbelieving society's leaders who first recognize true believers. For example, Pharaoh first recognized Prophet Musa (pbuh) and Nimrod first recognized Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh). All Prophets spent their lives struggling against unbelief and its leaders, for this immutable law of Allah applies to all ages:
| In this way, We have assigned to every Prophet an enemy from among the evildoers. But your Lord is a sufficient guide and helper. (Surat al-Furqan, 31) | ||
Consequently, according to the Qur'an, the existence of such opponents, slanders, lies and plots against the believers is one of the most substantial pieces of evidence of the believers' righteousness and sincerity.
Meanwhile, one point deserves special mention: No one can attempt such an act without Allah's will. In all ages, Allah creates various settings of struggle between believers and unbelievers in order to test the believers' patience and trust in Him, to raise them in rank, to show His help to them and the superiority of faith over unbelief, to give believers their Reminder, to disgrace unbelievers, and to reveal the hypocrites' true faces and the sickness in their hearts. Allah promises that whatever happens, His help is always with true believers and that they will always prevail, provided that they adopt and display the attributes of moral perfection described in the Qur'an. Allah informs believers that they will absolutely be the "uppermost," for:
| Do not give up and do not be downhearted. You shall be uppermost if you are believers. (Surah Al 'Imran, 139) Allah will not give the disbelievers any way against the believers. (Surat an-Nisa', 141) As for those who make Allah their friend, and His Messenger and those who believe: it is the party of Allah who is victorious! (Surat al-Maida, 56) Our Word was given before to Our servants, the Messengers, that they would certainly be helped. It is Our army that will be victorious. (Surat as-Saffat, 171-173) Allah has written: "I will be victorious, I and My Messengers." Allah is Most Strong, Almighty. (Surat al-Mujadala, 21) | ||
