To Be a "Fine" Man!

You must have heard those words countless times during your life: especially during childhood, when you said or did something your elders didn't agree with or didn't want you to do again.

For someone who utters these words, being a fine person is more important than anything. That means adhering to the understanding, culture, attitudes and lifestyle generally accepted by the great majority in society, and conforming to a certain system of values, models and rules deemed acceptable. This is adopted and implemented in society. It's difficult to initiate any debate on where these models and rules originated and whether they're correct. Their inconsistencies cannot be questioned easily, because to question values adopted by the majority risks contradicting masses of people and becoming the target of their hostile reactions.

This structure, whose rightness is so firmly believed in, is not peculiar to certain societies alone. The system is practiced in the East as well as in the West, and maintains itself in widely different cultures as a particular system of beliefs and values with its own prohibitions, sanctions and recommendations—just like a religion.

The concepts of Ignorantism are directly opposed to being a Muslim, believing in Allah, having proper moral values, and even being human. This religion definitely leaves no room for the behavior and moral values described by Allah in the Qur'an. Indeed, the religion of the ignorant emerges and grows wherever people do not live by the moral values of the Qur'an. People who are admired and regarded as prominent have learned this religion very well, and implement all its rules.

It's useful to emphasize the basic moral values recommended in the Qur'an that totally conflict with the corrupt logic of Ignorantism. It is revealed in the Qur'an that all people have a responsibility to Allah. A human being is therefore charged with pleasing Allah alone, and must not seek others' approval. A believer who lives by the moral values of the Qur'an thinks and lives according to these verses:

A believer's entire life is directed towards being able to please Allah. This is the core of religion. It is revealed in the Qur'an that the characteristic of this true religion that has come down to the present day from the Prophet Abraham (as), is the dedication of all one's life to Allah:

Holding Allah's approval as the fundamental objective in life doubtless alters one's relationships with others. As set out above, a person has no mutual responsibility towards others. However, Allah has revealed in the Qur'an how other people should be treated, and responsibility to Allah ensures that others must be treated in the most compassionate, the most merciful, the most just, the most correct and the most honest way. This perspective of believers is described in these terms:

As can be seen from these verses, believers expect nothing from other people, which detachment endows them with a very strong and healthy character. The believer treats everyone correctly under all circumstances, and thus fulfils Allah's commandments. He neither hopes for other people's approval nor fears their criticism. Indeed, in the Qur'an Allah has described believers as not fearing "the blame of any censurer" (Surat al-Ma'ida, 54). Therefore, a believer's character and attitude never change in the face of events and other people's approval. He never becomes arrogant because of any rank or station given him, nor ever despairs in the face of difficulties. This stable character of believers frequently draws attention, and their attitudes remain the same when they obtain great wealth or power, as well as in the face of difficulty and poverty. The believer knows that every blessing he enjoys of wealth, power, or rank; or every difficulty he encounters such as condemnation and attack by others, exile, suffering poverty, and imprisonment—all these come from Allah, and all these are trials to test him and teach him.

In contrast, the religion of ignorance is the religion of people who cannot appreciate Allah, who strive to earn other people's approval rather than the pleasure of Allah and who hope for the life of this world rather than the life of the Hereafter. In this superstitious religion people assume that they are responsible towards one another. Pleasing others, earning other people's appreciation, and having "status" in society are the most important goals in life. In contrast to believers, adherents of Ignorantism change their attitudes and characters in the face of events and other people. To put it another way, the Religion of the Ignorant is relative and circumstantial. It requires different behavior in the face of different circumstances. In this false religion, the concepts of sincerity and naturalness have no place. According to this perverted belief, everyone needs to exhibit different behavior according to the individual's gender, age and status in society.

Women must conform to the roles set out for them, as do men and children. A student must behave according to the rules of Ignorantism which impinge on students. Similar rules apply to civil servants, doctors, teachers and laborers. Adherents of the religion of the ignorant acquire their identity from the status they possess in society, and behave in the light of the requirements of that identity. In the case of believers, on the other hand, their faith shapes their identity and, as already stated, society's attitude towards their status has no effect on that identity.

One's ethical and personal identity is automatically instilled in those raised in a society of the Religion of the Ignorant, and they immediately begin to practice the rules of that false religion. The way to obtain a place and be superior in such a society is to adopt such attitudes and behavior.

The following chapters shall examine the character, behavior and modes of speech taught to people according to their circumstances—their surroundings, age, social and cultural situations and gender, their personal preferences and psychologies. You will see that these are far removed from the ideal forms of behavior and personal and ethical structure described in the Qur'an. In this way, it will be made plain how satan's ignorant superstitious religion dominates those people who live far removed from Islam, at all periods of their lives.

Being a Man According to the Religion of the Ignorant